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Other Person's Point:
Well, precisely what words will they be reading that they already know? Because if they are "reading" words that are new to them, and grammar patterns that they don't know the meaning of, they are not reading, they are decoding.
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My response:
My students easily know most of these words (will vary from student to student):
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a words: dad, cat, gas, hat, pan, had, can, man, ran, Sam (since there's a Sam in the school), van, sad, rat, sat, nap, Mat (my name, minus one "t"), map, lap, fat, fan, bag, bad, bat, cap
e words: bed, hen, jet, men, red, ten, yes, wet, web, vet
i words: fin, lip, lid, dig, hit, Jim (again...a student's name), kid, pin, pig, did, him, big, sit, six, bit, fix, win, wig, rib
o words: mop, mom, dog, job, top, hot, not, box, lot, cot (if they use them for naps)
u words: nut, fun, mud, rug, sun, bug, gun, bus, cup, tub, hug, bun, gum
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And that's just looking at CVC words, which is where they start sounding out the words and spelling them. That doesn't include a list of other words once they both move from that process into reading and move into other areas as well.
I would have to question the effectiveness of any ESL program that says its Kindergarten students do not know a good enough portion of the words above to be able to sound them out and spell them. Reading might be a whole different story, as they might not have come to the realization of how to read them yet. But with a big box of cut out letters, if they can't spell things out phonetically by the end of the year, even CVC short vowel words, that's a huge red flag for me as to them missing something that the students both love and is beneficial to them.
[quote]By all means, give 6 year olds simple texts, scaffolded by appropriate illustrations and lots of them, containing language they already know by ear. But don't give them children's books just because they're children's books for little native speaking kids in the US or Britain.[/quote]
The students reading books comes later in this process. To be effective, the teacher has to assess exactly where the students are. Possibly an overview might help here. A lot of this comes from several sources, so bear with me as I page through things. It might be a little disorganized and I apologize if it is:
1) I believe you're correct in developing oral language first. Along with just a list of words or phrases, it is also important to do many things with oral language:
--Rhyming games
--Telling stories
*with or without a book
*with or without props
*stories where each person adds a part
*stories with drama
--Giving directions (one step at a time to begin).
--Playing opposite games
There's a huge list that can be added here. I'm sure the list is endless.
2) The desire must be built within the child to want to read. In my 3-6 Language course, I was given a great paper by Carol Woods, who is a fantastic teacher. It has many ways to support literacy. It goes into a little more detail than I do here, but here's the basic summary of it. I'm going to take some away from this list because they might not be relevant to ESL or Kindergarten. Remember that the ultimate goal is the desire to read. This is done through them understanding the intrinsic value of writing and reading:
*Read aloud every day.
*Read poems that make words fun. (Think Dr. Seuess)
*Involve children who can read to read to the younger ones that cannot. (My note added: Look into research about how much more children can learn from other children than what they can learn from the teacher. I remember one specific study that even went back to infants with this. An infant who sees another infant starting to walk is more likely going to try to walk himself and begin walking.)
*Model reading.
*Model writing. Read things aloud as you write.
*De-emphasize the importance of spelling and handwriting. Just get them doing it.
*Group story telling where they tell the story and you write it down.
*Eliminate erasers. I don't FULLY agree with this point, but think of how much time your students spend erasing just to "get the right thing." Find some way, at least, to get rid of that.
*Trace below the words (such as with your finger) as you read with one child.
*Emphasize left to right, top to bottom. (Note: She talks about using a sticker if necessary. That's OK, but remember to do this in everything you do as much as possible. When you're showing them how to spoon, tong, etc., are you doing it so they see it from left to right? Those little details help a LOT!)
*Play rhyming, opposite, who am I? games on field trip van rides.
*Provide functional signs in the environment. (How to care for a class pet, for example).
*Listen to the students. Avoid interrupting, even if there's a distraction going on that you normally SHOULD address.
*Engage in book writing with the group. Utilize as many things as possible. If the students cannot spell yet...even if it's all of them that cannot...then work with simply a picture book. Laminate the books they do and have them on display in the classroom.
*(My addition) Encourage "made up" reading. Students who do not know the text yet often like to look at pictures in the book and create their own story. If a student has trouble doing this because they see the text and they think there must be a right answer, there are several story books out there that only have pictures. There are some with open-ended pictures that can be interpreted in many different ways.
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From here, we can see the writing/reading process in two different ways:
--Ablity to discriminate between the various sounds. This will eventually lead into students being able to spell out words and move into reading words.
--Ability to write the words down when it comes time.
Both of these skills can be developed separately with a variety of activities. To make things easier, I originally started to type up how to build the skills separately, but that won't give a very good time frame, which is more useful. When I talk about the actual phonetic sounds, I will use "p" next to the number. When I talk about the use of the writing utensils, I will use "w." When they combine, I'll use "pw."
(p) Auditory discrimination. The next step is auditory discrimination. For the child to understand who to take the word "bat" and break it up into many sounds requires quite a bit of skill. Some activities to promote this are:
*Rhyming with objects - have objects in a basket the child can select that have rhyming objects in it. It is important that the child know what the objects are since the focus is not a vocabulary lesson. If the child does not know the objects, simply turn this into a vocabulary lesson until he or she does know them then continue. I've noticed it just takes time for students to "get" rhyming. If they do not understand it, play other rhyming games later, but don't let on that they didn't "get it." This is a developmental thing and it the last thing you want to do is make them think they are doing it incorrectly and get them frustrated.
*Beginning sound discrimination. Start with things that all sound the same together. A basket with a spoon, sand, snowman, sandwich, and star would be an example. Point out how they all begin with the same sound as you say them and emphasize the sound to them. Once the child seems to get that, play games such as "I spy" or "Bring me something that starts with /m/." Notice I took out what I perceive to be one of the biggest flaws of the "old way" of doing phonics - I haven't mentioned the NAME of a letter yet. My other pet peeve are when they learn to pronounce the sounds incorrectly. (More on that later).
(p) Along with auditory discrimination, we also need visual discrimination. Look for matching objects (then pictures...even combining objects to pictures), patterning (red, red, blue...red, red, blue...), and sequencing (putting pictures of a story together in the right sequence. Example: a picture starts with a dirty table, the child carries the dishes to the sink, the dishes are washed.)
(w) While this is happening, a lot of stuff has to happen for the mechanical writing process. Do your kindergarten students:
*Have puzzles available to them that have knobs which encourage a 3 finger pinch?
*Have daily life activities, such as spooning, tonging, or other activities available to them?
*Serve themselves lunch, thus requiring more control of the motor skills? Or does the teacher simply dish it out to make it faster, thus depriving them of this important task?
*Have clay? (Play dough is OK, but clay is more tactile).
(p) Once auditory and visual discrimination is well formed, we can move into key sounds. Before showing the students an actual letter, it is important that they know how to hear the first sound. A prerequisite to this would be how well they seem to understand the sound basket I mentioned above. Now use a basket full of things that all have different sounds. Snake, cat, dog, monkey, and apple might be 5 objects easy to find. Play the game of "I spy." If the child can say all the words, say, "I spy with my little eye something that begins with /a/." (Not the letter "a," the sound "aaaa.")
(p) The introduction of letters, for me, begins with these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/p
These are smooth pieces of wood, painted red for consonants and blue for vowels, that have sandpaper cut out letters glued on to them. As the child traces the letter, he or she says the sound it makes. The most annoying thing in Taiwan is when a teacher, either due to lack of experience or being Taiwanese, simply says the letter sounds incorrectly. I am teaching a level 4 class right now and it is full of students with reading difficulties. They simply did not learn how to properly say the sounds of the letters. Listening to them read, you can hear the struggle in their voice. Let's just assume (incorrectly) that they do not know the word "pet." When it comes time to read it, they sound it out as:
"/puh/ /a/ /tuh/."
This one syllable word turned into 3 syllables with the wrong vowel sound. They're doing 3 times the work, getting none of the results, and are confused at the end of the process. The time to teach them the correct sounds is when they are younger, when it's easier for them to move the mouth muscles into the correct formation.
(w) While the introduction of letter sounds corresponding to the letters is happening, it is also important to not ignore the fine motor skills of the hand. One of the biggest problems with pencils at this age is not so much how they grab the pencil (since there are all those other activities that make the three finger grip natural...see above). The problem I encounter tends to be the amount of pressure put on the pencil and the overall control of the pencil. I recommend using this:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/p
I know that looks expensive, but this is one thing that can be made easily with cardboard and a nice box cutter. It won't last as long or be as nice, but will still serve a similar purpose. The child can trace the shape on a piece of paper the same size. Colored pencils are used for this. The blue piece is harder than the yellow piece and requires much more control, which the students love to challenge themselves with. Things such as lines drawn in there, different shading (dark to light or vice versa), or even different designs can be made with these materials. It's an effortless way to get the students to easily control their pencil.
(pw) Once the student has learned a few consonants and at least one vowel, you can likely get them to spell out words. I introduce my big box of cut out letters (moveable alphabet). Like the sandpaper letters above, they have red for consonants and blue for vowels. I first introduce the sounds that he or she knows so it's clear that the letters can look different, but the sounds are the same. Then give the child a word to spell. "Man." Have the child hold up 3 fingers. Grab the finger tip of the one on the left (his left...not yours) and say, "mmm" Grab the middle one and say "aaa." Grab the last one and say, "nnn." (I typed them three times to signify saying them longer, not saying it three times. Again, remember to use the sounds). If the child needs help, refer back to the fingers and draw the connection between the different sounds. This is a great stepping stone for children. You'll eventually see them doing this on their own without you telling them the letters. They may or may not get rid of it before, or even after, learning to read the words.
The interesting thing is that they will spell out so many words independently, but if you ask them to read them, they will have no clue what they wrote. This is important because they are two completely different processes. We also often start with, what I feel, is the wrong one ~ reading. In reality, spelling comes first, but our focus on spelling is with writing so we don't see it as easily. The nice thing about this is that once the student finishes a few words, they often WANT to write them, maybe even with a picture. On top of that, they also already have the motor skills and experience to control a pencil so they can do it easily. This is where it all comes together.
After a while, another student might walk by and read the words the child wrote. That's often how the light switch kicks in where the child realizes, "Oh...we can read these." You can then use either the sandpaper letters of the moveable alphabet to show it. Just line up a CVC word and ask what each sound is. Tell the student to say it faster. I noticed it helps if they almost sing the first consonant and the vowel. If they get it, great. If not, it will happen.
Once a child is reading, there are a lot of things that can be done. Command cards that tell them what to do, books, spelling out phrases (remember phonetically is OK. "fat apl" is just as good at this stage as "fat apple"), labelling pictures, or creating their own book of words they can take home with them.
The important thing is to know where the students are and what they need help with and when to let them struggle. Lev Vygotsky calls this the zone of proximal development. Does the student still need you to tell him what the 3 finger sounds are or is he ready to try to decide on his own? Does the student ready to try the metal inset tracing or does she still need fine motor skills? The process of knowing what comes next and giving them the next step (scaffolding) is very important.
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Other person's point:
By all means, give 6 year olds simple texts, scaffolded by appropriate illustrations and lots of them, containing language they already know by ear. But don't give them children's books just because they're children's books for little native speaking kids in the US or Britain.
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My response:
Remember to also include books that have new language in it. Reinforcing is important, but literacy is the best way to build vocabulary. By literacy, I don't simply mean the ability to read and write. I also mean what stories they hear or are read.
Students reading books is quite a few steps along the process. It's important to have books that students can read when they get to certain levels, but I would recommend selecting books more on their ability to engage the children. A story such as "Caps for Sale," where a cap peddler gets all his caps stolen by monkeys, is quite an engaging story and has a lot of repetitive language, which is important for vocabulary building and auditory discrimination.
Often times, it is helpful to put more emphasis on certain key words in the story. You might want to focus on action words and have the student act out those actions, in place if it's in a group classroom (as opposed to a private tutor). In "Caps for Sale," you might say something like:
"The peddler PULLED OFF his CAP, THREW it to the ground, and began to WALK AWAY" while doing the motions you want the students to mime out. For some, they might genuinely understand. For others, they might just be doing what you're doing. Both are building a skill. The one that understands is building his vocabulary and comprehension. The one that is simply imitating is building a skill of listening (they'll soon know WHEN to do these actions) and observation and the connection of the language will come later.
So...out of curiosity...what is not age appropriate in what I suggest?
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