Entry #2 Writing Instruction

I am a terrible writer and I believe I always have been. During my elementary school years, I recall writing and then editing over and over and over again. I never remember being particularly proud of anything I wrote and just wanted to get it over with. That attitude has carried over in to my adult education and my frustrations are still here. I write to get the work done and rarely reread or have someone else edit my writing. 

The writing I received in grade school was much like a traditional writing classroom. The teacher taught specific skills and writing styles with a finished product being the goal. I never was given the opportunity to just write or use my own ideas without receiving a writing prompt. I remember being told to use specific words like first, next, and then or making sure you have some description of each of the five senses with in the paper. I never understood the writing process or else I think I would take more time with my writing and edit or even reread what I write. I especially remember receiving grades on everything I ever wrote. I specifically remember one instance where my teacher made me redo a paper several times and eventually I took the sentences from a friends paper, who received a high grade, and was still asked to redo my paper. I never felt confident enough in my writing to share it with anyone and that still sticks with me today. 

I believe I would have benefited more within a classroom of process writing and would have made me a better writer as an adult. Learning the process of writing and even the whys of writing, would help me in creating written pieces. 

Entry #5 ELL Books

I began this blog entry by searching through my classroom books trying to pick out a book that may affect comprehension for a child of a different culture. The only idea I could come up with was a vocabulary difficulty but I felt I needed more. Just then my Para ask why I was staring at the book shelf and looking so lost. I explained to her the assignment and my goals for it and she immediately said Dr. Seuss. My Para who is a Second Language Learner herself explained that she finds Dr. Seuss books to be very difficult to read a loud and also to understand. So I went with If I Ran a Zoo By: Dr. Seuss. This book would be difficult for an ELL learner because of the amount of nonsense words, unfamiliar animals, the story contains content that is not real and the sentence structure contains dialogue and rhyming. This story could be read to ELL learners with a proper introduction of vocabulary. The teacher could discuss the animals in the story using pictorials attached with the animals name. The students could particulate in an animal sort; animals you see at the zoo and animals you see at  Dr. Seuss' zoo. Also a discussion on make believe and real may make the story more understandable for an ELL learner.

The second book I chose to do was found in the room of my districts ESL coordinator. I have seen this book on her self many times and this time decided it was perfect. Faithful Elephants by:Yukio Tsuchiya is a story about war, people, and animals. The items in this text that would make comprehension difficult are the content, the vocabulary, the understanding of what war looks like, and the ability to follow the story from present to past. This story would require an introduction of what war is and looks like and possibly a discussion on WW2. The story tells of animals being poisoned to death which would need to be explained carefully and with full explanation as to why the animals needed to be poisoned. Children will need to know why a war happens and the teacher can create a brainstorm list of why wars happen and how they could be avoided also. The children could sort ideas of what happens during a war and what doesn't along with a vocabulary introduction. I couldn't imagine reading this story to my preschoolers without a month long introduction let alone reading it to children who wouldn't have a clue what I was saying. This story contains life stories, history, and real life experience that need to be understand in order to comprehend the story appropriately.

Entry #4 Foreign Language Text

I chose to examine the language of spanish within a local spanish newspaper and a children's non fiction text about birds. I am somewhat familiar with spanish after some high school spanish and also in my current teaching environment. As far as my teaching environment goes, I speak classroom spanish like table, bathroom, sit down, etc.

I checked out the newspaper first and my initial reaction was utilize my google translate app on my phone but I believe that would be consider cheating and I also taking the easy route. I attempted to use the pictures to make meaning and I was able to identify some articles for a dentist, a restaurant, a beauty salon, and a marijuana advertisement. I was able to recognize numbers in the newspaper however those are pretty much universal in the world. I came across some cognate words that I was able to figure out such as "presidente", "vacaciones", and "importante". In the reading I was able to decipher that President Obama had a taken an important vacation to Hawaii but that is as far as I got. I began to think about how the families within my district feel when they read papers that are sent home in English or how my students feel when I talk and then have no idea what I am saying. There was a word search on the last page with the words Memorial day, Labor day, Martin Luther King day, and Thanksgiving.

The next book was a nonfiction children's book about birds. Even though it was in spanish I was able to identify the books context by the pictures of birds. I was also able to somewhat read the 2 to 3 sentences on each page about the birds. The sentences spoke about the size, color, and what the birds ate. I was able to read the sentences or take a good guess about what the content was from background knowledge. They were also only 5 word sentences.

Overall it was a stressful experience. I looked immediately for the easy way out and was shocked at how fast I was ready to give up. It was sad. I found the children's text much easier to read than the newspaper maybe because of the pictures, simple language or my background knowledge that I was able to use as a tool.

Entry #3 Oral Language and Reading Process

The relationship between oral language and the reading process are vital for an English Language Learner. Oral language is the listening and speaking part of communication that develops naturally. Oral language development are also the building blocks for reading comprehension and success and it related to the academic achievement through schooling. Children are exposed to language from the day they are born. They are surrounded by both oral (conversations, listening, speaking) and written language (environmental print, books) which supports vocabulary development, understanding language structures, and learning the sounds of the English language.

Oral language is essential for both reading and writing. In order to understand language in print, oral language skills are a necessity. Exposing children to books and other forms of print allows them to see people reading and writing in their daily life. Adults can be reading models for children by reading for pleasure, demonstrating directionality, and assist in the understanding of spoken and written language. Oral language and the reading process are two separate skills that are built simultaneously and need one another to be successful.

Entry #1 Literacy Philosophy

For this entry, I interviewed an old coworker of mine who I highly respect as an ECC teacher. I began by asking Bri what factors, she feels, are the most important for a child emerging in literacy. Bri felt that children should be excited and motivated during the learning process. She motivates her children with meaningful experiences such as their names, things about their families, special interests and also uses prior knowledge to enhance literacy instruction. Bri also believes in differentiating her instruction to cater to the needs of all her children. Bri uses explicit writing and reading techniques during large and small groups that benefit children at any level and models writing and reading skills. In Bri's classroom, she allows her children to explore literacy during free choice time through out centers.

I believe my philosophy matches closely with Bri's. We both believe in providing our children with meaningful literacy experiences that reach children at every level. I model explicit reading and writing instruction daily with my children and encourage them to read and write on their own. My classroom is glittered with print and literacy opportunities.