August 19, 2011

"Vocabulary Development During Read-Aloud: Primary Practices"   by Karen J. Kindle

This article discusses the many benefits children derive from having someone read aloud to them.  It states: "…since beginning readers are limited in their independent reading to simple decodable texts, exposure to novel vocabulary is unlikely to come from this source.  Read-alouds fill the gap by exposing children to book language…."

Effective read-alouds are not simply books read aloud.   The text must be selected and words identified before hand and strategies for assisting word learning must be decided on.  Tier 2 words are the ones that most effectively advance a student's reading vocabulary.  These words are not common in everyday speech but occur frequently in written language.  Words are taught three ways during the read-aloud: Incidental  - where the teacher uses a Tier 2 word during discussion, Embedded - the teacher uses a simple definition or synonym for the word during the read-aloud, and Focused Instruction - the teacher discusses with the children what a word means.

M1N3. Students will add and subtract numbers less than 100, as well as understand

and use the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction.

a. Identify one more than, one less than, 10 more than, and 10 less than a given number.

The 1st grade class I am working with this year has a number of students who ae low in math.  We have been working on counting and adding one more for a couple of weeks.  Scholastic has a book: The Hershey's Kisses Addition Book by Jerry Pallotta.  Using only the first nine pages I did a short lesson for the children having the most difficulty.

Words to Teach

simple:     synonym: easy

equation:  example - 1  +  1  =   2; definition: a number sentence with 

                                             an = sign

basic:   synonym - simple

The group had 1 ESOL student, a Special Ed student who has repeated Kindergarten, and two student with Tier 3 Interventions for Reading and math.

Materials:  bag of Hershery's Kisses, book, dry erase boards and markers for everyone

The lesson began with introducing the book.  I explained that we would read only the first part today.  We would read more on another day.  then I passed out the markers and boards.  I let the children play with them for 3 or 4 minutes.  When they were ready to listen we began to read.  The first page introduces math terms and symbols.  We practiced writing those: +, -, =.  This is where I brought out the Kisses.  Rule 1 - you may not eat any of the candy until the end.  Then you get only one piece.  (The rest of the candy goes into a zip-lock bag, into the bookbag, and goes home)

As we went through the book I used the  vocabulary aids prepared ahead of time.  The children used the Kisses to work the math problems and then had to write the equation.  The book is a fun, entertaining way to reinforce adding 1.  After the lesson that group raised their hands during Calendar to answer the question what is ___ and 1 more.  It was the first time any of them had volunteered.

I have already worked on the vocabulary for the second half.  We will do a small group adding doubles after Labor Day.

"The Cultural Divide of Discourse: Understanding How English-Language Learners' Primary Ddiscourse Influences Acquisition of Literacy"  by Lydia Mays

After reading this article it is very clear why many ESOL students who are tested for Special Education are tested in both English and their first language.  The student must show deficits in both languages to qualify for services.   A child who has had little exposure to English will not perform as well as children who have more exposure.  Also, cultural differences play a role in how the child will respond in the classroom. 

The article makes many critical points about the barriers current teaching  practices create for ELLs.  There are several intervention strategies presented that would even the playing field for those students.

One of the strategies described in this article was to label items in the room with both English and the ELL students' first language.  The ESOL students in my class are Hispanic.  This is the activity I chose to do with a small group.

Standard: ELA1R3 The student demonstrates the relationship between letters and letter combinations of written words and the sounds of spoken words.

Materials:  3X5 cards,  markers, tape,  list of classroom items with words in English and Spanish, with pictures, - desk, table, book, pencil, door, window, etc. (for spelling),   access to: http://www.spanishdict.com/translation to translate items (this is a good web site - there is an audio function that helps with pronunciation)

When the rest of the class went to Art I called the children over to the table.  The group was two ESOL and two non-ESOL students.  I explained to them that I am taking a class in Spanish and need to practice, would they help?  They got very excited.  I told them they needed to label things around the room with the English and the Spanish word.  They each picked out a marker and got a handful of cards.  They could not label something if the other group had already labeled it.  They automatically paired off with a Spanish and English speaker in each pair.  I gave them the list of items and 20 minutes to label as much as possible.  

The web site came in very handy because they needed the spelling of several items I had not included - dry erase markers is one.  

The children enjoyed it, when the class came back from Specials the other children  wanted everything pronounced.  It kept the group of "labelers" busy  the rest of the day.  It also actually helped me - I really am taking a Spanish class.

Picture Book Lesson using The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

I taught the lesson last week.  First grade Imagine It will do a unit on plants later in the year.  This will give the children some background knowledge to build on.

It was a fun lesson.  The children are excitedly watching their beans, waiting for them to sprout.  We will do the activity again with the reading unit but the children will keep a graph of the plants growth and we will actually plant the beans in soil after they sprout.

I did the entire lesson whole group - next time it would be better to divide the lesson and do the bean part small group - the class did not do well waiting.
The children did well with the sentence strips.  There are three teachers in the room so we did the writing while the children dictated.  Everybody could pick out his or her sentence later; the next day several of the children could read the different sentences.

Picture Book Assignment

Book: The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle

Standard: Life Science

S1L1. Students will investigate the characteristics and basic needs of plants and animals.

a. Identify the basic needs of a plant.

1. Air

2. Water

3. Light

4. Nutrients

b. Identify the basic needs of an animal.

1. Air

2. Water

3. Food

4. Shelter

c. Identify the parts of a plant—root, stem, leaf, and flower.

Vocabulary: Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer: seasons of the year

                      Flower seeds: part of the plant that will grow

                      Burst: pop open

                      bud: a baby flower

                      looms: to seem threatening

                      petals: flower leaves

                      stem: tall part of plant

                      leaves: (Leaf) green part on the stem

                      roots: part in the ground

Sentences:

Seasons: 

1) I love winter because it sometime snows!

2) Do you like to go swimming on hot summer days?

3) He has outgrown all his winter clothes!

Burst:

1) The balloon burst with a loud POP.

2) The children burst through the door of the classroom.

3) After I ate the candy I had a burst of energy!

Bud:

1) The rose bud smells sweet.

2) Jack loves to write - he is a budding author.

Looms:

1) a loom can be used to weave cloth.

2) The report is looming over her head because it is due and she hasn't finished it.

Petals:

1) the flower petals are yellow.

Stem:

1) The roses have long stems.

2) Lunch will stem my appetite.

Leaves (Leaf):

1) Tree leaves change color in Autumn.

2) The yellow leaf is from a poplar tree.

3) Jason leaves his lunch box on the playground every day.

Root:

1) People trip over the tree roots on the playground a lot.

2) Pigs root out mushrooms with their nose.

3) Look at this word: runs. What is the root word of runs?

Activities for lesson:

Read book.

Look at butter bean seeds.  Then have each student choose three or four seeds to put into the plastic bags with a wet paper towel.

Extra: Plant picture to label.

Materials:

Book, Seeds (I use butterbean or lima bean seeds), sandwich-size zip lock bags, paper towels, water to wet towels, vocabulary chart, sentence strips, plant chart, a package of flower seeds to show

Plan:

Introduce vocabulary words.  Use chart.

Introduce the book and read it to class. 

After reading go back to vocabulary - let students give a definition or sentence using the word.  Then talk about how words can have multiple meanings.  Use the sentences then let students give you some.  Write their sentences on sentence strips, or let them write, and display on science board.

Do the butter bean activity. (When the beans begin to swell remind the children they "burst" open.)  Have several seeds already soaked so they can be opened to show the tiny leaf and root inside. 

If there is time go over the Parts of a Plant sheet.  Do one together, then have each child complete and color their own.  These will also go on the Science board.  Wind up the lesson by having the children read their sentence strips.  A good Parts of Plants sheet can be downloaded and printed from:  www.superteacherworksheets.com

DIBELS

For the last couple of days we have been doing DIBELS testing in 3rd grade. The more we do the more comfortable I am with the new instructions.   The stories are more "kid" friendly - the students are more able to make connections with them.  The children enjoy the stories and have enough interest to want to read further.   One boy wanted to finish the pizza story, after the testing was complete.  Pizza is his favorite food and he wanted to know ALL about it.  Another student wanted to know what hatched from the eggs in the first story.  It was amazing the degree of interest  many of the children showed.  I will be interested to know if anyone else has had the same experience.

Useful Web sites

I have used a number of web sites in the last several years.  I am always on the lookout for sites that have resources to use in the classroom or that provide information on different disabilities since I work as a Special Education teacher. 
Three of the sites I use the most are Starfall, Senteacher, and Papajan.  Starfall is used a lot in the Kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms at my school.  The children enjoy the interactive activities, songs and games.  Senteacher is a site that provides many resources for helping students with disabilities.  And Papajan is a good site for helping parents understand phonics and why that phase or teaching reading is so important.

www.starfall.com

Starfall is an excellent interactive site for children.  There are activities for preschool through about 1st grade.   There are games to teach sounds,  practice word families, read easy stories using word families, there is a section of non-fiction stories that includes shorts on several musicians and artisits that allow the child to hear and see the artists work.

http://www.papajan.com/

This web site is a good one for parents who want to help their children become good readers.  There are interactive games, printables, advice for parents, explanations of what phonics is and why it is important.  Unfortunately the site does try to sell its reading program.  But most of the links, games and activities are free.

http://www.senteacher.org/Home/

This web site is designed for students with disabilities.  It has links to many sources of information on many different disabilities.  It is also a good resource for teachers.  There are many printables for math and literacy activities.  All resources and links are free.