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

Supports

3. The pictures are colorful and engaging.
4.  The pictures help support the text.

5. Relatively familiar topic.
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.

Supports

4. Pictures are engaging and support the text.

5. Simple story line that is familiar.
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.

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.