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Stephanie Graham EDST641/ Reading July 14, 2013 Vocabulary/ Academic Language Assignment The content-area text I chose was Whales and Dolphins by Caroline Bingham (2003). This is an informational text describing characteristics of different cetaceans. I would use this text in a 4th grade classroom, addressing “Structure and Function: Living and non-living things can be classified by their characteristics and properties.” This could be used during an entire unit on cetaceans, which would address that standard. Part 1 Words that may be Unfamiliar: Glide Richer (ex: richer in fat) Jostling Warm-blooded Blubber “cutting through water” Mammal Swift Species Lungs cruising Fused Gills Dorsal fin Adaptation Surface School (of fish/dolphins) Pectoral fins (not in Draw (to draw in air) Collision reading) Blowhole Frothy Streamlined Suckle Wake Sentence Structures that may be Unfamiliar: In these few pages, I am noticing a lot of complex sentences. Here are a few: 1) “They have lungs, not gills, and must come to the surface to breathe air.” 2) “Under the skin, a thick, oily fat called blubber protects from the cold.” 3) “Dolphins have lots of fun riding the bow waves of boats and ships, or swimming in the frothy wake, jostling for position.” Other than the complexity of the sentences and vocabulary within, I do not think the language structures in this reading would be too challenging for students. Additionally, there is not a particular language structure that is repeated throughout the text. Part 2 Analysis of my list: I would consider these words to be Tier Two words: Glide suckle cruising wake adaptation surface richer (in fat) collision jostling streamlined draw (in air) swift frothy fused I think I would consider the rest of the words to be Tier 3, as they are mostly specific to this content-area, describing characteristics of only cetaceans or words mostly only used in science. I think that the Tier Two words most necessary for comprehending the text are: Glide Surface Draw (in air) Swift Cruising Collision Frothy Adapt(ation) From what I have seen, a lot of the language structures for this age group are fairly versatile. I feel like in 4th grade, students are really learning to form different sorts of sentences, some more complex and some more basic. In the grade level texts, a lot of the language structures seem to be similar to this: It has ______, _____, and ______ to ________. ______ use(s) ______ in order to ________. The ______ is important because _______. ______ has ______, which helps it to ______ because ______. (The) _____ is/are ______because_____. Part 3 What I would explicitly teach: The tier 2 words that I would choose to explicitly teach are swift, frothy, and glide. I feel like these words not only relate to each other, but also can be found in any area outside of science. They are words that students can use to replace more common, Tier 1 words. For example, swift can be a synonym for fast, quick, speedy, etc. Frothy can replace foamy, bubbly or soapy. Glide can be a good descriptive word to replace slide, drift, coast, or move smoothly. Each of these words are used fairly often (frothy, maybe a little less often) and are much more descriptive than some of their synonyms. The general sentence structure I would teach is: _____(s) have/use _______ for _____. I think this structure is very important for students because they need to explain not only what is being used, but why it is being used or how it is important. For a cetaceans unit, it is great because it allows the students to phrase the ways in which different cetacean’s characteristics or adaptations help them to survive. Part 4 Have You Ever…? I would use the “have you ever…” prompt to elicit student responses around the three words I chose, and relate the words to their own lives. Here are my examples: 1) Tell me about a time something moved swiftly. 2) Explain something frothy you have seen. 3) Tell of a time you saw something glide. I could also use a variation, possibly before giving the prompts, in which students would list different things that can move swiftly, can glide, or can look frothy. For example: Swift River moves swiftly He is swift on a bike ……… Frothy Boiling milk is frothy Toothpaste after brushing …….. Glide Snakes can slither and glide The plane glides in the air …….. Part 5 Activity to Teach Target Language Structure I would use a word web to teach and reinforce language structures. I would use the structure: ______(s) have/use _______ for _______. I think, by using this format, kids could really analyze the different anatomy of cetaceans, and the purposes for their adaptations. This could be used in pretty much any context, distinguishing the different parts of something and each parts purpose. I would then have students write the different sentences they come up with. Here are some examples: Whales use their fins for gliding through the water. Whales have smooth skin for moving swiftly. Whales have a blowhole for breathing in fresh air. Whales have blubber for keeping them warm in cold water. Whales have strong tails for helping them to move swiftly. for for for Whales Use/have for for for for for Another activity that might work to teach this structure is to have pre-made cards with different parts of a whale or cetacean, and then purposes of those parts. Then students could have the sentence frame in front of them and physically move the words and phrases around to form accurate sentences.