Assigning homework and independent work is essential to all students in the classroom. There is not enough time during the school day for students to practice and review what is being learned. According to, Classroom Instruction the Works with English Language Learners, appropriate homework assignments require students to practice things already learned in the classroom. Meaningful homework is an assignment that each student can complete independently without frustration. My intended homework objective is for students to practice, review, and apply knowledge that has been learned at school. Hill and Flynn state that "homework is an effective means of extending student learning beyond the school day" (p.77). It is important for the teacher to carefully plan the homework assignment that is to be given and differentiate what each student is supposed to do depending on the stage of language acquisition they are in. Homework should be based on what students can do alone. In class we talked about how important it is for homework to be designed at an appropriate level of difficulty (95% success rate.) In class I realized how important it is to provide students with choice, allowing students to gain ownership and become more invested in the assignment that they are doing. Specific feedback will be provided on homework assignments in a timely manner. It is more effective if students receive feedback the day the assignment is turned in. Not only will I provide feedback, but I will allow my students to share with a partner or a small group and receive feedback from other students in the class. As a class we will practice how to give appropriate feedback to each other.
It is important to provide simple directions on homework assignments. If possible providing homework in the students native language would be helpful. It is important that the homework and expectations are clearly stated at school, providing students time to ask questions and feel comfortable with what is expected of them. At the beginning of the year it is important to discuss your homework policy with not only the students but the parents. This should be discussed with parents using a translator if needed and a written explanation (translated into students primary language if possible.) There are many site online that provide graphic organizers in multiple languages to assist children at home. A list of beneficial websites should be provided and explained to parents. These should be websites that children can use on their own to practice skills learned at school. These website should also offer suggestions and tips for parents in their native language.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Entry 9: Fiction and Non-fictions texts
Characteristics | Fiction Texts | Non Fiction Texts |
Characters | Make believe Animals that talk | About real things Real animals |
Pictures | Illustrations represent the text | Photographs represent the text |
Text | Use dialogue Beginning, Middle, End Setting Problem and solution | Headings Bold Print Glossary Table of Contents Maps/Graphs Captions |
Information | Make believe Written from author’s imagination | Factual information Author does research |
Main Purpose Vocabulary | To tell a story Simple and repetitive | To inform or describe Scientific and complex |
All four books that I looked at to create this chart are leveled readers used during my reading groups. The two fiction books that I choose were, “The Lost Sheep” and “Mrs. Murphy’s Bears.” The two nonfiction books that I looked ate were “Bears, Bears, Bears” and “Who Lives Here?” All of the stories that I looked at were about animals.
The features that will support students learning to speak English include:
Detailed pictures that represent the text.
Familiarity of a common story line.
Headings help students understand what they are going to learn about.
Detailed pictures that represent the text.
Familiarity of a common story line.
Headings help students understand what they are going to learn about.
The features that will be challenging include:
Difficult or unknown vocabulary
Text features: table of contents, glossary, maps and graphs.
Text Structure
Stories written from imagination because it is not something concrete and real that the students can relate to.
Some things that could help include preteaching difficult or unfamiliar vocabulary before students read a text and teach the different structures of each text so students know what to expect and how to use the nonfiction text features. I feel if you teach these features and students understand how and why they are helpful, nonfiction texts can be easier to understand because they provide more resources.
Difficult or unknown vocabulary
Text features: table of contents, glossary, maps and graphs.
Text Structure
Stories written from imagination because it is not something concrete and real that the students can relate to.
Some things that could help include preteaching difficult or unfamiliar vocabulary before students read a text and teach the different structures of each text so students know what to expect and how to use the nonfiction text features. I feel if you teach these features and students understand how and why they are helpful, nonfiction texts can be easier to understand because they provide more resources.
Entry 7: Running Records
Eduardo M. read The Fox on the Box by Barbara Gregorich. Eduardo speaks only Spanish at home.
The Fox on the Box
p. 3 The fox sat on the box.
p. 4 The fox ate on the box.
p. 7 The fox played on the box.
p. 8 The fox jumped over the box.
p. 10 The fox jumped on the box.
p. 15 The box sat on the fox.
The paages that are not listed only had illustrations of what was happening.
Eduardo is constructing meaningful sentences. Most of the words that Eduardo read incorrectly did not change the meaning of the sentence. Eduardo rereads to gain meaning, but does not self correct his errors. He reread page 4, but still read the word ate as eat. Since Eduardo only speaks Spanish at home I don't think the word "ate" is common for him. He attempted all words and used picture clues when he got stuck on a word. On page 7 Eduardo got stuck on the word "played." He reread the sentence twice and examined the picture, but then decided that the word was run. Replacing the word run in the sentence did not change the meaning and was supported by the picture. I now know that I need to teach Eduardo to pay attention to the letter that the word begins with when he gets stuck. Another miscue that Eduardo made during his reading was on page 8. The word in the book was jumped and Eduardo read jump. Again this error did not change the meaning of the text, but it make me aware that Eduardo is unaware of suffixes. This seems to be a common mistake with Spanish speakers. Now I need to introduce Eduardo to common suffixes and show him how to pay attention to the end of a word. Eduardo was able to make sense of the text and was able to understand what happened. Eduardo did a good job using picture clues and tracking with his finger. Most of Eduardo's mistakes were visually similar (such as sit and sat.) I need to work with Eduardo and get him to pay attention to the entire word instead of just the beginning. This story was at an instructional level for Eduardo. When I asked Eduardo his favorite part of the story, he said "The chasing part because they was playing." This showed me that a lot of his understanding about the story came from the pictures. See running record below.
Kevin B. read How to Make a Mud Pie, by Deborah Eaton.Kevin speaks only Vietnamese at home.
How to Make a Mud Pie
p. 2 You can make a mud pie. It's easy! First, find some good dirt.
p. 3 Fill some pan with water. Dump the water on the dirt.
p. 4 Mix the water and the dirt. Now it is mud.
p. 5 Mix the mud some more. Use your fingers and your toes.
p. 6 Put in some rocks to make it crunchy.
p. 7 Put in some fat wiggly worms.
p. 8 Take out your shoes and socks.
p. 9 Take out your little brother.
p. 10 Make the mud good and gooey. Now it is ready.
p. 11 Pat it. Make a flat pie. Let your little brother help.
p. 12 Put it in a pan. Bake it in the sun.
p. 13 When it is done, give some to your dad.
p. 14 Give some to your mom.
p. 15 Give some to your dog.
Kevin's errors were mostly visual in this story. The words look similar but have a different meaning. Kevin's miscues in this story did effect his comprehension at the end. I need to teach Kevin that if he reads a sentence and it doesn't make sense to him that he needs to re read it. On page 2 Kevin read, "First, fill some good dirt." Kevin used picture clues during his reading and he may have got the word fill because fill and find both start with the letter "f" and in the picture it looks like the boy is filling in a hole. Quite a few of Kevin's errors were connecting words and not vocabulary words. For example he would say in instead of on, is instead of and a instead of the. Kevin made two self corrections in this story. He was able to self correct the word dump by sounding it out and breaking it into smaller parts and he reread and self corrected the word "on" because it didn't make sense. Kevin's miscues related to how he speaks. The next step is to teach Kevin to pay attention to all of the words and to reread when a sentence does not make sense. See running record below.
The Fox on the Box
p. 3 The fox sat on the box.
p. 4 The fox ate on the box.
p. 7 The fox played on the box.
p. 8 The fox jumped over the box.
p. 10 The fox jumped on the box.
p. 15 The box sat on the fox.
The paages that are not listed only had illustrations of what was happening.
Eduardo is constructing meaningful sentences. Most of the words that Eduardo read incorrectly did not change the meaning of the sentence. Eduardo rereads to gain meaning, but does not self correct his errors. He reread page 4, but still read the word ate as eat. Since Eduardo only speaks Spanish at home I don't think the word "ate" is common for him. He attempted all words and used picture clues when he got stuck on a word. On page 7 Eduardo got stuck on the word "played." He reread the sentence twice and examined the picture, but then decided that the word was run. Replacing the word run in the sentence did not change the meaning and was supported by the picture. I now know that I need to teach Eduardo to pay attention to the letter that the word begins with when he gets stuck. Another miscue that Eduardo made during his reading was on page 8. The word in the book was jumped and Eduardo read jump. Again this error did not change the meaning of the text, but it make me aware that Eduardo is unaware of suffixes. This seems to be a common mistake with Spanish speakers. Now I need to introduce Eduardo to common suffixes and show him how to pay attention to the end of a word. Eduardo was able to make sense of the text and was able to understand what happened. Eduardo did a good job using picture clues and tracking with his finger. Most of Eduardo's mistakes were visually similar (such as sit and sat.) I need to work with Eduardo and get him to pay attention to the entire word instead of just the beginning. This story was at an instructional level for Eduardo. When I asked Eduardo his favorite part of the story, he said "The chasing part because they was playing." This showed me that a lot of his understanding about the story came from the pictures. See running record below.
Kevin B. read How to Make a Mud Pie, by Deborah Eaton.Kevin speaks only Vietnamese at home.
How to Make a Mud Pie
p. 2 You can make a mud pie. It's easy! First, find some good dirt.
p. 3 Fill some pan with water. Dump the water on the dirt.
p. 4 Mix the water and the dirt. Now it is mud.
p. 5 Mix the mud some more. Use your fingers and your toes.
p. 6 Put in some rocks to make it crunchy.
p. 7 Put in some fat wiggly worms.
p. 8 Take out your shoes and socks.
p. 9 Take out your little brother.
p. 10 Make the mud good and gooey. Now it is ready.
p. 11 Pat it. Make a flat pie. Let your little brother help.
p. 12 Put it in a pan. Bake it in the sun.
p. 13 When it is done, give some to your dad.
p. 14 Give some to your mom.
p. 15 Give some to your dog.
Kevin's errors were mostly visual in this story. The words look similar but have a different meaning. Kevin's miscues in this story did effect his comprehension at the end. I need to teach Kevin that if he reads a sentence and it doesn't make sense to him that he needs to re read it. On page 2 Kevin read, "First, fill some good dirt." Kevin used picture clues during his reading and he may have got the word fill because fill and find both start with the letter "f" and in the picture it looks like the boy is filling in a hole. Quite a few of Kevin's errors were connecting words and not vocabulary words. For example he would say in instead of on, is instead of and a instead of the. Kevin made two self corrections in this story. He was able to self correct the word dump by sounding it out and breaking it into smaller parts and he reread and self corrected the word "on" because it didn't make sense. Kevin's miscues related to how he speaks. The next step is to teach Kevin to pay attention to all of the words and to reread when a sentence does not make sense. See running record below.
Entry 1: Philosophy of Literacy
I interviewed Linda Hughes, a Second Grade teacher at the Pinnacle Charter School. I was interested in finding out if her views of teaching literacy were different than my own because she has been teaching for over twenty years.
Q: How long have you been teaching?
A: 23 years
Q: What are your philosophies about teaching literacy?
A: I believe that kids need a strong foundation in reading. Kids need to learn what works for them. It is a teachers job to help kids find out what their learning style is and how they learn best. I believe each student needs to develop skills to become a successful reader (decoding and comprehension.)
(Linda points to a poster on a wall in her classroom) That is my philosophy, that is what I believe. Practice, Practice, Practice. I believe that providing an environment that shows a love for learning is very important.
Q: What is a challenge you face when teaching literacy?
A: Getting students to gain confidence when reading. Readers make mistakes all the time, and it is my job to show them how to reread and try again. I explain to my students that I have to reread when something is confusing to me in order to understand it.
Q: What is you philosophy for teaching ELL students?
A: I've noticed that I have to repeat directions. After I have explained directions I will have students tell me what they are supposed to do. I try to get all of my students to answer questions in complete sentences. I like ECAR (our new reading program) because I have to pick out vocabulary from the text we are going to read that may not be familiar to their culture. It forces me to look at vocabulary in a new way and think of words that may be unknown and confusing to my students. For example one of my students last week thought that a farm and a barn were the same thing.
Q: What are some challenges you have when teaching ELL students?
A: My biggest challenge is that the kids look like they are with you but they are really not catching on. I've realized that it is important to make sure that they understand the whole lesson instead of bits and pieces.
Q: How do you differentiate for your ELL student?
A: Not much this year. I don't have the materials. This has been really difficult for me. I have been experimenting, but I am finding out that I am still teaching too high. I try something and I find out that it is still too hard. I need to teach kids how to work independently instead of relying on their neighbor or the teacher.
I found this interview interesting because Linda became very frustrated when I asked about working with ELLs. She doesn't feel confident that she has enough resources to teach them appropriately. I told her I would make copies of the charts in our book to help her with tiered questioning techniques and ideas for differentiating instruction.
Q: How long have you been teaching?
A: 23 years
Q: What are your philosophies about teaching literacy?
A: I believe that kids need a strong foundation in reading. Kids need to learn what works for them. It is a teachers job to help kids find out what their learning style is and how they learn best. I believe each student needs to develop skills to become a successful reader (decoding and comprehension.)
(Linda points to a poster on a wall in her classroom) That is my philosophy, that is what I believe. Practice, Practice, Practice. I believe that providing an environment that shows a love for learning is very important.
Q: What is a challenge you face when teaching literacy?
A: Getting students to gain confidence when reading. Readers make mistakes all the time, and it is my job to show them how to reread and try again. I explain to my students that I have to reread when something is confusing to me in order to understand it.
Q: What is you philosophy for teaching ELL students?
A: I've noticed that I have to repeat directions. After I have explained directions I will have students tell me what they are supposed to do. I try to get all of my students to answer questions in complete sentences. I like ECAR (our new reading program) because I have to pick out vocabulary from the text we are going to read that may not be familiar to their culture. It forces me to look at vocabulary in a new way and think of words that may be unknown and confusing to my students. For example one of my students last week thought that a farm and a barn were the same thing.
Q: What are some challenges you have when teaching ELL students?
A: My biggest challenge is that the kids look like they are with you but they are really not catching on. I've realized that it is important to make sure that they understand the whole lesson instead of bits and pieces.
Q: How do you differentiate for your ELL student?
A: Not much this year. I don't have the materials. This has been really difficult for me. I have been experimenting, but I am finding out that I am still teaching too high. I try something and I find out that it is still too hard. I need to teach kids how to work independently instead of relying on their neighbor or the teacher.
I found this interview interesting because Linda became very frustrated when I asked about working with ELLs. She doesn't feel confident that she has enough resources to teach them appropriately. I told her I would make copies of the charts in our book to help her with tiered questioning techniques and ideas for differentiating instruction.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Entry 8 Sheltered Lesson
There are nine main components to a sheltered lesson.
1. realia (using real objects and photographs)
2. intentional planning
3. explicit scaffolding
4. language objectives
5. repetition and practice
6. tiered questioning
7. explicit vocabulary
8. authentic language
9. variety of grouping
I watched a sheltered lesson on YouTube. This was a small group lesson in a special education class titled SPED 624.wmv from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsY0dVkeZSI&feature=related
This lesson was all about going to the vegetable farm and the different things you would find at the super market. The teacher did a few things to shelter this lesson for her students. The teacher used realia to help promote comprehension for her students. She used pictures to show what she was talking about. She also used real vegetables from her house to describe the vegetables at the farm. The students were able to hold each vegetable, look at them and smell them. The teacher brought grocery bags from a variety of stores to use when she was talking about the veggies from the farm going to the grocery store. At the end of the lesson the students listened to and sang a song about going to the super market. When the song would mention a type of food the teacher would say it and hold up an example of the food to help the students make the connection.The teacher also used tiered questioning at the end when asking students about the food they like to eat. She asked an early production student, "Do you like fish or apples?" and he was able to point to which on he liked. For the speech emergent students she asked, "What do you like to eat?" and they were able to respond with a single word answer.
The teacher did a good job using realia and tiered questioning to promote comprehension, but she didn't allow enough time for the students to explore and talk. Allowing the students more time to explore with the vegetables and time to talk to each other would have aided in their comprehension. Another thing that I would suggest is when she was passing around the different vegetables for the students to explore, aiding them in saying the name of each and talking about what they noticed. This would help get the students more actively involved. I also think that the teacher should have used the word "vegetable" instead of "veggie" throughout the lesson to provide her students with the correct vocabulary. Most of the students were able to provide one word answers and seemed to understand what was being taught because of the use of visuals and the pace of the teacher.
1. realia (using real objects and photographs)
2. intentional planning
3. explicit scaffolding
4. language objectives
5. repetition and practice
6. tiered questioning
7. explicit vocabulary
8. authentic language
9. variety of grouping
I watched a sheltered lesson on YouTube. This was a small group lesson in a special education class titled SPED 624.wmv from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsY0dVkeZSI&feature=related
This lesson was all about going to the vegetable farm and the different things you would find at the super market. The teacher did a few things to shelter this lesson for her students. The teacher used realia to help promote comprehension for her students. She used pictures to show what she was talking about. She also used real vegetables from her house to describe the vegetables at the farm. The students were able to hold each vegetable, look at them and smell them. The teacher brought grocery bags from a variety of stores to use when she was talking about the veggies from the farm going to the grocery store. At the end of the lesson the students listened to and sang a song about going to the super market. When the song would mention a type of food the teacher would say it and hold up an example of the food to help the students make the connection.The teacher also used tiered questioning at the end when asking students about the food they like to eat. She asked an early production student, "Do you like fish or apples?" and he was able to point to which on he liked. For the speech emergent students she asked, "What do you like to eat?" and they were able to respond with a single word answer.
The teacher did a good job using realia and tiered questioning to promote comprehension, but she didn't allow enough time for the students to explore and talk. Allowing the students more time to explore with the vegetables and time to talk to each other would have aided in their comprehension. Another thing that I would suggest is when she was passing around the different vegetables for the students to explore, aiding them in saying the name of each and talking about what they noticed. This would help get the students more actively involved. I also think that the teacher should have used the word "vegetable" instead of "veggie" throughout the lesson to provide her students with the correct vocabulary. Most of the students were able to provide one word answers and seemed to understand what was being taught because of the use of visuals and the pace of the teacher.
Entry 4: Trying to read French
I choose to get a variety of texts in French.
I began with an adult novel titled "Le Fantome de L'Opera." I am familiar with the play called "Phantom of the Opera," but I was still unable to make sense of the text. The only line I was able to figure out was, "Le fantome de l'Opera a existe," (The phantom of the opera does exist.) There were a selected few words that I could make sense of because they looked and sounded familiar to words in the English language ( opera, existe, fantome, petites.) Although, I found it hard to chuck one sentence at a time to make sense of it because the page was filled with so many unknown words and the book used a lot of commas within a sentence. This was frustrating and I couldn't get myself to read more than a few pages. It is extremely hard to read words, not understand how they are pronounced and try to make sense of the meaning.
I then choose to read "Le Petit Prince." This was a chapter book younger children. I wanted to see if I could get more out of it and if the language would be simple. Once again, I was able to get through the first few pages, and my eyes began to glaze over because it was impossible for me to make sense of this text.
The next text I tried was "Madeleine." I was the most excited about this book because I have read it and I have it at school. I was able to make sense of the story line as I read it because it was familiar to me. I found the picture to be extremely helpful. I was able to use my picture cues to help me decode a variety of words. This text was still frustrating and without having prior knowledge of the story I would have been completely lost. I ended up getting the English version and reading the texts side by side to make meaning out of it.
The last story I tried to read was a picture book called, "je suis ton petit ours." This story line was extremely simple and I was able to understand it because the language was very repetitive and the picture cues aided to the new word on the page. This story was also less intimidating.
I can't imagine being told to read a book without knowledge of the letters and symbols and without having any background knowledge of how the word sound. I was able to understand the story line of the picture book, but without the pictures I would have been completely lost.
I ended up finding a kids dictionary (with pictures) to help me make sense of some of the French language. I was able to read and understand quite a few words. This was the easiest because I was working with one word at a time and there was a picture next to it. As I read each word I was able to find many similarities between English and French. For example: monnaie-money, locomotive-train, insectes-insect, bebe-baby, auto-car...)
Strategies I used to try and decode and understand an unknown language:
1. Look for familiar words.
2. Look at punctuation to try to gain meaning.
3. Use picture clues to decode text.
4. Use a children's picture dictionary to make sense of a new text.
5. Find an English version of the same text and read them side by side to gain meaning.
I don't feel like I comprehended any of the texts, but I was able to guess what it was trying to say. This activity reminds me of the class activity where we were trying to learn a new alphabet and apply it to reading. Both of these activities reminded me how hard it is to learn a new language and how frustrating it can be if you are not given the appropriate tools to be successful.
I began with an adult novel titled "Le Fantome de L'Opera." I am familiar with the play called "Phantom of the Opera," but I was still unable to make sense of the text. The only line I was able to figure out was, "Le fantome de l'Opera a existe," (The phantom of the opera does exist.) There were a selected few words that I could make sense of because they looked and sounded familiar to words in the English language ( opera, existe, fantome, petites.) Although, I found it hard to chuck one sentence at a time to make sense of it because the page was filled with so many unknown words and the book used a lot of commas within a sentence. This was frustrating and I couldn't get myself to read more than a few pages. It is extremely hard to read words, not understand how they are pronounced and try to make sense of the meaning.
I then choose to read "Le Petit Prince." This was a chapter book younger children. I wanted to see if I could get more out of it and if the language would be simple. Once again, I was able to get through the first few pages, and my eyes began to glaze over because it was impossible for me to make sense of this text.
The next text I tried was "Madeleine." I was the most excited about this book because I have read it and I have it at school. I was able to make sense of the story line as I read it because it was familiar to me. I found the picture to be extremely helpful. I was able to use my picture cues to help me decode a variety of words. This text was still frustrating and without having prior knowledge of the story I would have been completely lost. I ended up getting the English version and reading the texts side by side to make meaning out of it.
The last story I tried to read was a picture book called, "je suis ton petit ours." This story line was extremely simple and I was able to understand it because the language was very repetitive and the picture cues aided to the new word on the page. This story was also less intimidating.
I can't imagine being told to read a book without knowledge of the letters and symbols and without having any background knowledge of how the word sound. I was able to understand the story line of the picture book, but without the pictures I would have been completely lost.
I ended up finding a kids dictionary (with pictures) to help me make sense of some of the French language. I was able to read and understand quite a few words. This was the easiest because I was working with one word at a time and there was a picture next to it. As I read each word I was able to find many similarities between English and French. For example: monnaie-money, locomotive-train, insectes-insect, bebe-baby, auto-car...)
Strategies I used to try and decode and understand an unknown language:
1. Look for familiar words.
2. Look at punctuation to try to gain meaning.
3. Use picture clues to decode text.
4. Use a children's picture dictionary to make sense of a new text.
5. Find an English version of the same text and read them side by side to gain meaning.
I don't feel like I comprehended any of the texts, but I was able to guess what it was trying to say. This activity reminds me of the class activity where we were trying to learn a new alphabet and apply it to reading. Both of these activities reminded me how hard it is to learn a new language and how frustrating it can be if you are not given the appropriate tools to be successful.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Entry 6: Language vs. Acquisition
Page 48, Activity from Essential Linguistics, Freeman & Freeman
The students:
L look up words in the dictionary to write definition
L make a Venn diagram to compare two stories
L practice sounding out words
L read in round-robin fashion
A correct peers when they make a mistake during reading
L identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound
L group cards with classmates’ names by a criterion on such as first and last letter
A/L write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound
L ask the teacher how to spell any word they don’t know
A read a language experience story they have created with the teacher
A/L work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences
L divide words into syllables
L on a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same sound
A make alphabet books different topics
L=Students are taught directly and they are practicing a specific skill. The students rely on the teacher to learn the language and pratice it.
A=Students are doing authentic activities to practice their language. They are making meaning out of the language.
L/A=Students are taught a skill and performing an authentic activity.
L=Students are taught directly and they are practicing a specific skill. The students rely on the teacher to learn the language and pratice it.
A=Students are doing authentic activities to practice their language. They are making meaning out of the language.
L/A=Students are taught a skill and performing an authentic activity.
The teacher:
L preteaches vocabulary
L does a shared reading with a big book
L makes sure that students read only books that fir their level
L has students segment words into phonemes
A/L writes words the students dictate for a story and has students help with the spelling of
difficult words
A asks students to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter
A uses decodable books
A sets aside time for SSR each day
L teaches Latin and Greek roots
L has students meet in literature circles
L conducts phonics drills
A/L chooses predictable texts
L teaches students different comprehension strategies
L does a picture walk of a new book
L uses a variety of worksheet to teach different skill
L=The teacher explicitly teaches each skill.A=The teacher has students work on authentic tasks. Students aren't aware that thier "learning."
A/L=The teacher assists the students in performing authentic tasks.
Learning: The activities that I labeled with an L are learning activities. I decided that each one of these are learning activities because the language is being learned. The teacher explicitly teaches each skill and the activities are teacher directed. The students are aware that they are learning during these activities. The students are learning how to do a particular skill and learning language by practicing each.
Acquisition: The activities that I labeled with an A are acquisition activities. I decided that each one of these are acquisition activities because the language is being acquired. These activities are authentic and allow the students to express themselves. The learning during these activities is unconscious for the students. The students are using their background knowledge to make meaning.
Learning and Acquisition: The activities that I labeled A/L are both learning and acquisition activities. These activities have components of both the learning and the acquisition view.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
Entry 5: Children's books with ELL
The Mixed-Up Chameleon
by Eric Carle
This story is about a chameleon who didn't have a very exiting life until one day he came across a zoo and saw many beautiful animals. He makes multiple wishes to be like the beautiful animals in the zoo. All of his wishes come true and he ends up feeling very mixed up and wishes to be himself again. The chameleon realizes that it's okay to be himself.
Components that might affect comprehension:
Challenges
1. The concept of animals at a zoo.
2. What a "wish" is.
3. New vocabulary
3. New vocabulary
Supports
3. The pictures are colorful and engaging.
4. The pictures help support the text.
4. The pictures help support the text.
5. Relatively familiar topic.
6. Age appropriate and developmentally appropriate.
6. Age appropriate and developmentally appropriate.
Before reading the book ask students open ended questions to see what they already know about chameleons. Have students make predictions based on the title and cover. I would suggest reading the story a second time and pointing to each animal on the page and explaining what it is called before the chameleon begins to change into the other animals. This way the students have some background information before this happens. This would be a fun book to read after visiting a zoo so the students can make connections with the animals in the story.
The Giant Cabbage an Alaska Folktale
by Cherie Stihler
This story is about Moose getting ready for the Giant Cabbage contest. He finds an enormous cabbage sitting in his garden. No matter what he does he can't move the cabbage. Many animals friends stop by and try to help moose move the cabbage. They try many different things and nothing works, until all the animals work together and get the cabbage into the truck. They take the cabbage to the fair and moose wins first prize for his giant cabbage. The animal friends help break the cabbage up into smaller pieces and Moose brings the cabbage home to make cabbage soup. All of his animal friends bring a vegetable to add to the soup and they enjoy a wonderful meal together.
Components that might affect comprehension:
Challenges
1. Too many words.
2. Unknown verbs: bump, shove, grab, lift, tug, budge.
3. Metaphors are used.
3. Metaphors are used.
Supports
4. Pictures are engaging and support the text.
5. Simple story line that is familiar.
6. Developmentally appropriate.
6. Developmentally appropriate.
I would recommend asking if any of your students have been to a fair and what their experience was like. This will allow students who have never been to a fair to gain some background knowledge before the story starts. It might be beneficial to list some of the unknown verbs on the board and have students act out what each word means. Many children are unfamiliar with what a cabbage is...bringing in a real cabbage from the grocery store would be fun.
References
Carle, E. (1989). The mixed-up chameleon. New York: Scholastic Inc.
Stihler, C. (2003). The giant cabbage an alaska folktale. Washington: Sasquatch Books.
Entry 2: Writing Instruction
It's hard for me to remember what kind of writing instruction I had as a kid, but I remember that I didn't enjoy writing time at school. However, I do remember writing notes and letters to friends when I was in elementary school through my high school years. This was our way of communicating with each other. As soon as I turned seven years old I started going to camp in up state New York. I made a lot of friends and we would keep in constant touch through letters and pictures until the next summer when we would see each other again.
I did receive formal writing instruction when I went to college. My writing wasn't quite up to college level expectations so I had to take a beginners writing course. This course taught me to write more for academic purposes instead of personal one's. While I was in college I mainly wrote what was required for me to get through my classes (because that's all there was time for.)
However, a year after college my sister committed suicide. The very next day I began writing in a journal. It was a way for me to communicate with her, express my thoughts that I was too scared to share, and it was a way for me to release my anger and sadness. It has been five years and I continue to write in a journal as a way to reflect on my life.
Writing is the hardest thing for me to teach my students and get them to enjoy. Every year I gain more excitement for writing and learn new ways to teach my students. Being back in school has been challenging because each class requires academic writing. With every paper I learn more and gain more confidence about myself as a writer.
During this program I have realized the importance in classroom talk and allocating time for my students to talk before I require them to write. I have found the extra time helpful and beneficial to my students. If my students can't talk about and share their ideas with others how are they going to be able to write them down on paper.
I now hope to inspire my students and not only help them become successful writers but to help them find enjoyment in it. Maybe if I was given more of a choice of what to write about as a kid I would have enjoyed it more.
I did receive formal writing instruction when I went to college. My writing wasn't quite up to college level expectations so I had to take a beginners writing course. This course taught me to write more for academic purposes instead of personal one's. While I was in college I mainly wrote what was required for me to get through my classes (because that's all there was time for.)
However, a year after college my sister committed suicide. The very next day I began writing in a journal. It was a way for me to communicate with her, express my thoughts that I was too scared to share, and it was a way for me to release my anger and sadness. It has been five years and I continue to write in a journal as a way to reflect on my life.
Writing is the hardest thing for me to teach my students and get them to enjoy. Every year I gain more excitement for writing and learn new ways to teach my students. Being back in school has been challenging because each class requires academic writing. With every paper I learn more and gain more confidence about myself as a writer.
During this program I have realized the importance in classroom talk and allocating time for my students to talk before I require them to write. I have found the extra time helpful and beneficial to my students. If my students can't talk about and share their ideas with others how are they going to be able to write them down on paper.
I now hope to inspire my students and not only help them become successful writers but to help them find enjoyment in it. Maybe if I was given more of a choice of what to write about as a kid I would have enjoyed it more.
Entry 3: The relationship between oral language and the reading process
There is a strong relationship between oral language and developing the skills to become a reader. Without having the language to talk and communicate with others, reading and writing cannot take place. English language learners need to develop sufficient vocabulary in the English language to be able to comprehend a text. Even if a child can decode a word they will not be able to make sense of the word until they gain background knowledge of what the word means and experience it. That is why it is imperative that teachers allow "classroom talk" to take place. In Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning, Gibbons discusses how important the role of talk is in learning. It allows students to learn from each other and feel safe in small group conversations. The more vocabulary, experience and background knowledge that a person has the more they will be able to understand the text they are reading.
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