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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
Britany, You make a good point about making sure they understand the punctuation. I think separating the sentence into smaller chunks is a great strategy as well. The sequence activity for the transition words can also be done for any sentence, but I think adding the transition words adds a bit more of a challenge. The hands on with the mirror and harmonica definitely help build understanding. Accessing the current background knowledge is also important rather than assuming what they know. Many times throughout my day I will ask my students, "Do you know what that means?" I think it is easy to take for granted what words students already might know when they really don't.
ReplyDeleteBritany, I really like the way you set up this response. Your accomadations were easy to follow. I like the use of the KWL chart and brining in the harmonica so the students could make a clear connection to the instrument. -Tammy
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your ideas about the text, Hello Goodbye Window. I love that book and now I will use your idea to have my students acting out their understanding of the activity in the text. I think that is such a fun way to involve students with the book.
ReplyDeleteI also love the idea of bringing in manipulatives into the classroom to introduce vocabulary words such as the harmonica. I also appreciated the intentionality in teaching the specific punctuation skills needed to grasp this reading fully.
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