#10 Homework

Homework is a dirty word to most students although it does have a purpose!  Homework must have parameters. It must be meaningful and not too time consuming.  Homework should constitute as additional learning, not busy work! In today's busy and over scheduled society, children need time to relax, have fun and spend time with family. 

Required reading of the student's choice is always part of my homework requirement.  Research shows that children who read on a regular basis increase reading skills, comprehension skills and writing skills.  Reading can be a book, magazines, newspapers or interactive websites.

Unfinished work not completed in class is meaningful homework, especially if the child was not on task during the original work time.

In the primary grades, parents typically review and check homework before it is returned.  A child's first teacher is their parent.  I check and correct homework returned making notes of accomplishments or concerns.  If needed a mini conference is conducted with the student to review the skill and understanding of the concept.

It is also my belief that homework to review and practice skills taught at school is an opportunity for parents to see what their child is struggling with or has mastered.

Homework objectives for the student is that it is to be completed and returned the following day.  Otherwise it is completed during the morning recess unless accompanied by a note from a parent.  Homework is not a mandatory assignment by grade but assigned on an as necessary basis.

Students also are required to complete certain assignments on Mathletics.  Mathletics is an interactive website that allow students to practice math skills and compete and interact with other children on the site.

Homework has its place but should not be a burden to the child or the family.

#9 Fiction and Non-Fiction

I reviewed an Eric Carle book The Very Hungry Caterpillar and a non-fiction scholastic science book about Marvelous Mammals.  Both books are supportive to helping an ELL student learning to speak English.

Fiction - The Very Hungry Caterpillar

• Colorful illustrations that support the text on each page
• Logical progression through the week and in number of foods eaten
• Universal theme and ease of understandability
• Simple sentence structure

Non-Fiction - Marvelous Mammals

• Photographs with captions
• Logical and Easy to follow topics
• Included several different animals in several different habitats
• Vocabulary words are in bold
• Includes a Glossary with pronuciation and definitions
• Comprehension questions included after the glossary

#7 Running Record.

I chose to work with two first grade students that felt very comfortable with me.  I had both of them in Kindergarten.  Christian is initially a shy boy from a very caring Hispanic family.  They speak both English and Spanish at home, although Christian does not know how to read or write in Spanish.  Christian does not like to help the class when we are struggling with Spanish pronunciations of the month or any Spanish words.  It is as if he either doesn't want the attention or is embarrassed. 

Christian is a high performing student who is very smart.  He read very fast and monotone.  Because of the speed of reading he skipped over many articles such as "the, a, an".  He also did not pronounce the "s" on several of the plural words.

The second child speaks Italian and English at home.  Mom is Italian and Dad is American.  Olivia speaks slow with a type of stutter.  It is as if she is constantly translating words in her head from English to Italian or the other way around.  Olivia travels to Italy usually twice a year for a few weeks at a time.  She does not read or write in Italian.

Olivia read very slow and methodical.  She was very sure to pronounce every word accurately and self corrected often.

Christian needs to practice reading at a slower pace and reading with inflection.  This would improve his comprehension as well and others being able to understand him better when he reads aloud.  I would practice in small group with him reading level appropriate plays.

Olivia could use help with her fluencey and inflection also.  This would also help with comprehension.  Level appropriate plays would also be fun and helpful for Oliva.

 

#6 Learned VS Acquired

In a learning view how students say or write is more important than what they say or write.  If the student is learning through acquistion the focus is on meaning.


Student Learned:

•      Look up words in the dictionary - specifically worded to be remembered not determined on own.
•      Practice sounding out words - taught phoneme, phonics and blending
•      Divine words into syllables - non-negotiable, specific and must be taught
•      Ask the teacher how to spell any word they don't know - taught without student attempt on own.

    
Student Both (Learned and Acquired):

•      Make a Venn diagram to compare two stories - student and teacher created
•      Correct peers when they make a mistake during reading - self attempt before corrected
•      Identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound - student attempted
•      Group cards with classmates' names by a criterion on such as the first or last letter -
•             student completed, yet teacher created and guided.
•      Work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences - student created based
•             on what  is learned.
•      On a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same sound -
•             making meaningn on what is taught
•       Read in round-robin fashion -  The student reads yet comprehends on own.
•       Write ryhming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound - student created    
•             based on what was learned regarding rhyming, spelling and sound.

Student Acquired:

•     Read a language experience story they have created with the teacher - totally student created
•     Make alphabet books on different topic - student created

Teacher Learned (taught):

•      Makes sure that students read only books that fit their level -  practice correctly reading words
•     Has students segment words into phonemes - teacher taught and corrected
•     Uses decodable texts - correct reading and fluency
•     Conducts phonic drills - taught and corrected
•      Uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills - skills based and corrected

Teacher Both (Learned and Acquired):

•      Preteaches vocabulary - focus on making meaning
•      Does a shared reading with a big book - discuss components of the book and student interpretation
•      Asks students to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter - student
•                 apply to make meaning of phoneme.
•      Teaches Latin and Greek roots - gives more meaning to word by teaching root definition
•      Has students meet in literature circles - teacher directed for deeper understanding
•      Choose predictable texts - students learn anticipated text to read book choosen

    
Teacher Acquired:

•      Writes words the students dictate for a story and has students help with the spelling of the difficult
•           words - teacher guided but student directed and owned.
•      Sets aside time for SSR each day - student lead and comprehended
•      Teaches students different comprehension strategies - focus is on meaning of text
•      Does a picture walk of a new book - Creates student thought and anticipation of content

    
  

#8 Sheltered Literacy Video Reflection

In the video the teacher was discussing the book Esperanza Rising which is about a Hispanic family who are migrant workers.  It was a story that possibly some of the children could understand and relate to.  I was unable to access the video to reveiw a second time for further detail and observation of teacher and student actions. 

Good teaching practice should always include sheltered instruction, especially in the lower elementary grades. The students usually have a varied level of background knowledge, which is not necessarily reliable or factual. By begining with visuals and discussion of the topic, it levels the playing field so that the students begin the topic of discussion with the same information.

Sheltered Instruction includes Preproduction, Early Production, Speech Emergency and Intermediate and Advanced Fluency.

Preproduction is a basic first step for students to see pictures and discuss the upcoming topic.  The teacher should provide a visual representation of vocabulary, discuss the words and inquire the students for understanding and examples.

Early Production is further discussion of the topic using open ended questions to lead the students to better understand the topic.  This also can be done in small peer groups.

Speech Emergence step of sheltered instruction requires more indepth involvement and communication by the student to verbally discuss the topic in complete sentences.  The level of understanding is at a higher level with the use of graphic organizers.

Intermediate and Advanced Fluency requires the student to answer higher level of questions using a graphic organizer.

#5 Children's Books for the ELL learner

I chose the book Snow by Uri Shulevitz.  This book although does not have many words is full of visual adjectives, verbs and adverbs and well illustrated drawings.  (1)A student who has not been in Colorado very long may have never seen snow.  (2)They may not understand what happens to the climate before a snow.  (3)They may not be able to appreciate how snow floats, circles, swirls.         (4) They also may not understand the boy's excitement.  The thought of snow may be frightful to someone who has never experienced it.  To offer a hands on illustration of snow it may be possible to bring in shaved ice or ice build up from a freezer for the children to touch.

The second book I chose to review is titled Los Amiguitos' Fiesta by Jean Thor Cook.  It is a story with a southwestern flare and contains some spanish words.  (1)The students may be comfortable and familiar the the style and story line of the book.  (2)They will also see how I will struggle with the spanish words to help them feel not so inadiquate as students of english.  The story is based in a small village where the children live in pink adobes with chili peppers hung by the front doors.  The children were preparing their pets and farm animals to be paraded into town to be blessed by the padre.  (3)This book may actually be more easier to comprehend since the setting, although a rural area, will allow the ELL student to conentrate less on new terms and more on the english translation of the terms.  (4) I am hoping that this book would build confidence in them and their learning skills.

Blog #4 Foreign Text

I received a letter from District 11 regarding the Annual Report to the Public as required by the No Child Left Behind Act.  One side of the letter was English, the other side was Spanish.

I had no clue as to what it was trying to say in Spanish.  I began looking at each individual word and then began looking for ANY word that I could possibly decipher.  I then began to flip from side to side to try and translate the Spanish.  I was surprised to see that many words in Spanish resembled other English words what were synonyms for the English word.  An example is the word  "Accountability" in English is "Responsabilidad" in Spanish.  The Spanish translation looks more like the English word "Responsible". 

WOW!

Blog #3 Relationship between oral language and the reading process

The very early stages of reading require oral language.  Toddlers who picture walk through a book, predict and tell their own story based on the pictures is the beginning stages of reading.  Oral fluency and reading are very much related.  Words are a collection of sounds that are represented by letters.  If a child has difficulty producing sounds the child will have difficulty reading. 

Reading is initially introduced through modeling and read alouds beginning when children are babies.  If a child is unable to mimic the modeling, learning to read can be difficult and delayed.

Children who have difficulty with oral speech, may have difficulty sounding out unfamiliar words and predicting what the word.  The sounds that they are producing while phonemically producing a word doesn't sound similar to words that they hear from others. 

Blog #2 Writing instruction

I don't really remember any instuction regarding writing until I was in high school.  In elementary school I do remember having to identify the different components of a sentence, but don't recall any creative writing or journaling. 

In high school the English teacher Mr. Arthur, was the most dreaded and feared teacher in the school.  In reflection I learned the most from him regarding writing but it was strictly research writing.  It was a very formulaic system of writing and organization of thoughts.  I still use the process today when I have to write. 

All book information was placed on index cards as well as information obtained while researching.  The index cards were then sorted by topics.  Then all I needed to do was transition from index card to index card to complete the research paper. 

#1 Teaching Literacy

During lunch is when the Early Elementary teachers (1 Kindergarten teacher, 2 First Grade Teachers and 1 Second Grade teacher) discuss, topics and issues, share and socialize.  Currently we are deciding and discussing what Literacy Program our school should purchase for next year.  A representative from SRA Open Court came and spoke with us which allowed us to ask questions to determine if the program she was promoting would fit our Core Knowledge needs.  Our major literacy concerns, which reflects our philosophy, is if the program would be challenging enough, has good pacing and also promotes a sound writing curriculum.   There is also a need for the SRA program to align with Core Knowledge, Commom Core Standards as well as Colorado State Standards at the appropriate grade level.