My Culture and Heritage

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Culture and Heritage

Dayna Harkey Wunderle

Kennesaw State University

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ethnicity and Race

The Revell name was an English and French name. Revell was a nickname for a boisterous person, from Middle English. It was from the old French side, meaning revel. The Revell family came over from France. The Revell Family they came over to South Georgia from Alabama. They came over in a covered wagon. The Revell family were white English.

The Dryden family name is from Scotland. They are white English as well. They first left Scotland to come to North America in search of Freedom. Many Dryden’s were lost along the voyage. Some fought in the American War for Independence.

The Harkey family is an ancient Viking-Scottish name that was derived from Henry. They were Scottish and white English as well. The Settino family was from Sicily, Italy. They were full Italian.

Family

Roles

The Revell family were farmers. They worked hard on the famers in South Georgia. The used mules to help them work. They had sharecroppers. Myme Rainy Revell cooked dinner for them every day. The Revell family was a strong family with a strong bond. They worked hard on the farm.

The Dryden family grew up in small town Ashburn, Georgia. They lived and worked on pecan groves. They would gather pecans and sell them to make money. The family worked hard at selling ice cream and candy bars. It was the hang out joint for the teenagers.

The Harkey family grew up St. Petersburg, Florida. William Harkey served in the Army in World War II, where we received a purple heart. He met his wife, Dorothy Settino while overseas. She later came to the United States where they married. The Harkey family roles were very strong in supporting our country.

Beliefs

The Revell family believed in that importance of family time. They believed in working hard to earn a dollar. They believed a handshake and good word were all you need to seal a deal. The Revell family believed in getting married at a young age. The Revells married at 14 years old. They had strong believes in marriage. They didn’t honor divorce at that time.

The Dryden family grew up the town life. They believed strongly on family. My grandfather grew up as baby in the family. He grew up with 8 other brothers and 1 sister. The Dryden family were very strong minded family. They were set in their ways and didn’t like to be told what to do. They believed the wife stays at home and cleans the house and the man does all the work.

The Harkey family believed in freedom for the country and for fighting what is right. The Harkey family traveled a lot throughout the history of them. They are a really small family with a history of veteran’s who fought in the different wars. They were a family who believed in freedom for our country and doing what they believed was right.

 

Traditions

The Revell family would get together with other farmer families every July 4^th. They would eat goat and work all night long to get the food ready. For Christmas time they always received bushels of apples and oranges. They cooked a big meal for Christmas. The Dryden family had traditions such as gathering for important holidays. The Harkey family traditions consisted of the same every year. They believed in Christmas dinners and spending time with families. One thing the Harkey family believed in was saving money. They are really wise when it comes to putting away money.

Values

Religion

The Revell family were Baptist. They were a very religious family. They weren’t allowed to do anything on Sundays except work on books and scrapbook. They went to small church in Turner County which is now known as Crispy County. They went to church by mule or wagon. They walked wherever they needed to go. The Dryden family were laid back Baptist. They believed in God, but didn’t believe on going to church as much as the Revell family did.The Harkey family were Methodist. They believed in God and going to church to worship Him. They went on Wednesday nights an Sunday mornings.

 

Morals

The Revell family was really laid back. They gave their word and a handshake. They lived up to it. The Dryden family believed in strong morals and value. They believed in the word of a man to seal the deal. The Harkey family also believed in strong marriages and believed in freedom for our Country. They believed that every penny should be earned.

 

Work Ethic

The Revell family grew up on farm. They worked sun up and sun down until they couldn’t work any longer. They had hard summers and winters. Living on the farm was challenging at times. It was hard because they did a lot of work. They canned all day. They believed in working hard to survive. The Revell family lived off canned foods during the winter time.

The Dryden family had the same family belief. They lived a crowded life in a crowded house. They Dryden family believed strongly in diligence. They believe in working hard to get the money you earn. They saved a lot of money and loved family time. My Grandfather, Raymond E Dryden was in the Airforce in 1943. He served all during World War II. He retired in 1963.

The Harkey family grew up in Florida. My father doesn’t remember too much about the family, but he said that the Harkey family is known as hard workers. They belief for what was right. They didn’t grow up farming, but they grew up with the belief that the mother should stay at home and the father will work.  They believed in freedom of expression and fought hard for the United States of America.

Assumptions & Stereotypes

There weren’t any assumptions on the Revell or Dryden family. The Revell family lived on a farm and kept to themselves. The Dryden family loved hanging around in town, but lived in the Pecan Groves and made an earning living by day to day life style. The Settino family has some assumptions today. My father assumes that there are some of the Settino family left who are Italian and could possibly be part of a mafia. Due to lack of knowledge, we don’t know much about the Settino family and can only assume certain information based on the facts that we are given.

Family Tree Explanation:

I was born September 28^th 1985. My lovely parents are Charlotte E Dryden and William T Harkey. They married in 1980. My mom’s parents are Aubra Revell and Raymond Dryden. They married in 1941. My grandfather passed away in 2003, but my grandmother is still alive today. My grandmother’s parents (my great grandparents) were Theodore T Revell and Mayme Rainy. My grandfather, Raymond E Dryden’s parents were Eva Parten and Raymond E Dryden Sr.

William Taylor Harkey is my father. He was born in St Petersburg Florida in 1949. His parents were Dorothy Settino and William Taylor Harkey Sr. Jr. My dad lost his mother in a gas house explosion when he was 2 years old. He barely remembers anything about her or her family. She came over from Italy and didn’t speak much about her parents. We don’t have any information regarding her family. My dad was an only son. My grandfather, William Taylor Harkey Sr. Jr.’s father was David Harkey.

Conclusion

Overall, this was a very enlightening experience for me. I enjoyed researching information through old books at my grandmother’s house and reminiscing about how they lived back then. It amazes how happy they were back then with the little they had. This truly allowed me to spend time with my grandmother. She is 90 years old, but she surely remembers so much of our family’s culture and heritage. I really enjoyed researching this information for my culture and heritage family history. It brought a smile to my face to know that I have  such a strong family background with good morals and beliefs. My mothers side of the family believed strongly in one time marriage and it has followed throughout the whole family.

 

Article and Book Analysis: Module 1

Article and book Analysis

After reading chapters one and two, I searched for an articles that had to do with reading intervention. I found many interesting articles, but the one that stood out to me was the one that talked about the Tier 3 intervention. I am the team leader when we do our tier meetings. We put students on tiers which allows us to modify their work.  We have to go through all of the tiers because we can have them tested for any further special things. As I read the chapter I noticed all of the different reading interventions. I noticed that the article focused more on the tier three ink covered more than on intervention.

The article I read described ad evaluated the effects of an individuated tier 3 reading intervention. The articles talked about a specific student who was having difficulty with reading. It also talked about the different characteristic that were within the student. I like the article because I feel that it took one of the reading interventions that was listed in the book an put it into action. I felt that I t abled me to see what the tier reading intervention did for students. It was a research paper based on the one student rather than the broad spectrum like the book.

I liked reading both the book and the article because one talks about the different inventions and the other acts out the invention using data and other materials. They both helped me set a plan in my mind how I want to do tiers in my classroom. The article also had a lot more data and proof of what worked and what didn’t work. The book just talked about the different ideas of the interventions. The author of both book and article both believed that reading is crucial to every child and if we can diagnose or set up an intervention then we can help them get to where they need to be. The book went more in-depth into what Reading intervention is, whereas the article just demonstrated an example of the reading the intervention.

Article:

Optiz Pg. 14 #4: Module 1

Use Table 1.1 “Summary of Proficient and Less Proficient Reading Behaviors” to observe a reader.  Highlight the characteristics you notice and provide an example of what you see.

 

Table1.1 shows various models of reading. Throughout Optiz’s text he defines the different areas and characteristics for proficient readers. It helps you look notice the behaviors of the proficient reader and the proficient reading behavior. I complete running records on the students' reading fluency and comprehension in order to determine their leveled reading group for the upcoming week. Their main focus is pronouncing the word correctly, which takes all of their time and energy and honestly leaving them with no opportunity to grasp the meaning of the word and the text. I feel that if a student must focus on every sound and every letter that they will be less likely to understand what they have read. If a student is fluent it can pull all of the things together and proficiently read.

This year I am working with many students on different levels. I have one who is a severely low reader. He is reading 34 words per minute. I am having to work with him every day and let him read to me every day. I feel that there is a lot of self-doubt and confidence. It’s scary to think that if this continues how far behind he will be. As he is reading is focused on the individual’s sounds and not the word itself. So not only is his fluency low, but his comprehension is low as well. I continue to do Diebls with him once a week, but I am thinking of increasing it to twice a week. Overall, this was very interesting to me because it helps me understand and know what to truly look for in a student.

Assessment Powerpoint: Module 1

I am passionate about reading and I am in shock when I read the statistics that were proved on the power point. I can’t believe that 40 percent of students are diagnose with some type of disability and 80 percent of those disabilities are reading related. It is crazy to think that is how the reading society. I feel after reading this powerpoint I now have a better knowledge of terms that are used within the schools.  I like looking at the different stages of reading and comparing to my class on where my students are. I realized that with teaching third grade, they are in the growing independent stage. They have to almost be where they need to be with fluency. After reading this powerpoint it truly allows you as a teacher get a better understanding of your child and how the assessing is help him or her achieve their goal.
  

Assessing Reading Skills Video Module 1

I learned valuable information from reading the text, article, PowerPoint, and watching the video. My favorite topic from the blog entries would be the video. I enjoyed watching the video because I feel that as a teacher, I can relate to it better. I’ve always had the doubt in my head if doing the running records for fluency and comprehension is the best thing to do. I always self-doubt because I read and see so many other opinions based on student recognition and low fluency in their reading. I really like the video because it explained the 10 year girl whom focused so much on decoding words rather than comprehension. It showed that if a student can fluently read then he/she will be successful with their reading comprehension. It is a building bridge to a lifelong success of reading. I related to this video personally because I had a student whom had the same difficulties. I did weekly assessments with hi and he wasn’t improving at first. As the time went on and I kept drilling and doing fluency passages with him, his fluency levels increased. I then began to slowly notice his comprehension grades were increasing rapidly. One quote that really stuck with me is “Students having an IQ doesn’t mean that they have high reading levels” This is very true and I have noticed this within all of my classrooms.

Final Personal ReadingTheory

Final Personal Reading Theory

 

          Learning to read is process, each skill builds upon another. As an early childhood teacher, I believe that learning to read to crucial to a child and their future. Throughout this course, my knowledge on reading theories, literacy programs, and reading techniques has developed tremendously. I am now more focused on my current beliefs, regarding reading and young children. I feel more knowledgably abbot what to look for within the students in my classroom. There were different terms and reading practices that I didn’t know about until this course. I have been a teacher for four years and have always felt confident in my teach abilities. After I completed the research and read the Weaver’s Reading Process and Practice, has given me a better understanding of effect reading and overall literacy teaching techniques.

Throughout the 6 weeks, I learned a lot, but the main thing I took away from this is the importance of comprehension in students. As teachers we need o focuses on students reading to attain meaning, rather than to decode every word. The importance on phonics within the classroom has changed my view. Phonics is very important in the classroom, but I feel that focusing on the individual sounds doesn’t help a child with comprehension.  This past year I used running records known as, Dibels. The running records focus on the number of miscues that students would make.  It didn’t help a student with comprehension level and it was a poor way to determine the fluency of students. We can integrate phonics instruction into whole group mini-lessons when referring back to a book that students are familiar with. Word patterns and sounds are easily spotted and exposed when students are familiar with and understand the reading. Phonics instruction is extremely helpful during individual reading and writing conferences. I am now reflecting and researching different ideas and ways that I can change that in my classroom. I feel that phonics should no longer be taught in isolation, but needs to be integrated into a literacy program.

This course taught me the importance or a literacy program. It showed me that keeping a literacy program in place will keep students learning and reading at their own pace. This year I was introduced to a new reading program that covered all the key essentials with reading. I was a little curious as to how this program truly helped the students. After reading Weaver’s point of view on literacy programs, it made me realize how important the literacy programs are. The C.A.F.E/ Daily 5 program keeps the classroom balanced. It keeps the students involved. They have to be readers of themselves. They need to set goals and know what is expected of them. I feel that reading the Weaver text truly gave me the drive to continue incorporating student choice within the classroom. I feel that the students to have choice so they can be confident within themselves.

Throughout this class it made me realize how important child involvement is, not only the student, but as a teacher. As a teacher it is important to do read aloud with the students. They enjoy hearing teachers reading and it create discussion in the classroom. It makes them feel involved, but also make those personal connections. It made me realize that kids need to be motivated. They need to feel involved and want to learn. Keeping the program changing every day, keeps the children focused. Conferencing with the students keep them focused on what they need to work on. I feel that it gives them a sense of leadership with reading. Giving the students a chance to be the leader and have control over their own reading goals gives them the confidences that they need to perform.

Throughout the past six weeks, I have learned that there are many theories that people believe is the “right” way. When teaching a classroom full of 24 third graders and trying to keep them on the correct reading level is challenging. There are many aspects of a comprehensive literacy program that I will use in my classroom. I plan to continue the C.A.F.E/ Daily 5 program in the classroom. I feel that I have gained much knowledge of the comprehensive literacy approach that will significantly enhance my own literacy instruction.

Module 6: Instructional Challenge

Next year, you will be teaching in a school where the vast majority of students did not meet standard on your state's criterion-referenced test and where more than 75% of the students are eligible for free and reduced-price meals. What are some specific universal literacy strategies you may implement to ensure students success? Include both in-class examples and things you could do outside the classroom

 

I teach at a title 1 school where 86 % of our school receives free lunch. Although we have met AYP on our test scores for thirteen years in a row, I can still relate to this instructional challenge. First thing to realize is the lack of access to technology, books, or any other necessary items needed in some classes today. Keeping an open communication with eh parents is very important. To ensure student success in my classroom, I let them checkout books from my own personal library and bring them back to me. I have rewards and positive incentives for the ones who meet their goals or bring back papers signed.

I would make sure the students are building connections with me, but also their peers. I would have different lesson that would boost their confidence level. I have classroom jobs that allows them to be the leader and create responsibility. Building on their back ground knowledge and knowing where they have been in crucial for a teacher to do in this type of environment.