Blog Entry #6 Learning vs. Acquisition

Blog Entry #6 Learning vs. Acquisition

When discussing learning vs. acquisition styles of learning it seems like one has to make a definitive stand on one side of the fence.   This reminds me of our last class where we  wrote a persuasive piece about authentic vs. formulaic writing.   Again, I find myself not able to commit to one side.  I strongly believe that the acquisition model is my “go-to” view, however, there are times when I would also use the learned approach.  I would not require students to look up words in the dictionary to write definitions for content area study but I would preteach some vocabulary words.  And, I might uses a variety of worksheets (D.L.I. for example) to teach parts of speech, i.e. adjectives, verbs, now, however, I would also extend that activity by having students identify words in their own writing or in books they are reading.   As I review my selections on p. 48 of our Essential Linguistics text, I find that there were several places where the choice included both learning and acquisition styles.  For example, make alphabet books on different topics. This is clearly a teacher directed activity, however, there is also the choice in topics.  Also, the phrase that says the teacher makes sure that students read only books that fit their level still offers choice. 

What struck me after doing this activity was the realization that there is a degree of comfort in learning/word recognition as it is more concrete and is easier to measure, however, when it comes right down to best practices, I can easily chose acquisition as the more long lasting learning of the two. 

After close examination of these two views and when planning lessons for my class, I will develop my activities using the acquisition lense knowing that the process is more important than the product.  

Blog Entry #2 Reflection on my writing experiences

Blog Entry #2 Reflection on my writing instruction experiences referencing learning/acquisition views

You’re asking me to go way back into my memory bank and recall my own writing experiences.  When I think back to the days at Calvary Lutheran Elementary School, I remember report writing most of all.  And. . .what I remember about that report writing is mostly copying word for word out of the World Book Encyclopedias.  I remember taking great care in making sure the words were spelling correctly and that my penmanship was letter perfect.  I’m sure my teachers used the learning way as their instruction model a  I’m sure it was the only model out there at the time.  Although the teacher did not expect nor want students to copy out of a textbook, I don’t remember any instruction on writing authentic responses. 

Junior high and high school writing instruction remains one big blur other than some social highlights here and there.  Chaos reigned at home and school gave me relief and a solid friendship base.  Writing instruction?  Nothing stands out other than more of the same from my elementary school days.  When reports were assigned, out came the World Book Encyclopedias and off I went.

College is where I began to develop a love of writing although it was still taught in a very traditional way. There was some of the “spillover” technique where we would read specific genres and then try our hand at imitating the particular style.  This was the first place where I “put myself out there” and took risks with writing and received positive feedback.  I remember one college professor commenting on my paper about my comma use.  He told me in very harsh words that I shouldn’t be making these kinds of errors on college level papers.  What he didn’t take into account was the fact that I never had a reason to pay any attention to commas until then.  He did, however, compliment me on my style and I ended up learning lots about the writing process from his class.     

Entry #5 Review of  2 children's books


Blog Entry #5 Review of 2 children’s books/cultural aspects

1) The first book I chose was, When I Was Young In The Mountains, by Cynthia Rylant.   This book describes an adult remembering the simple pleasures in country living.  The main issue for my ELL students, but also for most of my other students, would be background knowledge of living in the country and many vocabulary words that relate to that topic.  I might front load the class with a think-pair-share discussion of the following words and concepts pairing ELL students with students who might have some understanding of the following words:
coal mine
okra
johnny-house
swimming hole
pumping water from a well
baptism
cowbells
porch
Most of the words are accessible through context clues and the support of the illustrations, however, ELL students may not have any or enough background knowledge to truly understand the meaning of the specific vocabulary.

2) The second book I chose was, The Keeping Quilt by Patricia Polacco.  It’s the story told so eloquently by Ms. Polacco of a homemade quilt and how it ties together the lives of four generations of an immigrant Jewish family, remaining a symbol of their enduring love and faith.  I use this book in my class every year as an example of the importance of family and also the uniqueness of certain mementos that are often passed from generation to generation.  Because this is the story of Russian immigrants coming to New York, there is lots of background related to the historical events of people coming to America.  It also contains many examples of Russian culture as well as Jewish culture.  I believe the story is one that children can relate to as most have heard stories from their parents and grandparents about their unique family history.

Again, I would frontload the students with vocabulary.  Here is a sampling of some possible words to discover together:

babushka
quilt
Sabbath
huppa
Jews

I like to use this book because it tells such a rich story of culture and the importance of family as well as traditions that many children may know much about.  It allows the opportunity for students from other countries to share traditions in their own families as well as my regular students to share theirs, too.

     In both books, I would make sure to make sure I included any and all words that are crucial to the understanding of the text.  I would also try and find multiple opportunities for these students to hear, say, read, and write any frequently used words from both texts.  I might have the students chose a couple of pages that were the easiest for them to read and have them practice fluency using those pages.   Since both books are picture books with artwork that purposefully supports the text, I might pull a small group of both my ELL students and my lower readers to reinforce the use of pictures to deepen understanding.

Entry #4 Reading foreign language text

Entry #4 – reading foreign texts

If one is looking for a way to make an intelligent person sweat, raise her heart rate, and cause massive amounts of insecurities to flood her brain, ask her to read a foreign language book.  And by read I mean making the text comprehensible enough to, at the very least, give a brief surface level summary.

I chose a Japanese fashion magazine because there were lots of pictures and I was very familiar with the layout.  My first noticing was attempting to figure out which side was the front of the magazine.  I noticed larger titles on one side and something that looked like a table of contents.  This led me to the conclusion that it opened opposite of an English language magazine.  So, my first approach was to activate any background knowledge and experience I had with this time of reading material.

Because Japanese is not written with familiar Roman letters but rather beautifully crafted lines and circles, there was nothing I could call upon to help me read any of these descriptive words.  There were a few Roman letters that I could understand as meaning sizes such as small, medium, large.  I made a few small connections by noticing that the clothes looked somewhat familiar to American clothing.  Other than enjoying the pictures, I was unable to decipher much more than that.

The next book I chose was written in Spanish and I chose that as a more accessible text for two reasons.  One, Spanish uses the same letters that English does, and I have a very, very, very, limited knowledge base of Spanish and thought I might be able to decode a few of the words to help me figure out the meaning.  And, there were a few pictures to support the text.

The book’s title was, “Fiestas de Cumpleanos Infantiles” and I deducted that it was a book about different theme parties for children.  The pictures and the familiar letters took my stress level way down.  One of my next strategies was to use the pictures and skim through the book looking for common themes.  There were some bold headings I could understand such as actividades, which must mean activities.  So, I looked for English words embedded within the Spanish words. 

As we were discussing in class about our experiences, I noticed how easy it was to revert back to very basic, simplistic words such as things and stuff because my Spanish vocabulary is so limited.  I felt some level of success with this text although I certainly could not have planned a successful, fun party by using this text alone.

The strategies I used for both texts were activating background knowledge, relying on picture clues, looking for familiar words within larger words and making connections with personal experiences.  This experience taught me how important it is for a teacher to front load an Ell learner with vocabulary and to scaffold reading using a variety of strategies.

Entry #3 Relationship between oral language and the reading process

We all gather around the newest member of our extended family as he begins to make sounds in response to our smiles and encouraging words.  At only three months old, he can squeal, coo, and, of course, cry.   These are the beginnings of oral language development that will continue on until he is able to form words, then phrases, and finally complete sentences.  The input from caretakers is essential for the process of language acquisition where no real explicit teaching is necessary.  A rich environment scaffolds and supports his oral language development.  His parents, sisters, and extended family members all model for him and he absorbs it like a sponge.  He is a very real example that children are born with an innate capacity for acquiring language.

When thinking about the relationship between oral language and the reading process two strategies come to mind.  Modeling and scaffolding are two important strategies for acquiring both oral language and learning to read.

As he continues to grow and develop, he will be read to by many members of his family and will begin to see the relationship between pictures, print, and the spoken word.  Again, this will provide the beginnings of learning to read and when the time comes for him to enter formal school, he will already have a strong foundation on which to build future learnings.

Research supports the notion that language acquisition is innate but also needs to be developed through   deliberate and systematic methods.  On the other hand, reading is not innate yet it is directly connected to oral language.  Especially for the ESL student, both oral language and the reading process need to be embedded together with strategic methods used for supporting both skills.

Entry #1

When talking with my teammate about our individual philosophies with regard to literacy instruction, we agreed that knowing our students is a very high priority.  By that I mean, knowing them as a reader and also as a whole person.  We discussed the many ways to discover them, i.e. inventories, rating scales about their reading abilities, formal reading assessments, one-on-one conversations, and informal observations.  It all goes back to the statement that students do not care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Of course there are the five critical elements of a comprehensive, research-based literacy curriculum which are phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text-comprehension instruction.  These need to be taught explicitly with continual monitoring of each student's progress as well as tweaking daily lessons depending upon the needs of the class as a whole.

In the end, I believe it's in knowing your students and instilling that passion for reading through a myriad of creative ways that will create strong, lifelong readers and writers.

Topic # 1

Entry #1

Hi Donna,

I think I set this up correctly :)