Danielle Francis
Dr. Casey
ELD 307: Emergent Literature
09 February 2011
Reading Log # 4
I.
Observations
A. Things I have noticed about the reading / viewing that is important for my
teaching are:
1. Alphabetic layer
a. First layer
b. Stage 1: Emergent Spelling
i.
Not yet reading conventionally, and have not
been exposed to formal reading instruction
ii.
0-5 years
iii.
range from random marks to legitimate letters
that bear relationship to sound
c. Stage 2: Letter Name – Alphabetic Spelling
i.
Formally taught to read
ii.
5- 8 years
iii.
Use names of the letters as cues to the sound
they want to represent
iv.
Letter name spelling is based on the
predominant strategy of using letter names to
represent speech sounds.
v.
Applied primarily to consonants
vi.
The middle elements of syllables, the vowels,
are usually omitted.
vii.
Often lacks spacing between words
d. Middle to late letter name – alphabetic spelling
i.
Mastery of most beginning and ending
consonants
ii.
Consistent use of vowels
iii.
Short vowels are used but confused, as in miss
spelled as mes and much as mich
e. By end of this stage:
i.
Able to consistently represent most regular
short-vowel sound, diagraphs, and consonant
blends because they have full phonemic
segmentation.
ii.
Preconsonantal nasals (nasals that come before a
consonant)
iii.
Begin to use but confuse silent long-vowel
markers such as the silent -e
2. Pattern layer
a. Second layer
b. Stage 3: Within Word Pattern Spelling
i.
Automatic knowledge of letter sounds and
short-vowel patterns
ii.
7-10 years
iii.
First study the common long-vowel sounds
iv.
Most difficult patters are ambiguous vowels –
sound is neither short nor long and the same
pattern may represent different sounds (ou in
mouth, cough, through, and tough)
v.
Must also consider the meaning layer and use of
homophones
3. Meaning layer
a. Third Layer
b. Stage IV: Syllables and Affixes Spelling
i.
Where syllables meet and meaning units such as
affixes (prefixes and suffixes)
ii.
9-14 years
iii.
Many errors are in two syllable words and fall at
places where syllables and affixes meet
iv.
Toward the end of the stage, students grapple
with affixes that change the meaning of the
word
c. Stage V: Derivational Relations Spelling
i.
Examine who words share common derivations
and related base words and word roots.
ii.
The meaning and spelling of parts of words
remain constant across different but
derivationally related words
iii.
Frequent errors with the reduced vowel in
derivationally related pairs
iv.
Spelling errors having to do with using but
confusing issues of consonant doubling in
absorbed prefixes
d. Examples of these include:
i.
prefixes
ii.
suffixes
iii.
greek roots
iv.
latin stems
v.
4. Some activities which foster Phonemic Development:
a. Beginning-Middle-End
b.
c.
d.
e.
Say-It-And-Move-It
Scaffolded Spelling
Word Mapping
Word Wall Boxes
5. Websites which highlight the 5 areas of phonemic awareness:
a. Phonemic awareness games and activities
i.
Source: www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elemen
tary/palmasola/rcompindex1.htm
ii.
Source: www.readwritethink.org; click on
“learning about language” and then scroll down
the list to “phonemic awareness”
iii.
Source: www.songsforteaching.com/avni/allit
erativebooks.htm
iv.
Source: www.getreadytoread.org
v.
Source: http://teams.lacoe.edu/documentation/
classrooms/patti/k-1/activities/phonemic.html
II.
6. Assessment:
a. Observe Students’ Reading
i.
Ability to read letters correctly lies a little ahead
of students’ spelling accuracy
ii.
Reading errors show what students are using but
confusing
iii.
Zone of proximal development
iv.
Assessments should also include informal
qualitative spelling inventories
b. Qualitative Spelling Inventories
i.
Lists of words chosen to represent a variety of
spelling features or patterns at increasing levels
of difficulty.
ii.
4 basic steps: select based on grade /
achievement levels (administer like a spelling
test without allowing students to study words),
analyze students’ spellings using a feature
guide, organize groups using a classroom
composite form and / or the spelling by stage
form, monitor overall progress by using the
same inventory several times a year.
Wonderings?
A. What questions do these readings / viewings open up for you?
1. Why is it important to have differentiating assessments routinely
throughout the year? How does this help students?
2. Why is extremely important as a teacher to understand what is
developmentally appropriate in the different stages of literacy
development?
3. Why is it important as a teacher to have varying resources, like
websites, which highlight particular activities to share with
students? How does this make you a better teacher?
4. Why is it important to have students work in groups as well as
independently? How does this help foster literacy development?
5. How are Phonics and Word definition, described in Chapter 2 of
Reutzel and Cooter, a helpful transition into the later stages of
literacy development?
6. How does knowing that word development progresses in stages
help a teacher instruction? What does this say about how we
learn?
III.
Connections:
A. Some connections I can make to the text(s) / viewings are:
1. During my first day in the field at Constable Elementary School,
I read with a group of students. While reading “I did it, I’m
Sorry” by Caralyn Beuhner, I discovered that many of the
readers were in the Letter-Name – Alphabetic Stage. While
reading, the students would sound out letters (they used the
names of the letters as cues to the sound they want to represent).
It was interesting because just by listening to the students read, I
could get a better understanding of the stages of literacy
development. For instance, we came across the word “comb” and
one student pronounced the word as “com;” he entirely skipped
over the letter “b.” I thought this was rather interesting because
in the reading it says that the early alphabetic stage student
usually applies this principle primarily to consonants and vowels
are usually omitted. However, as we have learned, variation is
expected. I would classify this student in the early letter-name
alphabetic spelling stage and not the middle to late letter-name
stage because this student did not use silent long-vowel markers
in this case of the word comb.
2. During the reading period, I also noticed that students did have a
lot of difficulty with ambiguous vowels, such as the ou in mouth,
cough, through, and tough. Many of the students would try to
sound out the letters and come up with rather odd words; they
lack the ability to recognize the “gh” sound pattern is actually
represented as an “f” sound in the English orthography. This is
something that continues to develop during stage III or within
word pattern spelling.
3. On the bulletin boards in the classroom, there were many
drawings with captions posted throughout the room. For
instance, The Bulletin read “Great Work” and underneath it were
all the students’ writings / drawings. I noticed that much of the
spelling was not correct, but I could decipher the words rather
easily by sounding them out. There were many dominant
consonant sounds in their captions. Most importantly, however,
the students writing matched their drawings. Therefore, it means
that students are establishing what it means to write to convey
meaning. That was one of the main topics explored throughout
our readings so far.
4. One of the most noticeable things in Mrs. Bevan’s second grade
classroom was the library collection available to students. The
entire back wall was covered in books ranging from fiction to
non-fiction and encompassed a many diverse interests such as
ballet, butterflies, roller coasters, and snakes. I think that it is
important to have a wide variety of genres in the classroom
because it allows children to recognize that writing can be done
in a variety of ways for a variety of reasons. I also think that it is
important to have a great many books which encompass both
boys and girls interest. Mrs. Bevan’s classroom is ideal for
reading and writing.