Connection: Page 187 discusses the importance of students making genuine connections to their reading – rather it be to their own personal lives or to other readings they’ve done in other classes or in the past. I connect to this because I always measure how fully my students understand what’s being taught in science class by if they can connect our learning to the outside world and to things they’ve observed. Even better if they can also connect that to science learning they’ve done in the past!
Quote: Page 193-194. “Student comprehension increases when they discuss texts and discussion offers students the chance to process the ideas, opinions, and questions that emerge from texts. Students also get to hear teacher and peer responses that fill in their knowledge gaps and provide redundancy of language.
This makes me rethink my teaching strategies. Maybe there needs to be more scaffolded discussion. Maybe I should require that students read together, instead of giving some the choice to read on their own. Maybe if an academic reading takes most of the workshop time, I should reserve the following class for an in-depth discussion with mixed student groups.
Question: How do we plan for lessons like this when there is such a wide range of English proficiency and reading levels in one classroom? How much differentiation is expected? How can we have classrooms discussions that push the thinking of my high-level readers and speakers as well as my struggling students?
Quote: “Speaking and writing, in contrast, requires students to develop control of grammar and syntax enough to clearly re-express the message to a particular audience in proper ways...When you drive, you need to focus on directions...and are more likely to remember the way next time you go there”. (Zwiers, p49)
Connection: This quote really jumped out at me because I know it to be a tried and true practice especially with ELL’s (English Language Learners). We also know from research that when you can engage more than one of our senses, we are more likely to solidify that skill. When learning a language, you speak using your mouth, you listen with your ears, you read with your eyes and writing may include both listening and reading in addition to using your hands to write it. It is true at least from my own experience with students, that many ELL’s will have a stronger listening vocabulary and reading as opposed to both oral and written vocabularies. This is evidenced when placing students into levels of competency.
Question: As I read through the text and was thinking about my ELL’s, and the quote above, I came to a section about metaphors. In the past, I have encouraged my ELL students to write vocabulary words in both English and in their own language. My question is: Should I have them do this same procedure with metaphors, similes and other ideas that may be more abstract? I believe this would help my students make multiple connections and reinforce the concept by taking the “driver’s seat” ?
In my personal life, one of my good friends is Guatemalan and every time I use a phrase, idiom or metaphor, if she looks confused, I say you must have this phrase in Spanish and after awhile, she thinks about it, and then will repeat it In Spanish. This activity may be more challenging and may require multi-language dictionaries or thesauruses unless having access to a computer. I just wonder what other ideas would work to help my students connect to more abstract ideas when reading different types of literature and printed texts?
“We must be careful not to rob our diverse students of the opportunities to think more deeply and respond academically, even when we think they will struggle to formulate their answers and even when we think we don't have time” Page 10
I agreed greatly with this quote. No student is the same and no response is the same. Each student has something to contribute to the class but some students may not have (or know) the specific words to express something. “Careful not to rob” also stands out. So often we want our students to grasp a concept or even repeat the objective of the lesson on their own that we accidentally “give away” the answer to them so they won’t feel ashamed for not getting it right away.
Zwiers said that this was said to be “linguistic enabling” and that teachers do this so to not “to offend or discourage their participation”. I feel like I myself am guilty of doing this as a teacher and have been on the discourage part as a student. I was an ELL student in my early years of school and had teachers tell me what to say and move on due to lack of time. I definitely never want my students to feel discourage in my class. I want them to feel comfortable no matter what language level they are at.
I’ve been told by fellow colleagues that “there's always tomorrow..” in regards to running out of time in class if we don’t get to something planned for that day. Allowing more time truly would help students to be thoughtful in their responses. My question for this is How long should I allow my student to reflect on something in a way where they feel that they are proud of their response? I liked how the reading gave different language model examples for the classroom. What are some other ways I can promote deep thinking or help prompt my students to do so.
Quote: “We must be explicit and descriptive as we describe out thinking, because much of the subject and its language has become second nature to us through our studying it or teaching it multiple times a day over many years.” (Zwiers, 189)
While reading Zwiers chapters this quote stood out to me. In mathematics, especially it is so easy to just move right along while modeling a problem for a class that teachers don’t even realize that they are skipping steps or not thoroughly explaining their thinking. I remember being a student, even in college math classes and asking myself where did they get that answer? Or where did the 2 come from? Students who may lack confidence or are quiet students may not ask if they are confused or unsure about a problem.
My question while reading these chapters is how can I be sure that I am being clear and explicit when I am describing my thinking? How can I check that my students are understanding the material we are covering and not leaving my classroom unsure and uncomfortable with the topics we have covered? How can I build a classroom community where if there is a question or clarification students feel comfortable to ask?
Connection: Page 187 discusses the importance of students making genuine connections to their reading – rather it be to their own personal lives or to other readings they’ve done in other classes or in the past. I connect to this because I always measure how fully my students understand what’s being taught in science class by if they can connect our learning to the outside world and to things they’ve observed. Even better if they can also connect that to science learning they’ve done in the past!
ReplyDeleteQuote: Page 193-194. “Student comprehension increases when they discuss texts and discussion offers students the chance to process the ideas, opinions, and questions that emerge from texts. Students also get to hear teacher and peer responses that fill in their knowledge gaps and provide redundancy of language.
This makes me rethink my teaching strategies. Maybe there needs to be more scaffolded discussion. Maybe I should require that students read together, instead of giving some the choice to read on their own. Maybe if an academic reading takes most of the workshop time, I should reserve the following class for an in-depth discussion with mixed student groups.
Question: How do we plan for lessons like this when there is such a wide range of English proficiency and reading levels in one classroom? How much differentiation is expected? How can we have classrooms discussions that push the thinking of my high-level readers and speakers as well as my struggling students?
Quote:
ReplyDelete“Speaking and writing, in contrast, requires students to develop control of grammar and syntax enough to clearly re-express the message to a particular audience in proper ways...When you drive, you need to focus on directions...and are more likely to remember the way next time you go there”. (Zwiers, p49)
Connection:
This quote really jumped out at me because I know it to be a tried and true practice especially with ELL’s (English Language Learners). We also know from research that when you can engage more than one of our senses, we are more likely to solidify that skill. When learning a language, you speak using your mouth, you listen with your ears, you read with your eyes and writing may include both listening and reading in addition to using your hands to write it. It is true at least from my own experience with students, that many ELL’s will have a stronger listening vocabulary and reading as opposed to both oral and written vocabularies. This is evidenced when placing students into levels of competency.
Question:
As I read through the text and was thinking about my ELL’s, and the quote above, I came to a section about metaphors. In the past, I have encouraged my ELL students to write vocabulary words in both English and in their own language. My question is: Should I have them do this same procedure with metaphors, similes and other ideas that may be more abstract? I believe this would help my students make multiple connections and reinforce the concept by taking the “driver’s seat” ?
In my personal life, one of my good friends is Guatemalan and every time I use a phrase, idiom or metaphor, if she looks confused, I say you must have this phrase in Spanish and after awhile, she thinks about it, and then will repeat it In Spanish. This activity may be more challenging and may require multi-language dictionaries or thesauruses unless having access to a computer. I just wonder what other ideas would work to help my students connect to more abstract ideas when reading different types of literature and printed texts?
This is Kelly Domenico, I am using my son's Chrome and for some reason it won't let me add my name.
ReplyDelete“We must be careful not to rob our diverse students of the opportunities to think more deeply and respond academically, even when we think they will struggle to formulate their answers and even when we think we don't have time” Page 10
ReplyDeleteI agreed greatly with this quote. No student is the same and no response is the same. Each student has something to contribute to the class but some students may not have (or know) the specific words to express something. “Careful not to rob” also stands out. So often we want our students to grasp a concept or even repeat the objective of the lesson on their own that we accidentally “give away” the answer to them so they won’t feel ashamed for not getting it right away.
Zwiers said that this was said to be “linguistic enabling” and that teachers do this so to not “to offend or discourage their participation”. I feel like I myself am guilty of doing this as a teacher and have been on the discourage part as a student. I was an ELL student in my early years of school and had teachers tell me what to say and move on due to lack of time. I definitely never want my students to feel discourage in my class. I want them to feel comfortable no matter what language level they are at.
I’ve been told by fellow colleagues that “there's always tomorrow..” in regards to running out of time in class if we don’t get to something planned for that day. Allowing more time truly would help students to be thoughtful in their responses. My question for this is How long should I allow my student to reflect on something in a way where they feel that they are proud of their response? I liked how the reading gave different language model examples for the classroom. What are some other ways I can promote deep thinking or help prompt my students to do so.
Quote: “We must be explicit and descriptive as we describe out thinking, because much of the subject and its language has become second nature to us through our studying it or teaching it multiple times a day over many years.” (Zwiers, 189)
ReplyDeleteWhile reading Zwiers chapters this quote stood out to me. In mathematics, especially it is so easy to just move right along while modeling a problem for a class that teachers don’t even realize that they are skipping steps or not thoroughly explaining their thinking. I remember being a student, even in college math classes and asking myself where did they get that answer? Or where did the 2 come from? Students who may lack confidence or are quiet students may not ask if they are confused or unsure about a problem.
My question while reading these chapters is how can I be sure that I am being clear and explicit when I am describing my thinking? How can I check that my students are understanding the material we are covering and not leaving my classroom unsure and uncomfortable with the topics we have covered? How can I build a classroom community where if there is a question or clarification students feel comfortable to ask?