Blog 11- To be continued...

Keeping a blog has been rather exciting. I never knew how to do one and was actually curious about starting one. Fortunately this class provided me with the opportunity to start my own blog. I am thinking of keeping my blog, and changing it into something non educational (sorry L). I am not sure where it will take me and what type of things I will post, but I am sure it will continue to be a learning experience. Looking at many different blogs over the years, I have seen each reflect the individual who created it. I am particularly drawn to blogs about cooking, arts and crafts, and kids’ stuff. I am addicted to Pinterest and therefore I follow tons and tons of blogs. Hopefully, this blogging journey will continue for me because I think  it will be something that I will enjoy. Actually I think I will change the name of it to One Day at a Time. Stop by and see what exciting things I will do.

Blog 9- Support and Challenges in Nonfiction and fiction texts

Nonfiction text	Stomp Out Bullying
Text Structure (compare contrast, problem/solution, sequence, etc…)	Support- The text is outlined in a problem/solution format. If students know what the structure is, it will help them comprehend the text more.
Vocabulary	Challenge-When using nonfiction text at the 7th grade level, you can expect for there to be higher level vocabulary as well. Students who have not had previous exposure to it can struggle with meaning in the text.
Text Features (pictures, captions, headings, subtitles, side bars, etc…)	Challenge- Students who do not understand the purpose behind text features and can get confused as to what they are for. Support- Visual aids help paint a visual image. Titles and headings can provide a main idea for the students, so they understand what is happening. Bolded words can provide definitions and highlight key vocabulary content.
Authors Purpose	Challenge- This text gave facts about bullying and what you should do if you see it happening. This can be confusing to students if they are not familiar with persuasive techniques. Some students may not understand that the author really wanted them to stand up to bullies and not just know the facts.
Point of View	Support-This was easy as it was a 3rd person. The author was informing about bullying. One person talking.
Content	Support- No matter where you are from, you have seen or heard of bullying in one form or another. This content can cross cultural barriers.

Fiction Text	The Lottery- Shirley Jackson
Plot	Challenge- This story can be very hard to follow because nothing is just stated. Students need to be able to infer a great amount in this story. I think that the biggest part that they will struggle understanding is that Tessie dies at the end. Also, that the lottery is bad.
Characters	Challenge - There were many characters in this story and it could be hard to remember who the main character was. Support- Even though there were a lot of different characters, all of the characters were relatable.
Vocabulary	Challenge- This higher level text provided vocabulary that was hard for even English speaking students. No matter who was reading this, they would more than likely struggle with the vocabulary. Students can possibly get caught up with the notion that the lottery is something good because the way it is used today (win millions).
Point of View	Support- 3rd person. You could follow who was talking and when it transferred to another person. You knew all thoughts.
Setting	Support- Some of our ELL students came from villages in Africa, so they were able to understand the unique dynamics that go on inside of one. Setting stayed the same through the entire story.
Figurative Language	Challenge- Many examples of figurative language are used in this text. Students need to have background knowledge in order to understand these.

Blog 8 : Sheltered Instruction for Reading

Before

·         Explicitly describe lesson of the day ·         Instructions provided verbally and written ·         Goes over goal for the day and tells what they should do by the end of the day. ·         Reviews reading strategies ·         Teacher writes students responses on board. ·         Preview key vocabulary and writes on board and gives context for the vocabulary. ·         Pictures are being provided to the students on the vocabulary. ·         Goes over each vocab word and shows the pictures/synonyms/short stories about the words/integrates native language ·         Preview story-looking at pictures/ summarizing story/ give the big idea and main concepts of the chapter so the students can make connections. ·         Make predictions on title or illustration ·         Group work ·         Connect the book to students background

During

·         Set expectations (verbally and written) ·         Ask for clarification for students to explain. ·         Read slowing articulating each word. ·         Explicitly teach strategies. ·         Scaffold- remind/question ·         Allow wait time ·         Point out connections for student if they cannot make their own ·         Allow students to explain their connections to the text and possibly give examples (sing the song)

After

·         Review key vocabulary/ reading strategies/ learning objectives ·         Give time to interact with the text ·         Shelter the view ·         Provide opportunities for clarification, hands on activities and group work. ·         Connect to BK, ask questions and visualize on sticky notes

Reflection

All of these activities are great. Many of these strategies can be used for ALL of your students. I use these activities when I teach my special education students. I really like how they made a point to explain that we need to use kid friendly explanations for the higher level skills that they need to be able to do.

Blog 7- ELL Running Record

I performed a running record for two students who are English Language Learners. One is a Spanish speaking and the other is from Nepal and speaks Nepalese. Both are in the 7^th grade. I used the Burns Roe Informal Reading Inventory and ended up using grade level 5 for the Spanish speaking student, and grade 1 for the student from Sudan based off of how long they have been in the country and their level of English proficiency.

The first student, whose primary language is Spanish, has been in the states since birth, but Spanish is the primary language spoken at home.  She did a good job on her passage and read 125 out of 131 words. She missed words that were in the higher level vocabulary range: demolished, wrecked, radiators. Two of the other words she missed were sigh words: to and our.

For the word demolished, she tried to sound out the beginning of the word, looked at me and then skipped the word. I would say that meaning interfered with her being able to understand the word. If she looked around at the context clues, she could have inferred what the word was based off of her background knowledge and the beginning sound.

Wrecked was pronounced /wreck-ed/. She made the word two syllables. This shows that the student is unfamiliar with the sounds that –ed makes. She needs to be taught all the sounds of –ed and when each sound takes place.

As far as the sight, I believe that she was going too fast and just overlooked the words and said them incorrectly. She said the words correct when she saw them in other parts of the passage.

The other student from Nepal has been in the states for less than one year. The  family are refugees from Nepal, and her parents died shortly after coming here. Currently she is in foster care, and has not consistently gone to school based on the fact that she has been transitioning from one home to another.

I gave this student the first grade passage and immediately it became clear that she had no idea what was being presented to her. It appears she has had very little instruction on reading English. This student only knew the words I and the. She had no other knowledge of the words.  I didn’t even make this students continue reading because the look that appeared on her face explained how she felt. After this testing I went and spoke to the ELL teacher at our school.  The teacher is only at school in the mornings for 50 minutes and then leaves to go to other schools. I asked if this student was receiving any phonics or phonemic awareness and she informed me no because of all the different levels of ELL students that are in the class. I hate to think that this student is not receiving the type of services that she needs. She needs to have direct systematic instruction in phonics and PA.  It is such a shame.

Blog 6 Learning vs. Acquisition

Learning (L) vs. Acquisition (A)	Activity – Students	Explanation
L	Look up words in dictionary to write definitions	Teachers want students to have an understanding of unknown words before reading a text. Sometimes this consists of giving words and finding the definitions in a dictionary (28)
A	Make a Venn diagram to compare two stories	The goal of this is to help students develop higher levels of reading proficiency (28)
L	Practice sounding out words	Student in the learning view apply their phonics skills to sound out new words.
L	Read in round-robin fashion	“Another practice consistent with a word recognition view is to have to have students read aloud on a regular basis…” (28)
L	Correct peers when they make a mistake during reading	During the round-robin reading, teachers and students correct peers or provide peers with unknown words (28)
L	Identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound	Students use their phonics knowledge to find words with the same sounds (25)
L	Group cards with classmates’ names by criterion on such as first or last latter	This goes along with the alphabetic principle that students would need to know in the learning view.
A	Write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound	Teachers help students discover the different spelling patterns.
L	Ask the teacher how to spell any work you don’t know	If the teacher gives the student the spelling, it is the belief that it helps the student learn that word.
A	Read a language experience story they have created with the teacher	Teachers help create an authentic writing experience for children and then they help them express themselves (29)
A	Work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences	Giving students familiar words lets them practice developing the skills needed to create a message (29).
L	Divide words into syllables	Students learn to break words into their parts to identify them. They also follow phonics rules (25)
L	On a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same sound	Students use their phonics knowledge to find words with the same sounds (25)
L	Make alphabet books on different topics	Teachers want to students to practice skills with repeated exercises (34)

Learning (L) vs. Acquisition (A)	Teachers	Explanation
L	Preteaches vocabulary	Teachers want students to have an understanding of unknown words before reading a text.
A	Does a shared reading with a big book	Teachers from this view read with and to students (31).
L	Makes sure that students read only books that fit their level	Since teachers are teaching how to sound out and recode words, students must read books at their level, otherwise they would not be able identify words (24).
L	Have students segment words in  to phonemes	When students can apply phonics rules, they will in turn be able to pronounce the word and then add it to their vocabulary (27).
A	Writes words that students dictate for a story and has students help with spelling of words	This view argues that when students write something that is for others to read, they want to write something that follows conventions.
A/L	Asks students to look around the rooms and find words starting with a certain letter	Teachers from both views teach spelling to an extent. For the acquisition view, students get to choose words that they know from their background knowledge that match the same sound, and for the learning view students will apply their phonics skills to help decide on words.
L	Uses decodable text	Since teachers are teaching how to sound out and recode words, they need books that they can decode.
A	Sets aside time for SSR each day	Students need to read silently in order to reach the level of metacognition.
L/A	Teaches Latin and Green roots	The learning view explicitly teaches these, while the acquisition view sees it as a part of a system to help them understand words.
A	Has students meet in literature circles	In the acquisition group, teachers like to have students work in collaborative groups.
L	Conducts phonics drills	“Students do drills and exercises to practice language” (33)
A	Chooses predictable texts	To help make language comprehensible, teachers use books with predictable patterns (34)
A	Teaches students different comprehension strategies	To help make language comprehensible, the teacher might teach students techniques such as using “gestures, pictures, and real things or reading a book with a predictable pattern and clear pictures of key words” (34).
A	Does a picture walk of a new book	Teachers want students to be able to communicate even if they have not yet acquired the words/linguistic resources to do so (34)
L	Used a variety of worksheets to teach different skills	Teachers in this group want students to have practice with language with multiple exercises to reinforce the learning (34)

Blog Entry #5 - 2 Books to teach to ELL

Two beautiful books are listed below. For each book I outlined some possible problem areas/concerns that English Language Learners may happen upon. There are also some recommendations to help the students access the text.

The Magically Mysterious Adventures of Noelle the Bulldog

By: Gloria Estefan

1. Figurative language- "...came bounding together like a well-oiled machine."
• To teach this a teacher can talk about what a well-oiled machine is, show pictures of one and talk about how something can move like a machine even if it is not one.
2. Vocabulary words- distinguishing, beamed, mysterious, disappointed, joyous, delight, bounding.  
• Teachers should pre-teach vocabulary- this should include student drawing pictures, naming similes/antonyms, using the word in a sentence and adding the word to a vocabulary bank.
3. Complex sentence structure-"She wasn't that pretty, quite far from the best, with her brown brindle body and white-spotted chest."
• break the sentence into natural chunks for the student. Make sure they understand the meaning of punctuation.
4. Transition words- Then , but , since.
• When teaching transition word, the teacher should give the students sentences from the book that has these words on them. The student can then move and manipulate the sentence to move them where they belong and sequence them correctly.

The Hello, Goodbye Window

By: Norton Juster and Chris Raschka

1. Background Knowledge- Grandparents are called Nanna and Poppy. 
• To help students gain background knowledge, teachers can facilitate a KWL chart. Teachers can also link information with the students background knowledge from their own knowledge.
2. Story basis/fig language- The window looks like regular window, but it is not (It really is).
• This again links with building the students background knowledge. The teacher can create a window for the students and then they can act out what the little girl is doing. They can talk about imagination and how it plays a role into what this little girl is doing.
3. Vocabulary-harmonica, reflections.
• The teacher can actually bring in these items. She can being in the musical instrument and then she can bring in a mirror and talk about the words. Students can touch and listen to the harmonica and then look at themselves in the mirror and see their reflection.
4. Figurative language-"It works just like a mirror except it's not in the bathroom, and it looks like we're outside looking in." 
• The teacher can show he mirror she brought in and talk about the reflection that is seen in it and then she can take the students to look in a window and again talk about the reflection in it. Students can then compare the two and notice their similarities between them.

Douglas, E. (n.d.). Making reading passages comprehensible for English language learners. Making reading passages comprehensible for English language learners. Retrieved January 15, 2014, from http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/811