Entry # 6 Two Major Theories of Teaching Langauge

Learning/Word Recognition View 
(Freeman & Freeman, 2004)

Philosophy: People need to learn specific skill sets in order to learn language

Goal of Reading: to identify words

Method of Reading: recoding- go from learning written language to learning oral language

Reading in the Classroom:

Students spend time reading aloud

to practice learning difficult words. Vocabulary is often front-loaded.

Goal of Writing:

To learn to produce good writing

Method of Writing:

Build from part to whole

Focus on form and conventions

Teacher corrects all errors

Acquisition/Sociopsycholinguistics View
(Freeman & Freeman, 2004)

Philosophy: People learn language by acquiring language

Goal of Reading: to construct meaning

Method of Reading- use all cuing systems including: graphophonics, background knowledge, syntax clues, and semantics.

Reading in the Classroom:

Students are given much time to read silently as they practice strategies in order to improve comprehension. Vocabulary is learned through the context of reading.

Goal of Writing

To learn the writing process

Method of Writing:

Begin with content and learn skills for writing

Convention follows invention

All members review and edit drafts

References

Freeman, D.E., & Freeman, Y.S. (2004). Essential linguistics: What you need to know to teach. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Entry #5 My Writing Experience

As hard as I try, I cannot clearly recall my early writing instruction. I remember some of reading activities like spelling lists, sight words, phonics flashcards, and round-robin read alouds. Those activities and style in which they were taught most closely resemble the learning/word recognition view (Freeman & Freeman, 2004) so, my guess is that I was probably taught writing in the same way as a traditional classroom (Freeman & Freeman, 2004). I do remember hours and hours of D’Nealian handwriting practice which I thoroughly disliked and felt meaningless. I do not recommend this for students who seem to take the learning/acquisition approach to learning language. It might make them feel frustrated stifled. I felt this way about reading and writing for most of my education until I met a teacher who seemed to hold my similar view and focused on content. It was then that I felt free and began to love reading and writing again. Even in high school I do not recall any writing instruction that resembled what Freeman & Freeman (2004) call the process classroom. I do not recall a mini-lesson format or writer's workshop. I’m sure I looked to my teachers as models but I remember looking to them more for directions on a certain assignments or for an example of what they wanted. Since my positive experience was with more of a process and acquisition/sociopsycholinguistic approach, it might be why my own learning and teaching styles tend to lean towards the process and acquisition/sociopsycholinguistic methods of teaching.

References

Freeman, D.E., & Freeman, Y.S. (2004). Essential linguistics: What you need to know to teach. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Entry #4 Book Reviews

Cultural aspects that might affect comprehension and suggestions for teaching ELLs.

Night by Elie Wiesel 

Students will need some background knowledge of the Holocaust.

ELL learners could look through texts in their home language in order to recall/gain background knowledge of the events of the Holocaust. They could also watch several videos that are out including Elie Wiesel’s interview with Oprah.The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum has many resources available online in several languages.

 

Students need some information about Hasidic Jewish culture.
Students could make posters or other types of presentations in order to share aspects of their own cultural, religious or otherwise. They could explore similarities of their own feelings of their culture and what they find in Night.

Students need some understanding of the historically and culturally relevant vocabulary. 

Vocabulary could be front loaded and discussed; pictures could accompany the list. This should be pointed out in the book, while reading and maybe even before. Students could use the list to mark where they appear in each chapter. Students could practice using the terms while talking about the book, matching the terms to pictures or to definitions. Audio versions of the book could be used to hear and practice correct pronunciation of all words. 

http://www.amazon.com/Night-Elie-Wiesel/dp/1419390694/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1300421455&sr=8-1

Students need to be able to connect to the story and picture what they read.Here is a list of great children's books with pictures that can be read before reading Night. Many of them contain similar themes that can be used to aid understanding of the more complex themes in Night.

Terrible Things

Hidden Child

Hilde and Eli: Children of the Holocaust

Hiding from the Nazis

Who was the woman who wore the hat

The Feather-bed journey

Luba: The Angel of Bergen-Belsen

The Harmonica

The Cats in  Krasinski Square

The Children we Remember

My Secret Camera

Erika’s Story

The Hidden Children of the Holocaust

Don’t Forget

Cry, The Beloved Country by Alan Paton

Students will need information on the geography, history and politics of South Africa. 

Photographs, other texts, maps, and an introduction to Nelson Mandela and "Apartheid" might be best. Nelson Mandela has many spechs that can be found on youtube.com.

Again, much of the vocabulary is rich in culture and time period. Vocabulary could be front loaded and discussed; pictures could accompany the list. The audio version of the book

might be best to hear the words pronounced correctly.  

Students will need to be aware of Biblical allusions. 

These can be explored before each chapter or as the students read. Since the Bible comes in most all languages, students may be able to read this in their home language and connect to the story that way.BibleGateway is a great searchable tool with many language options.

Because of the social and political issues in pre-Apartheid South Africa during the novel, it contains a complex plot. For this, the movie version might be the best option.

Entry #3 Newspaper in Spanish

Well I began backwards on accident. I went to http://eltiempo.terra.cl/ thinking that I would find a news article from Chili in Spanish.  What I found was the home page of the online news. The title, "el tiempo" sounded like "The Times" to me. One reason I was able to understand this was from the text structure. Even online, it looked like a news source. There were titles in bold of different sections with bullet points and the layout made room for many different subjects. The page contained pictures in which I recognized weather, seasons, the moon, maps, and other photos. I also recognized numbers, and though the temperature seemed to be measured in Celsius, and I have since forgotten how to convert it to Fahrenheit, I could at least infer that it was about weather.

This page was difficult to understand as I don't know much Spanish but I could understand more than I did then when I clicked on a link that sent me to what I thought would be an article. I still don't know what it was but it wasn't very long and at the bottom it contained boxes to type in "Nome, email, and site" I'm guessing it was some type of submission form.

Although I really don't have any idea what this web-page said in words. The text structure, pictures and numbers helped me to at least catch the clue that it was a newspaper. These elements- text structure, pictures and numbers are, for the most part, universal. Students need to be able to understand these features and how they can aid in comprehension, no matter the language. In fact, it would be most beneficial if students understood these and used them as cues in their home language then, they could relate their prior knowledge to learning a new language.

Entry #2 Oral Language and the Reading Process

Oral language acquisition is a precursor to written language acquisition. In English, one learns the ways of the language in speech before it is learned in writing. Some argue that is is because humans have an innate sense of learning language, others argue that it is our environment that produces such language. Whatever it be, one can understand the "rules" of a language without ever having learned to read it. "Communicative competence" and "generative grammar"  are the aspects of knowing a language by the ways one speaks (Freeman & Freeman, 2004).

On the other hand, learning to read a language might take a different shape. Reading is a cognitive process whereas as oral language acquisition seems to be innate. Reading is not an innate skill set therefore one has to be explicitly taught the rules governing the written language: usage, vocabulary, grammar, sound symbols set etc.

References

Freeman, D.E., & Freeman, Y.S. (2004). Essential linguistics: What you need to know to teach. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Entry #1 Philosophy of Teaching Literacy

     I began by interviewing a first grade teacher who just finished a paper on her philosophy of teaching literacy. Her colleagues sat near and helped prompt the discussion. "So, what is your philosophy?"

     "It's so hard to put it in to one sentence," Mrs. C. began. She went on to list the following aspects as important in the teaching of literacy, especially to English language learners.

• Total Physical Response (TPR)
• Oral rehearsal
• Think-Pair-Share
• High expectations
• Predictable routines
• Oral language development
• Time for Practice and modeling
• Visual cues
•  Explicit instruction 

As the discussion continued it was apparent that Mrs. C's three teammates agreed with her on her philosophy. Though they might have minor differences of opinion, all of their comments seemed pedagogically sound and agreeable. I found myself agreeing with what was being said as well as agreeing with what was not said. Though the teachers may not have said it aloud, they were acting out a vital component of teaching- collaborating. The teachers' philosophies, in my opinion, were best shown in how they worked together, collaborating as a team and building on best practice and sound judgment. In order for all of their philosophical ideas to come together and work to benefit students in a classroom, they join together, supporting, encouraging, and pushing each other.