Nice job folks! Many of you did well on the first quiz. Hard work pays off. Now that we have passed mid-semester, it is time for us to delve into some phonemic awareness activities. We will be visiting Leap Frog Nursery School and you will have the opportunity to play phonological games with the children. You will each work with a partner to develop age appropriate tasks that you think the children will benefit from- using the guidelines that I will give you of course. We will also be visiting Poultney Elementary-kindergarten- so that you can try out your phonemic awareness lesson plan in a couple of weeks. Vavavooom! We are off and running once more!
P.S. REMEMBER THIS: Doogie woogies have NOTHING to do with letters!!! You are working at the phonemic awareness level ONLY when you do a minimal pairs chain A.K.A. "Doogie Woogie" lesson!!!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Phonology Quiz and Midterm Exam
My Lovely Students,
Some reminders as we approach quizzaroni number one and the midterm exam...
1. Remember that you must focus on the number of phonemes in a word FIRST. Do not let yourself become confused by letters. The first thing that we can know about a word is how it sounds. You need to be able to identify the phonemes in any given word and justify your identification (e.g. some of you like to chunk r-controlled vowels / liquids which makes sense because of the elusiveness of the vowel phonemes surrounding the liquids- just be sure that you know that you're doing it).
2. Beware of voicing confusion in your own identification of phonemes for a given word (e.g. voiced vs. unvoiced inter-dental fricatives).
3. All syllables have a spoken vowels, however, lump affixes into a "does not always apply" category.
4. Nasal phonemes as well as liquids create ALL KINDS of trouble for people!!! Why? They change in how they are articulated because of co-articulation in spoken language.
5. Schwa is probably making more sense as you encounter it over and over again. Remember: Schwa is an unexpected vowel phoneme that is found in the unstressed syllable of a multisyllabic word. CALL THE DOG to find out the stressed syllable.
6. YOU NEED TO KNOW THE CHARTS FOR THE MIDTERM, but not for the quizzaroni.
7. Phonological processing is the "big umbrella" that includes many domains. Know these components for the midterm. I will put great emphasis on the importance of phonemic awareness instruction as well as the different levels of phonemic awareness (think umbrella).
8. If you have trouble "feeling" the phonemes on the chart, use a mirror and continue to practice.
9. BREATH! You can do this. If you need me over break, call me.
"The difference between good and great is a little extra effort."
10. You all have the potential to be phenomenal teachers. It will be a long difficult journey to get there. I know that this is new and very difficult material for you; I felt that disequilibrium with the material myself when I first learned it. I expect you to learn it and that will take a lot of work. I wouldn't insult you by expecting any less.
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Off and Running
Now that week #1 is under our belts, we are getting into the thick of things. To recap: there is a distinct difference between oral and written language, good reading instruction is a national priority, and reading IS NOT a natural process. Further, as teachers, we must pay attention to what has been proven to work instructionally. It is all too easy to gravitate toward materials or approaches that may feel good, but are not truly effective for teaching children to read or backed by scientific research. Children deserve better. As we move on through this long and wonderful journey together, you will learn may teaching strategies that are effective, but also exciting for students! Please be sure that you have read chapter #1 in the Moats text and get ready to learn IPA! You will truly get a sense of what it feels like to learn to read for the first time and you will better understand the complexities associated with putting speech to print.
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
One Quick Thought on Technology in Education
I’ve been thinking most recently about Prensky’s idea of partnering as described in his book Teaching Digital Natives (2010). Essentially, the author argues that teachers must allow for students to follow their passions, use whatever technology is available, research and find information, answer questions, share thoughts and opinions, and practice, etc. This kind of student learning is facilitated by good teaching; that is: creating and asking the right questions, giving students guidance, putting material in context, explaining one-on-one, creating rigor, and ensuring quality. In other words, the opposite of teaching by telling. Some might identify Prensky’s approach as project-based learning. With the pressures that teacher’s are faced with, such as high-stakes testing, AYP, etc., one might question whether or not a teacher could set up his / her curriculum and instruction in a way that allows for Prensky’s idea of partnering. Of course they can! The key is to start small and build quickly. With respect to technology, it seems that the more you learn, the quicker it is to acquire new skills. The key is that educators need to drop their defenses and allow themselves to learn with students. In other words, teachers need to move away from the fears that they feel, on many levels, and do what is best for students. Further, I believe that school leaders need to be the first to encourage and provide professional development and training for student centered pedagogy. Let’s face it, Prensky’s partnering techniques address the most important concern of all- student learning. It’s about time that educators start ‘walking the walk’ so to speak; we need to model what it looks like to be lifelong learners in the age of technological innovation.
Be Thinking in Terms of Phonemic Awareness
The previous posts define two of many terms that you will be learning in Language & Literacy I. Although it is important to know and understand terms associated with the realms of phonology and phonological awareness, it is particularly important that you know and understand what phonemic awareness is as well as the tremendous importance of phonemic awareness in connection to reading.
By Definition...
nim
noun Linguistics .
any of a small set of units, usually about 20 to 60 in number, and different for each language, considered to be the basic distinctive units of speech sound by which morphemes, words, and sentences are represented. They are arrived at for any given language by determining which differences in sound function to indicate a difference in meaning, so that in English the difference in sound and meaning between pit and bit is taken to indicate the existence of different labial phonemes, while the difference in sound between the unaspirated p of spun and the aspirated p of pun, since it is never the only distinguishing feature between two different words, is not taken as ground for setting up two different p phonemes in English. Compare distinctive feature ( def. 1 ) .
By Definition...
noun, plural -gies.
1. the study of the distribution and patterning of speech sounds in a language and of the tacit rules governing pronunciation.
2. the phonological system or the body of phonological facts of a language.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Fantastic Phonological Awareness
As the warm fall air begins to wash over the dormitories, we begin our exciting journey into the world of language and literacy. The first mission (you have no choice but to accept it) is to learn the components of phonological awareness. We will be spending many weeks exploring the wonderful world of sound and all that is encompassed in this domain of language. Many people confuse the term phonemic awareness as interchangeable with the broader term phonological awareness. Phonemic awareness is one (very important) element of phonological awareness, but there are others as well. You will learn them all. Get excited! Here we goooooooooooooo.........
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