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.