Building Comprehension

Assignment: Watch video on building comprehension with Professor Duke and write a summary using the following guided questions:

• Which ideas from the video struck you as most relevant to your teaching of comprehension?
• What new instructional practices will you implement in your classroom?
• How will you use the ideas presented in this video to improve the comprehension of your struggling readers (students you are observing)?

            As the video with Professor Nell Dukes emphasizes, comprehension is the ultimate goal of reading. Young students in particular need to develop strategies to assist them with comprehension. These strategies are learned rather than innate, and teachers should use explicit instruction to better help students develop these skills and strategies. Multiple strategies should be taught using modeling, think alouds, small group instruction, peer strategy sharing, and other coaching methods. For example, one effective technique mentioned is the think-aloud, where the teacher verbally tells the class his/her thought process of how he/she reached a conclusion after reading a passage. This modeling behavior of demonstrating a particular strategy is an effective instructional technique. Class discussion of a text and sharing meaning with others in a social context are other examples of effective instructional techniques that will provide students with opportunities to develop meaning and comprehension. Teachers can guide class discussion using open-ended, thought provoking questions that help students interact with the text on a deeper level. Teachers and good readers can share their strategies with the class and describe the strategies they use to decode and comprehend a reading selection. I will emphasize vocabulary with every lesson taught. As a student increases his or her vocabulary and unfamiliar words become familiar, students will spend less cognitive resources on decoding unfamiliar words and more cognitive resources on comprehension. The type of reader that stood out for me in the video was one where he/she was interactive with the text, re-reading, asking questions, making predictions, forming opinions, and making meaning as they go. These students also tend to use discussion and previewing of the text to activate their prior knowledge and make personal connections. This is in contrast to those struggling readers who may just open the book and begin reading without an authentic purpose just to get the bare minimum out of the text, without engaging in discussion or engaging their prior knowledge. An emphasis on reading writing and discussion skills would be something I would employ in my classroom. These are life-long skills that will serve the students will within my classroom environment as well as the world after graduation. In the primary years however, it is important that students understand the basic skills of forming and sharing an opinion, writing a main idea with supporting details and comprehending what they read. Other ideas worth noting are providing texts and real world, hands-on experiences to build world knowledge, and teaching about text structure, which can differ between various forms of expository and narrative texts. For example, students will need to learn how to read graphics, charts and tables in a science textbook. I will also emphasize and provide opportunities for students to read (DEAR, recess, breaks, etc) and write. One goal I have in mind is to find content that will engage every student so that they have an authentic reason for reading. This will depend on each student’s particular interest and motivation.  

DIBELS and the QRI-5

I first approached this assignment trying to prove one assessment's worthiness over another. In truth, both assessments can and should be used because they complement each other and provide unique information. Having a variety of assessments and individual student profiles are important to get a well rounded perspective on each student in the classroom.

The DIBELS focuses more on letter/sound association and phonemic awareness. The DIBELS assessment only goes up to grade six and  measures a student's fluency with regard to Initial Sound Fluency (ISF), Letter Naming Fluency (LNF), Phoneme Segmentation Fluency (PSF), Nonsense Word Fluency (NWF), Oral Reading Fluency (ORF), Retell Fluency (RTF) and Word Use Fluency (WUF). The DIBELS software was cumbersome and somewhat frustrating, but over time with updated (iPOD touch) software some of those issues can be resolved. The DIBELS is a very quick screening tool and can help provide teachers and administrators with measurable results in terms of a student's phonemic awareness and approximate reading level. Because of the speed of this assessment, it can be done quickly to accommodate large numbers of students. DIBELS can help identify any potential letter/sound recognition problems which would be scored as a miscue on a QRI assessment. The information gathered by administering DIBELS can hep guide instruction for those students who may need additional instruction on letter/sound associations. Students who improve on their phonemic awareness will improve on the QRI miscue analysis assessments as well.

The QRI-5 is a much more in-depth and comprehensive assessment which measures a variety of literacy factors including prior knowledge, miscue analysis, re-telling, and comprehension by answering explicit and implicit questions. With practice it can be administered rather quickly but the scoring of the QRI is a time-consuming process. Due to the time factor, it would be impossible to administer the QRI- more than three times per year. However, the information the assessment provides on the student is comprehensive. I noticed the reading selections of the QRI-5 are very similar to reading selections found on ELA state exams. I would encourage my students to use reading selections from previous ELA exams to help them prepare for the state ELA exam.

I think DIBELS would be more effective to develop basic literacy skills for young readers whereas the QRI-5 would seem to be more effective to administer to students with more advanced literacy skills.

Observation Update

Monday -  4/11 - I administered the second QRI assessment to Jane. This time I limited the choice of reading selection to just two. Jane chose the selection entitled: "Cats: Lions and Tigers in Your House". I asked her why she chose this selection and she told me she likes cats. Jane continues to struggle with plurality, reading the "s" on certain words but not others. Jane is a shy, soft-spoken, but consistent reader with good self correcting skills.

After the QRI was finished, I worked with Jane on her writing sample to complete the requirements of the field experience. The ESL teacher had been working with Jane on writing a paragraph using a main idea, supporting details and a conclusion. To help offer a choice of topics, the ESL teacher suggested I use a commercially available box of writing prompts called "Ready to Write" from a company called Lakeshore.

These prompting cards were indexed by the type of writing style such as: descriptive, narrative, persuasive, informative and imaginative. Some examples of writing prompts include:

• Be a Restaurant Critic
• The Perfect Birthday Party
• My Magic Sneakers
• I Accidentally Shrunk My Best Friend
• Music Makes Me Happy
• May I Go Skating
• How To...
• My Two Favorite Sports

Each one of the prompt cards came with a set of directions and suggested graphic organizers to help the student organize her thoughts and ideas.

Jane finally chose a card which prompted her to design and write about a new type of Car of the Future. As she thought of ideas for the car, she verbalized them to me even before writing anything down on the graphic organizer. I think she was looking for approval or a prompt before moving on with the next step of her task. As Jane described some unbelievable features of her car, my reactions were very animated which kept her smiling and engaged. The ESL teacher later complimented me on what a great lesson it was as she heard Jane laughing and participating, whereas Jane is normally an extremely shy student. 

Observation Update

Wednesday April 6th - administered one QRI reading assessment. The word lists indicated Jane is on a 3rd grade reading level. As I had prepared photocopies of five different 3rd grade reading selections, I made the mistake of offering Jane her choice from all five selections. I think she was a bit overwhelmed with the various choices. The next time I administer the QRI I will ensure to limit the choices to just two reading selections. Jane finally chose "A Birthday Present for Rosa". Jane was shy and read with a soft spoken voice. I think I have built up somewhat of a rapport with her but she was still kind of shy. As the ESL teacher mentioned, Jane did not open her mouth much to enunciate her words. This affects her pronunciation. As she was the only student in the room it was not as difficult to hear the student as it would be if there were other students and/or noise in the room.

Jane's reading characteristics - she had trouble with similar words like though, tough, through. Student mispronounced the name Jose' but the name may have been unfamiliar to her. The student left the letter "s" off of some words but not others. However the meaning of the content did not change. When offered a look back Jane did look at the story but was just kind of scanning the page. It seemed like she was waiting to be prompted in some way. She did not offer any new information during the look back. I found scoring the re-telling portion of the assessment a little difficult. As Jane rattled off what she remembered from the story, there were multiple phrases for very similar ideas on the scoring sheet. I'm sure with more practice, it will become easier.

After administering the QRI, there was time left over in the period. The ESL teacher and I decided it would be smart to wait until the next session to administer the second QRI. With the remaining minutes of this period, the ESL teacher introduced Jane to some illustrated books and student-created projects on idioms. Some examples were "bright eyed and bushy tailed" and " "Jane liked to 'lock horns'". The student browsed through the book and chose an expression, then had a choice to draw or clip pictures from a magazine to help illustrate the meaning of the expression. 

Assignment: Video Reflection

Assignment: watch video and answer the following:

Q:            Discuss the components of an effective writing program and why they are important.

A:            The 3 main components of an effective writing program are: personal connections, writing conventions and inventions. Personal connections are important because even at an early age, every student has experiences he/she can draw from to help them with his/her writing. A writing project such as a family history report or essay on a parent or family member can help motivate students, including English Language Learners (ELLs). Children also have a noted ‘kid culture’ that contain areas of knowledge brought forth by the students. Discussion and writing about this ‘kid culture’ should be encouraged, as this points towards motivation for many students. Another component to an effective writing program is writing conventions. Students must follow the rules of language such as orientation, spelling, capitalization, punctuation, paragraphing, including the main idea and supporting details. In addition, students should not be encouraged to copy their work, but to re-read, edit, revise and add detail and depth to their writing. This is an area where revising, adding detail, and sequencing of the writing assignment are important. When students read their work aloud, it presents an opportunity for the student to catch any errors or mistakes.

Q:            How might you rearrange your schedule to create more time for students to write in general and, in particular, for students to write about their personal experiences?

A:            As noted in the video, a ‘kid culture’ exists outside of the classroom. This is the content area that kids are already engaged and familiar with. Many students would find it enjoyable to write about their favorite thing and how it relates to them. I would enlist the help of the kid culture with some assignments to help with student interest and motivation. I think tapping into kid culture can inspire students to read and write independently, away from the classroom setting. Many classrooms I have observed use a strategy called “Drop Everything And Read” (DEAR). I might incorporate a similar strategy in terms of writing. Maybe on Friday afternoons and any down time, I might incorporate a similar type “Free Write” session where students are prompted to write in their journals that are shared with the teacher. To help students relate their writing to their own personal experiences, I will incorporate lessons such as “What I did on Vacation”, personal interests and family ancestry where students will be required to document family members. These strategies keep the personal experiences of students into account.

Q:            How can you create ways for students to make personal connections in different subject areas through writing?

A:            Students seem to respond to activities that have an authentic purpose. When they know their work will be published and read by others, students are encouraged to edit and revise their work. After performing an experiment, I would prompt students to write about the experiment, their observations and conclusions. As discussed in the video, there should be a doubling up on curriculum content while working on literacy. For example, during a social studies lesson, I may incorporate a mini-lesson and assignment for students to write an essay using the 5W’s and H questions. I would prompt students to read their essays aloud to catch any grammatical, punctuation or agreement mistakes and to determine if what they wrote was exactly what they meant to say. If possible, I would try to tap into any movies or media the student may be familiar with. For example, during a recent observation, I helped a student understand the science concept of adaptation by referring to the Disney movie “Finding Nemo”. The student had seen the movie, remembered the scene and I think the reference helped him create a mental picture. I would incorporate assignments that will allow students to actually publish their writing as a book to be shared with an audience. This will help will motivation.

Q:            How can student work help you decide which conventions to teach?

A:            The student work is hard evidence of the student’s language proficiency and can help provide some insight as to each student’s writing tendencies and particular weaknesses. For example, a student may have issues with articles of speech (of, the, an) or pronoun agreement, i.e. “It (a car) washes himself”. Other specific examples will make themselves apparent. As always, having a variety of assessments on hand in a student profile is recommended to get a well rounded view of the student’s writing proficiency. Writing an informative paragraph or essay is an important skill, however, certain lessons may require a certain format or use other types of conventions such as writing an outline, poetry, a scientific report. 

Q:            When can you promote student inventions and experimentation with different formats in writing?

A:            Students often bring their own original ideas to the classroom and this presents teachable moments in terms of student invention and experimentation. There are many different types of children’s books (accordion books, digital books) that successfully bend the conventional rules of writing, including page orientation and use of different sized fonts to help with contextual clues. As students create their own original work, they have a sense of ownership and choice over their writing. This is a powerful motivator. As mentioned above, different lessons may incorporate different writing styles and formats. Note taking, creating an outline, writing poetry, a play or a scientific report each require different writing styles and formats.

Observation - Project Beyond con't

I observed Jane in the Project Beyond class again, as they continued with their crime scene investigation. Apparently Jane had been absent from the last Project Beyond class, so she did not have time to work on the assignment. The other students had begun to write up a report from a detective's point of view. The students included notes on the experiments they had conducted in earlier class sessions. The teacher reminded students to include information about all of the evidence and come up with a theory as to what exactly happened and who was responsible.

The teacher prompted the students with some questions like:

• If there is a trial, what happens to the forensic report and the detective's report?
• Who will question the suspect?
• What are the roles of the prosecutor and defense lawyers?

The teacher prompted students to re-read and edits their stories, share their stories with a partner for critical analysis, revise and edit, and read their stories to the class. As Jane was absent last session, she was instructed to read her parter's story and discuss with her partner. The partner explained a few points before Jane started reading. Jane again exhibited shyness.

Jane asked her partner a few questions to help with comprehension. The partner had to come close to Jane, ask her to repeat. It was a struggle to hear Jane, even right next to her as she talks with such low volume. The partner prompted Jane to see if there were any points in her story she wanted clarified. The partner was active in trying to engage Jane by asking her about what Jane had written in her own investigation packet. The peer-to-peer sharing activity lasted about 12-15 minutes.

The teacher had to prompt some students to stay on task and finally asked "Who will come up and read their story NICE AND LOUD?"

After one student read her story, other students raised their hands and offered suggestions to improve the story. 

• "You forgot to mention about the all of the evidence."
• "You didn't mention the perfume."
• "What happened to the dye?"

Other students took a turn reading their stories as well. In the remaining minutes, there was a class discussion about the students' frustration at not being told who exactly committed the crime. They wanted to know what the teacher's edition said. The teacher responded by telling students that the teacher's edition does not have an answer, but says to conduct the experiments to find out who did it. 

I really enjoyed observing this lesson and was amazed at the intelligence of these 4th grade students. I was impressed with the concepts taught including: the process of an investigation, and criminal trial, and  forensic science. I will try to use this lesson in my classroom.

Interview Questions with ESL Teacher

Here is a transcript of the interview I had with the ESL Teacher at my observation site.

Q: Please describe your ELL teaching experience.

A: My ESL teaching experience has been extremely rewarding. It is such a pleasure to watch ELLs become more and more comfortable using the English language.


Q: What is your perception on ELLs in terms of their learning motivation and performance (especially in reading and writing)? What learning difficulties do ELLs usually encounter in schools? What is the role of the family and community in helping ELL's learning?

A: One of the most motivating aspects for an ELL is the process in which they feel part of a group, or welcomed. It takes each child a different rate to feel comfortable in various language components. Reading, writing, listening ad speaking all vary in terms of proficiency for the child.


Q: In your opinion, how do classroom teachers resolve ELL's learning difficulties? What strategies do you adopt? Are they effective or not?Do you participate in on-going professional training for teaching ELLs? What if your experience in terms of working with students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds? How do you make sure that your teaching is culturally responsive? How do you go about reaching out to the family and community?

A: We have strong parental support within the ELLs in the community; how it is usually difficult for the parents to help the child with homework or independent work because they are English language learners as well. The parents are unfamiliar with the content language used n the curriculum. I stay in close contact with my ELL students' families by always keeping an open line of communication. (phone calls, notes and letter home - translated versions if necessary)

Classroom teachers resolve ELLs' learning difficulties by utilizing another student who may speak the same native language, or can help the ELL feel more comfortable in an unfamiliar setting. As the ESL teacher, I will take pictures of the classroom and make index cards with words and photographs. This helps the ELL become more familiar with commonly used terms in the classroom. The classroom teacher and I usually discuss ways we can make the child feel more comfortable, including a "buddy" in the class that can help them along.

Yes, I participate in on-going professional training workshops through the Nassau BOCES program. There are various kinds of workshops that focus on the areas of difficulty an EL may have. For example:

• "Vocabulary Tiering and Teaching Strategies for LEP/ELLs"
• "Supporting Academic Success for English Language Learners"
• "Second Language Acquisition vs. Learning Disabilities"
• "NYSESLAT Turnkey Training"

Q: If you have an ELL in your class whose culture you are not familiar with at all, how do you go about teaching the child?

A: The diverse cultures in my program include Japanese, Chinese, Korean and Urdu, and Spanish. I try to incorporate multicultural lessons within my program to make the students feel more comfortable. I try my best to become familiar with various cultures as well. In the past, I have asked parents about their culture and traditions, I have also done research on my own, as well as asked the ESL team of colleagues for input.

Observation - Practice ELA Test

My case study student took a practice ELA test in her regular class. In the ELA block, the instructor works with students on the listening portion of the practice test. As ELA students, they receive a few accommodations: the ELA students are tested separately, the reading selection is read 3 times instead of twice, and the ELA students are able to use a word-to-word translation dictionary (without definitions). Reading #1 - teacher ordered pencils down and prompted students to listen to the story. Before the 2nd reading, teacher prompted students to write down the title, any characters or setting they may remember and get ready to take notes. Reading #2 - while reading at a slower pace, the teacher paused slightly to allow students to listen/decode and take notes simultaneously. After the 2nd reading, the teacher reviewed some of the notes taken by the students. On an easel, the teacher outlined some of the basic elements of a story and prompted students for specifics from the reading selection they had heard, "The Voice of Rigo", including characters, setting, problem and solution. Jane again was hesitant to write anything down without specific prompting from the teacher. As I have observed, Jane had trouble with an article of speech when she said "at the car", instead of "in the car". The teacher continuously prompted students to review their notes to help with comprehension strategies and to help answer questions. Again on the easel, the ESL teacher prompted students with a "Planning Page" which can help with sequencing of events: What happened at the beginning? What happened in the middle of the story? What happened at the end? A variety of graphic organizers are available to educators that can help students organize information for better comprehension. As students continued with their practice tests, I was able to work directly with Jane on helping her use her notes to answer comprehension questions and retell the story in her own words. I verbally prompted Jane with the information we needed to convey and offered multiple samples of ideas and sentences that she might consider using. Jane would say an idea verbally and seemed to take a few minutes to determine if it was in fact what she wanted to write on the paper. After Jane wrote a sentence, I had her read it aloud. This strategy provided Jane the opportunity to catch her own mistake and correct it herself when she omitted a word. This was one of the first times I worked so closely with a student. When Jane was asked if she was pleased with her work she gave a great big smile. It was quite a nice moment for me.

Observation Update - Project Beyond

I had a unique observation with my case study student Jane. Project Beyond is like an Alpha program for gifted students. Jane is one of very few ESL students who have ever been in Project Beyond, and was partners with a girl named Sarah. The Project Beyond teacher explained to me that "a crime had been committed". There were crime scene photos of footprints and a teddy bear in the snow. Students had been taught previous lessons on the justice system, criminal trials and forensics. Today the students had been given packets with a list of suspects, evidence, and so on. The instructor explained that the teams of students were to conduct 3 experiments (investigations) to help them determine who might be guilty of the crime. There were three tables set up to:

1. compare fingerprints with those found at the crime scene.
2. using a pH strip to determine if the cola found at the crime scene contained a sleeping agent
3. determine if a brown stain found at the crime scene came from a pen/marker or if it was dye

Students were prompted to write down their findings and conclusions from the experiments in their crime scene packets. 

Jane had been absent when the story/mystery was first read to the rest of the class. So, the teacher took time to read the story to her, pointing to characters in the packet worksheet. During the experiments, there was peer-to-peer learning as students discussed how to conduct the experiments and their findings/conclusions with others at the table. During any discussion, Jane was usually silent, letting other students assume the leadership role within the discussion group.

Towards the end of the period, the teacher prompted students for information they found during the class: "Who handled the cup? Was it pen or dye?". The instructor told students to write a report and asked the students how the report is used. One student answered correctly by saying the forensic scientist writes the report on the experiments and the detective uses the report to draw conclusions about who committed the crime. 

here is a website I found that pretty much describes what I observed that day:

http://www.grandridge.issaquah.wednet.edu/teachers/ciraulor/3rd%20Grade/mr__bear_mystery.htm

Speech Pathology

My cooperating ESL teacher had mentioned that Jane, my case study student hardly opens her mouth to talk. It is almost as if she is trying to talk through clenched teeth. I had wondered if this was cultural or needed a closer look in terms of speech pathology. From my own experience, I took voice and diction lessons to be an effective broadcaster. As I showed up for an observation, I noticed that the ESL teacher had, in fact, done a lesson with the students on mouth movements and how to form the mouth to create certain sounds. I was able to snap a photo of the chart used by the teacher. I think having an instructor to demonstrate the specific mouth movements is more effective than the drawings of the mouths, but I think the chart is helpful.

Observation Update

 I recently obtained some writing samples from Jane, my case study student. While waiting for Jane to arrive, I observed some other ESL students using magnetic letters (manipulatives) to spell out words that the instructor showed on a card. The teacher showed the card, the student spell-out the word, said the word aloud and used it in a sentence.

When Jane arrived, the teacher reviewed previous concepts such as using a topic sentence and using details to support the topic, and using a concluding paragraph. On an easel, the teacher showed a big drawing of a cheeseburger. The top bun represented the introduction/topic sentence, the supporting details were the fillings and the bottom bun represented a concluding statement. Here is some more information on this and other classroom strategies from the familiar Reading Rockets website: http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/paragraph_hamburger

The teacher prompted Jane to explain verbally what she had done over the weekend. Then guided the student with some leading questions. As the student was being quiet and timid, it was difficult for the teacher to extract information from Jane. It seemed to me that Jane was afraid of making a mistake. Finally, Jane replied that she had watched a home video. The teacher prompted Jane to write this sentence in the top bun as a topic sentence. As she wrote on the easel, Jane omitted the "a" in "a home video". Jane has shown to need assistance with articles of speech such as "a", "an", and "the".

After further prompting,  Jane verbally described some specific things they watched in the video. This allowed the instructor to praise her for a good sentence, or help guide the student in creating a good supporting sentence. The instructor may provide numerous examples of some sentences that would be appropriate. After a few moments of decision making, Jane began to write. When writing a sentence with two ideas contained within it, she forgot to use the word "and". If the student omitted a word, the teacher may ask the student to say the sentence aloud. This technique will provide the student the opportunity to catch his/her mistake.

Jane was good at generating possible sentences verbally, but was hesitant to write anything down without appropriate prompting from the instructor. The instructor guided student to look at the introduction and take some of the words from the introduction to help her create a concluding statement. After the student wrote and read what she did last weekend, the teacher prompted student to provide more details (descriptive writing). This strategy helps the student develop a writing style, organize details and expand on the details to make the paragraph more exciting for the reader.

Next activity: with a few moments left, the student took out her independent reading book "100 Dresses". The student admitted that she read ahead of where she was supposed to, indicating a high motivation level. Some of the prompts by the teacher included:

• Tell me about Wanda
• How did Wanda feel?
• What do you think might happen next?

The student did a look back to recall a specific city contained within the text. The teacher then gave the student some post it notes and explained Jane should use a post-it whenever she has a question or makes a prediction, etc. This post-it strategy has been shown to be an effective technique. Reading Rockets to the rescue again! Here is an article entitled "103 Things to Do Before/During/After Reading". http://www.readingrockets.org/article/82

Observation Update

I had two good days of observation this week, both in the classroom and in pull-out sessions with the ESL teacher. I had been informed that Jane, my case study student is extremely shy and does not engage in much social activity with her peers. As was the case with my ESL student last semester, Jane is quiet and reserved, but taking everything in. even when called on to provide an answer and give it "nice and loud", she is so soft-spoken that it is at times hard to hear her.

As I had not met Jane up until this point, I made it a point to do these observation hours in a more general way rather than to engage her directly. As she is so shy and withdrawn, I feel the need to draw her out a little so she can feel a sense of trust with me. I know she plays the violin, as I once did in elementary school. I am hoping to use this mutual ground to develop a rapport with her. As I mentioned in another post, I shared my digital book with the ESL teacher. My book is about a singer and a bully and has a bunch of scaffolded multi-media supports that I thought would be useful for any student. But, I am not sure if Jane is up to the reading level of my book. Since she is a fellow musician, I thought it might help with motivation.

In small reading groups, Jane was focused on the book and the group discussion. Jane was not tempted to let her eyes wander around the room and get distracted like some others in the group. the teacher leading the reading group led by example, using think alouds to recall what they have read previously. The instructor explained the concept of the look back and the reasons why we would use a look-back (to help with comprehension and discover details we may have missed the first time around). Lots of leading questions here..."What do you think?", and "Why do you think the character was upset?" The teacher often directed her comprehension questions at the student who had just finished reading. Then, after that student had a chance to answer, she would call on another student for an answer. Jane read 1-2 paragraphs and the teacher praised her with "excellent reading". Then the teacher took a turn reading, demonstrating appropriate pacing, volume and pronunciation.


In the ESL room, there were two other students in the class besides Jane. The ESL lesson was given on the SMART Board and was about the main idea. The students were asked to read a short paragraph and then choose the correct answer about the main idea in a multiple choice format. Students were prompted to read and answer "nice and loud", and given an opportunity to come up to the board and use the touch screen and interactive features of the SMART Board. This seemed to help with engagement and motivation. The ESL teacher mentioned that Jane hardly opens her mouth to answer. This affects Jane's pronunciation and volume. Jane's demeanor could also be a cultural factor as Jane's mother is also somewhat shy and reserved.

Also, when reading aloud, Jane did not add the "s" onto certain words like "slice", and "piece". However, in another paragraph, Jane did pronounce the "s" in "guinea pigs". The ESL teacher wondered if Jane was having an issue with the letter s on a word that ends in a vowel (piece, slice) versus a consonant (pigs). Omitting the letter "s" on a word, in my mind counts as an error on a miscue analysis. However, I want to double check that.

The ESL teacher gave students some strategies about writing complete sentences and writing topic sentences. She offered numerous examples of topic sentences to the students. One of the strategies offered was for students to use key words they find in the question to help create their answer in a complete sentence.

Some examples from this activity helped the students relate to their own lives, and also helped students with present and past tenses. Some example include:

• What would your topic sentence be if you were writing a paragraph on the perfect birthday gift?
• What would your topic sentence be if you were writing a paragraph on your first day of school in the United States of America? - one student said he was sad because he didn't know how to speak English and that his "heart was crying". - What a metaphor!!

As the lesson ended early, the ESL group was then able to play a game about the 5W and H questions (Who, What, Where, When, Why, How). Students were given cards and they had to use the word on a card and direct a question to someone in the room. The students also played a game of "W&H Bingo" which the kids really enjoyed. (example: "When do you call 9-1-1").

The ESL students were prompted to choose a book and Jane chose a book called "The Hundred Dresses". I thought this might point towards one of Jane's interests. It was a long book, so the teacher told her to stop reading at page 10, one chapter. The next day, Jane told her teacher she read 2 chapters instead of just the one suggested by the teacher. Jane was obviously motivated to read this book.

Jane has journal topics that she is required to write about. I discussed the writing journal with the ESL teacher and how it can relate to the writing sample I need to complete the assignment for this class. The ESL teacher will also get me copies of Jane's work so I can identify specific lessons and strategies to work on those areas where she needs some scaffolded instruction.

My digital book

Here is a link to a digital book I wrote called The Singer and The Bully . I wrote it for another NYIT class and shared it with the cooperating ESL teacher for my case study. I am not sure how much of the book my case study student will be able to comprehend. However, I do know Jane plays the violin, and the book is about music and singing. Perhaps the connection to her own musical pursuits will help with motivation to read it.

Observation Update

My observations for last week got kind of derailed. The ESL teacher said she never got my email confirming the date I was to come in to observe, even though we had penciled in a few dates. I think it was my own fault because I really dislike the way Gmail displays an email exchange. In any event, I will chalk it up to an inability to multi-task efficiently. My case study student meanwhile had just finished a practice test for literacy and according to the ESL teacher did "horribly". I suggested this might be come informal evidence I need to determine of the types of learning activities I should develop to help scaffold the student's literacy instruction.

Reflection on video of author Christopher Myers

Reflection on video about children’s author Christopher Myers

I had not heard of children’s author Christopher Myers before this video, but I will seek out his books for use in my classroom. Mr. Myer’s personal message was inspiring and his honesty about himself and his energy/passion for reading was contagious. The author used his own personal experiences to help him write his stories, explaining that everyone has a story to tell. Mr. Myers then challenged the students to think about what makes them unique and different and how they can relate their own personal feelings and experiences to their own creative writing projects. Then the author led the students in a discussion and activity about the elements of a story such as characters, character traits, and plot (the problem).

            What made a real impression on me was when I heard one student say that he didn’t enjoy reading because he thought it was hard. I immediately thought “what types of strategies and reading activities can I engage this student in to help with his motivation?” Mr. Myers response was to explain that just because something is hard doesn’t make it bad. He shared with the class how hard it can be to write a book, and that everyone has difficulty at some point or another, and they are not the only ones who experience challenges.

            

Week 4 Assignment #2 - Interview Transcript

FYI - I just secured my observation on Thursday before the winter break and was focused more on identifying my case study student. I will complete this interview assignment next week when schools are back in session.

Reflection on Podcast

Reflection on podcast:

Understanding the big idea
- Thinking about the important ideas in texts can help reading comprehension

            This podcast was about identifying and understanding the big idea or theme of a reading selection.  Choosing the right reading material for the classroom is important. You want to make sure that when students read, they become fully engaged with the text and get something more out of it.

            It is important for students in the lower grades to develop their skills at identifying the big idea of a reading selection, as this will help them in the upper grades when the reading material becomes more complex. When students can identify the bigger picture, it helps them to make more connections with the text. If the big idea is discussed before reading, it may help readers make connections and become fully engaged with what they read, aiding in comprehension. As students read the passage, they will have a deeper connection to smaller details that point to the main theme. Developing the ability to identify the big idea helps us to identify ‘the moral of the story’ of a movie, book, newspaper article, etc. Instead of interpreting the literal meaning, the reader/viewer has a better understanding of the deeper meaning intended by the author/director, etc.

            Discussing themes and big ideas with students can help them make connections to their own lives. For example, a teacher may prompt students to discuss an event in their lives when they or someone they know was persistent or ‘never gave up’.

            Perhaps one classroom strategy could be to have a ‘theme week’, wherein the reading selections, video presentations, and other curriculum-based activities are consistent with the theme. Themes: persistence, don’t judge a book by it’s cover, anti-bullying.  Teachers can find a number of different books with the same theme or big idea. After reading, students can be prompted to compare and contrast the different reading selections.

            I liked this podcast because provided specific strategies I can employ in the classroom using ‘research-based classroom tested strategies for reading and writing’. The podcast also provided names of specific authors, guiding teachers to literature that will help engage their students with texts containing big ideas, and help develop higher order thinking skills.

Observation Update

I have found placement for my observation just in the nick of time. I met with the ESL teacher at an elementary school in the Syosset school district and she helped to identify a student for my case study. The student I will conduct my case study on is a 4th grade student from Japan who is considered a fairly advanced ESL student. My case study (I will call her Jane) is a quiet girl who arrived in the U.S. when she was in the second grade. Jane had no English language skills at this time, and the school did not receive any prior academic history from Jane's previous school in Japan. Jane plays the violin and is a good student. She has strong skills in reading and comprehension, especially with the aid of look-backs. However, the student needs to improve on her writing skills. For example, Jane has trouble with articles such as a, is/are, has/have. A language difference between English and Japanese is that in Japanese, they do not add an "s" onto words. This is one main language difference between the cultures that should be addressed.

I have arranged to get copies of Jane's work and observe Jane in the classroom as well as in the ESL setting. For the most part, the ESL teacher provides a pull-out method of instruction, collaborating with the classroom teacher on specific curriculum.

While the school does not specifically use the QRI 5 to conduct assessments, the ESL teacher did have a folder on each of the ESL students which contained a variety of assessments and writing samples. There were assessments for vocabulary, comprehension and so on. So, they had a folder containing various samples of the student's work, used as an informal way of measuring the student's literacy (informal reading inventory). Once I opened the QRI book and showed the ESL teacher some of the reading passages and comprehension questions, she was interested to learn more about the QRI-5 and the types of reading selections available.

Reflection on Two articles

Response to Intervention (RTI): What Teachers of Reading Need to Know

The Assessment of Thoughtful Literacy in NAEP: Why the States Aren’t Measuring Up

            The articles indicate to me that the state tests do not adequately accurately measure student’s academic achievement. While the state has the burden of creating standardized tests across the state, teachers in the classroom have individual students each with their own set of intellectual abilities and learning preferences. So, in order to get a full understanding of each student’s strengths and weaknesses, various assessments must be administered. Data must be collected on the student using various forms of assessment that can inform the teacher of the student’s fluency, vocabulary, comprehension and language skills. The National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) created tests that showed to ask more critical thinking skills in contrast to the state test. Some of the skills highlighted in the NAEP assessment include the ability to interpret make inferences to ideas not explicitly mentioned in the text. Some of the questions on the state test do not allow the reader to fully interact with a reading selection, which has shown to improve comprehension. Items within a given reading selection may provide teachers with insight as to how students decode and comprehend text. Some of these items that aid in comprehension include: vocabulary knowledge, familiarity with genre, the organization of the text, characterization and details. From these, text organization and characterization types of questions have “the greatest potential to elicit thoughtful responses from readers” (Applegate, 2009). Open ended questions and those questions that require students compare/contrast characters, situations, conclusions and relate the reading material to their own experiences encourage students to engage in higher order thinking skills. Standardized state assessments contain a small percentage of open-ended questions in comparison to multiple-choice questions.

            In “Response to Intervention (RTI): What Teachers of Reading Need to Know”, the authors describe the differences between the standardized state tests and intervention strategies employed by classroom teachers. State tests can be effective assessments but classroom teachers need to employ strategies on a daily basis that will accurately measure students’ strengths and weaknesses. This data can help the classroom teacher to create an intervention strategy with set goals, tiered lesson plans and learning activities that can help with student’s individual needs. Monitoring progress is important as the strategy for each child will be different and ever changing, based upon the student’s response to the intervention strategies. Through shared information and collaboration with other teachers, intervention strategies are examined for effectiveness and revised if needed. Students who continue to struggle after receiving intervention strategies will receive additional instruction.

            These articles both highlight the need to offer various learning activities and assessments in the classroom. A standardized, one-size-fits-all approach in terms of assessment will not provide an accurate representation of each student’s strengths and weaknesses because it does not provide educators with details about the strategies students employ to acquire knowledge. One idea for classroom teachers is to create a file with various assessments that can be used to provide teachers with a comprehensive set of data to help with the creation of lesson plans. One question is: exactly what types of assessments should be included in such a profile?

Response to Video: Using Assessment to Guide Instruction

            The video clip was informative for me in how a classroom teacher can gather evidence of students’ word knowledge, fluency, language, comprehension, writing and motivation and interests. While formal assessment remains important to gain insight into each student’s reading level, it is recommended that teachers use a wide variety of assessments as well as classroom activities and observations that can help the instructor understand the strategies students use for comprehension and understanding. The teacher must consider how each of their students performs in different contexts with the class: independently, paired, or group activities. The teacher must also consider the types of scaffolds and differentiation to employ in learning activities so that all students can use their strengths and abilities, and what are the best strategies to employ so that all students in the classroom learn. For example, what is the student’s reading level for a book that is assigned to him/her versus a book he/she chooses to read independently? Also, how does the student perform academically when he/she reads independently compared to a small group setting or with a reading partner? Answers to these questions can help an educator with creating and implementing scaffolded lesson plans which cater to a wide variety of learning styles and abilities.

            Teachers should keep a file on each of their students as a portfolio of the students’ work. For example, writing assignments highlighting the main ideas of a reading selection are good data to collect as evidence of a students writing and comprehension skills. Informal reading inventory such as the QRI-5 helps to identify students’ word knowledge and comprehension. A profile on each student with various forms of assessment can help the teacher understand the strategies individual students use to build knowledge and can help educators identify individual strengths and weaknesses in terms of their word knowledge, fluency, language, comprehension, writing and motivation and interest. This data will help teacher to create lesson activities that will be engaging (to help with interest and motivation) and will cater to students varied abilities and interests.

Observation Update

Nothing new to report on observations unfortunately. I have been in steady touch with Dr. Sawyer, and she has someone in the Syosset school district that is looking for placement for me. So, we are kind of waiting for the invitation from a school. I understand there would be lots of diplomacy needed in her position. Last semester I observed in Rockville Center and while the teaching staff was incredible, it was a bit of a commute. I realize there is going to be a lot of going back and forth to the school this semester so I was trying to find school districts closer to my home.

Week 2 - Reader Response

This is a reflection on 2 readings for the class:

Organizing instruction for struggling readers in tutorial settings & Linguistically responsive teacher education
What jumped off the page the most for me in this article was the adaptive use of Roller's (1998) tutoring framework to help struggling learners, consisting of 1). reading easy books to help build confidence, 2). reading new books, 3). writing activity,4). incorporating a mini-lesson, and 5). introducing a new, more challenging book.

My five-year-old is just learning how to read and write, but is considered a struggling reader compared to her twin and peers. She also has lots of energy and a difficult time staying on task. After reading this article, I was inspired to give her a tutoring lesson of my own. I pulled her aside and got her interested in reading books about Snow White, Cinderella and other princesses. (She is quite a fan of royalty). I noticed that I had chosen books with varying degrees of difficulty. Even though some of the text was a grade or two above her own, she was interested in the content material which kept her interest. She tried sounding out words, but became frustrated. When it was clear the text was too difficult for her, she asked me to read it to her, but she pointed out the experts words she already knows from prior knowledge.

Each week our girls have library, and let's face it, at five years old, that is a big deal. This emerging reader of mine also seeks out new books featuring the character "Fancy Nancy". The main character is a precocious 1st grader who is always dressing up and using fancy words. (i.e. Precocious is a fancy word for cute). Reading these books with my five-year-old girls is one of the great pleasures in my life. Afterwards, they like to dress up themselves and will be seen leafing through the book on their own trying to read it (including the fancy words) while dressed up like movie stars or princesses.

Having emerging readers at home while taking this class is a wonderful real-life teaching tool that will help me when I am faced with students in the classroom. In order to help my own children in their academics and learning, I myself have to implement some of the at-home strategies parents may choose to employ to help their own children.

Preparing classroom teachers to teach English Language Learners


Both articles mentioned the idea of students using informal, social interaction and new forms of media such as computers and cell phones to foster communication. These types of social interaction and communication help students develop language outside of the classroom setting. Student engagement is another important aspect of helping struggling readers and ELL students. Helping students to identify interests, using grade appropriate curriculum and adequate scaffolding of activities are effective strategies to help struggling learners. Teachers must identify each student's academic ability whether the student is a native English speaker or not. If the student is an ELL learner, the instructor should be aware of the student's academic ability in their native language as well as in English. Having an in-depth profile of each student in the classroom can help the teacher scaffold learning activities.

While I am not certified in any foreign language, I did take Spanish throughout high school and have 12 college credits in total. Mind you my undergrad was a long time ago, but children's media today has many Spanish speaking characters. I have been Mr. Mom for 2 years now and have been exposed to A LOT of children's media. The fact that I was exposed to a foreign language myself, I understand things about that English that maybe another teacher who was not exposed to a 2nd foreign language. For example, English and Spanish have many common roots.

Spanish and English share many of the same root words due to the fact that Spanish is a Latin based language and English borrowed heavily from Latin and French in its earlier days. Words that are the same in two languages or very similar are called cognates. See if you can guess the meanings of the following Spanish/English cognates. Cognates are a good way to learn a lot of words fast. Note that these words are not pronounced the same in English and Spanish. 

aburrido	la música	la idea	el piano
contento	la guitarra	el elefante	la computadora
desordenado	el/la radio	público	el estereo
enfermo (hint: infirmary)	la televisión	el apartamento	el teatro
furioso	el beisbol	el departamento	el basquetbol
nervioso	el evento	permitir	la historia
ocupado	el tenis	observar	rápido
ordenado	la universidad	la cultura	el boxeo
preocupado	el autobús	la dieta	el aeropuerto
inteligente	el tigre	misterioso	la dirección
independiente	las matemáticas	el auto	la biología
paciente	el taxi	el doctor	la ciencia
responsable	el chocolate	el/la turista	la vitamina
terrible	el carro	la novela	la economía
horrible	el arte	la práctica	el volibol
importante	el problema	ideal	el esquí
necesario	la opinión	el león	la bicicleta
flexible	el animal	privado	decidir
eficiente	el golf	el plan	el banco
generoso	la oficina	curioso	robar
la montaña	el desierto	el océano	el actor
la fruta	el café	la actriz	las vacaciones
religioso	romántico	el ingrediente	la gasolina
serio	tropical	el hospital	la diferencia
tímido	el cassette	el supermercado	típico

Source: http://www.palomar.edu/etv/courseinfo/summer2002/span50handouts.pdf

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This blog was created for EDLI 636, a graduate class at New York Institute of Technology.