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 Department
of Language EducationPracticum in Language X425/L525 Dr. Hope Elkins, Ph.D. |
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1.In this module we will learn about: *Case study reporting. *Using authentic materials for real purposes. __________________________________________________________ 2.We will: *Begin case study development. *Practice using authentic materials for real purposes. __________________________________________________________ 3.Possible Extra Credit (Choose a or b): a. After reading Comments, submit four ideas for using authentic materials to encourage reading for real purposes. b.After reading Comments, submit four ideas for using authentic materials to create a multicultural instructional setting. Note: These Ideas will be collected in Authentic Materials Ideas. __________________________________________________________ 4.Discussion Topic: If you have developed a case report in the past, tell about the experience. Was the experience helpful? Was the case report read and used? Do you believe the report accurately described the learner and the instructional process? If not, how would you revise the process? How do you see case reports fitting into the general classroom setting? The tutoring setting? __________________________________________________________ 5.Comments:
In a busy classroom or reading lab, it is easy to neglect the detailed analysis sometimes required to help struggling readers and ESL students. The case study is an excellent tool to focus the teacher's attention on factors relating to reading behavior. Case studies also provide a logical, systematic way to make and evaluate instructional decisions. As mentioned in Module 2, good, detailed lesson plans are a wonderful foundation for a case report. If you have adequately summarized your instruction throughout the tutoring process, the case study will be simply a matter of organizing and analyzing the data. Case studies which are not based on good lesson plans tend to be fragmented, incomplete, and illogical. If a case study is done well, the reader can easily follow the reporter's reasoning through the entire study to the recommendations at the end. To learn how to prepare a case study, click on Case Studies. Also, look at the sample Learner Characteristics. If you have questions or concerns about your case study, feel free to contact me, and I will help.
I think we all tend to become actively engaged in activities when there are legitimate reasons for doing so. As you have probably discovered in working with your ESL or struggling reader, these students almost always have low self-esteem, sometimes to the point of feeling marginalized from the other students and the teacher. Some, even at a young age, have learned to function quite well without reading and writing, and will resist engaging in language arts whenever possible. What sometimes turns a reluctant reader on to reading is allowing him to see there are legitimate reasons for reading and writing. At times we get so involved in the business of "schooling" we forget that literacy is a way of life for most of us. Some students see literacy only as an academic endeavor. We must help them see that literacy is necessary to living -- a means to an end. In my opinion, the best way to do this is showing them. Let your students see you reading for real purposes. Think back to the first part of this course. You were asked to make a list of what you wrote and read for a single day. Surprised, weren't you? We all read and write much more than we realize. For most teachers, reading and writing are so automatic we never think about it. But for some language arts is a never ending struggle. How can we encourage our students to read for real purposes? Begin by making a list of what your student wants to know. This could be simple: What will we have for lunch today? or How can I order a car stereo? Next, think of ways you can integrate these purposes in your tutoring. Put a small bulletin board next to the tutoring area. Place the daily lunch menu on it. You might begin by putting pictures of food on the board and asking the student to match pictures to the words. Some adolescents desperately want to pass the driver's test. You can design an entire theme unit on learning how to drive. ESL students desire to communicate effectively. Include much functional language in your lessons. Begin by teaching simple greetings, questions, introductions, and instructions. Carefully support the students as you move to more complex tasks. Relate reading to real life. Begin each lesson with informal conversation. Bring in something you've read in a magazine or newspaper. Talk about some interesting current event. The student will hopefully be curious. Use this natural curiosity to encourage reading. Maybe your student is interested in buying or selling something. Use newspaper adds. Carry out some lessons on how to read the adds and follow through to a sale or purchase. You could teach the student to fill in an order form, write a check, and make a budget. Be sure your instruction is governed by student need. Some time ago my undergraduates and I brainstormed ideas for using the newspaper. Possibly some of them can enrich your teaching: *Allow students to pretend to invest in the stock market. Regularly check the local newspaper to see how much money they gain or lose over a period of time. *Have group discussions and debates about current events. *Have a newspaper or magazine treasure hunt. List questions that can be found in various parts of the paper. Have students compete to see who can find the information most quickly. *Pose a problem, i.e., I want to buy a registered puppy but can only spend $50, or I need a part-time job that pays at least $8 per hour. Use the classified section to solve the problem. *Choose a cartoon serial and predict what will happen next. Monitor the cartoon to see if your prediction is correct. *Cut cartoons into individual frames and have students put them back together in the correct order. *Have students analyze their favorite cartoon characters. Present to the class why each character is appealing. *Have students find and highlight certain letters or words in the newspaper. * Make holiday or current event collages out of magazine and newspaper words and pictures. *Keep track of world weather patterns using the weather page, or record the local temperature and precipitation over a period of time. Make a graph and have students present data to the class. Bring in other relevant weather reading materials to go with your presentation. Talk about clothing in certain types of weather, read weather related tradebooks and novels. *Cut an especially interesting picture out of a newspaper or magazine. Have someone in a small group look at the picture and begin writing a story. Have each of the other members of the group add a paragraph with the last person creating a story ending. Read the entire story. *Collect multicultural pictures, articles, and recipes from newspapers and magazines. Use as a basis for not only learning to read, but appreciating other cultures. * Provide the student with a budget and have him use the newspaper flyers to list what he would like to buy with the money. Compare prices at various stores. *Cut out various parts of speech and put them back together in creative sentences. Or put the various parts of speech in separate envelopes, i.e., adjectives in one; nouns in another. Have students randomly pull out one word from each envelope and make a sentence. *Make personal cookbooks from interesting newspaper and magazine recipes. Prepare some of the foods in class. *Cut out pictures that begin with the same letters. Make personal alphabet books with newspaper and magazine pictures. *Create notes to friends using only letters cut from magazines and newspapers. *Have students examine descriptive terms in adds. Are they truthful? What terms could be substituted? Use the antonym for each term and note how the add is changed. *Use magazines and newspapers to profile famous people. *Keep track of sports statistics on various teams and players. *Use newspaper adds to create and solve math problems. *Using the newspaper as an example, have students create their own adds for something. *Have students talk about meal planning, and use the food adds to plan a meal and calculate the cost. *Have students locate on a map various cities, states, and countries mentioned in the newspaper. *Look at headlines, and have students predict what articles will cover. Read to find out. *Give students practice reading charts by finding their favorite television programs in the viewing schedule. *Use the newspaper to plan a classroom newspaper. Anabel Newman has some excellent ideas for this project (Classroom Newspaper). *Create some type of interesting, immediate problem (You're planning to cheaply furnish your remodeled bedroom and need furniture, or you want to join a volunteer group and don't know how) and use a magazine or newspaper to solve the problem. Most people, even reluctant language users, get caught up in this type of activity.
The above discussion has focussed on newspapers and magazines. Other authentic materials include: catalogs, cookbooks, manuals, guides, brochures, schedules, bank statements, forms, applications, medicine bottles, food labels, phone books, billboards, road signs, almanacs, directories, and a host of other materials we read every day. Use them!
Comments: disted@indiana.edu Copyright 2004, The Trustees of Indiana University
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