Week 4: Running Record/Miscue Analysis (Entry #7)

     In conducting the running records this week, I found that a child's first language plays a part but more due to vocabulary and the lack of background knowledge.  
     The first child I had read to me was a kindergartener.  This student speaks Turkish at home; however, he is pretty fluent in English and reads at a mid to end of year first grade reading level.   He read a book called Grasshopper's Gross Lunch (DRA 14).  He read this book with 94% accuracy at a 1:16 error rate and a 1:12 self-correction rate.  He had trouble with different tenses of the word "graze." In these instances, I saw the errors as "Meaning" and "Syntax."  He pronounced the "a" as a short vowel.  This seems to be a word he was not familiar with, so preteaching vocabulary would be a useful strategy.  
     Another, interesting error happened near the end of the story.  He had been reading the word "Grasshopper" just fine up until the end he said, "Grass-shopper."  To which he commented, "Ha, that's funny a grass-shopper."  Thus, he didn't realize it was the same "grasshopper" he had been reading all along.  In speaking with this young reader, I asked him how he learned to read.  He said he taught himself to read.  Verifying with the teacher, the parents expressed to her that in fact one day when they were looking at books he started to read.  This student has not yet been taught digraphs, and for him to read the "sh" is quite interesting.  A teaching point for this student would be to look at compound words and syllables.  I would also review digraphs.  Although he is reading at a first grade instructional level, he is missing some key foundational phonic principles. These concepts still need to be taught to him to give him a strong base for future reading.
     The second running record was on a Spanish speaking kindergarten girl.  She read two books to me from her "Book Bag."  The first she was pretty familiar with and read at a 90% accuracy rate.  The miscues made were on the proper name, "Mark" and she read "cars" for "carts" and "be/p/p" for "pass."  To help with this confusion, this student could still use practice with letter recognition, especially "b,p,d."  
      I had her read another story that she wasn't so familiar with that she read at a 77% accuracy rate.  This was a 1:4 error rate with zero self corrections.  Most of the miscues on this read were for "Meaning" and "Syntax."  She did well with getting the first sound of the words she missed but seemed to guess or wanted to give up on the rest of the word.  For example, she read: "time" for "team,"  "names" for "needs," "ch/ee" for "they," and "bi/bits/bit" for "boat." She would consistently go back and reread to try to help her figure out the word, but didn't seem to notice that it didn't make sense.  Her next teaching point would be to read through the word she doesn't know to see if by "leap frog" she can figure it out.  I would want to teach her to stop and ask herself, "Did that make sense?"  I would also continue to work with double vowels, as in the Spanish language this concept doesn't exist.  So, teaching her these rules would help as she seemed to get stuck every time two vowels were present.  Thus, I would count this as a "Visual" cue as well.  This would help as she clearly got stuck and wanted to give up after getting the first sound of these words. Knowing this about the Spanish language is definitely beneficial to the teacher as the "Visual" miscue may be overlooked.
     I think that it is important that the background knowledge is given for our ELL students and younger students.  Words that we take for granted may not be known words.  It is important to be constantly checking for understanding and helping our students build the vocabulary needed to comprehend the text.  I think an extra challenge for ELL students is also syntax, because if they are not used to speaking the language, they are unaware if something "sounds right" or not.  We cannot fix what we don't realize is wrong.  To help with this I think conversing and reading aloud are the best ways to combat this problem; thus, giving students as much exposure as possible.

Week 3: Learning vs. Acquisition (Entry #6)

Learning vs. Acquisition Survey:

The Students:
L -look up words in the dictionary to write definitions
A -make a Venn diagram to compare two stories
L -practice sounding out words
L -read in round-robin fashion
L -correct peers when they make a mistake during reading
A -identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound
A -group cards with classmates' names by a criterion on such as first or last letter
L/A -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 -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 on different topics

The Teacher:
L -pre-teaches vocabulary
A -does a shared reading with a big book
L -makes sure that students read only books that fit their level
L -has students segment words into phonemes
A -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 with a certain letter
L -uses decodable texts
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
L -chooses predictable texts
L/A -teaches students different comprehension strategies
L -does a picture walk of a new book
L -uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills


I completed this activity on the basis of whether the individual activity would be more "skill and drill" or more "hands-on."  Some activities I could see the students more involved in talking with each other and being engaged in the activity; thus, they are putting what they know into action and  trying to understand and really submerge themselves in the activity/language.  The other activities (what I viewed as learned) I viewed as the teacher giving explicit, direct and systematic instruction.

Freeman, D. &. (2004). Essential linguistics: What you need to know to teach: reading, ESL, spelling, phonics, grammar. Portsmouth: Heinemann.

Week 2: Book Review (Entry #5)

    The first book I chose to review is called My Teacher's My Friend by P.K. Hallinan.  This is a cute rhyming story about how a teacher helps the students throughout the day. It details the variety of roles she facilitates and the activities the students participate in throughout the day, like singing songs, saying the pledge of allegiance, painting with sponges, and consoling teary students.

      The obstacles to comprehension for an ELL student would be:

1. Word Choice:  The word "chimes" is used in reference to the teacher joining in on their singing.  This word is most likely unknown or if it is known, the student would be visualizing musical chimes (the instrument).  

• During reading of this book, it would be important to demonstrate the two different meanings of this word and explain that in this case it means to "join in."  I would bring a set of chimes in as well and let the students play them, because chances are this word as a whole would be unknown.  I would demonstrate the 2 meanings:  One, by playing the instrument and two, by asking who would want to "chime in" while I sang the ABC song.

         Word Choice:  Another word that is used that has a double meaning is "observe."

• For this word, I would have two volunteers from the class come up and I would dress them up to look like a pilgrim or Indian.  I would have the children say what holiday are they celebrating if they were to dress in this way.  I would explain that they are "observing" the holiday we call Thanksgiving.  I would draw their attention to the picture on this page and say, "These children are also observing or celebrating a special day."

     2.  Cultural Ideas:  This book mentions, "We pledge our allegiance with our hands on our  hearts."    Assuming this would be a beginning of the year read aloud, ELL students would not yet be familiar with saying the pledge.   "Thanksgiving" would also be a concept.

• This concept would be modeled daily as part of the morning routine.  I would partner an ELL student with an English speaking student so they could help lead by example as the whole class learns this procedure.

     3.  General Ideas:  "We paint pictures with sponges of all different shapes."  Using a sponge for another purpose my be a new concept as one normally paints with a brush.

• I would have a normal sponge to pass around.  I would pass it around and have the students feel this.  I would ask if they have seen a sponge used in their house before.  Next, I would pass around a sponge in a different shape.  I would ask how that kind of sponge could be used.  I would like to have a painting activity later in the day that would include this activity.  I would model how to paint with the sponge and refer back to the book.

     4.   Expressions:  "But then it's our 'busy bee' time of the day, when everyone goes there own separate way."  Expressions like "busy bee" would be unknown.

•  Explain that just like bees, they have different jobs to be assigned.  I would show a clip of working bees and show how "busy" they are.  In relation to the various jobs, I would assign partners in the beginning until the jobs are learned.  Once it is understood, they could do their "busy bee" job on their own.

My second book choice is The Statue of Liberty by Lucille Recht Penner. This is a non-fiction story about the Statue of Liberty.

     1.  Geographical Terms:  "A lady stands in New York Harbor."

• I would use pictures and maps to show where New York is in comparison to Colorado. 

      2.  Word Choice:  "She is as tall as a skyscraper."

•  I would show photos of skyscrapers.  I would have them stand up and stretch to the sky standing on their tiptoes to reach the sky.  Starting low to the ground we would grow taller and taller as we say,  "Skyscrapers reach high, high up to the sky."  We would do this several times to demonstrate this. 

     3.  Different Meaning:  "lady" in reference to statue.

• Students may know the word lady but may be confused by the reference to the statue.  I would refer to the students in the class that may have a nickname.  Using this as an example, I would explain the Lady Liberty is a nickname for the Statue of Liberty.  Sometimes there is more than one way to say the same thing.

     4.   Idea:  That people traveled in crowded conditions for a better life.

• I would have a small area taped out on the floor.  During this portion of the book I would have students all gather in the space and explain that they are "crowded" together.  As an extension, this could be made into a game by using smaller areas of space and eliminating children who no longer "fit" when the space shrinks. 

In reviewing these two books, there are many ideas, words and concepts that would hinder the comprehension of an ELL student.  This is important to be aware of as we plan our lessons.  More explanation, more visual aids and more time are some important considerations to help these students.

Week 2: Let's Decode an Unfamiliar Text (Entry 4)

     In trying to decide what text to review, the first thing that came to mind was the multiple number of dual language manuals we receive.  I received a Nuwave oven for Christmas and remember seeing in the instruction manual a section in Spanish - recipes and all!  So, I decided to give reading Spanish a try.  Trying to read this section of the manual proved to be very difficult considering my extent of Spanish is counting (from one to ten) and saying "good night" and "good bye."  In my attempt to make meaning, I could identify a few words that were close to English.  Words like:  "importantes,"  "instrucciones," "producto," and "electrocucion." I could assume these words meant important, instructions, product and electrocution or shock respectively.  But, even though I could pick out a few words here and there, I could not fully understand this text.  There are pictures and diagrams throughout the text and this helps immensely in understanding the main idea of the page.  For example, there is a special instruction page (see below) about making  a pizza and through the photos and the few words I am able to understand, I think I have an adequate understanding of this page.

     
     However, without the photos I would be at a loss.  In sum, the strategies I used to try to decipher the text were as follows:

• find similar words that are familiar to English
• use diagrams or photos
• ask for help (my daughters are almost fluent in Spanish) 

     I can see where without some direct/guided instruction it is difficult to "make sense" of another unfamiliar language.  This experiment made clear that when students are in the Pre-production or Early Production stage, teachers must rely on pointing, circling and using pictures.  (Hill, 2006)  This text also makes clear the importance of knowing the child's stage of acquisition in order to provide appropriate teaching methods.  Knowing the strategies is key to helping these students become successful.

Bibliography:
   

Hill, J. &. (2006). Classroom instruction that works with english language learners. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

     On a side note:  In completing this assignment and in speaking with my colleagues, I have found a few more charts that I find useful.  I will attach them to the Regis discussion forum for anyone interested.

Blog Week 2 - Reflections

Reflections:
      Although Australia is an English speaking country, I definitely experienced some language barriers when I lived there for 3 months.  The accent of my host family was very thick and they used terms of which I was unaware.  I remember it becoming clear quite quickly that we definitely had some troubles understanding one another.  As a visitor, I quickly learned to stop and ask if there was a term of which I was unfamiliar.  My host family would then patiently explain in another way so I was able to understand.  I did the same for them.  We also learned that slowing down our rate of speech was important to aid in understanding one another.  I am fortunate to still be in touch with my "host parents" and they have visited the states many times since my student teaching experience.  It is a commonality that our communication changes when we talk, so understanding is made.
     My sister has also hosted three different exchange students over the past three years, and we have experienced some of the same issues as she has welcomed students from China, Germany and Korea.  Another common adaptation is pointing to objects and using hand motions to help bridge the language gap.  I am always excited to learn a bit of their language and culture while they are here as well; thus, giving them an opportunity to share their culture for mutual learning.

Blog Week 1 : Entry #3

Oral Language and the Reading Process:
      Oral language and the reading process - two separate functions; yet, so closely woven together.  We are first exposed to oral language but as we grow and learn this becomes the foundation for reading.  Literacy is all encompassing of many things:  reading, writing, comprehension, listening, speaking.  So, even though they could stand alone, I do not think they should.  They all intertwine like a spider web and it is through this cross over that strength develops. As our reading states, "actually producing language encourages learners to process the language more deeply than is required when they simply listen."  (Gibbons, 2002)  As with many things, the more a skill is actually done, the stronger and sharper the skill becomes.  Thus, producing oral language will in turn help the reading process and vice versa.  Also, as vocabulary is learned, comprehension in both oral and listening skills increases in reading as well.  Thus, the more fully emerged a student can be in their oral language the more likely his/her reading will flourish as well.  They are separate components that rely deeply on one another.

Blog Week 1 - Entry #2

Reflection of Writing Instruction:

     When I think back to the writing instruction that I've had, I have a few specific memories.  In my later elementary years I remember an assignment of having to write how to make a peanut butter sandwich.  Something that seemed so easy wasn't really so.  This exercise taught the class how descriptive and specific we needed to be with our writing.  The next assignment I really remember was a persuasive writing on wearing a seat belt.  I think I remember this because it was the first time I was required to site sources and back up my opinion.  Beyond these two specific assignments, I remember dissecting sentences, grammar lessons, and learning terminology.  I believe that learning to write was a natural process that branched from oral language that later was intertwined with specific lessons.
     As a teacher, I think it is important to model the writing process for our students.  At all ages, but particularly in the early years, having students help generate a written piece and talking it through really helps them see and experience the steps taken to create a well written piece.  This includes everything from the idea/brainstorming phase all the way through publication.

Blog Week 1 - Entry #1

Philosophy of Literacy:
I spoke with one of our kindergarten teachers about her philosophy of teaching literacy.  As she said, "Literacy is at the heart of student success."  She believes that there are many components that contribute to this success.  The first two are print awareness and letter knowledge.  These two basic things really build the foundation especially at this early stage.  Next, is phonological awareness.  Having students manipulate the sounds and "play" with words is essential in this foundation as well.  She incorporates this through rhyming games and word play.  The last two components are listening comprehension and motivation.  This is where exposure is vital.  Providing students with many opportunities to listen to stories (guest readers, audio books) and to look at a variety of genre of books also helps create this success. On a side note, I like that the retired teacher for which our school is named after comes to read to these students!  Her visits are always welcomed by our students!  So, through these five essential pieces successful readers will grow according to my colleague and I agree!

A New Challenge!

I love learning new things even though they create some frustration.  Last semester I learned how to make a Prezi, and now I am learning how to blog.  I am excited for the possibilities!  Welcome to my blog!