I greatly enjoyed reading all the different strategies that Gibbons presents in chapter 5. There were several for each stage of reading, before, during, and after. I also liked the point Gibbons makes in the beginning. Understanding text takes more than one strategy and actually requires several strategies at once to figure out whats going on. Especially for ESL students, finding good reading strategies is key to their development in literacy. The pre-reading strategy I thought was good for ESL students was having the story read in their native language first, whether by a parent or the teacher, and then again in English. Even if there are a majority of native English speakers in your classroom it will emphasize the importance and value of foreign languages. It also communicates to the students that all languages are a form of communication.
I also found the list at the end of the book for story criteria quite useful. Repetitive language, and a repetitive event that culminates into a storyline are beneficial to all language learners. It helps them learn the vocabulary of the story quicker and join in reading sooner, and also helps them predict what might happen next. Another good criteria that was in the list was illustrations that represent the text. Text is hard to understand when it stands alone for ESL students, and illustrations can serve as verbal cues to what is happening in the story. It can help them figure out problem words and understand the meaning of the words with less difficulty. Overall I thought the Gibbons chapter had many "gems" for teaching students whether they are ESL or not, especially with the before during and after phases of reading.
Kyle Williams-
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You make a great point when you said that ESL students should read the text in their native language and then again in English. I, also, think this is a vital step in learning. Not only is the child learning the correlation between their native language and English, but they are also learning that it is more important to understand what you are reading than to just be reading the words.
ReplyDeleteWhen vocabulary was discussed, I couldn’t agree more. A student yearns to learn words they already know and use. If we are teaching our students how to spell words or learn the words in English that they don’t use very often we are setting our students up for failure, on both the words we are teaching and the words we are neglecting. Students should learn how to use these words that they use on a regular basis; words they already understand in the first place.