Homework should be given at every grade level, but in moderation. It should be given for extra practice and not just because you can. Using a specific homework structure many times will help ensure the success of ESL students. They need a constant rather than having things change daily. This doesn’t necessarily mean that it needs to be the same every day, all the time. That is just unrealistic and does not take place in most classrooms. It is, however, important to use homework as a tool. The extra practice that takes place at home will continue to allow the student to get more practice. “Not all homework or practice needs to be the same. Some students may reach 80 percent proficiency well before 24 practices. If so, they should move into extension activities. English language learners, however, are likely to need more than 24 practice sessions to be competent at a skill, so some of those practice sessions can be assigned as homework.” (Hill, 2006). This homework may take place in forms of reading logs, graphic organizers, or composition notebooks. While these are just a few, there are many other homework structures that are used. I like to use composition notebooks. They use them for math, reading, writing, science, and social studies. While each notebook all have a little bit different structure, they all have a constant within that subject. This constant allows students to always know what the expaectation for that particular notebook is. If they miss a day a school, they do not have to be re-taught as to what they should do.
Providing appropriate and timely feedback is also vital to a child’s success. They need to see what mistakes they made and what changes they can make before continuing on to the next task. If they do not have this feedback, it is very likely that they will the same mistakes on every assignment because they were never told that it was wrong. “Reinforcing effort is about helping students to understand the relationship between effort and achievement.” (Hill, 2006).
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
EDRG 604 Blog Entry 9
Graphic organizers are very useful when working with ESL students. They can be used in a number of subjects and there are many different options to choose from when deciding on which graphic organizer best fits the text.
I chose one graphic organizer for fiction, one for non-fiction, and one for poetry. I really liked the poetry one because we really focus on figurtive language in my class and this graphic organizer allows them to find figurative language on their own within the poem. To use this graphic organizer though, you need to make sure that the poem contains figuartive language. The series of poems in "Where the SIdewalk Ends," by Shel Silverstein would be great examples to use.
The graphic organizer that I chose for non-fiction focuses on either a persuasive or argumentative article. I think it is important for students to have to pick out the arguments and then find the supporting evidence to these arguments. This graphic oragnizer allows them to do that. This graphic organizer owuld work for subjects such as Social Studies or Science. My students use it when reading about Colorado History.
The graphic organizer I chose for fiction is my favorite, because it requires the students to focus on predicting outcomes. I require my students to make predictions for every story we read. I like that this graphic organizer requires them to go back and state whether or not their prediction was correct. This graphic organizer would work for fiction text. A story that would be great to use with this grpahic organizer is "The Great Kapok Tree," by Lynne Cherry. It has many important events and not a lot of main characters, so it is easier for the student to do.
Below are the links to my graphic organizers.
Fiction graphic organizer: https://worldclass.regis.edu/AngelUploads/Content/SP_XIN_MD_EDRG604_XP40_11M8W1/_assoc/49D25D239AE749539CFB2B719E249E74/D44A09EBAB96E0118D630019B9E69F4B/Fiction%20Graphic%20Organizer.docx
Nonfiction graphic organizer:
https://worldclass.regis.edu/AngelUploads/Content/SP_XIN_MD_EDRG604_XP40_11M8W1/_assoc/49D25D239AE749539CFB2B719E249E74/D44A09EBAB96E0118D630019B9E69F4B/Non-Fiction%20Graphic%20Organizer.docx
Poetry graphic organizer:
https://worldclass.regis.edu/AngelUploads/Content/SP_XIN_MD_EDRG604_XP40_11M8W1/_assoc/49D25D239AE749539CFB2B719E249E74/D44A09EBAB96E0118D630019B9E69F4B/Poetry%20Graphic%20Organizer.docx
I chose one graphic organizer for fiction, one for non-fiction, and one for poetry. I really liked the poetry one because we really focus on figurtive language in my class and this graphic organizer allows them to find figurative language on their own within the poem. To use this graphic organizer though, you need to make sure that the poem contains figuartive language. The series of poems in "Where the SIdewalk Ends," by Shel Silverstein would be great examples to use.
The graphic organizer that I chose for non-fiction focuses on either a persuasive or argumentative article. I think it is important for students to have to pick out the arguments and then find the supporting evidence to these arguments. This graphic oragnizer allows them to do that. This graphic organizer owuld work for subjects such as Social Studies or Science. My students use it when reading about Colorado History.
The graphic organizer I chose for fiction is my favorite, because it requires the students to focus on predicting outcomes. I require my students to make predictions for every story we read. I like that this graphic organizer requires them to go back and state whether or not their prediction was correct. This graphic organizer would work for fiction text. A story that would be great to use with this grpahic organizer is "The Great Kapok Tree," by Lynne Cherry. It has many important events and not a lot of main characters, so it is easier for the student to do.
Below are the links to my graphic organizers.
Fiction graphic organizer: https://worldclass.regis.edu/AngelUploads/Content/SP_XIN_MD_EDRG604_XP40_11M8W1/_assoc/49D25D239AE749539CFB2B719E249E74/D44A09EBAB96E0118D630019B9E69F4B/Fiction%20Graphic%20Organizer.docx
Nonfiction graphic organizer:
https://worldclass.regis.edu/AngelUploads/Content/SP_XIN_MD_EDRG604_XP40_11M8W1/_assoc/49D25D239AE749539CFB2B719E249E74/D44A09EBAB96E0118D630019B9E69F4B/Non-Fiction%20Graphic%20Organizer.docx
Poetry graphic organizer:
https://worldclass.regis.edu/AngelUploads/Content/SP_XIN_MD_EDRG604_XP40_11M8W1/_assoc/49D25D239AE749539CFB2B719E249E74/D44A09EBAB96E0118D630019B9E69F4B/Poetry%20Graphic%20Organizer.docx
Monday, June 6, 2011
EDRG 604 Blog Entry 8
I really enjoyed watching the videos of the sheltered lesson this week. One thing I noticed right away is that some of the techniques she used are techniques I use everytime I read a story with my class. It felt good to realize that it is something I already do even though I never knew the correct term for it.
I noticed the teacher do many different things to promote comprehension in the video. I liked that she had the students relate things that were happening in the story to real life experiences that they have had. The students seemed to respond very well to this and were able to come up with experiences. I also think it was an excellent idea to discuss the vocabulary before reading and having students come with synonyms for the words. Many times unknown vocabulary in text can greatly hinder a child's comprehension, so I feel that this techniques is extremely important in promoting comprehension. I noticed that many times, as she explained the word, she would give an example, which then allowed the students to come up synonyms for the word. I think that if she hadn't given the example, she would not have had as great a response from the students. I enjoyed the fact that she read clearly and annunciated words or phrases. She also did an excellent job of using repetition to ensure that the students understood. The students were also very good about asking questions if there was something they did not understand or were unsure about. The teacher did very well at answering those questions by again using repetition or putting it back on other students who did understand it to answer it. I thought the post-it idea was such a neat idea. Students love using anything different from a regular sheet of paper and a pencil. She had so many different uses for the pos-it notes and the students seemed to have a good response to this technique. The fact that she used lots of modeling and gave the students a visual of what she sees when she reads the text is a crucial key in students understanding. Many times I have noticed that if the students see the teacher doing it, there is a much better response from them.
I thought this teacher had many excellent ideas, and I really appreciated in the introduction that she said "It doesn't meany dummying down the curriculum." I think that is a huge misconception when teachers hear the term "sheltering." This video was extremely helpful and gave me great insight as to how a well sheltered lesson should look when it takes place.
Attached is a link to another sheltered lesson that I researched. This one takes place in a special ed classroom. I thought it would be beneficial to see a regular classroom sheltered lesson looks compared to a special ed classroom sheltered lesson. I also really liked the fact that it was a much younger group of kids compared to the previous video. It was helpful to see how sheltered lessons can look with different age groups and different types of classrooms.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsY0dVkeZSI&feature=related
I noticed the teacher do many different things to promote comprehension in the video. I liked that she had the students relate things that were happening in the story to real life experiences that they have had. The students seemed to respond very well to this and were able to come up with experiences. I also think it was an excellent idea to discuss the vocabulary before reading and having students come with synonyms for the words. Many times unknown vocabulary in text can greatly hinder a child's comprehension, so I feel that this techniques is extremely important in promoting comprehension. I noticed that many times, as she explained the word, she would give an example, which then allowed the students to come up synonyms for the word. I think that if she hadn't given the example, she would not have had as great a response from the students. I enjoyed the fact that she read clearly and annunciated words or phrases. She also did an excellent job of using repetition to ensure that the students understood. The students were also very good about asking questions if there was something they did not understand or were unsure about. The teacher did very well at answering those questions by again using repetition or putting it back on other students who did understand it to answer it. I thought the post-it idea was such a neat idea. Students love using anything different from a regular sheet of paper and a pencil. She had so many different uses for the pos-it notes and the students seemed to have a good response to this technique. The fact that she used lots of modeling and gave the students a visual of what she sees when she reads the text is a crucial key in students understanding. Many times I have noticed that if the students see the teacher doing it, there is a much better response from them.
I thought this teacher had many excellent ideas, and I really appreciated in the introduction that she said "It doesn't meany dummying down the curriculum." I think that is a huge misconception when teachers hear the term "sheltering." This video was extremely helpful and gave me great insight as to how a well sheltered lesson should look when it takes place.
Attached is a link to another sheltered lesson that I researched. This one takes place in a special ed classroom. I thought it would be beneficial to see a regular classroom sheltered lesson looks compared to a special ed classroom sheltered lesson. I also really liked the fact that it was a much younger group of kids compared to the previous video. It was helpful to see how sheltered lessons can look with different age groups and different types of classrooms.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsY0dVkeZSI&feature=related
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
EDRG 604 Blog Entry 7
I spent time in a 1st grade classroom this week and conducted running records on two ESL students. Student A speaks Spanish and student B speaks Chinese. Student A struggles with English and she was given a running record for the end of the year and scored a 95/100, which puts her at an instrcutional level. There were some errors that she self-corrected and there were others that I noticed being more of meaning errors. Instead of saying "Saturday" she said "Sunday". She also replaced "say" with "saw". Both of these errors seemed to be meaning errors, and not syntax or visual errors. I also see both of these errors as being possible universal errors that all students would make. The days of the week fall back to back and I understand that some students would replace one with the other. When she said "say" instead of "saw", this is also a mistake many students would make because it is just the deletion and addition of the last letter. On the comprehension piece, she score 8/10, giving her an 80%. This put her at the independent/instructional level.
Student B speaks Chinese, but is an extremely bright girl and ended scoring 100/100, which puts her at the independent level. I was very impressed with her reading skills since her first language is not English. She also scored an 8/10 on the comprehension which puts her at the independent/instructional level as well. I was unable to find any errors in meaning, syntax, or visual since she score perfect on the reading fluency portion.
Both students seemed to score very well given that English is their second language.
Below is a website that I found helpful when figuring out the differences between meaning, sytanx, and visual cue errors.
http://www.readinga-z.com/newfiles/levels/runrecord/runrec.html
Student B speaks Chinese, but is an extremely bright girl and ended scoring 100/100, which puts her at the independent level. I was very impressed with her reading skills since her first language is not English. She also scored an 8/10 on the comprehension which puts her at the independent/instructional level as well. I was unable to find any errors in meaning, syntax, or visual since she score perfect on the reading fluency portion.
Both students seemed to score very well given that English is their second language.
Below is a website that I found helpful when figuring out the differences between meaning, sytanx, and visual cue errors.
http://www.readinga-z.com/newfiles/levels/runrecord/runrec.html
Thursday, May 26, 2011
EDRG 604 Blog #6
While I have always considered myself a very learning/word recognition view as a teacher, there were many activities that fell under the acquisition view that I also do in my classroom. I feel that I am a very good balance between the two and I can appreciate that some activities can be categorized under both views as well.
The students:
L 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
L correct peers when they make a mistake
L/A identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound
L/A group cards with classmates’ names by a criterion on such as first or last letter
A write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound
L ask teacher how to spell any word they don’t know
A read a language experience story they have created with the teacher
A 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 preteaches vocabulary
A does a shared reading with a big book
L make sure that students read only books that fit their level
L has students segment words into phonemes
A write words the students dictate for a story and has students help with the spelling of difficult words
A asks students to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter
L uses decodable text
A set aside time for SSR (sustained silent reading) each day
L teaches Latin and Greek roots
A has students meet in literature circles
L conducts phonics drills
L/A chooses predictable texts
A teaches students different comprehension strategies
A does a picture walk of a new book
L uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
EDRG 604 Blog Entry 4
I started with an adult publication titled "La Casa En Mango Street," by Sandra Cisneros. I was able to comprehend very little from this book. I was able to pick up words here and there and make some sense of the story. I was able to pick up a few words, not because I already knew them, but because they were very similar to english words. I think I was able to get the whole idea of the book, but I definitely could not understand the details.
I then tried to read a book purblished for young adults. Unfortunately, the library I went to did not have any young adult books in spanish.
I then moved on to the children's books. I read the story "Gracias, Sr. Falker," by Patricia Polacco. Because of the very many, detailed pictures, I was able to make sense of this book. I could understand that the children were making fun of her and that she was very sad. I established that without the pictures though, I still would not have been able to comprehend this book. There were words that I was able to pick up on, but the text as a whole was still very difficult for me to comprehend.
As a teacher, this greatly opened my eyes to how hard it must be for a non english speaker to sit in a english speaking only classroom. I realized that pictures and phyiscal examples are some of the best ways for ESL students to learn. It would have been helpful to have someone who speaks Spanish sit down with me and walk me through the book. I think with their help, I would have comprehended the book better.
I then tried to read a book purblished for young adults. Unfortunately, the library I went to did not have any young adult books in spanish.
I then moved on to the children's books. I read the story "Gracias, Sr. Falker," by Patricia Polacco. Because of the very many, detailed pictures, I was able to make sense of this book. I could understand that the children were making fun of her and that she was very sad. I established that without the pictures though, I still would not have been able to comprehend this book. There were words that I was able to pick up on, but the text as a whole was still very difficult for me to comprehend.
As a teacher, this greatly opened my eyes to how hard it must be for a non english speaker to sit in a english speaking only classroom. I realized that pictures and phyiscal examples are some of the best ways for ESL students to learn. It would have been helpful to have someone who speaks Spanish sit down with me and walk me through the book. I think with their help, I would have comprehended the book better.
EDRG 604 Blog Entry 5
I found the task of choosing two books that would be difficult for ESL students to understand because of cultural differences difficult. I went to my schools designated ELL teacher and asked for some assisstance. She lead me in the direction of folktales and fairy tales.
The first book I chose was "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears," by Verna Aardema. Some of the concepts I felt the ESL students might struggle with were the concept of folktales, morals. make-believe, and the origin of a folktale. To make this story comprehendible, I would begin by introducing what a folktale is and how folktales come about. I would explain that every folktale contains a moral and most folktales are make-make believe and are not true. I would explain that a "moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or an event," (Wikipedia). I would ask the students to think back to time when they got in trouble for doing something. After they had told me their story, I would ask what they learned from it and then explain that that is what a moral is. By tying the story to their own past experiences, they are more likely able to understand the point of the story. After we read the story, I would ask guiding questions about the characters to lead the students toward the moral of the story. One way I might do this is through a graphic organizer. Now that they are familiar with it, I would then ask them what some folktales in their culture are. What are stories they have heard that had a moral at the end. By listening to other students stories, they may be able to come up with some of their own.
The second book I chose was "Wizard of Wind and Rock," by Pamela f. Service. The components in this book that I saw as being a challenge for ESL students were the concepts of wizards, magic and magical powers, the concept of what a legend is, and the differences between noble people and commoners. To begin the story, I would talk about wizards and ask bring up the Harry Potter books and movies. Many children are familiar with them and would be able to relate what they have learned from them to this story. We would talk about what a wizard is and what makes them special. This would lead into the idea of magic and magical powers. We would discuss that magic is something special that happens and cannot always be explained. I would have them tell stories about times when they have seen a magician or have had something happen to them that they could not explain. I would then let them know that this story is a legend and that a legend is a story that has been passed down from people through the years. It is very much like a folktale or fairy tale and is also usually make-believe. The last thing we would discuss before reading the story would be noble people and commoners. I would have students make a two column list. They would write "Important" in one column and "Less Important" in the other. The "important" column would list traits of noble people, such as rich, big houses, lots of money, and knows a lot of people. The "less important" column would list traits of commoners such as not as much money, simple houses, only knows friends and family. We would then discuss as a class which column we feel like we fit into best and why. We would also discuss which person we would rather be and why. The students will then read the story and decide if they still would prefer to be a commoner or a noble person. They will write notes in their two column notes as they go.
This task was very difficult for me, because I was trying to focus more on the language piece and not as much on the cultural piece. I think it would be a lot fun to complete a lesson these books. I really enjoyed bothe of them.
The first book I chose was "Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People's Ears," by Verna Aardema. Some of the concepts I felt the ESL students might struggle with were the concept of folktales, morals. make-believe, and the origin of a folktale. To make this story comprehendible, I would begin by introducing what a folktale is and how folktales come about. I would explain that every folktale contains a moral and most folktales are make-make believe and are not true. I would explain that a "moral is a message conveyed or a lesson to be learned from a story or an event," (Wikipedia). I would ask the students to think back to time when they got in trouble for doing something. After they had told me their story, I would ask what they learned from it and then explain that that is what a moral is. By tying the story to their own past experiences, they are more likely able to understand the point of the story. After we read the story, I would ask guiding questions about the characters to lead the students toward the moral of the story. One way I might do this is through a graphic organizer. Now that they are familiar with it, I would then ask them what some folktales in their culture are. What are stories they have heard that had a moral at the end. By listening to other students stories, they may be able to come up with some of their own.
The second book I chose was "Wizard of Wind and Rock," by Pamela f. Service. The components in this book that I saw as being a challenge for ESL students were the concepts of wizards, magic and magical powers, the concept of what a legend is, and the differences between noble people and commoners. To begin the story, I would talk about wizards and ask bring up the Harry Potter books and movies. Many children are familiar with them and would be able to relate what they have learned from them to this story. We would talk about what a wizard is and what makes them special. This would lead into the idea of magic and magical powers. We would discuss that magic is something special that happens and cannot always be explained. I would have them tell stories about times when they have seen a magician or have had something happen to them that they could not explain. I would then let them know that this story is a legend and that a legend is a story that has been passed down from people through the years. It is very much like a folktale or fairy tale and is also usually make-believe. The last thing we would discuss before reading the story would be noble people and commoners. I would have students make a two column list. They would write "Important" in one column and "Less Important" in the other. The "important" column would list traits of noble people, such as rich, big houses, lots of money, and knows a lot of people. The "less important" column would list traits of commoners such as not as much money, simple houses, only knows friends and family. We would then discuss as a class which column we feel like we fit into best and why. We would also discuss which person we would rather be and why. The students will then read the story and decide if they still would prefer to be a commoner or a noble person. They will write notes in their two column notes as they go.
This task was very difficult for me, because I was trying to focus more on the language piece and not as much on the cultural piece. I think it would be a lot fun to complete a lesson these books. I really enjoyed bothe of them.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)