BLOG 7

Running Records

1.           I conducted two running records, one on a student whose primary language is Spanish, and one that speaks French.  The boy who speaks Spanish has been in the US school system for two years and he is in an ELA-S classroom, receives ELA services in addition to a small reading group.  The running records was from a program that he is in for tier two intervention and it was a story he had read before, called Road Builders.  Looking at his overall score he scored 94% accuracy rate and satisfactory for key understandings.  Syntax, the organization of words in sentences: the ordering of and relationship between the words and other structural elements in phrases and sentences (Freeman, Freeman, 2004).  This student had a good syntax, he did not re-order the words and primarily read in two-word phrases with some three-and four-word reading phrases, reading was pretty smooth.  The words he missed were simple words and when I asked him to look at them again at the end he was able to pronounce them.  When looking at meaning, at the end he was able to discuss what happened first, second, and last, the book was about building a road.  For visual cues, the book was in front of him and he had read it before and I think this helped on a couple of words he self-corrected, the naming of the machines, because he had the picture in front of him.  Strategies for this student include keeping visuals available and to work on fluency by modeling.

2.         The second student has been in the US for at least five years, his parents speak French fluently at home, and he is an ELA student but is in a general education classroom most of the day except for a small reading group with other ELA students.  This student has great comprehension and the book we read was also one he had seen before so I think the pictures were a great help to make meaning of the story, Remya Jose’s Invention.  The story was about a girl from a different country that invents a nonelectrical washing machine.  He related because like the girl in the story he has to do many of the same chores at home, and he cares for his younger siblings.  When it came to syntax, he re-ordered some words around or substituted words, but it didn’t take away from the meaning.  However, is overall fluency was in the 90% because of these mistakes.  He speaks very quietly so some of the words I had to point to again and he would same them correctly, this also effected the time and because of the time limit he did not pass this running record.  Strategies for him would to work on fluency and using his finger to track so he doesn’t skip or reorder words.  In addition I think with more practice his confidence will improve and he will become a stronger reader.   

Blog 6

Learning and Acquisition

Directions:  Label each activity (L) for learning/word recognition or (A) for acquisition/sociopsycholinguistic view.

The students:
A - 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
A/L - correct peers when they make a mistake during reading
A/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 or last letter
L - write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound
A - 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 on different topics

The teacher:
L – pre-teaches vocabulary
L - does a shared reading with 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/L - asks students to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter
A - uses decodable texts
A - sets aside time for SSR each day
A/L - teaches Latin and Greek roots
A - has students meet in literature circles
L - conducts phonics drills
L - chooses predictable texts
A - teaches students different comprehension strategies
A/L - does a picture walk of a new book
L - uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills

Source

Freeman, D., and Y. Freeman. Essential linguistics: What you need to know to teach: reading, ESL, spelling, phonics, grammar. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Week 2 Blog 4

My daughter took Japanese for two years and I remember practicing with her and how frustrated she would get with me on pronunciation and my lack of quick progress.  I know about three words in Japanese and I recognize about two symbols.  I first started by looking at an article from a Japanese Newspaper online.  With no pictures I did not recognize one symbol and I had no idea what the article was even titled or about. 

I decided to make sure I added pictures to my search so I looked for a magazine article and I was a bit more successful, I know it had to do with a Japanese Music Band.  

Finally, I decided that a “How to book,” that was for younger students, would be more appropriate for my ability.  

The book Learning Japanese Bojutsu by photos and pictures (New Edition) by  hatsumi masaaki.  Bōjutsu, I had prior knowledge of was the part of martial arts using a “staff.”  Doing this activity I realized how scary and difficult it would be to be surrounded by books, magazines, or newspapers that I couldn’t understand the language.  

Week 2 Blog 5

The first book I chose was If You Take A Mouse to The Movies, by Laura Numeroff.  (2000) Scholastic;this book is one of the many in a series.

Four aspects that might affect students' comprehension:

·         Cover of the Book- The cover is misleading and it looks like a Christmas Story.

·         The holiday Christmas- if it is not celebrated or recognized.

·         Carols- Another word that is related to Christmas, which may not be universal word for singing.

·         Pictures/Text- They don’t necessarily align.

       I looked at many books that could be affected by cultural aspects that would make it hard to comprehend for second language learners.    In the first book, the cover could be misleading, it has Christmas decorations on it, but the book is about a mouse going to the movies.  To help with this I would first “Picture Walk,” the book to see what the kids think or what is confusing.  The second issue is the fact that the story does talk about Christmas and decorations that, depending on the culture, may be not recognized or celebrated.  To help with this I would talk about the holiday Christmas and, without being two specific, talk about how it is a time to celebrate and use their own experiences to relate to a day or holiday that they have celebrated.  Thirdly, the story has a sequence but the pictures do not always line up with what the text is saying.  One strategy I use to help students with reading is using pictures to help decode or work on comprehension; however, the picture in the story doesn’t always align with the text.  To work with this issue I would take a “Picture Walk,” through the book looking at each page and discussing it.   

 NFL Superstars, Tiki and Ronde Barber Game Day, illustrated by Barry Root, (2005) Scholastic.

Four aspects that might affect students' comprehension:

·         Relationship of the boys in the story.

·         Sequence of Events, one of the boys is hurt but doesn’t explain when or where this happened.

·         Flow of the story, the book jumps forward without understanding.

·         Phrase, “Play with the cards you are dealt with,” students may not get this message.

The second book I chose is a popular book in my class. The book is recognizable to most of my second language learners because of the football players on the cover and throughout the book.  The first part that may be confusing and affect comprehension is that the two boys in the story are actually twin brothers; however, the book goes back and forth between calling them by their names or referring to them as twins.  To work with this I would introduce the characters first, the back of the book shows the two boys and explains that they are twins.   Second, one of the boys gets hurt but it doesn’t talk about when or where, it is just that one game he is playing and the next he is sitting on the bench for an injury. To help with this I would do a sequence of events as a visual on the board and talk about details in the book that may not be discussed in full and when reading this book point out that he has an injury in one section of the book, also have them relate their experience to one of the players.  In addition the book jumps forward from one of the boys being upset that his brother gets all the attention to the final game where he scores, the book is good but the flow is hard, I had to read it twice.  Again, to help with this I have a Flow Chart that would help with the flow of the book by talking about first, next, and last.    Finally, there is a message from the book about playing the cards you’re dealt with and it is phrased that way, could be misinterpreted.   I would explain that the book has a message and have them talk to me what they think the message is; I would clarify and give other examples of the same message.

Oral Language and Reading

According to the text, oral language is the foundation on which reading and writing are built, it is the base (Gibbons, 2002).  Children hear oral language long before they read words.  So technically oral language is the first step to learning to read and write.  Next, children learn that letters correspond with sounds (phonemic awareness).  Even after children learn how to sound out words, oral language still is continues to be related to the comprehension piece of reading,   the semantics for words heard and read are the same, for example, the word c a r, whether read or heard, will evoke similar though varying meanings (Gibbons, 2002). 

Writing Instruction

Working in special education I have taken many classes on teaching writing; however, I still feel that there is so much curriculum available and that I am still learning how to differentiate for each of my student’s needs, one program does not fit all.  However, I have also learned that writing and reading go hand in hand and must reinforce each other. 

In Freeman and Freeman (2004), there are two views of writing that are discussed first, Learning View and second, Acquisition View. 

1^st- Learning View is considered traditional and the students goal should be able to produce a good piece of writing by being taught each piece of the writing and finally working up to teaching how to bring it all together.    For instance, first students learn how to sound out and form the letters, next combining sounds to produce words, next how to combine words into sentences, and finally putting sentences together to form paragraphs.   Many of the curriculum's I use are modeled after the Learning View Model. 

 2^nd- The Acquisition View model’s goal is to produce a quality piece of writing by knowing the writing process.   I think of this method similar to backward planning, you start with the message and develop the skills needed to produce the writing.

When looking at both methods I feel that I have been exposed and exposed my students to both.  However, I know that I really need to look at which method works best for each of my students but teach them both.

Sources

Freeman, D.E., and Freeman, Y.S. (2004) Essential Linguistics: What you need to know to teach reading, spelling, phonics, and grammar. Heinemann.

Philosophy on Teaching

The teacher I spoke with is someone that I currently met this year but seems to have her classroom in order and when I go by her students are engaged.  Mrs. J. teaches reading intervention, tier 2.  I asked her about what her philosophies on teaching literacy were and honestly I was waiting for this very intense, explicit, probably an above my head answer.  However, she simply stated that she knows that all students learn differently, she gets to know them and how they learn and adjusts her lessons accordingly and that she lets them know that they are important, and consistency is key.  After hearing this I know I feel the same way but I had to look at my way of teaching to make sure I made them feel that they were important in my class as well.  It was not the answer from her I expected but it definitely was one I needed. 

Intro

Hello,
Just testing out, got to love technology.
Tracy