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Opening Remarks
Darcy Bradley
Dear Colleagues and
Friends,
We’re pleased to
start another Conversation with the Authors, in this case Debbie Freeman
and
David Matteson, who are co-authors of
Assessing and Teaching Beginning
Writers: Every Picture
Tells a Story and
Assessing and Teaching Beginning
Readers: A Picture is Worth 1000 Words. If you
haven’t
already, you can read a chapter on-line from each book without charge by
visiting the
professional books part of our website at
www.rcowen.com.
Besides writing
books and articles together, David and Debbie have made many national
conference
presentations together, most recently at IRA. Currently, Deb
is a preschool teacher and staff
developer for the Arlington Independent
School District in Texas and David is a staff developer
through The
Learning Network. Both of these wonderful colleagues and people have
lots of
experience with teaching young children as well as working with
the teachers who instruct them.
Recently, David was in the Bellingham
area working with the Bellingham all day kindergarten teacher
group as
well as offering an all-day workshop for K-1 teachers. Since I got to
attend these sessions,
I was able to add a lot of visual detail to what
I learned from reading David and Deb’s books!
We hope as we post
the first question and response, that you will pose questions to David
and Deb
and the group, as well as offer your own thoughts, suggestions,
and clarifications to what I anticipate
will be a great, practical, and
thoughtful discussion focused on what we know, what we want to know,
what we think we know about how to provide best support to our early
literacy learners and those who
teach them.
Look for another
posting from us shortly! Hope everyone had a restful and warm
Thanksgiving….
Cordially, and where
it is unusually cold, snowy, frozen, and occasionally without power in
my office in
the usually temperate and lovely North West! (Our whole
county has not had school for 3 days, which
is unheard of!!)
Darcy
Darcy H. Bradley,
Ph.D.
Acquisitions Editor
Richard C. Owen Publishers, Inc.
C/O 5811 Giarde Lane
Bellingham, WA 98226 USA
360-592-3001 or 800-262-0787 (9-5 EST)
darcybradley@earthlink.net
"Teaching can be likened to a conversation in which you listen to the
speaker carefully
before you reply." M.M. Clay, 1985 |
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DEB and DAVID
Darcy
Thank you, Darcy, for the invitation to participate in this listserv
discussion and thanks to Richard C. Owen Publishers for hosting this
event. We have been looking forward to the conversation with eager
anticipation. We know there are many knowledgeable educators on this
listserv who will help make this a lively few days. All of you who are
reading this, please participate--send us questions and comments and
please be sure to provide us with feedback that challenges and confirms
the exploration of ideas about early literacy.
Debbie and David |
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DARCY
So, colleagues and readers, what would you add or ask based on this
posting? What new
questions do you have? We welcome your postings....
David and Deb: Both of you have
extensive experience working with literacy learners from ages
3-6 and
the educators who also work with that age group. In your opinion, what
are the most
critical elements for an effective early literacy learning
environment? How do you hope
your books on assessing and teaching
beginning readers and writers will help educators
of this age group?
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David and Deb
From
David and Deb:
The current research on oral language is clear—the
better a child’s oral language, the more likely a
child will succeed in
school. The extent to which the teacher can intentionally build in and
build on
opportunities for oral language is the most critical
element particularly in an early learning environment.
So, when we are
designing classroom learning areas or planning learning experiences for
our students
how much
thought or planning is intentionally
given to developing their oral language? It seems that
there is usually
an outcome for learning areas and learning experiences but, more times
than not,
the outcomes are focused on developing a product such as an
art project at the art table, a block
structure at the block center, the
writing of spelling words at a spelling center, and/or writing in
a
writing journal, but not necessarily with the same intention for
developing oral language.
David’s Example:
Just
recently I was working with a kindergartener. I noticed he had a scrape
on his arm and I asked
him about it. He said that he went flying off the
merry-go-round. I asked him how that happened
and he said that a “big,
bad” first grader had pushed it too hard. I told him that it sounded
like a
good story to write about and asked him to draw a picture about
it. He drew a pretty good picture
of himself on the merry-go-round with
the big, bad first grader right next to it. After he was finished
I
asked him to tell me the story once more. Again, he said he went flying
off the merry-go-round. I
asked him if he was going “as fast as the
wind.” With his eyes opened wide, he said yes. I said,
“Let’s put that
in your picture!” and I picked up a gray crayon and drew some circles
around the
merry-go-round. I asked him if that looked like he was going
“as fast as the wind”? He said yes
and wanted to know if he could draw
the wind too. I asked him to finish his story first. “You said
that you
were on the merry-go-round and you were going as fast as the wind. Then
what
happened?” He said that he went flying off. I asked how he could
show himself flying off the
merry-go-round. He thought for a minute and
said with a big smile on his face, “I could make a
whole bunch off me
going off the merry-go-round.” He proceeded to draw three more of him
over the original picture of him which made it look like he was flying
off the merry-go-round.
When I asked him what he would like to write he
said,” I was going as fast as the wind.”
For
young children, the oral language exchanges between student and teacher
are just as
important, if not more so, than the product being developed.
In this learning experience about
the telling of the “merry-go-round
incident” I wanted to extend the student’s language. I wanted
to extend
the story through the use of description. I was only able to do it
because of the picture
the student drew. The picture was the vehicle to
develop the story and, more importantly, the
kindergartener’s oral
language.
From
David and Deb:
Both
of our books, Assessing and
Teaching Beginning Writers (ATBW) and
Assessing and Teaching
Beginning
Readers (ATBR), give examples of learning areas and learning
experiences that are
designed to facilitate oral language. In every
example, not only is there a product involved but
oral language
exchanges that revolve around the product. Just like with the
merry-go-round story,
the teachers in the learning situations in our
books have planned for the oral language exchanges
based on their
understanding that many of the characteristics of emergent readers and
writers
revolve around conversation/talk and the use of pictures
(drawing them or interpreting them from
text). |
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DARCY
Dear Colleagues,
Please note: David
and Debbie are in different locations which makes responding in the same
email
a challenge, so we are likely to get many separate responses from
them. We’ll appreciate that!
We’re off to a great
start!!
Best,
Darcy |
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JERI
Hi,
I also
wonder if teaching ages 3-6,
as mentioned before,
the critical elements would
also
relate to
teaching grades 1-3 or even
higher when the majority
of our
children are ESL or
ELL
learners where literacy has not
been a significant element in their previous
classrooms
and home lives.
Jeri |
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DEB
Jeri,
I believe that students who are in
grades 1-3 and do not have a strong command of English would
most
definitely benefit from having a teacher who focuses a majority of
instruction time on having
those students involved in conversations
that develop their oral language. When we think about
students who
are learning a new language there are many parallels to students who
may be younger
and are learning their first language. They are both
usually stronger in receptive language than in
expressive
language, and both are learning how to convey their messages to
someone else. While
those students may be older, the fact that they
are in the emergent stage of reading and writing
would make some of
the same practices appropriate. It would make sense to me if the
teacher
focused more on the comprehension aspect of reading and
writing as opposed to the mechanical
issues. I know that here in
Texas we are currently using the new DRA2 as an assessment. The
area of that new assessment where we see most weaknesses is in
retelling (oral language).
Interestingly, the
students who are often weak in retelling are able to answer isolated
questions that
contain the information that would make a good retelling--so they have
comprehended. I believe
that this shows that it is the oral language that needs more focused
attention during instruction.
It is the oral language, however, that is often the messiest to deal
with during instruction. As in
David's example of the merry-go-round, a teacher is definitely having to
think on the run and respond
to conversations from students that are always unknown until they
occur. It is just not something
the teacher can plan a response to ahead of time. All the teacher
can plan is to focus on the
conversation. I am reminded of a conversation that Marilyn Duncan
and I had when she visited by
classroom several years ago. When I was doing a rather feeble job
of responding to a student,
Marilyn said, "You are trying too hard, just talk to the kid. When
the kid says something, just respond
as you would if a friend had said something to you." Looking back
on that conversation with Marilyn,
I see that I was too worried about what I would take as dictation to
focus on the conversation.
Looking back at David's example we can see how he "just" talked to the
kid, but we can also see
the richness of a lesson that is meaningful to the student.
DEB |
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DAVID
Hi Jeri--
The critical elements Deb and I write about in our books have to do with
1) attention to visual detail,
2) oral language development, and 3) narrative and expository elements.
They apply to all learners
of all ability, all ages and all grade levels. Whether I'm working with
preschool or elementary school
or middle school, I consider these three areas when I'm working with
teachers and/or students.
Many of the assessments we use in our classroom have components that can
be linked to these
areas. When I am thinking about what a student may need next, I think
about these three areas
and what is needed to develop them. However, If I had any question about
any of these areas for
any student, especially in the primary grades and/or second language
learners, I wouldn't hesitate
to start assessing them with the continuums that are in our books. I'm
sure the results would give
any teacher something to think about with regards to these areas.
David |
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KATIE
Jeri,
I believe that students who are in grades 1-3 and do not have a
strong command of
English would most definitely benefit from having
a teacher who focuses a majority
of instruction time on having those
students involved in conversations that develop
their oral language.
Dear All:
My daughter married a Spaniard and resides in Spain. I have only
rudimentary command of Spanish.
When I am in Spain, I listen very hard
to the conversations as they swirl about me, but unless a
native speaker
really tries to draw me out, I never make an oral contribution. I know
that is hard
for some of you that know me well to believe! :)
When I am in Spain I read body language closely, I notice "context" and
can figure out many things
as I listen carefully and in context, but I
do not attempt to speak in Spanish. Why? a) feelings of
embarrassment
at how I will pronounce the words
b) lack of vocabulary c) lack of confidence.
I know that it would take a teacher doing to me what David described as
he interacted with the
young student before I would attempt to talk. I
also know that I would need that scaffolding to
make longer sentences in
Spanish. I would not know how to say "fast as the wind" in Spanish
even
if I wanted to....I would need to hear it through the ear, talk about
it, let it roll off my tongue.
So truly, I believe there is no difference in learning language whether
you are a preschooler as
David and Deb are describing or an adult in
Barcelona saying "como se dice....?" The things that
David and Deb are
describing as oral language for preschoolers, I need to help me as I
struggle in
a second language.
Katie |
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Hi everyone!
I want to step in for a second.... just a few seconds and remind
everyone about Krashen's theory of comprehensible input in his theories
of L2 acquisition. As an ELL myself, if what you are telling me or
trying to teach me makes no sense to me (somehow, I have to make a
connection, i.e. visual, orally like cognates, or in my background), I
will tune you out. So, Jeri, for all of our ELLs, we've got to make
connections i.e. pictures, oral language. If students' backgrounds is
weak in literacy, then we expose them to those elements just like
everyone else. However, they must make those connections. And by the
way, English is tough! I think we assume too much with our ELLs and
they need lots of support like what David is taking about. Once they
have some oral language and start making more connections, then we can
continue to build on what they know. Start by making connections to
their homes (Moll's funds of knowledge) and their culture. That is what
they are familiar with.
Okay, that's it! I took more than a second.
Dora
Austin, Texas
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DEB
Dora,
That is very well stated. Thanks for mentioning Krashen's theory--his
work is excellent. Also,
thanks for giving this monolingual teacher some of your personal
insight. I know when people
read the books that David and I have written they will notice in
Assessing and Teaching Beginning
Writers: Every Picture Tells a Story that we always work with the
picture, block structure, clay
piece or whatever the student has created. In this way we are always
working from what makes
sense to the student since this product has come from the student. It
is what really makes the
experience personally meaningful to the student. Something that I do in
my own classroom to help
make connections to the students' families and homes is to have parents
complete a paper that
asks for the names and relationship to the student of all the persons
who live in the home, any
relatives or friends that the student may talk about, and any the
activities that the student enjoys
participating in with the family or at home. I include in this note a
statement that says the more
the parent can tell me, the more I can help their child. Of course,
this task is easier for some
parents than for others. I have several contacts that can help me with
parents who speak
languages other than English. If need be, I get these parents and
contacts (usually other parents
or high school age siblings of other students who speak both English and
the other language--be
it Spanish, Vietnamese, Urdu, Arabic or whatever) and they are able to
complete the forms. It
truly makes a world of difference when I communicate with my students
and in their attempts to
convey their message to me. I remember a particular student that spoke
Spanish. He had drawn
a picture that included him and his dad. After several previous
sessions when I encouraged him
to use size and detail to differentiate himself and his parents, I was
able this time to recognize
that it was him and his dad. In addition, he had stated that it was him
and his Dad. However,
there was something roundish that he was standing in or on. It could
have been so many different
things--a table, a water puddle, a hula hoop, etc. I first asked if it
was a table. He was a bit
"dare-devilish", and I could have seen him standing on a table to jump
off. His response was to
nod his head--no. He kept repeating in Spanish, "Daddy buy at store".
I flipped in his writing
folder to the back page and noticed that one of the things he enjoyed at
home was his trampoline.
Still not wanting to assume too much, I asked if he could show me what he
was doing. He began to
jump up and down with his arms extended outward. I responded with, "you
are jumping on your
trampoline, right?" The smile on his face was enormous. I encouraged
him to say "trampoline".
Then I continued to talk about his trampoline and ask different
questions such as, "Do you like to
jump high or low (demonstrating each with hand motions). He responded
with the hand motion and
the word, "high". Together we added the lines to his picture that would
help indicate that he was
moving. I again repeated the English that explained his story, and he
appeared very happy that we
had communicated. Since I knew that he didn't speak a lot of English,
and we were working just to
make him comfortable in doing so, I did not move on to writing words at
the bottom of his work.
I labeled the picture so that I could converse with him about it in the
future. Our focus had been
on oral language. The writing would come just a bit later when he was
more able and confident
to verbalize in English what he was thinking. This did come and he soon
using letter sound
correspondence for speech bubbles within his drawings and for labels for
his block structures.
I hope this vignette puts meaning to what we refer to when we want to
make connections with
and for the child.
DEB--also in Texas |
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Fabulous! I wish more teachers would reach out and learn about what we
all bring with us to schools. BTW- I'm sure you know this- trampoline
is the same in Spanish...el (un) trampoline... Your description is so
vivid that I got a true picture of that little boy in my head.
Dora
in Austin, Texas, where the temperature is below freezing today
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I thank you for reinforcing what I do. I am an English speaker and have a class (school)
that is 95% Spanish speakers. I have been in this district where we totally believe in
scaffolding etc. It just seems that we get very little of the "academic" language of English.
I was glad to hear that one person brought up conversation that will help students. That appears
to be one area where we lack. I can see where that can work wonderfully. I can see that in my
conversations with students as well as working in dyads with student learning and sharing. I now
have a new goal with my students. I am also in total agreement as to the visual. I think that this
makes great sense as does tying learning to their foundations. I know that even as an adult
learner, I have a hard time understanding what is put before me if I have no foundation in that
area.
Thanks for the feedback.
Jeri
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DEB
Jeri,
I hope a specific example of how David and I encourage students in their
oral language in the post
in which I responded to Dora will be helpful to you. I am happy for your
students that you see the
benefit of development of their oral language. If you haven't read our
books, please visit the RC
Owen website where you can read a chapter from each for free. If you
think the books would be
of benefit to you,
you may also purchase them on the website.
DEB |
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CAROL
Hello
David and Deb--
I couldn't agree more about the need for oral language development. I
am wondering if you have
found Marie Clay's Record of Oral Language assessment useful in
your work. The ROL assesses a
child's control over selected structures of the English language by
having the child repeat back
increasingly complex sentences. My recollection is that it is for
children between 4 and 7 years
of age and Clay also states that it is of value for up to five years
after a child begins to learn English
as a second language. There is a more recent edition (last 3 or 4
years?) which includes more
American expressions as opposed to NZ English. If you have used it, how
do you analyze the
results; did it impact your own continuum that you refer to?
Carol Scott |
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DEB
Hi Carol,
I
am familiar with Record of Oral Language, but I have not personally used
it. I am not sure about whether David has used it. I am
afraid I know just enough to be dangerous. While my understanding
of ROL leads me to believe that Marie Clay was assessing the child's
ability to repeat increasingly difficult structures of language, the
work that David and I have done focuses on the child's ability to create
meaning with oral language. In both cases the focus is on oral
language but on different aspects.
I
have heard that Peggy Robertson in the Denver area has done some work
with the Record of Oral Language. If so, I hope she will share
regarding how she has used this assessment.
DEB |
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DAVID
Hi Carol--
It's been a long time--I hope you are well. It's also been a long time
since I have looked at Marie Clay's Record of Oral Language. I tried to
find my copy to help with this post, but at the moment I can't put my
hands on it. Being an former Reading Recovery Teacher, Marie Clay has
certainly had a tremendous impact on what I know about reading and
writing. I think much of her work is evident in our books as well as My
Pictures and Stories, a writing journal for emergent writers. But
probably more recently (and by recently I mean in the last 10 years or
so) I have been influenced by the work of my teachers Jan Duncan,
Marilyn Herzog Duncan, and Margaret Mooney, as well as various
researchers and organizations.
What motivates me today
as far as oral language development is concerned is what I understand
about narrative elements. These days when I visit with teachers of
emergent learners I spend a lot of time talking about instruction that's
developmentally appropriate and academically rigorous. To me that means
that much of the instruction of young children has to do with oral
language (that's the developmentally appropriate part) as it applies to
narrative and expository elements (that's the academically rigorous
part). I want my all my emergent readers and writers to understand how
stories work. I know that the more they understand stories, the better
readers and writers they will be. The example of the kindergartner being
pushed too fast on the merry-go-round was a good example of this. As I
listened to the story he told me--I went flying off the
merry-go-round--my thoughts went straight to what he knew about stories.
From that sentence I knew he had a character (himself--I), a setting
(the merry-go-round), and a significant event (flying off). I thought
about what he needed to make it a better story and I decided that it
lent it self for more description, especially sensory detail. I knew I
had made the right choice when he decided that he wanted his story to
say, "I went as fast as the wind."
Not too long ago I was
observing a teacher working with second language learners. She was
working in a small group and they were getting ready to carve a
pumpkin--a great oral language experience for second language learners.
It was a good lesson. When the teacher was through with the lesson we
talked about how we extend language. We talked about having a structure
to do that. The structure we discussed was the narrative
elements--character, setting, significant event, beginning/middle/end,
plot, theme, description, dialogue, and sensory detail. When I asked her
how any of those would have impacted her lesson with regards to
language, she immediately said description--I should have had the
students focus on describing the outside of the pumpkin (color, shape,
size) and maybe sensory detail for the inside (squishy, yucky).
Every time I work with
young learners I think about how I can advance what they understand
about how stories work. Whether the students are mainstream learners,
second language learners, or special education learners, I know that in
developing their "story" concept I am impacting their oral language.
David |
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MARCIA
Hi ya David, Deb, Carol and all,
David, you have hit upon something so
key here. It's not so much analyzing how the language
structure of a second language learner
fits into an English model, which, in my experience was what I experienced giving the Record of Oral
Language. Rather, it's about having narrative elements in one's head,
listening for his/her strengths as we
assess on the run, and teaching to the narrative element that the
student is oh so close to. More teachers of older
newcomers must get this method in their heads so older learners don't
suffer such humiliation. Of course the
proof of solid oral language instruction is the strong transfer to
drafting!
Good work!
Marcia in Dearborn
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DAVID
Hi-ya Marcia,
I liked your last line, "Of course the proof of solid oral language
instruction is the strong transfer to drafting!" That is exactly why I
do what I do with kid's oral language--developing the reader and writer.
Thanks.
David |
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CAROL
Marcia and David and Deb and other
friends old and new-
I am now wondering if you do any small group instruction to support the
development of the narrative element for these young learners; or is it
all pretty much one on one dialogue? If so, what does it look/sound
like?
Carol |
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DEB
Carol,
I am going to dive into how we try to develop the narrative elements
with the students' writing. Hopefully, David will discuss reading. Most
of the work that we do in PreK writing is more of a one-to-one nature.
In an earlier post to Dora in Austin, I detailed how I worked with a
student who had very limited English. My focus for him was to secure the
significant event of his story-that was his jumping on a trampoline. In
this conversation, David has told about a little boy and his scratched
arm from the merry-go-round incident. His focus was to have the student
add some descriptive language to his piece. These are both examples of
how we work with students individually. There are many more examples in
chapter 6 of Assessing and Teaching Beginning Writers. I hope these will
be of some help. David, would share about the work you are doing with
small groups in reading?
DEB |
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DAVID
Hi Carol and Deb-
That's it Deb, writing for the emergent learner tends to lend itself to
more one-on-one than does reading. When I'm working with students in
writing, I usually pull a small group together for the sake of time but
the work that's done is individual because each student has their own
story to tell. Reading is different. The reading I have been talking
about during this conversation has been mainly about teacher
demonstration and student independent reading in the classroom library
but I also meet with small groups in reading to further support my
students in playing at reading.
I can and do pull small
groups around a single text. I use wordless and semi wordless books in
PreK and kindergarten to "jumpstart" many students in feeling like
readers. These groups sound and look like many shared and guided reading
groups where students are reading the words. I use the same questions.
Students "read" in their heads and talk about what they "read". It's
pretty exciting to see a group of 4 and 5 year reading. Not too long ago
I was modeling a shared reading group in kindergarten. It was pretty
traditional. I was facilitating the students as we looked at the
pictures and read the words. There were many teachers watching including
a PreK teacher. The next day I was in that PreK teacher's classroom and
worked with a small group of 4 year olds with a wordless book. The
teacher was amazed at what her kids could do and how much it looked like
the kindergarten reading group she watch the day before.
Deb, you also mentioned
chapter 6. That is a good example of reading a wordless book in first
grade. The particular group discussed in that chapter could read words
but they weren't digging deep enough into the story, so I decided to use
a wordless book. Wordless books or semi-wordless books force the issue
of digging deeper because the readers are confined to the print. They
have to use the picture and notice detail that will support their
"reading". I don't think many of us have realized the power of wordless
or semi-wordless books for the emergent or early reader. They have been
invaluable in helping me truly understand the attitudes, understanding
and behaviors of emergent readers and writers.
David |
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CAROL
One can sure see the interrelatedness
of reading and writing in the use of wordless books for these emergent
learners. I would assume that reading wordless books in a small group
would also reinforce the understanding of narrative elements and support
the oral language development that is critical for beginning writers.
Thanks for sharing all this!
Carol |
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DARCY
Hi,
I am interested in Deb’s recent posting where she said:
“The area of that new assessment where
we see most weaknesses is in retelling (oral language). [You were
talking about the DRA2]. Interestingly, the students who are often weak
in retelling are able to answer isolated questions that contain the
information that would make a good retelling--so they have
comprehended.”
What do you and David and others think
are the characteristics of a good retelling and how it is fostered? And
maybe your take on why kids might be good at answering isolated
questions instead of providing a reasonable retelling? What is the link
between developing oral language and retelling skills?
I have been thinking about retelling
and its value, especially for little guys, for a long time. I am trying
to expand my view of what retelling means and how it is used to both
assess kids and to develop oral language.
Darcy
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NANCY
All,
Interestingly, the students who are often weak in retelling are able to
answer isolated questions that contain the information that would make a
good retelling--
I am interested too, in whether you
found this more in boys than in girls. Deborah Tannen in her book You
Just Don't Understand, talks about gender differences in the ability to
retell events. She says, boys (males) often stick to as Friday used to
say, " The facts man, just the facts," while girls naturally tend to
elaborate more. I often think we assess boys by expecting them to act
like girls.
Nancy |
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DEB
Darcy,
This is just my opinion of what would constitute a good retelling. I
believe that it would contain the narrative elements found within the
given text. I would hope to hear or read something that included the
setting and the characters. It should also contain the problem or
significant event. The story events should be in good sequential order,
and I would also like to hear some of the book or story language
included. This might include some dialog or sensory detail language from
the story. If I were having PreK students retell the story of Goldilocks
and the Three Bears, in addition to the characters and setting, I would
want to hear some of the following phrases: "but this porridge was just
right" and "but this chair was just right". Depending on the number of
times that the student had heard the story, I might even look for
expression or character voices in the retelling. Of course this would be
an oral retelling. I am not sure at what grade level the retelling
switches from oral to written when administering the DRA2. I know that
we have several teachers from AISD who administer the DRA2 in their
classes and are on this listserve. Possibly they will comment on what is
expected for retelling in this assessment. Cindy Brown and Sally Reasor
can you help us out?
DEB |
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DEB
Darcy,
Sorry that I got trigger
happy and sent that last response off before I completely responded. I
am wondering if students are able to answer isolated questions but
unable to give a good retelling because they are not used to doing so.
This might be a reflection of what has been expected of them up to this
point. If they have been in classrooms where tests/assessments have only
asked for isolated answers, then being left to their own devices to
formulate this retelling is like testing what hasn't been taught. Even
in classrooms where there is lots of conversation, there may have not
been the expectation that students would retell a story from beginning
to end, but only discuss certain parts of the story. As David has
emphasized, the narrative and expository elements should be what drive
our conversations with students. If these elements are constantly in the
forefront of our conversations about the students' writing or their
reading, then these elements will be a natural way for them to express
their thoughts. I think this would be the link between oral language and
retelling.
DEB |
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DAVID
Darcy--
I think you are right in wanting to expand your view of what retelling
means for assessing kids and developing oral language. I was not too
surprised by Deb's comments on the weakness with retellings, as upper
grade teachers often talk of comprehension issues with many of their
students. For me, playing at reading is a developmentally appropriate
way to get students to retell stories which can have a significant
impact on later instruction and learning.. With the appropriate support,
playing at reading can act as an independent activity within the
classroom library that supports many emergent behaviors. These emergent
behaviors are the foundation for later reading behavior.
If you look at the
descriptors for emergent reading behavior there is a strong emphasis on
comprehension, such as retelling. For example, emergent reading
behaviors include: plays at reading, handles books confidently,
interprets pictures, uses pictures to predict, retells a known story in
sequence, develops a memory for text, focuses on some detail, explores
new books, returns to favorite books, chooses to read independently at
times. When Deb described her understanding of retellings, she touched
on many of these descriptors. But I wonder how much of the time these
descriptors of emergent behaviors are a focus of our instruction? I
especially wonder about this when you look at the attitudes of emergent
readers and writers. Do our youngest readers (PreK and kindergartners)
feel like readers and writers? I think getting kids to play at reading
through the retelling of stories goes a long way in helping children
feeling like readers and writers as well as extending their language.
I am working with a
district preschool in Colorado who is working on supporting their
students in the retelling of stories through repeated readings. The
expectation is that some stories will be read four times. The first
reading is introducing the book to the students. The second reading is
helping students make connections to the text. The instruction on these
first two readings focuses more on the whole group. The third and fourth
readings are more student directed and may occur in small group. During
the third reading, students work with the teacher on interacting with
the book where the student may take over some of the reading. The fourth
reading has to do with extending the book which would include some sort
of activity--art/gross motor/play. The book will ultimately end up in
"favorite book section" of the classroom library for the student to
practice retelling the story with a reading partner.
David |
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Deb,
I'm glad Darcy brought up retelling, as this is an area I've been
thinking a lot about lately also. How good a measure of comprehension
do you feel retelling gives us? Is it possible to "do well" on a
retelling rubric and not have a deep understanding of a story and vice
versa?
Kim Jankowski, Principal
Coburn School
39 Fairhome Avenue
Battle Creek, MI 49015
(269) 965-9731 |
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DEB
Kim,
In short, yes I do think that retelling can be a good measure of
comprehension. After you posed this question there was excellent post by
Cindy Brown. She discusses what constitutes a good retelling. If the
rubric used for retelling does not include the points she mentions
(especially the inferencing; connections; and the author's main idea,
message, or lesson) then a student could do well on a retelling rubric
and not have a deep understanding of the story.
DEB
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To All
As it seems many of us have been doing lately, I have
been really reflecting on the art of retelling--just
presented a professional development session on it
this week--and here is what my second graders and I
came up with for a good narrative retelling-
-readers tell the IMPORTANT parts of the story
(events)
-readers can pick out little details vs. big ideas
-readers use some of the characters' dialogue
-readers tell about the setting and if it changes
-thoughts you figured out about the story
(inferencing)
-readers tell about connections
-readers tell who the characters are--use their NAMES
-readers tell the author's main idea, message, or
lesson
-readers tell how the problem gets fixed
we came up with this list based on the narrative
elements we have studied and our knowledge of what
makes a good personal narrative in our writing.
At this point in second grade, most of their retelling
is oral-either one-on-one or collaboratively as a
class or small group with me recording. The DRA2
switches to written responses at the end of second
grade level (DRA 28--BYL F4). I think a good
retelling has to show the readers ability to synthesize
and make connections--it can't just be a literal
recounting of the text. If the student doesn't
include inferential thinking in the initial
retelling, I ask them questions to see what they know.
The DRA 2 comprehension piece includes sections on
reflection and interpretation in addition to the
summary or retelling (depending on the level). As Deb
stated, this is the area that we see needs a lot of
growth--teachers are frustrated at the written
response part, especially. I think it all goes back
to the child's oral language development. If they
can't say it, they can't write it!
I seem to remember at some point Jan Duncan or maybe
Bonnie or Marilyn saying that Marie Clay is not a fan
of retelling immediately after a running
record...anyone have any thoughts on this?
Cindy B.
in Arlington with Deb
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KATIE
Dear All:
I am going to play devil's advocate on
"retelling". I am an avid reader. Right now I am reading a book about
the Roman empire that fascinates me. However if I were forced to do a
retelling I would probably fail it, as measured by a rubric.
I could tell you many thoughts and
reactions I have had regarding events I am reading about. I could tell
you how I have made some connections for myself to current ways of life
and old Roman habits.
I am simply cautioning. I believe it is
important to:
a) have conversations with students
about books
b) listen carefully to what students
say about books they read
c) pay particular attention to whether
or not the books students are reading impact their lives....do the books
touch them? make them question? leave them wanting more? If I succeed as
a teacher in finding books that do those things and more, I will have
created an unquenchable desire to read in my students....and that's my
goal....to support students to want to read for the rest of their lives.
Katie |
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DEB
Katie,
Thanks for your "devilish" nature. We all need someone to play devil's
advocate from time to time. This comment of yours:
I could tell you many
thoughts and reactions I have had regarding events I am reading about. I
could tell you how I have made some connections for myself to current
ways of life and old Roman habits.
leads me to believe
that if you were in fact assessed using a reliable rubric that you would
indeed not fail. While I agree with you that in a perfect world we would
only need to sit and:
a) have conversations
with students about books
b) listen carefully to
what students say about books they read
c) pay particular
attention to whether or not the books students are reading impact their
lives....do the books touch them? make them question? leave them wanting
more? If I succeed as a teacher in finding books that do those things
and more, I will have created an unquenchable desire to read in my
students....and that's my goal....to support students to want to read
for the rest of their lives.
However, the world in
which we live requires that we use assessment instruments that are
standardized or norm referenced. And given the choice between many of
the publishers "end of unit tests" and a rubric such as those found in
DRA2, I would always opt for DRA2.
DEB |
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NANCY
Katie,
I agree completely. Although no one responded to my comments on gender,
research shows it is critical, and we often short change boys in areas
such as retelling. We also need to have boys retell books that have
stories or information they can connect to. Those DRA stories often
don't provide topics or themes kids like. Many of them are awful. Have
one of the boys in the class retell the story of the details of scoring
the winning goal in the soccer game he played the night before, and
you'll get a much better idea of his ability to retell than you will
having him retell the story he read of shopping for shoes. I would also
suggest that it is just as important to remember is the "to" in the "to,
with and by" in retelling. We need to constantly model, just like we do
in reading and writing, what a good retelling is. A colleague of mine
suggested this some time ago, and it made a tremendous difference in the
students' retelling when I modeled what a great, average and mediocre
retelling sounded like, according the rubric I was using as required by
my district. Just like in reading and writing, it needs to be modeled
over and over. I read the rubric to the students, then I usually start
with a retelling of a popular fairy tale and continue through the weeks
by using any read aloud that we have done in class. When they seem to be
getting it, I ask for volunteers in the class to do the retells after a
read aloud. It is amazing how they get better and better. Of course
first we have to decide, just what is important!
Nancy |
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CINDY
Nancy and Katie-
I think you both bring up some very important points. The first being
that the conversation is what's important--collaboratively retelling a
story as a class after a reading demonstration should be a cornerstone
of teaching retelling. Let's also put out there that not every story
should be retold--any type of follow-up to great books can take the joy
out of reading when it is overused. I also think that what Nancy brings
up about text selection is important--although most standardized
assessments don't allow students to choose the text they respond to, I
do think that we get much better responses from children when they feel
ownership in the text selection. I'm not here to defend the DRA2, but it
is a reality for us in my district and a huge step forward from our
previous assessment-the TPRI (Texas Primary Reading Inventory). It does
have the students choose the text they will read (from 2/3 teacher
selected books) and has a variety of fiction and non-fiction from the
end of first grade and up. Of course it is not perfect, but at least it
supports the whole reading process-comprehension being at the forefront
before, during, and after the reading. The continuum and focus for
instruction pieces are wonderful tools for evaluation and planning for
instruction. But as I stated at the beginning of this post, the most
important part of reading instruction should be the conversations-teach
with a student or group of students, students with each other, and
students with themselves before, after, and during the reading. So many
kids think reading is something that "happens" TO them, not a
constructive process. Deb and David-how do you see the instruction for
these young readers helping them to construct meaning while reading from
the beginning...
Cindy |
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KIM
Thanks for your comments about this.
This is something I've been struggling with for a while. I just find it
incredibly misleading if a teacher assumes a child's comprehension based
on just the retelling...it is ONE snapshot. I sometimes find that
students don't "do well" on the rubric but if you ask them questions,
they CAN have a deep understanding of the text. So, then, comes the
dilemma for me...how much time do I spend teaching HOW to retell....is
retelling itself a skill that is important for all students to be able
to do...or is it deep comprehension we are going for and if they have
that, then do we spend the time teaching them to retell?
Kim |
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RACHELLE
David, others,
Please elaborate on narrative and
expository elements you're listening for: do you mean: characters,
problem, solution, setting, etc.? And as far as expository, tell me
more, too, please.
Rachelle |
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DAVID
Hi Rachelle,
Yes, I am referring to characters, problem or what I call significant
event, solution, setting, beginning/middle/end, plot, theme,
description, dialogue, and sensory detail. When I work with young
children, my first priority to help them develop a sense of story.
Whether they are playing in centers, or "reading" in the classroom
library or "writing" through the drawing of pictures, or just plain
talking, I am running what they say through my mental list of narrative
elements (taken from Text Forms and Features by Margaret Mooney). My
feedback will usually be something that enhances those elements. For
example, when a child comes in from recess crying, I will ask them to
tell me what happened. I usually say something like start from the
beginning--what happened first.? Then what happened? How are we going to
make it end up alright? This is sequence--beginning middle and end. I
could also say the same thing for description. Do I hear description
coming through the child's conversations? It sounds funny but the things
that happen to us are stories. It is from their lives, and ours as
teachers, that we can help understand we all have stories to tell and
the best way for me to help kids tell their stories is through narrative
elements. My favorite quote in ATBR was found by my wife. It is by
Richard peck. It states, "Most of who we are is determined in those
first five fleeting years. A six year old who doesn't already know what
a story is will have grave difficulty following the plot line of
school."
I know the more they
know about how stories work, the more prepared they will be as they
begin more formal instruction. If they understand story, their
predictions in reading will be more exact and the better they will be
able to check on themselves and confirm and/or self-correct. In writing,
their planning will contain more detail which will effect the quality of
their writing. Because they know that stories happen a certain way, the
"I went to Kmart stories" will be far and few between. That is why I
spend most of my time in PreK and the beginning of kindergarten
focusing on narrative elements. Understanding how stories work doesn't
happen overnight. As far as expository elements are concerned I focus on
the following list: a focused topic, titles that are usually simple and
self-explanatory, a table of contents, pictures or diagrams that contain
supportive information, key words that are repeated often, text that
describes the topic, simple endings that sum up the "flavor" of the text
and connect to the beginning. I usually work with playing at reading
expository text when students are very good at using narrative text and
can tell a good story.
David |
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RACHELLE
David,
Thanks for the thorough elaboration on text elements.
Rachelle |
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Good Evening,
I currently teach Kindergartners in
Center, Colorado, a rural southwestern community. I would like to have
David and Deb's outlook on the modeling process in writing. Currently,
our Kindergarten teachers have visited classrooms in other schools in
our area, and the modeling of writing looks different in each. What
techniques should be used to enhance student learning?
Thank you,
Cheryl Shearin
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DAVID
Good morning Cheryl,
This is a great question. Like all good teaching my writing
demonstrations start with assessment. The assessment I use is the
writing continuum in ATBW. As I talked about in other posts, I want to
know where my kids are with regards to their work (the drawings or
constructions they make) and their oral language development. Depending
where my students are in those areas, my demonstration might be called
more of a story demonstration. A story demonstration differs from a
writing demonstration in that it's more a picture than a plan. It holds
more detail which includes the use of color. The extra detail is
important because it acts as an "anchor" the students need to help tell
their story. Color is important because it adds to the description or
the sensory detail that I'm trying to illicit in my student's stories.
In my story
demonstrations I tell my story as I draw my picture. I talk about what I
need to put in my picture. The narrative elements guide me in know what
I need to include. Many times I incorporate words within the pictures--I
might need to label something in the picture or use speech/thought
bubbles, or have noises coming out of something. I save the ending as the
part I write down. I try not to tell the "punch line" of the story until
I'm ready to write. I do this because I want to keep my student's
attention until the very end. I want them anticipating all the way
through my story. The ending I write down usually consists of one
sentence, which I write below the line. Often I will have one or two
students come up and orally retell the story I have just written
supporting their effort.
In working with
emergent writers Deb and I discovered that many children do not
understand that plans result in writing which result in published books.
We came to the conclusion that we were jumping way over children's head,
way too fast. If a child can't draw and doesn't have a fairly
well-developed oral language, it didn't make sense to put them through
what we thought of as the traditional writing process and in traditional
journals. For these emergent students, the picture is the finished
product. When the students finishes drawing the picture and telling the
story, either the teacher takes diction or the student "writes"
underneath. This is why My Pictures and Stories was created as a
student's first journal in PreK and/or kindergarten.
David |
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DARCY
David and Deb,
This
question was posed to you through my work messages: Do you think there
is a sequential order in which one should introduce the alphabet,
digraphs, and blends to K-1 students? Are there some letters that should
not be taught together? and What is the role of letter and sound
learning/teaching in preschool?
Thanks!!
Darcy |
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VIRGINIA
I am wondering do you focus on
encouraging children to add lots of detail to their planning before
teaching them to write a simple phonetic thought about their 'story'?
Virginia Hernandez
Camelview Kindergarten |
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DEB
Hi Virginia,
Absolutely! We want our
students to have pictures and stories that are rich with detail. In
Assessing and Teaching Beginning Writers we do, however, make a
distinction between what we refer to as detail critical to the story and
detail within any given object in the picture. In one of the age-old
early childhood assessments--"Draw a Person" (actually I think it was
originally referred to as "Draw a Man"), the point was to note how
advanced the drawing of a person appeared. The assessor was looking for
things such as: a body with arms, legs, hands, fingers, feet. Also noted
in this assessment were things about the head such as eyes, nose, mouth,
ears, eyelashes, eyebrows, etc. I think you get my point. With this
assessment there was not a story to go with the drawing. Our focus is to
combine the picture/product with a story (oral language). The detail
that we refer to as critical is the detail that David often refers to as
the "anchor" for the student to remember the story over time. As we did
the action research that led to the development of our continuum for
writing, one of the things that we noticed was the inclination of
students to draw what appeared to be very similar pictures (a group of
people standing in mid-air). These similar pictures would not have any
detail that helped the student remember next week or next month that
this was the story about falling and getting hurt and not the story
about a fun day at the park. So our desire here would be for the student
to add the scratch to their leg, arm, or wherever. This detail of the
scratch would help the student to remember the story over time. In
addition we would focus on the facial expressions of the characters.
More than likely the story about the falling and getting hurt would not
include smiling faces. The one about the fun day at the park might
include smiles all around. We found that the richer that detail within
the picture, the more likely the student was to remember the story over
time. As far as the writing of a simple phonetic thought, we might first
choose to have the student label something with the picture or even
include a speech/thought bubble where they make their first attempts at
sound letter correspondence. One or two words within the picture is much
less daunting than a sentence. Once comfortable with this we would move
to the thought or sentence.
DEB |
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DAVID
Hi Virginia--
I look at the emergent
stage of reading and writing developmentally. Before I work with any
student, whether they are in PreK, kindergarten, or first grade, I want
to know what they understand about how stories work. The first thing I
do before I work with students is to ask them to draw a picture about
something. After they are done I ask them to tell me the story that goes
with the picture. This gives me an assessment sample of where my focus
needs to be. If their pictures aren't well developed and/or they have
limited oral language I am going to work in those areas first.
If these students are
in classrooms traditional writing journals where students are planning
for their writing, my focus would be on getting as much detail into the
plan as possible in order for them to tell me a story. For the most part
I would take dictation for these students after the picture or plan is
finished. I don't necessarily write down the whole story but the most
important part. For these students the writing isn't the most important
part of their learning, but if I'm worried about getting some
sound/letter connections going with these students, I (or the student)
can write in the picture or plan in the form of labeling, speech/thought
bubbles or noise coming from some detail in the picture. I can use an
alphabet card to help the student with sounds in the picture as easily
as I can when students are writing their story below the plan. As their
pictures or plans and oral language improve, I would go with less detail
in the plan and work more on the writing. Hope this helps.
David |
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JANE
We have been working on critical detail
the end of last year and this. It is a huge step forward in our writing
IMHO. And most of the kids really get it. I feel silly saying those
words, "critical detail" to four and five year olds, but they are
learning the meaning.
Jane Clarke |
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N CANEL
Hi
Seems there are different opinions on inventive spelling for PreK and
Kinders. What is your opinion on inventive spelling, and should the
teacher write under the inventive spelling, in parenthesis, the correct
spelling?
N Canel |
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DAVID
Hi N
As I see it, teachers are helping students come to understand how
stories work. Most of the work for the emergent writer is helping kids
tell stories through pictures and/or constructions. In the beginning the
teacher takes dictation about the child's story in an effort to help
students understand that print has meaning. As the child's work and oral
language improves, the teacher fosters the student's ability to do more
of the writing. In my mind, once the child begins to write his/her own
story, whether it is scribbles, letter letter-like forms, or random
letters, the teacher would not write on the same page as the student. At
this point, the teacher would either write the story in her monitoring
or anecdotal notes so she can help the child recall the story at a later
point or be publishing the student's story in a little blank book that
would house the student's story with correct spelling. I publish the
student's story away from the student's writing because I want my
students to feel like writers. I want them to have ownership of their
writing. I want them to be risk-takers. I want to develop good attitudes
in my young writers. For many emergent writers, writing on the same
paper they wrote their story doesn't achieve the attitudes that they are
capable and that they can do. Once the student has lots of skills and
had many good experiences than I am more comfortable with writing on the
same paper they wrote on. This is usually when students are at the early
stage of writing.
David |
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JERI
Hi
I agree with keeping their work separate. I taught kinder for many, many
years. I treasured their temporary spelling as did they. If we can honor
them as writers, they too will honor themselves as writers. We set that
foundation for them. Then we published their writing so that everyone
could read their works. I always told them they were special because we
could read all types of writing but not every one could, thus the
published piece. They really felt special about being able to read their
works.
Jeri |
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ELVIA
David:
I like your post! When you publish in the little books, do you write
their stories over with correct spelling? Then do they illustrate it?
What happens there? I never know how to get to the published stage with
young ones, and fear redoing their work will make them feel that they
did it wrong. How have you experienced this?
Elvia Padilla-Medel
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DAVID
Thanks Elvia--
I always worry about making my students feel like they are wrong but I
try to establish a positive learning environment from the get-go. I
start out slowly. At the very beginning of the year my students draw
pictures and tell their stories orally while I take dictation. Soon
after they understand how that works, I work on getting my students to
start doing their own writing. I have them add writing to the picture
before moving them to write under the picture. I have them incorporate
labels, speech/thought bubbles, and/or noises to the picture which
usually adds to the voice of the piece. When they start writing under
the picture (which isn't too long into the school year) I start
publishing them and yes, in correct spelling. I publish right in front
of them so I can make a teaching point, like using a sound (alphabet)
card to help get to a beginning, ending, or medial sound. As an aside, I
also use the sound card when students are adding writing to their
pictures. After I have published their words in correct spelling they do
go off and illustrate. Hope this helps.
I almost forgot--a good
resource for publishing kindergarten students is The Kindergarten Book
by Marilyn Duncan. I'm sure it would be a huge support. David
David |
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MARYANN
Hello All,
I also agree with keeping notes
separate from the child's writing. As for spelling in kinder, around
Oct. or Nov. there are several children that are ready for the task of
taking on conventionally spelled words. I use a personal teacher made
spelling book that houses 2-4 words that come from the child's writing.
This makes is personal and the student will feel more ownership in the
practice of conventional spelling in their personal writing.
I am in new district that is just
barely beginning to understand that this writing and literacy centers is
going to be a key change, eventually. I have continued my own
understandings of writing, but I am feeling pressured to follow the
group plans, and that means more phonics and table work than I like to
pursue. Maybe someone has gone this transition, like me, and give me
some suggestions on how to get fully back in to an orally rich and story
exploration setting. I have an understanding of why writing emersion is
important, but have difficulty relaying the information to others.
Thanks for you help
Mary Ann Lovelady in Crowley (moved
from Arrington) |
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DEB
MaryAnn,
I personally have not
gone through a transition like you mentioned. I have always been in a
district and a building where the literacy practices that we are
discussing are embraced. I am certain that it must be difficult to get
pressure to do what you do not feel is best for students. I was
wondering if perhaps you were to share a copy of Marilyn Duncan's
Kindergarten Book with your new colleagues if that might open a dialog.
Once you all got started talking perhaps they would be interested in
trying some new ideas. Good luck.
Deb |
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MICHELLE
David,
how does this then work for 1st graders? Do you correct spelling and
grammatical errors in their writing? We do writer’s workshop in my
classroom. Once the students write a piece, they bring it to me for
editing. This is when I help them with errors and then send them on to
do the final copy. However, when they write in their journals, I do not
make corrections on them; only positive comments are made. Is this
appropriate?
MICHELLE |
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DAVID
Good morning Michelle--
I think what you're
doing is very appropriate. What I am also talking with teachers about
these days is working upfront with students to ensure they have more
success as writers. I refer to it as "frontloading" instruction. I think
many times we wait until the end of writing to help students become
better writers. But for many students is be too late--the work is done.
More often than not the writing is not quality. Many times students
don't want to fix or change their stories. The "things" to fix seem
overwhelming. They don't feel successful. By spending more time with
students up front, we are creating more opportunities to "frontload"
they things they need to produce better writing, less fixing at the end.
They become empowered. Because "frontloading" involves meeting and
talking with students, it becomes our support to help students develop
more oral language. When we are fixing things after the fact, the
conversation can be limited. With "frontloading" the questions I ask
teachers are: Are we holding conferences before they write? How much are
we helping our students with topic selection? How much are we helping
them find the voice in the piece during the topic selection? When they
do have the topic, do we brainstorm the words (vocabulary/description)
they might use? Do we brainstorm what word spellings might be
challenging for them? The list could go on. What do others think about
this kind of instruction?
David |
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MICHELLE
David,
I really like the idea of meeting with students to brainstorm before
they begin writing. Maybe it is because I'm only in my 2nd year of
trying writer's workshop, but it is really hard to manage the process
(without a classroom aide). I've got children waiting in line for a
variety of purposes: to ask me a question, needs help with editing, or
need their final drafts looked over. I cringe at the thought that now I
have more kids waiting to write a piece because they want to brainstorm
words with me. Could you tell me how Writer's workshop would look as a
process for a class of 17 first graders (and no aide)?
Thanks!
Michelle |
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DAVID
Hi Michelle,
I understand about the lines forming--that is probably the biggest draw
back to writers workshop. It was hard to keep up with everyone writing
at the same time, so in my classroom I used my centers as a vehicle to
manage the reading and writing instruction. I had student planning
sheets that the students used to prioritize what they had to do for the
day. On their sheets were learning centers or areas like: Classroom
Library, Book Boxes, Old Spelling Word Practice, New Spelling Word
Practice, Listening, Computer, Draft Book, etc. First thing in the
morning my students got their planning sheets and numbered what they
were going to do first, then second, then third and so on. With this
kind of a system I was only working with two groups of students a day.
Even though monitoring centers was a hard, it wasn't are hard as trying
to service the whole classroom in writing. Working with 2 small writing
groups a day was much more manageable.
David |
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PENNY
Have you heard of Lucy Calkins Units of
Primary Study? We're implementing this district wide this year and all
grade 1 teachers are finding it extremely helpful with their students
writing success.
Penny Antell, Ed. S. Reading
Coordinator K - 5
D.C. Everest School District 8602 Schofield Ave, Schofield, WI 54476
715-355-0302 ext. 5883 pantell@dce.k12.wi.us |
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MICHELLE
No, I have not. Is that something I
could get from Barnes and Noble?
Michelle |
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DEB
Darcy,
These are two great questions. I wish I knew who asked, but they know
and I hope they are watching for the reply. Because I think the
questions are somewhat related and the answer to question two will flow
into the answer to question one, I will answer in that order.
In preschool or for any
student who doesn't have a bank of letter/sound knowledge I feel the
best place to start is with each students own name and then the names of
classmates and family members. When we use the names of students to
introduce letters and sounds, then the letters and sounds are in a
meaningful and relevant context. When we introduce letters in isolation,
students often have nothing to associate the letter with and have
trouble remembering the letter names. It is not uncommon for the PreK
year to begin with a parent who comes to me and says, "I tried to teach
him/her the alphabet this summer, but he/she didn't want to pay
attention or he/she couldn't remember them." If I ask about how they
studied, the parent responds with, "I got a workbook at the store."
Often these children can write their name, but do not even make the
connection between what they are writing and the letters. They can write
the character, but could not name the letter. In fact I have had some of
those same students who would say, "I can draw my name." The point is,
the parents had great intentions, but they didn't understand how to
motivate their children to want to learn the letters. It seems that the
child's name was important enough to the child so that he/she would
strive to learn to "draw it", but the parent just didn't know how to
make the connections to the letter names and sounds. So in PreK we start
our letter sound work with the names of the students. This is done
through choosing our helper for the day. If anyone is interested in the
procedure, I would be happy to post that. Just let me know. When I have
the first parent conferences of the year I give the parents sentence
strips with the names of all family members written on them. I ask the
parents to work with the names and letters much like we do in class.
Again, I will post if anyone is interested.
The above may have
answered the questions about the order used to teach letters. I think
the order to learn letters is based on the child's name. I know that
many of the commercially produced programs that have a letter/sound
component do give an order for teaching the letters. These orders are
usually based upon how the isolated sound for the letter is produced
within the mouth. Generally, the sounds that are the easiest to isolate
and pronounce are introduced first. The problem I have with this method
is that the letters and sounds are not introduced within a relevant
context for the students.
Hope this helps. I will
wait to see if anyone responds about the common methods for introducing
letters and sounds with Kindergarten writers. If not, I will address
that later.
DEB |
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RUBY
Michelle,
In my kindergarten and first grade class my students must have an idea
of what they are going to write before I let them off the rug after the
mini-lesson. Each tells me what the topic is before they leave, and I
jot it down. Once children leave the rug they must find a quite place
to write with one other person or by themselves. After children are
settled in and writing they are not allowed to walk the room. I do the
walking, moving from table to table and conferring with one child at
each. This allows other children to listen in on the conference and
learn too. When I confer, other children are not allowed to interrupt
and there is no "waiting line." The word wall is visible to all
children and each has an alphabet sound chart and (in first grade--I
loop) a personal word dictionary for adding words to remember.
Ruby |
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ELVIA
Deb
I asked them, because I have always been so uncomfortable with those
little letter introduction craft projects. I feel class time could be
better utilized, and have a hard time believing the kids will always
remember the letter M after making it in macaroni....but who knows,
maybe I'm wrong! I also do Star Name, where we study the child's name,
interview him or her, and make them a class book, where we draw them and
then write their name and our own. (lucy caulkins has featured this in
her art of teaching reading). But when you are faced with TPRIs, some
teachers feel that they need to teach the letters out of meaningful
context just to get em down. We also use Words Their Way, or are trying
to begin that this year...that has some nifty games that allow st. to
practice letter sounds, but again, you would have to be introducing a
few things per week, out of familiar context. What do you think of this
program?
Elvia Padilla-Medel |
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DEB
Elvia,
Thanks for your post. I couldn't agree with you more about the things
that are sometimes suggested as ways to teach letters. I always wondered
how successful it would be to make a b with beans or an m with macaroni.
But, I also know that resources abound that guide teachers to do just
that. It was the experience with my own children and grandchildren the
showed me how important meaningful context is in learning. Both my
children and grandchildren learned almost every letter name and sound
through the names of family members and friends. This was done in many
different ways. Sometimes writing those names, sometimes making them
with magnetic letters on the fridge, and sometimes even with the foam
letters that are sold for the bath tub (which happen to be great fro
your water table at school). Children can learn letters and sounds
without worksheets, crafts, or anguish....it is up to the adult to keep
it meaningful and in context. Once the student is "hooked" via the
names, we can then branch out to the letters not in someone's name. The
point is that we have helped them to become interested, and if a few
letters just need to be introduced--the students are ready for them.
DEB |
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MARTI
I just love the fact that the focus is
always on meaning within a relevant context. I have found this emphasis
very affirming of my understandings and the specific practices very
helpful.
Marti in NH |
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VIRGINIA
I know in my kinder classroom one of my
favorite things is writing. I do my model daily and the students draft
on various forms of paper depending on their instructional need (i.e.. a
blank paper with a picture box, a picture box with handwriting type
lines, a picture box with just writing lines, and lastly a
Beginning/middle/end plan with writing lines.) My students are all at
varying levels and I try hard to mini lesson with small groups daily
after my whole group lesson (my objectives usually are focused to the
upper middle of my class for whole group). I rove and take monitoring
notes which then help me to plan my small groups. I too 'publish' my
learners which I use as my teaching point time. Then we conclude writing
time with 'authors chair'. This is a happy block of learning time for me
=0). I am now trying as a teacher to balance this time with more
systematic explicit phonics instruction ( increasing success for my
learners on state mandated testing and hoping they connect it to their
reading and writing as well). I am trying to keep this time meaningful
and in context but still struggle. BTW I have the new Words Their Way
Emergent spelling book (published 2006), I am finding it very useful in
my kinder classroom
~Virginia Hernandez Camelview Kindergarten |
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MAUREEN
Hi Deb,
This has been such a worthwhile
discussion for me. I am in a relatively new position for me as a
Literacy Coach. I am trying to support teachers in a K-8 setting. It is
such a wide range that I am struggling to feel like I can adequately
serve all of the competing demands. I notice that the grades at either
end (K and 7-8 )often get neglected by me as I attempt to learn this new
position. This current online discussions has helped to shift my
thinking a bit more into looking at that emergent reader stage and
really think about it.
I would be very interested in learning
about the procedure you use in teaching the letter/sound connection via
students names. I also would love to get the info you share with parents
as to how they can support this process at home by using other
family names. So, if you don't mind, please go ahead and post it.
Also, my K teachers have mentioned to
me that they would like me to help them look at successful strategies
for increasing letter naming fluency w their students. They have
mentioned to me that they have focused a lot of their time so far on
teaching the letter sounds but are realizing that many of their students
can not actually name the letters. Suggestions?
Maureen Wearn Literacy Coach Beaverton,
Oregon |
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DEB
Maureen,
I am pleased that you have found this discussion worthwhile. I feel that
anytime teachers reflect upon their practices and dialog with others, we
all have the opportunity to grow. Good luck to you as you strive to work
with your teachers in such a divergent range as K-8. Now on to names.
In PreK we use
students' names as a vehicle to work on letter names and sounds. The
idea is that each day we choose one person who will be the helper of the
day. The reason I limit it to one person is that I really want to spend
a few minutes with the name and feel that if I have too many names to
deal with that I won't have every ones attention as we work. What we do
with helper's name changes as we progress through the year. I call the
times that I go through the entire class as a rotation. For example, I
have 20 students in my AM class and 21 in my PM class. This means that
it takes about 20 school days to go through one rotation of choosing
helpers. There are many skills that we focus upon as we go through the
rotations.
During the first
rotation, I focus on just recognizing the name. Immediately after we
take a brief look at the calendar (not the traditional Math Their Way
calendar, but one that is DAP and meaningful to the students) we need to
find out who is the helper of the day. I look at list of students and
mentally note whose turn it is. I do not announce the name--this keeps
the students from tuning out once they know who it is. I want them to
attend so I do not announce who it is until we have finished writing and
checked the name/picture cards. Instead I write the name. Next, we look
at the name/picture cards that displayed in front of the students. We
look over those cards to find a name looks like the name I have just
written. Most 4 year olds do not look past the first letter, so if their
name begins with that letter they are sure it is them. I hold one card
under the other and we compare. Then we look at the picture to see wh |
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