January 4 readings

I have found many different activities in chapter 3 of the SIOP book to assist me in planning my lesson on MLK. I like the idea of a "concept definition map". I am a visual learner so it would help me to see how the definition breaks down into different areas. For example, the Civil Rights Movement could be broken down in a huge concept definition map. I am definitely going to incorporate that into my lesson. I was just talking to my host teacher today about the importance of "contextualizing key vocabulary" (p. 65). She said that new research indicates that students learn vocabulary better if the word is contextualized within a story or paragraph, not just a sentence. When students see the word in the future, they recall the whole story and the context. This method helps students to understand the word in its entire context, rather than just a single sentence, which provides little overall context. The book encourages teachers to explain vocabulary words in context by "using as many examples, synonyms, or cognates as necessary to convey the meaning" (p. 65). Ms. Quest does an excellent job of contextualizing words. One student was confused as to the meaning of the word "wobbly" during reading time. Ms. Quest immediately brought the child to a wobbly table in the room and demonstrated how it was wobbly. She then drew pictures on the board to demonstrate wobbly. I was amazed at how quickly she thought up multiple examples and synonyms to describe the word to the student. The student seemed to immediately understand the word and could use it in context in a different portion of the lesson.

I was interested to read the laws regarding ELL Education in the United States. It is interesting to imagine what life was like for ELL students before this legislation. I wonder how students used to learn English when America was a land of immigrants (even just going back to the 1800s). How were ELL students taught in one room schoolhouses? My Grandma immigrated to America from Sweden when she was 13 years old. She was very embarrassed by her accent and tried to get rid of it immediately so she could fit in with everyone else. She never completely lost her accent. Anyway, that is slightly off topic but very interesting nonetheless.

I can't believe that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was not instituted until 1964. That is not even 50 years ago! It seems so obvious that no person should be discriminated based on their national origins, race, etc. It is also interesting that the Equal Educational Opportunities Act was not established until 1974. I do wonder how it is possible to make sure that schools are doing everything they can to "overcome cultural barriers". Especially in rural schools, I doubt that this law is truly being obeyed. They may do a perfunctory offering of services for language but the cultural barrier should also be overcome. It is the job of teachers to research the culture of their students in order to learn how they can best meet students' learning styles and backgrounds. I have been doing some research on Burma and Thailand, as I am interested in finding out more about my students' lives. I really enjoy finding out more about their lives. I think this research of various cultures is a requirement for teachers who wish to include every student in their classroom.