ENTRY #8

Running records are an important assessment to inform instruction.  Teachers can learn both strengths and weaknesses of their students through running records.  By identifying where and how they struggle as readers, instruction can be planned to better address the students’ needs.  Running records can also be used to group students who have similar reading needs.  It is important to be able to identify what types of miscues the student makes to assess which reading strategies they use and which reading strategies they are not using.  Running records can be used on all types of learners.  Below are two examples from students whose first language is not English.

This student speaks Karen as his first language.  Karen is a tonal language spoken in areas of Burma and Thailand.  The student was tested at a mid-2^nd grade level but he is currently in 5^th grade.

 

While the student made a few errors by omitting difficult words or changing words, his biggest area of need was reading the “s” at the end of his words.  He read the word “forests” thirteen times and did not read the “s” ten of those times.  He also omitted the “s” on the word “comes” and “animals”.  It was difficult to determine the origin of the errors but it is likely that it is due to his difficulties as an English Language Learner.  When he did add the “s” to the word “forests” it seemed difficult for him to pronounce.  One of the errors his self-corrected was adding the “ed” to the word “covered”.  It appears that this student would benefit from small group instruction focusing on different word endings and their importance.  While it doesn’t appear that it intervenes with his understanding of what he is reading, it will hinder his progress to move forward with his reading.  He showed that he did use reading for meaning as a strategy to self-correct.  This would be identified as a strength for this student.

The next English Language Learner who was given a running record is a native Spanish speaker.  He was given an early 2^nd grade prompt and is currently in 3^rd grade.

This student was able to self-correct a few miscues by using meaning, syntax, and visual cues.  He did however, skip over a few words without seeming to notice.  When he came to words he was not sure of he would always say “What is that?” before attempting to try the word on his own.  He was able to use visual cues to identify most of the words he asked about.  He also used visual cues when making errors.  For example the word was “tracks” and he read “trucks”.  He was able to self-correct by using his understanding of what he was reading.  The biggest area of need for this student would be confidence.  If he didn’t stop so frequently to ask what the word was then his fluency would improve.  This could be due to the fact that he is still learning English as a second language so he feels unsure of his reading skills.  This student would benefit from reading aloud familiar texts to younger students or other activities to build confidence.

Running records are a powerful assessment tool.  The most important idea is that they are being used to inform instruction and plan for specific needs of individual students.  They can be used frequently or sporadically to progress monitor student achievement.

ENTRY #10

Homework and independent practice can be great teaching tools for English Language Learners if used appropriately.  Effective homework/independent practice is work that builds on a skill or concept that the students have already been exposed to on more than one occasion.  It is important that the students are not expected to do something independently that they were just taught.  This can cause frustration, anxiety, and confusion.  If a student is expected to complete an assignment, it should address a skill the student has shown some amount of proficiency in.  The student should be able to complete the homework with very minimal support from anyone else. 

Homework can be given across all content areas and can address a variety of skills.  Teachers should assign homework with a familiar structure to class work that the student has previously done, or be prepared to model the expectations of the assignment.  It should not be assumed that all students could comprehend written directions for any assignment.  The more clear expectations are, the more accessible and effective the homework/independent practice will be to the student.  Homework should be something the student feels successful with.  That being said, it is important the the homework assigned is differentiated to meet the needs of the students in the classroom.  It is a rare occasion when every student should be sent home with the same assignment.

Homework objectives should align with the learning and language objective that the assignment is an extension of.  Students should have a clear understanding of what the intended learning are and what language skills they should use.  Often, the intended learning will just be the practice of a skill they have been using in class.  In particular, English Language Learners should be aware of what language functions they are using and what vocabulary is important to the assignment.

It is important to provide students with adequate and timely feedback on their homework/independent practice.  Students are generally more motivated to do well when feedback is given.  They also benefit from seeing where they were meeting the objectives and where they made mistakes.  This allows them to continue in the right direction instead of being unaware of their misunderstandings.  Teachers also benefit from providing feedback, as it can be used as an informal assessment tool.

Different forms of technology can also be incorporated into homework and independent practice.  Many teachers have online blogs that provide outlines of different assignments and more detailed instructions or hints, and links to other helpful tools.  There are also many websites that teachers and students can link where students can go to complete different academic activities.  The teachers can then log on and see what the students were able to do independently.  Different technology is often highly motivating for students as it provides a different way to accomplish tasks.

ENTRY #9

There are many challenges to teaching English Language Learners the difference between fiction and non-fiction.  It is important to use a graphic organizer to outline the differences for these students.  It is also helpful to be mindful of which texts are used to teach this.  Using a fiction and a non-fiction text that have similar themes can be more powerful for students, than using two texts with no similarities.  Two such texts are: Birthdays Around the World by Jackie Glassman, and A Letter to Amy by Ezra Jack Keats.  The first book details how birthdays are celebrated in different countries throughout the word.  The narrative text tells a story about a boy who is inviting a special friend to his birthday party.  After having read both texts, a graphic organizer could be completed in a whole or small-group setting.  Since quite a few differences exist between the two genres, it is important to keep the graphic organizer as simple as possible to allow students more access to the information.  Here is an example of a graphic organizer depicting the differences between the two genres based on the texts mentioned above:

Fiction	Non-Fiction
- tells a made-up story about made-up people - drawings to illustrate the story - the story tells about a problem and how that problem is solved - has different characters - each page has the words in one area and a picture either under or next to the words	- gives true information about a topic - has real photographs of what its talking about - had headings to tell the main ideas of the book - uses bold text to highlight important words - shows how to make things that are mentioned in the book - has maps - has captions describing the photographs - there are words all over the page in different areas and boxes

Some fiction text features will prove to be a challenge for English Language Learners.  Fiction that is unrealistic and portrays characters that aren’t human can be confusing as some students may not understand the idea of telling a story and would be confused right from the start.  Fictional texts may also cover topics or ideas that are unfamiliar to students. In particular A Letter to Amy discusses a birthday party and, depending on the different students’ cultures, the idea of a birthday party may not be familiar to them.  If you were reading just A Letter to Amy then these students would benefit from a conversation, prior to reading the story, about birthdays.  One thing that is beneficial to these students is the illustrations.  English language learners will be able to get some understanding of the story based on the illustrations alone.

Non-fiction texts also provide some difficulties to students who are not native-English speakers.  While the photographs and headings can increase the students’ comprehension of the text and the main ideas, the amount and organization of the words can be overwhelming.  In the text Birthdays Around the World, much of the page is covered with writing and or pictures.  This can be overwhelming to any student as they may be confused about where to start or which words correspond with what graphic.  While bold words are beneficial in that they highlight the important vocabulary from the text, it is important that this vocabulary is introduced before reading the text as it may present more challenges.

When teaching students who are English language learners it is important that we keep these challenges in mind.  We should adapt our teaching techniques to address specific needs PRIOR to the start of the book.  Enough background knowledge should be provided before we can expect our students to tackle any text.  It is important that we recognize and teach the differences between fiction and non-fiction, and model for our student how to approach both types of texts.

ENTRY #7: The Origin of 5 Words

LITERATE:

Defined: educated, cultured; able to read and write; versed in literature or creative writing.

This word is defined as both an adjective and a noun, most commonly used as an adjective.  Its usage traces back to the early 1400's and comes from the Latin word meaning ‘letters’ or “litteratus”.  The "us" was removed and the word was spelled “literat” in Middle English, and the last “e” was added later on.  By adding this letter it allows readers to know that the "a" is a long "a" sound.

It would be beneficial for students to identify that this word originated from the Latin word for ‘letters’, as its current usage most always is related to reading and writing of some sort.  It would also allow them to connect this idea to words such as “literacy”, “illiterate”, and “literately”, where “literate” is the root word.

DELICIOUS:

Defined: appealing to one of the bodily senses particularly of taste or smell.

This word is dated back to the 13th century and comes from Latin and French origins.  Its roots come from the Latin words for "delight" and "allure".  It appeared in Old French as "delicieus", but was not known in Old or Middle English.  The current English spelling has changed the second "e" into an "o' which is more accurate to the pronunciation.

Students understanding of the words from Latin that delicious turned into will help them to better understand the definition of the word.  It will also allow students to make connections between different languages like Latin, French and English.

FRUSTRATE:

Defined: to cause someone to feel angry, discouraged, or upset because of not being able to do something.

This word also stems from Latin and is dated back to the early 1400's.  It originated as the word "frustratus" and "frustrati" meaning to deceive or disappoint.  The "us" was again dropped and an "e" was placed at the end to symbolize a long "a" sound in the middle of the word.

This word is the root for many words and understanding its spelling will help to pronounce other words where the "e" isn't present.  Examples include: frustrating, frustratingly, and frustrative.

LUNCH:

Defined: a light midday meal.

The word "lunch" was shortened from the word "luncheon" in 1823.  The word "luncheon" dates back to the 1570s and in Old English was "nonechenche" meaning "noon snack".  The word changed into "luncheon" through influences from northern English dialects and Spanish.  While the word "lunch" came from wrods that meant "meat" and "bread", it is interesting that the definition we use today almost identical to its original meaning.

In this instance, knowing the origin of the word will probably not help the students with the pronunciation or the spelling.  It will however, help students to understand the meaning and also to discover how words change over time.  The actual spelling of the word has changed dramatically over the past 4 and a half decades.

LEAP:

Defined: to spring in the air from one point or position to another.

This word can be traced back over 1,000 years to the 10th century.  It was recorded in Old English as "hleapan" and in Middle English became "lepen".  The spelling of it today is more similar to the Old English version with the "ea" but the pronunciation has changed, as the ending was dropped.  In Old English, it was common to put an "h" before an "l" but I am unaware of the pronunciation of the two letters together.

Students may be interested in seeing how this word has changed over time.  It has actually become shorter and can be used in different tenses.

References:
www.dictionary.com
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary
http://www.etymonline.com/

ENTRY #6

According to Freeman and Freeman's Essential Linguistics (2004) there are two views of reading and how it is learned and two views to approach writing.  Below I will highlight the major aspects of both views and how they differ from one another.

WORD RECOGNITION/ TRADITIONAL LEARNING VIEW:
The main goal in instruction is teach language directly so that students are able to identify words and construct meaning from those words and use language correctly.  This is done through phonics instruction to put sounds to letters to form words that we recognize through oral language.  Word that do not follow typical phonics rules are memorized as sight words.  For longer words, we break them down in to word parts that we recognize, such as prefixes and root words, and adds meaning to the word.  Writing is also taught in parts and moves from letter to word to sentence to paragraph, etc.  In classrooms where this is present, teachers will preteach new words and vocabulary that their students don't already know or cannot figure out through phonics.  Writing is taught systematically through activities and exercises that build on one another.  Teachers also provide many experiences with reading aloud as a class or large group and provide students with missed words and correction of errors.  The belief is that if the corrections are given to them, then they will remember it and be able to read or write it correctly the next time.

SOCIOPSYCHOLINGUISTICS/ ACQUISITION VIEW:
This views focus is on constructing meaning as both the reader and the author.  While phonics are used, background knowledge is relied on heavily, as well as other methods focusing on meaning.  Students are encourage to write authentically and given many opportunities to do so.  There is the understanding that vocabulary will be learned through making meaning of the text and that writing conventions will come as more authentic writing occurs.  It is a very student-centered approach with not a lot of focus on pre-teaching.  Instead of correcting every mistake, the teacher focuses more on what the student is trying to say and provides them with support to get there.

ENTRY #5

        As a child/ student you rarely reflect on "how" you are being taught something new, therefore as an adult trying to remember back on how I was taught to write, I find it a difficult to totally recall.  I do remember however, that my elementary years were a bit more controlled and the focus was more on the traditional conventions of writing and less on the content being authentic or meaningful to me as the student.  I can picture my teachers teaching the whole-class a specific skill and then giving the topic to write about.  We focused quite a bit on punctuation, grammar, and handwriting and ignored elements of creativity.  I can remember a time in third grade when I was working on a story that I thought was so funny.  I had put a lot of energy into this piece and was really excited when I got to meet with my teacher about it.  While I understand now as an adult that a teacher and a third grade student are probably not going to have the same level of humor, I was devastated when my teacher made no mention to me about the content of my story.  She made comments solely on my writing conventions and the organization of the piece.  This experience had a big effect on me as a writer because it caused me to alter the way I approached writing tasks for the next several years. 

          As I progressed into high school, I remeber having more investment in my writing as I was given a little more freedom.  Writing was taught less directly to the class as a whole, and was approached on a more individual basis.  After eighth grade, writing was no longer a subject, it was just something you did.  When I was allowed to write about something I chose, I remember feeling more invested in my writing, and taking it more seriously.  This autonomy allowed me to grow as a writer and I began again to focus more on content, and therefore developed better writing conventions.

           These two separate experiences allowed me exposure to both of the two views of writing according to Freeman and Freeman (2004).  My elementary experience was more of the "Learning View: Traditional Writing Classroom" where the "teacher directly instructs students in how to form letters, then words, then how to combine word into sentences, and the sentences into paragraphs"(2004).  Where as my writing instruction in high school was the "Acquisition View: Process Writing Classroom" where the "teacher creates conditions for authentic written responses and then helps students express themselves in writing"(2004).  While research suggest that the "Acquisition View" lends itself to more student buy-in and production of authentic writing, I believe my exposure to both instructional strategies was beneficial and meaningful.  I think at a young age students do need more structure and can gradually move to more authentic free writing.  For me, I just wish it had happened a little sooner.

ENTRY #4

        When presenting English Language Learners with a new text, whether it be through a class read-aloud or a book in thier independent book bags, there are some things you need to consider that may be different from your English speaking students.  One of these is whether or not thier are certain cultural aspects of the book that your students may be unfamiliar with.  You then need to consider how you will approach this with them and what instructional steps you will take to allow your students to access the book.
       
         One book that is an example of this is The Halloweener by Dav Pilkey.  It is a story about a daushaund who dresses up for Halloween as a hotdog and his friends make fun of him.  There are many parts of this book that someone who is new to our country may not be able to understand.  Four different parts of the book that would affect comprehension and relate to culture are:
1.  Halloween
2.  Trick or treating
3.  Costumes
4.  Graveyards
While the first three components relate directly to each other, they need to be understood seperately in order for full comprehension.  Prior to reading the book, the teacher should be prepared with many visuals that represent Halloween, like jack-o-lanterns, ghosts, witches, children in costumes.  The teacher could display these visuals and have students participate in a group discussion about what Halloween is and what the images are of.  After charting, the teacher should incourage students to talk with eachother and share their memories of Halloween and what they think of when they hear the word Halloween.  This could help students who are unfamiliar to hear it from the perspective of a same age peer and to try new vocabulary in a comfortable setting.  During discussions and charting, make sure that trick or treating, costumes, and Halloween are well defined.  Depending on the grade level of the students, it may be a time to role play trick or treating by dressing up and going around the room to trick or treat.
        
       To introduce the concept of a graveyard it would be helpful to share what different students do in thier own cultures when their is a death.  By having the students talking about it, it allows the other students to relate more than they might to the teacher.  This could be a very sensitive topic though, so as the teacher you may want to be prepared for what this might look like.  It is also possible to have students draw pictures and share them only if they are comfortable.

       Another book where it would be beneficial to pre-teach some cultural aspects is One Afternoon by Yumi Heo.  It is a story about what a young boy does with his mother during a day, living in a city.  There are many cultural components about living in a city that not all students will understand.  In this story these include:
1. Laundramat
2. Traffic
3. El train
4. Apartment
This book has fairly simple language and very graphic pictures.  I would approach the task of introducing students to this new vocabulary as I read through the story in a small group.  As I came across each different thing that students may not understand, I would use the pictures and student talk to define the new vocabulary.  When the story was finished I would ask students to draw a picture showing where they lived, either thier home or what their town/city looked like to them.  I would then incourage them to discuss what they included in thier pictures, maybe using the vocabulary they just learned.

ENTRY #3

         In order to better understand how an English language learner attempts to read a text written in English when they have not learned the language, I picked up a copy of People en Espanol.  I did this for two reasons in particular: one because I was traveling and I always read gossip magazines when I travel and two because I felt like I may be more successful if I had some background knowledge to rely on.  I decided I would approach the task by flipping through the magazine to see if there were any familiar faces or names that I may be able to recognize.  This tasked proved to be a bit more challenging than I originally thought.  I had to flip all the way to page 122 to find more than one person I had even heard of, so this is where I decided to stop and read.  I saw Justin Beiber, Selena Gomez, and Ricki Martin and saw the names Eva Longoria, and Shakira.  For the record I can speak very little spanish ("hola", and "me llamo es Lauren" are pretty much the extent) and I took a few years of french in high school.

        The section I chose to read was entitled "iFamosamente Enamorados!"  I immediately felt that I understood this as famous lovers because 'famosamente' looks like 'famous' and 'enamorados' looks like 'enamored'.  Past this point I began to struggle to read any part of it confidently or fluently.  I relied solely on my background knowledge to make any sense of anything at first and the ability to identify words that are similar to words in the English language.  After attempting to read through the article without much slowing down to try to understand better, I finished feeling frustrated and very confused.

My second attempt at the article, I spent more time trying to gain meaning and it took me much longer and I think I understood only 5 to 10 percent of the whole text. 
          
"Despues de un tormentoso divorcio, la actriz Eva Longoria, de 36 anos, se refugio en los brazos del cantante espanol Eduardo Cruz, de 26, hermano de la actriz Penelope Cruz."  Using my background knowledge on this topic and finding words that I could connect to English words I took this to read: "Despite a tormented (or tumultuous) divorce, the actress Eva Longoria, who's 36 years, seeks refuge in the arms (I guessed this based on my knowledge of phrases) of hot Spanish Eduardo Cruz, who's 26, brother of actress Penelope Cruz".  This is the only sentence in the entire article I felt I could infer the entire meeting.  In the sentence "Si el amor es la fuerza que mueve el mundo, itodos estos lo han puesto a correr!", the only word I could pull out was 'amor' meaning some form of 'love'.  All in all, I could generalize that the article detailed the love lives of some famous people.  The details of most of these affairs I missed entirely.

          
            This experience was very helpful in allowing me to recognize what is important as a teacher when teaching reading to an English language learner.  I realized the importance of photographs and background knowledge.  The photographs were my first link to the article and allowed me to even attempt to read the text.  My minor background knowledge on the topic was what led me to make any sense of the article, showing just how important this piece is.  A major difference between my attempt to read this article and the attempt one of my students might make is that I have been a fluent reader in one language for many many years and could use my understanding of my language to approach another.  My students, unfortunately do not have this, and are unable to use this strategy to help them comprehend.  

ENTRY #2

Oral language is the very first step to becoming a reader.  It is most student's first experience with language.  While some students may never actually speak themselves, they will consistently be exposed to oral language through listening.  It is also something that needs to continuously be fostered throughout the students academic career.  A student will better understand any text, if it is something they feel comfortable talking about and using the language involved.  As a teacher it is important to encourage oral academic language in the classroom to better develop student's vocabulary and background knowledge, as these are essential elements for reading comprehension.

ENTRY #1

I had a discussion with a teacher from a different district than mine and while I was impressed with the individual teacher's thoughts, I was very surprised to hear about the differences between the 2 districts approaches to literacy.  The teacher's basic philosophy about literacy was that it was the keystone to all learning and involved the integration of both reading and writing.  She felt that it should be incorporated into all aspects of school in order for her students to grow to their highest potential as readers and writers.  Her priorities aligned pretty closely with mine, as she stated that students need to learn to read before they can adequately access all other curriculum.
She went on to discuss that her district had no formal literacy guide that was followed by the district.  She informed me that each school used different programs/ curricula chosen by the administration.  She said the literacy program she used was self-made by her team, using a variety of resources and teacher experience.  While this seems unorganized, it leaves much room for using assessment to inform your lessons.  On the other hand, my district has a specially designed literacy program with full reading's workshop and writer's workshop lessons, split into a variety of units.  Our units are themed based incorporating skills that overlap in both reading and writing.  This is much more organized and very strongly aligned to the state standards, but leaves less room for differentiation.  While I believe there are pros and cons to both systems, it was very interesting for me to hear about such differences.