Entry #10: Develop "Learn to Spell" Strategies to Meet Students' Various Needs

    In Amanda C.'s blog Entry # 7, she compares and contrasts her classroom experiences using various activities to teach her students spelling with the strategies that Tompkins et al. (2022) highlight in their discussion in Chapter 6 on "Learning to Spell." Amanda provides good details about how she is teaching her students spelling each week, and she discusses how she is seeing her students having success in these activities because she has noticed fewer spelling errors in their work since the school year began. I think that Amanda does a great job of demonstrating in her description of her class spelling activities that the "30 minutes of valuable instruction time spent each day in completing spelling activities" (Tompkins et al., 2022, p. 174) is not "excessive" but is being used in a way that is benefitting her particular students' needs.

    Both Amanda's experiences teaching spelling and Tompkins et al.'s (2022) discussion of different strategies are examples of the importance of teachers knowing, understanding, and assessing the needs of their students in developing and growing them as good spellers. Amanda lists several spelling activities her students complete, including the following: "roll and write, rainbow words, stamp words, silly sentences, and tic tac toe words." She says the students "buy in" to her updating the spelling activities, which helps them want to be engaged in learning to spell, which can be difficult for some of them with their particular needs.

    Tompkins et al. (2022) also focus on using the individualized approach to spelling instruction by letting students have a choice of the words they will study based on their writing projects, as well as choosing high-frequency words on a master list. The teachers first give a pretest of the selected words so students know what they need to work on during the week to prepare for a final spelling test at the end of the week. Tompkins et al. (2022) recommend different strategies for studying words. Still, I believe, as Amanda pointed out, that teachers must know what works best for their students, even if it is a strategy that isn't used as often as in the past (i.e., using words in sentences) or if it is a more popular strategy used in educational settings today, such as word study. Teachers must be flexible and knowledgeable of all the different ways to spark interest and the desire to learn to spell in each student. As an ENL teacher, I will really need to be aware of the native languages of each student, so I can work with them to understand differences in spelling words from their language versus the English language so that my students can be more alert to their tendencies to spell words based on their home languages. I think the assessment is critical, though, for all teachers when they teach spelling so that they focus on knowing what errors the students are making, why they are making the errors, and the best strategies that would engage them to learn how not to make those spelling errors. Our main goal as teachers is to see each of our students succeed and find their own "genius" and joy in the learning journey (Muhammad, 2021).

                                                    References

Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating genius: an equity framework for culturally

and historically responsive literacy. Scholastic.

Tompkins, G.E., Rodgers, E.M., & Rodgers, A. (2022). Literacy for the 21st century: balancing reading and writing instruction. Pearson.

Entry #9 Supporting Students' Construction of Vocabulary Knowledge

     After reading Tompkins et al. (2022) chapter on "Expanding Academic Vocabulary" and the Graves et al. (2017) article on "Empowering Students With Word-Learning Strategies: Teach a Child to Fish," I realized that there are so many different strategies and activities available that I didn't even consider that can support and help students with acquiring a robust, varied vocabulary throughout their elementary through high school careers. From my own reflections on learning and developing vocabulary in school, I recall more of a focus on understanding individual words and using a dictionary and thesaurus quite often to figure out word meanings and definitions. I thought it was so interesting that in two separate places in the Tompkins et al. (2022) chapter, the authors' frowned on teachers encouraging students to rely on dictionaries to discover word meanings. In fact, in a side box on "Classroom Interventions," Tompkins et al. (2022, pg. 209) argue that having students look up words and write sentences from a list of unknown words can actually be detrimental to students having a deep understanding of the word. Hence, the students cannot recognize these words' various forms and meanings in multiple texts. Also, I know from my own experiences this activity can be very dull and uninspiring for students to do as it feels like one is "checking off a box" and is required to memorize the definition. Both Tompkins et al. (2022) and Graves et al. (2017) do an excellent job of demonstrating the complexities, nuances, and opportunities of working with students to help them to develop a recognition of the power of words, to motivate students to learn the many strategies for figuring out the meanings of vocabulary by themselves, and to give students a sense of confidence that they can mine the vocabulary of any texts.

    As an online ESL teacher, I have had the opportunity to use various strategies to help students develop their vocabulary knowledge. When I was first introduced to the idea of the students constructing their knowledge by figuring out the vocabulary (which was a part of the online curriculum I used), it was a new experience for me. Graves et al. (2017) mention the importance of using this strategy in the Word-Learning Strategies (WLS) Program he describes in the article. As I used a similar type of vocabulary learning program in some of my online ESL lessons, over time, I could really see the benefit of the students figuring out what affixes meant and different strategies that were best to use at different times. I believe that the process of them constructing the knowledge really did help them to remember what they learned and to be flexible in adapting it to similar situations. Tompkins et al. (2022) also describe different strategies that students can use to help construct their knowledge of vocabulary, such as the semantic feature analysis and writing possible sentences, as well as in prereading activities, figuring out their understanding of words that they will encounter in the reading. These activities help to give students confidence and empower them that they have background knowledge, experience, and the techniques needed to solve the vocabulary challenges that will inevitably come up throughout their lifetimes of being readers. I recall many times the satisfied look on the face of one of my ELL students when they recognized that they knew how to use a particular vocabulary word after figuring it out themselves. They truly did have a feeling of accomplishment they probably would not have had if I had them look the word up in the dictionary or tell them the meaning.

This discussion of teaching vocabulary strategies to students has made me more aware of how I encounter and deal with words in texts that I read and don't understand. As a teacher, I think it is essential to think about my own strategies and learn new techniques that I can teach to my students as they expand their vocabularies. It will be so important as both Tompkins et al. (2022) and Graves et al. (2017) stress to use Think Alouds and to discuss with students the processes and strategies to use when coming across unfamiliar vocabulary. I want my students to believe that they can stretch their minds and use all they know to figure out what they are reading. Of course, putting into place rhythms of silent sustained reading and reading aloud to my students will be critical for them to expand their vocabularies. But, it will also be fun to use different wordplay strategies with activities related to reading, such as spoken word presentations, poems, riddles, word games, dramatizing words, and word-finding challenges in their homes, communities, and leisure reading. Supporting students in growing their vocabulary can include many different intentional strategies that tap into the interests,  background knowledge, and experiences of both the students and the teacher  

                                                                    References

Graves, M. F., Schneider, S., & Ringstaff, C. (2017). Empowering Students With Word-Learning Strategies: Teach a Child to Fish. The Reading Teacher, 71(5), 533–543. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1644

Tompkins, G. E., Rodgers, E. M., & Rodgers, A. (2022). Literacy for the 21st century : balancing reading and writing instruction. Pearson.

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Entry #8: Reflecting on Being a Culturally Responsive Teacher

In Adeline's Entry 4, 3-2-1 Understandings, she was inspired by Zaretta Hammond's comment, "All instruction is culturally responsive. The question is to whose culture is it responding" (Hammond, 2021). Adeline commented that this statement made her question how our educational system is set up and structured. I thought Adeline allowed this statement to sink in as she reflected on her role as a culturally responsive teacher. It was insightful for her to recognize that being culturally responsive as a teacher is not something we do or do not do in our classrooms. She mentioned in her blog that it is up to all teachers to recognize that we are either "benefitting all students in [our] class equally, or favoring a dominant culture." 

     As I considered Adeline's comments and all that I've been learning in the SOE graduate program about culturally responsive teaching, I must recognize that I have my own biases and perspectives, which I bring into the classroom about such aspects as the students, the parents, the educational system, the curriculum, and the school environments and neighborhoods. For example, I recall that one of my first courses in the MS TESOL program required me to write a paper reflecting on my educational experiences, which really enlightened me about my own expectations about schools, students, and teaching. This exercise helped open my mind to other ideas and perspectives on what being a student and teacher in the classroom entails in today's world of education. Hammond (2021), Muhammad (2021), and Yoon (2019) all question the way classrooms are set up today to focus on one cultural experience or perspective and/or language being desirable and being communicated in all aspects of the learning versus classrooms being structured in ways that value and present varied cultural, language, socioeconomic, historical and political perspectives so that all students feel represented, seen, and known in what they are learning. In fact, Hammond (2021) believes that if students' brains are not prepared to receive new information and insights because they do not have any connections, background, or experiences related to what is being taught, then students will not be able to grasp, benefit, and from the educational experiences they encounter in classrooms. In addition, I believe it is valuable for all students to be educated about the importance of diversity in our world by learning in ways that benefit everyone in the classroom so that each student can recognize that the differences around them can come together in ways that make the world better for everyone.Thus, it is vital that as teachers we are in tune with providing the best educational curriculum and strategies that can benefit all students irrespective of their backgrounds. Adeline's reflection reminded me that it is so important that I'm aware of the power I have to create a culturally responsive classroom environment that supports and values the diversity of each of my students.

    

                                              References

Muhammad, G. (2020). Cultivating genius: an equity framework for culturally

and historically responsive literacy. Scholastic.

Tompkins, G.E., Rodgers, E.M., & Rodgers, A. (2022). Literacy for the 21st century: balancing reading and writing instruction. Pearson.

Yoon, H. S. (2019). Playful Literacies, Creativity, and Multilingual Practices. The                  Reading Teacher, 72(5), 551–557. https://doi.org/10.1002/trtr.1788

Zaretta Hammond: Using Neuroscience to Help Students | #PLtogether. (2021). Www.youtube.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiOrIN2oJi8

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