Blog #10- Homework Philosophy and Structure

Melinda's Homework Philosophy and Structure

The following is a detailed summary of my personal philosophy regarding the role of homework in the advancement of student academic skills and success in the classroom for both native and second language English speakers.

Homework Rationale/Purpose:

· Homework Objectives--My personal homework objectives include providing students with the opportunities to practice, review, and apply the knowledge they have learned in the classroom (Hill, 2006). In addition, it is critical to include parents/families in the homework process. This means providing adults with an understanding of the concepts, goals, and purposes of their student completing assigned homework (Bailey, 2004);

· What Constitutes Meaningful Homework--As I mentioned above, meaningful homework includes providing students with multiple opportunities to practice, review, and apply the knowledge they have begun in the classroom (Bailey, 2004). For instance, asking elementary students to read 20 to 30 minutes each night to extend their guided reading group instruction at home. Also, the extent of homework assigned should be appropriately leveled with the age/grade of the student. For example, time spent on homework should be less for a first grader than for a fifth grader (Hill, 2006). It is important as well to keep parental involvement in homework at a minimum to ensure students are doing the work instead of parents (Hill, 2006). I have seen this mistake made numerous times in the lower elementary grades when teachers assign huge projects which adults themselves end up completing. An example of this would be detailed native American dioramas assigned in the first grade. Children whose parents may both work full-time may not have the time and energy to devote to doing a project for their children. Enough said!;

· Meaningful Feedback--As a teacher, I would keep a clipboard with students' names listed as well as daily homework assignments. At the beginning of class, I would call up five students at a time to turn in their homework. As each student presents their assignments to me, I would then do a quick overview of their work, make a brief comment, and check off his/her work as completed. Those students who do not have their homework completed would be given a "blue slip" indicating such to their parents and asked to complete the assignment for the next day. This may sound a bit time consuming, but it can go fast with routine practice and students each would receive instant feedback from me. I have done this in only one other teacher's classroom that I substitute in and it is fantastic! I would, of course, provide more detailed feedback to students after having the opportunity to review student work in greater detail. I feel it is very important to provide feedback in a timely manner; so, I would like to provide students with my assessment of their work the following morning. If not that, no more than two days later. Now, in regards to feedback from parents/adults, I would also like to develop a short half-length form to provide adults/parents with the opportunity to give me feedback as to their observations of the effectiveness of assigned homework, the length of time it is taking their student to finish homework assignments, etc. Lastly, I believe that peer feedback is important, too. This can be done in the classroom as a group by exchanging papers, meeting in cooperative groups, etc. (Hill, 2006). This type of feedback would be especially helpful to

ELL's in developing both their verbal conversational as well as academic

language skills;

· Use of Technology in the Homework Process--It is my experience that most students are avid about technology; however, there are always a few that will avoid it--but, only a few. To use technology effectively, you must be very specific about your expectations as a teacher (i.e. "This paper must be word processed," or "Your assigned readings are available online at our school web page," etc.). Always take a few minutes to inform your class about homework expectations and any special instructions required involving technology to be certain there are no misunderstandings. This technology "training" may take a couple years; but, students will get the hang of incorporating it into their homework assignments. Now that we have the basics down, the following are some suggestions for encouraging students to use technology keeping in my the age/level of students when using any one of them in your classroom: require students to use email, use email to send students individual assignments, require students to get assignments online, use electronic devices/web pages for students to read, require students to research the Internet, require that some/all papers be written using word processing software, require that students use presentation software (i.e. PowerPoint, etc.), require students to create their own Web pages, assign students homework which includes finding associated articles/research materials, and require students to join an Internet mailing list (Harris, 1997). These are just a few ways to enhance students classroom learning experience.

Homework Structure:

Attached is one of my favorite form of structured homework assignment entitled the "By the Minute Reading Log--Shake, Rattle, and Read." I like the fact that it provides students with a clear indication on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis of just how they are doing in regards to their overall reading requirement. Also, this is a structure that can be used along with any subject based on daily homework assignments, it is also a structure which is clear and supports both homework and

grading, the structure provides crystal clear feedback to students, and it is also has a clearly defined timeline and students/adults understand the benefits

of completing the reading assignments in order to improve literacy proficiency and academic skills.

In closing, I believe that in order for homework to truly benefit our students as well as our current/future instruction within the classroom, it must have clearly stated objectives, be meaningful in its content, provide meaningful feedback for teachers/students, as well as encourage students to enhance their use of technology in the academic realm, too. Homework must also be diversified to meet the needs of both ELL's and native English speakers. And, don't forget, it is OK to repeat and review classroom learning to ensure student understanding and academic success. After all, student achievement is our ultimate goal.

References

Bailey, L. B. (2004). Designing Family-Friendly Interactive Homework. Retrieved on February 22, 2010,

from the Questia Website: http://www.questia.com

Harris, R. (1997). Encouraging Students to Use Technology. Retrieved on February 23, 2010, from

the Virtual Salt Website: http://www.virtualsalt.com

Hill, J. D. and Flynn, K. M. (2006). Classroom Instruction That Works With English Language

Learners. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

Blog #9--Fiction or Non-Fiction for ELL's

Below is a graphic organizer to illustrate the salient differences between using fiction and non-fiction texts for ELL's in the first grade:

Fiction/Non-Fiction for ELL's

Fiction: The Mitten by Jan Brett

Tells a Story

Funny

Fantasy--Talking Animals

Illustrations Not Photographs

Talks About Sharing

Tells Actual Facts in Story

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Non-Fiction: The Just-Right House

Table of Contents

Glossary of Word Meanings

Index/Diagrams

Facts

Real Photographs of Real People/Things

Tells Actual Facts

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The features above that I believe will best support students' learning to speak English include aspects of both genres. On the one hand, The Mitten is an intriguing and captivating fiction story for all ages; however, the non-fiction story, The Just-Right House, also provides students with plenty of opportunities to make real-life self-to-text connections. For instance, The Mitten can be used along with a graphic organizer for story recall which exemplifies what goes on "in the cottage" or "in the woods." I used this with first grade ELL's earlier this year. I had students work in small cooperative groups at the listening center while each wearing headphones listening to an audio tape of Jan Brett's wonderful story. Afterwards, they individually fill out a graphic organizer and listed various items from The Mitten under the headings "in the cottage" or "in the woods." Students each had a hard-copy of the actual text to refer back to while completing this activity. However, the non-fiction text, The Just-Right House, is a perfect book to use with a T-chart exemplifying "My House" and "The Just-Right House." After listing the various aspects of each underneath the appropriate heading, students then draw/color an illustration of "My Just-Right House" together with labels for each different component of their house (i.e. bed, table, chairs, etc.). Once again, students use their copy of the text itself to refer to for proper spellings, house ideas, etc.

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After considering both genres, I do not believe that one is more challenging over the other as long as the appropriate leveled texts are chosen along with a proper explanation of unfamiliar vocabulary or situations. As along as the text is engaging and well-written, students will benefit from either accordingly.

Blog #8-Sheltered Literacy Lesson

This week's review of a sheltered literacy lesson video for ELL's provided the following information to help teach second language learners vital literacy skills during the phases of pre-reading, actual reading, and post-reading:

• Pre-reading: Students review reading strategies in order to encourage making personal connections with text, to encourage visualizing as reading, to stimulate developing questions (i.e. I wonder...?) while reading, and to summarize in the process of reading. The ELL teacher points out unusual/unfamiliar words contained within the text to prepare students for the actual reading process;
• Actual reading: Students are asked by the teacher to provide their own personal input during the actual reading of the text (i.e. What is the song "Las Mananitas"? How does it go? Will you both sing it together for us?). Students explain what the text is about and provide the teacher with their own cultural perspective on the "Happy Birthday" song. Students/teacher also point out specific vocabulary words during reading to provide further interaction and engagement with the text. The teacher also projects a page of the reading using an overhead projector to give students a visual aid while discussing phrases/vocabulary for better understanding;
• Post-reading: The ELL teacher has students make 3 post-it notes with questions, inferences, background knowledge, etc., for the post-it board. Students continue developing their personal connections to the text in this manner.

Another aspect of our teacher's strategies include having students prepare any "I'm confused..." questions at home the previous night while doing a preview of the coming material. For example, a student who hasn't experienced an earthquake might write a question asking what an earthquake is, or what it feels like. Another technique used by the teacher includes modeling how to read a book, verbally stating how to visualize text, as well as how to make self-to-text connections while reading. This is extremely helpful and students are well engaged in the classroom conversation.

Blog #7-Running Records Summary

This activity involved conducting a running records/miscue analysis on two second language learners analyzing miscues for M-meaning, S-syntax, and V-visual cues. Are there some features of the errors that reflect the first language? Are there miscues that are universal to all readers?

Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, I have the privilege of tutoring international students from around the world at our local community college in learning English as a second language. Unfortunately, I didn't have access to the opportunity to perform my running records until Thursday; so, I apologize for posting this blog a day late. Nevertheless, each of the students which I worked with have only been in our country for between six and seven months. I actually performed four running records this afternoon using a text which was more appropriate for young adult (18-21 years) learners. The book was nonfiction and was based on health related concepts. Conversation is still halting for one student, Muhammad, in particular.
Another student, Juliam, must translate many of the key words in the text's sentences. For example, "Different people like different things. Pablo loves to swim, but his friend Jeff is afraid of water" was difficult for my Arabic students to decipher--just what is a "Pablo?" This was a miscue which I feel reflects their first language base which is, of course, Arabic. I found that the Arabic students had much more difficulty in reading orally than Spanish students. I note that they both looked at the pictures for visual aid; however, our culture differs so greatly from theirs in everything from manner of dress to approaches to learning literacy in Saudi Arabian classrooms. Furthermore, I became aware that each Arabic student needed additional grammar and phonics instruction. I would definitely focus on these two areas as well as additional read alouds. Currently, all four of these students are in an intensive English learning program which includes daily blocks of grammar, writing, reading, listening/speaking, and conversation with native English speakers. Both Arabic students commented they did not like to write. They only want to read or speak--writing is very taxing at this point in time.

In total, I recognized that there were numerous self-corrections (i.e. angry for anger, etc.), an extensive amount of very halting reading of words as well as sentences, and a definite lack of comprehension of text. It was all my readers could do to decode the words to get through the text. I do believe that many of the errors students made during reading were the same types of errors I see in primary aged students just learning to read and write in their native tongue. In order to support/scaffold these students toward reading proficiency, I would work with them on their phonics, constructing meaning, and developing fluency. Moreover, I would model excellent writing skills to these students, too. Additional reading/writing in English which connects to their current Arabic/Spanish cultural understandings would be tremendously helpful. Overall, this was an excellent experience which causes me to believe that whether native or second language learner, there is an amazing similarity in phases of developing literacy skills.