I would say my writing instruction was focused more on the learning view of writing. We did quite a bit of grammar practice when I was younger. I also remember we spent a lot of time working on handwriting, spelling, and conventions. Our teacher would correct our paper and then we would go back and fix our mistakes to have a perfect paper. I remember being taught the structure of different types of writing like letters, paragraphs, stories, and essays. We would then write something from that particular genre. It seemed like there was less focus on the ideas. Especially when I compare it to how writing is taught now. We share mentor texts, spend time building background knowledge, and talk about how writers get their ideas. I do not remember any instruction in this manner. I definitely appreciate current philosophy of how students become better writers through being provided opportunities to write. I did not enjoy writing mainly because I was always so concerned about getting the paper back all marked in red. I think with a process oriented philosophy, students are able to enjoy writing and think of themselves as writers.
Friday, March 23, 2012
Entry #6
What is learning, what is acquisition? Some activities warrant both. I looked at it in the sense that any activity where a student is being "taught" to do something or stating back information for a teacher (a product focused activity) would be learning. When students are being encouraged to "acquire" information through authentic learning tasks, that is considered acquisition. Some of the "learning" activities I categorized were looking up words in a dictionary, practice sounding out words, and using a variety of worksheets to teach different skills. I felt these were all learning activities because students were doing rote activities that teachers directed them to do, looking for a correct answer.
Literature circles, doing a shared reading with a big book, or writing rhyming poetry and discussing spelling patterns are all acquisition activities because the students are doing authentic tasks that provide them choice, a variety of skills that can be acquired through them, and require higher level thinking. I also felt that making alphabet books on different topics was acquisition if the students were allowed to create the alphabet books on topics of their choice. If the teacher gave them the topic and the words to use then it would be more of a learning activity. I also think that writing words that students dictate for a story and having students help with the spelling of difficult words would be a combination of both because they would be acquiring some parts as they come up with parts for the story, but it seems like some parts of the activity would end up falling under learning if words are dictated for them.
Literature circles, doing a shared reading with a big book, or writing rhyming poetry and discussing spelling patterns are all acquisition activities because the students are doing authentic tasks that provide them choice, a variety of skills that can be acquired through them, and require higher level thinking. I also felt that making alphabet books on different topics was acquisition if the students were allowed to create the alphabet books on topics of their choice. If the teacher gave them the topic and the words to use then it would be more of a learning activity. I also think that writing words that students dictate for a story and having students help with the spelling of difficult words would be a combination of both because they would be acquiring some parts as they come up with parts for the story, but it seems like some parts of the activity would end up falling under learning if words are dictated for them.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Entry #5
The two books I reviewed with cultural aspects for ELL students in mind were Miss Nelson Has a Field Day by Harry Allard and James Marshall and Pink and Say by Patricia Polacco
Miss Nelson Has a Field Day: One aspect that really sticks out with this story is the way the students behave. In some countries they may not understand the humor of the students being disrespectful to their coach. Pointing out what is happening in the pictures and having the students say what is normal and what is not normal student behavior may help then understand that the students are being naughty. The adults are also portrayed in a silly manner, like they can't handle the students. In countries where adults have an automatic authority, that may not be something the students pick up on right away. Even for students that struggle with language, the pictures show the coach standing on a table looking crazy, and the principal hiding under the desk. Pointing out the silly way the adults are handling the situation and talking about how adults really would handle the situation may help. Providing pictures of school and having students make a chart with how adults behave and shouldn't behave (this can also be done with the children's behavior) may begin to help them see that this is just a silly story. A third aspect that may need to be addressed is background knowledge of American football. Although it does not go into too much depth, the basic idea of a football team and what it is may be necessary. Showing a short clip of a football game, bringing in a football, a whistle, a jersey and any realia that could go with it and get a conversation going about the basics of the sport. Most countries understand football to be soccer. The concept of putting on a disguise and pretending to be another person might need to be addressed. Especially in the case of Miss Nelson. It gets confusing, in this story, who Viola Swamp really is. Perhaps reading the first Miss Nelson, Miss Nelson is Missing, would be a great springboard into dressing up and becoming someone else. There is a bit of inferring that has to go on to figure out who is Miss Swamp. The person in the first story is not the same as Miss Swamp in the second story. Reading the first and then comparing Miss Swamp in the first story with Miss Swamp in the second story may help them see that Miss Swamp is not a "real" person. Someone in both stories is pretending to be Miss Swamp to get the students to behave.
Pink and Say: The first concept in this story that may be challenging for ELA students and affect their comprehension is the Civil War. This story takes place during that time and has some deep messages embedded within. A brief description of the Civil War, perhaps with pictures to help students understand the cause of the war can help build some background knowledge so they are able to understand the setting of the story. Another concept that culturally they may not be able to understand is the lack of respect for life that occurred during that era. In the story Pink dies because of this. Making a chart of respect and disrespect, the teacher could show carefully chosen pictures to help students understand this concept. They could sort the pictures into one of the two categories. This would also allow the teacher to tie this chart back into the story so students could build understanding of how Pink and Say did have a deep respect for each other and their country even during this challenging time. The third concept that may need to be addressed is the idea of passing stories down. Although many cultures pass stories down throughout the generations, it is important for students to understand that this story has been passed down. It is not made up, although it is considered historical fiction. Patricia Polacco writing this story is a way to preserve history. It would also be a great springboard into the discussion of historical fiction and what elements of the story are true. Many stories that are passed down are fiction. The teacher could even bring in texts from the students' native countries that have been passed down. They could then decide if those stories have elements that could have happened. The last concept that could be addressed to ensure culturally ELA students have a good understanding is the dialogue that occurs. The characters in the story are from the south. Much of the dialogue that occurs is the way people would talk from that part of the country. This may be confusing to students that are still trying to figure out vocabulary and dialect. To help the ELA students, the teacher could pull some of the dialogue that might be difficult for students to gain meaning from when they are reading. She could then introduce these sentences and talk about meaning and how authors do this to help the reader hear the voice of the character. The students and teacher could create a quick sketch and act out the sentence for the meaning to scaffold the students when they get to that part in the story or to clarify the meaning if they have already read through it.
Miss Nelson Has a Field Day: One aspect that really sticks out with this story is the way the students behave. In some countries they may not understand the humor of the students being disrespectful to their coach. Pointing out what is happening in the pictures and having the students say what is normal and what is not normal student behavior may help then understand that the students are being naughty. The adults are also portrayed in a silly manner, like they can't handle the students. In countries where adults have an automatic authority, that may not be something the students pick up on right away. Even for students that struggle with language, the pictures show the coach standing on a table looking crazy, and the principal hiding under the desk. Pointing out the silly way the adults are handling the situation and talking about how adults really would handle the situation may help. Providing pictures of school and having students make a chart with how adults behave and shouldn't behave (this can also be done with the children's behavior) may begin to help them see that this is just a silly story. A third aspect that may need to be addressed is background knowledge of American football. Although it does not go into too much depth, the basic idea of a football team and what it is may be necessary. Showing a short clip of a football game, bringing in a football, a whistle, a jersey and any realia that could go with it and get a conversation going about the basics of the sport. Most countries understand football to be soccer. The concept of putting on a disguise and pretending to be another person might need to be addressed. Especially in the case of Miss Nelson. It gets confusing, in this story, who Viola Swamp really is. Perhaps reading the first Miss Nelson, Miss Nelson is Missing, would be a great springboard into dressing up and becoming someone else. There is a bit of inferring that has to go on to figure out who is Miss Swamp. The person in the first story is not the same as Miss Swamp in the second story. Reading the first and then comparing Miss Swamp in the first story with Miss Swamp in the second story may help them see that Miss Swamp is not a "real" person. Someone in both stories is pretending to be Miss Swamp to get the students to behave.
Pink and Say: The first concept in this story that may be challenging for ELA students and affect their comprehension is the Civil War. This story takes place during that time and has some deep messages embedded within. A brief description of the Civil War, perhaps with pictures to help students understand the cause of the war can help build some background knowledge so they are able to understand the setting of the story. Another concept that culturally they may not be able to understand is the lack of respect for life that occurred during that era. In the story Pink dies because of this. Making a chart of respect and disrespect, the teacher could show carefully chosen pictures to help students understand this concept. They could sort the pictures into one of the two categories. This would also allow the teacher to tie this chart back into the story so students could build understanding of how Pink and Say did have a deep respect for each other and their country even during this challenging time. The third concept that may need to be addressed is the idea of passing stories down. Although many cultures pass stories down throughout the generations, it is important for students to understand that this story has been passed down. It is not made up, although it is considered historical fiction. Patricia Polacco writing this story is a way to preserve history. It would also be a great springboard into the discussion of historical fiction and what elements of the story are true. Many stories that are passed down are fiction. The teacher could even bring in texts from the students' native countries that have been passed down. They could then decide if those stories have elements that could have happened. The last concept that could be addressed to ensure culturally ELA students have a good understanding is the dialogue that occurs. The characters in the story are from the south. Much of the dialogue that occurs is the way people would talk from that part of the country. This may be confusing to students that are still trying to figure out vocabulary and dialect. To help the ELA students, the teacher could pull some of the dialogue that might be difficult for students to gain meaning from when they are reading. She could then introduce these sentences and talk about meaning and how authors do this to help the reader hear the voice of the character. The students and teacher could create a quick sketch and act out the sentence for the meaning to scaffold the students when they get to that part in the story or to clarify the meaning if they have already read through it.
Entry #4
Reading foreign language text was definitely an eye opening experience. I have had experience with this when I studied Spanish, but what was most suprising was how it felt to read a language that does not use the same alphabetic system as we do. I started off reading a text at the adult level. This particular text was in German. Although I could not get any meaning out of the text, I was able to identify words like "and", "the", and "of". Not getting any meaning at all quickly lost my interest, which I know is what our ELA students do as well. There needs to be a way to find meaning in order to keep someone engaged in their task.
From there I moved to two texts in Russian that actually had pictures. Luckily, the pictures aided in helping me make meaning because Russian does not have the same alphabet as we do. I was not able to make any meaning from the text itself. In the first book I picked up, it looked like a story that had some similar elements to Hansel and Gretel. It seemed to have a brother and sister, a wicked old woman, and the wicked old woman wanting to cook the children. On the other hand there were some differences. The boy was quite a bit younger than the girl and there was a stork in the story at the beginning. Even with the pictures, I was still unable to get the full meaning of the text. This again shows how much work it is for ELA students to be able to make any meaning from text. It is also easy to see how there can be some definite confusion when the pictures are not clear and you do not know the story.
The other Russian text I knew the story well. It was Cinderella. Being able to decipher the story from the pictures was such a relief because there was no way for me to make any meaning out of the text. Clearly my main strategy for reading text from another language is using pictures to help make meaning. Without pictures this task would have been impossible. This really had me thinking about times when we give our students text without pictures. How frustrating that must be for those students!
Last I went to what I thought was probably the simplest text to read. It was in Korean. Each page seemed to have one word on it with a picture of a bird. I know the book had to have been about birds. But then I realized that in a language like Korean one symbol could stand for a whole word, it is not necessarily one sound as in English. Even with the most "simple" looking text I was not 100 percent sure I completely understood.
This activity reiterated the importance that as teachers we need to be aware of the learning tasks we give our students of English as a second language. We need to scaffold for them in whatever way we can to ensure they are able to make meaning. Providing them with pictures, vocabulary scaffolding, realia, and opportunities to add their learning experiences to their schema is extremely important in the process of building their language skills and their comprehension.
From there I moved to two texts in Russian that actually had pictures. Luckily, the pictures aided in helping me make meaning because Russian does not have the same alphabet as we do. I was not able to make any meaning from the text itself. In the first book I picked up, it looked like a story that had some similar elements to Hansel and Gretel. It seemed to have a brother and sister, a wicked old woman, and the wicked old woman wanting to cook the children. On the other hand there were some differences. The boy was quite a bit younger than the girl and there was a stork in the story at the beginning. Even with the pictures, I was still unable to get the full meaning of the text. This again shows how much work it is for ELA students to be able to make any meaning from text. It is also easy to see how there can be some definite confusion when the pictures are not clear and you do not know the story.
The other Russian text I knew the story well. It was Cinderella. Being able to decipher the story from the pictures was such a relief because there was no way for me to make any meaning out of the text. Clearly my main strategy for reading text from another language is using pictures to help make meaning. Without pictures this task would have been impossible. This really had me thinking about times when we give our students text without pictures. How frustrating that must be for those students!
Last I went to what I thought was probably the simplest text to read. It was in Korean. Each page seemed to have one word on it with a picture of a bird. I know the book had to have been about birds. But then I realized that in a language like Korean one symbol could stand for a whole word, it is not necessarily one sound as in English. Even with the most "simple" looking text I was not 100 percent sure I completely understood.
This activity reiterated the importance that as teachers we need to be aware of the learning tasks we give our students of English as a second language. We need to scaffold for them in whatever way we can to ensure they are able to make meaning. Providing them with pictures, vocabulary scaffolding, realia, and opportunities to add their learning experiences to their schema is extremely important in the process of building their language skills and their comprehension.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Entry #3
Oral language is an integral part of the reading process. Reading is how we process written communication, which is produced first by oral communication. The reading process is difficult for students that have limited oral communication skills. I compare this thinking with the experience I had learning Spanish. Early on in my Spanish classes my teachers would give reading assignments in Spanish. When my vocabulary and background knowledge of Spanish was in the early stages, reading was extremely difficult. I would look for words that were similar to English to help me process the assignment. As my vocabulary developed, reading in Spanish became much easier and I was actually able to become more fluent with my readings. Due to this experience, I have always empathized with our students that come into school with limited or no English at all.
In Essential Linguistics, Freeman and Freeman commented on the fact that students may have stronger social language, but when it comes to school language they struggle due to the lack of background knowledge. This relates to the reading process because reading is a challenge for students when they do not have the language, vocabulary and background knowledge. As teachers, we can work to build our students language skills, along with vocabulary and background knowledge so that they can be strong readers.
In Essential Linguistics, Freeman and Freeman commented on the fact that students may have stronger social language, but when it comes to school language they struggle due to the lack of background knowledge. This relates to the reading process because reading is a challenge for students when they do not have the language, vocabulary and background knowledge. As teachers, we can work to build our students language skills, along with vocabulary and background knowledge so that they can be strong readers.
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Entry #1
I spoke with a kindergarten teacher about her philosophy on teaching literacy. She feels there are a number of strategies that are crucial to helping her students succeed, especially students learning English as a second language. Providing visuals as well as using actions (pointing to words or pictures, acting out a verb, etc.) are two elements she feels her students need in order to build vocabulary for the stories they are reading. Whenever reading a book a picture walk should be included along with dicussion to generate background knowledge. Labeling around the room allows students to build their vocabulary along with including a sketch for written vocabulary words that students come across when they are reading or possibly use in their writing. She also feels it is imperative for students to have repeated readings of books. This allows them to hear the new vocabulary a number of times so that it can begin to stay in their memory and also builds fluency. Pairing students up with partners and allowing them to talk about what they are reading or going to write about provides them opportunities needed to build language. When teachers include all of these strategies throughout their day, she feels it gives students a definite opportunity for success in all areas of literacy.
I agree with this philosophy. Her philosophy includes elements that are essential for ELA students and all students to have success in all content areas, but especially literacy.
I agree with this philosophy. Her philosophy includes elements that are essential for ELA students and all students to have success in all content areas, but especially literacy.
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