Week 1: Oral Language Development
Jessica Kuiper
Professor Acosta-Teller
ITL 510
2 October 2018
INTRODUCTION
For this assignment, I observed
classes at Vista Verde Elementary School, in the Snowline Joint Unified School
District. I first observed Arianna in Mrs. Jacoby’s Kindergarten class in two 30-minute
increments, rotating between Mrs. Joslin’s 2nd grade class, where I
observed Jackie. Arianna is a native English speaker in Kindergarten, and
Jackie is a 2nd grade E.L.L. student. First, I will discuss
Arianna’s observation, and then I will talk about Jackie’s observation.
ARIANNA’S SETTING AND ENVIRONMENT
When I entered Mrs. Jacoby’s Kindergarten
class, the class was already in their small groups. Arianna’s group consisted
of 6 students: 3 boys and 3 girls. Students were working on a small cut out
book that they were making themselves. Altogether, the book had 6 pages, and
focused on the color green. The students were told to color the pages, both
front and back. Arianna was one of the last students to finish this task. When
the students were finished with their coloring, they moved to the other side of
the table to work on flash cards. The flash cards included sounds, numbers, and
sight words. Arianna knew most of her sight words, and knew all of the numbers
on the flash cards. I observed Arianna in an academic setting for this section.
ARIANNA’S LISTENING SKILLS
When observing Arianna in the academic setting,
it was apparently that she was not a strong listener. Her eyes wandered to
other areas of the room, she began listening to other small group’s
conversations, and she had a hard time focusing during the flash cards. She was
continuously being redirected by Mrs. Jacoby to sit in her seat, and follow
along. I would rate her as below average for her listening skills, because most
students were able to focus and pay attention to their own small groups, without
being distracted. Arianna was easily distracted, which showed that she needs to
self-monitor her listening. When she was paying attention, she showcased her
knowledge of material, and answered almost all questions correctly. When the
students moved to ‘carpet time’ for whole group instruction, Arianna, again,
was easily distracted by other classmates and material in the classroom. Mrs.
Jacoby redirected Arianna to sit ‘crisscross with her hands in her lap’ several
times throughout the activity.
ARIANNA’S SPEAKING SKILLS
Arianna was outstanding in her
speaking skills. When she talked, she used proper verb tenses, and emotion in
her sentences. For example, she told me, “Look at my frog!” I could hear the
excitement in her voice, and her sentence had no errors. I would rate Arianna
above average in her speaking because she was one of the few students who could
be understood each time she talked. Although she talked out of turn often, and
too loudly at times, she was easy to understand, and teachers and classmates
could hold conversations with her. When doing the sight word flash cards, she
was one of the few students who answered each flash card, and a majority of her
answers were correct. Arianna is a confident speaker, and did not shy away from
challenging words.
ARIANNA’S CONVERSATION SKILLS
For this section, I observed Arianna on the
playground at recess. She and her group of 3 friends were on the swing set
having conversations. Again, Arianna’s voice stood out above her friends
because she had a louder voice. They were singing Drake’s popular song, “In My
Feelings.” Arianna said each word correctly, and in rhythm with the beat of the
song. While on the playground, Arianna sang happy birthday to another one of
her friends, and asked her friend how old she was. During recess, Arianna spoke
with multiple students, and was able to carry on conversations with each
student she talked to. Arianna is very outgoing student, which evident in her
ability to talk with any student on the playground. I would give Arianna an
above average rating for this category.
REFLECTION
Arianna’s observation taught me much
information about Kindergarten learners. In the class, I could tell there were
several stages of learners in the class. Some students were easy to understand,
and could speak without many errors. Others mixed up past and present verb
tenses, and were harder to understand. Through this observation, I could see
the areas Arianna needs to work on. Most importantly, she needs to work on her
listening skills, and learning to talk at appropriate times. This observation
was helpful in being able to dedicate time to listen to an individual student
talk, and determine ways in which they can improve their listening, speaking,
or language skills. In this observation, I have improved at being able to
identify strengths and weaknesses in students, and this will be a helpful skill
to have in my own classroom.
JACKIE’S OBSERVATION SETTING
I observed Jackie, a 2nd
grader in Mrs. Joslin’s class. The class had recently added 11 more students to
the class, and had become a 1st/2nd grade combination
class. When I came into the class, the students were copying down ‘-igh’ words
from the board, and then told to write each word 3 more times, highlighting the
‘-igh’ in each word. Jackie was one of the slowest students of copying down the
list, and one of the last students to finish. The class consisted of 31
students, with more males than females in the class. For this activity, the
students were participating as a whole group. When I observed the class again,
they were circled on the carpet in whole group instruction again. The class was
reading, “Words Are Not For Hurting.” After Mrs. Joslin was done reading, she
asked each student to share an important lesson they learned from the book. I
observed Jackie in an academic setting both times I observed the class.
JACKIE’S COMPREHENSION
After observing Jackie, I could tell she
struggled with understanding directions from Mrs. Joslin. Jackie often copied
information down from her table partners, and was always one of the last
students to complete the task. Eventually she would complete the tasks, but she
needed more direct instruction before she was able to understand what was being
asked of her. I’ve scored her a 3 in this category on the SOLOM matrix because
she struggles with comprehending directions.
JACKIE’S FLUENCY AND VOCABULARY
Jackie did not speak often when I was observing
the class. She only spoke up when she was asked a question, and did not
communicate with others in the classroom. I do not know if she is just shy, or
if she was embarrassed to speak incorrectly. I overheard her say to the teacher,
“let me see more closer, please.” This is an awkward phrased sentence, and at 2nd
grade, Jackie should be able to speak more fluently. I’ve scored Jackie a 2 in
this category, because I feel she needs more direct instruction with speaking
English. She needs to learn verb tenses, and how to self monitor her sentences.
Before speaking out load, she should ask herself if her sentence makes sense,
and if not, she should evaluate how to improve her sentence quality. In
vocabulary, I scored Jackie a 3, since she did not hold many conversations with
others in the class. She would mumble silently to herself more than she would
talk about loud, which might prove she is not proficient in English, and is
embarrassed to say something wrong. When I did hear her talk, she used the
wrong verb tenses, and it was often difficult to understand what she was trying
to say.
JACKIE’S PRONUNCIATION AND GRAMMAR
For this area I’ve given Jackie a 3 for
pronunciation and a 2 for grammar. Though she didn’t talk much, I could tell
she struggling with understanding assignments and communication with Mrs.
Joslin. It is important for Jackie to get help with this area of her speaking
because if she doesn’t pronounce words correctly, she will continue to fall
behind her classmates. There will be a language barrier between what she says
and what she means, and what she is able to understand. For her grammar, I’ve
given her a 2 because she continued to reverse words in her sentences. When
asked what her take away from “Words Are Not Meant For Hurting,” her reply was,
“ the teacher says things not to do it.” Her words were out of order, and the
true meaning behind her sentence is not clear. Jackie needs more direct
instruction in pronunciation and grammar in order to become fluent in English.
REFLECTION
Observing
Jackie was helpful for me to compare a fluent and non-fluent English speaker. I
could see where Jackie struggles, and I can tell she holds back from talking to
the rest of the class because of a language barrier. In order for Jackie to
catch up to the rest of her class, she will need more direct instruction of the
English language, and must be pushed to speak to the class more regularly. This
observation has helped me to evaluate students, and find the strengths and
weaknesses in their work. I saw first hand how easy it is for E.L.L. students
to fall behind other students, how students are aware of their weaknesses, and
how this can affect their learning. In comparison to the Kindergarten class,
the 2nd grade class was quieter, and did not talk as much. This left
even less time for Jackie to practice speaking English; the class was more
lecture based, and Mrs. Joslin wanted students to sit quietly at their desks,
unless they were called on. From an observational standpoint, I could see
Jackie was struggling to keep up with the rest of her class, and the gap will
only continue to widen unless Jackie is introduced to more methods of learning
English.
