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Lindsay Pish
ESLM 587
June 9, 2011
Instruction Method SummaryPhonics
Phonics is the teaching of how to read and write in English. The relationship between written
letter and sound (phonemic awareness) is developed as learners realize there is a correlation between
the written symbol and the sound created orally. For example, the sound /k/ can be represented by c, k,
ck, ch, or q spellings. The connection between sounds of spoken English and letters or groups of
letters is built and learners are then able to blend the sounds of letters together to produce approximate
pronunciations of unknown words.
In this methodology, the teacher is responsible for explicitly providing the students with the
core body of 44 speech sounds and more than 100 spellings used to represent them. In English,
approximately 84% of words are phonetically regular. Students are taught the rules and the exceptions,
and are not instructed to memorize words. Although the other 16% of “irregular” English words are
taught as sight words, the reader still must pay attention to their spelling patterns in order to store them
in his/her memory.
Within the phonics methodology, there are differing approaches. Synthetic phonics is the
directly taught approach where each letter within a word is looked at as an individual sound and then
all sounds are blended together. Analytical phonics is very similar to the synthetic approach, but
consonant blends are taught as units rather than individual sounds and students are allowed to
“discover” the sound-spelling relationships. Analogy phonics is a particular type of analytical phonics
where the phonogram or rime (the vowel, plus all sounds that follow) is used. In classrooms, these
phonograms are commonly known as “word families”.
The method derives from the Roman text The Doctrine of Littera, which is where the
word/sound relationship became the backbone of traditional phonics. In the U.S., phonics instruction
dates back to the work of Favell Lee Mortimer in the 1800s. Despite support through the 19th-century,
prominent American educators such as Horace Mann, argued against the practice. This led to the
“look-say” approach, found in the Dick and Jane readers in the 20th-century. However, after a
landmark study by Dr. Harry E. Houtz and a popular criticism by Rudolf Flesch, phonics resurfaced.
The inception of “whole language” in the 1980s, where phonics was viewed as antithetical to
creating meaning and was thought to harbor no connection to the author’s intended meaning, created
what is known as “the Great Debate”. This debate has led to a series of Congressionallycommissioned panels, government-funded reviews, and independent studies into the best practices for
reading instruction. In 1984, the National Academy of Education found that phonic instruction
improves a child’s ability to identify words, helps a child make approximate pronunciations, but should
be used in conjunction with identifying words in meaningful sentences and stories. In 1994, Dr.
Marilyn J. Adams agrees in her book that both phonics and whole language practices are needed.
Recent research by the National Research Council and National Reading Panel has come to the
same conclusion: that phonics instruction is a necessary component of reading instruction, but it is not
sufficient by itself to teach children to read. Phonics instruction teaches children to read at the word
level, freeing their mind for word analysis and comprehensive meaning making. It is found that
phonics should be taught systematically and explicitly. Students who have weak phonics skills are
poor readers, decoders, and spellers. Today, a Balanced Literacy approach is suggested, where
phonics are systematically taught in younger grades along with multiple meaning making strategies.
As students get older, meaningful literature still continues to be included, as students begin to look at
word parts such as prefixes, suffixes, and roots.
Resources:
“Phonics.” Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. www.wikipedia.com
Research-Based Methods of Reading Instruction for English Language Learners: Grades K-4. Sylvia
Linan-Thompson and Sharon Vaughn. ASCD 2007
Teaching Phonics & Word Study in the Intermediate Grades. Wiley Blevins. Scholastic 2001.
Lindsay Pish
ESLM 587
June 9, 2011
Phonics Mini-lesson
School Setting and Target Students:
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Grade 4, General Education
ESL inclusion-2 students, both Developing
At this age and development level, students have phonemic awareness. Students know what is
meant by the word sound, are able to orally segment words, can break off the first sound of a
given word, etc.
Objectives:
Students will be able to
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Identify in-, im-, ir-, and il- as prefixes that affect a word’s meaning.
Identify that the given prefixes mean not.
Give the meaning of words with prefixes in-, im-, ir-, and ilUse the given prefixes to make words and decide if they are real or nonsense words.
Learning Tasks:
Linguistic
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Students rely on word parts to create meaning of words.
Instructional Strategies:
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Students complete an interactive explorative word sort to guide their discovery of the
meanings of the prefixes in-, im-, ir-, and il-.
Students have a discussion on possible word meanings.
Teacher gives a modeled think-aloud on how to decipher the meaning of new words using
prefixes.
Students play a game to strengthen their understanding of the new prefixes.
Instructional Materials:
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Prefix anchor chart
in-, im-, ir-, and il- word sort
Chart paper and colored markers
Prefix game using in-, im-, ir-, and ilPost-it notes
Learning Activities:
Activate Prior Knowledge
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Review with students that adding word parts to a word will change the meaning of the word.
Remind them that prefixes appear at the beginning of the word.
Use the already created prefix anchor chart to review previously taught prefixes.
Tell students that they will learn four new prefixes, in-, im-, ir-, and il- to add to root words.
Interactive Exploration
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Give groups of students a word sort using words with the prefixes in-, im-, ir-, and il-.
Instruct them to sort the words according to their prefixes and think about each word’s meaning.
As they sort, roam the room, stopping to talk with groups about what they are noticing about
the given prefixes and their possible meaning.
Allow groups to share their findings.
Modeling
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Write the word illegal on the chart paper and give students time to examine its parts.
Ask students to break the word into parts: il-, legal. Underline each part in a differing color.
Discuss the meaning of the word legal. Discuss the meaning of the whole word illegal.
Ask students to make a conclusion about the meaning of the prefix il-.
Students should make the conclusion that il- means not.
Model Think-Aloud:
“I know that sometimes a base word contains parts that are added to it, such as a prefix.
In this word I see the prefix il-. I wonder what that means? The rest of the word is
legal. I know that means ‘allowed by the law’. I’ve heard the word illegal before and I
know that is ‘something against the law’. I can make a good guess that the prefix ilmeans not. Let’s try another word from our list to see if it works.”
Continue in the same manner for the other focus prefixes in-, im-, ir-.
Add these prefixes to the prefix anchor chart.
Guided Practice
 Put the following list of words on the word cards:
Illegible
Impatient
Incomplete
Illiterate
Impossible
Inexpensive
 Show each card and have students read each one aloud chorally.
 Have students turn to a partner and say/figure out the meaning.
 Share.
Irresponsible
Irregular
Independent Practice
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Introduce Game:
1. Distribute a prefix card to each pair of students.
2. Tell students they will take turns rolling the dice and then moving their game piece the
appropriate number of spaces.
3. Then they combine the prefix on their card with the word on the space.
4. They read the new word and decide if the word is a real word or a nonsense word.
-If it’s a real word, they must define it and use it in a sentence. *If unable
to complete all steps correctly, they can ask a peer for help.
-If not a real word, the student tells what it would mean if the prefix were
used correctly. Continue until the end is reached.
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Students play the game.
Closure
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Word Hunt- during independent reading, students hunt through their books for words with the
prefixes in-, im-, ir-, and il-. They keep track of them on a post-it note.
Students are given the opportunity to share found words and give the meaning.
Evaluation Instruments and Procedures:
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Teacher observation
Word Hunt post-it notes