Doing away with the traditional style of learning to read by having a "letter of the week" may seem like a difficult task for many longtime teachers, however the benefits that come from this technique can create lasting advantages for students learning to read. I have often pondered on how to approach teaching students how to read. In the article on the first day of school the teacher asked the students if they knew how to read, no one raised their hand. After holding up some things they have been exposed to in every day life such as restaurant logos and movies and asking the question again, the whole class raised their hands saying that they could read! I think the idea of creating an alphabet board with the students pictures under the letters to allow for the students to relate the letters something is an awesome idea and it is definitely something that I would like to incorporate in my class room one day. Can you think of any other methods that might useful in a classroom of students who are just learning to read? 
The second article details on a myriad of topics, one I found interesting is the great changes that the education system is facing today, where there is such a difference between levels of knowledge. For example, students who have been in preschool are much more likely to be more advanced than the students who have not been exposed to other children in a classroom setting. I currently teach a class at my church and I am faced with students who are high achieving as well as low achieving, and it is a huge challenge to assure that both types of children get equal opportunities to learn and grow.How do you think a teacher could face such diversities and still give all of the students an equal opportunity to learn?
As future teachers, we must remember that we should always have a good knowledge base of reading theory and practice because it is ever changing and most of all, we must be patient with our students, after all, "reading is not dancing on top of words. It is grasping the soul of them," and as teachers this can be a very difficult and time consuming task, however at educators of the future it is our duty to inspire our future students and this can begin with a good foundation in reading.
I just loved the Jarvis and Bell article. I really enjoyed the fact that Bell took a photo of each of the children in her class, paired it with a piece of environmental print and then connected it to an alphabet line. How meaningful and special! That provides children not only a great way to learn letters and letter sounds, but also with a sense of classroom community.
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