Questions to Guide Today’s Session: A Sampling of INSTRUCTIONAL ROUTINES: What is the focus of instruction? How do we enhance oral language development in kindergarten through Grade 3? Defining Oral Language Development Organization Chart Roskos, Tabors, & Lenhart, 2005, p. v. Children’s speaking and listening skills lead the way for their reading and writing skills, and together these language skills are the primary tools of the mind for all future learning. Jerome Brunner (1983) Proficiency in oral language provides children with a vital tool for thought. Without fluent and structured oral language, children will find it very difficult to think. Language and Thought Costa (2008), pp. 20-24. Words provide the FUEL for THINKING. ... skillful thinkers engage in an internal dialogue that helps them decide on intelligent actions. Beginning Reading Instruction Fluency Phonological Awareness Phonics Corinne Eisenhart(ERRFTAC, 2007) Report of the National Reading Panel Handout 1: Pertinent Article Oral Comprehension Sets the Ceiling of Reading Comprehension (Biemiller, 1999) Is it possible for teachers to design instruction that will accelerate language learning?YES! Teachers in the primary grades (K-3) MUST be “Planful, Purposeful, and Playful!” Radial Diagram Instructional Routines that Support Oral Language Development (Conceptual Knowledge and Vocabulary) Systematic and Explicit Vocabulary Instruction Tiers of Vocabulary Which Words Should be Selected forDirect Instruction? Researcher Isabel Beck provides one instructional approach. Explicit Vocabulary Instruction Pyramid Diagram Tier One Words Basic words that most children know before entering school Approximately 8,000 words Rarely requires explicit instruction Examples: baby clock happy Trapezoid: Tier One Tier Three Words Uncommon words that are typically associated with a specific domain Examples: peninsula habitat colonial Trapezoid: Tier Three Tier Two Words Text Box: New words not common to young children’s oral language High frequency words for mature language users Words that appear frequently in texts and for which students already have conceptual understanding Examples: ridiculous commotion reluc Activity 1 Name that Tier! Pyramid Diagram Choosing Words to Teach Importance and utility–words that are characteristic of mature language users and appear frequently across a variety of domains. Instructional potential–words that can be worked with in a variety of ways so that students can build rich representations of them and of their connections to other words and concepts. Conceptual understanding–words for which students understand the general concept but provide precision and specificity in describing the concept Beck, McGowan, et al (2002) Teacher Talk Building a Language-Rich Learning Environment Activity 2 Systematic and Explicit Oral Language (Grade Level) Language Scaffolding Extending and Refining Children’s Language Activity 3 Conversational Expansion Dialogic Readingto build Oral Language Dialogic Reading Dialogic Reading was found to have positive effects on oral language. The majority of the children studied were from economically disadvantaged families. What Works Clearinghouse, February 8, 2007. Dialogic Reading REMEMBER: PEER and CROWD CROWD (Prompts) C= Completion prompts R= Recall prompts O= Open-ended prompts W= What, where, when, and why question prompts D= Distancing prompts Reading Rockets:Launching Young ReadersThe Roots of Reading:Reading As Dialogue Activity 4 Dialogic Reading: Observation & Reflection Handout 2: Pertinent Article Promoting Emergent Literacy and Social-Emotional Learning through Dialogic Reading (Doyle & Bramwell, 2006) Reading Aloud to Enhance Oral Language Development Read both narrative (story) and expository (informational) texts. Introduce a variety of genre to children Plan the Read Aloud: Select a limited numberof words for robust, explicit vocabulary instruction. The first reading should have minimal interruptions During the second reading interrupt your reading to explain the meaning of targeted words. The teacher-student talk that surrounds a read aloud is valuable. Activity 5 Planning a Read Aloud: Selecting Words forExplicit Instruction Read Aloud:A Demonstration During this read aloud, think about the words of the text: 1.What words would you fast-map? 2.What words would you explicitly teach? Tool 2 Planning a Read Aloud: Building Oral Vocabulary From Listening to Stories to . . . Telling Stories “Another important element in comprehension is understanding how the ideas in a text are related . . . One way to assess children’s understanding of narrative text is to get them to tell stories themselves.” Oakhill & Cain, p. 26 (2007) Storytelling - A Demonstration Handout 4: Getting Started with Storytelling Roly-Poly Caterpillar How Do We Capture Children’s Curiosity About Words? Developing Word Consciousness Word Play to Promote Word Consciousness Word play provides opportunities for children to have fun with language. Word play activities include: 1. HinkPinks 2. Rhymes 3. Tongue twisters 4. Finger-Plays 5. Jokes and Riddles 6. Oral Word Games: “I’m thinking of a word . . .”or “I see something . . . ” 7. Idioms 8. Analogies HinkPinks HinkPinksare riddles. The answers to the riddles are words that rhyme with each other and contain the same number of syllables: 1. Ahink-pinkhas a 1 syllable answer. 2. A hinky-pinkyhas a 2 syllable answer. 3. Ahinketypinketyhas a 3 syllable answer. Activity 6 Hink-Pinks Poetry & Rhymes Autumn Cornflake leaves Beneath the trees – Are they a breakfast For the breeze? Thelma Ireland Tongue Twisters Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. A peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked. If Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, Where’s the peck of pickled peppers Peter Piper picked? Riddles What letter makes honey? Sometimes it is short. Sometimes it is tall. Sometimes you can not See it at all. What is it? Idioms Are you feeling blue? It’s raining cats and dogs. Quick as a wink! Put on your thinking cap! Who let the cat our of the bag? Don’t lose your head! Teaching Analogies: Handout 5: Getting Started with Analogies Final Thoughts Remember . . .How Can We ACCELERATE Oral Language Skills? Recognize the URGENCY of accelerating language growth, especially among children with poverty or with learning issues. Create language rich learning environments. Use systematic, explicit, and scaffolded instruction. Increase the intensity of instruction for struggling learners. Provide learning experiences that actively engage all students We must not, in trying to think about how we can make a big difference, ignore the small daily differences we can make which, over time, add up to big differences that we often cannot foresee. Marian Wright Edelman Resources Text Box: Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford. Beck, I. L., McKeown, M. G. (2001). Text Talk: Capturing the benefits of read-aloud experiences for young children. The Text Box: Burns, S., Griffin, P., & Snow, C. (1999). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press. Costa, A. L. (2008). The thought-filled curriculum. Educational Leadership, 65 (5), 20-24. Doyle, B. G. (2006). Text Box: Reading Rockets: Launching Young Readers: The Roots of Reading. http://www.pbs.org/launchingreaders Roskos, K.A., Tabors, P.O., & Lenhart, L. A. (2005). Oral language and early literacy in preschool: Talking, reading, and writing. Newark, DE: