The purpose of homework is to expand upon or review a concept that was taught in class. Homework should only be assigned when students have practiced with the concept multiple times in class and definitely understand the lesson or topic that the homework was addressing. If students are able to complete their homework independently and successfully, they feel good about themselves. According to Hill and Flynn (2006), "Students should be given homework that requires them to use what they already know or what they are learning" (p.79). Homework should not be intended to make students feel overwhelmed or frustrated, which might be the case if they are unsure about how to complete it or if they are unfamiliar with the topics being addressed.
In addition to relating to material that is relevant and being covered in class, homework objectives should be clearly stated. Students should understand why they are completing this homework and how the purpose is relevant and important to them. All students should understand the purpose of each homework assignment and understand why it impacts them as a learner. This component also addresses the different stages of language development, because a teacher should scaffold the homework given or the questions asked based on where ELLs are in terms of understanding and working with language. Hill and Flynn (2006) write, "[ELL's] homework assignments will vary depending on their level of language proficiency" (p.79). I believe that this again relates back to the fact that homework should be do-able instead of frustrating. Regardless of which stage of language acquisition a child may be at, they still should have purposeful and productive homework that fits their specific needs.
Because ELLs benefit so much from working in cooperative groups or examining visual representations, homework routines should fall into these same parameters. When receiving feedback, students might conference with a teacher about their ideas or they might conference with peers and hear different ways of thinking. Students might also see examples of other students' homework and compare it to their own. Feedback should be personal and varied depending on each student, the homework assignment, and his/her needs at the time.
Technology can play a role into how assigning homework might look or how a student might do homework at home. On our school website, parents or students can click on our grade level and see our homework schedule for the week. Next to the homework, we also state the lesson or objectives that we are working on in class to ensure that the homework truly does line up with content addressed. This also helps with the parent communication piece of homework. Also on our grade level website there are many different links and websites that students can click on that will take them directly to different sites that might help them work on specific content areas. Students have a list of various websites that they can choose from to work on the skill(s) that they want. This is another way, in addition to the paper homework that we send home, that students can practice academic skills in an exciting manner.
Homework should be purposeful and related to content taught in the classroom, the objective should be clearly stated, and feedback should be thoughtful and personal to specific students. Homework should expand on concepts and ideas reviewed in class, and students should always feel successful after the completion of their homework.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
#9 AbelsM_ Fiction vs. Nonfiction
Both fiction and non-fiction texts are used very often in a classroom environment. Students must know the differences between the two, and also recognize how they are similar. The following double bubble map illustrates these prominent similarities and differences. The purple circles are things the two genres have in common, the blue circles are characteristics that only relate to fiction books, and the red circles are characteristics belonging to non-fiction books.
The two books highlighted in the double bubble map, Shipwrecked and Chatter Strait Ferry, come from a Reading Safari Magazine that pairs up fiction and non-fiction books about the same topic so that students are exposed to different points of views and perspectives about the same topic. Students should see the differences between fiction and non-fiction clearly through this format, while at the same time being exposed to more in-depth instruction about the addressed topic, in this case, shipwrecks.
There are characteristics in fiction and non-fiction both that might make learning difficult for students still acquiring and perfecting their English. Because non-fiction is organized so differently than fiction and it is categorized into headings, subheadings, etc, students should be familiar with this organization. ELL students should be directly taught that the heading is the main idea and that the subheadings are supporting details that relate back to the big idea. Color coding a specific text into headings or subheadings based on how a text is organized would be helpful for students who may not understand how non-fiction text features are set up.
Non-fiction can also include very complex vocabulary, depending on the topic addressed. ELL students should be aware of this difficult vocabulary before they read the text. A strategy that might help with this new vocabulary is previewing the text before reading it or frontloading the vocabulary. The teacher could even bring in realia or a picture of each new word to illustrate the vocabulary before the students read, so that when they encounter the word in the text, they are familiar with its definition.
Because non-fiction is about true events and includes many real-life pictures, students are able to gain new knowledge and new understandings of the world around them. The real pictures in the non-fiction texts are a built-in support that help students understand this text. ELL students are exposed to concrete ideas, where they don't have to read between the lines to determine the facts, due to the fact that the facts are presented clearly throughout the article or text. The pictures provide the students with a deeper understanding of the events in the story since the pictures exactly match the events being described.
In fiction, something that is difficult for ELL students to understand is dialogue and how the dialogue changes as many characters talk in a conversation. Many times, students misread dialogue and dialogue cues, which cause them to be confused in a story when more than one character is speaking. Although each separate dialogue is on its own line, many students, especially when there is no direct cue to who is talking, such as "she said," become confused and lose meaning of what it happening in the story. To avoid this, teachers could directly teach dialogue rules. The students could also read this story aloud so that they also hear what the dialogue should sound like. They could also color code the spoken pieces of the fiction story so they know when new characters are talking.
Another aspect that is difficult about fiction is that it does have a beginning, middle, and end, and the events build on themselves. If a student is unclear about an event that happened in the beginning of the story and continues to read, they may find that this same event is brought up again in the middle or the end. This is very confusing to ELL students because they did not understand the event in the first place, which means they will still be unsure about the meaning of the text when the event resurfaces. A characteristic of fiction is that it has to be read in order, as these texts have a plot and a sequence. Teachers could practice reading stories in order with ELL students, jumbling the events up, and then discussing which versions of the stories made more sense. Teachers could also introduce ways to "patch-up" reading if students are lost or confused about the meaning of a story. Students should have the realization when dealing with fiction literature that the order in which they read the information does make a difference.
In fiction, students are given the opportunity to directly practice all of their reading strategies, which is a strength of fiction books. Because fiction books have such a clear plot and are filled with story elements, it is in fiction books where ELL students are able to practice skills such as making connections from one book to another, asking questions about the text they read, determining the most important idea, and making powerful inferences. Fiction books are where students are able to practice using the skills they learn about in reading class.
Similar to non-fiction books, pictures are a very important feature in fiction books for ELL students. Pictures provide clues about the events taking place in a text, as they relate directly to the content. Students rely heavily on these picture clues, especially if they are in the early stage of language development, and allowing students to use these clues is an important non-linguistic tool.
Fiction and non-fiction books are so prevalent in a learning environment, but the features of them need to be taught in a meaningful way where ELLs are supported and set up for success.
Non-fiction can also include very complex vocabulary, depending on the topic addressed. ELL students should be aware of this difficult vocabulary before they read the text. A strategy that might help with this new vocabulary is previewing the text before reading it or frontloading the vocabulary. The teacher could even bring in realia or a picture of each new word to illustrate the vocabulary before the students read, so that when they encounter the word in the text, they are familiar with its definition.
Because non-fiction is about true events and includes many real-life pictures, students are able to gain new knowledge and new understandings of the world around them. The real pictures in the non-fiction texts are a built-in support that help students understand this text. ELL students are exposed to concrete ideas, where they don't have to read between the lines to determine the facts, due to the fact that the facts are presented clearly throughout the article or text. The pictures provide the students with a deeper understanding of the events in the story since the pictures exactly match the events being described.
In fiction, something that is difficult for ELL students to understand is dialogue and how the dialogue changes as many characters talk in a conversation. Many times, students misread dialogue and dialogue cues, which cause them to be confused in a story when more than one character is speaking. Although each separate dialogue is on its own line, many students, especially when there is no direct cue to who is talking, such as "she said," become confused and lose meaning of what it happening in the story. To avoid this, teachers could directly teach dialogue rules. The students could also read this story aloud so that they also hear what the dialogue should sound like. They could also color code the spoken pieces of the fiction story so they know when new characters are talking.
Another aspect that is difficult about fiction is that it does have a beginning, middle, and end, and the events build on themselves. If a student is unclear about an event that happened in the beginning of the story and continues to read, they may find that this same event is brought up again in the middle or the end. This is very confusing to ELL students because they did not understand the event in the first place, which means they will still be unsure about the meaning of the text when the event resurfaces. A characteristic of fiction is that it has to be read in order, as these texts have a plot and a sequence. Teachers could practice reading stories in order with ELL students, jumbling the events up, and then discussing which versions of the stories made more sense. Teachers could also introduce ways to "patch-up" reading if students are lost or confused about the meaning of a story. Students should have the realization when dealing with fiction literature that the order in which they read the information does make a difference.
In fiction, students are given the opportunity to directly practice all of their reading strategies, which is a strength of fiction books. Because fiction books have such a clear plot and are filled with story elements, it is in fiction books where ELL students are able to practice skills such as making connections from one book to another, asking questions about the text they read, determining the most important idea, and making powerful inferences. Fiction books are where students are able to practice using the skills they learn about in reading class.
Similar to non-fiction books, pictures are a very important feature in fiction books for ELL students. Pictures provide clues about the events taking place in a text, as they relate directly to the content. Students rely heavily on these picture clues, especially if they are in the early stage of language development, and allowing students to use these clues is an important non-linguistic tool.
Fiction and non-fiction books are so prevalent in a learning environment, but the features of them need to be taught in a meaningful way where ELLs are supported and set up for success.
Monday, November 21, 2011
#8 AbelsM_Running Record Analysis_LT5
Running records can be a very helpful tool when analyzing where students are breaking down in terms of reading and recognizing words. They could read a word incorrectly for many reasons, but there are three different cuing strategies to see where a student broke down when a miscue does occur. They are meaning/semantics, which addresses if the word makes sense in its context or uses context and picture clues to identify meaning. Students could also break down in visual/graphophonic area where the teacher would analyze if the student considered if the word looked right in its context. The last cuing strategy is syntax, which is where the student considers if the sentence sounds right and if the sentence is grammatically correct. (Clay, 2005). These cuing strategies are helpful when considering next steps and instructional needs for particular students.
I conducted running records on two different students who speak English as a second language. Both students are in 4th grade and are below grade level. Isam speaks Bengali at home and reads at a DRA 24. Mariana also reads at a DRA 24, but speaks Spanish as her first language. Both students read a passage called The Big Snow, and their running records are below.
When looking at Isam's running record, the first mistake he made was on the word "piling." Instead of snow piling up, he said that snow was "pill-ing" up. This was a visual error, since in his head, he doubled the letter L, creating a new word, "pill," instead of "pile." When teaching him this word, he would need to know that the original word was pile, but that the "e" was dropped when "ing" was added onto the end. "Pilling" would not make sense in the context of the story, so it was not a syntactical error, and the sentence no longer made sense, so this error was not one for meaning either. Because Isam replaced "piling" in this instance, the meaning of the sentence was compromised.
Isam's next mistake was replacing "fluffy" for "puffy." This sentence now said "The snowflakes were big and puffy." This mistake still made sense, so it was meaning, he replaced an adjective with a different adjective, so this was also a syntax error. This error was, in addition to syntax and meaning, a visual error, too, because fluffy and puffy both end in "uffy," making the words look similar. This replacement did not affect meaning, but his reading was not accurate.
In another instance, snowflakes were tumbling from the sky. Isam read the sentence and said that the character watched them "terrible from the sky" instead of tumble. Again, this is another miscue that was only visual. Isam looked at the "t" that began "tumble" and also the ending letters of "ble" and assumed that the word was terrible, instead of sounding the word out in front of him. This error impacted his understanding of the story, and did not fit grammatically in the sentence.
When analyzing another miscue that Isam made when reading The Big Snow, he read the word "uneasy" as "neasy." He did not speak the "u" sound as he read, changing the word to a nonsense word. This definitely impacted his understanding, since "neasy" is not a word, and the structure of the sentence is also compromised because of this. He did, however, use his visual strategies to read this word, because he got the last sounds of "neasy." Again, this shows that Isam falls back to his visual cues as a reader when he encounters words he is unfamiliar with.
When analyzing all of Isam's mistakes, he made three errors that were based off of meaning, two errors that were syntactical, and seven errors that were visual. It is very clear that he reads using visual strategies to pick up pieces of a word and then guess what the rest of a word could be. To help him become a more accurate reader, I would teach him to break apart words and identify all of the sounds that they are made up of. This would help him realize that words may look alike but have different sounds.
I would also encourage Isam to read with meaning and to understand what he reads as he is actually reading. He should understand that snowflakes can't "terrible from the sky," yet he is reading so quickly that he is not taking the time to comprehend what he read. I would emphasize the fact that he will not understand what he reads if he is rushing through and making errors that make no sense in the context of the story.
I am unfamiliar with most aspects of Bengali, but do know that the alphabet and characters are different than the ones in the English alphabet. Due to this, Isam should not have as hard of a time with the English alphabet as another learner who knows those characters as having different sounds.
Mariana read the same passage as Isam, and very similar to Isam's running record, the majority of Mariana's errors were visual. Her visual miscues impacted meaning many times. She also said that snow was "pilling" up, instead of "piling" up, exactly like Isam did. Mariana did not stop when she made this error, even though this replaced word did not make sense in context.
In that same sentence, the snow was described as a thick blanket. Instead of reading the word thick, Mariana read it as "thin." This was a visual error because thick and thin both start with "thi." This was also a syntactical miscue because thick and thin are both adjectives used to describe the snow. This, again, did impact Mariana's comprehension and meaning, because the author used the word thick to illustrate there was a lot of snow and that it was falling heavily. Mariana did not read this word correctly, so she missed out on this context clue.
As the story progressed, the character felt dizzy as he watched the snow fall. Instead of reading the word "felt," Mariana read "left." This was a visual error because she looked at all of the letters in felt, but mixed them up in her head while reading to get "left." She did not stop and change her mistake, which, again, impacted her comprehension. "Left" did not make sense in the context of that sentence, but Mariana did not notice or stop. Instead, she continued reading. If Mariana is not continually noticing her mistakes and correcting them as a reader, she will fail to comprehend much of what she reads.
Mariana, when she read the word snowplow, pronounced it as "snow-ploe." She said the word "low" at the end, highlighting the long o sound, but she should have changed the word into the ow sound. This is a very hard concept, because other words that end ow, such as snow, are still said with the long o sound. More practice with words that are exceptions to a rule or a pattern would be beneficial to Mariana.
At the end of the story, Mariana read that the character shook off his "soogy" coat instead of his soggy coat. This error, again, is visual. She read the "so" sound and also the "gy" sound at the end of the word, but changed the vowel sound from "o" to "oo," which changes the dynamic and meaning of a word. Soogy is not a word, which means it would not make sense in the context of this sentence. Mariana would have a hard time understanding that there was so much snow outside that the character's clothes were even wet if she did not read the word correctly or go back to sound out the sounds.
After analyzing Mariana's mistakes, she had one miscue due to meaning, one mistake due to syntax, and six mistakes that stemmed from visual errors. Mariana also picks up on pieces of words that she already knows and then attempts to figure out the rest of the word, without breaking it into manageable pieces. Similar to strategies that would work for Isam, Mariana would benefit from slowing down and sounding out each word as she encounters it to ensure that she has the proper pronunciation. This will also help her make sure that she is gaining as much meaning from a text as possible so that she is understanding what she reads.
Mariana did not use any traditional pieces of Spanish that caused her to make the mistakes that she did. In Spanish, the "ll" sound is pronounced like a "y," yet she did not say it this way. She said many words, such as "thin," "left," and "apartments" correctly in English, they were just not the right words in the text at the time.
Mariana did have a hard time with grammar rules, such as "oo" and the "ow" sound at the end of plow instead of the long o sound, but these tricks come with learning and using a new language more often. I would work with her more on vowel sounds and vowel patterns to ensure her mastery.
Running records help a teacher to see where a student might be breaking down in terms of reading, and in both Mariana and Isam's cases, they are both relying heavily on visual cues and missing out on meaning.
I conducted running records on two different students who speak English as a second language. Both students are in 4th grade and are below grade level. Isam speaks Bengali at home and reads at a DRA 24. Mariana also reads at a DRA 24, but speaks Spanish as her first language. Both students read a passage called The Big Snow, and their running records are below.
When looking at Isam's running record, the first mistake he made was on the word "piling." Instead of snow piling up, he said that snow was "pill-ing" up. This was a visual error, since in his head, he doubled the letter L, creating a new word, "pill," instead of "pile." When teaching him this word, he would need to know that the original word was pile, but that the "e" was dropped when "ing" was added onto the end. "Pilling" would not make sense in the context of the story, so it was not a syntactical error, and the sentence no longer made sense, so this error was not one for meaning either. Because Isam replaced "piling" in this instance, the meaning of the sentence was compromised.
Isam's next mistake was replacing "fluffy" for "puffy." This sentence now said "The snowflakes were big and puffy." This mistake still made sense, so it was meaning, he replaced an adjective with a different adjective, so this was also a syntax error. This error was, in addition to syntax and meaning, a visual error, too, because fluffy and puffy both end in "uffy," making the words look similar. This replacement did not affect meaning, but his reading was not accurate.
In another instance, snowflakes were tumbling from the sky. Isam read the sentence and said that the character watched them "terrible from the sky" instead of tumble. Again, this is another miscue that was only visual. Isam looked at the "t" that began "tumble" and also the ending letters of "ble" and assumed that the word was terrible, instead of sounding the word out in front of him. This error impacted his understanding of the story, and did not fit grammatically in the sentence.
When analyzing another miscue that Isam made when reading The Big Snow, he read the word "uneasy" as "neasy." He did not speak the "u" sound as he read, changing the word to a nonsense word. This definitely impacted his understanding, since "neasy" is not a word, and the structure of the sentence is also compromised because of this. He did, however, use his visual strategies to read this word, because he got the last sounds of "neasy." Again, this shows that Isam falls back to his visual cues as a reader when he encounters words he is unfamiliar with.
When analyzing all of Isam's mistakes, he made three errors that were based off of meaning, two errors that were syntactical, and seven errors that were visual. It is very clear that he reads using visual strategies to pick up pieces of a word and then guess what the rest of a word could be. To help him become a more accurate reader, I would teach him to break apart words and identify all of the sounds that they are made up of. This would help him realize that words may look alike but have different sounds.
I would also encourage Isam to read with meaning and to understand what he reads as he is actually reading. He should understand that snowflakes can't "terrible from the sky," yet he is reading so quickly that he is not taking the time to comprehend what he read. I would emphasize the fact that he will not understand what he reads if he is rushing through and making errors that make no sense in the context of the story.
I am unfamiliar with most aspects of Bengali, but do know that the alphabet and characters are different than the ones in the English alphabet. Due to this, Isam should not have as hard of a time with the English alphabet as another learner who knows those characters as having different sounds.
Mariana read the same passage as Isam, and very similar to Isam's running record, the majority of Mariana's errors were visual. Her visual miscues impacted meaning many times. She also said that snow was "pilling" up, instead of "piling" up, exactly like Isam did. Mariana did not stop when she made this error, even though this replaced word did not make sense in context.
In that same sentence, the snow was described as a thick blanket. Instead of reading the word thick, Mariana read it as "thin." This was a visual error because thick and thin both start with "thi." This was also a syntactical miscue because thick and thin are both adjectives used to describe the snow. This, again, did impact Mariana's comprehension and meaning, because the author used the word thick to illustrate there was a lot of snow and that it was falling heavily. Mariana did not read this word correctly, so she missed out on this context clue.
As the story progressed, the character felt dizzy as he watched the snow fall. Instead of reading the word "felt," Mariana read "left." This was a visual error because she looked at all of the letters in felt, but mixed them up in her head while reading to get "left." She did not stop and change her mistake, which, again, impacted her comprehension. "Left" did not make sense in the context of that sentence, but Mariana did not notice or stop. Instead, she continued reading. If Mariana is not continually noticing her mistakes and correcting them as a reader, she will fail to comprehend much of what she reads.
Mariana, when she read the word snowplow, pronounced it as "snow-ploe." She said the word "low" at the end, highlighting the long o sound, but she should have changed the word into the ow sound. This is a very hard concept, because other words that end ow, such as snow, are still said with the long o sound. More practice with words that are exceptions to a rule or a pattern would be beneficial to Mariana.
At the end of the story, Mariana read that the character shook off his "soogy" coat instead of his soggy coat. This error, again, is visual. She read the "so" sound and also the "gy" sound at the end of the word, but changed the vowel sound from "o" to "oo," which changes the dynamic and meaning of a word. Soogy is not a word, which means it would not make sense in the context of this sentence. Mariana would have a hard time understanding that there was so much snow outside that the character's clothes were even wet if she did not read the word correctly or go back to sound out the sounds.
After analyzing Mariana's mistakes, she had one miscue due to meaning, one mistake due to syntax, and six mistakes that stemmed from visual errors. Mariana also picks up on pieces of words that she already knows and then attempts to figure out the rest of the word, without breaking it into manageable pieces. Similar to strategies that would work for Isam, Mariana would benefit from slowing down and sounding out each word as she encounters it to ensure that she has the proper pronunciation. This will also help her make sure that she is gaining as much meaning from a text as possible so that she is understanding what she reads.
Mariana did not use any traditional pieces of Spanish that caused her to make the mistakes that she did. In Spanish, the "ll" sound is pronounced like a "y," yet she did not say it this way. She said many words, such as "thin," "left," and "apartments" correctly in English, they were just not the right words in the text at the time.
Mariana did have a hard time with grammar rules, such as "oo" and the "ow" sound at the end of plow instead of the long o sound, but these tricks come with learning and using a new language more often. I would work with her more on vowel sounds and vowel patterns to ensure her mastery.
Running records help a teacher to see where a student might be breaking down in terms of reading, and in both Mariana and Isam's cases, they are both relying heavily on visual cues and missing out on meaning.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
#7 AbelsM_English Words and Their History_ LT4
1. UNFRIEND
Noun: Someone who is not a person's friend (one's enemy)
Verb: To remove a person from your friend list on a social networking site
This word, according to dictionary.com, the word unfriend, or "enemy" is recorded from late 13th century. The word originated in the Scottish culture, and was still in use in the 19th century. When social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook became popular, around 2007, this word gained another meaning. Unfriend, because of these sites, also meant to remove someone from your friend list that you were once friends with. This is very similar to the original meaning, since you would be removing someone you are no longer friends with.
The prefix "un" means not, so combining this prefix with friend, the word means not a friend. Students should know about the prefix "un," and that it changes any word to mean the opposite of its intended, original meaning.
In Old English, unfriend was unfriþmann, and in Middle English it was unfreond. Eventually, "freond" became friend by changing the vowel "o" to an "i," and that is how we have unfriend.
2. EYE
Noun: The organ of sight
Verb: to fix the eyes upon
Eye evolved from the words ey and ye in Middle English. Both of these words contain "y" and "e," which is very similar to the word we have today. The words for eyes in Middle English are eyen, eien, and yen, according to paws.wcu.edu. The Middle English words, particularly "eyen," are most similar to the spelling and pronunciation of eyes or eye that we have today. The vowels and consonants are in the same places, but the "n" was eventually dropped.
The verb "to eye" was first recorded in the 1560s, but the Old English use of "yghe" was used until the 14th century.
To teach this concept in the classroom, I would make sure that the students know the difference between "eye" and "I" by showing picture representations or having the students point to their own eyes, this concept could be demonstrated. The students should also know the long i vowel sound, even though it is produced by the letter "e."
3. DANGER
Noun: Exposure to harm or injury
Danger evolved from the French influence and the French word "dangier." In Middle English, during the years 1175-1225, danger was spelled "daunger." Eventually, people dropped the "u" sound in "daunger," making it danger. The original word was daunger, which almost sounded like dawn-ger. This was very different than the French word. The modern day spelling of danger, is more similar to the original French word.
Students should also know that danger is pronounced with a long a sound in the beginning.
4. DOUBT
Noun: A feeling of uncertainty
Verb: To be uncertain about
In Middle English, the word for doubt, according to paws.wcu.ede, was "drede." "Douten" and "doute" were also present in Middle English, which are both more similar to the pronunciations and spellings of doubt that we have today. In Latin, dubitare means to waiver, similar to the definition of doubt, but it is in this Latin spelling that the silent "b" was introduced. The "b" was dropped during the Middle English spellings but reintroduced in the 14th century by scribes, hoping to imitate pieces of the Latin language (dictionary.com).
When students are learning about the modern spelling of doubt, this silent "b" can sometimes be difficult for them, especially since it is in the middle of the word. This is also increasingly challenging because other words that rhyme with doubt, such as pout and shout, do not follow this same pattern. We could talk about other words that have a silent "b," such as "thumb," and them move on to how this rule could apply in the word "doubt."
5. POOR
Adjective: Having little or no money
The word "poor" stemmed from the French word "pauvre." The Old French word, "paure," began circulating around 1200. The pronunciation of "paure" and "poor" are very similar. "Paure" stemmed from the French word "pauvre," and then "poor" developed from "paure." As we began developing vowel patterns in English, "oo" actually makes the "oooo" sound, which is very similar to the French sound "aure." We were able to manipulate the sound in an easier way to create this word, which is why the spelling changed to "poor" from "paure."
With students, I would focus on the "oo" vowel pattern and investigate the sound that it makes. We could look at words such as book, look, and cook to talk about what the students notice about the "oo" sound right next to each other. We could even look at words with blends in the beginning, such as shook, to make this more complex. Although poor doesn't rhyme with these words, this will help them think about these sounds. Because poor ends with that closed "r" sound, I could also look at a word like door that follows the similar phonetic pattern.
References Used and Consulted:
www.dictionary.com
http://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq/history.htm
http://paws.wcu.edu/bgastle/42
Noun: Someone who is not a person's friend (one's enemy)
Verb: To remove a person from your friend list on a social networking site
This word, according to dictionary.com, the word unfriend, or "enemy" is recorded from late 13th century. The word originated in the Scottish culture, and was still in use in the 19th century. When social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook became popular, around 2007, this word gained another meaning. Unfriend, because of these sites, also meant to remove someone from your friend list that you were once friends with. This is very similar to the original meaning, since you would be removing someone you are no longer friends with.
The prefix "un" means not, so combining this prefix with friend, the word means not a friend. Students should know about the prefix "un," and that it changes any word to mean the opposite of its intended, original meaning.
In Old English, unfriend was unfriþmann, and in Middle English it was unfreond. Eventually, "freond" became friend by changing the vowel "o" to an "i," and that is how we have unfriend.
2. EYE
Noun: The organ of sight
Verb: to fix the eyes upon
Eye evolved from the words ey and ye in Middle English. Both of these words contain "y" and "e," which is very similar to the word we have today. The words for eyes in Middle English are eyen, eien, and yen, according to paws.wcu.edu. The Middle English words, particularly "eyen," are most similar to the spelling and pronunciation of eyes or eye that we have today. The vowels and consonants are in the same places, but the "n" was eventually dropped.
The verb "to eye" was first recorded in the 1560s, but the Old English use of "yghe" was used until the 14th century.
To teach this concept in the classroom, I would make sure that the students know the difference between "eye" and "I" by showing picture representations or having the students point to their own eyes, this concept could be demonstrated. The students should also know the long i vowel sound, even though it is produced by the letter "e."
3. DANGER
Noun: Exposure to harm or injury
Danger evolved from the French influence and the French word "dangier." In Middle English, during the years 1175-1225, danger was spelled "daunger." Eventually, people dropped the "u" sound in "daunger," making it danger. The original word was daunger, which almost sounded like dawn-ger. This was very different than the French word. The modern day spelling of danger, is more similar to the original French word.
Students should also know that danger is pronounced with a long a sound in the beginning.
4. DOUBT
Noun: A feeling of uncertainty
Verb: To be uncertain about
In Middle English, the word for doubt, according to paws.wcu.ede, was "drede." "Douten" and "doute" were also present in Middle English, which are both more similar to the pronunciations and spellings of doubt that we have today. In Latin, dubitare means to waiver, similar to the definition of doubt, but it is in this Latin spelling that the silent "b" was introduced. The "b" was dropped during the Middle English spellings but reintroduced in the 14th century by scribes, hoping to imitate pieces of the Latin language (dictionary.com).
When students are learning about the modern spelling of doubt, this silent "b" can sometimes be difficult for them, especially since it is in the middle of the word. This is also increasingly challenging because other words that rhyme with doubt, such as pout and shout, do not follow this same pattern. We could talk about other words that have a silent "b," such as "thumb," and them move on to how this rule could apply in the word "doubt."
5. POOR
Adjective: Having little or no money
The word "poor" stemmed from the French word "pauvre." The Old French word, "paure," began circulating around 1200. The pronunciation of "paure" and "poor" are very similar. "Paure" stemmed from the French word "pauvre," and then "poor" developed from "paure." As we began developing vowel patterns in English, "oo" actually makes the "oooo" sound, which is very similar to the French sound "aure." We were able to manipulate the sound in an easier way to create this word, which is why the spelling changed to "poor" from "paure."
With students, I would focus on the "oo" vowel pattern and investigate the sound that it makes. We could look at words such as book, look, and cook to talk about what the students notice about the "oo" sound right next to each other. We could even look at words with blends in the beginning, such as shook, to make this more complex. Although poor doesn't rhyme with these words, this will help them think about these sounds. Because poor ends with that closed "r" sound, I could also look at a word like door that follows the similar phonetic pattern.
References Used and Consulted:
www.dictionary.com
http://www.merriam-webster.com/help/faq/history.htm
http://paws.wcu.edu/bgastle/42
Saturday, November 5, 2011
#6 AbelsM_Learning/ Word recognition vs. Acquisition/ Sociopsycholinguistics
There are two different views of how to teach reading, according to Freeman and Freeman (2004). Word Recognition is the view that students need to be directly taught how to read and all of the skills and strategies that accompany reading. The sociopsycholinguistic view is that students, to some degree, will pick up on written language and acquire the necessary skills they will need to become readers. Both different perspectives, in the end, produce the same goal, they just are different paths of getting there.
**All information listed below is from Freeman and Freeman, 2004
Word Recognition View:
*The main idea:
Sociopsycholingustic View:
*The main idea:
**All information listed below is from Freeman and Freeman, 2004
Word Recognition View:
*The main idea:
- The main task is to identify words so that students can later phrase them together to read
- By directly teaching reading, students will have the skill set to make these necessary connections
- Help students learn to identify words
- Link words on paper to words that are already present in a student's vocabulary. Then use these words to make meaning of a text
- If a student can pronounce a word, they can understand that word
- Recoding- changing written language into oral language- which means the student understands
- There is the danger that students can read the words without knowing the meaning, so this part of the word recognition stage will be lost (happens more often with ELLs)
- Learning the rules of phonics- primary tool
- Develop a set of sight words, since there are some words that break the common patterns
- Learn how to chunk words into smaller components and then sound them out (learn the structural analysis of words)
- Teach skills directly
- Pre-teach words or vocabulary students might not know using phonics, sight words, or structural analysis
- Define words, write definitions
- Have students read aloud often in the classroom
- Round-robin reading- teachers correct students or supply them with a word
Sociopsycholingustic View:
*The main idea:
- Reading is a process of constructing meaning (p. 24)
- Readers use their background knowledge in addition to their current reading skills to decode works and make sense out of texts that are unfamiliar to them, which helps them become proficient readers
- Construct meaning based on background knowledge instead of identifying individual words
- This process of combining background knowledge and what the students know about the text in front of them occurs quickly
- Different readers come up with different meanings since they all have different background knowledge
- Letters and sounds are one source of information, but they are not the only source of information that students have- they should be combined with other methods to make the most meaning out of reading
- Look at visuals to infer meaning
- Look at the sentence structure (syntax) to help infer meaning
- Use knowledge of word parts- prefixes and suffixes
- Students read on their own to gain vocabulary words and build up their individual vocabularies when they see words in different contexts and at different levels
- Students can figure out roles a word plays, endings it might have, multiple meanings, and if it is formal/informal if they see it on their own multiple times
- Read aloud is only done in reader's theater- most reading in this view is done silently
- Teach strategies for silent reading
#5 AbelsM_Writing Instruction_LT3
While I was growing up, there were many things that caused me to be the writer that I am today. The teachers that I had when I was younger made a huge difference in my writing education because most of them were so passionate about the subject to begin with.
In writing, we spent a lot of time learning about a specific genre, looking at mentor texts and authors that used that particular genre. After we studied this and were familiar with the genre itself, we got time to free write and practice using those skills on our own. We wrote many times in contents that were not just writing so that we got the opportunity to practice our writing skills in non-evaluative areas. For example, in fourth grade we studied Mesa Verde while we were researching Colorado History. We wrote haiku poems, cinquain poems, acrostic poems, and learned about different types of poems. We had to include our knowledge of Mesa Verde and Colorado History content in our poems, showing that our Social Studies knowledge was present in our writing as well. I remember receiving tons of positive feedback about my writing during this unit, and it is then that I developed a love of writing.
We also looked at our own writing as a class after we had written a piece to see what constructive criticism our classmates could give us to be better writers. Our teachers would put our writing up on the overhead and we would talk as a class about what elements were strong in a piece of writing and talk about what elements could still use work. The student whose writing was presented would then get the opportunity to add the ideas that they gained from the rest of the class before writing their final copies. This really helped me as a writer because I was able to see what good techniques my classmates used and I was able to emulate them in my own writing. I was also able to get ideas if I were struggling with a topic or part of a written piece. I could also listen to paragraphs or pieces that didn’t flow and notice what those students did in their paragraphs that I would not want to do in mine.
I always remember having lots of pieces of writing that I was incredibly proud of, and I remember the genres and topics that we wrote about, but I don’t necessarily remember sitting down and writing them. I don’t know if we ever had mini lessons that taught us a skill and I can’t remember if we had time to silently, independently write. I think sometimes time for mini lessons and using these skills in written work can be helpful for students.
We would also have writers workshop, get feedback from our teacher, and then conference with our peers. We would present our research papers or longer pieces that we had worked on for a while in a creative way to the class. This was another way to help us become invested in the topic and remember the information that we learned, and it worked on our public speaking skills. This was also a way for our classmates to learn about the topics that we were so passionate about.
The view of writing that my writing instruction is most similar to is Process Writing. Not only was I asked to produce writing that was of high quality, but I also learned about the actual writing process throughout my journey as a student. I was familiar with the steps of writing, was able to do them on my own after I had enough practice, and I was able to "internalize the process involved" (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, p.30). During the time I spent in school, I developed the "skills needed to produce the message" that I was trying to convey to my reader instead of simply starting with one part and working step by step onto the next part, as mentioned in the Traditional Writing Classroom (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, p.29). We were taught to enjoy writing, and the classroom was set up with many opportunities for us to write authentically. Writing was an avenue of expression instead of simply a subject of turning "words into sentences, and then sentences into paragraphs" (Freeman and Freeman, 2004, p.29). I learned about grammar and mechanics naturally as I grew as a writer, and these things were never forced on me. My writing grew better as my talents as a writer grew better. It was also important that the teacher was not the only person looking at my writing to help correct it, but that my peers, other adults, or sometimes I was the one who was responsible to edit and revise my drafts. My experience definitely was most similar to a Process Writing Classroom.
Today I love to write. I love to show kids the different ways that writing can be used in the classroom. It is sometimes hard for me to teach the direct steps of writing since it does come so naturally to me, but it is something I continue to work on. I think that my education when I was little helped shape this love, because I had so many great teachers who instilled this in me. I also think that the way I was taught made a difference because it kept me engaged and constantly learning.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
#4 AbelsM_Children's Books Components_LT2
There are many pieces in a picture book that can affect comprehension, but missing important cultural implications or text references can be one of them. In many historical fiction books, students, especially students who are learning English in addition to another language that they speak at home, may have a difficult time understanding a book when they do not understand the context that a book is written in. Different events were important to different cultures, which means that all students may not have the same knowledge and background information about each time in history. For this assignment, I chose two books that are based on true events or stories, as I find that these books are particularly hard for ELL students to understand since history may be taught differently depending on cultures.
The books I chose are:
Pink and Say by Particia Pollacco (1994, First Scholastic Printing)
Pink and Say is a book about two boys who became friends while they were both fighting in the Civil War. It describes their journey through the war, especially because Pink is black and he is fighting for his own freedom. This book talks about the importance of working together and being courageous, even though the boys are young. This book takes place in the south, during the war, so all of the language is southern dialect. In the end of the book, while the boys are fighting for their freedoms, they are captured and taken to one of the worst Confederate Army camps. They are separated forever. The last page of the book states that Say, who was white, was released from this camp months after he entered, but he was very skinny and sick. Pink was hanged hours after he was taken into camp and his body was thrown into a pit. It turns out that Say turns out to be a very distant relative of Patricia Polacco, who is the author of this story.
Rough, Tough Charley by Verla Kay (2007, Tricycle Press)
Rough, Tough Charley is a non-fiction book written in short, rhyming poems about a child named Charley Parkhurst who is an orphan. Charley was sleeping in a barn, the owner found him, and he began working with the owner's horses making sure that they were taken care of. As Charley grew up, he learned how to drive stagecoaches and transport people safely to where they needed to be. Charley was always a safe driver and on time, but many people gossiped about him saying that he was vulgar, odd, and that he was fancy-dressed. Charley, throughout his life, faced many hardships. A horse kicked him in the eye, making him blind in one eye, and he saved his passengers and loot in the stagecoach by killing a bandit. After Charley retired from driving, he joined a gentleman's lodge and was able to vote for presidents. Charley became very sick when he was older, but insisted that no doctor came. When Charley died, everyone was shocked to find out that Charley was actually a woman. Charley disguised her identity her entire life so that she could participate in the same luxuries that men could. She wanted to vote for presidents, drive stagecoaches, and simply be equal.
In Pink and Say, this book is written in a southern dialect that is very hard for most students to understand. It is written this way to show the authenticity of the Civil War in the south, but this is especially hard for ELL students to understand, since they still are acquiring correct English.This book is written as a conversation between two friends, and is filled with southern slang. It bridges the gap between academic and conversational language, yet that it is hard for ELL students to understand that academic and conversational language can be combined into one. Students are beginning to understand that "academic language is the language of the classroom" but when they see that academic language and conversational language are combined, this can be quite confusing (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p.17) This language in itself is hard to understand, since we do not often speak using phrases such as "ridin' drag and lookin' for wounded" (Polacco, 1994, p.5). Exposing all students, especially ELL students, to this dialect and giving them opportunities to hear and practice speaking in this dialect can help them understand that authors use different styles of language when they are trying to portray different time periods, parts of the country or world, or characters. This will help my students "activate prior knowledge" about a subject during other lessons, which is so important for ELL students (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p. 7).
Pink and Say also is written during the Civil War. The book talks a lot about the Union and the Confederate armies. Without adequate knowledge about the Civil War or this time period, students may not know about these armies or what they were fighting for. These vocabulary words are crucial to the book, as Pink and Say end up in a Confederate Army at the end of the book. To teach these concepts, I might show a picture of a Confederate flag and a Union flag. I could also show the students pictures of a Union uniform and a Confederate uniform so they know that these two armies were fighting against each other. Identifying the similarities and differences between the two uniforms allows students to "make new connections, experience new insights, and correct misconceptions" (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p.12). It also might help to show the students a map of the United States during the Civil War and explain to them where the different armies were fighting against each other. Also on the map, I could explain which states were part of the Confederacy and which were part of the Union. This would help students by "enhanc[ing] [their] ability to represent and elaborate on knowledge using mental images" (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p.7). Exposing students to images would help them recall information when they see this same topic in the future.
This book is also written at a higher level, and is filled with complex vocabulary. Polacco uses words such as, "mahogany, bluffs, smote, lad, marauders, and muskets." Before reading this book, the students should be familiar with the vocabulary that is important to understanding this book. They could preview the words and activate their prior knowledge about these concepts. They could converse with their peers around them and discuss what they already know about specific vocabulary words in this text. This cooperative learning would allow students to "make sense of new knowledge by interacting with others" (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p.9). Students could also learn about these new vocabulary words by acting out or illustrating what the words mean. For example, students could write the word mahogany and then use a brown crayon to illustrate that mahogany is the color brown. Giving students the chance to act out or illustrate their new vocabulary words helps these new ideas sink in even more.
The last component in Pink and Say that ELL students might have a hard time relating to is location. There are many different locations throughout the United States mentioned throughout the book that many students might not be familiar with. Many of my students rarely get the chance to travel, let alone to many of the places mentioned throughout the book. Polacco mentions "our farm in Ohio, the slave plantation, places associated with Yankees, Andersonville, and Saranac, Michigan." I could locate the places mentioned in the book on a map for my students so they have a visual of where this book takes place. I could also give the students an opportunity to talk with their classmates about the places mentioned in the book to see if they have any connections about these places that might help them make more sense of these aspects in Pink and Say.
Rough, Tough Charley is written in cryptic rhyme, which is a form of poetry. An example of this is the very first stanza where Verla Kay writes, "Charley, orphan/ Runs from town/ Hides in stable/ Hunkers down" (2007, p.1). This rhyme could be hard for ELL students to understand just because the language is so broken up and different than the way we actually speak. This style of writing contradicts intermediate and advanced fluency, which is something that teachers hope their ELL students will achieve (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p.15). To teach the choppy idea of telling a story through poetry to ELL students, the students could recite the story itself, taking the text of the story as a "script" of sorts for reader's theater. Giving students the opportunity to become fluent with poetry, which is a text that they aren't as familiar with, does give them the chance to understand meaning by internalizing the content. They take ownership of the story, since they are directly interacting with the script. This will help them understand the story even better, and it will also positively impact their fluency, as it gives them time to practice reciting words in a dramatic setting.
Rough, Tough Charley also focuses a lot on different vocabulary than we use today, since the story takes place in the 1800's. There are many new words in this text, such as, "stagecoach, stable, reins, steamship, and petticoats" (Kay, 2007). To teach these words that students may not be famiiliar with, I would give the students the definition of the words before we read the story so that they have some background knowledge as they encoutner these words. Then as we read the story, I would show the students a picture of a stagecoach, for example, so that they are able to visualize how these new vocabulary words can relate to the story. Again, using non-linguistic representations help students "not only understand material better but also recall the knowledge more readily" (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p.7). This is important so that students are able to add new vocabulary words to their language base.
Many pictures in Rough, Tough Charley show Charley driving a six-horse stagecoach, voting for presidents, or working as a child. Many of the events that Charley engages in throughout the book, my students have never done. Giving them the opportunity to look at the pictures and talk about their own experiences of when maybe they have seen or interacted with horses and what that was like may give the students a better understanding of the important components of this book. Again, when students are able to talk about their own experiences with each other, it strengthens their background knowledge or interest in a specific topic.
The most important thing to understand in Rough, Tough Charley is the big surprise in the end of the story. Students need to understand that the main idea of this story is that Charley is actually a girl and disguised her identity so that she was equal and had the same freedoms men did during this time. History is such an important aspect of this book, and students really need to understand that women were not treated as equals during this time because they were seen as fragile and delicate. At the very end of this book, there are two pages titled "Facts About Charley." Reading these pages to the students and then giving students time to discuss their feelings or reflect about this story could help students really understand that Charley had to take drastic measures to ensure that she was guaranteed the same freedoms that men were.
I would also make sure to talk about the setting in Rough, Tough Charley, as it is set in the 1800s, in the country and in the stables, and it is different than most of the students in an ELL classroom might have seen before. Providing students with background knowledge about these places would help them understand more completely when we do go to read the book. I could do this by reading books about the 1800s or times when stagecoaches were used. We could also talk as a group about why people did have to use stagecoaches or even talk about how history has changed, which touches on one of the History Standards. Students might also want to talk about their personal experiences as well.
Rough, Tough Charley and Pink and Say are both excellent texts that students can learn a lot from. Teachers just need to make sure that they teach the aspects of these books that may be hard for children who grow up in different cultures or who come from various backgrounds so that all children feel successful when comprehending a text.
The books I chose are:
Pink and Say by Particia Pollacco (1994, First Scholastic Printing)
Pink and Say is a book about two boys who became friends while they were both fighting in the Civil War. It describes their journey through the war, especially because Pink is black and he is fighting for his own freedom. This book talks about the importance of working together and being courageous, even though the boys are young. This book takes place in the south, during the war, so all of the language is southern dialect. In the end of the book, while the boys are fighting for their freedoms, they are captured and taken to one of the worst Confederate Army camps. They are separated forever. The last page of the book states that Say, who was white, was released from this camp months after he entered, but he was very skinny and sick. Pink was hanged hours after he was taken into camp and his body was thrown into a pit. It turns out that Say turns out to be a very distant relative of Patricia Polacco, who is the author of this story.
Rough, Tough Charley by Verla Kay (2007, Tricycle Press)
Rough, Tough Charley is a non-fiction book written in short, rhyming poems about a child named Charley Parkhurst who is an orphan. Charley was sleeping in a barn, the owner found him, and he began working with the owner's horses making sure that they were taken care of. As Charley grew up, he learned how to drive stagecoaches and transport people safely to where they needed to be. Charley was always a safe driver and on time, but many people gossiped about him saying that he was vulgar, odd, and that he was fancy-dressed. Charley, throughout his life, faced many hardships. A horse kicked him in the eye, making him blind in one eye, and he saved his passengers and loot in the stagecoach by killing a bandit. After Charley retired from driving, he joined a gentleman's lodge and was able to vote for presidents. Charley became very sick when he was older, but insisted that no doctor came. When Charley died, everyone was shocked to find out that Charley was actually a woman. Charley disguised her identity her entire life so that she could participate in the same luxuries that men could. She wanted to vote for presidents, drive stagecoaches, and simply be equal.
In Pink and Say, this book is written in a southern dialect that is very hard for most students to understand. It is written this way to show the authenticity of the Civil War in the south, but this is especially hard for ELL students to understand, since they still are acquiring correct English.This book is written as a conversation between two friends, and is filled with southern slang. It bridges the gap between academic and conversational language, yet that it is hard for ELL students to understand that academic and conversational language can be combined into one. Students are beginning to understand that "academic language is the language of the classroom" but when they see that academic language and conversational language are combined, this can be quite confusing (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p.17) This language in itself is hard to understand, since we do not often speak using phrases such as "ridin' drag and lookin' for wounded" (Polacco, 1994, p.5). Exposing all students, especially ELL students, to this dialect and giving them opportunities to hear and practice speaking in this dialect can help them understand that authors use different styles of language when they are trying to portray different time periods, parts of the country or world, or characters. This will help my students "activate prior knowledge" about a subject during other lessons, which is so important for ELL students (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p. 7).
Pink and Say also is written during the Civil War. The book talks a lot about the Union and the Confederate armies. Without adequate knowledge about the Civil War or this time period, students may not know about these armies or what they were fighting for. These vocabulary words are crucial to the book, as Pink and Say end up in a Confederate Army at the end of the book. To teach these concepts, I might show a picture of a Confederate flag and a Union flag. I could also show the students pictures of a Union uniform and a Confederate uniform so they know that these two armies were fighting against each other. Identifying the similarities and differences between the two uniforms allows students to "make new connections, experience new insights, and correct misconceptions" (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p.12). It also might help to show the students a map of the United States during the Civil War and explain to them where the different armies were fighting against each other. Also on the map, I could explain which states were part of the Confederacy and which were part of the Union. This would help students by "enhanc[ing] [their] ability to represent and elaborate on knowledge using mental images" (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p.7). Exposing students to images would help them recall information when they see this same topic in the future.
This book is also written at a higher level, and is filled with complex vocabulary. Polacco uses words such as, "mahogany, bluffs, smote, lad, marauders, and muskets." Before reading this book, the students should be familiar with the vocabulary that is important to understanding this book. They could preview the words and activate their prior knowledge about these concepts. They could converse with their peers around them and discuss what they already know about specific vocabulary words in this text. This cooperative learning would allow students to "make sense of new knowledge by interacting with others" (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p.9). Students could also learn about these new vocabulary words by acting out or illustrating what the words mean. For example, students could write the word mahogany and then use a brown crayon to illustrate that mahogany is the color brown. Giving students the chance to act out or illustrate their new vocabulary words helps these new ideas sink in even more.
The last component in Pink and Say that ELL students might have a hard time relating to is location. There are many different locations throughout the United States mentioned throughout the book that many students might not be familiar with. Many of my students rarely get the chance to travel, let alone to many of the places mentioned throughout the book. Polacco mentions "our farm in Ohio, the slave plantation, places associated with Yankees, Andersonville, and Saranac, Michigan." I could locate the places mentioned in the book on a map for my students so they have a visual of where this book takes place. I could also give the students an opportunity to talk with their classmates about the places mentioned in the book to see if they have any connections about these places that might help them make more sense of these aspects in Pink and Say.
Rough, Tough Charley is written in cryptic rhyme, which is a form of poetry. An example of this is the very first stanza where Verla Kay writes, "Charley, orphan/ Runs from town/ Hides in stable/ Hunkers down" (2007, p.1). This rhyme could be hard for ELL students to understand just because the language is so broken up and different than the way we actually speak. This style of writing contradicts intermediate and advanced fluency, which is something that teachers hope their ELL students will achieve (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p.15). To teach the choppy idea of telling a story through poetry to ELL students, the students could recite the story itself, taking the text of the story as a "script" of sorts for reader's theater. Giving students the opportunity to become fluent with poetry, which is a text that they aren't as familiar with, does give them the chance to understand meaning by internalizing the content. They take ownership of the story, since they are directly interacting with the script. This will help them understand the story even better, and it will also positively impact their fluency, as it gives them time to practice reciting words in a dramatic setting.
Rough, Tough Charley also focuses a lot on different vocabulary than we use today, since the story takes place in the 1800's. There are many new words in this text, such as, "stagecoach, stable, reins, steamship, and petticoats" (Kay, 2007). To teach these words that students may not be famiiliar with, I would give the students the definition of the words before we read the story so that they have some background knowledge as they encoutner these words. Then as we read the story, I would show the students a picture of a stagecoach, for example, so that they are able to visualize how these new vocabulary words can relate to the story. Again, using non-linguistic representations help students "not only understand material better but also recall the knowledge more readily" (Hill and Flynn, 2006, p.7). This is important so that students are able to add new vocabulary words to their language base.
Many pictures in Rough, Tough Charley show Charley driving a six-horse stagecoach, voting for presidents, or working as a child. Many of the events that Charley engages in throughout the book, my students have never done. Giving them the opportunity to look at the pictures and talk about their own experiences of when maybe they have seen or interacted with horses and what that was like may give the students a better understanding of the important components of this book. Again, when students are able to talk about their own experiences with each other, it strengthens their background knowledge or interest in a specific topic.
The most important thing to understand in Rough, Tough Charley is the big surprise in the end of the story. Students need to understand that the main idea of this story is that Charley is actually a girl and disguised her identity so that she was equal and had the same freedoms men did during this time. History is such an important aspect of this book, and students really need to understand that women were not treated as equals during this time because they were seen as fragile and delicate. At the very end of this book, there are two pages titled "Facts About Charley." Reading these pages to the students and then giving students time to discuss their feelings or reflect about this story could help students really understand that Charley had to take drastic measures to ensure that she was guaranteed the same freedoms that men were.
I would also make sure to talk about the setting in Rough, Tough Charley, as it is set in the 1800s, in the country and in the stables, and it is different than most of the students in an ELL classroom might have seen before. Providing students with background knowledge about these places would help them understand more completely when we do go to read the book. I could do this by reading books about the 1800s or times when stagecoaches were used. We could also talk as a group about why people did have to use stagecoaches or even talk about how history has changed, which touches on one of the History Standards. Students might also want to talk about their personal experiences as well.
Rough, Tough Charley and Pink and Say are both excellent texts that students can learn a lot from. Teachers just need to make sure that they teach the aspects of these books that may be hard for children who grow up in different cultures or who come from various backgrounds so that all children feel successful when comprehending a text.
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