Chapter 31 Word Walls: Displaying and Organizing Words for Easy Access. Word walls are alphabetical lists of words created in the classroom for the purpose of word study and vocabulary development.(Harrell 183) Word walls can be as simple as a list of words written on a sheet of paper.
Bilingual, or multilingual, word walls are beneficial in a classroom where students are learning English as a second language. Bilingual word walls serve as a reference for students as they write and interact verbally in the classroom.
There are different types of word wall that teacher can create for use in the classroom. Teachers will often create high-frequency word word walls and other word walls related to words being studied in connection to a literature or science focus unit. As the class moves on to different units they may take the words from the previous units and place them on a word ring and displayed for the students reference. It is also beneficial to hang a picture of the cover of the book to which the words are related next to the word wall. This helps students locate words by simply recalling the context in which the words were studied.
Word wall can be implemented into the classroom by following three simple steps: begin word study, use the word wall, and keep the word wall interactive.
Beginning a word study includes deciding on a format and brainstorming a list of words with the students. Arranging the words on individual cards in alphabetical order allows the students to access the words more efficiently. The teacher then hangs them on a wall or places them in a pocket chart. In the multilingual classroom, translations and illustration are added to support students' use of the words in writing and speaking. It is important to involve the students when adding words to the word wall.
When using the word wall in the classroom, refer to the word wall when a word is discussed. It is imperative that the teacher helps the students see the possibilities for the use of the word wall. When students ask for the spelling of a word that is posted on the word wall, draw the student's attention to it.
Using the words for activities such as word sorts, definition games, practicing syllabication, and phoneme segmentation is an effective way to keep the word wall interactive in the classroom. As word studies change and are completed, the words should be transferred to word cards and placed on a metal ring by punching a hole in the corner of each card. The ring can then be stored on a nail or hook in the classroom, easily accessible by the students.
I would use word wall in my elementary classroom in all different subject areas. I think it would particularly useful for multilingual students in language arts and reading. After reading the new stories in the textbook each week, I would review some of the words with the studets, that they think should go on our word wall. I think that it is important to use visuals along with written language to help them have a better understanding of what the word is and how it can be used.
I think that word walls are a very effective means for supporting new English language learners as well as proficient English speaking students in the classroom. I do not really foresee any problems that a word wall could cause in the classroom. They seem like a very reliable and advantageous resource to have.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Harrell Section III, Chapter 20
Chapter 20
Teaching Strategy...Learning Centers: Extending Learning Through Hands-On Practice. Learning centers are places set up in the classroom where students engage in hands-on activities that allow them to obtain addtional experience in using new skills, expand skills usage to more closely match their individual needs, and work cooperatively with other students. (Harrell 119)
Learning Centers can be implemented into the classroom by following these five steps: Identify skills to be practiced, introduce the centers, document the center work, bring students up to date, and assess student progress and understnading.
Identify the skills that the students need to practice and set up places in the classroom with materials that can be used for additional, authentic, and meaningful practice that can be used on those skills.
Introduce the centers to the students by effectively demonstrating how the materials are to be used and what your expectations are for the activities, and how their work will be assessed. It is important that the rules are displayed in the centers so that the students understand that center work is part of their assigned lesson and will contribute toward their grade. The teacher should also discuss and model the rules about cleaning up center materials and how students move from one center to another.
Introduce a the method in which the students will use to domunt their participation in centers. Documentation of centerwork can be done in a variety o fdifferent ways. It can be as simple as a list of names at the required centers or a work folder in which they will place all center work done each day. Make your expectations very clear as to which centers are required and which are optional.
Bring your students up to date by informing them when center are changed. Model the steps and procedures of the new center activity so tht the students understand your expectations and requirements of the new center. Centers should be changed regularly to provide student with the opportunity to practice new skills as they are taught.
Asses student progress and understanding by collecting and assessing the quality of students center work. Evaluation of center work is vital for teachers to make sure that the students take their center work seriously.
Center could be beneficial for students of all ages. I would use centers in the first grade when teaching phonics. There are so many wonderful activities to implement into centers when teaching phonics. Segmenting and blending center can be used with simple materials such as plastic letters and a filing cabinet. Use the filing cabnet to hold the magnetic letters and the children can take any ending sound and blend beginning sounds to make new words. This is just one way that centers can be used in this area.
Center activities provide many strengths for academic learning in the classroom. They provide additional practice on skills that have already been learned, it is an effective way to implement a variety of skills into small group time and they are fun for kids.
Class management and time would be the only obstacle that I see being a problem when using centers, but as long as the rules are explained explicitly and the teacher has modeled how the centers should work, neither of these should cause a problem.
I think that centers are a great tool in the classroom. They keep students actively learning!
Teaching Strategy...Learning Centers: Extending Learning Through Hands-On Practice. Learning centers are places set up in the classroom where students engage in hands-on activities that allow them to obtain addtional experience in using new skills, expand skills usage to more closely match their individual needs, and work cooperatively with other students. (Harrell 119)
Learning Centers can be implemented into the classroom by following these five steps: Identify skills to be practiced, introduce the centers, document the center work, bring students up to date, and assess student progress and understnading.
Identify the skills that the students need to practice and set up places in the classroom with materials that can be used for additional, authentic, and meaningful practice that can be used on those skills.
Introduce the centers to the students by effectively demonstrating how the materials are to be used and what your expectations are for the activities, and how their work will be assessed. It is important that the rules are displayed in the centers so that the students understand that center work is part of their assigned lesson and will contribute toward their grade. The teacher should also discuss and model the rules about cleaning up center materials and how students move from one center to another.
Introduce a the method in which the students will use to domunt their participation in centers. Documentation of centerwork can be done in a variety o fdifferent ways. It can be as simple as a list of names at the required centers or a work folder in which they will place all center work done each day. Make your expectations very clear as to which centers are required and which are optional.
Bring your students up to date by informing them when center are changed. Model the steps and procedures of the new center activity so tht the students understand your expectations and requirements of the new center. Centers should be changed regularly to provide student with the opportunity to practice new skills as they are taught.
Asses student progress and understanding by collecting and assessing the quality of students center work. Evaluation of center work is vital for teachers to make sure that the students take their center work seriously.
Center could be beneficial for students of all ages. I would use centers in the first grade when teaching phonics. There are so many wonderful activities to implement into centers when teaching phonics. Segmenting and blending center can be used with simple materials such as plastic letters and a filing cabinet. Use the filing cabnet to hold the magnetic letters and the children can take any ending sound and blend beginning sounds to make new words. This is just one way that centers can be used in this area.
Center activities provide many strengths for academic learning in the classroom. They provide additional practice on skills that have already been learned, it is an effective way to implement a variety of skills into small group time and they are fun for kids.
Class management and time would be the only obstacle that I see being a problem when using centers, but as long as the rules are explained explicitly and the teacher has modeled how the centers should work, neither of these should cause a problem.
I think that centers are a great tool in the classroom. They keep students actively learning!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Harrell Section III, Chapter 14
Chapter 14
Teaching Strategy...Manipulative Strategies: Using Objects to Connect Concepts. Manipulatives are concrete devices that students can move and manipulate to support their thinking and learning. (Harrell 84) They can be very beneficial in supporting language understanding in many subject areas.
Manipulatives can be representations of concepts being taught, such as models, or nonrepresentative manipulatives. Academic vocabulary is often supported by the use of concrete representation manipulatives, while non-representative manipulatives are used to manipulate abstract concepts such as number.
There are five basic step to follow in the use of manipulatives: identify concepts to be taught and ways to represent them, demonstrate and explain, provide guided practice, give students time for additional practice, and celebrate and review.
It is important to identify the concept that is being taught and the parts of the concept that can be represented by a manipulative. Devising a teaching plan that allocates the teacher to demonstrate the concept using the manipulative as an example is essential.
As you explain the concept to the students, demonstrate the use of the manipulatives simulataneously. The demonstration should connect the manipulative, the concept and any new vocabulary being introduced. The teacher should always model the way the students are expected to use the manipulatives.
The teacher should always provide guided practice in the use of manipulatives; walking the students through the procedure to be used and demonstrating how to use the manipulatives. The manipulatives should always be connected to the vocabulary to be learned.
Provide time for the students to use the manipulatives independently for additional practice. As the students practice with the manipulatives, the teacher should circulate around the classroom providing feedback and scaffolding language use.
Celebrate and review the students demonstration of new learning. Take the opportunity to connect the manipulatives to the vocabular and the concepts being learned one last time.
I would use this strategy in a 1st grade classroom setting. I think that one of my favorite stories to read is; There was an Old lady who swallowed a fly, by Simms Taback. This is a great book to read to the class with the use of a manipualative activity. I would have a large cardboard lady with her mouth cut out,(you attach a plastic bag on the back to catch the things she swallows in the story) and cut outs of each of the characters that she swallows in the story(small enough to fit into her mouth). Before you read the story, hand the cut outs to the students in the class (you may have more than one of each to accomodate the number of students in the classroom). Explain or review each animal and model what they will be doing as you are reading the story. As you read the story the student holding the animal that the old lady swallows, will take the "manipulative" and drop into the old lady's mouth. After completing the story, review all of the animals that the old lady swallowed and have the students retell the story in small groups using the manipulatives.
This strategy has many different strengths that are useful for language learners. The use of manipulatives helps them relate spoken and written to concrete objects. This helps them understand language and promotes language developement.
The only potential obstacle that might be found using this strategy is that the students may become too dependent on the manipulatives and rely on them instead of learning to use abstract thinking skills.
I think that the use of manipulatives is a great tool in the classroom. Children are active learners and manipulatives provide the opportunity for hands on learning.
Teaching Strategy...Manipulative Strategies: Using Objects to Connect Concepts. Manipulatives are concrete devices that students can move and manipulate to support their thinking and learning. (Harrell 84) They can be very beneficial in supporting language understanding in many subject areas.
Manipulatives can be representations of concepts being taught, such as models, or nonrepresentative manipulatives. Academic vocabulary is often supported by the use of concrete representation manipulatives, while non-representative manipulatives are used to manipulate abstract concepts such as number.
There are five basic step to follow in the use of manipulatives: identify concepts to be taught and ways to represent them, demonstrate and explain, provide guided practice, give students time for additional practice, and celebrate and review.
It is important to identify the concept that is being taught and the parts of the concept that can be represented by a manipulative. Devising a teaching plan that allocates the teacher to demonstrate the concept using the manipulative as an example is essential.
As you explain the concept to the students, demonstrate the use of the manipulatives simulataneously. The demonstration should connect the manipulative, the concept and any new vocabulary being introduced. The teacher should always model the way the students are expected to use the manipulatives.
The teacher should always provide guided practice in the use of manipulatives; walking the students through the procedure to be used and demonstrating how to use the manipulatives. The manipulatives should always be connected to the vocabulary to be learned.
Provide time for the students to use the manipulatives independently for additional practice. As the students practice with the manipulatives, the teacher should circulate around the classroom providing feedback and scaffolding language use.
Celebrate and review the students demonstration of new learning. Take the opportunity to connect the manipulatives to the vocabular and the concepts being learned one last time.
I would use this strategy in a 1st grade classroom setting. I think that one of my favorite stories to read is; There was an Old lady who swallowed a fly, by Simms Taback. This is a great book to read to the class with the use of a manipualative activity. I would have a large cardboard lady with her mouth cut out,(you attach a plastic bag on the back to catch the things she swallows in the story) and cut outs of each of the characters that she swallows in the story(small enough to fit into her mouth). Before you read the story, hand the cut outs to the students in the class (you may have more than one of each to accomodate the number of students in the classroom). Explain or review each animal and model what they will be doing as you are reading the story. As you read the story the student holding the animal that the old lady swallows, will take the "manipulative" and drop into the old lady's mouth. After completing the story, review all of the animals that the old lady swallowed and have the students retell the story in small groups using the manipulatives.
This strategy has many different strengths that are useful for language learners. The use of manipulatives helps them relate spoken and written to concrete objects. This helps them understand language and promotes language developement.
The only potential obstacle that might be found using this strategy is that the students may become too dependent on the manipulatives and rely on them instead of learning to use abstract thinking skills.
I think that the use of manipulatives is a great tool in the classroom. Children are active learners and manipulatives provide the opportunity for hands on learning.
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