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
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
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.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
EDRG 604 Blog Entry 3
Oral Language and the Reading Process:
Oral language is extremely important in developing reading comprehension and can be a good indicator as to how students will succeed in reading. Oral language development can be affected by economic status. The economic status of a student can allow to see how he/she will succeed in reading. This is not always the case, but has been proven seen as true in many cases. It is understandable that the lower economic families would have lower reading achievement. Many times they do not have the knowledge necessary materials to help their child succeed in reading.
Oral language is vital and is the foundation for reading comprehension. Teachers are help to help their students with this if they incorporate a language centered classroom with different ongoing activities.
I have noticed through my own teaching experiences that oral language is so important in allowing students to comprehend what they read. As a teacher, I believe that you should do what you can to help a child that is struggling with reading due to their oral langauge. There are many resources and alternatives that are available for these students.
Attached is a link to a powerpoint with different activities that a teacher can due in a language centered classroom. It was very beneficial for me to see what I already have implemented in my classroom and other things that I could do as well.
http://www.cde.state.co.us/coloradoliteracy/crf/downloads/resources/presentations/OralLanguage.pdf
Oral language is extremely important in developing reading comprehension and can be a good indicator as to how students will succeed in reading. Oral language development can be affected by economic status. The economic status of a student can allow to see how he/she will succeed in reading. This is not always the case, but has been proven seen as true in many cases. It is understandable that the lower economic families would have lower reading achievement. Many times they do not have the knowledge necessary materials to help their child succeed in reading.
Oral language is vital and is the foundation for reading comprehension. Teachers are help to help their students with this if they incorporate a language centered classroom with different ongoing activities.
I have noticed through my own teaching experiences that oral language is so important in allowing students to comprehend what they read. As a teacher, I believe that you should do what you can to help a child that is struggling with reading due to their oral langauge. There are many resources and alternatives that are available for these students.
Attached is a link to a powerpoint with different activities that a teacher can due in a language centered classroom. It was very beneficial for me to see what I already have implemented in my classroom and other things that I could do as well.
http://www.cde.state.co.us/coloradoliteracy/crf/downloads/resources/presentations/OralLanguage.pdf
EDRG 604 Blog Entry 2
My View of Writing:
While looking over the two different views of writing, I had a difficult time deciding which category I fell into. As I have been taught throughout my school years and my ongoing education, I feel that I received a little bit of both views. I definitely believe that when I was in school I was taught more through the Learning View: Traditional Writing Classroom. My ongoing education though has taught me more of the Acquisition View: Process Writing Classroom. I feel I have a good knowledge of both.
When I taught in Middle school, I definitely taught more to the Acquisition view. Middle schoolers were able to handle the more complex ideas and they already had the conventions down. I was able to let them edit each others papers and knew that they could find many of the mistakes that i would find as well. When I moved down to Elementary school, I switched my writing instruction back to the the Traditional Writing Classroom. The younger students still needed to understand the conventions and needed more step by step instruction. I edit their papers so that I can catch mistakes that their classmates may not see.
I think both views are excellent and each view has their own benefits. I feel though that I have gained more knowledge by being taught and teaching by views.
While looking over the two different views of writing, I had a difficult time deciding which category I fell into. As I have been taught throughout my school years and my ongoing education, I feel that I received a little bit of both views. I definitely believe that when I was in school I was taught more through the Learning View: Traditional Writing Classroom. My ongoing education though has taught me more of the Acquisition View: Process Writing Classroom. I feel I have a good knowledge of both.
When I taught in Middle school, I definitely taught more to the Acquisition view. Middle schoolers were able to handle the more complex ideas and they already had the conventions down. I was able to let them edit each others papers and knew that they could find many of the mistakes that i would find as well. When I moved down to Elementary school, I switched my writing instruction back to the the Traditional Writing Classroom. The younger students still needed to understand the conventions and needed more step by step instruction. I edit their papers so that I can catch mistakes that their classmates may not see.
I think both views are excellent and each view has their own benefits. I feel though that I have gained more knowledge by being taught and teaching by views.
EDRG 604 Entry 1
Philosophies about teaching literacy:
I interviewed a 7th grade language arts teacher. She felt that teaching literacy can be very rewarding because you can watch students make such huge gains in such a short amount of time, but then frustrating at the same time because as a teacher all you want to do is help. Some students are unwilling to accept this help, and as a teacher, you can't do it all for them. They have to do it for themselves as well.
She also stated that literacy is never mastered and is something that can continue to be built on throughout a students education.
She has many different types of instruction to help students learn to read and write. One benefit is that she has another teacher with her at all times and they team teach. She believes this benefits the kids because there is more then one adult in the room and the teacher is not thinly spread. Students get more one on one attention and therefore seem to perform better on tasks and assessments.
She feels that literacy is the foundation for all other subjects.
The following link is a teaching philosophy that I read and felt that is was an excellent philosophy to have on literacy. I wanted to share it, because I thought it was so great!
http://v_clinton.tripod.com/teach/id5.html
I interviewed a 7th grade language arts teacher. She felt that teaching literacy can be very rewarding because you can watch students make such huge gains in such a short amount of time, but then frustrating at the same time because as a teacher all you want to do is help. Some students are unwilling to accept this help, and as a teacher, you can't do it all for them. They have to do it for themselves as well.
She also stated that literacy is never mastered and is something that can continue to be built on throughout a students education.
She has many different types of instruction to help students learn to read and write. One benefit is that she has another teacher with her at all times and they team teach. She believes this benefits the kids because there is more then one adult in the room and the teacher is not thinly spread. Students get more one on one attention and therefore seem to perform better on tasks and assessments.
She feels that literacy is the foundation for all other subjects.
The following link is a teaching philosophy that I read and felt that is was an excellent philosophy to have on literacy. I wanted to share it, because I thought it was so great!
http://v_clinton.tripod.com/teach/id5.html
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