LANGUAGE
Some words about words
LANGUAGE ARTS AND SCIENCES
Expressive
Oral
Graphic
Receptive
Expressive
Receptive
Oral
speaking
listening
Graphic
writing
reading
THE FOUR INTEGRATED PARTS OF “WHOLE LANGUAGE.”
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WE SHOULD BE PLANNING ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP EACH
DEVELOPING ORAL LANGUAGE
Expressive
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Natural conversation
Real group time
Open-ended questions
Share & Tell
Tape recordings
Interviews
Time and attention
Receptive
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Active listening as model
Rule about listening
Tape recordings
Music
Sound games and activities
Reporting
Sound enhancers
GRAPHIC LANGUAGE
Emergent Literacy
vs.
Reading Readiness
COMPARISON OF EMERGENT LITERACY AND READING READINESS
Emergent Literacy
Reading Readiness
PREMISES OF EMERGENT LITERACY VS. READING READINESS
Emergent Literacy
Literacy is always emerging
Built on oral language development
Oral language pre-programmed (LAD)
Literacy is also developmental process
Writing
Early scribbling
Writing their name
Inventive spelling
Reading
Using pictures to “read” books
Identifying environmental print
GOAL: MEANING
(Correctness is means to an end;
Desire to understand and be understood)
Process-Oriented
Reading Readiness
Intended by Gesell to be maturational
Reinterpreted into readiness programs
Focus on skills and drills
Pre-reading and pre-writing, not a process
GOAL: CORRECTNESS
(Correctness is the end)
Product-Oriented
“READINESS”
IS A LOT MORE THAN JUST SKILLS ANYWAY
Physical
Eye muscle development, eye-hand and fine motor
development, auditory and visual discrimination
Cognitive
Ability to utilize decoding strategies, memory,
attention span
Affective
Desire, confidence, tolerance to frustration
Social
Role models, environment, facilitation
Conceptual
Symbols, structure of language, spatial relationships,
directionality
Experience
With oral language, with books, with vocabulary
CHILDREN TEACH THEMSELVES TO WALK AND TALK.
Similarly, children teach themselves to read and write.
But they can’t do so in a vacuum.
*They need a print-rich environment.
*They need opportunities to choose their own reading.
*They need their own words to read.
*They need role models for reading.
*They need NOT direct instruction out of context, but
individual facilitation (LASS)
The classroom is one wherein language is
Informal * Purposeful * Appropriate * Fun * Personal * Non-Intimidating
CORRECTING CHILDREN IS COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE
Even when it comes to oral language development
mothers and even older siblings instinctively know to
avoid correction.
Children will self-correct over time.
New Zealand, the pioneer of “whole language,” serves as an example.
We can provide posters, dictionaries, questions and our writing as models.
THROUGHOUT HISTORY THERE HAS BEEN A DEBATE OVER THE MOST
EFFECTIVE WAY TO TEACH READING AND WRITING. IT’S NOT THAT ONE
IS THE TRIED AND TRUE WAY AND THE OTHER SOME NEW FAD.
The 2 Ways Are:
Part > Whole
or
Whole > Part
These are usually nicknamed:
Phonics
or
Whole Language
What we call “phonics” has dominated our teaching, but “whole language”
can be traced back to Plato, later Comenius, but even before, to ancient
African, Native American and Judaic traditions.
COMPARISON OF “PHONICS” VS. “WHOLE LANGUAGE”
“Phonics”
Product oriented
Separate subject
Work
Abstract (no context)
Skills training
Teacher-centered
Based on grade expectations
Instructed
Tested
Whole or ability groups
Corrected
Oriented to memorization,
repetition, recitation and
performance
“Whole Language”
Process oriented
Integrated curriculum
Exploration/play
Concrete (in context)
Meaningful activities
Child-centered
Based on experience and development
Facilitated
Observed
Individualized
Uncorrected
Oriented to exploration,
experimentation, invention, selfexpression,
WHOLE LANGUAGE REFERS TO THE WHOLENESS AND
INTER-RELATEDNESS OF LANGUAGE
A whole language oriented classroom is characterized by:
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Reading to children
Dictations (experience charts, child made books, captions)
Environmental print
Games
Music
Process-oriented development of skills
As opposed to a “phonics” oriented classroom, known by:
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Workbooks
Reciting
Tracing
Specific vocabulary words
Direct reading instruction
Testing
Letter units
THIS DOESN’T MEAN THERE’S NO PLACE FOR PHONICS
Phonics is actually one decoding strategy among several
Phonetic
Semantic
Syntactic
Contextual
Once the child is engaged in the process of reading and writing
the teacher can determine the best individual strategy for that child
Inventive spelling needs some phonics, but child-initiated
Children with learning disabilities often need direct instruction
But there needs to be an existing context for its introduction
Very popular these days to combine the two
But that makes for a self-contradiction
Lack of consistent follow through leaves whole language distrusted
WHOLE LANGUAGE CLASSROOM
(“language experience approach”)
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Horizontal communication
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Story time, with interaction
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Especially by kindergarten, an individual reading time
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Dictations
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Charts and environmental print
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Games, activities, music
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By kindergarten can start to introduce rhyming and starting sound games
Prior to kindergarten games that develop the skills and concepts that serve as foundation
• Pegs, legos, art for fine motor skills/eye hand coordination
• Tapes, music, listening games for auditory discrimination
• Puzzles, lottos, matching games for visual discrimination
• Bingo, flannel boards, big books for directionality
• Experience charts, captions, cassette books for spoken/written word connection
• Labels, environmental print, job chart for written word/object connection
• Reading to children, reading oneself, appropriate facilitation and environment for desire
PRESCHOOL CLASSROOM
Inappropriate to “teach” reading and writing
to focus on alphabet except through games and songs
Inappropriate to focus on
spelling, tracing letters, handwriting, requiring name writing
Should focus mostly on oral language as foundation
while facilitating skills toward literacy in process-oriented way
There’s no evidence that earlier is better
the most literate country, Denmark, doesn’t start literacy instruction until 7
no correlation between earlier readers and better or more avid readers
only correlation is between pushing children and non-reading
KINDERGARTEN
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Language area
Reading time
Journals
Written communication
Continued reading to them
Incorporation of drama
Big books
Games
Individual facilitation when ready
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Personal games, dictionaries, word files, key chains