Tompkins Ch. 8
Accommodating EL Writers
Accommodating EL Writers
Teachers scaffold the teaching of narrative writing in this way.
What is by providing additional instruction about the narrative genre and involve English learners in these guided practice activities that link talking, reading, and writing.
Children's schema for informational text develops after this type of text.
What is narration/narrative/narrative text
In this component of assessing narrative writing teachers ask students to write letters to them explaining how they applied their knowledge about the genre in their positions.
What is Evaluating Students' Knowledge about the Genre
This can be used to develop concepts, build background, clarify reasoning processes, and even lead students to higher levels of thinking.
What are Questions.
These are the essential elements of fostering comprehension.
What are asking the right kinds of questions, building background, activating schema, learning to use strategies, and monitoring one’s cognitive processes.
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This guided practice activity gives ELs an opportunity to tell and write stories to accompany books such as; Rainstorm (Lehman, 2007), Frog Goes to Dinner (Mayer, 2003), and/or Hogwash (Geisert, 2008).
What is Wordless Picture Books
This text is based on the more logical-scientific style.
What is informational text.
In this component of assessing narrative writing teachers examine the writing strategy annotations that students added in the margins of their rough drafts to determine how they monitored their progress and solved problems that arose.
What is Monitoring Students' Use of the Writing Process
Questions foster these two things.
What are understanding and retention.
These two frameworks are systematic but unified approaches that incorporate all the elements that foster comprehension.
What are guided reading and the directed reading-thinking activity.
This guided practice activity gives ELs an opportunity to draw pictures and diagrams to highlight the structure of stories they're reading.
What is Story Mapping
-Some books that can be used: The Night I followed the Dog (Laden, 1994), Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus! (Willems, 2003), or Chat's Kitchen (Soto, 2008).
This text is based on this more story like straightforward style of thinking.
What is narrative text.
In this component of assessing narrative writing teachers evaluate the quality of students' compositions such as: ideas, organizations, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions, and presentation.
What is Assessing Students' Use of the Writing Craft
Is is important to ask questions that help students see these three things.
What are relationship among ideas, relate new information to their background of experience, and modify their schema.
Refer to P. 372-373
A framework in which the teacher supplies whatever assistance or guidance students need to read a selection successfully.
What is guided reading.
This guided practice activity gives ELs an opportunity to invent their own stories with their peers (small group) before writing independently. Students get to make up the characters, plot, setting, and develop the beginning, middle, end of the story.
What is Collaborative Stories
A mix of both of these text is needed to promote a full of thinking and comprehension skills in children.
Teachers often use this to assess students' stories, and they typically include aspects of all three components.
Questions asked before reading helps readers activate this and set this.
What are activate a schema and set a purpose.
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The introductory frontloading phase might use discussion, demonstrations, video clips or other audiovisual aids, and/or simulations to give students guidance in the following areas:
-Name at least two and briefly describe them.
What are...
-Experiential background or concepts. Experiential gaps that impede understanding of the selection’s major concepts are filled in. If students are about to read a piece about solar power but have no experience with the subject, the teacher might demonstrate the workings of a solar toy. Concepts or ideas crucial to understanding the selection are also developed. Batteries would be an important concept in this instance; however, in the discussion, students might indicate that they know that batteries are necessary to make certain devices run, but they do not know why. The battery’s use as a device for storing energy would then be discussed. At times, students have the necessary background or schema but need help activating it. Students don’t automatically activate their schema.
-Critical vocabulary. Vocabulary necessary for understanding the selection is presented. For a factual article about Australia’s animals, the words kangaroos, marsupials, and herbivores are presented. Care is taken to show how these words are related to each other. Place the greatest stress on words important to an understanding of the selection and which will likely appear in future readings. Pay particular attention to academic words. Even if the words are defined in context or have excellent context clues, it still is a good idea to preview them. Comprehension is best served if students don’t have to stop and use context clues. This doesn’t mean that students will be deprived of the opportunity to use context clues. Chances are there are words in the selection that were not previewed but which students don’t know or words that were previewed but which they have forgotten.
- Reading strategies. Students have to know how a selection is to be read. Most selections require a mix of preparational, organizational, and elaboration strategies. However, some strategies work better than others with certain kinds of materials. An editorial, for example, requires evaluation. A fictional story might require students to visualize the setting. At times, the format of a selection might be unfamiliar. For example, before tackling a play, students should be given tips on reading stage directions and dialogue. Because teaching a strategy is time-consuming, it is best if the needed strategy is taught beforehand, perhaps during a previous session, and then briefly reviewed or cued during the introductory discussion.
-Purpose for reading. Whether set by the teacher or by the class, the purpose for reading usually embraces the overall significance of the selection. It may grow out of the introductory discussion. Students discussing hearing-ear dogs might want to find out how hearing-ear dogs are trained, and that would become the purpose for reading. On other occasions, the teacher might set the reading purpose. The purpose can be a question or a series of questions to answer or a prediction to evaluate. It can also be completing a strategy guide of thoughtful questions or a graphic organizer. An especially effective purpose questions is one that takes in the overall meaning of the selection.
-Interest or connection. Last but not least, the teacher tries to create interest in the selection. To do this for a piece about an explorer lost in a jungle, the teacher might read the portion of the selection that describes the imminent dangers the explorer faced. The teacher might also help students make connections between what they are about to read and their own lives (Neubert & Wilkins, 2004). If they are reading about solar power, they might talk about the recently installed solar panels on the school’s roof.
Teaching English learners, about this, improves their reading comprehension as well as their ability to tell and write stories (Fu, 2009).
What is the narrative genre.
What is...
1. Enumeration-description. Lists details about a subject without giving any cause–effect or time relationship among them. Included in this category are structures that describe, give examples, and define concepts. This structure uses no specific signal words except in pieces that provide examples, where for example and for instance may be used as signals.
2. Time sequence. This type of structure is similar to enumeration; however, time order is specified. Signal words include the following:
after, today, first, next, afterward, second, tomorrow, then. before, third, and then, finally, earlier, dates, later
3. Explanation–process. An explanation tells how something works, such as how coal is formed, how a diesel engine works, or how a bill becomes law. Sequence may be involved, but steps in a process rather than time order are stressed. An expla-nation structure may include some of the same signal words as those found in a time-sequence structure.
4. Comparison–contrast. This type of structure presents differences and/or similarities. Signal words and phrases include the following:
although, but, however, similar, different different from, on the one hand, on the other hand
5. Problem–solution. A statement of a problem is followed by a possible solution or series of solutions. Signal words are problem and solution.
6. Cause–effect. An effect is presented along with a single cause or a series of causes. Signal words and phrases include the following:
because, cause, effect, therefore, since, as a result thus, for this reason, consequently
In the component, "assessing students' use of the writer's craft" of assessing narrative writing teachers check for these points: Provide at least three points.
What are...
Are the ideas focused and interesting?
Do the ideas enhance the theme?
Is the story organized into a beginning, middle, and end?
Is the writer's voice appealing?
Is the tone appropriate for the story?
Do the words create powerful images?
Are any narrative devices used?
Do the sentences flow smoothly?
Does the dialogue sound natural?
Are spelling, capitalization, punctuation, and grammar generally correct?
Does the paragraphing reinforce the organization?
Does the presentation enhance the story?
Are the text and visuals integrated?
An arrangement of skills from least demanding to those that require the highest mental powers is known as this.
What is taxonomy.
This is one way of looking at questions. By examining the kinds of thinking processes involved in asking and answering them.
-Remember
-Understand
-Apply
-Analyze
-Evaluate
-Create
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The first reading is usually silent. It is preferred because of this reason.
What is the student's understanding/comprehension is more important than how the selection’s words are pronounced.
In other words: the construction of meaning is more important than speech.
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