Oral Language

It was really interesting to read this chapter after our visit to Carrboro Elementary school! I have always heard that once a student reaches puberty, their ability to learn a foreign language is severely hindered. This means that while students are in elementary school, it is extremely important to teach students the correct sounds that letters make, the correct combinations of sounds to create words, and pretty much everything else about dialect that they will need to succeed later on in life. The two main influences that a student has in their development come from at home from their parents and at school from their teachers. All students come into the classroom with languages derived from their home culture and their various social backgrounds. These different backgrounds need to be recognized in the classroom as well as the “Standard English.” The correctionist approach works to correct a students “nonstandard” language to help them move towards “standard” English. This approach fails to recognize the different backgrounds that a student comes in with which need to be recognized considering the big influence that their home lives have on their learning. The contrastive approach on the other hand fails to recognize that children must know Standard English which is seen as the proper form of English and needs to be taught for standardized tests at least. I don’t know which one of these I agree with more, both taking a students home life into consideration and teaching them standard English are important.

When I got to the section on Cambourne’s conditions of learning, I couldn’t help but think about the classrooms that we saw at Carrboro. These classrooms are proof of how these conditions work to teach students different languages, English, Spanish, and any other languages they may want/need to learn. The first condition is immersion. This condition calls for the students to be surrounded by an authentic use of the language. Students need to hear and experience the language first hand which is what the students in the dual language classrooms have had since kindergarten. The second condition goes along with the first of immersion, and that is demonstration. The students need to hear how the language gets used in every day conversations and see that social interaction using the language. The third condition is the use of the language which the students at Carrboro have all but mastered. It was amazing to see these young students that have heard and interacted with a foreign language be able to speak it so fluently to their fellow classmates and their teacher. The rest of the conditions are also important and they were very apparent in the dual language classrooms. The students were taught in the foreign language, expected to speak and interact in the foreign language, and they were encouraged to ask questions in English about the Spanish words that they did not know the meaning of. These dual language classrooms are fascinating and really demonstrated what most of Chapter 2 talked about!

Teacher as a Reader #2

As I finished up the book, I realized that while I did enjoy reading it, I did not relate to the book that much. Most of the book is about Shakespeare and baseball, neither of which I am very interested it. I think that younger children, especially boys, would really enjoy it while being able to relate to the young boy, Holling, and his love of baseball. The book captures the reader with the underlying baseball story line, and then introduces them to Shakespeare. The students get to read about sports and they get to see that boys like them can also get into Shakespeare. The characters in the book are very much like many of the young boys in my class. They can relate to the main characters and see that they are very similar to them. The young girls on the other hand more then likely would not enjoy the book nearly as much as the young boys did. While I did enjoy it and there were some funny parts and there was a small romantic story line that went with it that might capture some of the girls, the majority of the book is Shakespeare and baseball.

After I finished the book, I started to think about whether or not I would have actually read this book when I was in 5th grade. Usually the first thing that I notice about a book is the front cover. In this case, the front cover and the book can be slightly misleading. The book looks like it is new and one might assume that it is about a boy in today’s times; however, the book is about a young boy growing up during the Vietnam War. Today, students might be able to relate to the characters because they are growing up in a time of war. The cover is not very interesting and does not give the reader a good idea about what the book is about. I also usually judged whether or not I am going to like a book based off the first few pages of the book. The first few pages of this book introduce the characters, along with the crazy different things that the students used to do to their teachers to get even with them which I think the students would really enjoy, I know I did! All in all, the book was interesting and may appeal to the boys more then the girls but for those that are into either baseball or Shakespeare, it is a great book!!

Bubbles, Bubbles, Bubbles

I was extremely nervous about the Bubble’s experiment that we were going to be doing with the students at Haw River. When we did the experiment in class, both I and several of my group members had a difficult time understanding everything about the experiment. If he did not understand what the experiment showed, how were we going to explain it to the 2nd graders that are more then likely not going to understand the experiment as well? I suppose that my worries with the experiment came from my lack of knowledge of surface tension, but the students had not been exposed to surface tension either and they knew nothing of it and I just think that this was a bad experiment to introduce them to it. They needed definitions and examples that we did not have time to give them BEFORE the experiment was done.

I was also nervous that Nicole and I would not be able to get the paper clip to float. If the paper clip did not float in the water, then there would have been no difference in the plain water and the soapy water. We did get the paper clip to float, but the students did not seem to grasp WHY the paper clip floated in the water and not in the soapy water. Part of them not understanding was mine and Nicole’s fault because we did not know as much as we should have about surface tension, but I wonder if the students still would have understood the lesson even if we had the knowledge to teach them.

This experience really taught me about how important content knowledge is!! The students did have a few questions that I managed to stumble my way through answering, but I was not able to answer them in a way that would actually teach them. I think that the lesson of surface tension was lost in our inability to teach the lesson and the student’s distraction with the bubbles. They LOVED blowing the bubbles both in the soapy water and then again with bubble solution. I think that this could be a good lesson to teach to students that are a bit older then second grade that have had the background lesson on what surface tension is, and if I knew more about surface tension and how/why everything in the experiment worked the way that it did.

Teacher as a Reader #1

I’m reading The Wednesday Wars by Gary D. Schmidt. The book follows a young boy living in what he calls “the perfect house.” His house lies exactly in the middle of the Jewish community and the Presbyterian community. Every Wednesday, half of the students at Camillo Junior High attend Hebrew school and the other half attends catechism at the Presbyterian Church. Holling Hoodhood however, does not and because of this, every Wednesday, Holling gets to spend the afternoon with Mrs. Baker. According the Holling, Mr. Baker hates him with a passion and because of that, she makes him read Shakespeare after school each Wednesday.

The book took a bit to get into. It was a slow start, setting up why Holling had to stay after school and why he hated staying after with Mrs. Baker. However, once the story really begins, the book picks up and I really am enjoying reading it. I can see why a student in elementary school or middle school might be able to relate to the book and as a result, really enjoy it! Everyone has had a teacher that they swear up and down HATES them and is always out to get them in everything they do. For me, it was my English teacher in middle school with diagramming sentences – and if I had to stay after school with her every Wednesday, I would dread going to school!! In addition to being easily relatable to the students, the language is very simple. Even the words that would be difficult for a younger reader, you would still be able to figure them out.

In high school, every year in English, we read a Shakespeare play… and I hated them all. Holling is being forced to read a variety of Shakespeare plays which he dreaded at the beginning. How can Shakespeare be fun?? As he begins to read it, it turned out that I had to read it again. There are passages in the book from the various plays that he is currently reading, and Holling even begins to talk like a Shakespeare play. It’s been some what difficult to get through reading the actual quotes from the plays, but once Holling started speaking it in his conversations with the other students and in his head, the book became somewhat difficult to follow.

Right now I’m about half way through the book and it just gets a little bit better with each chapter so hopefully it will continue to just get better!!

Literacy in the Classroom

The fifth grade teachers had their work cut out for them at the beginning of the year. The benchmark test results were not readily available for the teachers to look at and the fourth grade teachers from the year before had no records of any testing done. The reading and writing levels of all the students were unknown, and they had to test most of the students to figure out where exactly they were. The first week of school the teachers spent most of their time testing in reading, writing, and math. The results were some what surprising. There were some students that were way beyond their grade level in reading and writing, however, there was a group of students that were writing either on grade level or above grade level, while reading way below grade level. These reading levels will be used throughout the year in a program called “Reading Intervention.” The fifth graders are all broken up to different reading groups, those on grade level and then those that are above and those that are below. Each teacher takes a group of readers and they work to improve their reading scores and abilities. They had great success with it last year and I am interested in seeing how it works this year with this group of students.

The class has finished testing in math and writing, however, the testing in reading is still going on. The students read out loud to a teacher and the teacher makes notes about how the student is reading and their vocabulary throughout the passage. While students are being evaluated one by one, the other students are reading silently. They read for about 45 minutes to themselves. The only other literacy that I see is during the writing time and the time during what will eventually be reading intervention time. The class is currently going over what fables, tall tales, legends, and fairy tales are. The teacher usually reads them a book that falls into one of the categories and they go over what makes that book that genre. During writing, the class is focused on narrative writing and they are currently working on writing their own narrative stories. They are writing one as a class and then individually.

I am hoping that once the testing is finished that I will see more then just silent reading. There are some students that are genuinely interesting in the books that they are reading during silent reading. However, the majority of the students do not focus on their books. The students are allowed to sit anywhere in the room that they want and there are carpet squares that they are allowed to use as cushions. Some students sit with their friends and talk for the entire 45 minutes and since both the teacher and I are preoccupied with testing the students, they generally get away with it. Some of the other students (those that are not reading and talking) walk around the bookshelves to “find the perfect book.” Or so they say. For the most part, they are simply trying to put off actually reading. There are maybe 7 or 8 students our of 27 students that are reading during silent reading which means that about 20 students are not getting any literacy time in school – all because of testing. Hopefully over the next few weeks, I will see more literacy going on in the classroom.

Literate Lives: Chapter 1

I had not really thought about how technology has changed how students learn to read and write. I did not consider that my sisters introduction to literacy was that much different then mine thanks to cell phones, the internet, and pop culture. Today, students learn how to type and write mainly using instant messenger and text messages. I was watching my sister write a paper one night and she never capitalized her “I’s”, did not bother with spelling (spell check will fix that later) and at one point used a z in the place of an s – all thanks to instant messenger and text messages. The texts that I get from her are hard to read because of all the abbreviations and acronyms that she uses. Books that I used to read when I was younger, like my favorite Ella Enchanted, are now not being read but rather being watched on TV - which they ruined the book and did not follow the original story line in Ella Enchanted at all might I add. I never realized just how much times have changed.

As far as the industrial model goes, it seems to be one of the most ineffective models that is in place and sadly, the majority of the school systems are modeled that way. The No Child Left Behind program might just work, it were not part of the industrial model. If we could find a way to incorporate the No Child Left Behind Program in with the inquiry model, I feel that students and teachers would be much more satisfied with their learning/teaching experiences. Each child that comes in, comes in with a different background, they come from different home situations, different economic statuses, and different ethnic backgrounds. These differences shape their learning experience and if we do not cater to their different learning techniques and abilities, the lessons are ineffective and they fall behind. If the program really wishes to leave no child behind, we need to focus on ways to incorporate a child’s background and experiences into the classroom.

Literacy Autobiography

Frog and Toad, Pinky and Rex and Ella Enchanted
These are the only books that I remember reading in elementary school. Frog and Toad started it all. Every trip that my class made to the library in first grade, I would pick up the first Frog and Toad book that I could find and take it home. Every adventure they had, I was right there with them. Then one incredibly sad day, all of the Frog and Toad books were gone. Apparently one class was doing a project that required the teacher to check out EVERY Frog and Toad book in the library, I was devastated. What was I going to read now?? Then my teacher walked me over to a new set of books that also changed my life, Pinky and Rex. From then on, Frog and Toad could stay in that teacher’s classroom for the rest of the year for all I cared! As I was reading these books, new ones would come out and I would have to patiently wait for the next one to make its way into the library. The one that I REALLY wanted to read was Pinky and Rex Get Married. I had to wait almost a month for us to finally get it and I was beyond thrilled when it did. Then in 5th grade, my teacher gave me the first book I remember a teacher actually giving to me as a gift, Ella Enchanted. It grabbed me from the beginning and it is the first time that I remember not being able to put a book down. I read it in one night, and then again, and again, and again, and I actually just read it again about a week ago. These three books/series were the books that allowed me to develop my love for reading.

Battle of the Books vs. Textbooks
In my sixth grade language arts class, we had a class reading list. Students were only required to read 5 books off of the list, however, when the year started I had already read over half of the books in elementary school and over the summer. My teacher suggested that I join the battle of the books team. This gave me a list of books that I had not read yet and I was thrilled! I made the team in sixth grade and while the team did not do very well, I had a so much fun! For seventh and eighth grade I was at a different school then I was in sixth grade. There was a battle of the books team there too, however, my teachers were not very supportive of the team and those that wished to join it. The amount of reading that was required out of the textbooks for all of my classes severely diminished my “fun” reading time and I was not able to read as many of the books and I did not enjoy the team as much as I had in sixth grade because I was not as prepared for it.

Grammar
I might be the worst speller on the planet and I am TERRIBLE at grammar. Every paper that I turned in was more red then black when I got it back from the teacher. Because of this, I really disliked writing. When I was in 7th grade, in my AIG language arts class, we began diagramming sentences and my teacher was horrible. Not only was she a terrible teacher, she was a terrible person. She seemed to find one or two students that she really liked and the others, she wrote off as not being worth her time and sometimes not worthy of being in the AIG program. Sadly, I was one of the ones she wrote off and I was terrified of her class every day. I was not good at grammar or spelling, and that made diagramming sentences next to impossible. From then on, I dreaded every English class I ever took. This made the rest of middle and all of high school somewhat stressful considering I was forced to take an English class every year and write papers for all of my classes. To this day, I remember how much damage this one teacher did to me. I have always found it strange how much I love reading, yet hate writing…

Blog Post #2 - Science Readings

The four strands of science combine science content with science process, which in most cases, are taught as two separate things. The four strands being, understanding scientific explanations, generating scientific evidence, reflecting on scientific knowledge, and participating productively in science. In elementary school, we focused more on the generating scientific evidence and reflecting through the experiments that we did. However, it seems that as I continued on in school, we moved away from the experiments and the reflecting and moved towards understanding scientific explanations through definitions and readings and then moved towards a better rounded science experience by incorporating all four of the strands in high school. This might explain why I liked science more in elementary and high school then I did in middle school. These four stands really emphasis the importance of interactive science (experiments and such) while still getting the definitions and facts. I feel that these four strands also incorporate all different types of learners. As teachers we need to create lessons that help the visual, the auditory, and the kinesthetic learners and when you include all four strands into a science lesson, you really create a well rounded lesson for all of these learners. The visual learners get the definitions and facts from books, they see the data that they collect from the field, and they can write reflections. The auditory learners can talk openly and reflect out loud with a group of people on what they have collected and you could read the definitions and such out loud. The kinesthetic learners are actually doing the experiments and activities and learning from them, and then participating in the discussions that ensue. Incorporating the four strands might cause a lesson to take more planning time – however, the effects seem to be well worth time as we see in the “Biodiversity of a City Schoolyard.”

In the “Trouble with Textbooks” article, the problem with textbooks that many students have seen for years is finally brought out to the attention of adults and teachers. While I’m sure they were well aware of the size of the textbooks, this article brings up the point that these flashy, heavy, books “utterly fail to… teach science.” I remember having these really fun and colorful textbooks that had just a few pages of reading because of all the pictures and “side bar activities.” As a student, when a teacher assigns 5-7 pages of reading for homework and a worksheet (which were the standard homework assignments for me in elementary school), you groan and think about how long it is going to take you to read these boring pages. Then you open your book and find that really, when you subtract the pictures, the vocabulary words on the side, and the extra fun facts that are printed in the margins, you really only end up with 3-4 pages worth of actual text to read. What a waste!! The article also brings up the point of teachers picking the books that come with the most accessories, such as CD’s and pre-made test banks, which are all great resources for the teachers and when used properly can help the students but shouldn’t the students education come before flashy resources? The resources that come with the books are useless if the students are not comprehending the material in the book. While I do feel that books need to have pictures to grasp the students attention, we really need to find a compromise between the flashy non-effective text books and the “Matter and Molecules” text book formed by Michigan State – and quickly.

Science Autobiography

Starting in kindergarten, all of my classrooms in elementary school had class pets. In kindergarten, we had a hamster named Oreo and over the school breaks, the class voted on the one person that would get to take Oreo home and take care of him for the long weekend, or long breaks. I was lucky enough to take Oreo home for winter break. Throughout the year, the class talked about where hamsters lived, what they ate, and what we though Oreo's life would be like outside of the classroom. i did not realize until middle school that Oreo was actually a year long science unit. Whether it was in the standard course of study or not, talking about habitats, food chains, and adaptations and then seeing them in action with Oreo was in a way, a year long science experiment. Like my science experience with Oreo, the only times that I can remember studying science in elementary school, were times that we were performing experiments or completing interactive observations (such as Oreo). One year my class grew a garden, one inside where there was no light in a closet and the other outside, in order to learn about photosynthesis and light. At the end of the year we had a party where we were able to eat all of the vegetables and fruits that were grown successfully. There was another year when we had a class soap box derby like event where a guest teacher came in with supplies and helped us build cars that we were allowed to race for a force and motion lesson. Then there were simple experiments like our weather unit where we built the tornado like models using water and two soda bottles, and the time we built paper mache animals to go along with our reports or endangered species.

My father is a chemist and growing up, all of my babysitters where members of his graduate student group. With two of my babysitters, my sisters and I would do experiments, which consisted of adding anything and everything we could find in the kitchen and adding it together to see what might happen. There were also a few times when my sisters and I would get to go to my dad's lab with him. there, my dad would show us what happens when you put something in liquid nitrogen. We froze latex gloves and smashed them on the floor, balloons, bananas, and many other things. For birthday's, we would buy regular balloons and go to his lab and use their helium tanks to blow them up. My little sister loved hearing my dad sound like Donald Duck when he would inhale the helium and his voice would change.

As much fun as the experiments were, they were unfortunately, not very common in the classroom. Many of my science lessons were learning vocabulary, readings from the textbook, copying notes, and completing worksheets for homework about the lessons. Today, the focus of science lessons seems to be very similar. However, today some classrooms have a tool that we never had which can turn these boring note copying lessons into something a little more interesting and attention grabbing. SMART boards give teachers the ability to do interactive note taking lessons, where the students are still taking the notes and learning the vocabulary but they are actively participating in the lesson, and most of the students that I have seen interacting with the SMART boards, love everything about them, regardless of what they are actually doing. Not every classroom can afford SMART boards in each classroom, and similarly not every school can afford the materials necessary for completing experiments. As a result, teachers are left with very little options for making science lessons fun for the students, instead, they are forced to teach those note taking, textbook reading, worksheet lessons which students do not enjoy. Keeping the students engaged and actively participating in the lesson, whether it be with experiments or creating a fun way to present the notes to the students, is key to keeping a students attention and having them learn from the lesson.

Hello!!

Hey everyone! I'm Anna Toone and this semester I'm student teaching at Efland Cheeks Elementary school. I'm in a 5th grade class and I love it! I've never had a blog before so this is a new experience... still not sure how this thing works but I guess I'll have to figure that out! I'm really looking forward to this upcoming year and all of these new experiences!!