Lately, I've had to journal for my other course and keep records about my cooperative teacher and assessment. I love working with veteran teachers! They just know so much!!!
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1w6VyMcfMEebSmem1fbmaOZNcOM-NUHi1SxmSB1dBWOM/edit?hl=en#
Monday, January 24, 2011
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Stop and Jot...
So I just had a formal observation from my Vice Principal today and I have to report some data about how students mastered the material. I analyzed the exit tickets and figured out how my kids did. I included this sample because sometimes writing is just taking notes and does not require a formal structure for recording information. Here is what I discussed with my VP.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10GkbO56FGPGLkbN-e-sqKie0MYDrhVv-zrrg26Dke0I/edit?hl=en#
https://docs.google.com/document/d/10GkbO56FGPGLkbN-e-sqKie0MYDrhVv-zrrg26Dke0I/edit?hl=en#
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Fiction vs. NonFiction
Here is a comparison of Fiction and Non-Fiction. I used a T-chart as my graphic organizer. One of the class novels we read this year was Holes by Louis Sachar. Other top Fiction texts include:
The Circuit by Francisco Jimenez (1997)
Al Capone does my Shirts by Gennifer Choldenko (2004)
Top Non-Fiction texts include:
The Life and Death of Crazy Horse by R. Freedman
The Abracadabra Kid by S. Fleischman
Any supplemental Non-Fiction material on www.readinga-z.com. (Leveled books for both Fiction and Non-Fiction)
Some elements of Fiction that support ELLs are the use of a pictures, providing a visual reference for learning. It helps students, "Make connections and construct meaning." (Hill, p.102) Also the ability to use imagination in stories, thereby creating connections to the text and referencing background knowlege. Some struggles students may have with fiction could be higher order skills such as inferring character's feelings and situational outcomes, especially when the text that may not be culturally relevant.
Some elements of Non-Fiction that support ELLs is the fact-based format, which requires readers to find information directly from the text. Many non-fiction texts do come with pictures, diagrams, etc. important for ELL processing of new concepts. Non-fiction is very vocabulary heavy, therefore, students need a lot of practice navigating through text. These pieces can be "cognitively demanding and context reduced." (Hill, p.102) Students definitely need graphic organizers to help them think through pieces that are heavily academic.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
A Sheltered Lesson...
I had the opportunity to watch Ms. Krauss deliver a sheltered lesson to what looked to be middle school students. The class was ranged from intermediate to advanced readers who read on a 5th to 6th grade level. This video was demonstrating how to make reading material "comprehensible" to ELL students so they were able understand the themes in a challenging text.
In watching the video and learning about what it means to construct a comprehensible lesson for ELL students, I was truly inspired and renewed. I had always been told that in order to help readers understand more difficult material, I needed to find lower level texts about the same topic so they could still understand and follow along with the rest of the class. Now that I teach middle school, I don't want to do that; students' self-esteem and self-worth is very fragile and they don't want to stand out academically from their peers too much. This video provided many concrete techniques that I am able to transfer to my classroom right away and gives me encouragement to teach ELL students in a strong way.
Classroom Environment:
Students sat in a "U" around the room. Everyone was able to see each other during discussion. The room was bright and inviting. Students had a lot of room to read and work alone or in a group if necessary.
Teacher Techniques:
Ms. Krauss was using the book Esperanza Rising to teach inferring to her students. The reading lesson was divided into 3 parts: Pre-reading, During-Reading, and Post-reading activities. Ms. Krauss began the lesson by setting a clear outline for what students were going to learn for the day. She read the objectives and expectations to students as well as had the information posted on the board for students to see. Students were focusing on inferring while reading a text. She had a list of materials and an agenda by which students would be able to follow the course of the lesson. She began by pre-viewing vocabulary, asking students about their background knowledge, and showed pictures to reinforce the words students would be encountering in the story. She even picked out the word "bouquet" and took time to discuss how it is a word that does not look the way it sounds.
During the reading, Ms. Krauss read to the students and reminded them of some reading strategies they needed as they were reading the story together. She read slowly, clearly, and loud enough for all students to hear. She stopped often and showed a page on the overhead to discuss parts of the book and reinforce the vocabulary discussed prior to the reading of the story.
After reading, Ms. Krauss gave students clear instructions about how they were to work independently. She again reminded them of their reading strategies and what she wanted students to find and record on their sticky notes as they read through the text. She set up clear expectations for students throughout the lesson.
Student Participation:
Students were engaged with Ms. Krauss during the entire lesson. They knew what was expected of them and knew what they needed to know and be able to do by the end of the lesson. When asked questions, students participated and were able to relate to the characters and the themes of the story. At one point, Ms. Krauss asked students about the "birthday song" in Spanish. Students said they were familiar with the song and one attempted to sing part of the song for the class. This was a great way for students to connect personally to the text. When asked about vocabulary, students were able to create synonyms for more complex terms used in the text. When students were confused about a saying in the book, 'put the harvest to bed", students spoke up. The teacher reminded them of strategies and they work to apply them as they were reading the text. At the end of the lesson, student knew they were to write connections, visualization, and background knowledge information on their sticky note so they could engage with Esperanza Rising. Students were using complex texts, but were also given the necessary tools with which to engage in it successfully.
I loved Ms. Krauss' class and how alive her students were in her lesson. I am excited to try some of the techniques in my class today!
In watching the video and learning about what it means to construct a comprehensible lesson for ELL students, I was truly inspired and renewed. I had always been told that in order to help readers understand more difficult material, I needed to find lower level texts about the same topic so they could still understand and follow along with the rest of the class. Now that I teach middle school, I don't want to do that; students' self-esteem and self-worth is very fragile and they don't want to stand out academically from their peers too much. This video provided many concrete techniques that I am able to transfer to my classroom right away and gives me encouragement to teach ELL students in a strong way.
Classroom Environment:
Students sat in a "U" around the room. Everyone was able to see each other during discussion. The room was bright and inviting. Students had a lot of room to read and work alone or in a group if necessary.
Teacher Techniques:
Ms. Krauss was using the book Esperanza Rising to teach inferring to her students. The reading lesson was divided into 3 parts: Pre-reading, During-Reading, and Post-reading activities. Ms. Krauss began the lesson by setting a clear outline for what students were going to learn for the day. She read the objectives and expectations to students as well as had the information posted on the board for students to see. Students were focusing on inferring while reading a text. She had a list of materials and an agenda by which students would be able to follow the course of the lesson. She began by pre-viewing vocabulary, asking students about their background knowledge, and showed pictures to reinforce the words students would be encountering in the story. She even picked out the word "bouquet" and took time to discuss how it is a word that does not look the way it sounds.
During the reading, Ms. Krauss read to the students and reminded them of some reading strategies they needed as they were reading the story together. She read slowly, clearly, and loud enough for all students to hear. She stopped often and showed a page on the overhead to discuss parts of the book and reinforce the vocabulary discussed prior to the reading of the story.
After reading, Ms. Krauss gave students clear instructions about how they were to work independently. She again reminded them of their reading strategies and what she wanted students to find and record on their sticky notes as they read through the text. She set up clear expectations for students throughout the lesson.
Student Participation:
Students were engaged with Ms. Krauss during the entire lesson. They knew what was expected of them and knew what they needed to know and be able to do by the end of the lesson. When asked questions, students participated and were able to relate to the characters and the themes of the story. At one point, Ms. Krauss asked students about the "birthday song" in Spanish. Students said they were familiar with the song and one attempted to sing part of the song for the class. This was a great way for students to connect personally to the text. When asked about vocabulary, students were able to create synonyms for more complex terms used in the text. When students were confused about a saying in the book, 'put the harvest to bed", students spoke up. The teacher reminded them of strategies and they work to apply them as they were reading the text. At the end of the lesson, student knew they were to write connections, visualization, and background knowledge information on their sticky note so they could engage with Esperanza Rising. Students were using complex texts, but were also given the necessary tools with which to engage in it successfully.
I loved Ms. Krauss' class and how alive her students were in her lesson. I am excited to try some of the techniques in my class today!
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Running Record with ELL Students
I performed two running records. My first one was with a boy who speaks Spanish and the second was with a girl whose first language is Cantonese. She also speaks Vietnamese. English is her third language.
The students read a selection without having previously viewed the text. I set my timer for one minute and the students read the text as I took notes on another page. I selected students who were around the same academic level so I could compare what I noticed within the same text. I have this knowledge from conducting DRA tests of these students from the beginning of the year. Both students are performing right on a 6th grade reading level. (DRA 60)
For the Spanish speaking student, I noticed several things. First, I saw that some of the /i/ to /e/ sounds were confused in unknown words. This did not occur in words with which he was familiar. I also heard that when he pronounced a word like “chair”, he would have trouble saying it like a native English speaker would due to his accent. The word would sound more like “share”, though the pronunciation did not interfere with the meaning. This experience made me think about the fifth chapter of the Freeman text. There is a similar pronunciation reference in this chapter regarding students who produce the /d/ and /th/ sounds. “Spanish speakers acquiring English will come to understand this difference between the two languages….This is not a problem as long as the focus is on made meaning. “ (Freeman & Freeman,2004 ,p.93) This student also tended to leave the endings off of words as well. For instance, if the word was sits, he would say sit. The final thing I noticed about this student is that he would insert words, but again, this did not interfere with the meaning of the words. In reference to the book Miscue Analysis Made Easy (Wilde, 2000), these errors are classified as, “Semantically, syntactically acceptable despite uncorrected miscues. Since readers have a strong impetus to ensure that what we read sounds like language, they may leave miscues uncorrected as long as the result is grammatical.” (Wilde, 2000, p. 65) As far as meaning is concerned, the errors this student made did not affect the meaning of the text. “These distinctions involve judgment calls. When a sentence is coded syntactically acceptable, semantically acceptable and no meaning change, this is a sign that it’s been read effectively.” (Wilde, 2000, p.71) These errors are simple and can be corrected through continued oral practice within the English language.
I thought listening to the second student was quite surprising. She has no detectable accent, so much so that I did not know she spoke another language until I met her mother several months ago. She reads very quickly and made little errors in her reading. I did notice that as she spoke to her mother to translate during the parent/teacher conference that she spoke equally as fast. Perhaps this is a trademark of Chinese dialects. Her comprehension is very good. I see that she makes mistakes because of the speed at which she reads. However, she is very cognizant of going back and correcting her miscues. “There are two reasons for accepting a certain level of error in any activity. First, it usually doesn’t matter that much, is correctable, or both. Second, there’s a trade-off between error and speed or efficiency.” (Wilde, 2000, p. 26) I thought this quote really applied to this student because there are things we can work on to help her fix the minor errors she makes. We can practice slowing down and work more on expression. We also practice pausing at certain areas in longer texts to ask what the passage was about. What I really connected with in the readings for this week had to do with the chapter on English Orthography (Freeman & Freeman, 2004). In thinking about this student for this week’s blog, I wondered about the additional struggles she must have in learning English. “Chinese writing is a modern-day example of a largely ideographic writing system, and it can be read by both Mandarin and Cantonese speakers. The disadvantage of pictographic writing is that a writer has to learn a great number of different symbols, one for each idea.” (Freeman & Freeman,2000, p. 100) She seemed to have no struggles at all. It is obvious that she is getting a lot of practice as she continues to learn English.
In closing, neither student is a perfect English speaker. The time to address the minor errors these students are making is during conferencing or small group time. Increased talk time in the classroom will also help with their speaking skills and structured time to implement the things they learn by reading and in speaking can be practiced in their writing. This approach reinforces the sociopsycholinguistic and acquired approach to reading and writing.
Freeman, D.E. (2004). Essential linguistics. What you need to know to teach reading, esl, spelling, phonics, grammar. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Wilde, S. (2000). Miscue analysis made easy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Fredericks, A.D. (2001). Guided reading in grades 3-6. Harcourt Achieve Inc.
The students read a selection without having previously viewed the text. I set my timer for one minute and the students read the text as I took notes on another page. I selected students who were around the same academic level so I could compare what I noticed within the same text. I have this knowledge from conducting DRA tests of these students from the beginning of the year. Both students are performing right on a 6th grade reading level. (DRA 60)
For the Spanish speaking student, I noticed several things. First, I saw that some of the /i/ to /e/ sounds were confused in unknown words. This did not occur in words with which he was familiar. I also heard that when he pronounced a word like “chair”, he would have trouble saying it like a native English speaker would due to his accent. The word would sound more like “share”, though the pronunciation did not interfere with the meaning. This experience made me think about the fifth chapter of the Freeman text. There is a similar pronunciation reference in this chapter regarding students who produce the /d/ and /th/ sounds. “Spanish speakers acquiring English will come to understand this difference between the two languages….This is not a problem as long as the focus is on made meaning. “ (Freeman & Freeman,2004 ,p.93) This student also tended to leave the endings off of words as well. For instance, if the word was sits, he would say sit. The final thing I noticed about this student is that he would insert words, but again, this did not interfere with the meaning of the words. In reference to the book Miscue Analysis Made Easy (Wilde, 2000), these errors are classified as, “Semantically, syntactically acceptable despite uncorrected miscues. Since readers have a strong impetus to ensure that what we read sounds like language, they may leave miscues uncorrected as long as the result is grammatical.” (Wilde, 2000, p. 65) As far as meaning is concerned, the errors this student made did not affect the meaning of the text. “These distinctions involve judgment calls. When a sentence is coded syntactically acceptable, semantically acceptable and no meaning change, this is a sign that it’s been read effectively.” (Wilde, 2000, p.71) These errors are simple and can be corrected through continued oral practice within the English language.
I thought listening to the second student was quite surprising. She has no detectable accent, so much so that I did not know she spoke another language until I met her mother several months ago. She reads very quickly and made little errors in her reading. I did notice that as she spoke to her mother to translate during the parent/teacher conference that she spoke equally as fast. Perhaps this is a trademark of Chinese dialects. Her comprehension is very good. I see that she makes mistakes because of the speed at which she reads. However, she is very cognizant of going back and correcting her miscues. “There are two reasons for accepting a certain level of error in any activity. First, it usually doesn’t matter that much, is correctable, or both. Second, there’s a trade-off between error and speed or efficiency.” (Wilde, 2000, p. 26) I thought this quote really applied to this student because there are things we can work on to help her fix the minor errors she makes. We can practice slowing down and work more on expression. We also practice pausing at certain areas in longer texts to ask what the passage was about. What I really connected with in the readings for this week had to do with the chapter on English Orthography (Freeman & Freeman, 2004). In thinking about this student for this week’s blog, I wondered about the additional struggles she must have in learning English. “Chinese writing is a modern-day example of a largely ideographic writing system, and it can be read by both Mandarin and Cantonese speakers. The disadvantage of pictographic writing is that a writer has to learn a great number of different symbols, one for each idea.” (Freeman & Freeman,2000, p. 100) She seemed to have no struggles at all. It is obvious that she is getting a lot of practice as she continues to learn English.
In closing, neither student is a perfect English speaker. The time to address the minor errors these students are making is during conferencing or small group time. Increased talk time in the classroom will also help with their speaking skills and structured time to implement the things they learn by reading and in speaking can be practiced in their writing. This approach reinforces the sociopsycholinguistic and acquired approach to reading and writing.
Freeman, D.E. (2004). Essential linguistics. What you need to know to teach reading, esl, spelling, phonics, grammar. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Wilde, S. (2000). Miscue analysis made easy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Fredericks, A.D. (2001). Guided reading in grades 3-6. Harcourt Achieve Inc.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Learning vs. Acquisition
In an earlier blog, I identified myself as a person who held a strong word recognition view of how students learn to read. However, I incorporate many of techniques from the sociopsycholinguistic view into my lessons from time to time. After reading chapter two in the Freeman text, I see how the learning view and acquisition view of writing align with the aforementioned outlooks for reading. I will now make a huge effort to begin changing my literacy instruction to a more “acquired” approach to learning.
The Learning view of writing involves direct teacher instruction; a sort of drill and kill approach to teaching. The Acquisition view allows students to focus on process and the experience of writing for seemingly better internalization of tasks, thus leading to more proficient abilities to understand written and oral language. Below is my rationale for the activity presented in chapter 2.
Directions:
Label each activity L for learning/word recognition or A for acquisition/sociopsycholinguistic view. Some activities can have both labels. Be prepared to explain your choices.
The Students:
L/Look up words in the dictionary to write definitions. (Students identify words to get the meaning of a text, often before a passage or story is read)
L/A Make a Venn diagram to compare two stories. (I said both because it is a strategy that must be directly taught by the teacher, but it is a means to process information for better understanding: comparing and contrasting stories, thereby creating a deeper understanding of texts.)
L/Practice sounding out words (Students are using phonics to recode words from written to oral form)
L/Read in round-robin fashion (Round-robin requires students to read aloud as opposed to silently.)
L/Corrects peers when they make a mistake during reading (Again, this requires texts to be read aloud instead of focusing on the overall meaning of texts, relating it to background knowledge and prior experience.)
L /A Identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound. (This requires phonemic awareness skills because of the required breakdown of phonemes, but I also thought that because this was done in real-time with a big book text, that it might also be acquisition because of the graphophonics piece as a part of word study.)
A/Group cards with classmates’ names by a criterion on such as first of last letter. (Hands-on experience and direct application of graphophonics.)
A/Write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound. (Involves a mini-lesson to help focus spelling along with authentic production of a writing piece.)
L/Ask the teacher how to spell a word they don’t know. (Students are not using invented spelling strategies to think through the spelling of the word. This student was not taught that spelling mistakes may occur; not focused on the idea at hand.)
A/L Read a language experience story they have created with the teacher. (Involves student input based on students’ background. Hands-on approach. I struggled with this one!)
A/ Work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences (Involves a hands-on approach to learning based on a language experience with which students are familiar.)
L/Divide words into syllables. (Involves segmenting words into
A/ On a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same sound. (According to Krashen’s Input Hypothesis, “To ensure that the input is comprehensible, teachers can use pictures, gestures, tone of voice, and hands-on activities.” (Freeman, pg. 38) Students are using other means to comprehend words.)
A/Make alphabet books on different topics (Students will acquire new vocabulary and it will be based on the knowledge gleaned from past experiences and new input from lessons.)
The teacher:
L/Preteaches vocabulary. (Teachers may do this to try to give students the meanings of words prior to reading a text, but students are not using strategies to help them as they come to words they may not know in texts.)
L/A Does a shared reading with a big book. (I said both because this is a text that is read aloud to students, but if using part of it to model for a mini-lesson as a strategy to use during SSR, then this could be considered acquired development.)
L/Makes sure that students read only books that fit their level. (Students are not given exposure to different types of literature, thus increasing vocabulary and meaning)
L/Has students segment words into phonemes (phonemic awareness practice, used to help students identify words correctly in texts.)
L/A writes words the students dictate for a story and has students help with spelling of difficult words. (In the beginning, this requires direct teaching, but once the logistics are down, this uses acquisition because students come up with stories due to own experiences and background; can be used as a model in a mini-lesson in preparation for authentic writing.)
A/Asks students to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter. (Students get hands-on practice and use authentic approach to build vocabulary)
L/Uses decodable texts (Students will be able to sound out words, but may not understand read text)
L/A Sets aside time for SSR each day (students get a chance to use strategies taught in class. Exposure to multi-leveled text is important to acquire meaning and new vocabulary)
L/teaches Latin and Greek roots. (May help to acquire meaning, but may not always be helpful when words are used in different contexts.)
A/Has students meet in literature circles. (Students lead and work through authentic readings with productive discussion. Groups can be heterogeneous, so all students have exposure to a variety of texts.)
L/Conducts phonics drills (recognizing words/sounds without focusing on meaning.)
A/L Chooses predictable texts (Great piece for modeling and to take students through a meaning process if trying to understand the basics of a story. Strategies therein must be taught.)
A/L Teaches students different comprehension strategies. (Must be modeled in mini-lesson, some oral exposure, but can be carried over to SSR)
A/Does a picture walk of a new book. (Helps students predict, confirm predictions, have conversations to practice language, shows exposure to background knowledge, and practice other comprehension skills.)
L/Uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills. (Not meeting all the modalities of learning. Kinesthetic/tactile, auditory. Need a variety of methods.)
The Learning view of writing involves direct teacher instruction; a sort of drill and kill approach to teaching. The Acquisition view allows students to focus on process and the experience of writing for seemingly better internalization of tasks, thus leading to more proficient abilities to understand written and oral language. Below is my rationale for the activity presented in chapter 2.
Directions:
Label each activity L for learning/word recognition or A for acquisition/sociopsycholinguistic view. Some activities can have both labels. Be prepared to explain your choices.
The Students:
L/Look up words in the dictionary to write definitions. (Students identify words to get the meaning of a text, often before a passage or story is read)
L/A Make a Venn diagram to compare two stories. (I said both because it is a strategy that must be directly taught by the teacher, but it is a means to process information for better understanding: comparing and contrasting stories, thereby creating a deeper understanding of texts.)
L/Practice sounding out words (Students are using phonics to recode words from written to oral form)
L/Read in round-robin fashion (Round-robin requires students to read aloud as opposed to silently.)
L/Corrects peers when they make a mistake during reading (Again, this requires texts to be read aloud instead of focusing on the overall meaning of texts, relating it to background knowledge and prior experience.)
L /A Identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound. (This requires phonemic awareness skills because of the required breakdown of phonemes, but I also thought that because this was done in real-time with a big book text, that it might also be acquisition because of the graphophonics piece as a part of word study.)
A/Group cards with classmates’ names by a criterion on such as first of last letter. (Hands-on experience and direct application of graphophonics.)
A/Write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound. (Involves a mini-lesson to help focus spelling along with authentic production of a writing piece.)
L/Ask the teacher how to spell a word they don’t know. (Students are not using invented spelling strategies to think through the spelling of the word. This student was not taught that spelling mistakes may occur; not focused on the idea at hand.)
A/L Read a language experience story they have created with the teacher. (Involves student input based on students’ background. Hands-on approach. I struggled with this one!)
A/ Work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences (Involves a hands-on approach to learning based on a language experience with which students are familiar.)
L/Divide words into syllables. (Involves segmenting words into
A/ On a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same sound. (According to Krashen’s Input Hypothesis, “To ensure that the input is comprehensible, teachers can use pictures, gestures, tone of voice, and hands-on activities.” (Freeman, pg. 38) Students are using other means to comprehend words.)
A/Make alphabet books on different topics (Students will acquire new vocabulary and it will be based on the knowledge gleaned from past experiences and new input from lessons.)
The teacher:
L/Preteaches vocabulary. (Teachers may do this to try to give students the meanings of words prior to reading a text, but students are not using strategies to help them as they come to words they may not know in texts.)
L/A Does a shared reading with a big book. (I said both because this is a text that is read aloud to students, but if using part of it to model for a mini-lesson as a strategy to use during SSR, then this could be considered acquired development.)
L/Makes sure that students read only books that fit their level. (Students are not given exposure to different types of literature, thus increasing vocabulary and meaning)
L/Has students segment words into phonemes (phonemic awareness practice, used to help students identify words correctly in texts.)
L/A writes words the students dictate for a story and has students help with spelling of difficult words. (In the beginning, this requires direct teaching, but once the logistics are down, this uses acquisition because students come up with stories due to own experiences and background; can be used as a model in a mini-lesson in preparation for authentic writing.)
A/Asks students to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter. (Students get hands-on practice and use authentic approach to build vocabulary)
L/Uses decodable texts (Students will be able to sound out words, but may not understand read text)
L/A Sets aside time for SSR each day (students get a chance to use strategies taught in class. Exposure to multi-leveled text is important to acquire meaning and new vocabulary)
L/teaches Latin and Greek roots. (May help to acquire meaning, but may not always be helpful when words are used in different contexts.)
A/Has students meet in literature circles. (Students lead and work through authentic readings with productive discussion. Groups can be heterogeneous, so all students have exposure to a variety of texts.)
L/Conducts phonics drills (recognizing words/sounds without focusing on meaning.)
A/L Chooses predictable texts (Great piece for modeling and to take students through a meaning process if trying to understand the basics of a story. Strategies therein must be taught.)
A/L Teaches students different comprehension strategies. (Must be modeled in mini-lesson, some oral exposure, but can be carried over to SSR)
A/Does a picture walk of a new book. (Helps students predict, confirm predictions, have conversations to practice language, shows exposure to background knowledge, and practice other comprehension skills.)
L/Uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills. (Not meeting all the modalities of learning. Kinesthetic/tactile, auditory. Need a variety of methods.)
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
The Sky is Falling...
For this blog, I decided to try and read a French text because I wanted to know what ELL's feel like when they are asked to try and comprehend text that may be around their frustrational reading level. I took Spanish for 5 years; 1 year in middle school and 4 years in high school. Although I am by no means fluent, I thought it'd be fun to try something new.
The adult text I looked at was a French newspaper called France Soir (France Evening) http://www.francesoir.fr
I was so frustrated looking at the articles because the pictures made since but none of the words did. It was like my glasses weren't adjusted quite right! Through my frustration, though, I was able to at least make out headlines. This biggest one of which is about a victim who was recovered from the earthquake that happened in Haiti today. Then it hit me: this must be how my kids feel as I continue to pump new information in front of them that is may be above their language acquisition level in preparation for CSAP in 6 weeks! I MUST adjust my approach to literacy immediately.
In order to find a low level French text, I went to www.readinga-z.com. It is an excellent website where a teacher can find all types of resources for literacy including texts in other languages. The text I was able to comprehend was Le Ciel Tombre (Knight) or The Sky is Falling.
Some of the metacognative tools that I used were:
1. I knew the story, so I was able to remember it in English and follow along.
2. Some of the words looked like other words I already knew in either English or Spanish (Ciel = Cielo in Spanish) and so I was able to apply that knowledge.
3. I used the pictures; character's expressions, actions, etc. to help me know what was going on.
4. I noticed my pronunciation was horrible because I didn't have an accent and I didn't know how to say words with the apostrophe between words. I'm thinking contractions...but I tried what I know about phonics and applied it here, even though phonetic rules differ in other languages.
This book is a reading level D with is a 1st grade level reader.
This exercise has taught me a lot. I really like the way the teacher scaffolded for her students - from "...spoken like to written-like" (Gibbons, 2002) throughout the science lesson in the Scaffolding Language text.
Now that I have a new perspective on the way my student might feel as developing academic readers, I'm able to understand more clearly how and why I must meet students where they are on the language acquisition continuum.
The adult text I looked at was a French newspaper called France Soir (France Evening) http://www.francesoir.fr
I was so frustrated looking at the articles because the pictures made since but none of the words did. It was like my glasses weren't adjusted quite right! Through my frustration, though, I was able to at least make out headlines. This biggest one of which is about a victim who was recovered from the earthquake that happened in Haiti today. Then it hit me: this must be how my kids feel as I continue to pump new information in front of them that is may be above their language acquisition level in preparation for CSAP in 6 weeks! I MUST adjust my approach to literacy immediately.
In order to find a low level French text, I went to www.readinga-z.com. It is an excellent website where a teacher can find all types of resources for literacy including texts in other languages. The text I was able to comprehend was Le Ciel Tombre (Knight) or The Sky is Falling.
Some of the metacognative tools that I used were:
1. I knew the story, so I was able to remember it in English and follow along.
2. Some of the words looked like other words I already knew in either English or Spanish (Ciel = Cielo in Spanish) and so I was able to apply that knowledge.
3. I used the pictures; character's expressions, actions, etc. to help me know what was going on.
4. I noticed my pronunciation was horrible because I didn't have an accent and I didn't know how to say words with the apostrophe between words. I'm thinking contractions...but I tried what I know about phonics and applied it here, even though phonetic rules differ in other languages.
This book is a reading level D with is a 1st grade level reader.
This exercise has taught me a lot. I really like the way the teacher scaffolded for her students - from "...spoken like to written-like" (Gibbons, 2002) throughout the science lesson in the Scaffolding Language text.
Now that I have a new perspective on the way my student might feel as developing academic readers, I'm able to understand more clearly how and why I must meet students where they are on the language acquisition continuum.
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