Chapter four covers a wide
range of topics that are all centered around language and vocabulary
development. The portion that I personally found most interesting was the section
on “Strategies for Language Development in Early Childhood Classrooms.” The focus
was on children ages three through eight and how we as educators need to
provide meaningful experiences to expand our student’s knowledge. Unfortunately
many teachers are under the assumption that the only time for their student's to
practice their language development throughout the school day is during the time allotted for
reading/language arts. But this concept is mistaken; the best way to help your
student's further their language development is to allow them to practice
throughout the day, in every subject area.
There are several different
ways of accomplishing this goal of helping your student's further their language
development, some of them are as simple as acting as an example for your
student's. As a teacher you should also use positive reinforcement as
encouragement. A tool that has produced great results that was talked about in
depth in this chapter is the use of centers; where each represents a different
subject area, but where language is integrated throughout all. This gives
children the opportunity to explore and experiment while working alongside
their peers. The conversations that will flourish during times like these are
like none other. It is a time where the children are able to freely communicate
with one another without a teacher controlling their discussion.
Along with teaching language
development it is also imperative that we assess our student’s, just like in any
other subject area. Assessing students helps us gage where our students are at
and if our teaching methods are working. But because literacy encompasses such
a wide variety of skill sets this task can be difficult. We need to try and
assess our student’s on as many of these skill sets as possible so that we will
be able to determine the student’s strengths and weaknesses. A few examples the
book provides as ways of assessment are checklists, anecdotal records, audio
recordings, or videotapes.
If we are able to provide an
adequate environment for our students where language can flourish, language
development will not be a problem. Incorporating this skill set into every subject
area every day might be tedious and time consuming, but it is proven to be the
way that student’s learn best, so we as educators need to do what is best
for our students!
I really enjoyed your post Victoria! I agree with you that most teachers only see language arts and reading time as the only opportunity within the day to develop language. Honestly, that is what I thought before coming into this class, but now I see how important it is to incorporate language development through out all subject areas during the day. Each area allows for a different area of growth in language development that will best help the students to grow as learners. I know that incorporating language through out the day will be tedious work, but it will definitely allow from rich growth and development for students. Allowing time for interaction, I agree, is also important because it gives the students time to practice what they are learning and through assessments I feel it can benefit both the teacher and the student because both can see growth and development over time which can be very exciting and encouraging.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed what you had to say Victoria. I agree with what you were talking about how many teachers only think that their students should practice their language during there specific time for language arts/reading. I think that teachers only have the mind set that they can only work on language during a certain subject. I think that it is important for children to use language in every subject every day. I am in a practicum corse right now and we are in the classroom three times a week. When I walk in they are always using language. They are just sitting on the rug and they are asked a question about another subject such as a math problem, then they have to stand up and tell everyone the answer and what strategy they used to figure it out. If teachers do not encourage the use of language through other subjects, students might not grow as much as they could with their language development. I also agree that we need to assess our students. It helps not only them but us to really see who is understanding the material and what we might have to go back over again. I do understand that in literacy there are multiple areas to assess, just try to combine as many as you can together so they are not being assessed at different times in different areas. Overall I agree that you just need to have an adequate environment for your students to succeed.
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ReplyDeleteWhat I understood about language is that it is covered in all subject areas because to understand math a student must know the vocabulary behind it, the same goes for science and social studies. To read the books a student needs to know how to read or decode text. To talk about what is or was to be read, the students need to form thoughts and string them into sentences. To me language development is the basis of all subject areas, it is what all subjects stem off of.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your post on language Victoria! It is imperative that we incorporate language in EVERY subject, and not just language arts. We need to encourage positive language skills through modeling. We need to also listen to what the students are saying, and make them feel respected in the classroom. This is important for all students to feel this way. Also, we need to let the students feel as if they are in a safe environment that they can ask questions without being judge. Being a teacher is more than teaching curriculum, but it is instilling confidence in your students and giving them life skills to help them be successful in the future.
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