Entry #10: Bless + Press Kaya Lani

    Reading through my peers’ blog posts has once again added great value to my understanding of Tompkins chapter 7: Expanding Academic Vocabulary along with the article, Teaching Metalinguistic Awareness and Reading Comprehension With Riddles. I was thoroughly impressed as I read through Kaya Lani’s blog post #9 because she used the readings to build off of her own experiences of developing vocabulary in elementary school. I want to bless Kaya Lani for her amazing blog post!

    Kaya Lani produced some important and essential questions at the end of her first paragraph. It was great to see that she was able to answer them by the end of her reading and writing process. I would press Kaya Lani even further to share some specific examples of how she would effectively teach the inner complexities of the English language, multiple meanings to a word, and vocabulary to students in her certification area. Do these things happen all at once or individually? It seems that this is a question that both myself and Kaya Lani still have after reading. Perhaps this week’s deeper dive discussion leaders could help clarify this for us.  One way that I might teach a lesson on homonyms to a class of first graders would be by creating an interactive smart board activity with two columns of pictures that correspond to a different item with the same name (homonyms). I am excited to hear some lesson ideas that Kaya Lani has in mind for teaching these topics. 

    When Kaya Lani referenced Tompkins’ idea that, "The goal is for students to become more aware of words, manipulate them playfully, and appreciate their power" (Tompkins, pg. 223), it reminded me of Gholdy Muhammad’s HRL framework from her book, Cultivating Genius. Muhammad talks about bringing students joy into learning and literacy. While talking about lessons learned from black literacy societies from the 19th century, Muhammad says, “Through their reading and writing, they still practiced joy and cultivated love” (Muhammad, 2020, p. 33). Muhammad is speaking about the need for teachers to support students in growing a love of literature and learning much like their ancestors had. Members of black literacy societies in the 19th century used literacy as a form of social justice. Muhammad urges educators to teach through a social justice lens in the classroom today. Tompkins’ idea of having students engage with words playfully and appreciatively is a way to have students find joy in their learning. Thanks to Kaya Lani’s thinking, I was able to make deeper connections to other texts as well. 

    Kaya Lani was clearly able to show some vulnerability as she wrote journal entry #9. She shared experiences of her own vocabulary development when she was a young student which enabled her to acquire a better understanding of the way that she personally formed her vocabulary knowledge. I felt heartbroken when I read that Kaya Lani had experiences throughout school where her teachers did not believe that she was capable of excellence. Sadly, I had experiences similar to Kaya Lani when I was in school. It feels empowering to know that despite what people may think or say about us, we have proven them wrong and demonstrate excellence every day! I know from reading Kaya Lani’s Blog that she will be an amazing educator who believes in her students ability to demonstrate brilliance and cultivates joy- I plan to do the same for my students as well!

Muhammad, G. (2020).  Cultivating genius:  An equity framework for culturally and 

     historically responsive literacy.  New York, NY:  Scholastic. 

Tompkins, G.E. (2017). Literacy for the 21st century: A balanced approach (7th ed.). Boston, MA: 

     Pearson

Zipke, M. (2008). Teaching metalinguistic awareness and reading comprehension with 

     riddles. The Reading Teacher, 62(2), 128–137. https://doi.org/