#10 Homework

       Homework is important for all children. It should always have a clear academic purpose and should only be material that has been practiced several times in school to assure, as much as possible, that the child is able to complete it independently. If homework is given on a concept too soon, it only causes frustration for the students. The purpose of homework should be for students to practice skills and concepts that have been taught and practiced in school, prepare for new learning, or deepen knowledge. Teachers need to thoughtfully plan engaging homework to match learning objectives from the classroom. Homework should have a clear objective and the purpose for the assignment should be clearly stated for students so they understand it is meaningful and relevant to their learning. Children learn best with practice over time. We need to keep in mind that it is much better to give little doses over a long time period rather than giving large amounts in one night.

       Homework is especially important for our ELL students because it is a chance for them to practice a skill or concept at their level of language acquisition. This means that homework should be modified for our ELL students. “In fact, if they are given the same homework, they may be using unfamiliar skills or incorrectly practicing them” (Hill and Flynn, P.79, 2006).  Modifying homework for these students should be based on the student's needs and language acquisition. We may need to change the amount of homework, add visual cues to the directions,  provide graphic organizers to help deepen understanding and organize information, or set a time limit of how long the homework should take. In class, the teacher may need to take extra time to make sure the expectations of assignments are clear, and/or may need to explicitly teach study skills for the child to use at home. The homework needs to be something students should be able to do independently or with minimal parent support. “Some parents hesitate to discuss homework with their children because they do not understand the language of the assignment” (Hill and Flynn, P. 78, 2006).  If children are able to complete homework on their own it empowers them, builds ownership and self esteem, and eliminates frustration.

       Teachers need to give meaningful feedback. Children have spent time doing the task and we need to honor their time and effort by giving them feedback on how they are doing. We need to point out what the child is doing right and help them with places that need support. “Feedback should be corrective in nature; that is, it should provide students with information on what they are doing correctly and incorrectly” (Hill & Flynn P. 7, 2006). I often pull small groups based on homework needs. I will let a child know that I noticed they were having trouble with a concept and support them by reteaching. If children know that teachers are reviewing their homework, doing their best becomes a higher priority. Feedback should also be given in a timely manner. This makes the feedback more meaningful for the student because it is still fresh in his or her mind. Feedback may also sometimes come from peers.

       Homework policies should be consistent and clear to children and parents. We explain our team's homework policy at Back to School Night, put it in our newsletters, and post it on our website. Our home phone numbers are also given with encouragement to call with any questions. We encourage parents to set up a regular homework routine for their child to follow. We need to make it clear that the child, teacher, and parents are a team working together to provide the best education for the student. 

       Technology can be a wonderful tool for both teacher and student in a homework routine. Websites or blogs can be created to clarify homework assignments, and homework routines. Ipods can be sent home to tape fluency practice. If all students have access to a computer, there are great websites that we have posted on our school website that can be used for supporting the practice of  specific skills and content areas. Homework should be engaging for children and this gives a spin on the regular paper and pencil homework.

Hill, J. & Flynn, K.  (2006).  Classroom instruction that works with English language   learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD Publishing.

#9 Fiction and Non-Fiction

Fiction 

and 

Non-Fiction

I chose the non-fiction book If You Lived with the Indians of the Northwest Coast by Anne Kamma and the fiction book Clamshell Boy  by Terri Cohlene to look at and compare. Each book is language based, gives some information about the Northwest Coastal Native Americans, challenging vocabulary, and has pictures. There are many differences between the two books.  The non-fiction book gives real facts about the Northwest Coastal people, and the fiction book is a story or a legend about the people of the Northwest. The fiction book is meant to entertain and the non-fiction is to inform. The non-fiction book has text features that are very different than a fiction book. It has a table of contents, index, glossary, captions, and loads of pictures. The fiction book has a beginning, middle, and end. You can pick up the non-fiction book and read a random page and learn something. You have to read the fiction book from cover to cover to make meaning.

Our ELL students face some difficulties and will need support with both types of texts. Clamshell Boy is a legend of how the first potlatch came to be for the Northwest Coastal Native Americans. First of all, it would be very important for our ELL students to understand that a legend is traditional story, usually of oral origin, that is handed down from generation to generation and popularly believed to have a historical basis. We need to be sure that our ELL students understand the vocabulary that they will encounter in the story, as with any fiction piece. We need to provide our students with background knowledge to understand the Northwest Coastal Native American culture in order to understand the story. They believed in spirits, and it would be important to have a discussion about this before reading. The pictures in a fiction book are a support feature to the ELL student. Often times these students rely on picture clues to help with comprehension.

We need to prepare our ELL students to understand how to work with and navigate through a non-fiction book. Non-fiction books can be very busy looking on the page, which can be overwhelming for an ELL student. There can be confusion on where to start begin reading on the page. First, we need to explicitly teach students about the text structure. Students need to learn how to use a table of contents, glossary, and index. Once that is taught then we can model how to get information from a non-fiction text by using these features. They then need to practice this skill. There are many text features in non-fiction text that will support our ELL students in their learning. Bold print is a visual cue that something is important or will be defined.  Non-fiction books have a lot of pictures and captions. The captions are short little sentences that are sometimes easier to read. ELL students will help make meaning from pictures and captions.  A glossary can be very helpful to an ELL student, this will help them to understand and define some of the unknown vocabulary. 



It is very important that we think about any difficulties that our ELL students may have with different texts. We need to try and give them all the tools and information to help them be successful readers, no matter the genre.

#8 Running Records

A running record is a great tool to help teachers track reading progress.  It gives information on reading behavior and helps to guide instruction and identify next steps that are needed for that reader. I have used many reading assessments through the years, yet I have never been trained to do a running record.

The running record looks at 3 different types of cuing systems.  Meaning (M) is part of the cuing system in which the child takes his or her cue to make sense of text by thinking about the meaning of the sentence. These cues assist in the reading of a word or phrase. Structure (S) refers to the structure of language and is often referred to as syntax. Knowledge of structure helps the reader know if what she or he reads sounds correct. This is where they possibly replace a verb for another verb or a noun for another noun. Visual (V) information is related to the look of the letters in a word and the word itself. A reader uses visual information when she or he studies the beginning sound, ending sound, word length, and familiar word chunks.

I chose 2 students that have learned English as their second language. Jal is in fourth grade and currently reading at a second grade level. His parents were born and raised in Africa, and they moved to the United States when Jal was 5 years old. His native language is Kanuri which is an African dialect that very few people speak. This is the language that is spoken at home. His mother is now taking English lessons from some of our teachers at Greenwood. The second child is Mahika. Mahika’s family is from India, and at home she speaks both English and Hindi. Mahika is in Kindergarten and just learning how to read. Both of her parents speak fluent English.

 

Jal read from the story The Wonderful Day . He read 172 words. There were no pictures to support the reading.  Jal has good command over phrasing, and he reads punctuation. Jal relies on visual cues more than any other. He also tends to ignore mistakes that interrupt the meaning of the text ; he just continues reading. For example, he says “started” for “stared”…yet “started” did not make sense. He substitutes “sometimes” for “something” which leaves the sentence not making sense. This tells me that he is not reading for meaning. He is clearly using a visual cue to figure out the word, but when it doesn’t make sense he does not self-correct, or even pause to think about it. Jal understands the structure of sentences because there are times when he substitutes a noun for a noun. For example, he said the word” guy” instead of “giant.” Jal had one self-correction out of 19 errors. He used meaning to make this correction. He knew that the phrase “sitting there his the road” did not make sense, so he self -corrected the “his” with “in.”  The word cabbage gave Jal the most trouble. He said “cab-e” for it each time it appeared in the story. It appeared nine times, so this accounted for nine of his 19 errors. **I have since learned that this should have only counted as one error.

Next steps for Jal:

Right away I taught Jal the word “cabbage.” He did not know what the word was, but he had heard of it before. I showed him a picture on the computer. We then read the story again with the word cabbage, and it made sense to him. This clearly shows how important it is to teach vocabulary to our ELL students. I did talk with Jal’s teacher and recommended working on reading for meaning. I am concerned that he didn’t stop when meaning broke down. I would make it a goal for him to monitor his comprehension, and make more self-corrections. I do not know anything about Jal’s native language, so I am not sure as to whether any of these errors have anything to do with a transfer from Kanuri to English.

Mahika was very shy about coming with me to read. Our 3^rd graders are big buddies to the kindergarten children, so I invited her big buddy to come out and sit with us so that she would be more comfortable. Mahika is just learning to read, so her reading was very choppy and word by word. She was very strong with all of her sight words. The reading at a level 3 is very predictable and repetitive. Mahika had a total of 9 errors, with a result of 80% accuracy. When she did come to a word that she didn’t know she would try sounding the word out and then appeal for help. Mahika substituted the word “dog” each time for the word “boy.” Without the help of pictures, this could make sense. She asked for help on the words “slide” and “swing.” She also said “rop” for “rope.” The only error that really concerned me was for the phrase, “said the girl” she read, “did the girl” which has no meaning. Most of her other mistakes still made sense.

Next steps for Mahika:

Mahika has been good at getting to know some of the sight words. I would continue to give her more sight words. She may have a b and d reversal to work on. I believe she thought the word “boy” started with a d and that is why she said “dog.” I would teach her the silent e rule. This would help her in recognizing words like rope and saying the long vowel sound. I would encourage her to continue to read for meaning, and sounding out words she does not know. Overall, I was very impressed with where she is at this early in the year.

#7 Word Study

Etymology is the study of word origins, or where the word has originated from.  Many English words derive from a single earlier language.  Words also change or evolve over time. I am taking a look at five English words to see what I can find out about their origin, how they have evolved, and how we can help explain the spellings of these words today to our students.

Old English (450-1100)

Middle English (1100-1500)

Modern English (1500-present)

Father

Definition: The Webster dictionary states that father is a man who has begotten a child. It is used to describe a male parent, and it can also be used to describe God.

Origin: Looking on Wikipedia, I found that the word father comes from the High German word “Vater.”  It is known to be used before the year 900. The word father in Old English was spelled fæder. In Middle English the spelling was changed to fader. In Modern English it is now spelled father, with the th replacing the d.

Spelling and Pronunciation: The Online Etymology Dictionary explains, “Spelling with -th- (15c.) reflects a widespread phonetic shift in Modern English that turned -der to -ther in many words; spelling caught up to pronunciation in 1500s” (Harper, 2001).“Most words are spelled the way they sound” (Freeman and Freeman, P.108, 2004). This type of word is phonetic. “The spelling system also allows writers to show connections between words that share meanings.” (Freeman and Freeman, P. 109, 2004).  An example of this would be crumb and crumble. This type of word is semantic. Lastly, “Some spellings reflect earlier stages of English” (Freeman and Freeman, P. 109, 2004). This type of word is etymological. The spelling of father is etymological. The spelling is reflected by its origin. If the word was phonetic we would pronounce it with a short a sound.

Love

Definition: The Webster dictionary states that love is a strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties <maternal love for a child> (affection based on admiration, benevolence, or common interests <love for his old schoolmates.

Origin: The word love was once luba, in High German and in Old Frisian it was luve. It is known to be used before 900. One of the earliest uses of love, and its biggest influence, was religion. Love was used to describe the benevolence and affection of God, as well as the affectionate devotion due to God, “God is loue, and he that dwelleth in loue, dwelleth in God” (John 4:16). From this widely recognized meaning, love began to be used to positively describe instances of affection or acts of kindness. In Old English and Middle English love was pronounced as lufu, it had turned into both a noun to describe, “deep affection” and its offspring verb, “to be very fond of”. 

Spelling and Pronunciation: Love is an etymology word because its spelling reflects its earlier stage in English. Love in early Modern English was spelled luve…and to mark the way it was pronounced people put a line over the u. Soon the u became closed into an o to make love. Love is not a phonetic word because the o is making the short u sound. Love also doesn’t fit the silent e rule of making the vowel the long sound. Love is practiced as a sight word because it doesn’t really fit any spelling rule. 

Friend

Definition:The Webster Dictionary states that a friend is one attached to another by affection or esteem, an acquaintance, or one that is not hostile. 

Origin: The Online Etymology Dictionary explains, the origin of the word friend is from Old High German from the word friund. In Old English friend was frēond. In Middle English it was frend, with a pronunciation similar to the way we say it today.   The word friend is also related to Old English word, "free", meaning "a Quaker" (a member of the Society of Friends). 

Spelling and Pronunciation: Friend is another word that reflects its Old English spelling. When teaching how to spell the word friend, the two vowels can be difficult for children. I always teach that you are a friend to the end…to remember that it ends in end. 

Water

Definition: The Webster Dictionary defines water as the liquid that descends from the clouds as rain, forms streams, lakes, and seas, and is a major constituent of all living matter.

Origin: The Online Etymology Dictionary explains, in Old English water was spelled wæter. Water is wet, even etymologically. The Indo-European root of water is *wed-, "wet." This root could appear in several guises-with the vowel e, as here, or as *wod-, or with no vowel between the w and d, yielding *ud-. All three forms of the root appear in English either in native or in borrowed words. From a form with a long e, *wēd-, which by Grimm's Law became *wēt- in Germanic, we have Old English wǣt, "wet," which became modern English wet. The form *wod-, in a suffixed form *wod-ōr, became *watar in Germanic and eventually water in modern English. From the form *ud- the Greeks got their word for water, hud-ōr, the source of our prefix hydro- and related words like hydrant. The suffixes *-rā and *-ros added to the form *ud- yielded the Greek word hudrā, "water snake" (borrowed into English as hydra), and the Germanic word *otraz, the source of our word otter, the water animal.

Spelling and Pronunciation: Water is a fairly easy word for children to learn to read and spell. I would teach water in syllables. The “wat” is a closed syllablre, however it does not say the typical short a sound. This part of the word doesn’t follow the rule. The “er” is an easy syllable for children to spell.  

Book
Definition: Webster Dictionary defines the word book as a set of written sheets of skin or paper or tablets of wood or ivory, a set of written, printed, or blank sheets bound together into a volume, or a long written or printed literary composition. 

Origin: The word book is from the High German word “buch.” In Old Enlish it was spelled boc which meant a book, a writing, or a written document. The Old English originally meant any written document. Latin and Sanskrit also have words for "writing" that are based on tree names ("birch" and "ash," respectively). 

Spelling and Pronunciation: To teach the spelling of book, I would focus on the oo. I would teach it in word groups with look, took, nook.

Information above came from:

The Webster Dictionary online at: http://www.merriam-webster.com/

The Online Etymology Dictionary at: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=Love&searchmode=none

#6 Distinguishing Factors of Word Recognition and Sociopsycholinguistics

According to Freeman and Freeman, there are two theories of language teaching. The theories are very different in their goals, methods, and classroom practices. Below is a list of the major differences between the two theories. 

Learning/ Word Recognition

Acquisition/ Sociopsycholinguistics

Reading *Written language must be learned *Identify words to get meaning *Make connections between print and oral vocabulary *Sound out/blend to pronounce words *If you can decode a word then you recognize it as words in your oral language *Phonics rules  (focusing on the pronunciation of a group of letters) *Sight words (flash cards to memorize) *Break words apart to identify them (look for words within words) *Teacher uses oral reads to help students learn to identify words *Teacher supplies words that students don’t know in oral reading... with the belief that the child will then learn that word *Learn Vocabulary in advance of reading *Recoding instead of decoding (changing from written language to oral language/without getting at meaning) *Children will possibly say the word but it won’t have meaning *The English language isn’t always phonetic in longer words –break apart words (structural analysis) *Mostly oral reading Writing  *Goal is to produce a quality piece of writing  *Teachers break apart elements and teach parts (letters, words, sentences, paragraphs, essays)  *Topics are assigned  *Emphasis on conventions and mechanics  *Handwriting, grammar, and spelling are major component * Writing is corrected by teacher

Reading *Written language is innate and can be acquired *Reading is a process of constructing meaning *Uses background knowledge and three linguistic systems (graphophonics, syntax, and semantics) to make meaning of texts *Focus on meaning  *Use graphophonics as just one of three cueing systems to gain meaning  *Read to acquire new vocabulary by using context *Decoding (getting at meaning) *Making meaning …not focused on individual words *Sampling the text, making predictions, inferring, checking  predictions, and taking new information and combining it with what is known *Different readers may construct different meaning depending on background *Read extensively to acquire vocabulary *Vocabulary taught as they encounter it in many different contexts *Mostly silent reading *Comprehension strategies *Fix up strategies   Writing *Goal is to understand the process of writing  *Student choice writing topics *Students practice writing in different genres *Writer’s workshop  approach *The more students read, the better they write   *Mini-lessons provide instruction on style and mechanics   *Students are encouraged to share their writing

I believe that as educators we need to have a balance of both Learning and Acquisition approaches. Our students all learn differently, and have different needs. If we have a balanced approach that incorporates both theories, we will meet more needs and learning styles.

*All information above is taken from the text: Essential Linguistics What You Need to Know to Teach Reading, ESL, Spelling, Phonics, Grammar. By David E. Freeman and Yvonne S. Freeman.