The idea that language is power, and that it gives us power, is a fantastic one. Students love to share their ideas and thoughts, and it's important for each child's voice to be heard in a classroom. When students are able to communicate with each other they develop a deeper understanding of what they are learning, especially when they are engaged in meaningful, accountable talk.
One point that was brought up by a colleague in my Writing Part 1 course is the lack of power students who are English Language Learners (ELL) must feel. Students who do not have the vocabulary to express themselves, to contribute to class discussions, or to support their opinions with evidence must feel powerless. They need scaffolding to be able to feel powerful during these situations, and a few strategies were suggested.
- Pre-teach vocabulary and have it accessible during class discussions for reference
- Technology (when appropriate) that can help students to listen to, record, or review ideas
- "Talk buddies" that are grouped with ELL learners in mind
- Picture dictionaries
It's also important to give students additional wait-time to form thoughts and articulate their meaning. If a student pauses after being chosen to share ideas, do not just say, "We'll come back to you in a moment!" WAIT! Show each student that they are important and give them time to think!
Friday, 20 January 2012
Creating an inclusive writing environment
Webcasts for Educators has a ton of great (free!) webcasts about Literacy. I just finished watching Part 5: Using Texts of All Types: Student Engagement, and it was fantastic. Students were using a lot of the communication strategies that I've been reading about in books that focus on inquiry-based Math. It was interesting to see how engaging it is for students to be asked to agree or disagree with their peers ideas (in a positive, collaborative way), and how much more invested they are in their own learning when they need to have opinions and evidence to support their opinions.
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
3 news ideas for my writing program!
Here are three things that I'm looking forward to adding into my writing program:
1. Take photos of things students have created or built (or even of toys they might be playing with) and create a story about the picture.
2. Create (and add to) an anchor chart with very specific ideas for writing, such as barbies, sharks, Legos, etc. We have a writing ideas chart, but the topics are more general, and I think my students would enjoy this more.
3. Get students to use "yummy" words. An ELL teacher referenced the "Picture Word Inductive Model", which gets students to brainstorm words to describe a picture, and then use the words to write a sentence. This made me think about how we could do something like this to build everyone's vocabulary. Perhaps each week or two we could look at some type of picture, and students could generate words about the picture. When students use one of the words from the "picture poster" then they could share their writing success with everyone!
For more information about the Picture Word Inductive Model, check out:
http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/pwim/
1. Take photos of things students have created or built (or even of toys they might be playing with) and create a story about the picture.
2. Create (and add to) an anchor chart with very specific ideas for writing, such as barbies, sharks, Legos, etc. We have a writing ideas chart, but the topics are more general, and I think my students would enjoy this more.
3. Get students to use "yummy" words. An ELL teacher referenced the "Picture Word Inductive Model", which gets students to brainstorm words to describe a picture, and then use the words to write a sentence. This made me think about how we could do something like this to build everyone's vocabulary. Perhaps each week or two we could look at some type of picture, and students could generate words about the picture. When students use one of the words from the "picture poster" then they could share their writing success with everyone!
For more information about the Picture Word Inductive Model, check out:
http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/pwim/
Accommodations and modifications: are they for students with special needs, or for everyone?
Universal Design for Learning (UDL) was inspired by work in architecture on the planning of
buildings with a view to accessibility for people with physical disabilities (Turnbull et al., 2002).
I read this quote in Education for All: The Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy and Numeracy Instruction for Students With Special Education Needs, Kindergarten to Grade 6.
It interests me because it talks about how improvements, assistance, or accommodations made for a specialized group of people actually benefited a larger group of people than originally anticipated. One of the examples given (p. 10) looks at how wheel chair ramps, designed for people with special needs, ended up helping parents with strollers, people with baggage trolleys, and a variety of others. This notion filtered down into education, because many teaching strategies used to help students with special needs succeed will help improve the achievement of EVERY student.
buildings with a view to accessibility for people with physical disabilities (Turnbull et al., 2002).
I read this quote in Education for All: The Report of the Expert Panel on Literacy and Numeracy Instruction for Students With Special Education Needs, Kindergarten to Grade 6.
It interests me because it talks about how improvements, assistance, or accommodations made for a specialized group of people actually benefited a larger group of people than originally anticipated. One of the examples given (p. 10) looks at how wheel chair ramps, designed for people with special needs, ended up helping parents with strollers, people with baggage trolleys, and a variety of others. This notion filtered down into education, because many teaching strategies used to help students with special needs succeed will help improve the achievement of EVERY student.
Tuesday, 17 January 2012
Writing Part 1: First thoughts and ideas...
My Writing Part 1 course started this week, and one of the first assignments links to the Ministry of Education Document called A Guide to Effective Instruction in Writing, Kindergarten to Grade 3. We had to read section 1.9, and I loved how the document had a list of sample anchor charts you can create with your students. These are similar to the reading mini-lessons that would jump-start a Daily 5 program. I don't think it's ever too late to add something into your writing program, but these would be especially great mini-lessons to begin the year with!
Here are the sample anchor charts:
What Do Good Writers Do?
• Like to write
• Write about things they know about or are interested in
• Draw and “talk out” their story (rehearsal)
• Decide whom they are writing for and what their writing will look like
• Share their writing with a partner, a conference group, or the teacher
• Read their first draft and ask, “Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?”
What Do Good Editors Do?
• Use capital letters
• Check their punctuation
• Check their spelling
• Use complete sentences
• Write legibly
• Use interesting words
• Let somebody else read their story
What Do Good Spellers Do?
• Read a lot
• Write a lot
• Look for patterns
• Know many high-frequency words
• Know if a word looks right
• Listen for sounds they hear
• Know where to look to find a hard word (e.g., word wall, dictionaries)
• Take a risk
Here are the sample anchor charts:
What Do Good Writers Do?
• Like to write
• Write about things they know about or are interested in
• Draw and “talk out” their story (rehearsal)
• Decide whom they are writing for and what their writing will look like
• Share their writing with a partner, a conference group, or the teacher
• Read their first draft and ask, “Does it look right? Does it sound right? Does it make sense?”
What Do Good Editors Do?
• Use capital letters
• Check their punctuation
• Check their spelling
• Use complete sentences
• Write legibly
• Use interesting words
• Let somebody else read their story
What Do Good Spellers Do?
• Read a lot
• Write a lot
• Look for patterns
• Know many high-frequency words
• Know if a word looks right
• Listen for sounds they hear
• Know where to look to find a hard word (e.g., word wall, dictionaries)
• Take a risk
Monday, 16 January 2012
Learning Disabilities
If you were graded at singing, physical coordination, athletic ability, creativity, drawing ability, organization, spatial awareness, etc., how would you do on your report card?
Students who have learning disabilities often struggle with academic tasks. We need to build on their strengths so that they are successful at school.
When students are being tested for a learning disability, they are usually assessed based on the following 8 processing areas:
1. memory
2. processing speed
3. attention
4. executive functioning
5. phonological processing
6. language
7. visual-motor skills
8. visual-spatial/perceptual skills
If a child is having an issue with one (or more) of these processing skill areas, it may be a possible sign that the student has a learning disability.
Interesting facts:
- most students with learning disabilities have average or above average intelligence (many are also diagnosed as gifted)
- accommodations allow these students to be successful at the curriculum
- students with learning disabilities will be strong in some subjects and when completing some tasks, while having difficulty with others
Students who have learning disabilities often struggle with academic tasks. We need to build on their strengths so that they are successful at school.
When students are being tested for a learning disability, they are usually assessed based on the following 8 processing areas:
1. memory
2. processing speed
3. attention
4. executive functioning
5. phonological processing
6. language
7. visual-motor skills
8. visual-spatial/perceptual skills
If a child is having an issue with one (or more) of these processing skill areas, it may be a possible sign that the student has a learning disability.
Interesting facts:
- most students with learning disabilities have average or above average intelligence (many are also diagnosed as gifted)
- accommodations allow these students to be successful at the curriculum
- students with learning disabilities will be strong in some subjects and when completing some tasks, while having difficulty with others
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