Entry #5

Entry #5 Reviews of Children’s Books

            The first book I reviewed was The Painter and the Wild Swans by Claude Clement.   It is about a Japanese painter that sees some beautiful wild swans fly overhead and he can’t paint until he sees them again.  The components in this book that might affect an ELL’s comprehension because of cultural aspects would be:

• The fantasy genre and that at the end the painter turns into a swan
• Years ago there were no cameras so people had a portrait made by a painter
• Vocabulary:  captivated, bitter cold, capsized
• The location of Japan
• The Japanese writing represents a poem that is translated at the end of the story

            This book would be a good read aloud for ages nine and up.  I would introduce this book as a fantasy and explain that something happens at the end of the story that would not happen in real life.  Then, we would talk about how a long time ago there were no cameras so people had their portraits made by painters.  After that, I would explain that this story takes place in Japan and I would show the location of Japan on map or globe.  Next, I would show the students the Japanese writing on the pages and explain that it represents a poem.  There are a few vocabulary words I would introduce just before I read the book aloud.  I would write the words captivated, bitter cold and capsize on the white board.  We would talk about captivate first and how it sounds like capture so it would be like capturing the imagination.  Then, we could all hug ourselves and shiver to demonstrate bitter cold.  Lastly, I would have a little boat that I would turn over to demonstrate capsize.  I would then read the book aloud.

            The second book I reviewed was This Is the Turkey by Abby Levine.  This book exemplifies a family celebrating Thanksgiving with guests in a rhyming format.  At one point the turkey is dropped but they don’t mind because the important thing is to spend time with family and friends.  I feel the components that would need to be clarified for ELL students would be:

• The Thanksgiving tradition
• Typical food for Thanksgiving
• The meaning of Thanksgiving
• Vocabulary:  kneading and roasting

            I would use this book to read aloud to my kindergarteners.  First, we would talk about what people do on Thanksgiving and why we celebrate it.  Then, I would show the students pictures in the book of typical Thanksgiving food and we could talk about typical meals shared during celebrations of students’ families.  Finally, we would discuss vocabulary.  We could all pretend to knead dough to demonstrate meaning and then I could show a picture of an oven to show roasting a turkey.  I would then read the book aloud.

Entry #4

Entry # 4 Finding Meaning

            I read about string theory which was difficult to understand but the article I read first had so many other concepts I didn’t understand that I had to look for definitions of those concepts too.  As I read, there were so many new concepts that I didn’t have any way to make connections to what I already knew.  When I had tried all of the strategies I could think of and still couldn’t make meaning of the text, I scaled it back and read an article that explained string theory for the general public.  This text had more familiar concepts to explain the theory and I was able to understand the basic idea.  The strategies I used at first to make meaning of the text were:

• Attaching the new meaning to background knowledge
• Looking up definitions of unfamiliar vocabulary
• Asking my husband what he knew
• Looking at a diagram
• Chunking sentences into parts to try to make meaning
• Writing down the ideas I thought I understood

            These strategies didn’t help with the first reading because there were too many concepts and vocabulary that were new to me.  I was able to read the words phonetically but because I didn’t understand the vocabulary there was no meaning for me.  When I scaled back the difficulty to an article that was specifically written for the general public then these strategies worked for me.

            As a teacher this means that I need to know my students’ stage of language acquisition and who might need a scaled back version of the concept.  Also, explicit instruction on strategies will help with comprehension.  If students aren’t familiar with most of the vocabulary the strategies won’t help them make meaning.  Vocabulary knowledge is imperative to comprehension; without it there is no meaning.

Entry # 1

Discuss with another teacher, his/her philosophies about teaching literacy.

            I discussed with Mrs. H. her philosophies about teaching literacy.  She is very much a believer in collaborative learning.  She feels that each student in a group should have a job that requires participation and he or she should be held accountable for that job.  The teacher’s role during group work is to provide scaffolding and to use questioning techniques to stretch students’ language.  Because students are working cooperatively, students can also use the ideas and language of others in their group to enhance their own language.  She is certain that these learning strategies not only help ESL students but all the other students in the class and should be used in all content areas. 

            Mrs. H. also advocates making activity directions clear for all students.  She does this by using visuals, having students retell the directions and also having the directions on a note card to remind students what to do during the assignment.  She feels that these strategies bridge the gap for learning and allow time for a deeper meaning of the learning.

            I agree with this teacher's philosophy.  Students who work in cooperative groups are likely to discuss ideas freely and use the ideas of others to increase their own learning.  I can even relate it to my own learning.  I retain more when I have the opportunity to discuss ideas with my classmates.

Entry #2

Reflect on the writing instruction you have received.  Which view of writing described in this chapter corresponds most closely to your experiences?

             When I was in junior high and high school we learned the format of the five paragraph essay and we were taught to edit our work.  We never kept math journals explaining math processes.  I remember writing some about our science experiments in short constructed responses.  Most of the tests I remember taking were multiple choice and short answer tests.  The majority of the tests were about memorizing some content, taking the test and not working with the information again.  I really can’t remember writing collaboratively but that doesn’t mean we didn’t do it.  I do remember, however, falling back on the five paragraph essay when I started writing in college.  It served me well.

            While both of the views in our chapter do not incorporate much collaborative writing, I feel that my experiences as a writer corresponded more with the “empty vessel” view.  There were probably elements of the “progressive” view in our learning but they didn’t make much of an impression as I can’t remember them.  It seemed like most of the time we were memorizing information to “fill” our empty vessel.  We didn’t use language much because the classes were in the form of a lecture where the teacher spoke and we listened.  Our writing focus was to turn in a written product where the teacher was the audience and he/she evaluated our writing. 

            I have worked in collaborative groups as a graduate student and we have discussed topics.  As  result, I feel I have retained more information and applied my new learning with my students.  Because these techniques have helped me with my learning, I feel that using them with my students will enhance their learning.

Entry #3

Comment on the relationship between oral language and the reading process.

             I found it interesting in our reading to learn that humans have an innate ability to learn language quickly and with few corrections from caregivers.  Children seem to learn the general rules of the language that is spoken around them and then apply it to new situations.  The reason they make mistakes like saying “goed” instead of “went” is because they have over generalized the rule.  As time passes, and they hear the language more, they learn the irregular verb.  Children learn language in the same stages no matter what language they speak.

            Reading is not always learned as easily as oral language.  For example, children have to learn directionality.  In English we read from left to right but children are not used to looking at their environment from left to right so they have to learn this arbitrary rule which is not an innate ability.

            Children need a solid oral language foundation to learn to read.  Because it is easier to learn a first language than it is to read we, as teachers and parents, need to make a concentrated effort to allow opportunities to develop oral language.  This is especially important from birth to preschool but carries on through elementary school.  These oral language experiences will also benefit our growing population of second language learners.