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 Department
of Language EducationPracticum in Language X425/L525 Dr. Hope Elkins |
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1.In this module we will learn about: *Simple ways to initially assess the learner. *Ways to build on interest. *Creatively using authentic materials. *Using the language experience approach. __________________________________________________________ 2.We will: *Administer a reading interview and informal interest inventory. *Plan a lesson based on learner interest. *Discuss books that have made positive differences in our experiences. *Talk about experiences to empower ESL students __________________________________________________________ 3.Discussion topic: Non-ESL students look back on your lives and share how books made positive differences for you. For example, possibly the main character of a book was a role model, or maybe a book gave you the answer to a challenging problem. For some of you, reading books could have been an escape to broader worlds of excitement and adventure. ESL students share your personal views about empowering ESL learners in the classroom. What role do you believe socioculturalism has in a person's learning a language, and how would you set up a learning environment where all children could find acceptance and feel they are valued. If appropriate, relate from personal experience how ESL learners have been empowered or disfranchised within a classroom. __________________________________________________________ 4.Comments: Informal Interest Inventory: I once had a very wise professor who taught that when beginning reading instruction, there are two crucial things the tutor should know: learner interests and reading level. This is not a course in assessment, but it is important that you learn as quickly as possible what interests your learner. It is common knowledge in the field that allowing people to read in the area of interest can make a highly positive difference in performance. It is relatively easy to find interests through an informal interest inventory (III), a simple questionnaire assessing interests. There are many published inventories, but we will make our own. You can use a simple list of questions as an interview guide and tape the interview, or you can prepare a detailed set of questions, and depending on the tutee's skills, fill in the blanks for the student or allow the learner to fill them in. Be sure to date when the interview was given, provide the student's name and educational level, occupation if adult, interview setting, and other important information you believe should be included. What kinds of information will you look for? Here are some common examples seen on IIIs: *Attitudes about reading and writing in general
Some of the information above is geared more to adults than children. You make the decision about what questions would be best in your interest inventory, and if warranted, feel free to add categories not on the list. If taping the interview, be sure the tape recorder is working properly and the setting is quiet without distractions. If using a written questionnaire, be sure there is enough space between questions and in the blanks to give plenty of room for answers. Your completed interview should be a rich collection of data giving you clear guidance in selecting reading materials and interesting experiences for your learner. How can you build on learner interests? Here are some simple ways: *Choose materials the student likes to read. For example, if your learner enjoys the newspaper, use it often and in creative ways. If the student likes cats, find a variety of books on that topic. *Find books about favorite hobbies and pastimes. *Match the learner's learning style with materials. If your learner loves to cook, find cookbooks and recipes and cook with them. *Give the learner interesting real purposes for reading. Build on what she needs and wants to do. *Don't limit instruction to books. Try the computer, for example. Music and art can be wonderful instructional tools. *Do projects based on learner interest. *Build on the learner's culture and background.
Reading Interview (1): When working with a struggling reader or ESL student, it is good to know the learner's beliefs about reading. For example, if the learner believes that good readers only sound out words, you can broaden his strategy base with other types of experiences. The perfect instrument for this purpose is the Reading Interview. Not only does the interview give data about reading beliefs, but you will probably get a fairly good picture of how the learner was taught to read. This information can be valuable as you begin the tutoring program. Include the same information at the beginning of the Reading Interview as in the interest inventory.
1.When you are reading and come to something you don't know, what do you do?
Do you ever do anything else?
2.Who is a good reader you know?
3.What makes __________ a good reader?
4.Do you think _________ ever comes to something she/he doesn't know?
5."Yes" When ________ does come to something she/he doesn't know, what do you think h/she does?
"No" Suppose _______ comes to something she/he doesn't know. What do you think she/he would do?
6.If you knew someone was having trouble reading, how would you help that person?
7.What would a/your teacher do to help that person?
8.How did you learn to read?
9.What would you like to do better as a reader?
10.Do you think you are a good reader? Why?
Reading Level: Struggling readers and ESL students often feel intimidated by language arts. Many students come to the tutor already feeling a deep sense of failure and frustration. For this reason it is imperative that the tutor begin instruction with materials that can be read independently. This is the called the independent level. The instructional level describes the level at which the student can succeed with instruction. As the tutoring progresses, you should gradually add materials at this level. The frustration level is one at which materials totally frustrate the learner. Materials at the frustration level should never be used with a struggling reader. Finally, there is the listening level where the student can comprehend materials read to him. As you tutor, you will probably use materials at all levels except the frustration level. If you are a classroom teacher, you probably have access to the tutee's reading level. If you are a new tutor, here are some ways you might learn approximate reading level without giving a commercial test or taking excessive time creating one:
a.If you are working in an institution, i.e., school, library, jail, social agency, it is possible the staff will know your learner's reading level.
Make every effort to begin tutoring with materials that give success. This sometimes requires incorporating the student's own language through the language experience approach which will be discussed later in this module. As tutoring begins, remember the key to learner progress is building on interests and success.
Sometimes our first response to students who do poorly on structured tasks is more structured practice. Many teachers have found, however, that teaching and learning can become rather pleasant when giving students a varied diet including authentic materials. Materials from the real world give purpose to reading and redirect the learner's attention away from failure to something interesting and relevant. How does one go about choosing and using authentic materials? First, think about your student's interests. Next, what can the student read? Your responsibility as a teacher is to provide the support so the student can become increasingly independent. You might have to begin with something extremely simple such as a predictable picture book or the headlines in the newspaper, but don't give up because you will eventually reap the benefits of using authentic materials. Here are some ideas to help:
Have the student focus on an author or book. There are many picture books that are appropriate for adults. Visit the local bookstore and become acquainted with various types of picture books available. Predictable books are those that have repeated words or themes in which the student can easily predict the text. Nursery rhymes are a perfect example of predictability. Predictable materials work very well with children, adults, and ESL students. Here are some ways to focus on a book: *Use the book for art ideas. Make murals, collages, sculptures, story boxes, a book scrapbook, a book jacket, and other interesting projects. *Study the books of one author or compare the books of two or more authors. Look at the way they are illustrated and written. Look at books with the same theme. Write letters to the authors. *Make books into plays, puppet shows, and musicals. Play out the roles of the main characters. *Make a listening center with books which includes audiotapes of the learner's favorite books. *Make word walls, word banks, story maps, and other visuals representing books. *Pretend you and the learner are book critics and examine literary elements in books, i.e., character, setting, plot, point of view, theme, genre. Write book reviews and share with peers. *Write about books in journals and book logs. Write the story from your point of view. *Use a book as the focus for an inquiry project, i.e., Laura Ingalls Wilder's books for a study of westward movement.
Experiment with other kinds of materials: *Ask restaurants if you can have old menus. Use them for practice in ordering, learning tasty adjectives and adverbs, and figuring meal prices. *Use discarded phone books to study people's last names, or learn how to call information, long distance, learn about zip and area codes, study the yellow pages and more. *Use travel brochures to learn about other cultures and places as well as the dynamics of planning a trip. *Collect user's manuals to teach about products and their care. *Bring in clothing and other types of catalogs. Tell the student there is so much to "spend" and allow her to choose, order, and figure the cost. *Create a recipe book of the student's favorite recipes, including those of family and friends. From time to time, have a cooking session. *If the student has a hobby, have him write instructions for a hobby-related task. *Use the newspaper. Find letters and words, look at headlines, allow learners to add dialog to comic strip characters, rewrite articles on the learner's level. Be creative. *Allow the student to make books. Bind them and use for reading instruction.
Don't be afraid to experiment with authentic materials. You'll be glad you did!
We can almost always count on our learners' interest in themselves and their views. For this reason language experience is one of the best ways to introduce students to reading and writing. I have successfully used LEA (ESL students note that LEA is discussed in the Leader's Manual) with young beginning readers, elementary children, adolescents, adults, and ESL students. Why is LEA so successful? It is non-intimidating, uses the learner's own language, and builds on student interests. LEA operates on the premise that if you can think about something, you can talk about it; if you can talk about it, you can write about it. If you can write about it, you can read what you've written. How does the tutor use LEA? Much has been written about using the approach, but the following simple directions will get you started:
1.Find something the learner likes to talk about. This could be family stories, school field trips, work, friends, and other experiences. Sometimes, the tutor can provide some enriching experiences, and the learner can write about those. For example, your learner might be interested in plants. You could use a visit to the local greenhouse as a basis for writing. The main thing to remember is build on or create engaging experiences for the learner.
2.Initiate a conversation with the learner about experiences. The discussion can be spontaneous or planned, such as, "Tell a story about . . . ." As the learner talks, print his exact words on paper. Be sure he can watch you take the dictation. If the narrative is lengthy, which is fairly common with adults, tape the conversation and type it out later.
3. Have the learner read the dictation. If you're using a tape, allow the learner to listen to his words while reading the transcription. To reinforce the experience, make the dictation into a book with the learner planning and illustrating. Possibly the dictation can be shared with peers on a bulletin board or in a newsletter. Put the learner's words in a prominent place where he can see it often. Make a word bank of words from the dictation, and review regularly. Use the words to make new stories. Be sure to point out the words in other reading materials. Add new experiences and LEA stories as the tutoring progresses. Bind together into the learner's personal booklet. As the learner's skills increase, he can increasingly write and read his own stories as well as those of others. You will be pleased to see the learner's pride as language skills develop.
(1) Goodman, Y., Watson, D., and Burke, C. (1987). Reading Miscue Inventory. New York, NY: Richard Owen Publishers, Inc.
Comments: disted@indiana.edu Copyright 2004, The Trustees of Indiana University
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