In what ways has your involvement with the project influenced your teaching practice?

Last year was my first year in teacher scholars and my question centered on reading comprehension for my first graders. Delving into my question led me to realize that many of my students weren’t even realizing when they didn’t understand meaning because they were so focused on the phonics aspect of reading. I think that led me to begin to really parse the act of reading out more clearly for them. It has really shaped my teaching in that when we are studying or sorting words, or discussing text I make sure the students can articulate whether they are discussing meaning, spelling, or sounds. I have the same students now in second grade and I’m happy that they know the difference between a word they can’t read because it’s hard to ”sound out” and a word that is unfamiliar because they’ve never heard it before.