Teaching Language Arts (EDU-105) Shannon Phillips

1. Otto, Chapter 10: Language Development in the Primary Years (251-69), Textbook PowerPoints Otto, Chapter 11: Enhancing Language Development in the Primary Years (270-89), Textbook PowerPoints Teaching Language Arts (EDU-105) Shannon Phillips

2. Language Environment Changes • Children spend more of their days in non-home settings with non-relatives • Increase in variety of language styles and cultural diversity • School settings increasingly involve formal instruction • Learning how to participate verbally in instructional settings • Acquire academic/literate register • Conscious focus on specific linguistic concepts

3. Oral Language Knowledge By age 8, most children have complete phonemic production Acquisition of consonant clusters Increase in rhyming abilities and other sound patterns Onset and rime Written Language Knowledge Use knowledge of onset and rime patterns when reading (decoding) Phonemic segmentation abilities may be related to later success in reading and spelling Phonics Controversy How much phonemic knowledge is required in order to learn to read and write? What mode of phonics instruction is more effective? Formal Informal Phonetic Knowledge

4. Phonetic Knowledge • Children’s early spelling attempts—invented spelling • Experimenting with written language and how to represent the sounds heard using the alphabetic symbols • Developmental Progression • Prephonemic • Phonemic • Transitional • Conventional

5. Semantic Knowledge Vocabulary • Expressive vocabularies of 800-20,000 words • Elaboration and differentiation of concepts and schemata • Direct and vicarious experiences contribute Types of vocabulary growth • Denotative and connotative meanings • Figurative language • Humor • Specialized vocabularies

6. Syntactic Knowledge • Use of sentence structure becomes more elaborate and complex in both oral and written language • Compound sentences • Subordinating conjunctions • Compound subjects • Use of literate register • Pronoun reference • Passive sentences • Development influenced by language use in home, school, and community

7. Morphemic Knowledge • Most inflectional morphemes for marking plurality, possession and past tense have been acquired • Learning to distinguish between regular and irregular words • Knowledge of derivational morphemes is still developing • Examples • Adding –ly to verbs to make into adverbs • Use of prefixes and suffixes • Adding –ing to verbs to make verbal nouns

8. Pragmatic Knowledge • Oral Language • More skilled in conversation • Maintain conversation topic • Respond to requests for clarification • Take listener’s perspective into account • Use wider range of registers • More complete descriptions and comparisons • Begin to comprehend and respond to indirect requests • Begin to use language to resolve conflicts

9. Pragmatic Knowledge • Written Language • Environmental characteristics that encourage development of pragmatic knowledge of written language • Opportunities at home and at school to observe written language used for a variety of purposes • Opportunities at home and at school to use written language in a variety of ways • Opportunities for active engagement in the writing process through talking, collaborating and conferencing

10. Chapter 11: Primary-level Curricula • Commercial curricula may be adopted by school district • Implementation of curricula may be task-centered or learner-centered • A key component of implementation focuses on classroom conversations as children learn to • express their thinking • clarify misunderstandings • question others’ perceptions

11. Linguistic scaffolding Expansion Questioning Repetition Mediation Teacher “think alouds” Questioning Question type Question-answer relationships Wait time Contingent questioning Primary Classrooms Interaction Patterns

12. Language-Related Primary Curricular Goals • Focus on each of the language arts • Reading • Writing • Speaking • Listening • Acknowledge both receptive and expressive language

13. Provide access to learning Components Receiving the message Comprehending the message Responding to what has been said Specific settings Receiving directions when part of a large group Comprehending explanations of concepts Peer communication in collaborative group work Participating in class discussions Key Role of Listening Competencies

14. Listening Competencies– Guidelines for Teachers • Model active listening in class discussions and one-on-one conversations • Provide feedback to speaker • Avoid constantly repeating oral directions • Observe children’s verbal and non-verbal responses when children are listening in large and small group settings

15. Language-Enhancing Activities • Encourage children to ask questions and seek answers to their questions through experiences and focused classroom conversations • Exploratory and discovery center activities • Teacher-directed activities • Inquiry learning • Incorporates all four language arts • Provides motivation to learn

16. Exploratory/Discovery Center Activities • Open-ended • Provide opportunity to generate ideas • Enhance cross-curricular concepts • Encourage children to be active learners • Involve cooperative grouping • Children participate in rule-making

17. Exploratory/Discovery Center Activities • Classroom Library Center • Wide range of genre • Supportive book illustrations • Refresh library periodically • Writing Center • Child-generated topics and formats • Wide range of supplies • Journaling • Conversations encouraged during the writing process

18. Exploratory/Discovery Center Activities • Word Walls • May be part of a writing center • Represent high-frequency words or a conceptual theme • Content/Concept Learning Centers • Enhance conceptual knowledge and problem-solving strategies • Take-home exploratory activities • Reading/writing suitcases

19. Teacher-Directed Activities—Large-Group Activities Teacher Read-alouds • Creative Drama • Share-and-Tell • Language Experience Stories and Interactive Writing • Author’s Chair • Media Presentations

20. Teacher-Directed Activities—Small-Group Activities • Word Study • Word families • Word banks • Shared Reading • Reading pairs • Small groups of 3-4 • Buddy/cross-age group • Literature Circles • Peer discussions of stories • Collaborative/Cooperative Projects • Incorporate each of the four language arts • Increase pragmatic language knowledge