RDG/420 Letter of Introduction

1. WELCOME TO MR.
CAMPBELL’S 4TH GRADE
CLASS
BY: HAROLD CAMPBELL

2. INTRODUCTION
My philosophy of learning is very much
similar to a recipe for gumbo. It has many
different ingredients that make up a whole
for a simple dish or in my idea of education
and classroom management. The
ingredients used in this recipe are
components of each of the four philosophies
in education and several models of
management helped me develop my own
gumbo recipe for success in the classroom.
The role of a teacher is to have a positive
impact of student’s lives in a way that
changes mind states, encourages positive
interactions and builds better critical
thinkers. The students are the most
important ingredient to this recipe, they are
the ones that determine what other
ingredients I will add to make the class a
continuous success

3. Cognitive Development and Reading
*Lesson plans and activities will be centered around Piaget’s Concrete Operational stage and
Vygotsky’s second stage which focuses on guided learning within the zone of proximal
development.
*Students will draw conclusions in both small group and one on one settings from stories read
during class and homework assignments.
*Students will be encouraged to develop and share ideas, thoughts and learned content
knowledge of daily as well as weekly readings.
*Students will also keep a reading journal that will include their personal thoughts about their
readings as well as what they like and dislike about each reading. Students can make
suggestions about future reading choices of books and activities within the journal.

4. 5 STAGES OF LITERACY DEVELOPMENT
Regardless of grade level there will always be students that will be
placed into the following categories of literacy development.
Stage 1: Emergent Readers and Spellers
Stage 2: Alphabetic Readers and Spellers
Stage 3: Word Pattern Readers and Spellers
Stage 4: Intermediate Readers and Spellers
Stage 5: Advanced Readers and Spellers
Assisting, encouraging and developing better learners in the
classroom on a daily basis can make a Stage 1 reader to a Stage 3
reader during the course of nine weeks.
The Attention is in the details! Learn what the students like or
interest in order to reach them and find their base level.

5. LANGUAGE ARTS IN EVERY
SUBJECT
Language arts can be included in every
subject by involving reading, writing and
speaking into our daily activities in each
subject matter.
Allow the students to read the material
out loud in class, present to them open
ended discussion questions and write
down their own ideas about solving issues
both book related and personal.
Students are more engaged, attentive and
retain more information is the lesson in
interesting. As a student I hated classes
with nothing but lectures and overheads,
so get from behind the podium and make
learning FUN!

6. READ-ALOUDS
How can I keep the students engaged and interested in the
content?
Read alouds gives opportunity to introduce vocabulary, build
confidence, fluency and better their reading skills. Textbook,
comic strips and various other reading materials offer us read-
aloud moments. Use your body language and voice inflection to
gain and keep students attention as they follow along and read
sections when called upon or volunteer to read.
Choose books that are relevant, current and peek the interest of
students for fun reading.