Subset 1 English Elementary Education

Punctuation

Punctuation rules can be tricky, even for experienced writers. Here are some that elementary school teachers typically teach: - Apostrophe: To show possession, to take the place of missing letters in contractions, and to form the plurals of letters and numerals. - Colon: After the greeting in a business letter, to introduce a list, or to introduce a direct quotation. - Commas: For many purposes, including to separate three or more items in a list; separate adjectives that modify the same noun; between a city and a state; between the day and year in a date; after the greeting and closing of a friendly letter; after introductory words or mild interjections at the beginning of a sentence; to set off the name of the person you're speaking to; in front of a short, direct quotation in the middle of a sentence. - Dash: To separate and stress elements in a sentence, after an interrupted or unfinished statement of thought, or to introduce a list of items. - Ellipsis: Three dots in a row to replace words that have been left out. - Exclamation point: After strong interjections, exclamatory sentences, and strong imperative sentences. - Hyphen: To break a word between syllables at the end of a line, in two-part numbers from twenty-one to ninety-nine, in spelled-out fractions, and in some compound nouns and adjectives. - Period: At the end of declarative sentences and after most initials and abbreviations. - Quotation marks: Before and after a direct quotation, in writing dialog, or to set off words or phrases used in a special way. - Question marks: At the end of an interrogative sentence.

Factors Affecting Comprehension

Reading comprehension is impacted by two major factors: reader factors and text factors (National Reading Panel Report, 2000). The interaction between the reader's knowledge and the structure of the text impacts the reader's comprehension.

STAGE 3: Revising

Revision means to look at something from a fresh, critical perspective and to see if the language and tone are consistent. When students revise their work, they make "big picture" changes. Experienced writers know that when they are unsure about their developing ideas, it is helpful to show their writing to someone else. On the basis of this feedback, students make either or all of four types of revisions: - Additions. Students look for ways they can add missing information necessary to help readers understand what is written or improve word choice. They may replace words with synonyms to add interest or avoid redundancy. They may add sentences or paragraphs to vary the length of sentences or include information that creates smooth transitions from one shared idea to another. - Substitutions. Students replace sentences to avoid redundancy or to clarify ideas that are unclear. - Deletions. Students may cut sentences or paragraphs to delete information that is unnecessary, such as details that lead the reader away from the main point of the story or discussion. - Moves. Students may reposition some sentences to better organize the sequence of the writing and improve its flow.

Basic Syllable Patterns

See Chart

Comprehension Used Before, During and After

See Chart

Spelling and Reading Patterns

See Chart

Semantic Feature Analysis

Semantic feature analysis can be used to help students determine how concepts are related. Students compare items, events, or people and identify if they share some features. Teachers can create a grid for students to compare concepts such as shown in Table 3.2.

Informational text features.

Some informational texts, including content area textbooks, have text features that students can use to make the text more comprehensible. These include - Headings and subheadings that direct readers' attention to big ideas - Photographs and drawings that illustrate specific concepts - Figures and tables that visually represent detailed information - Bulleted or numbered lists to call out supporting ideas or sequenced steps or procedures - Boldface or italicized terms that highlight key vocabulary - Glossaries to assist in pronouncing and defining content area terms - Indexes to locate specific information

Spelling

Spelling, or orthography, is the forming of letters to follow an accepted order that creates a written word. The English spelling system is alphabetic and is represented by letter-sound relationships, letter patterns, and groups of letters that have particular meanings. Spelling patterns are created by combinations of consonants and vowels and include consonant blends, digraphs, and diphthongs.

Vocabulary Instruction

The National Reading Panel noted the following guidelines for engaging students in vocabulary learning: - Activate prior knowledge. - Preteach vocabulary. - Restructure reading materials. - Expose students repeatedly to new vocabulary. - Connect new words to known words. - Help students learn to use context clues. - Use visuals. - Engage students in wide reading - Use multimedia.

Reader Factors

The ability of a reader to understand text is influenced by the background knowledge of the reader, the reading skills and strategies a reader knows and employs, and the reader's motivation. - Background knowledge. - Strategies readers know. - Vocabulary knowledge. -Engagement with the text.

STAGE 5: Publishing

The final stage of the writing process is publishing the written piece. Publishing can mean having students create illustrations or other visuals (such as a cover), a table of contents, and a list of references, if applicable. After publishing, students can communicate with genuine audiences to share their writing in meaningful ways. There are many possibilities for sharing students' written pieces, including - Reading it aloud to the class or to other classes - Posting it on a bulletin board - Submitting it for publication in a class/school newspaper or magazine - Placing it on a blog or web site such as www.cyberkids.com/cw - Making it into a book for keeping in the classroom or school library - Contributing to a class anthology - Offering it to a local newspaper - Sharing it with parents and siblings

Word Learning Strategies

The goal of vocabulary instruction is to help students become independent word learners. Teachers should provide explicit instruction to help students master the following independent strategies for learning words. - Analyzing word structure and function. - Using context clues as a word learning strategy. 1. General ideas related to the word. 2. Location or setting. 3. Synonyms or antonyms. - Using reference materials to support word learning.

Chapter 1: Listening

The three steps in the listening process are receiving, attending, and assigning meaning. In the first step, the listener receives the aural stimulus sent by the speaker. Next, the listener focuses on the important components of the speaker's message; the listener "pays attention" to the speaker. Then, the listener assigns meaning to the message by attempting to fit the verbal input into his or her existing cognitive structures. Students can be given opportunities to develop and practice listening skills during three phases of the listening process: pre-listening, during listening, and after listening.

Six-year-old Bill said he could read the word will because it looked like his name. Bill used the strategy of:

analogies.

Inflections

are a limited set of morphemes added to the end of words without changing their essential meaning, as in the case of the verb read●ing. Other common English inflections include—s, -ed, and -est. (In contrast to inflections, an affix does change a word's meaning or grammatical category, such as when un- is added to clear to form unclear or -ful is added to help to form helpful.)

Prefixes

are affixes added to the beginning of words, as in re●read

suffixes

are affixes added to the end of words, as in read●er.

National Reading Panel

concluded that students who receive systematic and explicit phonics instruction are more likely to experience reading success than students receiving non-systematic phonics instruction or no phonics instruction. That is, phonics instruction promotes reading success and is more effective when a set of letter-sound relationships is taught directly and in a clearly defined, logical sequence

Because fluent readers recognize many words automatically, they usually:

devote more energy to comprehension.

Students are most likely to use conventional spelling in the:

fluent reading and writing stage.

STAGE 1: Prewriting

he getting-ready-to-write stage, prewriting, covers everything a writer does before starting a rough draft. 1. Begin with a purpose. The first question students answer is, "Why am I writing? What is my purpose?" Examples of functions or purposes for composition writing include narrative, expository, descriptive, or persuasive writing. - Narrative, Exposatory, Descriptive, and Persuasive Writing 2. Identify and narrow the topic. 3. Consider the audience. 4. Consider the form. 5. Gather and organize sources - Brainstorming - Clustering - Freewriting

Fluency

involves not only fast and accurate word identification (reflecting automaticity) but also entails reading in phrase-length chunks and reading with expression, or "prosodic reading." Prosodic reading relies on the reader's active engagement in comprehending a text and his or her knowledge of print conventions that signal phrasing in a written text.

syllable

is a phonological unit that includes a vowel sound

Automaticity

is defined as fast, accurate, and effortless word identification at the single word level. While automaticity is not the same as reading fluency, which refers to reading competence at the passage level, automaticity is a prerequisite for fluent reading.

foundation of a research-based spelling program

is the principle that spelling instruction is aligned with reading instruction. Once formal instruction in phonics and word reading begin, spelling instruction can be used to reinforce students' new learning in phonics and word patterns.

Phonics knowledge

knowledge of the correspondences in an alphabetic language between letters or letter patterns and the sounds of spoken language represented by those letters (i.e., grapheme-phoneme relationships).

Although he knew that he should use a dictionary to find correct spellings, eight-year-old Nick said that he couldn't find the words he needed for his composition. His teacher correctly told him that he should:

predict possible spellings for the words and then check the most probable spellings in the dictionary.

research-based approach to explicit sight word instruction

teachers ensure students can decode target words accurately before promoting rapid recognition of the words. Teachers can promote students' accuracy with instructional strategies that encourage them to look at every letter in every word they are learning, and strategies that help them associate the spelling with the pronunciation of the words.

Chapter 1: The Alphabetic Principle

the idea that written letters and letter patterns can be used to represent speech sounds. Learning that there are predictable relationships between written letters and spoken words helps children recognize familiar words in print and decode new words.

orthography of English

the letter-sound relationships and morphology represented in written language, is intimately related to students' literacy development.

morphology

the study of the internal structure of words and of the rules by which words are formed. The base word or root in a morphologically complex word acts as the base to which affixes are attached

multisyllable words

words such as napkin, moment, or ribbon—words that they must break into orthographic chunks, or word parts, in order to decode using skills they have already mastered.

when providing differentiated instruction, teachers should:

(1) help children understand why a particular strategy is useful, and (2) describe explicitly how the strategy should be used. Teacher demonstration, modeling, guided practice, and follow-up independent practice are critical factors for success.

Teachers can use three key indicators of fluency to assess students' fluency development

- Accuracy. The student's ability to identify words in a text correctly. - Rate. The student's ability to read at a rate appropriate for comprehension. - Prosody. The student's ability to read in phrases and with expression that both supports and reflects comprehension of the text.

Graphic Sources: Advertisements

- Advertisements call attention to products, services, or ideas that someone wants to sell or promote. In everyday life, advertising reaches people through varied types of mass communication. Printed ads are found in newspapers and magazines. - Rewards. Advertisers offer a gift or prize to someone buying their product. Snack foods and cereal products have traditionally offered toys and other gimmicks in their products: "Buy a burger and get a free drink." - Testimonial. An advertiser associates a product with a famous personality, such as an athlete or film star. - Transfer. People, places, words, or ideas having positive connotations are used to suggest that the positive qualities can be transferred to the user. For example, "Buy this deodorant and you'll be as attractive, popular, or happy as (the attractive person using it)." - Plain folks. This technique suggests that the product or person is a good fit for common, ordinary people. For example, a Harvard-educated lawyer who commonly wears nothing but the finest tailored suits might be shown in an ad wearing jeans and polo shirt: "I'm just a plain ole' country boy, just like you." - Snob appeal. In contrast to plain folks, this propaganda technique suggests that the use of the product makes the customer part of an elite or exclusive group. - Card stacking. Card stacking means stressing the positive qualities of a person or product and suppressing unfavorable facts. Although the majority of information presented by the card stacking approach is true, the technique is dangerous because it omits important information. - Glittering generalities. The glittering generalities technique uses appealing words and images to enhance the quality of the product or person. Words often used as glittering generalities are motherhood, honor, glory, love of country, the American way, and freedom. - Bandwagon. Bandwagon is a form of propaganda that exploits the desire of most people to be part of a group—to belong. Students are compelled to buy a product because everyone else is buying it.

Strategies for Understanding Informational Texts

- Anticipation guides. Teachers can develop anticipation guides to activate students' background knowledge before reading an informational text. - Graphic organizers. Graphic organizers provide a mediated and concrete way for students to see the organizational patterns of informational text structures. Graphic organizers visually display key ideas, words, or phrases that organize content knowledge - QAR. Question-Answer-Relationships (Raphael, 2006) guide students to generate a number of questions when reading informational text. The student differentiates between the types of questions asked and seeks answers that satisfy literal, inferential, or evaluative comprehension questions. Raphael's four types of questions are: right there questions, think and search questions, author and me questions, on my own questions

Chapter 1: After Listening

- Ask questions of themselves and the speaker to clarify their understandings. - Summarize the content orally, in writing, or as a chart, timeline, or map. - Analyze and make critical judgments about what they listened to. - Examine examples of deceptive language and propaganda - Engage in activities that build on and develop concepts acquired during the listening experience.

Chapter 1: During Listening

- Ask students to predict what might happen next and to provide evidence to support their predictions. - Encourage students to form mental pictures to help them remember certain details or images while listening. - Ask students questions to clarify what they hear. For students with advanced skills: - Expect students to make written notes. - Ask students to detect if they are listening to a message intended for persuasion or propaganda.

Good phonics instruction shares several characteristics, including

- Clarifying the purpose and goal of instruction at the onset of the lesson. - Using visual or concrete materials that will make learning the new phonics skill(s) more memorable. - Providing direct instruction of letter sounds. - Providing direct instruction in decoding of letter sounds in words. - Planning for guided and independent practice. - Planning for student application of new phonics skills in other contexts.

Chapter 1: Pre-Listening

- Establish what is already known about the topic; connect to personal experiences. - Build necessary background; clarify information and eliminate potential confusion. - Set the purpose(s) for listening. - Ask students to develop questions or make predictions about what they are about to hear.

Chapter 1: Oral Language Development

- Informal conversations: Time to talk about things that interest and excite children. = Language play: Exploring rhythms, sounds, and tones that young children delight in as they work and play. - Rhymes and song: Experiences rich in rhythm and rhyme encourage children to play with words. - Stories: Children discover new words and meanings as they listen to good stories—either told or read aloud. - Group talk: Times during the day when conventions of shared conversations are learned and practiced.

Some positive forms of positive body language demonstrated by teachers include

- Intensifying your body movements somewhat when talking to the class in an effort to capture and hold the students' attention or to emphasize important points. Becoming overly dramatic, though, can distract from what the teacher is saying. - Taking a few steps toward the child who is talking to you to indicate that you have a sincere interest in what is being said - Smiling, winking, or nodding with appreciation when a child is speaking. Smiling can be an especially powerful nonverbal signal; it sends a message that the teacher is happy and optimistic. However, teachers should try not to smile until it exhausts them, as their students can get the impression the teacher is desperate to win their approval. - Maintaining eye contact with a child who is speaking Moving around the room during a class discussion so that everyone feels involved - Avoiding closed body language, such as standing behind a desk or giving the "self-hug" (when one arm is on a teacher's side and the other arm is clutching that elbow) - Avoiding physical signals that can send mixed messages—for example, constantly checking the time as a child is talking or correcting paperwork while a group is presenting a dramatic skit

The following list provides meaningful examples of graphic organizers.

- KWL - Word Mapping - Semantic Feature Analysis

To ensure that children acquire this alphabetic knowledge teachers engage children in sequential activities that allow children to:

- Learn letter names. Children learn letter names by singing songs and by reciting rhymes. They also learn letter names as they see them in their own names, in the names of family members, and in familiar contexts such as signs, t-shirts, cereal boxes, television commercials, and other environmental print. - Learn letter shapes. Children learn letter shapes as they play with blocks, plastic letters, alphabet books, and computer games. - Learn letter sounds. Children best learn the sounds that letters represent (individual phonemes) in relationship to letters.

Teachers often ask questions or otherwise carefully plan for academic communication that promotes learning. During an academic conversation teachers assess whether students:

- Look at their classmates and teacher as they talk with them. - Call their classmates and teacher by their preferred names. - Listen carefully to the comments of others; ask questions, seek clarification, and offer constructive feedback. - Take turns. - Share existing knowledge as the conversation unfolds. - Support answers, arguments, and suggestions with sound reasons. - Stay on task.

Some instances where academic communication could be employed in elementary school classrooms include

- Making a data retrieval chart such as a Venn diagram or K-W-L chart - Designing a thematic mural or bulletin board display - Planning and completing a written or oral report - Composing questions for an interview (e.g., career professional, a war veteran, school administrator, famous author or illustrator, or a parent) - Discussing the plot of a literary work (e.g., Johnny Tremain, - A Wrinkle in Time, Flotsam, or When You Reach Me) - Engaging in predicting, inferring, questioning, summarizing, or evaluating - Solving a math problem - Working in a collaborative group (e.g., to engage in reciprocal teaching or another shared learning strategy) - Analyzing persuasive techniques used in television commercials - Summarizing a story, a science experiment, a movie, a television show, and so on - Attending as the teacher uses explicit instruction to teach a skill or concept - Determining the causes and effects of human events (e.g., homelessness, poverty, hunger, or war) - Using the scientific method of inquiry

Chapter 1: Teachers can promote emergent literacy skills when they

- Model what readers do when they read a text aloud. - Point to words as they read. - Explain what the punctuation is for. - Encourage students to take part in the reading activity

Following are important components of effective fluency instruction.

- Modeling fluent reading. - Providing explicit instruction in fluency. - Providing students with opportunities to practice fluent reading using scaffolded fluency activities. (Choral, Echo, Repeated, Paired, Buddy reading - Offering students ways to practice and perform. (Repeated Reading, Reader's Theater)

A weekly plan for word study instruction might include:

- On Monday, provide students with explicit instruction in a phonics-, morphological-, or rules-based spelling pattern and a list of 10-20 words reflecting that pattern. - Encourage the students to compare and contrast features in words. One common method for doing so is through word sorts where students use their word knowledge to separate examples that go together. - On Tuesday through Thursday, provide follow-up mini-lessons, guided practice, or activities that reinforce instruction. - On Friday, give a written spelling test. You may want to include one or two new words exemplifying the spelling pattern on the test.

Genres of Children Literature

- Picture Books - Traditional literature: folklores, fables, fairytales, myths, legeneds - Modern Fantasy - Realistic Fiction - Historical Fiction - Biography - Poetry - Informational Texts

Working with At-Risk Readers and Writers

- Provide more instructional time. - Schedule regular times to meet and set up predictable instructional routines. - Use systematic and explicit instruction. - Ensure time for oral language activities. - Consider using technology to support instruction.

activities that teachers have used successfully to reinforce explicit instruction in sight words:

- Reading to or with children and pausing to point to target words as they appear in the text. - Using flashcards - Creating a word wall. - Playing games using sight words. -Compiling a sight word "dictionary."

The following list offers descriptors of the elements of story structure.

- Setting. The time and place in which the action takes place. - Characterization. The way an author creates, develops, and presents characters. - Conflict. A conflict within a work of literature is a struggle between opposite forces. Almost every story is built around a central conflict the main character faces. Conflicts may involve one person against another, a person against society, a person against nature, or a person against him- or herself. - Plot. The plot is a sequence of related events that usually focuses on the central conflict, a problem faced by the main character. In a typical plot, the action that the characters take to solve the problem builds towards the climax. The problem may be solved or changed and the story ends. - Rising action. Events in a story that move the plot forward. Rising action involves conflicts and complications and usually builds toward the climax. - Climax. The climax is the turning point in a story or play. - Resolution. In the plot of a story, resolution occurs after the climax. During the falling action, conflicts are resolved and any loose ends are tied up. - Theme. The theme of a literary work is the underlying idea that ties the plot, characters, and setting together into a meaningful whole. Authors of children's literature sometimes state the theme directly rather than make it implicit. - Dialogue. Dialogue is a conversational exchange between two or more characters. It is used to reveal character and/or advance the plot. - Point of view. Point of view is the position or standpoint from which a literary text is presented.

Difficulty with Reading Comprehension

- Some students have difficulty comprehending because they are not fluent readers and must spend too much mental energy on word recognition. -Some students have trouble remembering what was read, or have difficulty distinguishing the significant information in a passage. - Some of these difficulties can be addressed by providing reading practice to build fluency. - Some reading difficulties require taking time to build background knowledge and vocabulary.

Vocabulary Instruction and Learning

- Students learn the meanings of most words indirectly, through everyday experiences with oral and written language. - Although a great deal of vocabulary is learned indirectly, some vocabulary should be taught directly. - Vocabulary instruction should focus on important words (i.e., key words to help readers make sense of the text), useful words (i.e., words they will encounter often), and difficult words (i.e., words with multiple meanings, idiomatic words, etc.).

Chapter 1: Developing Emergent Readers and Writers

- Talk to children during informal daily routine activities and respond to their questions. - Draw children's attention to print in everyday settings. - Engage children in dictated stories, also called the language experience approach (LEA), which are effective in developing the skills of emergent readers. - Provide a rich literacy environment, including a well-designed library center filled with many good books, posters, labeled art work, children's artifacts, and any other variety of appropriate and motivating print. - Provide activities that increase the children's awareness of the sounds of language. - Engage children with materials that promote identification of the letters of the alphabet—magnetic letters, alphabet books, alphabet blocks and puzzles, and alphabet charts. - Read good picture and story books to children several times a day. - Read big books and other enlarged print materials to children as a shared book experience. - Make use of repeated readings of favorite books to build familiarity. - Set up a writing center and stock it with a variety of paper, pencils, crayons, and markers.

Word Tiers

- Tier I words are basic words which are usually learned at home or in a student's community (e.g., floor, deep, people). Teachers—particularly primary-grade teachers—may choose to teach some words from Tier I to support beginning readers and English language learners. - Tier II words are a large group of high frequency words which often appear in different contexts and can serve students in important ways. Tier II words have the potential to allow students to build visual representations and illustrate connections to other words. Tier II words richly contribute to students' conceptual understanding, helping to further develop students' background knowledge. Examples of Tier II words include sustain, requirement, and probability. - Tier III words are used with lower frequency but are important in the context of content areas or are domain-specific words (e.g., multiplicand, divisor, or equation). Content area words have traditionally been the focus of upper elementary teachers and, while important to supporting the study of certain disciplines, content-specific words should not become the focus of all vocabulary learning.

Grammar

- Verb: A word that shows action (run, jump) or state of being (is, are, was, were). - Adverb: Modifies verbs, adjectives, and adverbs. Adverbs usually end with -ly (gladly, slowly). - Noun: A word that names a person, place or thing—child, San Francisco, hammer. Some sources divide nouns into 2 categories—proper nouns and common nouns. Proper nouns are nouns that begin with a capital letter because it is the name of a specific or particular person, place, or thing: San Francisco, for example. Child and hammer are considered common nouns. - Pronoun: A word that can be used in place of a noun to prevent repetition of the same nouns (I, you, she). - Adjective: A word that modifies or gives more information about a noun or pronoun. Adjectives usually precede the word they are modifying (yellow scarf, tall building). - Preposition: A word that shows relationships among nouns, pronouns, and phrases to other words in a sentence—direction, place, time, cause, manner, and amount (to, under, by). - Conjunction: A word that connects other words or phrases (and, or, but). Interjection: A word that conveys emotion (Oh! Wow! Ouch!).

Planning for Oral Presentation

1. Begin with a purpose. Students must have a clear purpose (function) for the presentation or speech. The first question students must answer is "What do I want to say? What is my purpose for this presentation?" Speaking functions might include 2. Identify the topic. Presentation topics should be chosen by the presenter. Students who choose their own topic for a presentation will be more motivated to prepare it and will be more passionate in supporting their position. 3. Consider the audience. In an oral presentation, considering the audience is a critical factor for success. 4. Gather and organize ideas. Once students have identified their topic, generated a list of research questions, and aligned them with the needs of their audience, it will be time to gather and organize ideas that will inform their oral presentation. The purpose of gathering information is to be sure that the ideas presented can be supported with facts. 5. Outline the content. In contrast to a written piece, students often speak from a detailed outline rather than a completed written composition. Students can use their data cards to plan their outline. Ordering the cards should determine a logical and sequential presentation. 6. Support the content with presentation aids. Once satisfied that the outline is complete, the presenter will want to consider adding presentation aids that will add audience appeal and support his or her points. The first task is to review the outline and see what points would benefit from using a presentation aid. 7. Rehearsal. Before the presentation is ready for the actual audience, the presenter needs to practice. In fact, it may take several rehearsals to refine or hone the message so that the presenter is sure of the points he or she is making and can smoothly integrate any media support. 8. Ask for feedback. During the presentation the audience may provide nonverbal clues as to how well the presentation is going. Nodding, clapping, smiling are all positive signs that the presentation is going well.

Organization of Informational Texts

1. Description. An author describes the topic by listing characteristics, features, and examples. Paragraphs often describe an idea, event, object, or topic. Cue words include for example and characteristics are. 2. Sequence. An author lists items or events in numerical or chronological order. Paragraphs present information sequentially across time so that readers know what comes before and after. Cue words include first, second, next, then, or finally. 3. Comparison and contrast. An author explains how two or more things are alike and/or how they are different. Cue words include compare, similarly, and differently. 4. Cause-and-effect. An author lists one or more causes and the resulting effect(s). Paragraphs explicitly or implicitly describe relationships between events and results. Cue words include the reason why, then, as a result, therefore, and because. 5. Problem-solution. An author states a problem and lists one or more solutions to it. Paragraphs often present problems and discuss solutions. Cue words include the problem is, the puzzle is, and the solution to this problem is.

Step-by-step comprehension instruction typically includes

1. Direct explanation. The teacher offers an explicit explanation of a specific comprehension strategy and how and when to apply it. 2. Modeling. The teacher demonstrates how to use the prediction strategy. 3. Guided practice. The teacher guides students to use a prediction strategy and provides corrective feedback, as needed. 4. Independent practice. The teacher provides multiple opportunities for students to apply the strategy that has been taught.

Literary Devices

1. Figurative Language. Authors use figurative language when they go beyond the literal meaning of words to describe something. Types of figurative language found in children's literature include: similie, metaphor, allegory, alliteration, personification, onomatopia. hyperbole 2. mood 3. foreshadowing 4. flashack 5. irony 6. euphemism

Understanding and distinguishing the following three thinking processes guides teachers to orchestrate comprehension skill instruction.

1. Literal comprehension. Literal comprehension requires students to locate and recognize information that is stated explicitly in the passage, such as facts, stated main ideas and supporting details, the sequence of events, or cause-and-effect relationships. 2. Inferential comprehension. Inferring ideas and cause-and-effect relationships that are not explicitly stated in the text are examples of inferential comprehension activities. 3. Evaluative comprehension. Evaluating text may mean distinguishing between fact and opinion and drawing conclusions about a text's meaning.

Strategies for Teaching about Literary Genres, Elements of Story Structure, and Literary Devices

1. Literature focus units: In this instructional approach, teachers select the literature, set learning goals, develop a unit plan, coordinate grouping activities, create a time schedule, and assess students on an ongoing basis - Prereading. Activities are set up to build readers' background knowledge and interest in the book. - Reading. Students read the book independently or the teacher reads it aloud or sets up shared reading groups. - Responding. Students participate in conversations—discussions to share the big ideas of the story, express their views, and make personal connections—and then complete reading logs. Reading logs are where students summarize what they have read; discuss characters, plot, or other story elements; and record unfamiliar or interesting words. - Exploring. Students post vocabulary on word walls, participate in word study activities, learn comprehension strategies, examine text factors, and research the book's author or participate in activities relating to other topics. - Applying. Students apply their learning when they create oral and written projects to share with classmates. 2. Literature circles. Literature circles are small, student-led discussion groups where students choose the books they read from high quality children's literature, including stories, poems, biographies, or information books. Important to the success of this strategy is that students read something that interests them. 3. Reading workshop. In reading workshops, students read books they have chosen themselves. They write responses to the books in their reading logs. The last 15 minutes of reading workshop is spent in a shared reading where the class gathers together and students discuss the book. 4. Reader's theatre. Reader's theatre is a dramatic performance of a script by a group of readers. Each student in the group assumes a part, rehearses it, and reads his or her character's lines. It's valuable for readers to hear interpretations of the play through voices without much accompanying action.

Chapter 1: common phonemic awareness skills that are taught to young children:

1. Phoneme isolation—recognizing the individual sounds in words. For example, "Tell me the first sound you hear in the word top (/t/)." 2. Phoneme identity—recognizing the common sound in different words. For example, "Tell me the sound that is the same in pig, pot, and pie (/p/)." 3. Phoneme substitution—turning one word into another by substituting one phoneme for another. Phoneme substitution can take place for initial sounds (top-mop), middle sounds (top-tap) or ending sounds (top-tot). 4. Oral segmenting—identifying the individual sounds of a word. For example, knowing that the word top is composed of the phonemes /t/, /o/, and /p/. 5. Oral blending—being able to blend phonemes into words. For example, if the teacher says the phonemes /t/, /o/, /p/, the children respond with the word top. 6. Phoneme deletion—being able to identify a sound that has been deleted from a word. For example, the teacher says the word top and asks the children to repeat it. Then he or she instructs the children to repeat the word leaving out one of its sounds.

Research has identified six reading comprehension strategies that benefit students in learning to comprehend what they read (Duke & Pearson, 2002). They include

1. Predicting. Making predictions about what is to be read can mean both previewing text and activating a reader's background knowledge. Making predictions asks the reader to preview text structure, images, or beginning story elements and make connections to something they already know. 2. Think-alouds. Teachers and students can think aloud after they read some part of a text. During a think-aloud, the reader shares out loud what he or she is thinking while reading a story, perhaps linking what he or she already knows with information in a story or what new information he or she understands based on prior knowledge. 3. Text structure. Good readers use text structure to assist in reading comprehension. Text structure refers to the way authors organize their ideas in narrative stories, informational text, and poems (Tompkins, 2010). 4. Visual representations in text. Readers use graphic features to assist in understanding text. 5. Questions and questioning. Questions and questioning play a key role in comprehension instruction. The types of questions that teachers ask students focuses them on the kinds of information they should seek in the text. 6. Summarization. Summarizing is a complex skill and can take several years to develop (Gunning, 2010). The complexity of the strategy comes from the need to teach readers three things: 1) how to extrapolate the main idea and supporting details from text, 2) how to determine which information is irrelevant and discard it, and 3) how to reduce relevant information to key words and phrases which can be integrated into a concise summary.

Analyzing Visual Images

1. Study the image and describe it. 2. Ask basic questions. 3. Interpret the message. 4. Evaluate the image. 5. Reflect on the impact the image might have.

Sight Words

A reader's sight word vocabulary represents the words the reader recognizes almost instantly and with little conscious effort, or automatically. The goal of sight word instruction is to help beginning and developing readers efficiently recognize both regular and irregular high-frequency and high-utility words.

Word Mapping

A vocabulary word map is a graphic organizer that helps students show the relationships among and between words or concepts. To build a word map, ask students to enter the new word in the middle of the map (choose Tier II words). Then have students fill in the rest of the map with a definition(s), synonyms, antonyms, and a picture to illustrate concepts that are related to the word. Word maps can point out the difference between denotations (the literal meaning of a word) and connotations (the emotional or cultural meaning attached to a word), both important to learning definitions. Students can also use word maps to generate related words, building connections on their maps as they uncover more information about their word.

Academic Communication

Academic communication is the process of sending messages intended to share concepts, skills, or knowledge. Also called instructional (or efferent) communication, academic communication is distinguished from interpersonal communication in that academic communication is focused on instructional content while interpersonal communication is generally more informal and spontaneous.

Chapter 1: Phonemic Awareness

According to the National Reading Panel Report (2000), phonemic awareness refers to the ability to focus on, hear, identify, and manipulate phonemes, or the individual sounds that make up spoken words. Two underlying principles of phonemic awareness are referred to as phoneme segmentation and phoneme blending. - Phoneme segmentation is a child's ability to recognize the separate sound units of words; - phoneme blending is a child's ability to string together phonemes in a meaningful way to create words.

Common Student Errors

At the elementary level, teachers should familiarize themselves with the following common student errors. - Lack of subject/verb agreement: The pair of goats are eating grass. - Pronoun agreement error: Everyone must take his own turn. - Verb tense errors: My family and I just move to California; I have broke off our relationship. - Run-on sentence or comma splice: My friend John is a good golfer, he's best at putting. - Sentence fragments: Instead of going to school. - Misuse of apostrophe: The dog is wagging it's tail. - Comma error: Because, it is cold I will not go swimming today. - Word usage error: affect-effect; than-then; their-there-they're; your-you're; to-two-too.

STAGE 2: Drafting

At this stage, students are encouraged to focus simply on getting their ideas on paper; they do not yet need to think about word-count, grammar, spelling, punctuation, and other mechanical errors. Pointing out these errors during this stage of the process sends a false message that mechanical correctness is more important than content. Students organize the composition or speech in three basic parts: an introduction, body, and conclusion. - The introduction is designed to interest readers and motivate them to continue reading. Students could capture the interest of their audience with a puzzling question, a dramatic or comedic episode, or a personal narrative that relates to their topic. - The body is the main part of the composition. It explains the subject in detail and directly addresses the purpose of the writing. The main points should be clearly identified and supported by details. The main ideas should be sequenced to create a logical flow. Accuracy is critical, as students should be able to ensure that the points they make are supported by reliable evidence. Details and descriptive sentences are written in such a way as to make the composition interesting. - The conclusion should provide a summary, resolution, call to action, or opinion. Students should understand that the last thing they say is as important as the first.

Text Factors

Comprehension is also dependent on text-based factors, including the reader's familiarity with the genre of a text, text structure, and predictable features related to that text structure. - Text genres - Text structures - Text features/Visual representations.

Comprehension Monitoring

Comprehension monitoring is "thinking about thinking" and is self-reflective. Comprehension monitoring instruction has positive effects on standardized reading comprehension test performance

Chapter 1: Concepts of Print

Concepts of print is a term used to characterize the knowledge that emergent readers have about how printed language works and how print can be used to represent language. Concepts of print are fundamental understandings important to becoming literate, and include literacy conventions such as - Holding a book the right way - Turning the pages from right to left - Knowing where to begin reading on a page - Moving one's eyes from left to right and then going back to the beginning of the next line down - Knowing that pages are read from top to bottom - Understanding that books have a front and back

STAGE 4: Editing

Editing involves putting the written piece into its final form. Rather than focusing on content, a writer or presenter reviews the composition line by line to ensure that it conforms to commonly accepted conventions of standard English. Proofreading written pieces to correct as many errors as possible is a part of the editing process that can be done by individual students, with the assistance of peer editors, or with the help of a teacher. Changes are easy to make with the aid of a dictionary, thesaurus, or teacher guidance. Teachers often use the editing phase to teach mini-lessons related to grammar, punctuation, and spelling. As with all the stages of the writing process, the best way to teach writing mechanics is by modeling them. A checklist of items or a rubric is useful to students as they look for errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation, or capitalization.

Graphic Sources: Editorial Cartoons

Editorial cartoons are drawings (usually a single panel) that express the opinions of their creators. In newspapers and many magazines, editorial cartoons serve the same function as a text editorial—to promote an idea. - Symolism - Exxagerating - Labeling - Analogy - Irony

Informational Texts

Expository or informational texts enlighten readers by imparting factual information with verifiable knowledge, promoting critical thinking about that knowledge. Examples of informational texts include some picture and chapter books, content area textbooks, newspapers, journal articles, and photographic essays.

Formal Language

Formal language is one of the facets of register. When teachers and students join together in the classroom learning setting, they speak and write in the formal mode; they are expected to use Standard American English. The formal mode is employed more often in written language than in spoken language, as teachers and students tend to speak more informally in various situations. Students need to be taught how to use the formal language associated with speaking and writing, such as in report writing or speaking. Many students naturally understand that there is a preferred register for school reports. They have read a lot of this kind of writing, understand the style, and can easily imitate it. For some, it naturally becomes the writing voice they hear in their heads when they write. Other students hear a different voice in their head when they write.

Functional Texts

Functional texts are texts that are important to everyday use; they include food labels, nutrition labels, warranties, contracts, directions, schedules, and so on. Functional text is designed to assist readers in accomplishing tasks such as making purchases, assembling furniture, choosing and preparing nutritious meals, using equipment, completing application forms, planning travel, or caring for plants and animals. Functional text asks readers to interpret information—e.g., by correctly following the sequence in a set of instructions. Functional text might also require readers to draw inferences or conclusions based on the information shared.

Independent practice. The teacher provides multiple opportunities for students to apply the strategy that has been taught.

Graphic organizers are often used by teachers to assist students before, during or after reading. Graphic organizers help students translate and organize information into a structured, simple-to-read graphic display. Examples include Venn diagrams, story maps, cause-and-effect charts, t-charts, concept maps, and flowcharts.

Interpersonal Communication

Interpersonal communication involves the use of the basic communication skills required for socializing and conversing; that is, sending and receiving messages. Interpersonal communication means dialogues and an exchange of ideas (spoken or written) and nuances of feelings (nonverbal communication). - Verbal Communication - Nonverbal Communication - Written Communication

Intrapersonal Communication

Intrapersonal communication is the act of having an internal dialogue, or self-talk. Students who have strong intrapersonal communication skills possess a high degree of self-awareness. They are able to concentrate well and focus their thoughts and feelings on what is being taught. They understand themselves well and relate well to others. They are able to objectively assess their capabilities, set goals in a meaningful manner, and accurately judge their own performance. Therefore, these students like to choose classroom projects and topics that best suit their interests. Students who are able to communicate internally in a meaningful manner benefit most from self-paced activities, independent projects, and research.

KWL Chart

K-W-L charts. While many graphic organizers provide tools for students to review what they have read, the K-W-L (Ogle, 1986) chart is one graphic organizer that can be started in the before reading phase and completed in the after reading phase. It is a three column chart that asks students to begin with What I Know about a topic (activating prior knowledge) and includes What I Want to Learn (setting up a purpose for reading). At the end of the reading, students complete the "What I Learned" column (summarizing) and adjust any items in the "What I Know" column to reflect initial misunderstandings that were cleared up through the text.

Vocabulary Knowledge

Knowing a word entails more than being able to recognize and pronounce it or use it in a sentence. According to Nagy and Scott (2000), word knowledge encompasses multiple dimensions, which include - A word's spoken form, written form, grammatical form, conceptual meaning, synonyms, antonyms, frequency of use, and contextual usage - Multiple meanings and the nuances of those meanings - Knowledge of words used in conjunction with and interconnected to other words, such as academic words that have relevance and specific meanings in their academic use with one another (e.g., biology, phylum, kingdom, evolution) - Knowledge of the kind of word that a word is—e.g., words that are articles (a, the, an), words that represent nouns (cow, castle, birthday), or words that represent ideas (values, goals, tributes)

Chapter 1: Language Delays

Language delay is a common developmental delay in children. There are many factors that cause language delay, both environmental and physical. Common conditions include inadequate language stimulation (neither talking to nor playing with the child); delayed general development; parents/guardians or siblings who often talk for the child; medical and physical problems; family history of language delay; learning disabilities; and autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

Situational Switching

Language varies according to the situation, but it also varies according to the presenter's socioeconomic group, ethnic group, age, and gender. Speech that is natural and common for a person in an urban setting may differ from that of a person in a rural area. Differences will be evident, too, between a teenager's and an adult's speech and between men's and women's speech. We call the process situational switching when someone is able to change register to match the context of the people with whom they are speaking. Situational switching occurs quite naturally in the speech of most people.

Elements of Story Structure

Narrative forms of literature are developed using various structural elements. Fictional works most often include a plot, setting, characters, theme, conflict, and resolution. Dramatic works (or plays) most often include plot, setting, characters, and dialogue and also use a specific form (or script) that organizes the work into acts and scenes.

Informal Language

Nonstandard American English and slang characterize informal register. Formal register and informal register allow the presenter to use a variety of speech styles that can easily be switched to meet the needs of both the presenter and the audience. For example, students do not use the same register to address everyone they speak to. With family and friends, "He thinks he's all that!" might be used to describe a friend. In school, a more formal register might be used: "He thinks he's so much better than we are."

Nonverbal Language

Nonverbal language is communication that requires no spoken or written word. It refers to ways people communicate using eye contact, facial expressions, body language, and posture or gestures. Nonverbal language typically relays feelings or attitudes in response to interpersonal communication.

Persuasive Texts

Persuasive texts—e.g., newspaper editorials, political petitions, written speeches, letters to the editor—share facts, but also share opinions. Persuasive text uses various types of appeals to show readers that one idea is better than another. It attempts to persuade a reader to adopt a certain point of view or to take a particular action. Traditionally, the general characteristics of persuasive text writing include - Making a stated position or belief - Providing some facts that support the claim or belief - Using persuasive techniques such as an active voice, exaggeration, repetition, or an emotional appeal to draw readers into agreeing with an appeal or an argument

Chapter 1: Phonological Awareness

Phonological awareness is an understanding that words are composed of sound units and that sound units can be combined to form words. Phonological awareness skills include detecting and identifying word boundaries, syllables, and rhyming words. Phonological awareness is an auditory-based set of skills that aids children in moving from speech to print and, therefore, taking the first step on the journey to learning the "code" of reading (the speech sounds associated with particular graphemes).