Guided Reading

The article I found for this week was called "Modified Guided Reading: Gateway to English as a Second Language and Literacy Learning" by Mary A. Avalos, Alina Plasencia, Celina Chavez, Josefa Rascon. This document can be found on UTK's web database. The article discussed how to use a guided reading program with ELL students. This is of great interest to me since most deaf and hard of hearing (HoH) students are severely language delayed. English is difficult for them to learn because it is a different language than ASL. This article applies to my professional life very well. I think that many of the concepts for teaching ELL students can be applied to deaf/HoH students as well. A few key points from the text: 

• The reading texts need to “present a reasonable challenge but also present an opportunity for potential success.”

• An ELL student's L1 reading level is tied to their L2 reading level. If they know how to read in L1, they have the process down of what all goes into reading. However, they must now apply these properties of reading to L2.

 I really like this quote from the text about the benefits of guided reading in general: 

• “Guided reading provides teachers with a systematic, yet open-ended framework for evaluating students’ needs while building upon the strengths students have already demonstrated.”

• Modified guided reading helps because these ELL students are put with other fluent speakers of English and are given time to read in English, discuss in English, and share their thoughts in English.

• I really like the idea of going through the figurative language, and also the homophones, homographs, and heteronyms.
  
• I also think it is a great idea to provide background knowledge before jumping into a story. If there are a few key words in the story that the child does not know the meaning of, then they will more than likely be confused throughout the story.  

Do you have any suggestions on how to best use a guided reading program for language delayed children? What are some books you have used in the past, and do you think you would be able to use them across a broad spectrum of reading abilities? 

Vocabulary

Vocabulary is a huge part of any language; whether written or spoken. These two articles, along with the Allington reading, suggest that developing vocabulary is very important in order for children to become skilled readers. I heartily agree. I also like some of the suggestions offered in the articles in order to promote vocabulary development. I have done observations in UT's Speech and Hearing Science speech pathology labs. In these sessions, vocabulary is introduced to hard of hearing children via worksheets and whiteboards. I was so bored when I would go to my observations of these lessons because 1) little to no understanding was taking place from week to week 2) the activities were based off of rote memorization 3) we had to sit down for the full hour session. In order to introduce vocabulary, I believe that it is important to provide ample opportunities for students to discover vocabulary through play! When children play, they naturally include language. If you provide activities, such as those suggested in the articles, that infuse play/action and interaction with language, you will see an huge improvement not only in the student's vocabulary, but also in the student's ability to use language as a tool of communication.

Can you think of a situation where play would NOT be an appropriate method for introducing new vocabulary? (Play includes modeling, acting it out, role play, natural play, experiments, etc...basically hands-on activities).

Comprende? Reading Comprehension

There were two things that really stood out to me from the Allington reading and the Pardo article. The first was the method of KWL-- Know-Want to Know- Learned. As pictured below, students use some form of graphic organizer (can be as simple as a piece of paper) with three sections. In the Know section, students write down what they already know about material before they read/studied/were lectured on the material. In the Want to Know section, students come up with several questions that they hope to have answered. The Want to Know is also completed before the reading/activity/lecture. The Learned section is filled out after the reading/activity/lecture and contains answers to things in the Want to Know section, and possibly additional information. I feel like this is a great way to make reading a more concrete activity by allowing students to use visuals (and in the case of the students pictured below, manipulatives).

 

The second tool that I found helpful was the idea that in order for students to comprehend what they read, they must be able to relate to it in some form or fashion. My sister Amanda always told me of this theory of having "hooks" in your brain. The hooks hold all the knowledge you have ever accumulated. The hooks themselves are categorized and organized by topic. If a student is trying to learn a new concept, or read new material, for which they do not have a hook to already hang that information on, they will have to mentally rearrange their brains to create a brand new hook. Reading comprehension, to me, is all about creating those new hooks for students before you read, and then by reading the text, giving the students new information to hang on those brand new hooks.