Course
Profile Beginning
Literacy, ELD Level 1, open, Public
Unit 1
Course
Profiles are professional development materials designed to help teachers
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Acknowledgments
Public
District School Board Writing Team - English Literacy Development
Lead
Board
Toronto District School Board
Course
Profile Writing Team
Jane Campbell
Hazel Excell
Denise Gordon
Jane Hill
Elaine Iannuzziello
Paula Markus (Team Leader)
Eleanor Minuk
Jane Sims
Ero Siouga
Betty Ann Taylor
Unit #1: Orientation to School Life
Activity 1 | Activity
2 | Activity 3 | Activity 4 | Activity 5 | Activity 6 | Activity
7 | Activity 8
Time: 25 hours
Unit Developer(s):
Jane Campbell, Hazel Excell, Denise Gordon, Jane Hill, Elaine Iannuzziello,
Paula Markus, Eleanor Minuk, Jane Sims, Ero Siouga, Betty Ann Taylor
Development Date: April 1999
Unit Description:
In
this introductory unit, students will begin to respond appropriately to oral instructions
and information in a classroom setting and adapt to some key teacher
expectations and school routines. Students will begin to understand some facts
and concepts about printed texts such as school maps, school calendars, agenda
books, and timetables, and will use basic patterns of standard Canadian English
in several simple forms of writing.
Strands & Expectations:
Strand:
Oral and Visual Communication
Overall
Expectations: AORV.01L, AORV.02L, AORV.03L
Specific
Expectations: AOR1.01L, AOR1.02L, AOR1.03L, AOR1.04L, AOR1.05L
Strand:
Reading
Overall
Expectations: AREV.01L, AREV.02L, AREV.03L
Specific Expectations:
ARE1.03L, ARE1.04L, ARE1.05L, ARE2.01L, ARE2.03L, ARE2.04L, ARE2.05L, ARE3.01L, ARE3.02L, ARE3.04L
Strand:
Writing
Overall
Expectations: AWRV.01L
Specific
Expectations: AWR1.01L, AWR1.02L
Strand:
Social and Cultural Competence
Overall
Expectations: ASCV.02L
Specific
Expectations: ASC2.01L, ASC2.02L, ASC2.03L, ASEC.04L, ASC2.05L, ASC2.06L, ASC2.07L, ASC2.08L
Activity Titles (Time and Sequence)
|
Activity
1 |
Personal
Information |
2
hours |
|
Activity
2 |
School
Tools: Introduction to the Student Agenda Book and the Timetable |
3
hours |
|
Activity
3 |
School
Maps and a Tour of the Plant |
3
hours |
|
Activity
4 |
Tell
It! Write It! (Language Experience
Story) |
3
hours |
|
Activity
5 |
Getting
to Know More About You: Making Name Cards |
2
hours |
|
Activity
6 |
Creating
a Personal Picture Dictionary |
3
hours |
|
Activity
7 |
School
Routines: Learning Classroom and School Rules |
5
hours |
|
Activity
8 |
Unit
project: Student Booklets |
4
hours |
Prior Knowledge Required
Teachers
should make no assumptions about previous learning. Students placed in this course
may have had no previous formal schooling at all. Furthermore, students will
arrive with varying degrees of oral fluency. Some may be reluctant to speak and
will begin to speak only after they have started to settle into the school. In
all likelihood, students will not display for teachers their full oral ability
at the start of the year. Activities are designed to enable teachers to assess,
on an ongoing basis, the skill levels and previous knowledge of their students.
Orientation
activities would be expanded or contracted depending on whether students were
newly arrived or were repeating the course to complete the expectations and
earn a credit. The focus of the orientation would be different in the second
semester of a semestered school where students had already been reading the
timetable and attending classes.
Unit Planning Notes
Before
introducing the unit, teachers should try to anticipate what students will need
to know about the school. This knowledge differs from school to school. Teachers
need to decide, in cooperation with the Guidance department, how best to inform
the rest of the staff about who is in the ELDAO program and what their skill
levels are. All classroom teachers will need to consider how to begin to help
the students meet the content expectations of their subjects.
The
spectrum of behaviour in an ELD class may be broader than might be seen in most
high school classes. These students may have had little or no school experience
and may not be familiar with commonly accepted appropriate school behaviours
like classroom routines. They may be unfamiliar with the many instructional
strategies practised in Ontario classrooms and they may not have had the
opportunity to develop the range of learning styles necessary to deal with these
diverse teaching strategies. Some ELD students may seem very passive while
others may seem quite the opposite. In addition, behaviours will change as
students pass through the various stages of cultural adjustment and literacy
development.
Current
performance of students must be seen as an indicator of previous school
experience and exposure to English, not as an indicator of ability. Some students, especially those with minimal
oral fluency, may require additional time to achieve the course expectations
and may only begin to acquire English literacy skills after they have started
to settle in at school.
Teachers
must observe students as they learn new information that is closely linked to
what they already know, in a variety of settings, and over a span of time.
Teachers may begin to suspect that a student has a learning problem when the
student cannot progress in learning something new, even with repeated trials.
All
students come to the classroom with valuable life experiences. Teachers will
have to build upon the knowledge and skills with which students arrive; they
must never criticize the students or make judgments about their past. In all
likelihood, once students begin to see how much they have to learn to catch up
to their peers, they will become self-conscious, frustrated or anxious. For
these students, it is imperative that the classroom be a safe and supportive
environment where they will be able to take the kinds of risks necessary to
their progress in learning.
Students
in the ELDAO class benefit from the security of a classroom in which routines
are understood and expectations clearly articulated. In this unit, suggestions
will be made about daily classroom practices that are useful.
Students
in this course are very far behind their peers in reading facility. They have a lot of "catching-up"
to do in this acceleration course. Provide time over the course of the unit for
students to use the
computer
to reinforce literacy skills. Practice and drill will have to be done each and
every day by the student at home to ensure that rapid progress will occur.
Teachers need to develop homework activities that reinforce skills and
knowledge taught in the classroom. At this stage of reading, repetition is key.
Schools need to find innovative ways to involve community members and families
to support and assist ELDAO students both inside and outside the classroom.
Many
of the students may never have kept the kind of notebook that classroom
teachers have come to expect. Early on, students will need to begin to see how
the notebook is a reflection of the work done in class. There must be many opportunities given to
refer back to previous work and to review work done. Evaluation of the notebook
will be critical. As well, students need to be introduced to portfolios. Even
at this early stage of literacy development, portfolios offer students a
glimpse of the process of writing. Portfolios allow students to see various
stages of work in progress and help them begin to recognize quality work. If
students work closely with their teachers to develop various forms of portfolio
assessment, they will learn to evaluate their own work and the work of others.
At
the beginning of the course, it will be critical to introduce short forms of
literature on the topic of the alphabet and on orientation to school life.
These stories and books should be read as part of the class routine. Teachers may use the stories as springboards
for individual lessons or language experience stories. Picture books must be
selected with care and introduced tactfully with adolescents. Older students
can attend to details and subtle layers of meaning that younger children cannot
appreciate.
Teachers
will use a variety of teaching strategies with the Experience Chart Stories:
read the stories aloud to help enlarge the students' repertoire of sight words;
employ a wide range of activities to help students focus on individual sounds
and words in different contexts (e.g., teacher written stories using the known
words); cover up key words to develop the students' skills in prediction; make
up cloze
exercises
from the stories to encourage students to gather meaning from context; teach
word families to help students establish patterns that will assist them in
decoding new words; teach spelling to help students understand that there is a
standard way to print a word. For students at this level, experience chart
stories are the main texts. Teachers will need to refer back to them many times
and use them for reading lessons, spelling activities and oral reading
practice.
Students
enter our school system throughout the year. Continuous intake implies that
orientation will be ongoing. New students will have to be made aware of school
rules, routines, and expectations. Students who have been in the class will be
able to conduct much of the orientation for newer students. They will be able
to explain such details as the workings of the timetable, how and where to
purchase equipment, and will be able to give tours of the school. New issues
will arise as the year progresses, for example: how to prepare for and write
exams, how to choose appropriate courses for the following year and how to sign
up for various teams. The teacher should continue to work on orientation
throughout the year with more recent arrivals to Canada, as well as with
students who have been here since the start of the course to ease the long
process of adjustment to school.
The
ELDAO teacher needs to work closely with the Home Form teacher and the Teacher
Advisor. They should regularly confer about successful strategies that help
students adjust, and share observations on students' progress. ELD teachers
will want to reinforce skills and knowledge introduced by the Home Form teacher
and the Teacher Advisor since students will gain a deeper understanding of
these over time.
"Orientation
to School Life" is the first unit in the ELDAO course. Therefore, it should be seen as the
beginning of a series of ongoing activities that will continue throughout the
entire ELD course, regardless of the content of any particular unit. Examples
of classroom activities will be given in greater detail at the start of the
unit; explanations are less detailed as the unit progresses.
Teaching/Learning Strategies
The
following strategies are included in the unit:
Discussion, read aloud, graphic organizer (Venn diagram, timetable, map,
chart, display of photos, hand print, pictograph, list), cueing systems, games,
review, modeling, patterned writing, guided reading, school tour, paired/group
work, guest speaker, brainstorm, computer program, prediction, far point/near
point copying, picture dictionaries, word cloze, word families,
overwrite/underwrite, compare/contrast, tracking, project/student created
books, flash cards, portfolio, and teacher observation.
Assessment/Evaluation Techniques
In
the first months of the course, it is extremely difficult to evaluate all of
the levels of achievement. That being said, much assessment continues to be
diagnostic throughout the course because students who have missed school often
have different but valuable life experiences that they bring to class.
Activity Type Tool Categories
|
Activity
1 |
Diagnostic Summative Formative |
Worksheet Worksheet
Following
School Rules |
Communication/knowledge
Comm/Knowledge/Application Application/Knowledge |
|
Activity
2 |
Summative Formative Formative |
Agenda
Book Timetable
Explanation Timetable
paragraph |
Comm/Knowledge/Application Comm/Knowledge/Application Know,
Communication, Application |
|
Activity
3 |
Summative |
School
Map |
Comm/Appl/Thinking/Knowledge |
|
Activity
4 |
Summative Formative |
Modified
Cloze Reading
Skills |
Comm/Knowledge/Thinking Communication |
|
Activity
5 |
Summative |
Name
Card/Hand Picture |
Comm/Knowledge/Thinking |
|
Activity
6 |
Summative |
Picture
Dictionary |
Comm/Thinking/Knowledge |
|
Activity
7 |
Summative |
Chart |
Knowledge/Thinking |
|
Activity
8 |
Formative Summative |
Making
Booklet Booklet |
Comm/App/Knowledge/Think Comm/App/Knowledge/Think |
Course
expectations which are assessed through the assessment tools for each activity
are denoted by the iconic symbol <
in the expectations lists for each activity.
Resources
Teachers
will need to have a full range of consumable supplies in the classroom. Some
students may require the kinds of supplies that are typically found in
elementary classrooms. If fine motor skills are
underdeveloped,
provide appropriate writing implements and lined notebooks to assist in letter
formation. Word processing programs will be of great assistance to students
whose handwriting is difficult to read. Students may need to learn how to cut
and glue.
Activity #1: Personal Information
Time: 120 minutes
Description
This
is an ongoing activity that will be started at the beginning of the unit.
Students will learn to communicate their personal information and will develop
proficiency in identifying categories of personal information. In addition they
will learn the full name and address of the school.
Strands & Expectations
Oral
and Visual Communication: AORV.01L*, AORV.02L; AOR1.02L, AOR1.03L,
A0R1.04L*, AOR1.05L
Reading:
AREV.01L, AREV.02L, AREV.03L; ARE1.03L, ARE1.05L, ARE2.04L
Writing:
AWRV.01L*; AWR1.01L*, AWR1.02L
Social
and Cultural Competence: ASCV.02L*; ASC2.05L*, ASC2.06L, ASC2.08L
Planning Notes
• The teacher will need to have completed the
index card with all the student's information on it.
• There are many commercially prepared
materials to teach printing and handwriting once previous language knowledge of
students has been determined. All students in the class will need instruction
on printing and cursive writing.
• Begin to collect business cards from local businesses and from
school personnel.
• Materials Needed: Index cards, experience
chart paper, markers, multiple copies of teacher prepared worksheet, business
cards.
Teaching/Learning Strategies
1. Provide a brief opportunity for teacher and teacher’s
introductions
2. Provide each student with a completed index card that has the
student’s name, student’s number, home phone, address, city, postal code,
province and birthday on it. Review with students multiple titles for
information e.g,. given name is the
same as first name; last name, family name, and surname are all the same.
Introduce the notion of middle name as well as initials. Students should keep
these index cards in their pockets. They will need the information on these
cards for other classes and for everyday experiences that will require their
identification.
Discuss
in which everyday situations personal information should be shared and in which
situations personal information should not be shared. Include a category for
situations that are not clear-cut, and discuss factors that students would need
to consider in such situations. Record students' answers in a Venn Diagram.
3. Distribute a worksheet that has the same categories of information
as those on the index cards. Have students copy the information they are able
to onto the worksheet. Use their responses as a diagnostic evaluation tool to
determine familiarity with print and with numbers. Model for students how
English writing runs from left to right and top to bottom.
Use
the worksheet many times in a variety of ways to reinforce reading and writing
skills. Some examples of activities based on the worksheet are: say the names
of each of the categories to the students. Have them circle the category name
on their sheet, then say aloud the information that they know and feel
comfortable repeating in front of the class. (For example, some students may
not want to repeat their phone number or address, in front of the class.) Mix
up the order of the categories as you say them and ask students to point to the
category that you called out. As they learn more about print, ask them to find
a word on the sheet that begins with a particular letter.
Over
the next few weeks of the unit, students should be able to complete at least
parts of the worksheet from memory.
Later in the unit, add the name and
complete address of the school.
4. Another day, hand out various business cards. In pairs, students
ask their partner for various kinds of information printed on the card, like
first name, last name, initial, etc. from the card they have. If you have
multiple copies of different business cards, students could play a form of
"Go Fish" with the cards.
5. Begin to teach handwriting. Handwriting instruction will need to
continue throughout the unit.
Determine
level of familiarity with numbers by checking which of the numbers the students
can read. Over the course of the unit, ensure that students can recognize the
numbers from 1 to 100. Introduce the spellings of numbers from 1-20. Devise a series
of games to be played over the next few weeks that review the sequence of
numbers and the names of the numbers.
Assessment/Evaluation Techniques
1. Observation of handwriting, knowledge of
numbers and word recognition of numbers from 1-100 (Diagnostic)
2. Completed Personal Information Worksheet
(Summative)
3. Ongoing teacher observation of the extent to
which the student is learning and following basic school routines (Formative)
Accommodations/Special Needs
Students
will use the index card with all their information only as long as is
necessary. Some may require it for only a short time, while others may continue
to use it even at the end of the unit.
Pre-verbal ESL students will benefit from observing the classroom routines
even though they are unable to participate at the same level as other students.
They will begin to understand routines and behaviours and witness the model of
literacy activities directed by the teacher. It will be appropriate, at certain
times, to pair students with partners who speak the same first language.
Activity #2: School Tools:
Introduction to the Student Agenda Book and the Timetable
Time: 180 minutes
Description
Students
will use the Student Agenda book, begin to understand and follow their
timetables, and obtain a lock and locker. These activities form the beginnings
of the traditional school orientation process and serve to prepare students for
the tour of the school. (See Activity #3)
Strands & Expectations
Oral
and Visual Communication: AORV.02L*; AOR1.02L, AOR1.03L, AOR1.04L*
Reading:
AREV.01L, AREV.02L; ARE1.03L, ARE1.05L, ARE2.03L, ARE2.04L, ARE2.05L
Writing:
AWRV.01L*, AWRV.02L; AWR1.01L*, AWR1.02L, AWR2.01L, AWR2.02L*
Social
and Cultural Competence: ASCV.02L; ASC2.03L, ASC2.04L, ASC2.05L, ASC2.07L
Planning Notes
• Get a copy of each student's timetable and keep it in a binder
in the classroom. Place a copy of your timetable in the binder as well. This binder is for the teacher’s use only.
• Many of the pages of the Agenda book will
be overwhelming to the students until they are beginning to read. Adaptations
and modifications will need to be made to help them deal with the information
contained in it.
• Materials Needed: Experience chart
paper and markers, glue, stapler, scissors, a copy of the Student Agenda book
to use as a teacher's reference, multiple copies of blank timetables. If your
school does not use Agenda books, you will need to have multiple copies of a
workbook that will be used in the place of the Agenda book.
Prior Learning
• Familiarity with personal information forms
Teaching/Learning Strategies
1. Introduce the Student Agenda book. If your school does not have one,
then create one for each student using a notebook. Point out to students the
top and bottom and front and back of the book.
Have
students copy their names and addresses onto the first page of the Agenda book.
Use their ability in copying this and all other preliminary activities as a
diagnostic tool as a basis for determining
the extent of their prior exposure to print.
Review
the days of the week and the months of the year. Over the next few weeks consolidate
this content using a variety of matching games and activities.
Draw
attention to the calendar in the Agenda book and to any lists of special days
or activities in both the school and community.
Show students where the map of the school
and other critical pages are located in the book.
2.
Ask students to look at their
timetables. Show them where on the page they can find their personal
information, and have them match this information to the information on their
index cards. If the information does not match or if there are errors in the
information, determine the correct information and notify the office.
See
if any of the students can tell you the numbers on the page. Many students may
have had more experience with numbers than letters.
Show
students how the timetable of your school works. Ensure that students glue or
staple a copy of their timetable in their Agenda book so that others can direct
them to their classes until they are able to read the timetable themselves. Try
to find common classrooms in the students' timetables. Your timetable master binder will be helpful
here.
Share
your timetable with the students. On experience chart paper, model sentences
about your own timetable. Vary the way you present information about when you
are in your classroom. Use phrases like Period
1, Then at 10:00, Day 4, and so
on. Read the sentences out to the class. Model the directionality of print.
Circle or highlight key time phrases and words. Provide students with a blank
timetable and ask them to record your timetable onto the blank, using the
information in the paragraphs.
On
Experience chart paper, prepare sentences based on your model for students to
complete using the information from their own timetables.
If
they are able, have students follow your model to make up their own sentences
about their timetables.
Over
the next few weeks of the unit, return to the timetable and reinforce the names
of teachers and room numbers.
3. Ensure that each student has a lock and a locker. Tell students
that they should not share their combination with other students, and discuss
the reasons. Remind them that school personnel may ask for their combination,
and that they will have to comply. Review your school's practice about what
should and should not be kept in the locker and the appropriate times to go to
the locker.
Check
that each student knows how to open and close the lock. If any do not, you will
need to teach the use of the lock individually and in private.
Assessment/Evaluation Techniques
1. Assess page 1 of the Agenda Books.
(Summative)
2. Have students orally explain their timetable.
(Formative)
3. Evaluate their paragraphs (based on your
model) for handwriting and content. (Formative)
Accommodations/Special Needs
• Some students may need a two-number combination lock or a keyed
lock.
Activity #3: School Maps and a Tour of the Plant
Time:
180 minutes
Description
Students
will be introduced to maps. They will make a map of the classroom and then use
a map of the school in their tour. Students will meet key school personnel and
be introduced to their respective roles.
They will begin to be aware of print in the school environment.
Strands & Expectations
Oral
and Visual Communication: AORV.02L; AOR1.02L, AOR1.03L, AOR1.04L
Reading:
AREV.01L*, AREV.02L*; ARE1.04L, ARE1.05L*, ARE2.01L, ARE2.04L*
Writing:
AWRV.01L, AWR1.01L, AWR1.02L
Social
and Cultural Competence: ASCV.02L*; ASC2.01L*, ASC2.02L, ASC2.05L
Planning Notes
• Map reading and mapmaking will probably be
new concepts for students in this course. Post various maps around the room and
make reference to the atlases as you discuss map reading and mapmaking. If you
observe that students did not fully understand these abstract concepts during
the tour, create games as a way to teach and reinforce mapping skills. Vary the
game to meet the specific needs of your students.
• Try to coordinate the mapping activities
with the Geography teacher. Do a
walk-about in the school and copy exactly the wording of such signs as,
"Exit," "Fire Alarm Pull
Here," "No Smoking on School Property," etc. Copy these words and expressions on
flashcards.
• In advance of the tour, let school
personnel know approximately what time you will be visiting them to ensure that
they will be available to greet the students.
• Materials Needed: atlases and wall maps, flashcards,
masking tape, labels for parts of the room, experience chart paper and markers,
multiple copies of an enlarged school map, scissors and glue, a page and a
worksheet that have all the words students have seen on the signs, a computer
draw program.
Prior Knowledge Required
• Familiarity with the contents of the Agenda
Book.
• Ability to follow the timetable with
assistance and to begin to recognize room numbers around the school.
Teaching/Learning Strategies
1.
Teach students about the concept of
maps. Scale is not critical at this point.
Have
labels ready naming parts of the room such as door, desk, window, etc.
Ask students to place the labels around the room.
Make
a labeled floor plan (map) of the classroom together. Show students how to make
a simplified map legend.
2.
Use the map of the school in the Agenda Book
or give students a simplified labeled map of the school if the one in the
Agenda Book is too complex.
Teach
words and expressions found on signs in the school. Using the flash cards,
explain the functions of each and devise a game or worksheet to reinforce this
vocabulary.
Take
students on a walking tour. Make a running commentary using expressions such as
Let's go along this hall…down this
corridor…the library is opposite the office. Expressions of this nature may
be unfamiliar to many of the students and will also serve to reinforce the
abstract notion of maps.
Point out common signs, such as EXIT,
WASHROOM, LIBRARY, OFFICE and GYM.
Have students note the correspondence to
the labels on the map.
Indicate
all the important locations. Try to include some of the
"behind-the-scenes" locations such as the caretakers' office, the
kitchen, the boiler room, etc. which are always of great interest to students.
If your school has books on tape, show
students how to access these materials from the library.
Be
sure to tell students about lunchtime practices and routines like bringing or
buying lunches and where students can and cannot eat around the school.
3.
On returning to the class, provide
students with an enlarged copy of the map and a page that has all the words
they have seen on the signs. Students
cut out the words on the paper and glue them directly on top of the label on
the map.
Use
the map in a variety of ways to reinforce map skills, familiarity with the
school layout and reading. For example, provide students with a map that does
not have the labels. Have them tell you the parts of the school and then label
them. In pairs and using the maps, have students direct each other through the
school and identify where they end up. Put a copy of the map on the wall, deal
out the labels and, in teams, have students put the labels in the correct
spots. Ask one student to decide on a location on the map. Others have to find
the location by the student's telling classmates whether their guesses are warm,
colder, etc. Students can play a kind of 20 questions about a secret
location. Students can make up a board
game using the map as the board and questions about the information in the unit
as the cards.
Use
a draw program for the computer to let students make simple maps. Pair up
students who have some facility with the computer with those who do not. Invite students outside the program to
assist. Students in higher levels of ELD or ESL are also valuable resources.
Have
students look around the community on their way home to identify signs. Next
day, ask students to report which places had signs and where the signs were
located. If possible, they can describe the signs or draw them on the board. An
activity of this nature helps students begin to notice environmental print.
Complete this homework activity often over the course of the unit to encourage
students to explore their surroundings.
4.
Invite members of the Admin. Team, the
Guidance Head, Chief Caretaker, Administrative Assistant and Student Council
president into the classroom to give a short talk about their respective roles
in the school. Ask visitors to present business cards when they arrive.
In
advance of the class visit, have students brainstorm a list of possible
questions they could ask, and then assign each student at least one question to
ask one of the visitors. Encourage questions that elicit a quantitative
response, for example, the number of teachers, secretaries and students in the
school.
Make a chart showing the quantitative
information that students garnered from the interview.
Assessment/Evaluation Techniques
1. Accurately label 10 places on a school map.
(Summative)
Activity #4: Tell It! Write It!
(Language Experience Story)
Time:
180 minutes
Description
Students
will create a language experience story with the teacher about the school tour.
This story and all others will form the bulk of the initial reading material
for the class.
Strands & Expectations
Oral
and Visual Communication: AORV.01L; AOR1.01L, AOR1.02L
Reading: AREV.01L, AREV.02L*, AREV.03L; ARE1.02L,
ARE1.04L, ARE1.05L, ARE2.03L,
ARE2.04L, ARE2.05L, ARE3.02L*
Writing:
AWRV.01L, AWRV.02L*; AWR1.01L, AWR1.02L*
Social
and Cultural Competence: ASCV.02L; ASC2.05L, ASC2.05L, ASC2.08L
Planning Notes
• The reading exercises are designed to help
students begin to understand that reading is a meaning- making activity.
• Post this and all other experience chart
stories in a central location in your room. Every day, when students enter the
room, they are to go to a chart story and read it over, either with a partner
or by themselves. As your bank of chart stories grows, students will have a
greater selection of stories to choose from and a wider bank of sight words to
reinforce.
• Materials Needed: Experience chart
paper, markers, flashcards.
Prior Knowledge Required
• Knowledge of the school plant and
experience of the tour
Teaching/Learning Strategies
1. Discuss the school tour and use the ideas to help students dictate
a language experience story about the tour, describing where they went, what
they saw and what they did. Repeat orally the words as you write them and
ensure that what you have written is what the students intended.
Point to the words as you say them; read
the story out loud in its entirety a few times.
Ask
students to identify words that you have already studied and any other words
that they may know. This is the start of their sight vocabulary; be sure to
work on words such as the, and, a/an
as well as the names of parts of the school.
Copy
words they know onto flashcards. Play a recall game with the cards for the
first few minutes of lessons. Copy and use more words as students learn them.
Work
through the experience story in a variety of ways so that students will begin
to predict the words that will follow. After several readings, cover up key
words and have students predict the word that is under your hand. Before
uncovering the word, read the rest of the sentence. Ask the
students
whether the word they have predicted makes sense based on the context of the
sentence. Uncover the word and check whether predictions are correct. There
will be lots of student talk in this and other reading activities as students
begin to work through text; students at this stage may find it difficult to
read silently.
Reread
the passage to the class. Ask students to read aloud the passage together
several times, like a choral reading.
Students copy the experience story into
their notebook.
Assessment/Evaluation Techniques
1. Teacher observation of reading skills.
(Diagnostic)
2. Modified cloze of Language Experience Chart story.
Either use the flashcards with a modified cloze that has been rewritten on
experience chart paper or provide students with a copy of a modified cloze that
has the word list at the bottom of the page. (Summative)
Accommodations/Special Needs
Some
students will have difficulty copying the story from the chart paper. They may require a hard copy of the story
beside them when they copy it.
Observe
students to see whether far point copying or near point copying is problematic.
Some
students may require a copy of the story to trace (over-writing), while others
may require a computer typed version of the story, double-spaced in a large
font for underwriting.
Activity #5: Getting to Know
More About You: Making Name Cards
Time:
120 minutes
Description
Students
will make name signs and decorate them with pictures of themselves and with
words that describe their personality.
Strands & Expectations
Oral
and Visual Communication: AORV.01L; AOR1.01L, AOR1.04L
Reading:
AREV.01L; ARE1.05L, ARE2.04L
Writing:
AWRV.01L*; AWR1.01L, AWR1.02L*
Social
and Cultural Competence: ASCV.02L*; ASC2.05L, ASC2.06L*,
ASC2.07L, ASC2.08L*
Planning Notes
• Polaroid has a camera program. Check to see
if the program is in place in your school. They offer discounts on the purchase
of Polaroid cameras and have many excellent ideas about how to use the cameras
in your classroom.
• Keep in mind that some students might not
be comfortable having their pictures taken.
• A pictograph is a precursor to a graph. In
a pictograph one symbol represents one object or person. If you use squares in your pictograph, you
could attach the squares. Then your pictograph becomes a bar graph.
• When students participate in the creation
of rubrics, they can begin to understand how teachers evaluate their work.
• Check to see which of the students are in
ESLAO to determine the extent to which they were able to participate in the
"About Me" activity (Activity #1of ESLAO, Unit 1).
• Materials Needed: Polaroid camera
and film, construction paper, markers, crayons, scissors, and stickers or other
items for decoration, experience chart paper and markers.
Prior
Knowledge Required
• Ability to print names using upper and
lower case letters.
Teaching/Learning
Strategies
1.
Take a picture of each of the students
with a Polaroid camera.
Alternatively, students may draw a small
picture of themselves.
Have
students make up name cards. Students print their given name and family name,
and capitalize the first letter of their names. Attach the picture to the name
card. Students decorate their cards.
2.
Brainstorm words that describe
personalities. As a demonstration, have students select 5 words that describe
you. Then ask students to choose 5 words that describe themselves. Have
students trace or draw their hand on a piece of construction paper and write a
different word onto each of the fingers on their paper. Attach the hand to the
name card.
In
pairs, have students talk about themselves and explain why the words they have
chosen describe them well. Students then present their partner to the class.
Invite
students to tell you how they got their names. If you feel comfortable enough
to do so, share in the activity with your students.
Next day, have students come into the
class and find their own name card.
Students
copy their names on the blackboard and practise saying and printing the names
of other students in the class.
Develop with the students, a rubric to
evaluate the name cards and hand drawing.
Name cards should become a part of the
students' portfolio.
Another
day, revisit the names by creating a pictograph of an aspect of information
that pertains to the lives of the students. For example, if you have a good mix
of boys and girls, you could create a pictograph to show numbers of boys and
girls. You could make a pictograph of the years of birth. Students copy the
pictograph into their notebooks.
Assessment/Evaluation Techniques
1. Evaluate the name card and hand picture. (Summative)
2. Diagnostic assessment of handwriting will be
replaced by formative assessment and summative evaluation of handwriting as the
course progresses.
Accommodation/Special Needs
If
there are students in your class who do not yet know how to print their names,
make up a second set of name plates that have broken lines. Students can trace out their names using the
broken lines as a guide. Have them copy over their names several times on the
second name plate and, if ready, begin to write their own names on unlined
paper, as well as the names of each of the other students in the class. In
partners, students trace each other's names. A different set of rubrics could
be used for students in the class with special needs.
Activity #6: Creating a Personal
Picture Dictionary
Time:
180 minutes
Description
Students
will make up their own dictionary using the words that they encounter in this
first unit. Activity #6 is an ongoing activity since students will return to
their Personal Picture Dictionary to enter new listings and to enhance their
repertoire of sight words.
Strands & Expectations
Oral
and Visual Communication: AORV.02L, AORV.03L; AOR1.04L
Reading: AREV.01L,
AREV.02L, AREV.03L*; ARE1.03L, ARE1.04L, ARE1.05L,
ARE2.04L*; ARE3.01L*,
ARE3.02L, ARE3.04L*
Writing:
AWRV.01L*; AWR1.01L, AWR1.02L*, AWR2.03L
Social
and Cultural Competence: ASCV.02L*; ASC2.05L*, ASC2.06L, ASC2.07L,
ASC2.08L*
Planning Notes
• Use the authentic vocabulary found around
the school. Students need to be able to recognize and read the print in their
school environment.
Collect
a variety of magazines for the classroom. Ensure that the pictures in the
magazines represent a rich diversity of ethnic groups. Screen for bias.
• Read aloud a different alphabet book for
the start of each of the lessons in the activity. (See activity
resources.) Draw attention to interesting design
features that students could replicate in their own dictionary.
• Materials needed: spiral notebooks
(sketch books) that have at least 50 blank pages; art supplies.
Prior Knowledge Required
• Recognition of the alphabet, emerging
sound-symbol correspondence
• Ability to match words
Teaching/Learning Strategies
1.
Introduce a variety of picture dictionaries
to the class.
Have
students create their own personal picture dictionaries, with a different
letter for each page. Teach the alphabet using vocabulary from the school for
each letter; e.g., a is for
auditorium, b is for book, etc.
Direct students to find pictures in
magazines or to draw pictures that illustrate each of the entries listed in the book. At this stage of the
students' literacy development, most words chosen will be concrete nouns. Give plenty of
opportunities throughout the unit for students to practise reading the words.
2.
Review the names of key places in the
school and signs, etc. introduced in Activity #3. Allow students to add them to
their personal picture dictionaries. Students will add more words about places
in the school and items in the classroom as they arise.
A
few days after you have introduced the activity, develop a rubric with the
students to help them understand the criteria for evaluation.
3.
Develop a variety of activities with the
personal picture dictionary once you have diagnosed the students' gaps. For
example, have students put words from their sight vocabulary in alphabetical
order. Leave out parts of the words and have students fill in the blanks.
Later, teach simple spelling rules using the vocabulary. Introduce word
families from the listings.
Assessment/Evaluation Techniques
1. Observe students as they work through the
book during the unit. Students may struggle with the whole concept of a
dictionary at the start, but should become quite comfortable with it over time.
(Formative)
2. Collect and assess the picture dictionaries
using the rubric developed with the students. (Summative)
Accommodations/Special Needs
• Students who have difficulty copying the entries from other pages
may need to cut and paste a teacher-made label into their dictionaries. These
students could overwrite the label until they are able to print their own.
• For those students who are able, encourage
use of a regular dictionary. Some students may not need pictures for every
entry. Others may have many more pictures than words on each page.
Resources
Agard,
John. Calypso Alphabet. New York: Henry Holt, 1989.
Bruchac,
Joseph. Many Nations: An Alphabet of Native America. Mahwah, New Jersey:
BridgeWater Paperback. ISBN #0-8167-4460-2
Bannatyne-Cugnet,
Jo and Moore, Yvette. Prairie Alphabet. Plattsburgh, New York:Tundra
Books, 1992.
Das,
Prodeepta.. I Is for India. London: Frances Lincoln Ltd., 1996.
Onyefulu,
Ifeoma. A Is for Africa. London: Frances Lincoln Ltd., 1995.
Sanders,
Marilyn. What's Your Name? From Ariel to Zoe. New York: A Holiday House
Book, 1995.
Activity #7: School Routines:
Learning Classroom and School Rules
Time:
300 minutes
Description
Students
will become familiar with class rules, school rules and board regulations. They
will be introduced to the yearbook and to school teams.
Strands & Expectations
Oral
and Visual Communication: AORV.01L, AORV.02L*, AOR1.01L, AOR1.02L,
AOR1.03L*
Reading: AREV.01L,
AREV.02L, ARV.03L; ARE1.04L, ARE2.03L, ARE2.04L, ARE2.05L,
ARE3.02L
Writing:
AWRV.01L*, AWR1.01L*, AWR1.02L
Social and Cultural Competence:
ASCV. 02L*; ASC2.04L*, ASC2.05L, ASC2.06L,
ASC2.07L, ASC2.08L
Planning Notes
• Once the rules for class have been
established, post these in the classroom. Refer to them as necessary, and add
any others that have been omitted. As well, post the school and board rules.
• Consult your school's Code of Behaviour and
refer to the Student Agenda Book to establish the school rules.
• Prepare a list of simply worded key school
rules on experience chart paper.
• Collect old yearbooks from your school
library.
• It may seem obvious to encourage the
students in ELDAO to join school clubs and teams, which are a great place for
students to meet and make friends with the rest of the school population;
however, many students new to a school, regardless of background, may be
reluctant to participate in extra curricular activities without your
encouragement.
• The student contract in teaching strategy
#3 helps students to understand the place of rules and regulations in the
school. By signing the contract, students commit to the rules of the school.
They can assess their own behaviour against the school rules.
• Start every class with a Read Aloud that
deals with adjustment to school (see resources). Be sure to provide time to
allow students to explore, compare and contrast the experience of the character
in the book with their own school experience.
• Materials needed: Experience chart paper,
markers, stickers, teacher-prepared contract, old yearbooks
Teaching/Learning Strategies
1. Ask students to brainstorm rules they think should be in place in
a classroom. Record their thoughts on the blackboard as they offer them. Work together to come up with a set of
agreed upon class rules. On experience chart paper, list the classroom rules.
Limit your focus to the most important rules and keep the rules simple.
Present
students with the list of school rules you prepared in advance of the lesson.
Obviously, these rules are non-negotiable. Again, keep these rules few and
simple. Articulate the behaviour expected during the playing of the national
anthem and the daily announcements. Teach students about fire alarms and fire
drills. Make sure that students understand emergency procedures.
2.
Ensure that students clearly understand
the policies under which your board operates. Many boards have anti-violence
and bullying/harassment policies. It is critical that your students understand
these policies even though they will not yet be able to read them.
Have
students compare rules from their countries or other classrooms. The information
that students give you will help you understand the extent of their previous
education.
Use the written rules in a variety of ways
to focus on the development of various reading skills.
3. Type up the agreed-upon class rules and make
a contract for each student to sign. Students need to differentiate between the
way they would write their name on a worksheet and the way they would sign a
cheque. A personal signature should not be easy to copy. Give students an
opportunity to experiment with different signatures.
Students place the contracts in their
notebook or you can keep them with your files.
Near
the end of the unit, revisit the notion of school routines. On experience chart
paper record a list of the aspects of school life to which students have easily
adjusted and those to which they have not. Headings might be: Things I Find
Easy About School and Things I Find Difficult About School. Poll students and
graph the results. As a group, look at the final tally and discuss the results.
4.
On another day, have students discuss
"do's and don'ts" for school staff.
Be careful not to name particular individuals, but rather to only talk
about generic behaviour. When all ideas
have been recorded, give each student 2 stickers. Have them put one sticker
beside the entry they feel most strongly about in each of the categories.
Discuss the results. Which entries surprised them? Which do they disagree with?
Why?
Repeat
the above activity for "do's and don'ts" for students. Provide
students with a blank T-chart that has Do's and Don'ts as the categories. Scramble the do's and don'ts on another
piece of paper. Students copy the do's and don'ts into the appropriate column.
Invite
the principal or someone from the Admin.Team to the classroom to share their
perceptions about the lists for teachers and students.
5. Introduce yearbooks. Draw attention to the front and back of the
book, and to the labels of each section of the book. Direct students to the
sections on school clubs and teams.
In
triads, have students identify all the clubs and teams either by reading their
names or by looking at the pictures. List these on experience chart paper and
post the chart.
Have students copy all the names of the
clubs and teams pictured in the yearbook in their notebooks.
Poll
students to determine their interests. Make sure that students listen carefully
when announcements are made about where and when the school clubs and teams
meet. Return students to the section of the Agenda book on clubs and teams and
show them in which season each team plays.
Students add the names of the clubs and
teams to the personal picture dictionaries.
If your school has the yearbook on CD ROM,
use it as a computer activity.
Assessment/Evaluation Techniques
1. Evaluation of the do's and don'ts chart.
(Summative)
Accommodations/Special Needs
• Have a reader read the rules for students. Let students cut and
paste the rules in the correct column of the T-chart.
• Students can add their own do's and don'ts to the columns.
Resources
Munsch,
Robert. From Far Away. Toronto: Annick Press Ltd., 1995. ISBN
1-55037-396
Surat,
Michele Maria. Angel Child, Dragon Child. New York: Scholastic Books,
1989.
Wallace,
Ian and Wood, Angela. The Sandwich. Toronto: Kids Can Press, 1975.
Activity #8: Unit Project:
Student Booklets
Time: 240
minutes
Description
As
the culminating activity in this unit, students will create booklets that
encapsulate the information from the unit.
Strands & Expectations
Oral and Visual Communication: AORV.02L, AORV.03L; AOR1.02L, AOR1.03L,
AOR1.04L
Reading:
AREV.01L*, AREV.02L*; ARE1.03L*, ARE1.04L*, ARE1.05L*,
ARE2.03L*,
ARE2.04L, ARE2.05L, ARE3.03L
Writing:
AWRV.01L*, AWRV.02L*; AWR1.01L*, AWR1.02L*
Social and Cultural Competence: ASCV.02L*; ASC2.01L*, ASC2.05L,
ASC2.06L*,
ASC2.07L, ASC2.08L*
Planning Notes
• Photocopy the worksheet entitled,
"School: As I See It." (Appendix #1).
• Photocopy the Rubric for Assessing School
Booklet Project (Appendix #2)
• Create a simple tracking sheet that has the following categories:
Title, Date, Student signature and Teacher initials. Students sign as they
complete each activity. The teacher initials during several process conferences
to be conducted throughout the activity.
• Prepare a mock-up of the assignment (or use
good examples of student work) so that students can
see what you expect and what a sample
final product might look like.
• Materials needed: Duotang folders,
construction paper, markers, pencils, pens, stickers, lettering stencils.
• Once students have completed this
assignment and their booklets have been evaluated, keep or photocopy samples
that represent each of Levels 1 to 4 on the rubric. These can be used in future to help students understand what is
expected.
Prior Knowledge Required
Since
this is the final activity in the unit, students need to have understood the
content presented in the unit. Students will need varying degrees of assistance
in completing the activity, depending on the prior knowledge and skill level
with which they entered the course. Teachers need to be aware of the extent to
which students have progressed and the rate of learning for each student. An
emerging familiarity with vocabulary and knowledge of the alphabet, ability to
copy, and beginning sound-symbol correspondence are required. Students will need to understand
directionality of print.
Teaching/Learning Strategies
1. Distribute the description of the assignment entitled,
"School: As I See It."
Review
its contents with the students so that they clearly understand the nature of
the assignment and your expectations. Show them how they have already done much
of the groundwork for the assignment in the activities to date.
Also,
set dates for work in progress to help students begin to understand that the
process is as important as the final product. Track their progress to ensure
that all students meet the final deadline.
2.
Explain the Rubric for Assessing School
Booklet Project (Appendix #2).
Assessment/Evaluation Techniques
1. Observe the level of social/cultural
adjustment, handwriting, print knowledge, and knowledge of process writing of
students in the class. (Formative)
2. Evaluation of booklet (Summative). See Appendix 2 for a rubric to assess this
booklet.
Accommodations/Special Needs
• Limit the number of pages in the booklet, or have students
dictate their entries to the teacher who will type their stories onto the
computer.
Appendix #1: School: As I See It
You
will be creating a booklet about your school. You have already completed many
of the worksheets in the unit. Copy them and put them in your duo-tang.
Here
are the pages of the booklet:
Page 1: Tracking sheet.
Your teacher will give you a blank tracking sheet. Sign it after you complete each activity. Your teacher will
initial each entry during one of the process conferences you will have while
you are working on the booklet.
Page 2: Title page.
The title page must include the title of your booklet, your name, homeform,
school name, and your teacher's name. The design of the title page is up to
you, be creative and artistic.
Page 3: Table of Contents.
Include title, date and page number. Every page in the booklet is to be
included in the table of contents. Every page in the table of contents must be
in the booklet. All pages after the Table of Contents must be titled, dated and
numbered.
Page 4: Personal Stats.
Complete a copy of the Personal Information
Worksheet
that includes all your personal information as well as the name and full
address of the
school,
and the first and family names of three classmates.
Page 5: All Present.
List all the students in the class. Include the name of the teacher.
Page 6: Play by the Rules Part A: School
Rules. Copy the school rules. Put an asterisk (*)
beside the rules you believe are the most important.
Page7: Play by the Rules Part B:
Classroom Rules. Copy the classroom rules developed by
the class. Put an asterisk beside the rules you believe are the most important.
Page 8: Timetable. Your teacher will give
you a blank copy of a timetable. Copy your timetable onto the blank.
Page 9: School Map.
Your teacher will give you a blank copy of your school's map. Label the
library, the main office, the Guidance office, the cafeteria, one washroom and
your classrooms. Add room numbers of your classrooms.
Page 10: A Story of your Choice.
Copy one of the language experience stories that your class has written or
write a story of your own.
Page 11: Class Autograph Page.
Ask classmates to sign their autograph on the page when they have read your
book. Students may include comments about an aspect of your booklet they
enjoyed.
APPENDIX 2
|
RUBRIC FOR ASSESSING SCHOOL BOOKLET PROJECT (UNIT 1 ACTIVITY 8) |
||||
|
Categories |
50-59% Level 1 |
60-69% Level 2 |
70-79% Level 3 |
80-100% Level 4 |
|
Knowledge/ Understanding -includes all
components as per tracking sheet -includes complete
title page -completes a table of
contents |
The student demonstrates: limited inclusion of
components limited completion of
title page limited completion of
table of contents |
some inclusion of
components some completion of title
page some completion of
table of contents |
considerable inclusion
of components considerable
completion of title page considerable
completion of table of contents |
thorough inclusion of
components thorough completion of
title page thorough completion of
table of contents |
|
Thinking/ Inquiry -organizes pages
accurately |
The student demonstrates limited competence in
organizing pages |
some competence in
organizing pages |
considerable
competence in organizing pages |
thorough competence in
organizing pages |
|
Communication -copies accurately
(e.g., correct letter formation, spacing between words and sentence
punctuation) -labels maps correctly |
The student demonstrates limited accuracy in
copying limited accuracy in
labelling maps |
some accuracy in
copying some accuracy in
labelling maps |
considerable accuracy
in copying considerable accuracy
in labelling maps |
thorough accuracy in
copying thorough accuracy in
labelling maps |
|
Application -completes tracking
sheet -completes template of
timetable |
The student demonstrates limited completion of
tracking sheet limited competence in
completing template |
some completion of
tracking sheet some competence in
completing template |
considerable
completion of tracking sheet considerable
competence in completing template |
thorough completion of
tracking sheet thorough competence in
completing template |