Comprehensive Instructional Approach to Overcome the Challenges of a Diverse Learning Environment - Assignment Example

Reflective Article Review Log College: Reflective Article Review Log The article “Creating a Comprehensive Reading Lesson with all the Essential Elements” by Ming and Dukes (2010) provides a comprehensive instructional approach to overcome the challenges of a diverse learning environment. The article begins by providing a background of the various challenges that instructors encounter within the learning environment. Mainly, challenges arise from the unique demands of the learners based on their cultural attitudes, community influence and learning inabilities. Ming and Dukes (2010) points out that the traditional instruction methods no longer work in the dynamic environments. The new demands of the learning environment can only be met if the instructional methods remain dynamic and provide a comprehensive understanding of the learning needs. By identifying the various changes in the learning environment, the authors lay a ground for launching a new strategy for meeting the learners’ demands. The article relies on empirical studies to identify the various learning needs of a diverse school population. The article summarizes the findings of hundreds of empirical studies to identify five common needs of a learner. Ming and Dukes (2010) identify phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension as the key elements of a comprehensive lesson that can help children to become proficient readers. Phonemic awareness is defined as the ability to auditorily identify and manipulate individual sounds in words. On the other hand, phonics is the ability of the learner to identify the letters within a word. The two helps a learner to have a flow of the language what the authors term as fluency of the language. Next, the learners can learn how to use vocabulary which refers to the language words that add taste to the language. The last and the most important step is for the learner to comprehend the meaning of the language which is essential for a complete learning process. The article provides a basis which instructors can perform a close analysis of the lessons and evaluate the dimensions that they omit in their lessons. Through a scientific approach, Ming and Dukes (2010) develops a strategy through which an instructor can develop incorporate the “big five” dimension in a diverse learning environment. The article emphasizes the need for preplanning stage in developing a comprehensive lesson plan. It is a stage that the instructor lays down the objectives the lesson and the various learners’ outcomes that he must attain at the end of their teaching. Next, the article provides the way forward in preparing a comprehensive lesson plan that incorporates the big five dimensions of the learning. The main target audience for this article seems to be the instructors in primary school environment. In this learning environment, the learners are young and the teacher needs to introduce language in the most efficient manner. The language foundation of young learners determines their attitude towards language and the way they can use in higher level of learning. This article provides a strong strategy that language trainers can utilize to achieve the learning needs of diverse learners whose different experiences influence their learning needs. Foorman’s (2007) article “Prevention in Classroom Intervention” provides a preventive approach that can be used to ensure that students with learning disabilities are able to acquire essential learning within the schools. The article identifies the relationship that exists between the children and the classroom and the classroom and the school. The success of the students depends on the ability of the trainer to provide a complementary learning environment that provides comprehensive lessons and overcomes the learning inabilities within the population. The author is keen to identify the basic ingredients of what he terms as a complete lesson. Foorman (2007) identifies that the learning needs of any scholar includes phonemic awareness and phonemic decoding skills, fluency, construction of meaning, vocabulary use, spelling and writing. Therefore, all learners irrespective of their disabilities must acquire these key features of learning that constitute a complete lesson scheme. This article provides instructors with the issues that they must watch out while drawing their lesson plans. Foorman (2007) identifies some of the economic challenges that underpin failure of students with learning disabilities. Children with learning disabilities are particularly affected by the teaching approach as they have special needs that must be attended during the learning lessons. In an environment where education is becoming expensive, economic limitations inhibit the provision of special care for students with learning inabilities. The resources, the time and the extra teaching needed for this category of learners require to be attended before the students gain financial support. The article makes reference to the Child with disabilities act that was developed with the aim of creating an environment with equal opportunity for all children to learn. However, the delay in the release of the funds aimed at overcoming such inabilities makes it essential to find an alternative approach to meet these learning needs. Thus, the main stand of the article is that it is indeed possible to meet the needs of the learners with difficulties amidst economic challenges. Foorman (2007) relies on the findings of empirical and meta-analysis that have focused on the training methods for people with learning disabilities. He seems to hold the opinion that to empower children with learning abilities requires capturing the right learning attributes, choosing the right activities for the students at their stage of learning, and delivery an appropriate learning program. Through literature scanning, the author identifies that the reason why many instructors fail to deliver is because they use the wrong methods, they underutilize time resource and personal teacher characteristics. Thus the article provides a good ground to judge the work of academic trainers through the outcome of their learning approaches. The article emphasizes that the right teachers, the right methods and the right learning materials are essential to meet the diverse learning needs of children with learning inabilities. The article provides a strong basis through which a curriculum designer can incorporate all the learning needs of a diverse learning environment to comply with the requirement of various acts that require children with learning inabilities be assisted to overcome their challenges. Nelson, Hinshaw, Williamson and Dunn (2007) authored an article “Engaging Older Students with Reading Disabilities” that aims at encouraging use of technology in the learning environment to teach the learners with difficulties. This article seems to be motivated by the No Child Left behind and the IDEA acts that focused on deploying equality in the learning environment by supporting those who suffer from learning disabilities. The article responds to a question whether there exists an engaging way in which the educators can support older students with learning difficulties. Therefore, this research seems to provide an approach that targets older students, who in many tines are minimally covered in the instructional approaches. Thus, the main aim of the article is to provide a strategy that can be applied within the learning environment to overcome the challenges that old students encounter within their learning environment. The authors rely primarily on observational methods to present their view on how technology can be deployed within the learning environment. Nelson, Hinshaw, Williamson and Dunn (2007) find out that multimedia projects developed through the office power point application can be used to induce effective learning for older students. They present an effective multi-step approach that can be used to support old students in learning to use multimedia power points in their learning environment. This category of students can learn how to use power point through five stages of instructional approach. First, the first stage involves introduction of the multimedia through teaching and demonstration with readily made power points. In the inquiry stage, the second stage, the student uses logical thinking to find out the information they need for their topic to fill in the predesigned templates. The third stage, the resource stage, the student learns how to identify important informational resources. The last two stages, the story board and the power point stages, include the organization and presentation of the power point. This article seems to be designed for the modern learning environment where technology is important for all students due to the demand of the dynamic work environment. Students with disabilities have always found it quite difficult to learn how to use technology due to their presumed challenges. There, Nelson, Hinshaw, Williamson and Dunn (2007) provide an effective approach that has worked during their experimentation and one that can apply for any learning environment. The article clearly defines multimedia technology and its relevance in the learning environment. Therefore, it is a motivative composition that can help instructors to support learning for special needs students. The article provides a few case studies that show that it is actually relevant and practically possible for disabled learners to use technology as much as the normal students can. Thus this article is an empowerment of the weak students and covers relevant issues that are fundamental in the contemporary learning environment. Whitaker et al. (2006) in their article “The Fish Strategy” identifies a new approach that can be used to train students with problems of decoding words. They reflect on the main challenges that students face in reading out words. The challenge of many students is to read out new words that are related to that they know. The learners are unable to decode the new words by identifying the relationship that these words have with the ones that they already know. The “FISH” is a new approach that the learners can use to read words by utilizing rimes and onsets, which refer to the first vowel and consonant sounds respectively. The article provides a basis through which instructors can help students to learn new vocabularies more quickly with little difficulties. The article by Whitaker et al. (2006) seems quite relevant to the contemporary educational issues especially in the efforts dedicated to support learning for children with learning disabilities in the society. The article is specifically designed for the students who fully aware of the phonemics and are at the stage of learning vocabularies. Thus, Whitaker et al. (2006) focuses on the vocabulary needs of the learners that they identify as the main problems of the society. The FISH strategy is an acronym for the four steps that a young learner can use to increase their vocabulary knowledge. In the first stage, the learner finds the rime, or rather the first vowel sound that they identify in the word. Next, the learner identifies another rime or word that contains such a rime. From there, the learner says the rime without considering the first part of the word. In the last stage, the person hooks the onset to the rime and pronounces the word in full. The authors based their argument on the principle that learners can easily pronouncing words by relating them with the sound they already are familiar with. By observing the practicality of this approach in the learning environment, they confirm that the method is workable and ideal for children who need more time to learn vocabularies in the language classes. However, Whitaker et al. (2006) warn that the efficiency of the method is dependent on its implementation on the ideal class environment. On this note, they provide the best approach that instructors can use to execute the “FISH’ within an ideal learning environment. Whitaker et al. (2006) advice that instructors pretest the learners before introducing this approach. Again, this strategy should be introduced in the most interesting manner, to make learning more enjoyable. For instance, use of dice, practical objects and other interesting object may increase the students’ response within the period of learning. In addition, the instructors should be actively involved in designing the method and training the students to use, while obtain their feedback. The students’ feedback can help to support their special learning needs and to evaluate the efficiency of the strategy. On this note, the FISH strategy is superior strategy that can help learners with reading difficulties to read more comfortably. The vivid presentation of the method by the article makes it easy to implement and to optimize on a practical learning environment. References Dunn, M., Elder-Hinshaw, R., Nelson, M. & Manset-Williamson, G., (2006). Engaging Older Students with Reading Disabilities. Council For Exceptional Children, Pp. 6-11. Foorman, R., (2007). Primary Prevention in Classroom Reading Instruction. Council For Exceptional Children, Pp. 24-30. Ming, K. & Dukes, C., (2010). Gimme Five; Creating a Comprehensive Reading Lesson With All the Essential Elements. Council For Exceptional Children, Pp. 22-28. Whitaker, S., Harvey, M., Hassell, L. &Tutterrow, D., (2006). The FISH Strategy. Council For Exceptional Children, Pp. 14-18. Read More