Building Words

Explain how the “Making Words” program described in Chapter 10, utilize the principles
of constructivism.
In constructivism, teaching focuses primarily on empowering the students (Calpro, 2020).
The teacher plays the role of engaging students as they discover knowledge, and provides them
with opportunities to reflect upon the lessons and relate them to their real-world. The
constructivist approach to learning modifies the methods of teaching to include skills that
enhance metacognition and self-evaluation. Learners construct knowledge physically and are
thus involved in active learning. They symbolically create knowledge and socially construct it
through conveying meaning to the work of others. Lastly, the constructivist approach requires
that students theoretically construct knowledge in their attempt to foster their understanding.
The activity explained in Chapter 10 utilizes some principles of constructivism. First,
Beth ensures that the learners are actively engaged and gives them the necessary materials for
them to physically construct knowledge. She provided the students with cards for the vowels e
and i and the constants c, d, h, l, n, and r (Rasinski & Padak, 2013). Beth has also provided a
pocket chart for the students, which is placed at the front of the classroom. Also, children are
involved in the discovery of knowledge. Students make the words as Beth calls them out.
Students make words using the letters provided to them (Rasinski & Padak, 2013). They are
given the opportunity to discover knowledge on their own, with guidance from Beth.
Describe at least two other ways you will use constructivism in your classroom to teach
reading.

I would use constructivism in my classroom by guiding students to relate content learned
in the classroom with objects in their real life. For instance, I will provide students with letters
(both vowels and consonants) and then instruct them to make words that refer to objects they can
either see in the classroom or ones they use at home in their daily lives. By doing this, I will be
ensuring that students theoretically construct knowledge. They will be in a position to make
sense of what is learned in class by relating it to their life experiences. Secondly, I would use
constructivism by engaging the students in creating materials used in learning. For instance,
instead of making the letter cards on my own, I will involve the students in creating the letter
cards, that we will then use in learning. Doing this will be ensuring that students are involved
physically in the construction of knowledge. Students learn how to create knowledge as opposed
to just being consumers of knowledge.
Lastly, explain why it is important to employ constructivist principles when teaching
reading, especially beginning reading.
Employment of constructivism principles in instructing reading empowers students to
discover knowledge with little guidance from the teacher. The students are actively engaged in
the learning process, and this ensures that they take part in the discovery of knowledge. The
principles move students away from a place where their role is reduced to just memorizing facts,
to a place where they evaluate the facts themselves, and their metacognitive abilities are
enhanced (California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project). Right from the
beginning, students are made aware that the learning process entails active participation. It
becomes easier even in later advanced grades as the student is already aware of their role in
creating knowledge. Constructivism principles produce innovators and creators of knowledge,
students who are actively involved in the production of information.

References

California Adult Literacy Professional Development Project. (n.d.). What is constructivism?
 Retrieved from http://www.calpro-online.org/eric/docs/brown/brown01_02.pdf
Calpro. (2020). What Is Constructivism? (Attributes). Retrieved 31 March 2020, from
https://www.calpro-online.org/eric/docs/brown/brown01_02.pdf
Rasinski, T. & Padak, N.D. (2013). From phonics to fluency: Effective teaching of decoding and
reading fluency in the elementary school. NJ: Pearson