Recommondations+Sumitted+by+Matiana+Elias

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Submitted by: Matiana Elias
One of the areas that chapter 7 addressed was the effect first language has on the second language, researchers Kramer and Schell (1982) found that children had difficulty discriminating contrasts in English that are not used in Spanish (e.g., v-b, ch-sh, s-sp).

As a second language learner myself I remember the sink or swim situation I found myself in school. I found myself looking for things in English that sounded like Spanish and vise a versa. As a Kindergarten teacher, I try to explicitly teach what doesn’t transfer or doesn’t exist in Spanish from English. I have found that many of my second language learners and English only students have a hard time distinguishing /sh/ and /ch/ and it is evident in their writing. This has lead me to develop lessons on the /sh/, /ch/, and /th/. The following is a lesson I do in class hope it is useful.

Getting Ready
First I look for poems or readings that contain /sh/. I have found that the following books contain several poems that emphasize these sounds. __More! Phonics Through Poetry: Teaching Phonemic Awareness Using Poetry__ by Babs Bell Hajdusiewicz __Phonics Fun K-1__ by Barbara Wilson

Five Days of Instruction
First day I introduce the new chunk and then we read the shared reading. The following book is a good source on what is shared reading. __Shared Reading: Reading with Children__ by Stanley L., Adria F. Klein, & Rebecca E. Shook

The second day we review what the chuck is and after that we reread the shared poem. Then I pull out pictures that contain the chunk in the word. We discuss if the chunk is in the front, middle, or end of the word. The third day we reread the shared reading and we look for words that contain the /sh/ and I have students circle the chuck. After that we review the pictures of words with /sh/ and start to interactively write (teacher shares the pen with students, teacher guides the process of coming up with the word and keeping the other students engaged while helping the writer write the word) the words students come up. For Kindergarten 10 min. is good to begin. If you are press for time teacher can write the words students come up with. Interactive writing is a very powerful strategy to empower students. The following book is good source on how to do interactive writing in class. __Interactive Writing & Interactive Editing: Making Connections between Writing and Reading__ by Stanley L., Adria F. Klein, & Rebecca E. Shook

By the forth day we reread the shared reading by this time I have student use whisper voice, deep voice, or other intonations when reading. This helps to keep them engaged with the same text for the whole week. Review the pictures and we discuss other words that have the chunk /sh/ that don’t have a picture with it. We continue with writing words interactively. By the fifth day we do the shared reading, finish interactive writing if we have not finished by the fourth day. The last thing we do is have students find the chunk /sh/ and circle it. Everyday we review the words written interactively so that they my use these words in center activities.

Other independent activities during centers are writing the room attached is a form I have students use when writing words from around the room. During guided reading I choose books that have the /sh/ chunk and make a mini lesson for each group. After the /sh/ lesson I use the same format and introduce /ch/ to my students. After this they get a good handle on these sounds.

Additional online resources
Second Language Learner Considerations [| http://www.csusm.edu/Quiocho/ph.second.htm] English Language Learners and the Five Essential Components of Reading Instruction By: Beth Antunez (2002) [| http://www.readingrockets.org/article/341] A bilingual site for families and educators of English language learners [| http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/341] Metalinguistic Awareness as Defined Through Research By: Jill Kerper Mora, Ed.D. San Diego State University [| http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/moramodules/MetaLingResearch.htm]

Reference:
Kramer, V. R., & Schell, L. M. (1982). English auditory discrimination skills of Spanish-speaking children. Alberta Journal of Education research, 28(1),1-8. National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for instruction. Reports of the subgroup. (NIH Publication No. 00-4754). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. Also available online: http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/report.htm Swartz, S. L., Klein, A. F., & Shook, R. E. (2001). Interactive Writing & Interactive Editing: Making Connections between Writing and Reading. Carlsbad, CA. 92008: Dominie Press, Inc. Swartz, S. L., Shook, R. E., & Klein, A. F. (2002). Shared Reading: Reading with Children. Carlsbad, CA. 92008: Dominie Press, Inc.