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Sociolinguistics and Psycholinguistics

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Knowledge of sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics can influence instruction so they are worth studying. A sociolinguist refers to a person “who studies variation within a language, or across languages with a view toward describing that variation or toward writing rules which incorporate it (rather than, as in the past, ignoring it)…” (Cobb & Kallus, 2011, p. 249). Instead of viewing and studying language as fixed and unchanged, the sociolinguistics view is that language changes depending on a variety of circumstances such as the speaker’s economic level, ethnicity, culture, age, sex, and the context in which it’s being used. Language is constantly unfolding and growing as the speaker’s needs and environment change. Another aspect of sociolinguistics is the belief that the study of language can benefit and influence other fields of study, including education. Psycholinguistics is a convergence of linguistics and psychology, the study of the psychological mechanisms that occur during language acquisition and use. “Linguistic analysis…shows that language has two levels—a surface structure—that is, the sounds or written representation of language—and a deep structure—that is, meaning” (p.266). Psychology provides understanding about the complex relationship between the two structures and the mental operations that take place when a person formulates meaning from language, either oral or written communication.

Understanding sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics can enlighten educators and provide assistance for reading instruction. Through sociolinguistics, teachers are aware that a student’s family background and culture, such as the education level of their parents and the expectations of their family or peers, will affect their language use. William Labov and William Stewart concluded that speech should be studies in communities versus in individuals and data should be considered on a continuum because people use language differently depending on their environments (Labov, 1966. Stewart, 1964). For example, a person uses a formal register in a professional work setting but switches to a casual register at home with family or when spending time with friends. These variations are also evident in reading and writing. Textbooks are written in more formal language than novels, for example. As reading teachers provide instruction to their students, keeping in mind these variations in language acquisition and use will help them provide effective instruction to students from diverse groups. Specifically, ELL students need instruction on the various ways that English is used in different contexts and registers so they can navigate the numerous settings in which they need to use English for listening, speaking, reading, and writing.

Psycholinguistics studies also influence reading instruction because “it is becoming clear that reading is not a process of combining individual letters into words, and strings of words into sentences, from which meanings spring automatically” (p.267) Instead, the studies show that meaning is constructed through interaction with exposure to a wide range and large variety of texts. Children are already hard-wired to learn how to read and should be provided a multitude of opportunities to experiment with “written language that is both interesting and comprehensible” (p.267). Students are not passive learners of language, but are actively involved in the learning process by cognitively searching for information and making determinations about the information. When considering ELL students, teachers should be cognizant that much of their brain capacity is focused on using knowledge of their native language to understand English. They frequently have to translate back and forth between the two languages in order to listen, speak, read, and write in English. Teachers should provide aides such as gestures, visuals, vocabulary word banks, and extended wait times, for example, to ensure that the input ELL students receive is comprehensible and they can cognitively active in their learning. Educators should have an awareness of both sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics to increase their effectiveness in the classroom with all students.

Reference:

Cobb & Kallus (2011). Historical, Theoretical, and Sociological Foundations of Reading in the United States. Pearson Education, Inc., Boston, MA.



Orthographic Knowledge and Word Work in the Classroom

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Orthography, the conventional spelling system of a language, is an important piece of literacy development. “Becoming fully literate depends on fast, accurate recognition of words and their meanings in texts, and fast, accurate production of words in writing so that readers and writers can focus their attention on making meaning.” (Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton & Johnston, 2016, p.5)  If students have poor orthographic skills then they will not be able to read and write fluently because they will have to frequently stop thinking about what to text means (or what they want it to mean when writing) to think about how to decode or spell words.

In the 1970’s, Charles Read (1971, 1975) and Carol Chomsky (1971) studied the way students were attempting to spell words and realized they were not just using random letters, but “inventing” spellings that could provide educators with a glimpse of their word knowledge development. Edmund Henderson and his colleagues at the University of Virginia conducted similar studies regarding students’ spelling at approximately the same time (Beers & Henderson, 1977; Henderson & Beers, 1980). “They determined that through an informed analysis of students’ spelling attempts, teachers can differentiate and provide timely instruction in phonics, spelling, and vocabulary that is essential to move students forward in reading and writing.” (p.5) Word study is what this type of differentiated instruction is called.

As students analyze and study the orthographic patterns of words, they start to make generalizations and see the consistencies of word parts in the English language. Students should be given ample opportunities to explore and manipulate words so they can develop understandings of the alphabetic, pattern and meaning relationships that words have with each other. For example, single sounds are sometimes spelled with multiple letters like the CVCe spelling pattern in some words with long vowels. As students work with groups of words that contain the CVCe spelling pattern, they will see the similarity between the words and can transfer that knowledge to their reading and writing when they encounter long vowel words. The same type of learning transfer occurs with meaning as students see the relationships between words that contain the same morpheme, or  unit of meaning, such as sign and signature or photo, photograph, photographer, and photogenic. (p.8)

To begin, teachers should assess students’ orthographic knowledge first using an inventory, to determine what they do correctly and independently, what they “use but confuse”, and what is absent in their spelling or what patterns are at their frustration level. (p.11) Children’s reading and spelling development occurs in stages, so using the inventory to determine each student’s individual spelling stage will help guide instruction. Teachers can create groups based on the students’ levels and assigned appropriate word study activities according to their knowledge within each developmental spelling stage.

From my experience administering and analyzing the Words Their Way primary spelling inventory to my second graders, here are a few changes I would recommend:

This student needs to use a pre-printed response sheet.
  • Provide an answer sheet with numbers and lines printed on it. I used notebook paper and modeled how set up the page with numbers, but many of my students were not successful which made reading their responses difficult for me to read.
  • Administer the inventory in small groups divided by ability instead of to the entire class at the same time. This change will benefit all students, but I think especially my struggling readers and writers could have experienced more success if I gave the inventory to them at the teacher table, adjusting the pace for the group as needed and discontinuing the assessment if they missed 5 or more words.
Analysis of student responses using the Words Their Way PSI feature guide sheet.

Analysis of the inventory using the feature guide (p. 324) provides detailed data on each student’s orthographic level and understanding within the level that is valuable for creating instructional plans. Using the information from the feature guide, I know what spelling patterns to hold students’ accountable for in their writing and what steps I need to take to move them forward to the next stage of spelling.

Student’s photo of her word sort submitted to her Seesaw digital portfolio.

Some suggestions for implementation in the classroom include:

  •  introduce and model the first few word sorts whole group so students can practice the activities with teacher guidance
  • group students with similar strengths and weaknesses, then have them work together in pairs on their word sorts during the week
  • use technology as a teacher’s aide by having students post to a digital portfolio while the teacher is working with small groups, then the responses are available whenever the teacher has time to check them and assess students’ understandings
    • students can take pictures of their sorts and upload them
    • record themselves explaining their thinking about their sorts
    • students can do speed sorts by timing themselves sorting the words twice, trying to beat their own time
    • teachers can record themselves administering spelling tests, then have students take the tests on their own at a literacy station
  • include oddball words to determine if students are reading and understanding the words or just sorting them visually
Student’s work for speed sort submitted to her Seesaw digital journal.

Word study should take place in literacy classrooms at every level K-12. Giving students a variety of opportunities to explore and “play” with words is vital for increasing spelling and vocabulary development, which students can then transfer to their reading and writing. Bear, Invernizzi, Templeton & Johnston propose: “The better our general knowledge of the system, the better we are at decoding unfamiliar words, spelling correctly, or guessing the meaning of words” (p. 6) Providing appropriate and engaging word study activities for students will set them up for future success in spelling, reading and writing.

Activating and Acquiring Schema

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Have you ever read a sentence or paragraph in isolation, not connected to a specific purpose or within a text, and it didn’t make sense to you? In Chapter 5 of Cobb & Kallus (2011), Richard C. Anderson used the following example taken from Bransford and McCarrell (1974) to demonstrate how a reader’s background knowledge affects comprehension:

            “The notes were sour because the seams split.” (p.98)

Did some questions come to mind as you read that? Perhaps you are wondering what notes? Why would notes have seams? What made the seams split? This sentence standing alone, without any frame of reference, might not make sense. But when Anderson adds the word “bagpipe” as a hint to the meaning of the sentence, understanding becomes clear to readers who are familiar with bagpipes. Schema refers to background knowledge, previous experiences and how they are organized in the mind. Since each reader has unique and personalized schema, the understanding drawn from the same text may not be the same. “Schema theory highlights the fact that often more than one interpretation of a text is possible” (p.100). When a student’s schema is activated prior to reading, there is a higher chance of comprehension and retention of the information presented in the text because the student has previous knowledge to connect with the new knowledge.

Listed below are the six functions of schemata which were suggested by Anderson & Pichert (Anderson, 1978; Anderson & Pichert, 1978).

  • A schemata provides ideational scaffolding for assimilating text information. It provides a niche, or slot for information. (Cobb & Kallus, 2011, p.101)
  • A schemata facilitates selection allocation of attention. It helps readers know what aspects of the text are most important and where to place their attention.
  • A schemata enables inferential elaboration. It helps the reader infer, or read between the lines, additional information that is not explicitly provided in the text.
  • A schemata allows orderly searches of memory. It provides the reader with a guideline or roadmap, so to speak, to follow as he pulls up previous experiences.
  • A schemata facilitates editing and summarizing. It helps the reader disregard unimportant information and compile a mental list of the main points.
  • A schemata permits inferential reconstruction. It assists the reader with making assumptions to fill in open spots or missing information. (Cobb & Kallus, 2011, p.102)

These functions highlight the importance of schema in regards to comprehension and how the lack of activating a student’s background knowledge might affect his understanding.

In Chapter 6 of Cobb & Kallus (2011), John D. Bransford comments on schema theory and suggests that educators should not only activate students’ schema prior to reading, but also assist children in acquiring new schema. Bransford uses an illustration about airports to demonstrate that some students don’t have enough background knowledge, so just activating what they have isn’t enough. If the text states that a woman doesn’t want to wear her silver jewelry to the airport, but doesn’t explain why, some students will assume it’s because she is afraid the jewelry will be stolen and others might think she doesn’t want to have to take it off to walk through the metal detectors. However, if students don’t have any personal experiences with airports, they won’t have any schema to activate so neither of those understandings will present itself. The teacher might tell students that airports have metal detectors, but what if a student doesn’t know what a metal detector is or doesn’t know how metal detectors are used at airports? Bransford says, “The point I want to emphasize is that the goal of this instruction is to help the child develop a more sophisticated schema rather than simply to activate a schema that already exists” (p.115). Teachers need to be intentional about helping students make connections between what they already know and the new information being presented. Consideration should be made for the diversity of the students in each class—cultural, economic, language, etc. These differences are factors in the types of background knowledge students will use to comprehend the text, so educators should provide assistance in acquiring new schema when necessary.

Children will not naturally synthesize what they read with what they already know. Teachers must provide appropriate questioning strategies to activate students’ prior knowledge to help them make the needed connections. In addition, it’s vital that teachers provide students opportunities to develop background knowledge before content is presented if the topic is not familiar to them. Also, for students to remember what they’ve learned, the information should be presented in a way that demonstrates relationships between the pieces of new learning instead of presenting each individual idea in isolation. In conclusion, understanding schema theory and applying that understanding to classroom practices is an active part of teaching reading since students’ comprehension is influenced and, at times, founded on their previous experiences and background knowledge.

Understanding Learning Theories

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Learning how to read involves complex and multi-faceted skills, so consequently teaching reading can be a daunting task. Educators who learn about the stages of child development, phases of language acquisition, effective instruction strategies and how to use available resources to provide engaging lessons may believe those are the only knowledge and tools they need. However, the metacognitive processes involved when a student learns to read and write are profound. Studying and understanding foundational learning theories of experts like Piaget, Vygotsky, and Skinner, for example, can provide valuable insight for educators and assist them when preparing learning environments and providing literacy instruction for their students.

Jean Piaget at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor
(Public domain image)

Jean Piaget (1955) studied young children and “determined that the cognitive ability of children evolved in four distinct and unique stages” (Cobb & Kallus, 2011, p. 166). Students in a typical classroom have a wide range of abilities and are at various levels of cognitive maturity. A teacher’s awareness of Piaget’s stages of development can be beneficial to help her determine if students who are struggling lack the necessary skills or if they’re not yet developmentally ready for the specific concepts being presented. In addition, Piaget’s constructivist theory predicates that knowledge is derived from the interaction that people have with objects. Each person constantly establishes awareness and insight by classifying what he knows, then configuring and re-configuring his knowledge. (Hertez, 2010) Educators with familiarity of the constructivist theory will understand the importance of providing students opportunities to explore and interact with text in order to create their own structures of knowledge.

Lev Vygotsky is another expert whose theories can provide valuable insight for reading teachers. Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory is based on the belief that “socially meaningful activity is directly related to the cognitive development theory that learning is directly related to the social interactions that occur within the learning environment” (Cobb & Kallus, 2011, pp. 167-168). This theory puts emphasis on students interacting with each other versus each student individually interacting with objects like Paiget suggested. Vygotsky felt that children need to make social connections with others in order to personalize and retain the learning. This could affect the way teachers provide literacy instruction because they can adjust the way they group students in small groups, triads, or pairs for cooperative learning activities, setting students up for success with intentional groups for social connections. Another important theory of Vygotsky’s that has been influential in education is the zone of proximal development, or ZPD, which is the “gap between the child’s level of actual development determined by independent problem solving and her level of potential development determined by problem solving supported by an adult or through collaboration with more capable peers” (Dixon-Krauss, 1996, p. 15) Educators should provide instruction within a student’s ZPD to allow the student to use what he already knows as a foundation upon which to build new knowledge through the support offered from peers or teachers. This strategy of teaching the student where he is first, then challenging him to build on new learning while the teacher adjusts her support based on his responses can help move his learning forward, constantly changing his zone of proximal development to a higher level.

Third grade students work together to identify story elements and create an anchor chart.

B.F. Skinner developed the theory of operant conditioning, which is based on the belief that a student’s learning behaviors can be controlled, or conditioned, by positive responses such as verbal praise or pleasant body language from the teacher like a smile. Skinner proposed that teachers should start out rewarding students with tangible prizes using a token or points system, then transition to personal approval when students are able to read fluently enough to experience personal enjoyment from reading itself. “Skinner’s theories regarding positive reinforcement radically changed the face of education, which, at the time, prided itself on rote learning and negatively punishing discipline” (Skinner, 1968). Teachers of literacy should be cognizant of how their responses to students’ attempts at reading and writing can influence the students’ confidence level and willingness to take risks to learn new skills. If they provide more positive responses to students, then it will encourage the students to increase their efforts. Also, students will view literacy activities as more enjoyable and want to improve.

In closing, studying educational theories from experts such as Piaget, Vygotsky, and Skinner can add depth and new insight to educators’ toolboxes, helping them improve their craft. Keeping these theories in the forefront of their minds while structuring their classrooms, preparing and implementing lessons, and interacting with their students can strengthen their overall effectiveness.

References:

Cobb & Kallus (2011). Historical, Theoretical, and Sociological Foundations of Reading in the United States. Pearson Education, Inc., Boston, MA.

Hertez, JM. (2010, October 4). Piaget on Piaget, Part 1 [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/I1JWr4G8YLM

autismvid. (2011, July 21). B. F. Skinner on education, Part 1, fragment 1 [Video File]. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/cUzoa7Vv5sE

The Reading Process: Transaction vs Interaction

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A paradigm shift occurred in the 1970’s that affected the scientific view of humans’ relationships with nature. Previously, experts believed that people were separate from the objects they studied. However, “Einstein’s theory and the developments in subatomic physics revealed the need to acknowledge that, as Neils Bohr (1959) explained, the observer is part of the observation—human beings are part of nature.” (Cobb & Kallus, 2011, p.124) John Dewey and Arthur F. Bentley (1949) labeled this new view of the relationship between subjects and objects as a “transaction” to describe how the humans and their environments condition each other as parts of one system versus being isolated entities.

Louise M. Rosenblatt applied the theory of transaction to the reading process by describing how readers transact with text instead of interacting with it. Rosenblatt’s view is that a text’s meaning doesn’t lie within the text waiting for a reader to come and interact with it, but meaning is created when the reader and text come together in a relationship. The circumstances surrounding the transaction between reader and text, such as the reader’s goal and expectations, affect what meaning is gained. In addition, William James’ idea of “selective attention” factors into the reader’s relationship with text. Selective attention refers to the idea that humans are continually determining where to focus our attention by choosing to bring some of the input received by our senses to the forefront for closer contact with it and push others further away, kind of like putting a pot on the back burner of a stove.

As readers approach text, their previous experiences and knowledge as well as their current interests affect where they place their attention and how they transact with the text. The reader’s relationship with the text is ever-changing and ongoing while he reads. He is constantly evaluating the new information against meaning that has already been constructed, then determining which aspects of it should be integrated into the established meaning and which can be abandoned because they’re not needed. Rosenblatt states, “From a to-and-fro interplay between reader, text, and context emerges a synthesis or organization, more or less coherent and complete” (Cobb & Kallus, 2011, p.131).

Rosenblatt termed “stance” as the reader’s purpose which guides his selective attention. This stance affects which aspects of the text are pulled closer for further analysis by the reader or pushed away, out of consciousness. In the efferent stance, a reader focuses on information, such as directions, that must be remembered and used after the reading of the text ends. She gives an example of a man ingesting a dangerous liquid, then quickly searching on the bottle for the directions to guide him in saving himself (Cobb & Kallus, 2011, p.133). If the reader is using the aesthetic stance, he notices or even revels in “the qualities of the feelings, ideas, situations, scenes, personalities, and emotions that are called forth and participates in the tensions, conflicts, and resolutions of the images, ideas, and scenes as they unfold” (p. 133) Rosenblatt contends that readers don’t always take an efferent stance or an aesthetic stance, but that there is a continuum on which a reader’s stance falls depending on the circumstances of the transaction with the text on that particular day and time. Just as two readers will have different interpretations of text, the same reader may interpret the text in a different way if the relationship with the text is experienced under a different set of circumstances.

In closing, Rosenblatt’s view of reading as a transaction between the reader and the text differs from the interaction view in that the reader develops a relationship with the text. Meaning is believed to be construed through the reader’s choosing where to place attention, the reader’s stance and the reader’s interpretation of the text. The view of reading as an interaction between the reader and text suggests that the reader and text exist separate from each other, with the reader extracting the meaning from the text that has been there from the time it was written.

References:

Cobb & Kallus (2011). Historical, Theoretical, and Sociological Foundations of Reading in the United States. Pearson Education, Inc., Boston, MA.

Effective Writing Instruction in the Elementary Grades

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In their book Teaching Language and Literacy: Preschool Through the Elementary Grades (5th ed.), Christie, Enz, Vukelich, & Roskos (2014) promote teaching writing to elementary school students with a workshop structure. Teachers should allow 45-60 minutes per day for the writing workshop block and classrooms should be arranged to provide spaces for students to work on their writing independently, with partners or in small groups. This structure consists of an initial mini-lesson, then time for students to write while the teacher conducts individual student conferences, and finally a sharing time in which students read aloud a portion of one of their writing pieces for the whole class or a small group of peers.

Mini-lessons: The initial mini-lesson, also referred to as a focus lesson, is short and concise, lasting approximately 10 minutes. At the beginning of the year, these lessons teach students the structure of writing workshop and include topics such as peer conferencing, teacher-student conferencing, and classroom procedures for editing, proofreading, and publishing. Students are taught expectations for each of these situations including the type of support they will be offered by the teacher and their peers. After students understand the structure of the writing workshop and routines are in place, focus lessons should provide explicit instruction in three areas: qualities of writing, steps of the writing process and conventions of language.

  • Qualities of writing—Instruction should include setting a purpose to write, the characteristics of different genres, and how to analyze mentor texts for craft moves that students can mimic in their own writing
  • Writing Process—Students should be taught that the writing process is ongoing. Although, there are specific steps to writing (prewrite, draft, revise, edit, publish), authors move back and forth within the writing process steps frequently as they reflect on what they’ve written and revise to improve it.
  • Conventions of language—Teachers should provide instruction about “punctuation, grammar, usage, handwriting, capitalization, and spelling”. (p.323) State and district standards should be used as reference to identify which skills should be included in these lessons.

In addition to using state and district standards as a guide, the students’ writing itself should drive classroom instruction. Teachers should use data they collect from ongoing assessments of students’ writing during the year to determine what type of focus lessons are needed and adjust instruction accordingly.

Writing Time and Student Conferences: The bulk of the time in a writing workshop is allotted for students to write. During this time, each student works on what he needs so students will be doing a variety of activities within the writing process steps. For example, a few students may be working independently to generate topics for a new writing piece, some might be studying mentor texts to analyze the author’s craft and apply it to their writing, and others may be collaborating together on revising their pieces. While students are writing, the teacher conducts conferences with individual students to provide differentiated instruction. Christie, et al. suggest the following outline for teacher-student conferences:

  • Writer’s Intent: Initially, the teacher asks the student what he is working on to research his intent or direction in order to determine the writer’s goal and plan instruction during the conference.
  • Writer’s Need: The next step involves asking the student a few guiding questions to direct the conversation in a way that will help the student improve as a writer. The teacher needs to determine one or two aspects of the student’s writing ability to focus her instruction on for this specific conference.
  • Teach the Writer: During the teaching step, the teacher provides instruction to the student by showing him a mentor text that will help him improve in the specific area identified, referring him back to previous writings, letting the writer know something is confusing or missing, or perhaps asking questions to assist the writer in self-reflection. This teaching piece is very brief and should not be presented lecture-style, but delivered through conversation.
  • Writer’s Plan: In this last step, the teacher asks the student to articulate a plan, or what his next steps will be as a writer. The teacher may need to provide a sentence starter such as, “Now you’re going to…..” and wait for the student to respond.

Tracking teacher-student conferences by taking a few notes about the writer’s need, what instruction was provided and the writer’s next steps is beneficial. The teacher can use these notes to ensure she meets with all students regularly and to determine if the students are showing growth by following through with their stated plans as well as determining what focus lessons are needed by the majority of the class.

Sharing: The last 10-15 minutes of a writing workshop period consists of a group share time. Here are the different types of share sessions Christie, et al. presented in Chapter 10:

  • Share meeting—students share drafts while the teacher and students ask questions, some students may share specific strategies they’ve recently learned or tried in their writing
  • Writer’s circle—the class is divided into small groups and sharing is conducted within each small group at the same time which allows for more students to share in a small amount of time
  • Quiet share—students bring writing utensils and paper to the share time so they can write down questions or comments as the writers share their pieces (papers are given to the writer to review later)
  • Focused share—the teacher asks students to read a specific component of their writing piece such a their lead, their closing, or an example of descriptive language
  • Process share—students are asked to bring an example of a revision they made and explain their thinking about why they made the change
  • Celebration share—students share completed writing pieces as a celebration of their hard work

Some examples of what students might share are graphic organizers or lists in which they’ve generated writing topics and ideas, drafts they’ve started to show specific components of their writing such as sensory language or to ask for revision suggestions, particular phrases, sentences or paragraphs in which they’ve imitated a mentor author, or possibly a completed writing piece that is ready for publishing.

Teaching Mechanical Skills

 In Chapter 11, Christie, Enz, Vukelich, & Roskos (2014) suggest that even though students receive instruction for mechanical skills of writing such as spelling, grammar, capitalization, punctuation and handwriting through using editing checklists and teacher-student conferencing during writing workshop, these activities may not be enough. Explicit instruction is needed to strengthen mechanical skills for students to be successful writers.

Teachers should make spelling instruction a priority because spelling specialists believe that student exposure and exploration through writing is not enough (p.334).  Since students in the same classroom are on various levels, spelling instruction should be individualized. Teachers and students work together to select words that need to be practiced each week using the students’ recent writing as a guide. According to Shane Templeton and Darryl Morris (1999), the selected words should be “known as sight words” (p.336), should be words that students will use frequently, and at the primary level, the words should follow a consistent spelling pattern.  Since the class doesn’t have one spelling list for all students, the teacher is not able to administer weekly pre-tests and post-tests. Students will work cooperatively in pairs to complete the tests as well as studying together daily throughout the week.

When considering grammar instruction, teachers should be aware that research shows teaching the rules of grammar in isolation through drilling practices is not effective because students don’t make the connection between the worksheet practice activities and their own writing. (Hillocks, 1986) Students should be taught grammar through the use of authentic writing—mentor texts, teacher modeling, and students’ own writing pieces. Teachers should also help students understand that the structure of written language, just like spoken language, varies depending on setting, purpose, and audience. “For example, the grammatical structures used in writing a letter for publication in a newspaper are different from those used to write a letter to a grandmother.” (p.339) Punctuation and capitalization instruction should also be implemented through using mentor texts and students’ writing pieces. Teachers can instruct students editing skills through the use of checklists and modeling editing marks.

To support EL learners in the area of mechanical skills, teachers must provide a multitude of opportunities for structured conversations with their native speaking peers. Development of oral language in context will increase their understanding and use of the structures of grammar. Teacher modeling is also vital for ELLs in addition to giving students daily opportunities to write about topics of interest to them, experiences that are “in their wheelhouse” so to speak. Detailed feedback about their writing will assist ELLs with grasping the correct usage in English for grammar, punctuation and capitalization.

Reference:

Christie, Enz, Vukelich, & Roskos (2014). Teaching Language and Literacy Preschool Through the Elementary Grades (5th ed.).

Reading Reflections

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Reflections on the readings of Christie, Enz, Vukelich, & Roskos (2014) Teaching Language and Literacy Preschool through the Elementary Grades (5th edition). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Chapter 4

The size of a child’s vocabulary impacts reading development and comprehension so it’s necessary for students to be exposed to a large volume of words through explicit instruction strategies in addition to natural and incidental experiences beginning in preschool and kindergarten. One effective strategy to vocabulary instruction is to introduce students to words they can use in their everyday social interactions at school, then intentionally set up opportunities for them to practice using the words as they go through their day. Another way that I use daily in my 2nd grade classroom is modeling how to determine the meaning of unknown words in text during a read aloud. As I’m reading, if I encounter a word that I have pre-selected for my students to learn, I think aloud for them and explain how I can understand the word from the picture cues or context of the sentence or sentences near it. In addition, after a direct teaching lesson on content vocabulary, surrounding students with realia and visual aids in centers will assist them in transferring knowledge of the words into their speaking, reading and writing. For example, if I’m teaching a unit on rocks and minerals for Science, I could incorporate vocabulary from that unit in the classroom word work station and writing station by providing various types of rocks (or photos) that are labeled and have students complete a specific activity using them.  Providing a basket of books about rocks and minerals in the classroom library for students to use during independent and buddy reading would also support their learning on the topic.

Chapter 5

Because my previous experiences do not include teaching PreK, the information presented in Chapter 5 about literacy-enriched play centers was interesting and enlightening to me. Over the years, I have incorporated props for students to use with cooperative learning activities when possible, but haven’t ever considered setting up an entire area dedicated to a particular setting like a post office, fire station or pizza restaurant like the one described on pages 131-132 in Christie, Enz, Vukelich & Roskos (2014) As the author suggested, providing students opportunities for dramatic play in settings that include a variety of print like signs, menus, name tags, credit cards and more, “provides motivation for literacy learning”. (p.132) Children will have an increased desire to learn about reading and writing as well as view literacy experiences as fun and positive.

As a Reading Specialist, I could assist teachers with incorporating these types of literacy rich play areas and help them understand their value. Also, setting up a model classroom that demonstrates what the various literacy areas of a well-designed classroom could look like would be helpful for them. I know many teachers spend a lot of time and energy thinking about the layout of their learning environments at the beginning of the year. They want to best meet students’ needs, but some teachers, especially new educators, are unsure of where or how to start.

Chapter 6

Early childhood instruction should develop children’s phonological and phonemic awareness skills on the continuum which include rhyme, alliteration, sentence segmentation, syllables, onsets and rimes, and phoneme manipulation. (Adams, 1990; Ball & Blachman, 1991; Blachman, 1997; Chard & Dickson, 1999; Goswami, 2000/2001; Smith et al., 1998; Torgesen, 1999; Torgesen & Mathes, 2000; Uhry, 1999) These skills build upon each other so students should first be exposed to activities that strengthen their understanding of rhyme, then alliteration, and so on, up the continuum ladder. Phonemic awareness, which refers to the ability to identify and manipulate individual phonemes, is so vital that it’s one of the most important indicators for a student’s reading development success. (Adams, 1990) Students who don’t have a strong foundation in these skills will struggle to understand phonics instruction and subsequently they will have difficulty becoming proficient readers and writers.

As a Reading Specialist, I would use my knowledge of phonological awareness, phonemic awareness and phonics to improve PreK and Kindergarten instruction by providing professional development for teachers. Some teachers are not aware of the sequence of skills that should be included in early childhood instruction or they don’t understand their importance. Providing training to increase their knowledge of child development and the value of phonological awareness and phonemic awareness activities will improve their instruction. In addition, collaborating with staff to create activities for lessons and modeling lessons for them will increase their teacher toolbox for these skills and help them implement more phonological awareness and phonemic awareness strategies in their classrooms.

Chapter 7

Currently, I use primarily anecdotal notes, reading records, writing checklists, digital audio and video recordings, journals and daily teacher observations of student performance to measure literacy abilities in my 2nd grade classroom. Students are also administered the DRA (Developmental Reading Assessment) and ISIP Reading (Istation Indicators of Progress) three times per year, which are district required benchmark assessments. Upon reading the ongoing assessments described in Chapter 7 of Christie, et al. (2014), I would like to incorporate more observational checklists and teacher reflections in order to give me additional data points and information to analyze. I like the way the authors explained how Mrs. Saenz used digital photographs of students participating in specific reading activities to jog her memory later and help her write down some reflections. It’s difficult to recall students’ behaviors by the time I have a chance to write them down, so having that visual would be helpful.

References:

Chapters 4-7. Christie, Enz, Vukelich, & Roskos (2014). Teaching Language and Literacy Preschool through the Elementary Grades (5th ed.) Boston, MA: Pearson.

Phonological and Phonemic Awareness Continuum—Retrieved September 22, 2019 from

http://www2.nefec.org/learn/teacher/elementary/pa/research/howDo2.htm

Language and Literacy

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Reflections on the readings of Christie, Enz, Vukelich, & Roskos (2014) Teaching Language and Literacy Preschool through the Elementary Grades (5th edition). Boston, MA: Pearson.

Reading Chapters 1-3 in Christie, Enz, Vukelich, & Roskos (2014) solidified and increased my understandings of best practices literacy teachers should use. One of the foundational keys to an effective literacy program is providing balanced instruction that includes aspects of meaning-based methods (whole language) combined with teaching core literacy skills. As shown in Figure 1.1 (p. 12), some features of meaning-based instruction include print-rich classrooms, storybook reading, and opportunities for students to use reading and writing in meaningful ways during independent station activities. In the same graphic, the authors listed features of skill-based learning or scientifically based reading research (SBRR) such as phonological awareness, alphabet knowledge, and concepts about print to name a few. Providing direct skills instruction gives students the tools they need to help them construct meaning from their reading and writing experiences with text as they participate in whole-language classroom activities.

Many strategies are needed for effective literacy instruction. For example, educators should consider how they model reading and writing and what type of literacy opportunities they provide for their students. Children need to see the adults in their lives using literacy to engage in everyday tasks so they will see its value. Children should also be given opportunities themselves to use reading and writing in meaningful ways to communicate, not just for school assignments. Specifically for reading teachers, modeling what they’re thinking as they read will help students develop the understanding that their brain is active while reading. I tell my students that they have a little reader voice in their head. It should always be awake when they’re reading, actively listening to and thinking about the text, in order to comprehend what’s being read. Some additional effective strategies include providing opportunities for students to learn in a social setting through collaboration, building positive relationships with students’ families and helping them support their children as learners, assessing students in various ways and using the data to drive instruction, self-reflection on teaching methods and adjusting those methods based on outcomes, and acknowledging each student’s unique and diverse background when developing instructional strategies and activities for the classroom.

When considering how children develop language, Christie, Enz, Vukelich, & Roskos (2014) propose there are four major views: behaviorist, nativist, social-interactionist, and neurobiological. Behaviorists believe that language is primarily developed through a child’s interaction with caregivers. The child learns which sounds are correct by interpreting the responses of the parents, adjusting them to solicit positive reactions. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the nativist view is based on the idea that children are born with the ability to learn language and their development is not dependent on caregiver interactions. This ability was coined LAD, language acquisition device, by Noam Chomsky (1965). The social-interactionist view falls in the middle of the first two. They believe that humans do have an ability for language at birth, but also that their development is influenced by engaging with caregivers. Specifically, children’s language development increases when the caregivers acknowledge that their attempts at speech have meaning and encourage continued conversation. The neurobiological view supports the other three views with evidence of brain activity through data collected with recent improvements in brain imaging techniques. Neuroscientists believe children are born with language abilities, but to develop the language modeling from caregivers and interaction with them is necessary.

Acquiring English as a second language is similar to first language acquisition in children who are exposed to both languages from birth. They can communicate in either language and translate back and forth between languages as needed. However, children who are first exposed to English upon entering school usually progress through different stages. At first students continue to speak their native language. Next, students go through a “silent period” (Krashen, 1981; Saville-Troike, 1988) in which their receptive language gradually increases through social and academic experiences at school, but they don’t speak the new language yet. During the third period, students begin to use a few words or short phrases and finally they start speaking in full sentences. Each EL (English language) learner is unique and has an individual trajectory of learning so students spend differing amounts of time in each period or stage. For example, I recently taught a set of twin girls who were EL learners and their personalities affected their language acquisition because the one who was very shy experienced a much longer silent phase compared to the sister who was more of an extrovert.

A reading specialist can support children’s language development by adhering to the strategies for effective literacy instruction outlined by Christie, Enz, Vukelich, & Roskos (2014) as they plan and implement lessons with students and partner with teachers, families and communities who play supportive roles in the language development of young children. They should provide information and training to stakeholders about the importance of oral language development, including the stages of development most children experience from birth to age 5 and what warning signs might indicate a child is experiencing a developmental delay. Reaching out to the community to provide information about language development in infants, babies and toddlers before they enter school is important since interactions with caregivers at a young age can greatly influence a child’s future literacy success in school. Reading specialists can assist parents and guardians with strategies to use at home that will increase their children’s oral language development and help them be better equipped for learning when they enter a structured school setting.

Vocabulary Strategies for EL Students

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English Learners sometimes have difficulty understanding new vocabulary words, especially academic vocabulary that they may not know and understand in their native language. Listed below are three strategies I’ve used successfully with my students to help them internalize new vocabulary words.

Realia or Visual Aids

When introducing new words to EL students, including a photograph, clip art or even an example of the real item, is helpful. Teachers in early elementary may want to consider creating a word wall to display for the entire class that has accompanying pictures for each word since young students are all soaking up new vocabulary words at a rapid rate and most are emergent readers who need to picture cues to understand the text. Upper elementary and secondary teachers could provide individual students with personal words walls or picture dictionaries to keep for reference in a folder. These resources should include the specific academic vocabulary words students will need to be successful in the current unit for each content area. Collaboration and communication between teachers of each content area is important to assist EL students with building a strong foundation of vocabulary.

For more information on displaying a word wall with pictures for the entire class, check out this post from Pre-K Pages: https://www.pre-kpages.com/wordwall/

Think/Pair/Share

Most teachers are familiar with the Think/Pair/Share strategy for cooperative learning in which students turn and talk to a partner, then some of them share what they discussed with the class. It’s important for EL students to be provided many opportunities for structured conversations, so this strategy is especially helpful to them. During a whole group lesson, pair each EL student with a native English speaker. Then provide students with a sentence stem such as, “I think the word ___________ means ______________.” Teachers can have students discuss specific content vocabulary words prior to beginning the lesson or stop periodically during the lesson as the new words are encountered and allow students to Think individually for a set time frame (such as 20-30 seconds), then turn and talk to their partner using the sentence stems, and finally call the group back together asking a few pairs to share out their ideas. Be sure to write the words and the sentence stem on the board or chart paper for student reference while they’re talking to their partners.

Creating Gestures or Motions

Let’s face it! Children of all ages love to move and they need to move! One strategy I have found that helps students remember a new vocabulary word is to use a gesture or motion for the word. If the word is a verb, sometimes the action aligns specifically with the word such as stomping for the word “stomp” or clapping for the word “clap”. However, some of the academic vocabulary words introduced and taught to students don’t naturally have a particular gesture to accompany them. Teachers can create a gesture that’s appropriate and introduce it to the entire class with the word or, to increase student buy-in and ownership, ask the students to create a motion they think fits the word and will help them remember it. Sometimes they come up with very funny and creative ideas, but the funnier they are makes them even easier to remember!

For more vocabulary strategies for EL students, see the sites listed below:

https://www.readingrockets.org/article/vocabulary-development-ells

https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2017/05/18/top-5-vocab-strategies-ells