LANGUAGE AND THE DEAF SESSION 7 Jessica Scott, Boston University, February 29, 2012
Dec 31, 2015
LANGUAGE AND THE DEAFSESSION 7Jessica Scott, Boston University, February 29, 2012
Food for thought
“But as far as my work is concerned, I see no impediment, and various advantages, to being deaf.” Stephanie Beacham
Agenda
Discussion Teaching Reading and Writing Break! CI Corner Practice: Working with books Housekeeping
Goals for the Session
To understand the various skills that are necessary for reading
To consider how these skills relate to writing
To consider modifications to literacy instruction for Deaf children
To think about using text interpretation, as Livingston suggests, as a teaching methodology
Agenda
Discussion Teaching Reading and Writing Break! CI Corner Practice: Working with books Housekeeping
Discussion: David!
Discussion Board Interlude
One main point that Livingston stresses again and again is to focus on meaning and motivation. I agree with her that grammar is not a very interesting, meaningful, or motivational topic for students. Picking reading material that makes students want to read is better than picking beginning "readers" only for their grammatical simplicity.
Discussion Board Interlude
There are great examples for different interpretation strategies: explicitness, reiteration, background knowledge, relating text to children’s experiences, picture reference and deletions. I could visualize myself doing those things during reading aloud. But actual doing it, can I do well? I think it would be good idea if we each have a children book and practice doing it, and the audience could give constructive feedback.
Agenda
Discussion Teaching Reading and Writing Break! CI Corner Practice: Working with books Housekeeping
What is reading?
RDIAENG. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh
uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.
So… reading can’t just be about decoding, thankfully
What is reading?
“The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups depending on their makeup. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step; otherwise you are pretty well set. It is better to do few things at once than too many. Remember mistakes can be expensive. At first, the whole procedure will seem quite complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another fact of life.”
What is reading?
“The procedure is actually quite simple. First you arrange things into different groups depending on their makeup. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step; otherwise you are pretty well set. It is better to do few things at once than too many. Remember mistakes can be expensive. At first, the whole procedure will seem quite complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another fact of life.”
Bransford & Johnson (1973) WASHING CLOTHES
Think*Pair*Share
THINK for one minute about how you learned how to read. What was helpful for you? What was not helpful?
PAIR with a person or two sitting close by
SHARE your thoughts on your own reading development
Thinking about the reading
Livingston had excellent suggestions for teaching reading: Text interpretation
Explicitness (adding information to make the story clearer) Reiteration (emphasizes important ideas) Background knowledge (to tell students what they need to
know to understand the story Relating text to children’s experiences (talking about what
students know makes it meaningful) Picture references (pictures often contain important info) Deletions (sometimes there is info not needed to
understand) What do you think about these strategies?
Literacy and Deaf Students
We know that Deaf children have different needs than hearing children in terms of learning to read Do they have Deaf parents? Do their parents sign?
Do they have a strong foundation in ASL? However, lots of lessons for teaching Deaf
children to read have come from literature on hearing children (See Schirmer & McGough’s article on the National Reading Panel and Deaf children) I have seen Deaf Education classrooms using
guided reading, literature circles, and writer’s workshop
So with that in mind…
We will talk through these instructional approaches, while thinking about modifications that might be necessary for Deaf students…
…As well as talking about approaches that have been designed specifically for Deaf students!
Guided reading: General
Small groups of children (3-5)
Flexible grouping “Instructional Level”
text Which the student
can read with support, but could not read on his or her own
With scaffolding from the teacher
Guided Reading: General
What does a guided reading lesson look like? Book introduction
Short description or reminder from last time Vocabulary introduction
Of words that may trip them up Comprehension strategy instruction
Which skill are you working on? Independent reading with conferences
With a running record Discussion or Extension activity
Guided reading: General
The goal of guided reading is to provide enough support that children are able to practice word reading and comprehension skills in an appropriately leveled book
Guided Reading: Modifications for Deaf Students
One on one, rather than small group Most classrooms are already quite small,
students may be reading on very different levels
Should ask students to read silently, rather than orally, as signing word-for-word will not maintain meaning
Have you seen guided reading sessions with Deaf students? Were they successful?
Messy Hair Club
Kristin DiPerri A short piece of text (sentence up to a
whole paragraph, depending on the ability of the student) is displayed for the class Student stands with his/her back to the
audience and read silently Student turns around and signs it in ASL Other students and teacher give feedback
Encourages translation and separation of languages
Literature circles
Students have a say in the book they will read
Students do NOT read during group meeting time, they read either at home or at another time in the school day
Student driven – the teacher is a discussion facilitator, who after a little while should be able to say almost nothing
Literature circles
Procedures: Establish roles (or not)
Discussion facilitator, illustrator, connector, summarizer, word wizard, figurative language finder (Daniels)
Students discuss book – using roles, or more independently Minimal support or guidance from the teacher
Set goals for next time How much to read, goals for discussion
Literature Circles
How do you think these might work in classrooms with Deaf children?
What problems might you foresee in implementing such an activity?
Could Livingston’s strategies be helpful here?
Teaching Writing
Fluency is important! We want students to feel comfortable
getting their ideas out We don’t want them to feel like they cannot
write because they can’t spell every single word
Experimenting is important Students should know that writing is to
communicate ideas, and try out different ways to do so
Teaching Writing: Writer’s Workshop
Writer’s workshop is extremely popular in general education as a writing approach Takes students through the entire writing
process (brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, publishing)
Students work at their own pace Mini-lessons are designed to target student
needs Do you think such an approach is
feasible in a classroom with Deaf children? Why or why not? What modifications might need to be made?
Teaching Writing: Modifications for Deaf Students
Kristin DiPerri (and Todd Czubeck?): Quick writes Students are shown a picture or other
prompt Students write for 15 minutes, silently Students use hand-shapes from ASL to
stand in for unknown English words Have you seen this strategy in
classrooms in the past? What did you think of it?
Agenda
Discussion Teaching Reading and Writing Break! CI Corner Practice: Working with books Housekeeping
Break!
Agenda
Discussion Teaching Reading and Writing Break! CI Corner Practice: Working with books Housekeeping
CI Corner
Effects of Cochlear Implants on Children’s Reading and Academic Achievement By Marschark, Rhoten & Fabich 2007, Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf
Education
Selected Abstract
This review, however, reveals that although there are clear benefits of cochlear implantation to achievement in young deaf children, empirical results have been somewhat variable. Examination of the literature with regard to reading achievement suggests that the lack of consistent findings might be the result of frequent failures to control potentially confounding variables such as age of implantation, language skills prior to implantation, reading ability prior to implantation, and consistency of implant use.
What did they do?
Looked at research on cochlear implantation from a number of studies
What are their important findings: Children with implants and strong oral
language still may struggle in the classroom
Cochlear implants do not guarantee high levels of achievement Even those with early implantation
Agenda
Discussion Teaching Reading and Writing Break! CI Corner Practice: Working with books Housekeeping
Practice: Thinking about books You will receive a picture book In groups of three, consider Livingston’s
discussion of text interpretation How might you read this book with Deaf students? How would you use Livingston’s strategies during
reading? explicitness, reiteration, background knowledge,
relating text to children’s experiences, picture reference and deletions
Volunteers will read their book for the class to get feedback
Agenda
Discussion Teaching Reading and Writing CI Corner Break! Practice: Working with books Housekeeping
Assignments Housekeeping
The second essay is now posted to the wiki
It is due by class time next Wednesday Either via e-mail or hard copy
Assignments Housekeeping
Your final paper proposal is due between March 21 and April 11 Flexible dates to give you time to consider
what you want to research 1-2 pages
Discussion of what topic you are interested in researching
A broad outline Some possible references
Questions?
Housekeeping: General
Next week we will start our discussion of Vygotsky
Remember to switch to the Vygotsky book (We will finish up REDS later)
No student discussion next week!
Have a fantastic week!