Homework Purpose and Structure

Purpose/Rational for Homework:
As Hill and Flynn state (2006), the purpose of homework is to “provide students with opportunities to practice, review, and apply knowledge” (p. 77). Homework should cover only what has already been learned in the classroom, such as vocabulary concepts, or written language activities. Students need a lot of practice to solidify learning, and therefore, focusing that practice on a specific skill or process is going to be most beneficial when assigning homework, as it will help build automaticity. Homework assignments should have a clear focus and the expectations should be reviewed. Before a student takes any work home, the teacher should check for understanding and clarify any questions students may have. Some students may need modifications to the assignment, including extended time, shortened assignments, the use of graphic organizers or notes, etc. Remember the purpose of homework is to provide students with the opportunity to practice a skill and solidify learned concepts.

What Constitutes Meaningful Homework?
Meaningful homework has a clear objective and purpose. It is important that students understand the purpose of the assignment, and therefore it needs to be identified and articulated to both parents and students. Homework should also be grade appropriate and should be differentiated to meet the needs of individual learners. This may mean making modifications to the assignment or giving a student something completely different from the rest of the class. Hill and Flynn (2006) state that ELL students do not need to have the same homework as English-speaking students because that might mean they are practicing unfamiliar skills or incorrectly practicing them. Therefore, “students should be given homework that requires them to use what they already know or what they are learning” (p.79). This will help ensure that the work they do take home can be done independently with minimal help or support.

What Are the Intended Objectives?
Again, the primary objective for homework is for students to practice what has already been learned in class. The objective is to help students gain mastery and automaticity of a particular skill. Homework should primarily be independent, and therefore students need to have a clear understanding of the objectives, the purpose, and the directions. The National Clearing House for English Language Acquisition (NCELA) recommends that teachers use nonlinguistic examples, such as pictures, notes, or graphic organizers, to help ELL students understand what is to be accomplished. In addition, giving students the opportunity to ask questions, providing directions or materials in their native language, modified or additional instructions, tips, and peer support can all help a student understand the intended objectives of the assignment (Hill & Flynn, p. 77).


Providing Specific Feedback:
Students need to be given positive and timely feedback on their homework. Prompt feedback allows students to gauge how well they are doing, provides an immediate opportunity for clarification, and teaches students the importance of the amount of effort they put into their work. Hill and Flynn state that “students can learn that the effort that they put into a task has a direct effect on their success” (p.88). Hill and Flynn also suggest that feedback be varied and that ELL students will benefit from discussing homework with other students, as well as seeing examples of other students’ work.


Using Technology in the Communication Process:
The expectations and requirements for homework need to be communicated to both students and parents. I believe it is important to have a conference at the beginning of the year with parents to explain the purpose of homework, to go over the expectations and requirements, and to provide them with tips on how they can help support their student. The communication does not stop there, however, and it is an ongoing continuous process. Throughout the year students and parents can utilize the class webpage to gain access to each week’s assignments. In addition to the assignments, there will be explanations, tutorials, and examples whenever possible to assist students with homework when they are at home.

Homework Structure that Follows this Philosophy

The homework structure students will use in my classroom is a Readers’ and Writers’ Notebook. There will be one for reading and one for writing. Each serves a different purpose, and therefore has different expectations and guidelines.

Reading: The purpose of the readers’ notebook is for students to record their feelings, responses, and reactions to text read. It encourages students to think deeply about the materials they read and relate this information to their prior knowledge. Students are required to respond to their independent reading (in letter format) at least once a week (could be more if students choose). Students are assigned a specific day that they need to turn it in. There are times when I designate the topic they should write about. For example, if we are learning about making inferences, I might ask them to write about a specific inference they made while reading. Other times they may choose to respond to the text in any way that is meaningful to them; however, it is expected that their responses are varied and insightful. A list providing topics and ideas of how to respond has been provided for students and glued to the first page of their notebooks. They have also been given several examples of proficient responses and those are glued into their notebooks along with examples that were modeled and written together. A section in the back has been designated for students to take notes and write down important vocabulary.

Writing: The purpose of the writer’s notebook is for students to engage in the craft of writing and to practice specific writing skills. At times they will be asked to practice a skill we have learned in class, for example writing lead sentences. In this case, students spend a few minutes practicing that specific skill or craft in their notebook. The remainder of the time, students spend creating stories and compositions of their choice. It is required that students date each entry and that daily writing and effort is evident in their notebooks. The expectations have been clearly explained and modeled. A section in the back has been designated for students to take notes and list ideas for future writing. Students write in this notebook daily in class, and are required to take it home everyday and spend an additional fifteen minutes writing.

GRADING AND FEEDBACK
Students are required to turn their journals in once a week on a designated day. There is a rubric, which was created collaboratively, for each journal. Before students turn in their journal, they complete the rubric as a self-assessment and then I will also fill out the rubric when I review their journals. Immediate feedback is given to students in two different ways. For the readers’ notebook, I will primarily provide feedback by responding to their entries and writing a letter back. For the writers’ notebook, students are given feedback once a week through a writing conference. This gives me the opportunity to check for understandings, to monitor effort, and to teach on the spot. Students are also given feedback from their peers. Once a week, a peer will respond to their readers’ notebook through a letter. For the writers’ notebook, students share a piece of their writing with another student and have a peer conference. This takes place every one to two weeks.


MODIFICATIONS
Modifications to these assignments will be made as needed per an individual basis. Some students, specifically ELL students, will be provided with graphic organizers that they can use to assist them with both journals. Some students may be given additional time to complete the assignment and the skill or task may be modified when necessary.

COMMUNICATION WITH PARENTS
The expectations and requirements for the notebooks will be communicated to both students and parents. A conference will be held at the beginning of the year with parents to explain the purpose, to go over the expectations and requirements, and to provide them with tips on how they can help support their student. Students and parents will also be able to access the webpage to find the expectations and requirements for the assignment, as well as examples of proficient journal responses and rubrics. Parents will be notified immediately if there is any concern of their child’s academic progress. As always, parents are encouraged to contact the teacher if they have any questions either about the assignment or their student’s grade through email or phone call.






References:
Hill, Jane D., & Flynn, Kathleen M. (2006). Classroom Instruction that works with English Language Learners. Alexandria, VA. ACSD.

Narrative and Expository Texts

Narrative v. Expository
English language learners often encounter difficulties when reading narrative and expository texts due to the differences in structure, features, and conventions. Therefore, ELL students need to have the necessary tools in order to tackle each genre to ensure comprehension.


Narrative texts generally have a title page and a table of contents to introduce you to the text. The story structure consists of a setting, characters, a plot, and often times a theme, or overarching idea. The plot and theme could be difficult for an ELL student if they do not have the background knowledge to support it. They may not have had the experiences they need in order to connect to the story or to make meaning of the text.


Expository texts have more features that an ELL student needs to learn how to use in order for it to be a tool for them. Like narrative texts, they have a title page and a table of contents that can preview what they text is about. In addition, it has headings, captions, graphs, charts, and bold words. All of these things can help direct a student to important information; however, they need to know what they are and how to use them in order for them to provide any assistance. Likewise, an appendix, bibliography, glossary, and index are all features that need explicit instruction on how to use. These features can be overwhelming and confusing if you do not know their purpose, yet many ELL students can benefit from them if they know how and why they would use them.


Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers are a great way to help students learn the different components of fiction and nonfiction texts and they serve as a tool to aide in comprehension. Below are some of my favorite graphic organizers:


Nonfiction:

A concept map is great for when students encounter new vocabulary in a text. In the concept map students list synonyms and antonyms for the word to help build a large bank of new vocabulary.

The second organizer is to help students identify the main idea and supporting details. This organizer helps students pull out the important information, which can then be used to support summary writing.


 


Fiction:
Story maps are simple, yet very helpful for kids who are working on the different elements of a story. It includes setting, characters, problem, events, and resolution.




 


 A Predicting Outcomes organizer is great because it teaches kids to use clues from the text, as well as background knowledge, to support their predictions.






Poetry:

In an inference graphic organizer students use details or statements from the poem and combine it with what they know to make an inference.

In the Thinking About Poetry organizer students write down what they are thinking after each stanza and provide evidence for why they think that. I like this organizer because it encourages students to think about and adjust their thinking as they gain new information from the text. 







Other great resources to find graphic organizers:
www.eduplace.com/graphicorganizer/

Sheltered Lesson

When teaching English language learners, there are many things a teacher can do to help promote comprehension. In the sheltered lesson video, Mrs. Krauss is very intentional in the way she delivers instruction and with how she interacts with students. By engaging her students in activities that activate background knowledge and expand vocabulary, she was able to help them develop the reading strategies they need to become comprehensible readers. Some tools that Mrs. Krauss used are listed below:


Pre-Reading Strategies:
• State the directions/goals verbally and in written form
• Link to prior knowledge
• Preview key vocabulary by showing pictures, providing synonyms, and relating them to real life situations that students are familiar with. Also connect to student’s first language when possible.
• Preview the story by doing a book walk, looking at the pictures, summarizing the reading for students, providing them with pictures or graphic organizers.
• Relate the story to the student’s background knowledge whenever possible by using pictures, asking questions, and having them compare and contrast the story to their own culture.
• Provide students with opportunities for group work so they can learn from their peers and have the opportunity to clarify information in their first language


During Reading Strategies:
• Make sure students know the expectations and that they are written down
• Read the story aloud so English language learners can see and hear the words at the same time
• Explicitly teach and demonstrate reading strategies
• Scaffold for students by modeling, teaching, and reminding students of strategies
• Ask questions and give appropriate wait time to allow for more elaborate responses
• Use repetition throughout the lesson to reinforce vocabulary and skills
• Provide students with time to connect and interact with the text. This will increase their level of engagement


Post-Reading Strategies:
• Review key vocabulary words, reading strategies, content of what was read, and learning objectives
• Give students a chance to interact independently with the text
• Provide opportunities for clarification, for hand-on activities, and for group work

Running Records and Miscue Analysis

As a Reading Recovery teacher I live and breathe running records and view them as one of the most important and effective tools used in assessing students’ reading. Although I average more than six running records a day, this was the first opportunity I have had to administer one to a second language learner. It was a new and very insightful process.


Observations:
The two students I worked with this week were first graders; one primarily speaks Spanish at home and the other’s first language is Korean. Before taking the running record, I took some time to first just talk to each of kids to get an idea of what their oral language was like.


The Korean student had great oral language with only a few minor mispronunciations of words. Otherwise, she seemed to have some basic vocabulary and was able to communicate effectively. As for her running record, it did not show any errors that were a direct result of the language difference. In order to instruct this student, I would suggest giving her strong book orientations, specifically pointing out and discussing any unfamiliar vocabulary. With a well thought-out book orientation, I believe this student will be very successful in reading.


The Spanish-speaking student on the other hand seemed to have more barriers to overcome. His vocabulary was more limited and he had some difficulty with pronunciation. As he was reading, I noticed that many of his errors were either structural or meaning based. He stumbled on words like helicopter, simply because it was not in his vocabulary. In addition, he did not have a large bank of high frequency words and therefore had difficulty recalling many of them or confusing similar looking ones, such as come/came. One thing that I did find surprising was that many of his errors were due to the fact that he left off inflectional endings. Many beginning readers tend to leave of inflections, so I’m not sure whether this was a result of the language barrier or not. His reading was also word-by-word with little expression or intonation. This student would also benefit from a strong book orientation to help build on the meaning of the story and give him the vocabulary necessary to successfully read the story. I would also suggest doing some word work with him, teaching him about inflections and helping him learn some high frequency words. Both of these activities can be done using magnetic letters and white boards. Lastly, this student would benefit from some fluency instruction. I would have him read many familiar reads just practicing phrasing and intonation.


The articles I read this week, not only confirmed the importance of running records, but also brought some clarity on why and how to use them effectively. The first article I read was called Running Records Every Day. It talked about the importance of administering running records and it paints a clear picture of why we use them and what they teach us. According to the article, running records allow teachers to get into the head of the reader and gain insights into the reader’s processing skills and strategies. Running records reveal a student’s independent, instructional, and frustrational levels, but more importantly they reveal how the student is processing text, which can then be used to guide how you instruct that student.


The other text I read was called, Running Records for Classroom Teachers by Marie Clay. Clay states that running records provide evidence of how well children are using their knowledge of letters, sounds and words to understand the messages in the text. She also states that running records can serve several purposes. One is to assess the difficulty of the text and to find a student’s true reading level. The other main purpose is to serve as a guide for teaching. When teachers take a running record, they are able to review what happened immediately and provide the student with on-the-spot instruction. Teachers can also analyze a student’s running record and use that information to plan for future instruction and support.


References:
Clay, M. M., (2000). Running Records for Classroom Teachers. Auckland, New Zealand: Heinemann.


Hebert, C.R. (2004). RUNNING RECORDS Every Day. Instructor, 114(1), 30-71. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Learning Vs. Acquisition Views

There is much debate about whether language is acquired or learned.  Teachers who hold the learning view believe that language should be taught directly.  The learning view mirrors more of a traditional classroom.  In reading, they identify words to get to the meaning of text.  Teachers will engage their students in oral drills and written exercise to teach students phonics, vocabulary, grammar, and high frequency words.  In the learning view, teachers will often correct students' errors to help them develop good habits from the start.  

In the acquisition view, teachers believe that language is acquired and the primary focus is on making meaning.  In the acquisition view students use background knowledge and cues from three cuing system (graphophonics, semantics, and syntax) to make sense of what they are reading.  Teachers who believe in this view will engage their students in extensive amounts of reading and writing and will teach them the strategies they need to construct meaning.



The students:
L-Look up words in the dictionary to write definitions
A-Make a Venn diagram to compare two stories
L-Practice sounding out words
L-Read in round-robin fashion
L-Correct peers when they make a mistake during reading
L/A-Identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound
L/A-Group cards with classmates' names by a criterion on such as first or last letter
A-Write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same sound
L-Ask the teacher how to spell any word they don't know
A-Read the language experience story they have created with the teacher
A-Work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences
L/A-Divide words into syllables
L-On a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same sound
L/A-Make alphabet books on different topics


The teacher:
 L-Preteaches vocabulary
A-Does a shared reading with a big book
L-Makes sure that students read only books that fit their level
L/A-Has students segment words into phonemes
L-Write words the students dictate for a story and has students help with the spelling of difficult words
L/A-Asks students to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter
L-Uses decodable text
A-Sets aside time for SSR (sustained silent reading) each day
L-Teaches Latin and Greek roots
A-Has students meet in literature circles
L-Conducts phonics drills
L/A-Chooses predictable texts
A-Teaches students different comprehension strategies
A-Does a picture walk of a new book
L-Uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills

Children's Literature

Careful thought and consideration needs to be given when choosing literature for English Language Learners. ELL learners often face challenges decoding unfamiliar texts because of the setting, vocabulary, structure, or even cultural differences. If a child has limited background, it is likely to affect their comprehension of the story and can often lead to frustration.

The book, Cendrillon, is one book that I believe would cause frustration. This particular book is a Caribbean Cinderella story. This book would be difficult for an ELL student for several reasons. First of all, the book contains some difficult vocabulary (christening, hollow, gilded) all of which would need to be addressed before reading. Also the book takes place in the Carribean and contains not only English words, but traces of French as well, which could be difficult for students assuming their first language is not French. For example, blanchisseuse, agoutis, and granmaison. An average reader could possibly figure out the meaning of most of these words simply by using the context of the story; however, the use of context clues to infer meaning is not always successful with ELL students. I also have to wonder if the language structures of the story might be challenging. One part of the text reads, “Upon my soul, I promise this.” Beginning a sentence with upon is bound to cause trouble. An ELL student might bring some background knowledge of the Cinderella story; however, I believe this version contains too many cultural differences, of which most students will struggle with.

The second book I believe ELL students will have a difficult time with is Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. This book is difficult for several reasons. The first being that it is written in poetry form and therefore the structure alone might throw them off. In addition, it contains many metaphors. For example it reads, “The trees stood still as giant statues” and “The moon made his face into a silver mask.” These metaphors could be tricky for a second language student, especially if they do not have any background knowledge of how metaphors work.

Choosing the right book may be one of the most difficult, and most important parts of teaching ELL students. When evaluating books there are several things to consider:

• The length and complexity of the story.

• The amount of new or unfamiliar vocabulary.

• Whether or not the illustrations are supportive and can help the student make meaning of the text.

• The structure of the text.

• The student’s background knowledge they might bring to the text.

• Differences in culture, which may cause confusion or misconceptions.

Decoding Unfamiliar Text

This assignment was interesting to say the least. I found two short stories online written in Spanish at two different difficultly levels (I included the link below). I would like to say that neither one of them were difficult, but I would be lying. The truth is, the easy beginner text was just as much of a challenge to understand as the more advanced text. As I was trying to decipher them, I found myself becoming overwhelmed and frustrated. Even with my year of high school Spanish, I could only pick out a few words here and there. The texts did include a few pictures, which helped some, but I was unable to figure out how they fit within the context of the story, as they were non-fiction texts.

To help me gain some understanding, I did turn to an online translator. To me that was just as frustrating, because I honestly did not have the time to sit there and look up every single word. And then there were times when the translation would come back and not make any sense at all. It was at this moment, that I gave up, went to my sister-in-law, who is fluent in Spanish, and had her do the work for me. What took me hours, only took her a few minutes.

This activity was very enlightening. I was not a kid who ever struggled with reading and for the first time I was completely lost, overwhelmed, and frustrated. It’s easy to take that for granted and lose sight of how struggling students must feel when reading. 

Spanish Texts 

Relationship Between Oral Language and the Reading Process

Oral language plays an important factor in a child's ability to read.  Children begin to develop language from the day they are born.  They learn how to recognize and develop sounds, they learn how words are formed and how they are related to each other, and they learn how language conveys meaning.  These aspects of language development are what lay the foundation for learning to read.  When you really think about it, oral language is the first thing a child brings to the reading process.  It is their oral language that helps them construct meaning, which in turn helps the child in both decoding and comprehension.  If a student has a weak oral language, it can interfere with a child's ability to learn to read.  Therefore, it is essential that parents, caretakers, and teachers do everything they can to support language development from the very beginning.

Writing Instruction Reflection

As I reflect on the writing instruction I received when I was younger, I would definitely say it was geared more towards the Traditional Writing format.  I remember my elementary years were spent in a source book working on how to write sentences with a subject and predicate, the parts of speech, and how to properly punctuate sentences.  We also spent a significant amount of time on handwriting and spelling.  I remember my teachers would always give us a topic to write about and we would work on that piece of writing for a day or two, turn it in, and then a few days later our teacher would return it to us with corrections and we would spend time copying it over into a final copy.  I was never really exposed to creative writing or given the opportunity to craft a story of my own choice.  I feel that because of this, I am intimidated to write creatively.  I am much more comfortable writing when given a topic and a clear structure or format for how it should look and sound.

Now that I am a teacher myself, I find that I lean more towards Process Writing.  I believe that writing should be authentic and engaging for kids.  I believe that this is best done when students have choice and when writing is taught through mentor texts, modeling, and discussions with others about the craft of writing.  I believe this approach goes beyond just teaching and instead inspires students to be writers.

Teacher Interview-Philosophy of Teaching Literacy

I am lucky enough to get to work right alongside an amazing literacy specialist whose passion and philosophy has inspired me in my journey as a reading teacher.  Her philosophy has developed and grown over the years from the experience she has working with children and through current educators and researchers such as Katie Wood Ray, Ralph Fletcher, Lucy Calkins, Richard Allington, and Linda Dorn (just to name a few).  She strongly believes in the reciprocity between reading and writing and that literacy lays the foundation for a child's future.  She believes that children need to be actively involved in literacy activities.  If you walked into her classroom you would see children engaged in mentor texts, literacy centers, literature discussion groups, guided reading groups, independent reading, and authentic and engaging literacy activities with the teacher serving as a model.  She strongly believes that kids need to be immersed in literature and deep conversations in order to develop the life-long skills they need to be readers and writers.  One of her favorite quotes is that effective literacy instruction needs to be "insistent, consistent, and persistent."  I couldn't agree with her more!

As mentioned above, Linda Dorn's Comprehensive Literacy Model has had a great influence on literacy instruction at our school.  Here is a link to ULAR's Center for Literacy website if you are interested in more information.  Specifically, be sure to check out the teacher resource section!

Comprehensive Literacy Model