Running Records for Nikita and Iris

Nikita is from Mexico. She substitute many words in the reading of her story. Her pronunciation of words was not satisfactory. She takes speech therapy which should assist but, strategies to help her should include mini lessons on phonemic and phonological awareness. She could also benefit from practicing on set and rime and reviewing blends including gh, ou, and sk. Teacher should allow partner reading to assist with pronunciation and fluency.

Iris is from Sweden. Her name is pronounced (Ear-ress) phonetic spelling. Although her pronunciation is good,she is not a very fluent reader. She had several miscues. She did try to use the pictures in the text to incorporate meaning. Strategies to help write Iris should include partner reading to help with fluency issues and she could benefit from incentives to get her to read more often. She articulated that she does not like to read. She thinks reading is boring.

Homework and Independent Work

According to Cooper, Lindsey, Nye and Greathouse meaningful homework is homework that matches the activity that has been planned to the learning goal. The homework should be at levels that appropriately match the students skills. The objective of homework is to provide students with specific opportunities to practice and apply what they know. According to Cooper, ELLs will understand their assignments better if they are given multiple opportunities to ask questions about their homework, and if they can get clear/concise directions about it. Another objective would be to work towards ELLs doing their homework independently. This occurs when the assignment is appropriate.

Best practices for homework include students being taught how important the efforts is because effort leads to success. Use sports figures or movie stars to motivate. Reward the effort with coupons, awards, stickers. Research shows that rewarding a goal has a positive effect on a child. Another good practice is to allow peer support to assist with note taking and tips for learning. Feedback should come from the teacher of English dominant learners may offer it to each other to correct errors. Feedback must be timely and constructive. The use of graphic organizers and computers can be great resources to assist with comprehension and vocabulary. Use them to enhance homework assignments.

Fiction and Non-fiction Texts

Fiction-Bubble Trouble by Mary Packard
Preproduction: Children draw different sizes and shapes of bubbles
Early Production: What do bubbles do? Point to the big bubbles/little bubbles. Can bubbles be different colors?
Speech Emergence: Where are the bubbles? Who else makes bubbles?
Intermediate Fluency: How do you think his mother feels about the bubbles? Why do you think that....? What do you think happens next in the story?
Advanced Fluency: Retell the story

Nonfiction-What Happens at the Zoo by Lisa Guidone
Preproduction: Realia-plastic animals-photographs of zoo animals
Early Production-Point to bear/giraffe, What do animals eat?
Speech Emergence- What do zoo keepers do? What happens when animals get sick?
Intermediate Fluency-What would happen if animals had to leave the zoo? Do you think animals get tired of people visiting them at the zoo? Why or why not?
Advance Fluency-Students can retell story using props and do readers/theatre

Support for ELLs                                         Difficult for ELLs
Pictures are vibrant and assists                     Challenging Vocabulary
with comprehension                                      such as exhibit and check-up
Maps/Papers about the zoo

Sheltered Literacy Lesson

Ms. Lida Miller is a special needs preschool teacher who did a sheltered lesson with her students entitled FOOD GROCERY. This lesson incorporated necessary components to promote comprehension that are listed in the Classroom Instruction That Works Test. The objectives were implied but not articulated by Lida. She included both language and content objectives. The children were to learn language and new vocabulary words about food grown on a farm and food in a grocery store. She included building background by reminding the children what they had seen when the had previously visited a farm. She showed pictures of the wagon they had ridden, and vegetables that had been grown. Ms. Miller included realia by bringing vegetables from home for the children to see, touch, and smell. There were frequent opportunities to interact with the children. There were questions asked about the food.

Ms. Miller also used realia by bringing grocery bags from the grocery store with the names of local grocers so that the children could make a connection about food in grocery stores. The children repeated the names such as Albertsons, Safeway. She pointed to the names. She introduced a tape with a song entitled "Come on lets go to the market" This song was based on the food pyramid and named different categories. There were also grains, fruits,  vegetables, and meats. The children were singing and talking but were not moving. They were seated throughout the lesson. Ms. Miller did incorporate age appropriate speech and she engaged the children by allowing them to answer questions such as What do you like to eat? What is your favorite food? This was a well planned sheltered lesson.

Learning Word Recognition Sociopsycho Linguistic View

According to Krashen people learn to read and write the same way they learn language regardless if it is a 1st or 2nd language. This acquisition is through understood messages. There are two views of reading that are currently acknowledged regarding language and acquisition. The first is the Word Recognition view where written language must be learned and the second  is the sociopsycholinguistic view where written language is considered innate and can be acquired. Learned reading includes words to get meaning of text. Sociopsycholinguistic is where background knowledge is used to construct meaning.

(L) for learning/word recognition, (A) for acquisition/sociopsycholinguisitc view

The Students:
.L-look up words in the dictionary to write definitions (words are learned ahead of reading text)
A-make a Venn diagram to compare two stories (use of background knowledge)
L-practice sounding out words (uses phonics rules to sound out words)
L-read in round-robin fashion (read orally to teacher to help students)
L-correct peers when they make a mistake during reading (can supply words students don't know)
L/A-identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound ( Identify words to get meaning/Uses background knowledge and cues)
L-group cards with classmates' names by a criterion on such as first or last letter (learn vocabulary in advance of reading-classroom activity)
A-write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound (read to acquire vocabulary by encouraging words in text)
L-ask the teacher how to spell any word they don't know (read orally so teacher can help identify words)
A-read a language experience story they have created with the teacher (use graphophonics just as 1 of 3 languages cueing systems to gain meaning)
A-work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences (use graphophonics just as 1 of 3 languages cueing systems to gain meaning)
L-divide words into syllables (learn to break words into parts to identify them)
L-on a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same sound (use phonic rules to sound out words)
A-make alphabet books on different topics (letters and sounds serve as an imperfect source of information to be combined with information from other sources)

The Teacher
L-preteaches vocabulary (learn vocabulary in advance of reading)
A-does shared reading with a big book (read to acquire vocabulary by encountering words in the context)
L-makes sure that students read only books that fit their level ( read orally so teacher helps student identify words and supply words students don't know)
L-has students segment words into phonemes (lean to break words into parts to identify them)
A-writes words the students dictate for a story and has students help with the spelling of difficult words ( use graphophonics as 1 of 3 cueing systems to gain meaning of text)
L-asks students to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter. (use recognition/identify words to get meaning of the text).
L-uses decodable texts (learn to break words into parts to identify them)
A-sets aside time for SSR (sustained silent reading) each day (read silently using strategies teacher has helped students internalize to construct meaning of the text)
L-teaches Latin and Greek roots (structural analysis is used where students find little words in the big words)
A-has students meet in literature circles (read and retell students, read a number of articles or stories; do written retelling)
L-conducts phonics drills (by applying phonics rules, readers can determine the pronunciation)
L-chooses predictable texts
L-teaches students different comprehension strategies ( teachers use phonics, sight word skills, structural analysis preteach vocabulary)
L/A-does a picture walk of a new book ( uses background knowledge and cues from language systems/Identifies words to get meaning of text).
L-uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills ( Recoding marks on paper into words readers already know. Learn vocabulary in advance of reading on their oral vocabulary and combine meaning of individual words to get meaning of the text).

Childrens Book Review

The components that might effect comprehension in the book Three Wishes written by Judith Stamper, are language structure such as verb tenses, key concepts of the lesson, the vocabulary in the story has more than one meaning and may disrupt comprehension. Pictures in the story show animals with clothes on. This book would be taught as a sheltered lesson. Introduce vocabulary words, cat, pig, wig, rat, fish, dish. Include realia of non linguistic representations such as photos. Students should pair to discuss what they see in the book after teacher introduces it. Access prior knowledge about what do pigs/cats normally look like, how they walk, can they talk, and do they wear clothes? Students could answer questions about who was mad, and how did they show they were angry? Who came to see the pig/cat? Lastly allow more advanced ELLs to make connections, infer, and predict what is going to happen.

The Book entitled We Eat Dinner in the Bath Tub written by Angela Medearis is only a level II reader for kindergarten to 2nd grade. This book is not necessarily difficult to read but it may be difficult to comprehend. The vocabulary creates confusion. The book has vocabulary that has double meanings. There's dialogue between two characters. The person reading must have a sense of humor to understand text. A sense of humor is required because Harris and his family are odd because they sleep in the dining room, cook in the bedroom, park the car in the kitchen, store things in the backyard, and bathe in the attic. This book would be taught to advanced fluency students accessing prior knowledge, pairing with a dominant English Learner and lots of discussion. Enjoy laughing!

Text in a Different Language

The title of the article I chose to read is Maneras Divertidas y Eficases de Leer con los Ninos. This article was taken from the Colorin Colorado website. The Spanish language is similar in print to French and English, and this enabled me to gain comprehension. I tried to read the article verbatim using my daughters high school Spanish/English dictionary. I used technology by putting some of the sentences that were in Spanish into an English translation site on the Internet. I was able to access background knowledge. The word "preescolares" in Spanish is preschoolers in English, and "primaria" in Spanish means primary in English. The spellings are similar and this was not a difficult task for me.

Vocabulary is the key to comprehension. I began with the word recognition approach to acquiring the language, but found that it was not sufficient in making the article comprehensible. I realized that I needed to use the psycho linguistic approach to assist me in my endeavors. I contacted the ESL teacher at Hope Center Ms. Liliana Macias, and she used the chalkboard. It was not my intention to have her translate the article. She gave me cues such as exaggeration of the speech, realia, and I took notes as well. She used non linguistic representations such as pictures. When I scaled back the reading assignment I was able to relax and do one thing at a time. It took many days of working on this before I could make sense of this and it gave me insight as to what ELLs must feel like in a classroom. Eventually I was successful, but I still needed help from Liliana. Research shows that pairing with a dominant language speaker assists in comprehension for the ELL. Research was incredibly accurate. The article was about fun ways to read with children.

Oral Language and Literacy Development

According to Scarborough oral language and literacy development have a strong relationship. In fact, there should not be teaching one with out the other. Children who have strong oral skills are more likely to have strong reading and writing skills and consequently, children with poor language skills are more likely to have reading and writing difficulties. Research also shows that during the first year of life children will produce the same types of words. Pinker a noted researcher said that by eighteen months children put together two words and vocabulary grows rapidly.

Children learn vocabulary so quickly, there is either a cognitive process or innate process for language. According to Krashen, they seem to learn language differently from the way they learn other things. Reading is the key to academic achievement and it can either be taught by word recognition where there is a series of identifying words to get the meaning of the text, or through a psycho linguist view where background knowledge and cues are used to construct meaning. Regardless of the view that is chosen by teachers when people read comprehensible texts, they become proficient readers and writers. Krashen also suggests that students make connections between oral reading, language, and print. If children acquire enough knowledge of language oral or written, they will become independent readers.

Writing Instruction Reflection

My writing experiences did not include a writers workshop. I do not recall writing very much for pleasure until I took a creative writing class in the ninth grade. My elementary and junior high school days consisted of writing that would be considered teacher directed. For example, "Write about what you did last summer", "Write about what you want for Christmas." It is not difficult for me to identify with ELL students because unfortunately I heard a lot of dialects and broken English. This was mostly heard outside of school because my teachers insisted on using and making sure that students were exposed to and consistently used standard English. There was a lot of dialogue between the student and teacher in all the classes.


I can identify with Teacher-Guided Reporting because as suggested in the chapter "activity by itself is not enough". The teacher talks were important to all black teachers who taught black students because it was a noted consensus that using standard English was essential in order to get decent opportunities for employment and so when they taught any kind of subject these teachers mandated "teacher talks" that was informative, so their students understood the language. According to Wegerif and Mercer, in teacher guided reporting, the teacher talks with the students to make sure they are engaged in at the time. My River of Literacy includes teachers like Mrs. Clement and Mrs. Delafose working closely with me on learning the alphabets, phonics and fluency being taught very quickly. My mama and daddy could not read or write but saw to it that all eight of their children did. When I think back, my sisters and my brother were my first teachers and they were harder on me than any teachers I ever had.

Questions and Answer with Ms. Lani Tassillo

Ms. Lani Tassillo has been teaching for over 30 years. She has taught 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades. Lani loves teaching. She says it keeps her young and she prides herself on maintaining a sharp memory because she has to read a great deal to keep up with and innovate methods regarding reading. She has been trained in the whole language approach of reading but Lani's philosophy about teaching literacy is more of an eclectic approach. She believes that children must be able to comprehend written and spoken language thoroughly in order to succeed. I asked her the following questions about her literacy philosophy.

Brenda: "Do you believe that reading and writing should be taught together or separately?"

Lani: "I believe that reading and writing should be taught together or course. I do believe that a teacher must know her class in order to teach them effectively because children must be mature enough in order to receive explicit instruction."

Brenda: "What literacy skills should be taught explicitly if any?"

Lani: "Precursors such as the ability to decode comprehension of texts and fluency. Children must be able to have clear and consistent literacy skills so that they will be good readers and writers. They must know the alphabets, have great memory and even though I love whole language, children need phonics to decode well, it helps with comprehension.

Brenda: "What is the most important component of literacy?"

Lani: "I think comprehension because that is the ultimate goal of reading. If a person can not comprehend what is written or said, what is the use? When a person has to take standardized tests, they need to be able to comprehend a passage in a paragraph so they can get the main idea if asked."

Brenda: " What does literacy do for children, especially the young?"

Lani: "Literacy helps a child understand the world around them. it helps them learn to think critically and opens the door to so many fun experiences they would not necessarily have the opportunity to enjoy."

Brenda: "What advice do you have for new teachers who are just beginning to teach literacy?"

Lani: "Just remember that teaching good literacy skills will help with academics in other subjects and will create a way to build knowledge. Reading is power no matter what language or country you're from, reading and knowing how to read is power.