Oral Language is really important..... Are we focusing enough on it?
As we navigate our literacy journey together we can all agree on one thing.... Literacy impacts all subject areas...... and WE ALL should be focusing on it.
Yes, we were supposed to be focusing on creativity and critical thinking... and we will.... but our focus for this blog will be literacy:)
We have two groups here.....
1. Group One- Elementary teachers who will be completing the Cox Campus literacy training.
2. Group Two- Everyone else:)
We are a team. Thank you for coming together on this topic and supporting each other as we learn about structured literacy together!
Group One
A) What is the biggest take-away you received in Lessons 1-3 of Oral Language? What have been your key takeaways, challenges, and successes in strengthening oral language skills in your classroom?
B) Given PIECE; the TALK Ladder with Safety Nets; HABLA; and/or the overview of phonology, Discuss and provide examples of classroom activities that you've implemented in your own teaching practice to promote the development of all components of oral language. How have these activities positively impacted your students' language skills and overall learning experience?
What changes can you make in your classroom to intentionally facilitate deep reading without changing your current curriculum or lesson plans?
Group Two
Read this article
Discuss and provide examples of classroom activities that you've implemented in your own teaching practice to promote the development of all components of oral language. How have these activities positively impacted your students' language skills and overall learning experience?
Thank you in advance for working through this new blog process together.
Rebecca Minerd and Monelle Dalman
Heather South
ReplyDeleteI believe we are making great strides with literacy instruction through our study of the Science of Reading. Phonology is a component of the Science of Reading that we have incorporated into early literacy instruction. It is defined as “the system of lanugage that involves speech sounds and the rules governing how speech sounds can be combined to produce words.” Each week we use blending boards to blend phonemes into words. We use words that relate to the skill discussed for that week as well as spirialing back through previous weeks’ skills. These activities are assisting students with these sounds, but also helping to strenghten their abilities to blend multisyllabic words. Students are able to record themselves blending words in fluency passages. This assists in their language skills because they can then go back and listen to their recordings as well as listen to classmates. I will continute to use these strategies as we move into the 2nd nine weeks to differentiate for learners that are ready to move to more complex words. As we continue to move in the current direction with literacy, I believe that we will learn ideas and strategies that will assist us in being more intentional with our instruction.
The biggest takeaway from Lessons 1-3 of Oral Language for me was in Lesson 2 about Equality of Voice; it said that “language and identity are inextricably linked”. This lesson also explained the TALK Ladder with Safety Nets and how teachers can help scaffold students' language, which is something that a lot of teachers may do without any knowledge of the TALK Ladder. Through working with students in the elementary grades, whether through small groups or Tier 2/Tier 3 interventions, some activities that I have used to promote the development of oral language are reviewing letter sounds, vowel teams, beginning and ending blends, and digraphs. I have used pictures and gestures, as well as emphasizing how the mouth (lips, tongues, teeth) should look when making sounds. I have also had students practice blending phonemes to make words and then segment words into phonemes, adding and deleting phonemes to make new words, segmenting words into syllables, and rhyming words. These activities have positively impacted my students by allowing them more time with and to further practice these important skills that are necessary for reading and learning.
ReplyDeleteI also liked the Talk Ladder. It's always a struggle with Tier 2/Tier 3 students in getting them to give a complete detailed response.
DeleteIn the article, the quote highlighted by Nadine Gaab really stood out to me. As a middle school math teacher, I am not directly teaching students how to read, but I have definitely seen the outcomes of the “wait to fail” approach she mentioned. She said that approach is “detrimental to the child’s academic outcome, but also for the child’s mental health.” Because reading affects everything, students tend to shut down when they can’t read. This, alongside the typical angst of being in middle school, has been evident in some of the mental health issues I have seen in students.
ReplyDeleteIn my class, the ways I try to support these students is by breaking down unknown math vocabulary words into syllables, helping students pronounce these unfamiliar words, and relating them to other words we may know. I also like to find the origin behind why we have defined variables for certain concepts in math. For example, why does the letter m stand for slope and b stand for y-intercept? Most students would rather use S for slope since it is the beginning letter and sound of that word. However, the m for slope originates from the French term “monter” which means to climb or rise. The b for y-intercept originates from the German word “begriff” which means beginning or origin.
The biggest way I support phonological awareness in middle school math is by breaking down new vocabulary and helping students with the pronunciation of words like “hypotenuse” or “imbalanced.” This helps with phonological awareness but also with understanding what the vocabulary means. When students are more comfortable with math vocabulary, they are more likely to discuss, read, and write about math!
I like that you focus on breaking down terms. This is helpful across subjects as understanding of affixes can also help decode other words they encounter. It is important for students to understand they are not alone when they reach an unfamiliar word, that they CAN learn it and pass that knowledge on to others. The confidence they gain in learning new vocabulary lends to a confidence in attempting work and helping others in completing work as well.
DeleteAs a teacher that has never taught below 7th grade students, I have had very little experience with specifically teaching Phonological Awareness other than carefully sounding out specific terms or names. I do have one student who is a developing/emergent reader. I have sat with this student, this year, in a one-on-one session and helped her decode terms through sounding our phonemes. This is not a frequent occurrence, but does increase her confidence when we have these sessions. My classes do discuss how words look versus how they are pronounces, especially when confronted with a new term.
ReplyDeleteFor Middle schoolers, Phonological Awareness can be present in creating rhymes, sounding out tough words, encouraging students to slow down and listen to the words- focusing on each sound produced. Here is a good article on instruction for older students: https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/phonological-and-phonemic-awareness/articles/phonological-instruction-older-students
Amanda, I really like how much you are incorporating these strategies in middle school science. We all know informational text can be challenging , so teaching these strategies to students is so important. You are right, middle school students often need these phonological awareness strategies to decode multisyllabic words. I will check out the article you posted. Thanks!
DeleteI thoroughly enjoyed lessons 1 - 3 and learned different techniques to use in the classroom, as well as some I will implement with my fourteen month old grandson! In third grade, our biggest challenge is decoding multisyllabic words. After decoding the words in our text, we also talk about the meaning of the word to build vocabulary as well. When I taught pre-k, a new student enrolled in the middle of the year that only spoke Spanish. I worked with him to build his vocabulary by labeling objects and then modeled how to form the phonemes with his mouth. I used the TALK ladder method by repeating more complex sentences back to him as his use of syntax and semantics grew. The other children liked to jump in as well and model sentence structure for him. I was amazed at the speed with which he picked up English.
ReplyDeleteBeth Sweeney
ReplyDeleteOne of my biggest takeaways from lesson 1-3 was in lesson 2. Celebrating dialects and the languages that the students spoke. While watching these short video lessons and responding to the knowledge checks I began thinking deeper on the Multilingual learners. The students might not always pronounce the words the same way that they are pronounced in General American English, but these dialects should not be corrected. These dialects and languages from the Multilingual learners should be celebrated and respected. In class, especially over the microphones on the chromebook I often have to ask students to repeat words or when we are blending I often ask students to repeat sounds to ensure I heard the right sound or they have made the right sound.
So many of my students have goals that involve blending. It is a daily part of our day breaking down words and looking at phonemes to blend sounds. We focus on the sounds of the phonemes, looking deeper at the shape of our mouth and the sound that we hear with each sound. We also use blending boards to put these phonemes together to make whole words. By breaking down the words and focusing on each individual phoneme, the students are able to read new words that are presented to them by breaking them down and sounding them out.
I also thought that a good point from Lesson 2 was that students' speech/dialect and/or responses should never be corrected. The TALK Ladder is a great way to respect, honor, and help scaffold what students say. I agree that the dialects and languages from multilingual learners should be celebrated and respected! I think this should become a goal and a priority in classrooms and woven into daily practice.
DeleteCelebrating dialects was also a big take away for me. In the past it seems that we were told to teach "proper English" and not to honor any dialect. I am sure that I corrected the pronunciation of several students and told them the "correct" way to pronounce the words when I first became a teacher. I also know that as a child I was always embarrassed when told I was "saying it wrong" or made fun of by other students. One of my core memories was in First grade when I moved from Atlanta, Georgia with my thick southern accent to St. Louis, Missouri. The kids would not stop making fun of me and the teacher just kept correcting the way I pronounced everything. It made me become even more shy and withdrawn. Now, I try my best to honor the dialects of students.
DeleteThe biggest take away for me in Lessons 1-3 was lesson 2 and 3. I enjoyed listening to Mr. Ricardo's story and understanding how some ESOL kids totally change and forgot their language when they come through school doors. I currently don't teach any ESOL students, but I can remember in the past, I had several; and I never heard them speak Spanish, not even on the playgrounds or at lunch during unstructured time. They always spoke English, but Spanish was the native language spoken at home. I can imagine how hard it was for them to go between two languages on a daily basis, insteading of being given an outlet to speak freely. Lesson 3 was interesting, because it spoke about the African American dialect. Being African American myself, I never new that existed, because I was always just taught and told to speak proper English. The video gave an example the word Gold and stated that AA would say Gol and leave off the ending. Me personally, I would say Gold, my kids would say Gold, so I wasn't sure if it was speaking for the majority of our race or not (little confusing).
ReplyDeleteI currently use Wordly Wise and that allows me not only to dig deeper, but use many activities that helps my students understand the meaning of the word. I also incorporate AI with reading stories that relate to Science/SS and this allows me to find vocabulary in the text that can be dissected for oral language practice, as well as using the content for deeper reading. Students are placed in breakout groups for this activity, and this allows them to speak me (using their daily oral language skills). One of the lessons stated that teachers spend at least 95% of their time teaching and talking and not letting the students use their language skills to enhance the lesson. The use of the daily breakout rooms allows me to be more of a facilitator and less of a speaker.
Your comment about the word gold made me think of the southern dialect. "We" leave off endings to words, specially(or beginnings, haha) the g in -ing(fixin', jumpin'). So if I were getting tested as a student in a school setting, would my scores be skewed because of my dialect? My cousins who lived in the Northeast would say I had syrup in my mouth because I talked slowly--would that affect my fluency score? Just wondering. I'm always thinking of odd things. :)
DeleteI love that they are addressing dialect, as well! One note that I do want to point out, is that even "within dialects" there are exceptions! There is a prominent figure in the CCSS who is from the Deep South and who sounds SO much like she is from the Midwest, and even commented to me how SO many people ask her about it! Dialects, family culture, exposure, etc affect how we speak. Bynghum, I even notice differences within extended families because of so. Do your nieces, nephews, cousins, etc. have the same "proper English" value as you and your children? I can say in my families there are major differences from household to household. :) That's why I find all this discussion fascinating and IMPORTANT. Each individual is affected differently by their environment, and I love that the narrator said, that no ONE is better or worse than the other! We ALL just have to be educated so that we can still communicate and learn effectively. :)
DeleteI am equally appreciative of your second paragraph regarding vocabulary, deeper reading, and student voice. Kudos!
You made me think too, the simple fact is that by being in school virtually, our students don't always get time to just practice using their speaking voice. They get a lot of time to practice writing. Allowing our students to relate to each other and just chat may be something we try to incorporate more into our classrooms on a consistent basis.
DeleteDialects can be such an important factor, and they should definitely be taken into consideration when trying to determine if there is an issue with speech. According to Siri, I have a speech problem. She clearly does not speak southern and never understood a word I said. Alexa is much more attuned to my Alabamian, lol. I do think that verbal interactions are so important in our virtual environment, Annie. With all our standards (I know you all feel me) I never feel like I have enough time to just let them chat about their choice of topics... but, I do work very hard to incorporate class discussions into each of our units. Dojo's name picker makes it so much easier for me to try to make sure everyone expresses themself and doesn't just rely on the same three people to guide every discussion.
DeleteIn our current 8th grade unit of study, the American Revolution, one method I used to enhance students' oral language skills was the integration of Antimatter's 'New Phone, Who Dis?' activity. Students were asked craft a conversation via text message between George III and Thomas Jefferson following King George receiving the Declaration of Independence. Within the exchange, they were asked to provide two examples from their notes of causes that led to this point. After they'd completed their exchange, they were submitted in the platform and we role played the conversations. This allowed students to engage in in-depth conversation about historical figures and to explore the Revolution from both viewpoints. The tool itself made these figures more relatable to the students and the delivery method really increased engagement. Text messages are relatable to the students and it increased their confidence level as they completed the task. Afterwards, students expressed they felt more clear on the causes by orally picking them out of the exchanges as a class and that they enjoyed reading one another's work. It was a definite hit in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds fun and adds an element of real world connections. Love it!
DeleteI love this idea! I am sure your students will remember that for years to come!
DeleteWe also use the first few minutes before announcemnts to share in the mornings. The kids really enjoy discussions with each other and it's a great time for them to interact, practicing using their oral language skills. We also share after lunch time what they ate, as other students are logging back in. They always get so excited any chance they get to interact and share with the class.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the article, it is hard to find something that I do to promote phonological awareness in isolation in my classroom currently; however, the overall development of oral language can be seen in my classroom by students reading out loud short passages/questions and just conversations we have throughout the day. I have, on occasion, stopped the conversation and ask the student to repeat themselves. Sometimes, it may be a word they just mispronounced due to lack of knowledge of the actual correct word. I have written the word they have said and the correct word and compared the two. These little pauses give them a brief "lesson". I couldn't tell you if these small pauses give them life-long lessons, but maybe one of them will remember it and next time know what word to use instead.
ReplyDeleteI also want to point out that I may mispronounce words if I'm reading too fast or can't figure out the correct sounds of a difficult word, but I stop and reread it slowly and/or break down a word to figure it out. When I do this in front of my class, it models that mistakes are ok, but you must stop to correct yourself or it won't make sense when it comes time to comprehend the material.
Modeling is SO important for EVERYTHING we do! I love that you are showing your students your "human-ness" by acknowledging that you don't know how to pronounce every word and that's okay. The modeling you do, helps show them that they can break down unknown words too, especially in the science field! Most of the unknown words they will encounter will have roots, prefixes, suffixes, etc that they have already heard and read before, so that is a great strategy!
DeleteI have always known that language development starts early, but I did not make a connection with how a lack of or inconsistent communication can impact infants and young children. It was also eye opening to see the image of Scarborough’s Reading Rope with the components of language listed above. As we know, skilled readers need language comprehension skills and word recognition skills to truly understand what they are reading. There are 5 components of language and 4 of the components relate to language comprehension!
ReplyDeleteI have implemented the scaffolding/safety nets of the TALK Ladder as I have worked with students with disabilities. I taught in a self contained classroom for several years. Even at the middle school level, the students still had varying levels of language development. Lessons on turn taking in conversation, staying on topic, greeting others, and appropriate things to say were part of a normal day. I scaffold conversations based on the students level of language development. As students had the opportunity to practice these skills, many met communication goals. Some students were more social with their peers and adults. Practicing skills in a safe place fostered confidence.
I also found the TALK ladder safety nets and scaffolding interesting. It is something that I just naturally do from teaching primary students for so long, but I think the TALK ladder helps break down what is happening in a more clear and concise way making it easier to understand. I agree with you that if we provide a safe space for students to feel comfortable sharing and if we help guided them with their communication that our classrooms will be a great place to grow the confidence of the students and to build ongoing communication skills.
DeleteOne of the most stunning facts that was shared was early in Lesson 1 that said 95% of time spent in class is teacher talk. When we are working to develop students' oral language skills, it is vital that they have ample practice time. I feel like I incorporate many opportunities and time spent for students to have talk time needed, though I'm sure I could improve that. I try to do this with partner and small group opportunities, recording opportunities through flip, presentations, and recordings in Book Creator.
ReplyDeleteOne of the frustrations is when students respond tersely. I thought the graphic shared for the TALK ladder could be a beneficial reminder to take the time to probe these responses to pull a more complex sentence from the students.
Deep reading is another beneficial component of reading instruction and oral language development. I like how HMH in middle school incorporates this through some of the beginning components with each text.
I also like the idea of using Flips for students to interact with each other. Maybe this could be another way for my students to utilize their oral language.
DeleteI enjoyed the Cox format of the training. My biggest take away is the discussion of the safety nets for to utilize when assisting students in forming responses to questions and readings. As a early literacy teacher, I have always done this as a best practice but have never seen the graphic of the safety net. The explanations used are very informative and helpful especially for new teachers. I plan on utilizing this graphic. I also liked the idea of allowing your children to speak more often. I have to remind myself of this in the virtual setting because it is a challenge for all of us to have our microphones on at the same time. It is much easier to "turn and talk" with a neighbor in a physical classroom. I will try to use the breakout rooms for more student lead discussions.
ReplyDeleteI use phonics specifically encoding and decoding daily with my younger students. I also am constantly providing mini-lessons for new vocabulary. Again, this is something that I have always done because young learners have such limited vocabulary. I also use Wordly Wise and non-fiction texts to increase vocabulary and language development. I challenge my students to find newly acquired words in text while they are reading. I also have them look for phonics rules that we have been studying in unknown words. By providing my students with solid phonemic and phonological awareness skills, it helps them not only link their oral language to their written language but to give them the confidence to use their learned skills to confidently get their thoughts across.
I agree with the difference in teaching virtually and in-person especially in regards to the safety nets. As I'm watching the interactions between teachers and students in these videos, I think to myself "Hey, I do that naturally without knowing that is a 'best practice', BUT that is in-person. Virtually, I need to be more cognizant of those safety nets, because it IS so much more difficult to have that back and forth conversation.
DeleteYes, I feel our virtual students yearn for the oral interactions with classmates. It is important to give them that time!
ReplyDeleteOne activity I use with multiple grade levels is combining books with music/song. This activity reinforces several different literacy skills (awareness of print, vocabulary, fluency, order of events, etc.) and can be used by non-music teachers. For example, I just finished reading "Kitty Alone" adapted by John Feierabend with K/1. For this story, I follow these steps:
ReplyDelete1)Guide the students to listen and look for the 6 different animals that will be in the story; 2)Read the story while showing the pictures/words in the camera;
3)Discuss the animals;
4)Guide the students to listen and look for the order of appearance of the 6 different animals;
5)Read again using the song melody to sing the story;
6)Discuss the order of appearance;
7)Show the lyrics for chorus which contains non-sense syllables, "Kitty Alone, a lai, rock em a rye ree" and have the students echo me to learn by rote;
8)Sing the chorus with the video that includes the music and the book.
I agree that it is so important to give our students the time to practice oral language throughout the day. In my classroom I often try to incorporate a "warm up" while everyone is joining that includes a share time. Even my 5th and 6th graders get so excited when they get time at the beginning of our class to tell our other classmates something. Some days we will incorporate what we are learning in class with this time, and some days they will share whatever they want! They LOVE this opportunity.
ReplyDeleteIn PE class for the K-2rd grade band I have physical activity games that involve recognizing the rhyming words. This can help reinforce Phonological Awareness. I use alphabet yoga where we pose our body in the shape of different letters and then I list words that start with that letter.
ReplyDeleteI am inspired to try a new game that would include movements (clapping or jumping) for each syllable.
Because we are in PE class students often simply enjoy the activities because they see them as PE games, however it is an effective way to reinforce the concepts being taught in their class.