Reading Reflection: My Name is Brain Brian & Dyslexia

Theorist/Researcher/Practitioner

Major Ideas

What Part of the lesson it could relate to

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society. The Development of Higher Psychological Processes. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Zone of proximal development – giving children work they can do with your help.

When you are talking about why you are you doing the lesson based on your pre-tests. When you include modelining and guided practice in a lesson.

Vygotsky, L. (1962). Studies in communication. Thought and language (E. Hanfmann & G. Vakar, Eds.). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

We learn through language and talking with others.

Why you would do cooperative grouping or partner pairing.

Why you are doing a “think-aloud”

Bloom, B. (1956). Taxonomy of educational objectives. In Handbook 1: The Cognitive Domain. New York.

The mind processes information in building blocks that gradually increase in difficulty: Knowledge, Comprehension, Analysis, Application, Synthesis, and Evaluation. Some people reference a New Bloom’s, but it is more concerned with process, not complexity of thinking, in my opinion, and Bloom never sanctioned it.

When describing types of learning tasks or explaining why you are doing them in a certain order.

Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32, 513–531.

Child development is affected by a concentric circle of influences – home, school, greater social structures, etc.

When you are drawing on background information or having students make connections; when you involve parents and caregivers.

Bruner, J. (1993). Acts of meaning: Four lectures on mind and culture. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Knowledge blocks building on top of each other. Anything can be broken into small enough pieces or steps for virtually anyone to understand.

When you are teaching step-by-step

why you are you doing the lesson based on your pre-tests.

when you talk about misconceptions.

Tomlinson, C. A. (August, 2000). Differentiation of Instruction in the Elementary Grades. ERIC Digest. ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education.

Differentiation can be content, process, product, environment.

When you talk about how you ae differentiating for particular students.

Ladson-Billings, G. (1994). The dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African-American children. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.


The most successful teachers of low-income children of color have high expectations, make their learning culturally relevant, and are committed to social justice in- and outside the classroom.

When talking about using culturally relevant materials and/or focusing on social justice issues.

Piaget, J., & Cook, M. T. (1952). The origins of intelligence in children. New York, NY: International University Press.

You assimilate or accommodate information into schema.

Also, using concrete materials and interactive learning for children in concrete operational stage (ages 7-11).

Drawing on prior knowledge when reviewing or asking for connections.

Having an attention-getting introduction that challenges what students thought they knew about the topic.

Providing hands-on materials and interactive experiences.

Rumelhart, D.E. (1980) Schemata: the building blocks of cognition. In: R.J. Spiro etal. (eds) Theoretical Issues in Reading Comprehension. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Coined the term “scaffolding”.

When you do the “we” part of a lesson or provide small group instruction that you are monitoring.

Noddings, Nel (1995). Philosophy of education. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

◦Caring Theory

◦relationships and caring are essential parts of teaching and learning.

◦all children deserve our respect.

◦children need to learn to care and respect one another.

When talking about classroom environment and how you make it kind, polite, and caring.

Bandura, A. (1996).  Social cognitive theory of human development. In T. Husen & T. N. Postlethwaite (Eds.), International encyclopedia of education (2nd ed., pp. 5513-5518) Oxford: Pergamon Press.

◦Self-Efficacy Theory

◦People need to believe that they can do something and that learning is within their control.

◦They can develop self-efficacy in four ways: a. by mastering a task through effort and persistence b. by watching people like us be successful c. by being persuaded by others that we can do something d. by having positive emotions and energy (not being depressed) e. by visualizing success.

◦Social Cognitive Theory

People acquire much of their knowledge by observing the sequence of a process.

When talking about a positive classroom environment or making choices for their own activities and setting their own goals or evaluating their own work.

Rogers, C. (1961/2004). On becoming a person: A therapist’s view of psychotherapy. Constable & Robinson, LTD.

People are motivated by their self-concept. They have actual selves and ideal selves. They are motivated by what moves them more toward their ideal self.

When talking about motivational activities and ones that develop self-concept.

Nieto, S. (2014). Why we teach. Teacher College Press.

We live in a multicultural world

and teaching children to get along with others different from

themselves is an important part of education.

We need to pursue equity in education for all children.

When discussing equity themes in class or appreciating people of different backgrounds and points of view.

Bloom, B.S. (Ed.). Engelhart, M.D., Furst, E.J., Hill, W.H., Krathwohl, D.R. (1956).  Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, Handbook I : The Cognitive Domain. New York: David McKay Co Inc.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

Lower level skills are knowledge/comprehension

Higher level skills are analysis, application, synthesis, evaluation

There are different levels of thinking, and lessons should include lower and higher-level thinking.

When embedding the higher-order questions you are asking and the learning tasks the students are doing.

Gardner, H. (2006). Multiple intelligences: New horizons in theory and practice.

Children have strengths in different areas: analytical, language, interpersonal, intrapersonal, visual-spatial, music, and naturalistic.

When you explain why you are having the students learn through their particular personal assets/strengths.

Leu, D., Kinzer, C. K., Coiro, J., & Cammack, D. W. (2004). Toward a Theory of New Literacies Emerging From the Internet and Other Information and Communication Technologies. In Theoretical Models and Processes of Reading (5th ed.), International Reading Association

· January 2004

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Technology creates new types of texts that require that we teach new literacies

When you are explaining how to read or understand something that is a new type of text or when you teaching children to analyze illustrations.

Halliday, M. (1985). An introduction to functional grammar. Edward Arnold.

We need to understand how people are using words, phrases, and other sign systems to understand the full meaning of what is being said.

When you help children “read between the lines” of text to find hidden meanings; when you teach them to interpret illustrations or other sign systems.

Cunningham, P. A. (2009) Making Words. Pearson.

Using a making words, synthesis, or compare/contrast (analytical) approach.She did not actually come up with these ideas, but is a reference that could be used for all of the them.

Body of a phonics lesson