Final Exam

Dr. Tom Gill

Submitted by Sabrina Thomas

Emergent Readers

1A. Explain why a child learning the alphabet needs to compare and contrast

  1. Different Letters: Children learn the alphabet by comparing and contrasting the distinctive features of each letter. Distinctive features are features that if changed the item becomes something else. Most programs in use today have a letter of the week format. The idea was that if a child was repeatedly exposed to one particular letter over a period of days, a week for instance, then that child would form an impression in his/her mind as to what that letter looks like. Actually, we now know that is not how children learn letters. We learn best by being able to compare examples of something to non examples. Letters are learned by the child determining the distinctive features of each letter. In order to learn the distinct features of each letter, a child must be given opportunities to compare and contrast letters with each other.
  2. Fonts of the Same Letter: Along with studying the distinctive features of each letter, a child must also have opportunities to develop an idea of what each letter is like. For instance, let’s focus on the letter A. A child needs to develop his/her understanding of the feel of “Aness.” Every A a child encounters may not look exactly alike. A child needs to have a general idea of what forms an A can take in order to be able to identify an A written in a new way. We can compare this concept to a cow. Cows can be different colors and different varieties. So how does a child know a brown cow is a cow if the only cows that child has ever seen are black and white jersey cows? A child has an idea of ‘cowness” that allows them to conclude that the animal they are looking at is a cow. The same type of awareness takes place with letters of the alphabet.
  3. His own writing of a letter with a correct formation of that letter: The way we all learn is by comparing our own theories of how we think something is to reality. When a child is learning the letters of the alphabet, the child forms theories of what each letter looks like. The child solidifies his knowledge by testing his theories. For instance, a child writes the letter G. Then the child compares his G to the alphabet strip and sees they are not the same. This throws the child into disequilibrium. The child is now confused. The child was expecting one result, the letters would look the same, but instead got a different result, the letters do not look the same. This forces the child to reconsider what he thought was a G. Eventually the child will modify his thinking as to what a G looks like.

B. Tell how you might assess and group a classroom of beginning kindergarteners who range from no knowledge of the alphabet through beginning consonant knowledge.

First of all, I would conduct an assessment. I would use page 66 in The Howard Street Tutoring Manual. I would first see if each child can identify the lower case letters because if a child knows the lower case letters, then I can be assured that the child also knows the upper case letters. If the child misses any lower case I would then check the child’s knowledge of that particular upper case letter. For a group of twenty or so kindergarteners, you can expect the students to fall into the following categories: (see table on the next page).

Group A / Group B / Group C / Group D
The children in this group do not know any letters, upper or lower case / The children in this group know the upper case letters and are tracking / The children in this group know all of the upper case letters and most of the lower case letters / The children in this group know all of the letters, upper and lower case

C. Describe how to teach and give the rationale for teaching students:

a.To Name the Letters in Order as They Track Them: The fastest way to teach the alphabet is with the song. You need to teach your students the song so that they can sing it with complete automaticity. Next, you move to tracking the letters while singing the song. Give each child a letter strip that is not taped down so that it can be turned over. Start the tracking process by teaching the students groups of letters. For example, practice with the students until they can accurately track ABCD with automaticity and while singing the song. Once the students are successful with these four letters then you can move to the next group, EFG. Repeat the process above until complete automaticity is achieved. The teacher should follow the groupings of the letters according to how they are grouped in the song. Special time and attention should be given to the group of letters, l m n o p. When singing the song, this group of letters sounds like one letter. You need to pay special attention to this group to make sure the students understand these are separate letters. Slow down during this part of the song and change your voice to really exaggerate each letter until the students understand that these are separate letters. The process is continued with groups of letters until the students can successfully track all twenty-six letters while singing the song.

Rationale: Students need to be able to track the letters so they can begin to match up the letter name with what the letter looks like. Students at this level do not have a concept of word. They do not yet see a connection between the spoken word and letters printed on a page. Learning this one to one correspondence is the first step in starting to form knowledge of the alphabet.

b. To recognize letters in isolation: In the beginning when students know few if any letters, you need to work with letters that have very distinctive features from each other. Later on, you can choose letters that share more features. To teach letter recognition in isolation you can play a letter recognition game. First of all, each student needs an alphabet strip that is turned face down. Teachers also need to be sure that no alphabet strips are posted around the room. Next, the teacher chooses a letter and writes it on the board. The students are then asked to guess the name of the letter without saying it out loud. Then the teacher asks the students to name the letter in unison. We know that children learn best by comparing their theories to reality so now ask the children to turn over their letter strips and track to the letter to prove if they were right. Of course, if they are incorrect, they will discover their error. The goal of this game is for the children to be able to name letters with automaticity.

Rationale: Children learn the letters of the alphabet by comparing and contrasting the distinct features of each letter. Playing the letter recognition game allows the student to test his/her theory as to what they think each letter is named. Teaching children to track (as explained in step a) allows each child to check their theory and see if they have the letter name correct.

c.To produce letters in isolation: You can teach children to write letters in isolation using a strategy very similar to the strategy used to name letters in isolation. Letter strips are again turned face down. The teacher calls out a letter and asks the students to try to write the letter on their paper. Next, the children turn over their letter strip and track to check themselves. Students compare their own writing to the writing on the strip and see that either they are right or they become aware of their errors. Time should be given to consistent letter writing, however, the teacher needs to remember the goal of this activity. It is not so the children will learn neat penmanship. It is so that the children can both name and write the letters of the alphabet with automaticity.

Rationale: Once the students can name each letter correctly, they need to learn to form each letter. Again, the child will test his/her theory by writing the letter and then using their tracking skills on the letter strip to see if they are correct. Again, a comparison of distinctive features of each letter is used to solidify a child’s knowledge of how to form each letter.

d.To Sort Letters: Start the sorting process using letters ABCD. Give each student a baggie with 6 cards of each letter for a total of 24 cards. Have the students sort the cards into groups using a chart. Do not write the letters in order on the chart (see example below).

B / D / A / C

Spend about a week working on sorting these letters. Then the next week, move to sorting EFG. The letters ABCD become a center where the child can work on sorting for speed. The third week, move to the next group of letters, HIJK, and EFG becomes a center. You should also keep ABCD in a center.

Rationale: Sorting letters allows a child to work with more than one letter at a time. Once a child can name and form letters in isolation, the natural next step is comparing several letters at one time. This forces the child to really think about what they know about the distinct features of each letter.

e.To Sort Letters for Speed: Students can work on increasing their sort speeds in a center. You will teach students to name and track the letters of the alphabet using the song (as explained in bullet C above). As the students master naming and tracking groups of letters, those groups of letters move to a center. Once you have created a center for ABCD, two students can work together to increase speed. One child will sort the letters while the other child times him with a stopwatch. Then the students can switch roles. As more letter centers are created, the students move from one center to another. The overall goal is for a child to be able to sort 24 cards in 60 seconds. Children cannot just learn the letters of the alphabet. They must know them with automaticity.

Rationale: Once a child has a solid foundation of the name of each letter and how to form each letter, the child needs to be able to name and sort letters. In order to become a beginning and then a self reliant reader, they must know the letters with complete automaticity. Knowing the letters accurately and quickly is the very foundation upon which the skill of reading is built.

2A. Explain how you would conduct a language experience with students who were spelling in the letter like stage.

  1. Short dictations about a common experience that could be turned into a group book: The idea behind a language experience is that students have some sort of experience, they then talk, write, and read about this experience. First of all, the teacher needs to let the children have some sort of experience. For example, the students will have the opportunity to touch and talk about a stuffed goose. After all of the children have had an opportunity to come up and touch and feel the goose, read to the students some sort of nonfiction book about geese. Next let the children orally tell some short sentences about the goose. Each child should tell you one thing about the goose. Now, each child will start writing his/her sentence on their paper. It is best to use the newsprint that has a space for a picture at the top. Each student will write their sentence on their paper. While the students are writing, the teacher will start moving from child to child. Each child should tell the teacher what they wrote, and then the teacher will write it “correctly” underneath the child’s writing. When writing the sentence, the teacher needs to remember to leave exaggerated spaces between the words to help the child see each word as an independent unit. The teacher should then choral and echo read the sentence with the child until the child can read it independently. Students that finish their writing before the teacher gets to them can draw a picture of the sentence while waiting for the teacher. Also, after the teacher has worked with two of the students, they can then pair up and teach each other their sentences. Once the teacher has made it around to all of the students, it is time to create the book. The teacher takes everyones paper, makes copies and then staples them together to create a book that the children can read together and independently. The teacher and students will echo and choral the story together many times. Tracking should be modeled and encouraged even though the students cannot track accurately yet because they don’t yet have a concept of word.
  2. Longer personal narratives that could be turned into a book for an individual child: When working with a child on a personal narrative, the first thing you want to do is just get the child to talk. You want the child to tell you some short story about an experience they’ve had. Be sure to get the child to tell you the entire story first. Once the child has shared the complete story, you should write the story for the child. Remember this child does not yet have a concept of word so they will tell you the story in phrases. Remind the child to slow down and tell you one word at a time even though you know they cannot do that yet. You can even point to each word as you write to model tracking. To create a book, you should rewrite the story on several pages. You want to write 3 to 6 words per page. Also, exaggerate the spaces between the words on each page to draw attention to each word individually. Now you should echo and choral read the story with the child until the child can read it independently.

2B. Explain what would differ in how you would do this with students who were starting to spell with some logical or correct beginning consonants.

When taking dictations from a child, there are some constants that never change regardless of the child’s stage of development. You always want to talk through the entire story before you do any writing. You also want to model tracking and encourage the child to tell you one word at a time. After the story is written, you are going to echo and choral read the story many times. Things change at this point for the child that is beginning to spell with some logical or correct beginning consonants. After you have echo and choral read the story many times, you want to “quiz” the child on some of the words. Point to a particular word and ask the child to read the word. Always have the child explain how they know the word. Their explanation will probably be based on the beginning letter. Sometimes they will just tell you they remembered. During this “quizzing”, the teacher needs to be mindful of the letters you think the child knows. You do want the child to experience success. Confidence cannot be underestimated!

3A. Explain why children who are spelling with random letters

  1. Point to words when shown a written version of a text or verse they have already memorized orally.

Children who are spelling with random letters will point to words when shown a written version of a text or verse they have already memorized for two reasons. For one, they do this because they are segmenting language into the most obvious unit. These children have just learned their letters. They do not yet have a concept of word so for them it makes sense to relate the words they are saying to the letters printed on the page. Also, these children have few, if any, words in their sight vocabulary. Since they are spelling with random letters they do not yet have any systematic way to store words mentally so they are not yet ready to develop a sight vocabulary. They need to become aware of beginning consonants before they can begin to develop some kind of way to store words mentally. Even though the children are pointing incorrectly, they still need to have these experiences. Over time and as they do this pointing over and over again, they will always run out of words to say before they finish pointing to all of the letters printed. This will help the children to see that they need to segment in some other fashion so that they don’t run out of memorized words before they get to the end of the print.