#11 Blog Reflection

Blog post #11 (final post): write a brief reflection on your experience of keeping a blog this term. Examples of questions to help you get started: What did you enjoy and learn from this assignment; and what did you not enjoy about this experience? Is keeping a blog something you plan to continue? Is a blog assignment something you would consider using in your own classroom

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The blog assignment was fun.  I've worked with discussion boards and owith blogs in prior classes. The blogs are always a fun way or working with a class. Also, unlike the classes, a blog can be referenced later while the discussion forums in a class can't be accessed after the class is over.

The only problem, and it's a minor problem, is going back to the forums and/or bookmarks to find the blogs of the other students.  It's not a big problem at all, but is the only drawback I find to use blogs instead of discussion forums in an online class setting.

I have started blogs before, one for cooking, a family blog, a vacation blog, blogs for classes. I do have a class website and at some point could see adding a blog component to that.

I probably wouldn't use a blog component in my classroom as we only have reliable computer access on Thursdays during computer times. The school has COWS (Computers on Wheels - i.e. computer carts). One cart per 3 grade levels.  Access to these carts is erratic and not something we use often due to having to sign up in advance and computer use isn't a common part of our class. If I had more computers in the classroom or more frequent access to the COWS I can see having a student blog with rotating student reporters/writers.

#10 - The Purpose of Homework

Homework is necessary in some cases to solidify work which has been learned in class.  Students need time to practice new learning and to build upon prior learning.  Homework also helps move information from short term memory to long term memory.

Homework can/should be differentiated per student.  Students who have mastery of material shouldn't be saddled with a page of problems which they could do in their sleep anymore than students should be saddled with homework on a concept which they are unable to practice without teacher assistance. Differentiated homework enhances student learning.

Parental help should be minimal. Parents haven't been in class and thus haven't been exposed to the lesson and they way it was taught.

Teachers should tell students why they are assigning the homework, citing specifically the skills the students are to learn.

Feedback is important so that students know what they did correctly and to correct any errors students have.  Also, effort should be praised for those who did the homework, especially when it was difficult.  Effort is a very important part of homework.

Technology can play an important part.  I have a homework site, which I used for a few months, but I've gotten away from it.  It is very helpful and I will be starting it up again this coming week. Students who are ill can check and see what was covered in class.  Parents can check up on the students who say "I don't have any homework" and students who forgot what the homework is, can check it.

Also, we are currently studying Shakespeare's Julius Caesar.  Shakespeare is very difficult for many, especially in sixth grade.  I recommend students visit No Fear Shakespeare and Sparknotes to help with the homework and to review at home.

Many of my students use dictionary.com and other sites on their electronic devices to help with homework and of course, research is done online.

To summarize:  Homework should fit the subject matter, be tailored to the needs of the students, and make use of technology when the technology enhances learning.  Also, electronic communication, such as homework sites can be helpful for both students and teachers.

#9 - Fiction v. Non-Fiction - telling the difference between them

Task Description: Choose samples of both fiction and non-fiction texts age appropriate to the students you work with. (Suggestions might be a grade level text book or leveled reader). Create a graphic organizer to illustrate salient differences in each genre. Which features will support students learning to speak English? Which features will serve to be challenging?


In 6th grade we work with both fiction and non-fiction daily.  I read to the students daily for about 20 minutes after lunch.  I usually try and tie our read aloud to something we are studying.

Right now we are reading Julius Caesar by Shakespeare.  Before we started the play, we had a week long unit on William Shakespeare, the time period in which he wrote and the students had finished a unit on Roman History.

The book we are reading is The Shakespeare Stealer

The book is about a boy who finds himself at The Globe theater with the players of Hamlet, during the time Shakespeare is actively writing plays.

A graphic organizer I would use when working with the fiction/non fiction aspects of the above would be a Venn Diagram.   I would use a two circle model



1) Shakespeare's Life and Times
2) Shakespeare Stealer

I expect the students to put the characters on the outside portions of the circles and I'd expect to have to assist students in thinking of the portions in the story that talk about the parts which overlap - women playing the parts in the plays, the types of housing and language the people spoke on the street, etc.

This would serve to illustrate the part of Shakespeare which is "real history" and the part which is fictional from the story.

Also, I worked with my class on making a graphic organizer(s) to tell the difference between fiction and non-fiction. I asked the students to be creative.  Here are some pictures of what they did:

Also, the parts I think ELL students would find easy is identifying the subject and the difference between a non-fiction book, for instance, about dogs and a story which features talking dogs having adventures.

What might be difficult is listing out (in words) the features of fiction v non fiction.  So, using pictures would make explaining easier. With the student graphic organizers, some/most illustrated their organizers with images of their topic.  Doing this would also assist ELL learners.

Blog Post 8 - Sheltered Instruction

The video(s) we watched this week highlighted a teacher teaching a sheltered instruction lesson on Esparanza Rising to a group of older middle school students.  The class was taught in a Home Ec room, which is fairly typical from what the narrator said and in my experience as well.  Some classes need to be taught where there is room and using a classroom which is unused during a given period makes sense, if space is unavailable for a dedicated ESL classroom or where there are multiple ESL levels being taught during a given period.

On to discussion of the content of the video.

Intro Section:
It was brought to our attention that these were not beginning ELL students and that we were watching a sheltered reading instruction lesson. This section was helpful and reminds me that I need to introduce the lesson to my students instead of just jumping in.  The intro reminded us what to look for when watching the videos.

Pre-reading
Verbally stating the objectives as well as having the objectives written down is helfpul not only to tell the students what they will be learning but also, as stated in the video, this can make students more comfortable and less anxious about the lesson.

The teacher also had vocabulary words written on the board as well as pictures of those words on poster board which she passed around.

During Reading
The teacher stopped at intervals to check comprehension and help students make connections. It was clear she'd pretaught what making connections looks like and taught the students do it. She also asked the students which strategies they would use at different sections of the reading. I also noticed the teacher was working with a five page section of the book. This would allow for the time she took to make connections and work with concepts with the students.  The lesson wasn't about reading an entire chapter or seeing how far they could get. She had a very set number of pages and was teaching a lesson which utilized the reading, she wasn't trying to "finish a chapter."

After Reading
The teacher gave very explicit instructions on what to do, including the sticky notes, reviewed (from the board) the categories she wished them to use.

Reflections
I found this section useful where the teacher reviewed her strategies and why she used them. I was particularly struck by how she said her students often had fairy high language skills conversationally and were struggling to phrase questions about the reading.  This reminds me to structure my lessons more and to be more explicit when I teach/give instructions.

Summary
Overall the lesson was very effective and I found several strategies I will be using. I will take the strategies one at a time when I add them, as adding too many new strategies at a time tends to be overhelming and not a useful teaching strategy.

1. I will increase my use of written objectives and going over them verbally before a lesson
2. I will be more intentional about "tying up" a lesson with explicit review and directions.

I took away more than those two things from the videos, but those are two things I can start to use every day.  I do work with vocabulary daily as well. We are working with Julius Caesar by Shakespeare, in 6th grade. This is a complex piece of writing and we are taking it in small bites.

Running Records, Spelling and English Language Learners

Blog Entry #7

This week I worked with Jake, a 6th grader (he picked his own pseudonym). Jake speaks Spanish at home and is in my homeroom class. He is fluent in conversational English and his a B/C student in my class.  I also worked with Derek, an 8th grader. I chose Derek's pseudonym and he has spoken both English and German from birth. I work in a small charter school in Colorado and it was a challenge to locate a native speaker of a language other than Spanish.

I gave both students a passage from Anne of Avonlea,  Derek had 2 slight errors. Jake had 6.

Neither student made miscues in syntax.  Jake pronounced "Anne" as "Annie throughout."  His other errors were minor, and would be found in readers of any reader, including native English speakers.

Some of the teaching points with this data: Both students are fluent readers in English I would not foresee reading instruction needed with either student. Jake was a reluctant participant in this exercise, but was willing to be "drafted."  Derek was an eager participant.

Jake has had some issues with comprehension in Shakespeare and some minor vocab issues when working with text, but so have some of my native English speakers. I would account for this by attributing it to vocabulary heard at home/in his day to day environment. His academic English is good. However, some of his vocabulary that a Native Speaker may pick up at home seems to be lacking from time to time.

Derek, in my time with him and according to his teachers is fluent in both conversational and academic English and German. No remediation with him is necessary.

#6 - Word Recognition v. Sociopsycholinguistic View

Researchers have studied how children learn to speak. Researchers also study how children learn to write. Is this skill acquired naturally? In what ways do children learn to read and write?

Two views are Learning View (Traditional Writing Classroom) and Acquisition View (Process Writing Classroom).

There are activities are associated with each view.

Activities which are within the framework of Learning View  involving the teacher deciding which components of reading/writing on which to focus and then teaches those discrete parts separately, assessing for comprehension on each segment of reading/writing along the way. Errors are specifically corrected.

Learning View/Word Recognition activities include:

Students:

• look up words in the dictionary to write definitions
• practice sounding out words
• reading in round-robin fashion
• correct peers when they make a mistake during reading
• group cards with classmates' names by a criterion such as first or last letter
• ask the teacher how to spell any word they don't know
• divide words into syllables
• on a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same sound

The Teacher:

• preteach vocabulary
• makes sure that students read only books that fit their level
• has students segment words into phonemes
• asks students to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter
• uses decodeable texts
• conducts phonics drills
• chooses predictable texts
• uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills

Activities which fit the Acquisition/Sociopsycholiguistic View activities have students involved as as partners in learning, where the students do discovering of ideas and construct meaning from ideas/content of the material.  Errors are part of the process and the focus is on constructing meaning, not necessarily on getting everything "right."


These activities include:

Students:

• make a Venn diagram to compare two stories
• identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound
• write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound
• read a language experience story they have created with the teacher
• work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences
• make alphabet books on different topics

The Teacher:

• shared reading with a big book
• writes words the students dictate for a story and has students help with the spelling of difficult words
• sets time aside for SSR (sustained silent reading) each day
• teaches Greek and Latin roots
• has students meet in literature circles
• teaches students different comprehension strategies
• does a picture walk of a new book

Blog Post 5 - Children's texts

Blog Entry #5

Context: In addition to having to decode unfamiliar text, students are often faced with challenges because the setting of the book, vocabulary, and/or types of speech that may be new to them.

Task Description: Review 2 children’s books and determine what components in the book might affect comprehension because of cultural aspects. List 4 per book and tell how this schema could be taught or introduced to an ELL learner.

Delivery: Post blog entry by Wednesday.

Assessment: See Blog Rubric.

Forum Discussions: Now join your classmates in the Forum Discussion for this topi

The children's texts I chose were:

 It's raining Pigs and Noodles by Jack Prelutsky, the excerpt, as on Amazon.com is:

 It's raining pigs and noodles,
it's pouring frogs and hats,
chrysanthemums and poodles,
bananas, brooms, and cats.
Assorted prunes and parrots

are dropping from the sky,

Imagery is important in much poetry and Jack Prelutsky's is no exception.  Unless one knows It's raining cats and dogs" as an idiom as well as the meaning of the words in the poem, the humor in the poems is lost.  Humor is poetry is very context based. ELL students would have a challenging time understand why the other students were giggling at the poetry.  Strategies to understand would be to show the pictures in the book, ask students about idioms in their own language and preteach vocabulary when possible.

The other book I chose for this assignment is Johnny Tremain

the historical fiction classic of a boy in Revolutionary War time who befriends some of the framers of the Declaration of Independence and which gives a plethora of information about the times.  The book was written in the 40s and has some pretty complex voabulary words, long chapters and presumes a familiarity of the reasons behind the Revolutionary War. While the story goes into great detail and is a marvelous book, ELL students would find the language challenging and perhaps find the history confusion if they had not been exposed to it before.

I would suggest this book alongside a US History unit to flesh out the (often) dry history texts and to make connections between young boys of that time and young children of today.  Pre-teaching of some vocabulary would be imperative as well as perhaps some pictures and explanations of the household items used in the time period.