Schema Theory & Diversity

Based off class discussions and reading from the text, I learned of many new ideas and strategies to create a community in my classroom and to also help with building background knowledge. What I learned most about scheme theory is that we all start out knowing nothing and over time we encounter different experiences and interactions both internally and externally. We grow as an individual and learn more and more as we grow older. If we are unsure of our students cultural backgrounds and ethnicities, this can affect our reading instruction. It is very important to create a diverse classroom by getting to know our students and learn about what they've been exposed to. Some of the main stratigies to do this is by:

1. Build a classroom community.
2. Throughout the school year, integrate thevchild's diversity within the classroom.
3. Make home visits.
4. Open houses/school fair
5. Activate background knowledge with a KWL chart & graphic organizers
6. Diverisy texts.
7. Share personal stories.
8. Book walks.
9. Have students create a writing list of topics they know of and could write about.
10. Visual images.

All of these strategies are helpful within the classroom which I want to try a few on my own. I really liked the one where students create a list of topics they are very familiar with and also making sure to do this throughout the year. I decided to pinterest schema theory and found an anchor chart that you could do with your students. The link is http://compassionate-teacher.blogspot.com/2012/12/sandy-hook-and-schema-anchor-chart.html. There are also several graphic organizes that you could use such as popplet! You don't realize how what you already know can affect your reading comprehension in so many ways!