ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS AND READING

(GRADES 4–8) STANDARDS

• Standard I. Oral Language: Teachers of students in grades 4–8 understand the importance of oral language, know the developmental processes of oral language, and provide a variety of instructional opportunities for students to develop listening and speaking skills.

• Standard II. Foundations of Reading: Teachers of students in grades 4–8 understand the foundations of reading and early literacy development.

• Standard III. Word Analysis Skills and Reading Fluency: Teachers understand the importance of word analysis skills (including decoding, blending, structural analysis, sight word vocabulary) and reading fluency and provide many opportunities for students to practice and improve their word analysis skills and reading fluency.

• Standard IV. Reading Comprehension: Teachers understand the importance of reading for understanding, know the components of comprehension, and teach students strategies for improving their comprehension.

• Standard V. Written Language: Teachers understand that writing is a developmental process and provide instruction that helps students develop competence in written communication.

• Standard VI. Study and Inquiry Skills: Teachers understand the importance of study and inquiry skills as tools for learning and promote students’ development in applying study and inquiry skills.

• Standard VII. Viewing and Representing: Teachers understand how to interpret, analyze, evaluate, and produce visual images and messages in various media and to provide students with opportunities to develop skills in this area.

• Standard VIII. Assessment of Developing Literacy: Teachers understand the basic principles of assessment and use a variety of literacy assessment practices to plan and implement instruction. – IRI– Miscue

• Link to “other” Assessments

Stages of Oral Development0 – 12 months: From “burps” to “babbling”

1 – 2: Holophrasic to telegraphic (2 words)

2 – 3: Telegraphic to descriptive ((NO!))

3 - 4: Simple to Complex ((Overgeneralization of rules))

4 – 6: Toward refinement ((Generative Language))

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Early Reading Instruction• Sequence of Instruction (Developmentally basic to most complex)

First Developmentally: Phonemic Awareness - Oral segmentation and blendingSequenced as follows:

• First: “rubber banding”• Second: segmenting using compound words• Third: syllabic segmentation and blending• Fourth: onset and rime segmentation and blending• Fifth: individual sound segmentation and blending

• Second Developmentally: Alphabetic Principle - Speech is made up of individual sounds (Phonemic Awareness) and these sounds can be represented by individual letters.1. Alphabet books are one strategy2. Language Experience stories are helpful

• Second Developmentally: Alphabetic Principal – Relationship between English written symbols and specific sound.

• Third Developmentally: Phonic Instruction - Word identification strategy using English spelling (Orthographic) patterns as an aide to orally producing matches for written words.

• Sequence for phonic instruction is the same as for Phonemic Awareness

Terms you should know:        Consonant Digraph - Two connected

consonants which produce one sound- (ch, th, ng)        Consonant Blends or Clusters - two (or more)

connected consonants which produce the sounds of all - (st, fl, scr)

        Diphthongs - Two connected vowels which produce a single “glided” sound (oi in oil OR ea in real)

        Schwa - Any vowel when it produces the sound “uh” as the “a” in America. “c” is the symbol used to represent schwa.

      Onset and Rime - The onset is the part of a syllable that comes before the vowel. Rime is the rest of the syllable.

• Phoneme – Smallest unit of sound in a language. EXAMPLE: “that”: /ơ/ǽ/t/ There are three phonemes, but four letters.

• Grapheme - Graphemes are the letters of the alphabet written on paper to represent separate sounds of speech written in words. Single letter or digraphs. /f/ – f, ph, gh, ff

Morpheme - The smallest meaningful unit of a language. They can be bound Free (stands alone - “man”) or they can be Bound (must be attached to a Free morpheme [-ly] - “manly”)

• Structural Analysis - Studying words using morphological knowledge to find the meaning of the word.

Implications for Instruction of Very Young Children

Teachers must:        help children understand that language is

composed of sounds stung together.        individual words are made up of particular

sounds ion a particular order.        help children learn to segment and blend

these sounds using metacognitive strategies.

• help children understand that particular sounds may be represented by a particular letter or pattern of letters. BACK

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Essential Components for Reading Instruction (NRP)

• Phonemic Awareness • Phonics • Vocabulary Development • Reading Fluency, including

Oral Reading Skills • Reading Comprehension

Strategies BACK

Vocabulary Development         Have structure and organization behind the words

you present. • o       By word type : emotion words, action words• o       By roots• o       Etc.         Incorporate multisensory learning from the

beginning.         Model the activities first.         Most work with vocabulary should be done with

all the meanings available         Keep an ongoing list prominently posted. * Go beyond the definitions of the words. Include

the connotations BACK

Reading Stages

Preindependent

1. Magical

plays with books

listens to stories

begins to notice print

2. Self-Concept Stage1. Reading-like behavior

2. Reconstructs familiar books and stories

3. Writing begins to display phonic influences

4. Rhymes

5. Begins phonemic awareness

3. Bridging Stage1. Reads and writes name

2. Picks out individual words (does not transfer from one context to another)

3. Reads familiar books

4. Enjoys chants and rhyming poetry

Independent Stage

1. Takeoff Stage1. Wants to read often

2. Knows that print conveys meaning

3. Conserve meaning across situations

4. Oral reading is often word-for-word rather for meaning

2. Independent Reading Stage1. Comprehends authors message

2. Reads for pleasure

3. Transactional eading

4. Orally reads with expression

5. Sees print as “truth”

3. Skilled Reader1. Can read about things outside emmediate

experiences

2. Incorporates “read” vocabulary into their own

3. Can discuss elements of stories and texts

4. Makes inferences

5. Critically reads

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Stages of Writing Development

Preliterate: Drawing

• uses drawing to stand for writing

• believes that drawings / writing is communication of a purposeful message

• read their drawings as if there were writing on them

• Preliterate: Scribbling

• scribbles but intends it as writing

• scribbling resembles writing

• holds and uses pencil like an adult

• Emergent: Random-letters or letter strings

• uses letter sequences perhaps learned from his/her name

• may write the same letters in many ways

• long strings of letters in random order

Transitional: Writing via invented spelling

• creates own spelling when conventional spelling is not known

• one letter may represent an entire syllable

• words may overlay • may not use proper spacing • as writing matures, more words

are spelled conventionally • as writing matures, perhaps only

one or two letters invented or omitted

• Fluency: Conventional spelling

• usually resembles adult writing

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Study SkillsSkimmingScanningPreviewingAdjusting reading rate to materialsSQRRROutliningGraphic Organizers – maps, charts, graphs

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Inquiry Learning

GoalInquiry teaching leads students to build their

understanding of fundamental ideas through experience with materials, by consulting books, other resources, and experts, and through argument and debate among themselves

Inquiry-Based Methodology• It focuses on asking questions, considering

alternative explanations, and weighing evidence. It includes high expectations for students to acquire factual knowledge, but it expects more from them than the mere storage and retrieval of information.

Facets of Inquiry         making observations;          posing questions;          examining books and other sources of

information to see what is already known;          planning and conducting investigations;          reviewing what is already known in light of

experimental evidence;          using tools to gather, analyze, and

interpret data;          proposing answers, explanations, and

predictions;          and communicating the results.

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Research Based/Teachable Comprehension Strategies

• using background knowledge to make inferences (Hansen and Pearson 1983) or set purposes (Ogle 1986);

• getting the main idea (Baumann 1984);

• identifying the sources of information needed to answer a question (Raphael and Pearson 1985); and

• using the typical structure of stories (Fitzgerald and Spiegel 1983) or expository texts (Armbruster et al. 1987) to help students understand what they are reading.

Comprehension Strategies

• Before-reading techniques* Know, Want to Know, Learn - KWL* Inferential Strategy

• During-reading techniques* asking questions -

* summarizing* making predictions

• After-reading techniques* discussion* interviewing

Some Helpful LinksStrategies for Reading Comprehension

http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/go/readquest/strat/

 

David Pearson’s Notions

http://ed-web3.educ.msu.edu/literacy/Word/balancin.doc

 

Saskatchewan Evergreen Curriculum – Reading Instruction

http://www.sasked.gov.sk.ca/docs/mla/read.html

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From the NRP

Good readers are purposeful and active. They use a wide variety of strategies, often simultaneously, to create meaning from text. Some of the most important are:

1. Monitoring comprehension: Successful readers know when they understand a passage and when they don’t. When they don’t understand, they know to pause and utilize strategies to improve their understanding.

2. Using prior knowledge: Thinking about what is already known about the subject helps readers make connections between the story and their knowledge.

3. Making predictions: Good readers often make predictions as they read through a story, using both the knowledge they bring to a text as well as what they can derive from the text.

4. Questioning: When children ask questions about what they read and subsequently search for answers, they are interacting with the text to construct meaning. Good questions are based on a child’s knowledge base and what further information she desires.

5. Recognizing story structure: Children will understand a story better if they understand how it is organized (i.e., setting, plot, characters, and themes).

6. Summarizing: When they summarize a story, readers determine the main idea and important information and use their own words to demonstrate a real understanding of the text.

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Informal Reading Inventories

Purpose: To assess reading levels – independent, instructional, frustration

Includes: Graded Word List, Graded Oral and Silent Passages, Listening Test

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Miscue Analysis

 • Purpose: To assess strategic strengths and

weaknesses of the reader through examination of the reader’s unaided interaction with extended text.

• Includes: Reading passage, retelling rubric, tape recorder

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KEY CONCEPTS OF VIEWING AND REPRESENTING

•TAKEN FROM: http://www.netxv.net/pm_attach/70/Level%20One%20Viewing%20and%20Representing.pdf

• These ideas are the main principles of media literacy: they are central concepts that help organize the process of analyzing media messages.

• ALL MESSAGES ARE CONSTRUCTIONS

• Messages are created by authors • We don’t always notice the way in which authors

carefully make choices

• MESSAGES ARE REPRESENTATIONS • media messages are selective and incomplete, they

can’t provide an accurate picture of reality in all its complexity.

• MESSAGES HAVE ECONOMIC PURPOSES • Financial goals shape the content, quality, and the

diversity of media messages

• INDIVIDUALS INTERPRET MESSAGES DIFFERENTLY

• People find meaning in media messages when they can connect the message to their life experiences

• It’s important to respect people’s unique interpretations

• UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF MEDIA

• It’s not fair to say that some forms of communication are inherently better than others.

• People should be able to use a wide range of symbols, tools, and technologies for self-expression and communication.

INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES

• Teachers can incorporate media literacy concepts and activities into language arts, social studies, health, science, and fine arts subjects

• CREATING MEDIA MESSAGES

• Media literacy is more than just analyzing media messages — it’s learning to create them as well.

• Production activities are a valuable component of the total learning experience.

• PROMOTING MEANINGFUL DISCUSSION • Students may have expectations about how teachers

will respond to their media use — some students fear that teachers will demean or trivialize their interests in certain kinds of TV shows, web sites, musicians, and movies.

• They may be aware of some beliefs or attitudes that teachers and adults have about the media and attempt to imitate those attitudes.

• To explore media issues in an authentic way, students need to feel “safe” in sharing their genuine pleasures and dissatisfactions with media and technology.

• You can support this by providing a balance of both support for students’ ideas and observations and questions that provide insight on your interpretation of media

• SUPPORTING CRITICAL READING SKILLS

• You can make use of a variety of different methods of eliciting student responses to enhance reading skill development.

• You may want to use “read-aloud” with whole group discussion.

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