Running Records

        Running records are an important tool in assessing oral reading.  By following standard procedures, anyone who knows the system and purpose of running records can analyze a student's oral reading behaviors.  Based on how a student reads and the miscues that are made, teachers can plan effective instruction based on student needs.  Running records can be used to group students by reading abilities or instructional needs.  In addition, they can be used to monitor and record student growth.   

(Emile is a third grade student who speaks Spanish as his first language.) 

        In analyzing Emile's oral reading, it does not seem that his errors are due to his first language.  Based on Emile's reading behaviors, I would focus instruction on strategies that he could use during reading.  Emile did not self-correct a single one of his miscues presenting a problem in his reading progress.  Most of his errors seem to be due to the fact that he is not monitoring his reading for meaning.  When he read tail as tall and mixed as messed he did not monitor his reading to see if what he'd read made sense to the story.  Had he monitored his reading and then self-corrected the meaning of the story would have been improved.  I would also focus instruction on word bases, endings and suffixes as Emile missed two suffixes when he read talking as talk and sides as side.  Emile could also benefit from instruction in paying attention to the initial letter in a word before attempting to read it.  He read the word only as really which wouldn't have made any sense had he looked at the letter o at the beginning of the word before reading it. 

(Joseph is a second grade student that speaks Russian as his first language.)



        Joseph has some similar needs when it comes to monitoring his reading for meaning.  He did not self-correct any of his errors either.  Joseph would benefit from working on checking for meaning and then attempting to self-correct his miscues while reading.  He would also benefit from instruction in paying attention to the visual cues a word provides, especially the initial letter.  Joseph read invitation for envelope.  I have a feeling he wouldn't have been able to read the word invitation as he struggles with multi-syllabic words but he would benefit from looking at the initial letter before reading a word.  I would also focus instruction on chunking multi-syllabic words so that they can be broken down into more manageable and recognizable word parts.  Joseph also seems to experience some confusion with vowel sounds as he read Flo and pony incorrectly due to incorrect vowel sounds.  Not knowing any Russian, I'm not sure if Joseph's struggles are due to differences between English and the Russian language.  

        Obviously, running records are a valuable assessment tool in ensuring that instruction matches students' learning needs.  Assessment and the information that it provides should drive instruction, otherwise it's a waste of time. 

  

Word Study

          The history of our Modern English language is fairly interesting. When looking into the history of some of the words we use today, it is not surprising that many of them date back to Old English and evolved with time. Some words experienced change in both spelling and meaning while others maintained their meaning while their spelling changed with time. Students in the upper grades may be interested in learning about the origins of the words they use today. Understanding the origin of words can help students to obtain better understanding of word meanings and our present spelling system.
  

Word & Modern English Meaning c. 1500 +	Old English c. 450 - 1100	Middle English c. 1100 - 1500
Doom \ˈdüm\ - a: destiny; especially : unhappy destiny b: death, ruin	Dōm: a law or ordinance especially in Anglo-Saxon England	Dōm or dome: a:judgement, decision; especially : a judicial condemnation or sentence b: judgment at the apocalypse

           The word doom originates from Old High German. It is a very old word that dates back to Old English, cognate with Old Norse dōmr, Gothic dōms; compare Sanskrit dhā́man, Greek thémis law. The Old English pronunciation has the following consonants producing the same sound they do now, b, d, k, l, m, n, p, r, t, x.
          The word doom has not only experienced a change in spelling but also a change in meaning as centuries changed as stated in the chart above. In the 1500s there was a major change in the way that many of the vowels were pronounced and spelled. This change was called the “Great Vowel Shift” (Freeman & Freeman, 2004, p. 104). The addition of the second o may be due to this shift.

Word & Modern English Meaning c. 1500 +	Old English c. 450 - 1100	Middle English c. 1100 - 1500
Knight \ˈnīt\- a (1) : a mounted man-at-arms serving a feudal superior; especially : a man ceremonially inducted into special military rank usually after completing service as page and squire	Cniht- man-at-arms, boy, servant The sound of /k/ was pronounced during this time.	Knigt or knyght - A noble warrior; a member of the land-holding ruling class, owing military service to his lord and fighting on horseback; one who had received the status of knight from the king or other important knight knave noun, sg. (male) servant

          The word knight originates from the Old High German word kneht meaning youth or military follower but its cognates in Dutch and German, Knecht, mean farm hand, boy, slave, and servitude. In Middle English times, the meaning of the word changed implying that the servant became ennobled. The meaning of the word remained consistent from Middle English to Modern English. From c. 450 – 1100 both /k/ and /c/ were spelled using the letter C. It wasn’t until c. 1100+ that the letter K was introduced which explains the change in spelling from Old English to Middle English. The Old English pronunciation included all of the consonants, so for example the word cniht starts with a k sound, followed by an n sound.

Word & Modern English Meaning c. 1500 +	Old English c. 450 - 1100	Middle English c. 1100 - 1500
Kin \ˈkin\- a group of persons of common ancestry	Cynn- a group of persons of common ancestry	Kynrede- kindred, family

          The origin of the word kin is from Old English cynn; akin to Old High German chunni race, Latin genus birth, race, kind, Greek genos, Latin gignere to beget, Greek gignesthai to be born. There was a change from Old English to Modern English regarding the use of Y and I to represent to /i/ sound. In Old English the /i/ sound could be spelled using I or Y whereas in Modern English the use of Y for the /i/ sound is rare.
          In looking at the Old English pronunciations, letter c is pronounced with a k sound if it comes before a back vowel (like o or a) or another consonant. If it comes before a front vowel (like i or e), or at the end of a word following a front vowel, it is usually pronounced like Modern English ch.

Word & Modern English Meaning c. 1500 +	Old English c. 450 - 1100	Middle English c. 1100 – 1500
Church \ˈchərch\- a building for public and especially Christian worship	Cirice- church, religious community; church (building), temple; congregation	Chirche- noun church

           The origin of the word church is from Middle English chirche, from Old English cirice, ultimately from Late Greek kyriakon, from Greek, neuter of kyriakos of the lord, from kyrios lord, master; akin to Sanskrit śūra hero, warrior. In Old English the letter C was used for the ch sound which was introduced during the Middle English times hence the change in the spelling. The change from using the vowel I to U in the word most likely came about during the Great Vowel Shift mentioned earlier.
           In looking at the Old English pronunciations, the letter c is pronounced with a k sound if it comes before a back vowel (like o or a) or another consonant. If it comes before a front vowel (like i or e), or at the end of a word following a front vowel, it is usually pronounced like Modern English ch.

Word & Modern English Meaning c. 1500 +	Old English c. 450 - 1100	Middle English c. 1100 – 1500
Friend \ˈfrend\- one attached to another by affection or esteem	Fréond- friend, relative; lover	Frend- noun friend

          The origin of the word friend is from Middle English frend, from Old English frēond; akin to Old High German friunt friend, Old English frēon to love, frēo free. (cognate with Old Saxon friund (German Freund), Gothic frijōnds), orig. present participle of frēogan,cognate with Gothic frijōnto love.
          The Old English pronunciation has the f pronounced like Modern English f at the beginning of a word, at the end of a word, or if it is next to an unvoiced consonant within a word.

References

Merriam-Webster online dictionary

http://www.merriam-webster.com/

www.dictionary.com

Middle-English Glossary

http://www.librarius.com/gy.htm

Old English Dictionary

http://home.comcast.net/~modean52/oeme_dictionaries.htm

http://www.ucalgary.ca/UofC/eduweb/engl401/lessons/pronunc1.htm#top

Word Origins

http://www.wordorigins.org

Freeman, D. E., & Freeman, Y. S. (2004). Essential linguistics: What you need to know to teach.

Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Learning/Word Recognition vs. Acquisition/Sociopsycholinguistics

     Freeman and Freeman (2004) point out that there are two views of reading and that they, "...correspond to the distinction between learning and acquisition" (p. 24).  The two points of view disagree on how reading should be taught and what the reading process looks like and consists of.  One view feels that language must be learned and the other argues that language is acquired.  The following table distinguishes the major differences between the word recognition view and the sociopsycholinguistic view. 

Word Recognition View

Sociopsycholinguistic View

·    Written language must be learned ·    Students learn skills to help them   connect words on a page to words in their oral vocabulary ·    Students combine meanings of individual words to make meaning from what they read ·    Goal:  Help students identify words with a focus on recoding not decoding while reading.  "...there is a danger that students will simply learn to say words without knowing what they mean" (Freeman & Freeman, 2004, p.26). ·    Methods:  Learn phonics rules, memorize sight words, dividing words into parts such as prefix, root and suffix, flash cards, looking for small words within larger words ·    Classroom Practices:  Preteach words that may be difficult for students, word lists and dictionary work, reading aloud in a round-robin fashion correcting miscues and providing unknown words to the reader

·    Ability to use written language is  innate and can be acquired ·    Reading is a process of constructing meaning ·    Readers acquire literacy by focusing on meaning ·    Goal:  Construct meaning while reading by using background knowledge and cues.  "Readers combine cues from the text with their own knowledge of the world to make sense of what they are reading" (Freeman & Freeman, 2004, p. 26). ·    Methods:  Use background knowledge and cues from the three linguistic systems to make meaning from texts.  Good readers learn to use visual and sound information in combination with background knowledge and cues to gain meaning while reading. ·    Classroom Practices:  Students participate in wide reading to acquire vocabulary, some vocabulary is taught before reading but is learned through several encounters with the word in different contexts, silent reading,  comprehension strategies to gain meaning, reading leveled and interesting text, big books, songs and poetry Other Points: "Evidence from linguistics lends strong support to a sociopsycholinguistic model of reading" (Freeman & Freeman, 2004, p. 25).

All information from:
Freeman, D. E., & Freeman, Y. S. (2004). Essential Linguistics: What You Need to Know toTeach. 

     Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Due to the differences in the way that reading is taught within these two views, students learn to read differently and the reading proficiency of students varies as well.  “The two views have very practical consequences” (Freeman & Freeman, 2004, p.29).  Despite the differences in the goals, methods and classroom practices of the two views, the overall belief is the same; “…good readers comprehend text” (Freeman & Freeman, 2004, p. 25).

Writing Instruction: Learning View/Traditional Classroom vs. Acquisition View/Process Classroom

     The writing experiences during my early elementary years looked far different than what I often observe in today's classrooms and the writer’s workshops I read about while researching. Most of my memories of school place the teacher in the front of the classroom instructing the students who are seated in perfect rows working on one piece of writing until it was ‘perfect’. A picture that is almost perfectly opposite from the more student centered classrooms present in today’s schools. I know that the way I was taught to write wasn’t as effective as today’s methods. Research confirms this by saying, “In writing instruction we’ve found that a systematic approach, rather than a rigid, lock-step approach, increases students’ performance in writing (and by extension, reading)” (Fisher & Frey, 2007, p.9). I know that the writer I am today is because of the writing experiences I had at home, literacy experiences that were a part of my everyday life. As Calkins (1994) stated, “Writing does not begin with deskwork but with lifework” (p.3). One of my fondest childhood memories involves creating a neighborhood newsletter with my older brother so we could report our little league scores and the week’s weather report. This creativity was not what I experienced in school as a part of our writing program.  I am again reminded as Fletcher and Portalupi (2001) stated, “real writing has its roots in everyday experiences”(p.36).  In school, the focus of our writing instruction was on handwriting, mechanics and correct spelling.  At home, my experiences with writing were much more creative and free. 
     In reading about the differences between the Acquisition View/process classroom and the Learning View/traditional classroom, it is obvious that my formal elementary school writing experience closely resembles the traditional classroom model.  "Teachers in traditional classrooms emphasize the importance of producing writing that follows conventions in handwriting, spelling, punctuation, and organization" (Freeman & Freeman, 2004, p.30).  In my classrooms, there was very little attention given to how creative a piece of writing was, correct mechanics were far more important.  My experience was also similar to the Learning View/traditional classroom in that we were often given topics to write about.  "Usually, students are given the topics for writing, and they are expected to complete the writing in a fairly short time" (Freeman & Freeman, 2004, p.30).
     I feel fortunate to have grown up with parents that encouraged creativity in writing since my school writing experiences did so little to foster creative individuality.




References

Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2007). Scaffolded Writing Instruction. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Fletcher, R., & Portalupi, J. (2001). Writing Workshop: The essential guide. Portsmouth, NH: 
     Heinemann.

Freeman, D. E., & Freeman, Y. S. (2004). Essential Linguistics: What You Need to Know to Teach.
     Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Comprehension Issues due to Cultural Differences in Children's Literature

     When looking at children's books to be used in a classroom with English language learners it is important to preview the books to determine if there may be content that will possibly be difficult for these students to comprehend due to cultural differences.

     Some of the content that we are able to comprehend while reading comes from what we already know through our personal experiences, knowledge of the world, knowledge of our own culture and the society in which we live.  "Schema theory, applied to reading, proposes that effective readers likewise draw on particular kinds of culturally acquired knowledge to guide and influence the comprehension process" (Gibbons, 2002, p. 79).  These bits of knowledge that are present in our heads allow us as readers to interact and connect with what we are reading.  Furthermore, Luke and Freebody (1990) suggest that successful readers take on four different roles as they read and that they need the appropriate resources in order to be effective code breakers, text participants, text users and text analysts. An effective code breaker needs to know the basics of letter-sound relationships and concepts of print including which way we open a book, where we start reading and the direction in which we read and turn the pages.  An effective text participant uses their prior knowledge to connect with what they are reading.  An effective text user is able to be a successful reader in many different social contexts from reading at home with a parent to reading at school with a peer.  An effective text analyst realizes that they must read critically using inference to gain understanding while knowing each text is written from the author's view point (Gibbons, 2002).  Obviously, if there are gaps in any of these areas a reader will have a more difficult time comprehending a text.

     In order to offer our English language learners opportunities to be successful readers, we must set them up for success.  We must assess what they already know in order to help them with what they don't know.  Teachers must address these needs before reading so that when the students read they have strategies to deal with the unfamiliar.  Gibbons (2002) states, "the challenge for the teacher is to build up the knowledge and understandings that are relevant to the text the children will read, so that by the time the reader interacts with the text, the text will not be so unfamiliar" (p. 83).  If students are linguistically and culturally challenged they are forced to rely on other strategies to gain meaning from what they are reading.  Struggling readers read word by word while analyzing individual letter sounds in an attempt to comprehend.  This intense focus takes them away from trying to gain meaning from the text as a whole making it nearly impossible to understand a story.  "As schema theory suggests, if students come to the text with a sense of what they will be reading about, reading becomes a much easier task because they have more resources to draw on" (Gibbons, 2002, p. 85).


 

Book cover

                  
     The story, The Three Snow Bears by Jan Brett, is an Eskimo version of Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  The story follows the same sequence except replaces forest bears with polar bears, a cabin with an igloo and chairs with snow boots.  In previewing the story, it became clear that English language learners may have some difficulty comprehending the story due to the following components:
1.  The Arctic way of life represented in the story
2.  Challenging vocabulary words such as Aloo-ki, huskies, igloo, adrift, current.
3.  The pages are busy and may cause additional confusion.
4.  The illustrations bordering the page follow other parts of the story and don't match what is happening on that page so cannot be used as cues for understanding.

Confusing Illustrations

     In order to help ELLs conquer some of these potential difficulties it would be very important to set them up for success before reading the book.  Gibbons (2002) points out that, "what the teacher does before a book is read is an extremely important part of the overall plan for using it with the class" (p. 83).  A preview of the text through a picture walk or even a partial read aloud to activate background knowledge would be a great way to introduce the book.  The whole class or a small group could participate in a discussion about the Arctic to further activate background knowledge. A semantic map could be used for a visual of this brainstorming session.  A preview would also allow for some of the more challenging vocabulary words to be introduced before they are encountered within the story.  The teacher would also need to take some time to point out the layout of the illustrations within the book so ELLs don't feel overwhelmed by the pages.  This would allow the students to focus on the text and main illustrations on the pages so that they could be used as visual cues.  To further comprehension of the story, ELLs could take note of words, concepts and sentences that they don't understand as they read.  These could be discussed later with a partner or with the teacher.

Book Cover

     With Halloween right around the corner, I also decided to take a look at the book Hallo-Wiener by Dav Pilkey.  This is a story about a wiener dog named Oscar that is teased by all the other dogs in the neighborhood because he dresses up as a hot dog for Halloween.  At the end of the night, Oscar ends up rescuing the neighborhood dogs from some neighborhood cats.  Potential components of the story that could cause comprehension problems for ELLs include:
1.  The celebration of Halloween and the tradition of trick-or-treating.
2.  Challenging vocabulary words such as ornery, frankfurter, obedience, sausage and daydreamed.
3.  The idea of animals as characters in a story that talk and act like people.
4.  The humor in the story in lines such as, "Then Oscar showed up, looking quite frank."    



Humorous illustration


I would use many of the same strategies mentioned for The Three Snow Bears with a focus on Halloween and the traditions surrounding the holiday.  The story preview would focus on Halloween, trick-or-treating and costumes.  As a class we would share cultural traditions and discuss similarities and differences.  This would allow students to make some initial connections to the text.  It would be very important for ELLs to have an understanding of the Halloween so that they could approach the story with an idea of the big picture.  "Because learners will have some sense of overall meaning, they are likely to be able to comprehend more linguistically challenging language than they might otherwise be able to comprehend" (Gibbons, 2002, p.85).  A picture walk and simple telling of the story would also serve to activate background knowledge and discuss the humor in the story.  This would also be a great time to discuss the challenging vocabulary in the book.

References

Brett, J. (2007).  The three snow bears. New York, NY: Scholastic.

Pilkey, D. (1995). The hallo-wiener. New York, NY: Scholastic.