Entry #10

Homework should be used for students to "practice or elaborate on what they have learned and to prepare for new information" (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p. 79).  When a student has homework, the amount of parent intervention should be minimal.  If students require extensive parental support, the teacher needs to be aware of this so additional support can be provided in class to help fill in learning gaps.

Meaningful homework requires teachers to create assignments that will work for different learning styles.  If possible, student ownership of homework can be helpful to increase the meaning.  Students could choose which way they would like to practice the content or show what they are learning.  Teacher could also assign homework after the lesson has taken place so students can build upon newly created schema, and can create connections to the day's experiences. Homework should provide multiple practices with the content, ensuring that students learn the steps involved.   Learning can then become part of the long-term memory set. Homework needs to be academic based, with efficient assignments requiring evidence of thinking and ones that do not take too long to complete.

Homework objectives should provide students the opportunity to "deepen their understanding of content and become proficient at skills" (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p. 83).  Specific objectives for ELL students could include a speed and accuracy component to focus on students gaining automaticity/fluency with certain curriculum objectives.  ELL objectives could also be to repeat information already learned such as vocabulary or written language activities.  Giving clear expectations for the assignments is also important.  Foe example, providing requirements on the amount of sentences required to write or the amount of time to be spent on each assignment.

Providing timely and specific feedback on homework is vital to help students.  Feedback can come from the teacher or other students.  Often, peer feedback can provide additional modeling to strengthen students' understanding as they listen to explanations of how others approached the homework.

Technology could be very helpful for homework. Some examples especially beneficial for ELL students would be to record their fluency and chart improvements in accuracy and rate.  Other web sites can help students with vocabulary practice by providing a visual with the focus words or sites that include the text being read aloud.  Interactive sites could help with phonic instruction and virtual flashcards, which can be created for a variety of content areas.  Students could also use blogs and email to communicate with others to gain a deeper understanding of the content and receive quick feedback to their posts.

Entry #9

Genre Differences

Text Features to Support ELL

Non-Fiction:

-captions

-headings/subheadings

-bold font vocabulary words

-realistic illustrations/photographs

-definitions frequently embedded in the sentence

-focus on similar topics

-glossary/text boxes with definitions often provided

Fiction:

-content can help make meaning of words

-connections can often be made to story lines

-predictable sentence structures

-wide variety of leveled text

-illustrations can support the story line

Challenging Text Features for ELL

Non-Fiction: 
-lack of schema for subject matter
-difficult/high lever vocabulary
-without a strong foundation in reading text features, could be confusing to understand the text arrangement
-often has challenging/technical vocabulary

Fiction:
-use of figurative language
-upper grade novels lack often lack visuals
-inference skills often required to understand story
-literary devices such as flashbacks could be confusing


I think it is vital for ELL teachers to help create common background knowledge and provide vocabulary support for the class before reading either fiction or non-fiction.  With this background knowledge, vocabulary support, and previous teacher modeling for how to use/read text features, the non-fiction texts seem to support ELL students more than fiction, especially at the upper grades when many fiction texts do not have visuals to support the story line. 

Entry # 8

After watching the video "Finding their Voice in a Multi-Language Classroom", I noticed many ways the teacher promoted comprehension and motivated her students.  She specifically stated that she expects her students to perform well and does not lower her expectations due to students learning a second language. 

She emphasizes that it is vital for students to make connections between the class work and something they already know.  This will help students to become more involved with the reading or lesson.  For example, the Russian boy knew about the aloe plant and shared his personal story, which then opened the door for other students to share their connections of how their family used the plant.  

Students also had many opportunities to take ownership of their lessons.  For example, student generated work was on the walls, a student led his classmates in a brain break, the teacher referred to class-created rules, and student's desire to make origami spinners was incorporated into a class vocabulary lesson. The students also had opportunities to pair kinesthetic action with learning (the teacher rocked her body when talking about rocking and hand movements were said along with the class rules).  Students also used chants to review previous lessons. 

Students worked cooperatively with their peers by sitting in groups of four to support language and curricular learning.  They also worked together to learn how to and then played a variety of games.  The whole group also often answered the teacher's questions. 

There were a couple of areas that I thought were not beneficial to the class.  So many questions were answered orally, as a whole group.  This didn't allow much time for those who were slower processors of  the concept or language.  She would quickly ask a question and without any wait time, ask the class to answer.  I also thought she used too many oral directions and could have helped her students by writing the directions on the board so they could refer back to the steps necessary to complete the activity.  

The children in this class seemed very motivated to learn and were comfortable sharing their thinking.  This teacher has obviously helped make her classroom a safe and caring environment where students engage in their lessons, feel accepted, and are free to express themselves.

Entry #7

I used the AIMSweb fluency assessment with two English language learners.  The first is Jim who speaks Russian as his first language.  He read smoothly and followed the punctuation cues.  He had a difficult time pronouncing words that had a silent e at the end and these errors indicate that he relied on visual cues that did not provide meaning. In the word determined, he pronounced the long vowel sound for i.  In gossiped he did the same thing and pronounced the long vowel sound for the i.  In the word dove (the bird) he pronounced the long sound of the o.  On the other hand, there were a couple of instances where he made self-corrections, which indicated that he was making meaning as he read. Other words he stumbled on were tulips, which he called tupils and the word though which he said thought.  It was apparent that Jim used meaning cues as well.  Some of his words were incorrect, but he still made the sentence meaningful (e.g. “the bird eagerly pecked at it” but he said “the bird even picked at it”).  The last thing I noticed was a few times he left out the articles the and a. Jim could benefit from direct instruction regarding the long vowel sounds. Also, he could benefit from teacher modeling how to self-monitor when reading to see if the words make sense.  Then, he can practice reading aloud and continuing to learn how to self-monitoring. Of course, in order to self monitor he will need to have some background knowledge to ensure he has the tools necessary to make sense of the reading.  When I asked him if he knew what tulips were, he had no idea so no wonder he didn’t try to self correct the word.

The second student I assessed was Ben whose first language is Spanish.  He read in a choppy manner and stopped to sound out larger words.  The larger words posed many problems, as he could not correctly sound them out and used visual cues to help him with the words.  For example, determined became detimed, and gossiped sounded like go-ship.  Ben also frequently substituted the /h/ sound for the /j/ in the word Jayto.  Knowing that this is the pronunciation in his first language is important to help him identify the differences between languages and become more aware of his pronunciations.  He also struggled with meaning miscues when he substituted thirty for thrifty, ace for ash and even substituted a nonsense word of morsey for morsel.  He also said the word how instead of saying who and instead of reading the word gave, he said have.  Some ways to help Ben would be to continue working with sight words.  I don’t think he was even trying to sound out the word gave or who.  Instead, he automatically substituted the same words repeatedly so I think he must have these confused. If we work on using verbal cues, it will help in with this area.  We will also continue to work on practicing the English pronunciations for /j/.

Entry #6

As I completed the Language vs. Acquisition activity, there were a few activities that I felt could be seen from both views.  Traci and I shared our ideas about each activity, which helped because often I would feel as if an activity was acquisition based, but she would offer an argument for why it could also be a learning view activity.  It seemed as if we could create a scenario for each activity to fit our opinions! 

For example, under the student category it stated, “make a Venn diagram to compare two stories”.  If directly taught by the teacher with a focus on using correct language, organization, and systematic instruction on what type of information to include in the diagram, then this could be a learning view exercise.  By extending this strategy in an acquisition classroom, students could choose their own focus of the diagram (actions, appearances, beliefs, etc.) and/or internalize the important elements from the reading to include in the diagram.

I think that many students benefit from both a learning and acquisition view.  Students often need direct and systematic instruction but also need to understand the importance of making meaning when reading and writing.

Entry #2

When I was in school, I was taught in very traditional writing classes.  As Freeman & Freeman (2004) state, "in many traditional classes, the form of the writing becomes much more important than the content".  I definitely think this is the view a majority of my teachers took towards teaching writing.

In elementary school, I was given a weekly spelling list and would memorize the words, but did not really learn about the patterns of words until I had to teach them to my students.  This also happened with grammar lessons when I was given worksheets covering a variety of grammar topics.  These worksheets didn't work very well because to this day I am continually learning the why and how for grammar techniques instead of just relying on the old adage, "because it sounds correct".  Handwriting lessons were also part of my traditional writing classroom experience.  We would continually practice forming the letters and I even received a grade on my report card for handwriting.  

I mainly remember my high school writing classes where the teacher would provide the prompts or assignments that we were to respond to in class.  Five paragraph essays were the norm, but I don't remember specifically being taught how to organize the paper, other than information about writing an introduction and the conclusion. I don't remember being allowed to choose my topics or the medium for writing (for example: create a newspaper article, cartoon, advertisement, etc.) to convey my ideas, which would have been such a welcomed departure from the traditional essay.

Entry #5

The first book I chose was Dogku by Andre Clements.  This book is about a stray dog that shows up on a family's doorstep and falls in love with them.  The dog is worried he will be sent to the pound, but finds out the family will adopt him. 

Some cultural aspects that could pose comprehension problems are:
1.  There is talk of the "pound".  Students would need to have help creating background knowledge about the way a pound works and how this word has more than one meaning.

2.  The dog is bathed, spoiled with treats and a doggie bed, etc.  This may be confusing because some cultures do not treat animals as nicely as we do in the USA.  Depending on the cultural background of the student, some schema may need to be created to help them understand how American families often view animals as an extension of the family.  One way this could be done with a small group sharing photos of their family pets and sharing how they treat their animals.  A field trip to Petsmart or the Dumb Friends League could also show students the value placed on pets in America.

3.  There is a scene where the author writes about a "family meeting" to decide what to do with the dog.  Again, background knowledge of a family meeting would be important to provide so students understand the significance of having family members share their opinions, regardless of age.  Some cultures do not allow children or women to take part in these types of decision making so this may be a new idea for some.  Students could share examples of family meetings they have been a part of and reasons for these meetings.

4.  This book is written entirely in haiku which I thought was a wonderfully creative idea, but after looking at the book from the perspective of an ELL learner I realized how difficult it would be to understand the writing.  There are many parts that are written in short, fragmented sentences to fit the haiku format, but would be confusing if you did not have a solid understanding of English and may reinforce incorrect grammar (e.g. "Squirrel sits in tree").  The teacher could teach the haiku syllable pattern to students.


The second book I chose was Keeper of the Swamp by Ann Garrett.  This book is about a boy and his grandfather who live in the swamp.  The grandfather is passing along his knowledge about protecting the alligators from poachers.

Some cultural aspects that could pose comprehension problems are:
1.  The illustrations are beautiful and support the text's references to animals, insects, trees, etc. that live in the swamp, but real life photos or videos of a swamp would help further explain this different environment to students.

2.  The name of the main alligator is Old Boots.  Some discussion around the relevance of this name and how alligator hides can be made into boots would be important for students to understand why poachers would want to kill the gator.  Pictures could also be provided to support this topic. Vocabulary front-loading of a poacher would also be important. 

3.  There is a scene in the book when the grandfather teaches the boy how to hold chicken on a stick and feed it to the alligator, when suddenly the alligator rears its whole body out of the water.  Many students may not be familiar with an alligator or how they can lift their bodies out of the water to reach food.  A short study about alligators and their behaviors could be important to build schema.  If possible, students could visit the alligator farm in southern Colorado or go to the zoo to see a real alligator, or could watch a video to learn about their behaviors.

4.  The grandfather is getting old and will soon die so he is showing the grandson how to care for the alligator's nest of eggs.  The author refers to the boy as the new "keeper of the swamp".  Students may need support in understanding why a human would need to care for the wild and the importance of protecting the environment for future generations, which could be a new idea for students who come from areas where environmental concerns are not a focus.  Students could work in small groups to share and listen to ideas on why it is important to protect the environment and animals.