I am up in Butte County. I live in Magalia, which is currently surrounded by fire and is just about 15 miles east and north of Chico. I lived in San Jose for most of my life and taught there for ten years before moving up here.
It's always nice to hear from someone else in California. :-) Renee On Jul 7, 2008, at 9:26 AM, Stephanie Sanchez wrote: > Richmond (Bay Area) in the house! haha...yeah Richmond. Where are you? > > Renee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Stephanie, > Where are you in California? > Renee > (Northern California here) > > On Jul 7, 2008, at 8:41 AM, Stephanie Sanchez wrote: > >> I do agree with part of what you wrote below. Children do need to hear >> their teachers model the language and point out words within context, >> however there are populations of children that need explicit >> vocabulary in isolation. >> >> For instance, my school in California is made of 75% English Language >> Learners. Most are directly here from Mexico with little or no >> knowledge of the English language. When reading, there is no context >> due to so many unknown words. Meaning simple gets completely lost with >> no ability to use all vocabulary strategies that we teach. >> >> In the case of the teacher's picture strategy your mentioned for the >> Daily 5 list serv, this would be awesome and well worth the time to >> spend with my children so that they can be independent readers.They >> need exposure and visuals so that they can grasp them and use them in >> class since most likely they will not hear these words being >> reinforced at home. However, if the population she is teaching >> already know the English language, I could see this being a waste of >> precious time that could be used to dive deeper into reading. But for >> my population, I am extremely excited to use this strategy and find it >> highly effective! >> >> :) Stephanie >> 3rd grade/CA >> >> "Waingort Jimenez, Elisa" wrote: Hi Beverlee, >> I had saved this post to respond to at a later time but never intended >> to wait a month, as it turns out, to do so. However, given a recent >> conversation on the Daily5 listserv it is more appropriate that I am >> responding now. >> >> There has been a thread on word walls over the last few days on the >> Daily 5 listserv. One teacher, specifically, has been describing how >> she does picture word walls with her students. The teacher chooses 15 >> words a week from a current reading selection (seems a lot to me) and >> over a period of 2 - 3 days (seems a long time to spend on somewhat >> isolated vocabulary instruction) illustrates the meanings of the words >> while the kids copy her illustrations or create their own as a memory >> piece for the meaning of the word. The teacher's illustration, I >> think, goes on the word wall and the children have a vocabulary folder >> or notebook into which they insert their week's word pictures. >> Although, on face value this seems like a worthwhile way to remember >> vocabulary it seems that an inordinate amount of isolated time is >> being spent on words to the detriment of the same amount of time being >> used to read independently. All of the reviews of the research that >> I've read say that >> extensive reading is what produces high levels of vocabulary >> knowledge. I think illustrating words is a good strategy to use but >> it seems that in the example I've described it is being overused. I >> think teachers tend to do this sometimes by taking a good idea and >> turning it into a bad idea by overusing it or making everybody do the >> same thing regardless of how useful it is to individual learners. I >> use big words with my students and then they start using those big >> words back because we employ them in meaningful contexts with >> interesting books and focused lessons. In a previous post I wrote >> about teaching my students about what a miscue was and then they >> started pointing out their miscues and mine (a favorite activity as it >> turned out!) when they were reading on their own or when I was doing >> a read aloud. >> Elisa >> >> Elisa Waingort >> Grade 2 Spanish Bilingual >> Dalhousie Elementary >> Calgary, Canada >> >> >> >> What I didn't include in Elisa's response was her description of >> vocabulary acquisition: usage, scaffolding, usage, scaffolding... and >> that's what I've seen through the years with both immersion kids and >> ELL/LEP kids. I just haven't seen any evidence that big words on >> worksheets/workbooks transfer. I've seen plenty of evidence that >> USING big words transfers. And I'd guess that Elisa would agree that >> using big words along with concrete experiences pays the biggest >> dividends. My guess is that the next-most-profitable would be using >> big words with symbolic experience (following the math metaphor here), >> such as when reading a picture book, would be the next-more-effective. >> The least effective would be defining words with more abstract words. >> >> Some of the vocabulary programs sold today seem to me to be a way to >> make us (educators) and the public "feel better" that we're actually >> doing something in regard to vocabulary acquisition and are "bridging >> the gap" between the haves and have nots. Also, we can believe our >> students are "accountable" for vocabulary acquisition when we use >> these programs. Translation: we have a grade for a grade book. >> >> The heartbreaking agony of this whole topic of vocabulary acquisition >> to me is that when someone like Elisa talks about usage/scaffolding, >> we see a rich language environment with lots of experiences, and know >> that's what works. But with the current pandemic of testing, testing, >> testing, that's the part of our curriculum we cut out!! We take away >> (and I'm not faulting any of us) the very thing which does teach >> enable children to acquire language, including vocabulary. >> >> And, to make it all the more frustrating, sad-to-the-bone to me is >> that our professional newbies are seeing education as it is today and >> extrapolating that that's all it can (or should) be. Dry, >> "efficient," droning. >> For years I have used big words when reading aloud and helped kids get >> the meaning by explaining them right along with what's in the actual >> text. Other times, I've just kept reading in anticipation of the story >> doing its work. Make sense?Elisa >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Mosaic mailing list >> Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ >> mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. >> >> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Mosaic mailing list >> Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org >> To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to >> http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ >> mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. >> >> Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. >> >> > "I take my work seriously, but it's not the only thing that exists in > the world." > ~ Viggo Mortensen > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ > mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > > _______________________________________________ > Mosaic mailing list > Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org > To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to > http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/ > mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. > > Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive. > > "Holding a grudge is like eating rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die." ~ Anne Lamott _______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list Mosaic@literacyworkshop.org To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. 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