Lily Wong Fillmore argued that native English speaking teachers take Language for granted. Those who know English well, may not understand that students “who are speakers of varieties of English––[may] find the academic registers used in texts to be more difficult to untangle than do speakers of “standard English” who
For the majority of my teaching career, I have been teaching vocabulary using the specific word learning technique. According to the Vocabulary Handbook, this technique falls under intentional vocabulary teaching. Hence, many of the passages from our anthologies and basal readers utilize specific word learning as an intentional instructional approach to
In a previous post, I wrote about encouraging students to look inside of words for spelling patterns. In this week’s post, I am directing students to look inside of words again, but this time we are focusing on smaller words, words that are considered Anglo-Saxon base words. I then explain
While at The George Washington University working on my Master’s Degree, I got the privilege to take a course with Dr. Anna Uhl Chamot. After learning about her passing, I wanted to contribute one of my podcast episodes to her magnificent work. Dr. Chamot, along with Dr. O’Malley, created the
We write learning objectives every day. But our learning objectives are mostly linked to content learning and not language learning. Not only do students striving to learn English need language learning objectives, but any student that is learning how to use the functions of our English language need language learning
“Andrew Biemiller (2004) believes that the inability to readily assess vocabulary growth has been a major reason for lack of attention to vocabulary in the primary grades” (Diamond & Gutlohn, 2006, p. 31). Hence, we use running records and other informal reading inventories while assessing our students present levels in
Teachers can use poetry to introduce word consciousness. Poems can be used to illustrate succulent sounds and to help students master meanings of words within our English Language. In this episode, students will explore the elements of a rhyming poem. Reference: Scott, J. A., Skobel, B. J., & Wells, J.
“Learning about words is as central as breathing in a literacy classroom, because words are the cornerstone of both oral and written language. Learning about words is inseparable from learning about reading and learning about writing” (Scott, Skobel, and Wells, p. 1, 2008). Hence, it is critical that we teach
Our student’s attention must be drawn to what is unknown about their word knowledge just as much as to what is known about their word knowledge. Many times, students over estimate their word knowledge and therefore, they will unintentionally inflate their self-appraisals. Hence, it is important for teachers to understand
Students are taught to appreciate music and art, but are they also taught to appreciate words? According to Scott, Skobel, and Wells (2008) “Authors give us Gifts of Words, wonderfully composed phrases that capture the essence of what they want to say” (p. 8). In this podcast episode, you will