“Encouraging Language Development and Promoting Conversation About Books and Ideas in a Diverse Urban Classroom”

1. The Illini Reading Council Saturday, March 1, 2008 J. Helen Perkins, Ed.D. Assistant Professor Editor of The Reading Teacher The University of Memphis College of Education “Encouraging Language Development and Promoting Conversation About Books and Ideas in a Diverse Urban Classroom” jhperkns@memphis.edu

2. “Without question, education is the key to progress and prosperity in the United States today. Whether fair or not, educational opportunity and academic achievement are directly tied to the social divisions associated with race, ethnicity, gender, first language, and social class. The level and quality of educational attainment either open the doors to opportunity or close them.”Edmund W. GordonThe Covenant With Black AmericaPage 25 jhperkns@memphis.edu

3. How can we give all children the opportunity to become truly free? Literacy is the door to social justice – it is a sacred task. The reading teacher must be an If – Then Thinker, and problem solver – he/she cannot be on the sidelines. It is an active and ever changing task. jhperkns@memphis.edu

4. National Reading Panel’s“Big Five” • Phonemic Awareness • Phonics • Vocabulary • Reading Comprehension • Reading Fluency Motivation- Cognitive Engagement jhperkns@memphis.edu

5. Five Missing Pillars of Scientific Reading Instruction • Access to Interesting Texts and Choices • Matching Kids with Appropriate Texts • Writing and Reading have Reciprocal Positive Effects • Classroom Organization: Balance Whole Class Teaching with Small Group and Side-by-Side Instruction • Availability of Expert Tutoring Allington, R.L. ( 2005). The other five “pillars” of effective reading instruction. Reading Today, 22(6). jhperkns@memphis.edu

6. Structure of Language • Phonology- Sounds in Speech • Orthography- Linking Letters to sounds • Morphology- Study of Word Structures that Create Meaning • Syntax- Combining words into larger language structures; Grammar • Semantics- Constructing Meaning connecting your Schema with Spoken or Written Language • Pragmatics- Awareness of how Language Works and is used in one’s culture jhperkns@memphis.edu

7. Language Development Vocalization in the crib gives way to play with rhyming language and nonsense words. Toddlers find that the words they use in conversation and the objects they represent are depicted in books—that the picture is a symbol for the real object and that the objects in books, comment on the characters, and request that an adult read to them.. In their third and fourth years, children use new vocabulary and grammatical constructions in their own speech. Talking to adults is children’s best source to exposure to new vocabulary and ideas. -Burns et. Al (1999) jhperkns@memphis.edu

8. Language Development (cont). Reading and being read to also increase vocabulary learning. Books give us challenging ideas, colorful descriptive words and concepts, and new knowledge and information about the world in which we live. -Burns et. Al (1999) jhperkns@memphis.edu

9. Creating Meaningful Contexts for Urban Learners to Promote Language Development • Visuals • Objects • Diagrams • Labels • Simulations • Gestures • Dramatizations with Specific Tasks • Modeling with Specific Tasks • Role Play with Specific Tasks Reutzel, D.R., & Cooter, R.B (2008). Teaching children to read: Putting the pieces together. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson. jhperkns@memphis.edu

10. Reading Aloud TO • Reading to a student is a critical factor in the student’s becoming a successful reader. • Research confirms that reading aloud to students positively impacts overall academic achievement. --From Conversations (2000), RegieRoutman, pp. 29-30. jhperkns@memphis.edu

11. Reading Aloud to Promote and Enhance Language Development • Activates Prior Knowledge • Adds new information to an incomplete schema (slot filling) • Relates to story-specific information • Builds and extends concepts • Reflects “Reading to Learn” • Developing a “Sense of Story” • Using the Elements of Story Structure and Conventions *Plot- Problem/Goal/Events *Setting *Character *Theme *Point of View • Understanding Book/Literacy Language • Developing Oral Language • Builds a Rich Vocabulary jhperkns@memphis.edu

12. Dialogic Reading • Children and adults having conversations about books. The adult and the child switch roles so that the child learns to become the storyteller. The adult functions as an active listener and questions. • Several studies have found Dialogic Reading to have positive effects on oral language growth and development. --American Library Association jhperkns@memphis.edu

13. Dialogic Reading • Reading to Support • Shared Book Reading • Strategic Questioning • Conversations about books with children in small groups • Children are encouraged to become the storytellers • Has a positive effect on oral language development --Whitehurst et al. (1988) The Reading TeacherVol. 59, No. 6 March 2006 jhperkns@memphis.edu

14. Instructional Conversation • Emphasizing Dialogue Over Lecture- Instruct through teacher-student dialogue, especially academic, goal-directed, small-group conversations (known as instructional conversations), rather than lecture. CREDE- Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence http://crede.berkeley.edu/standards/5inst_con.shtml jhperkns@memphis.edu

15. Maximizing Cognitive Engagement • Academic Engaged Time: The classroom time when students are actually attending and doing the work at hand. ENGAGEMENT IS KEY! jhperkns@memphis.edu

16. Maximizing Cognitive Engagement(What the Research Says) • Academic Learning Time: The amount of time a student spends engaged in an academic task he/she performs with high success. Fisher, Marliave, & Filby (1979) • Effective teachers in grades K-3 maintain students on task and engaged behavior 96% of the time while students of less effective teachers engaged an average of 63%. • Most effective teachers spent more time in small group instruction per day (48 mins.) as compared with less effective teachers (25 mins.) Taylor et al. (1999, 2005) The Reading Teacher Vol.. 60 No. 5 February 2007 jhperkns@memphis.edu

17. Maximizing Cognitive Engagement • Create classroom environments that instill a desire to read, such as book rich classrooms • Provide opportunities for choice • Encourage collaboration Maximize student engagement by using a variety of strategies and approaches that encourage students to actively participate and respond during instruction, practice, and review. jhperkns@memphis.edu

18. Maximizing Cognitive Engagement(cont.) • Think-Pair-Share • Turn-to-your-neighbor • Response Cards • Preprinted Response Cards • Pinch Cards • Write-on Response Cards Alternate methods of response to maximize student engagement and increase motivation jhperkns@memphis.edu

19. Maximizing Cognitive Engagement(cont.) • Provide Clear Instructions • Model procedures to ensure students understand • Keep up an active pace to maintain attention • On response card activities, provide immediate feedback if a number of students are making errors jhperkns@memphis.edu

20. Maximizing Cognitive Engagement(cont.) • Partner Reading • Choral Reading • Refrains • Lines • Dialogue • Echo Reading Alternate Methods of Reading Text jhperkns@memphis.edu

21. Maximizing Cognitive Engagement(cont.) Use a Variety of Graphic Organizers • Webs • K-W-L Charts • Maps (e.g. brainstorming, story, concept, semantic) • Venn Diagrams • Timelines • Writing think sheets and plan sheets • Story Frames • Data Charts • Comprehension Charts • Progress-monitoring graphs (e.g. fluency) Adapted from Reutzel, D.R. (1999). Organizing literacy instruction: Effective grouping strategies and organizational plans. In L.B. Gambrell, L.M. Morrow, S.B. Newman, & M. Pressley (Eds.), Best practices in literacy instruction (pp.271-291). New York: The Guildford Press; and Heward, W.L., Gardner, R., Cavanaugh, R.A., Courson, F>H., Grossi, T.A., & Barbetta, P.M. (1996). Everyone participates in this class: Using response cards to increase active student response. Teaching Exceptional Children, 28 (2) (pp. 4-10). jhperkns@memphis.edu

22. US Department of EducationFREE Publications • Helping Your Child Become A Reader • Helping Your Child Become a Responsible Citizen www.edpubs.org jhperkns@memphis.edu

23. ADAPTATIONS… If a child can’t learn the way we teach, we will teach the way he learns… jhperkns@memphis.edu

24. As members of the community, we must take responsibility for educating all our children –whether ours by birth or otherwise-to uplift our people as a whole. E. W. Gordon jhperkns@memphis.edu

25. References This presentation and other references are available at: https://umdrive.memphis.edu/jhperkns/public jhperkns@memphis.edu