Blog Entry #5

In response to Blog Entry #5, many things have changed in relation to my first blog entry regarding Oral and Written Language for the ELA classroom. When I first came into the program at the start of the semester I did not specifically have a foundation for understanding what ELA was or how to facilitate it in the classroom. Since September as a class we have discussed many ideas and shared thoughts, had presentations and guest speakers and read a lot of important work. Some of the ideas that I have learned the most about since the beginning of the semester are listed bellow in the following subheadings.

What role does Oracy play in the Elementary ELA classroom?  How will you support students with oral-language (speaking/listening) learning/development?

 Children’s oral language development is considered to be a key foundation for successful literacy. Indeed, the evidence is compelling that a foundation in spoken language competence is important for the successful achievement of academic and social competence (Tomblin, 2005). 

—        Students need to be able to use language appropriately for a broad range of functions, and to perceive the functions for which others use language.

—        The oral language students acquire when they are young helps them connect words, sounds, and meaning with print.

—        The oral language acquired later helps students build more sophisticated understandings, explore relationships among ideas, and explore questions in their reading and writing.

—        Throughout the elementary years, students’ oral
language abilities are interwoven with learning to
read and write

—        To maximize oral language development, it is important that teachers:

—        build a personal relationship with each student, create a safe climate of respectful listening

—         provide frequent, sustained opportunities for language development, including structured partner talk and small-group interaction

—         interact regularly on a one-to-one basis with each student

—        challenge students to talk, think, and explore their knowledge of the world

—        ask open-ended questions to help students make meaning

—        support students as they develop language and learning strategies necessary to articulate and extend their interactions with the world

—        give students adequate wait time for thinking to occur

—        encourage students to question and justify

—        Rich and varied play and language experiences including interaction with a wide range of environmental print and texts to integrate and extend students’ uses of language and literacy for a variety of purposes  

—        Examples of literacy experiences:

—        • engaging in informal conversations

—        • playing

—        • responding to photographs, pictures, stories, classroom experiences (e.g., cooking)

—        • dramatic play

—        • making constructions to represent a person or an object in a story, video, song, or play

—        • performing or watching puppet plays

—        • brief discussions/sharing led by the teacher

—        • chanting, choral reading, singing

—        • sharing own work

—        • listening to instructions

—        • listening to stories

—        Encourage the characteristics of a good speaker/listener

A good speaker and listener

—        • speaks and listens for a variety of purposes

—        • maintains concentration during listening and speaking

—        • listens carefully to understand and respond to others’ messages

—        • communicates ideas and information clearly

—        • organizes ideas and information so that the audience can understand 

—        and remember

—        • uses vocabulary and presentation style that are appropriate for the audience

—        • uses tone, pace, and volume that are appropriate for the situation

—        • sustains short conversations by encouraging the speaker and contributing ideas

—        • is attentive and respectful to others in conversation • uses language effectively for a variety of purposes

—        • monitors presentation and is sensitive to audience response

—        uses some strategies to overcome difficulties in communication 

—        (e.g., unfamiliar vocabulary, a noisy environment, distractions) • self-evaluates and sets goals for improvement

Podcasts

•         “Podcasting is basically the creation and distribution of amateur radio, plain and simple” (Richardson, 2009, p. 110)

•         Voice recordings with a purpose. 

•         Multimedia publishing

•         Distribution to a world-wide audience.

•         Listen to podcasts about topics that interest you and your students.  Provide lots of opportunity for this to spark an interest in creating them.

•         Brainstorm topics they could pursue for a class podcast – or for individual podcasts.

Class Podcasting Ideas:

•         Topic you are learning – have an expert & interview style radio show

•         Interview a book character

•         Interview an animal, volcano, the fly on the wall at important events

•         Readers’ theatre – radio plays

•         Commercial/blurb to share with the school

•         Share about friendships and bullying (older students in the school – reminders, slogans)

•         Class reading motto – share

•         Mentorship – older students introduce podcasting to younger students – (i.e. Reading buddies, writing buddies, podcast buddies.)

•         Soundscapes –Students come up with a title – this they share in the recording.  tell stories using sound effects – develop a story using the sound clips

•         Radio Willow Web from Willowdale Elementary School, online radio shows for kids by kids. – includes book talks and interviews with children’s book authors.

Writing process and Writer’s Workshop as presented in Atwell, Calkins, and author visit with Robin Stevenson

The Growth of a Writing Project

(Seeds):  Writer’s Notebook: A place to plant seeds and grow ideas. v     Quick-writes v     Lists v     Topics (Sprouts):  Discovery Draft:  A place to grow stories. v     Get the whole story out. v     Write quickly. (Bud):  Second/final Draft:  A place to feed and nourish stories. Make changes. v     Add details. v     Cross out. v     Edit. v     Very best handwriting/typing. (bloom):  Published Piece:  A place to display developed stories v     Final changes. v     Teacher edit. v     Special paper/format. v     Computer processed, or very best handwriting.

From Fountas & Pinnell, Guiding Readers and Writers Grades 3-6, p.432.

Not everything has to go to the bloom stage.  Some seeds take years to germinate, or are eaten by a rude squirrel.  The idea is that we help students plant many, many, many seeds so that they have a rich stock to choose from.

• Nancy Atwell’s writing workshops where teacher circulates around class room and uses a quiet voice to check in with her/his students. The teacher has a check list to ensure that every student receives one-on-one attention.
• Suggests Conference Guidelines: suggesting to ask questions and avoid general praise, instead praise the students on specifics and continue to encourage and guide them in their writing process.

Use of writing prompts/ Teaching of writing conventions (spelling, grammar, punctuation)

• Rubus Phymes –playing with words, for younger grades

·         Savage: First Steps reading, writing and spelling workshops.

·         Vinyl bags with zippers that I used as their writing folders. Inside each folder, every child was given a name tag, personal dictionary, think pad, journal, and doodle book.

·         The Think Pads are used for jotting down attempts to spell unfamiliar words. I have a tub of scrap paper available to the children for their writing. At the beginning of the year, we talk about the two most important writing tools - dictionary and think pad. Before I help them with any word they must try it on their own and bring me their dictionary and their spelling attempt.

·         Word spacing became: spaceman. Used him during lessons, the children were eager to get out their spaceman when writing. This was a great tool.

·         Using a small picture of each child on a Popsicle stick, the children were able to move themselves to the appropriate step in their writing progress (planning, rough draft, conferencing, editing, final copy).

·         Individual and customized spelling lists and flash cards for spelling

What you learned about on-line writing through your blog this term.  Did comments from classmates affect your writing or thinking?  If you would use on-line journaling in your class, and if so, in what way?

• When we were first introduced to creating blogs on the internet I was very impressed and inspired as I had new really worked with technology before. I think that blogging as a means of communication with parents is an excellent idea and I am excited that we had the opportunity to learn how to do so in ELA.
• The other night when I was researching some work on the internet for drama I opened a Link from my Google search that had everything I was looking for and I was surprised to find that I had connected myself to a classmates blog and used it to access all of the information that I was looking for.
• Posting blogs was an excellent way to search everyone else’s ideas and thoughts. I’m glad that we participated in this use of technology in class.

Strategy Presentations:  which lessons/strategies did you find engaging?  Which are you motivated to try with your future classrooms?

• Andrew Gillott, Siri Hastings, Dawson Parnell: “The Very Last First Time” by Jan Andrews, illustrated by Ian Wallace, ‘rubric cube’, computer with audio recording device.

Steps to a good Lesson Plan:

—        Start with the end in mind:  Identify Prescribed Learning Outcomes.

—        Then consider which activities will help students to achieve the outcomes.

—        Find resources to support the activities.

—        How will you hook your students on the activity?

—        What materials do you need?

—        What is the expected time of the lesson?

—        How will transitions go?

—        What will your students be doing?

—        Will all students be engaged?  If not, what do you need to do to support students so that they become engaged?

—        Use the PLOs from the IRP for ELA

Evaluation/Assessment

—        This should relate straight back to the Prescribed Learning Outcomes.

—        You can use the Achievement Indicators as assessment criteria.

—        We assess our students through observation checklists, anecdotal records, mini-conferences, self-assessment, learning logs, etc. 

—        We also reflect on our teaching practice (often noting what worked well, and what we would do differently next time).

BC Performance Standards/IRP

—        The IRP: integrated use of six language arts (writing, speaking, listening, viewing, representing, and reading

—        The BC performance standards are voluntary, but illustrate professional judgments about standards and expectations for key learning’s.

—        Two types of assessment:  Formative and Summative.

—        Formative:  helps teachers and students make decisions about teaching/learning.  Synonyms:  determining, influential, seminal, decisive, shaping. 

—        Summative:  helps communicate how the student is doing – to the child, parents, principal, future teachers, etc. Synonyms:  collective, total, combined, cumulative, amassed, comprehensive.