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1. Oral language fluency develops before the ability read and write does. That’s why teachers need to do all they can to teach speaking and listening skills in the early grades, so later reading and writing have a foundation to build on. Creating situations for listening and speaking look very different in kindergarten vs. middle school. Establishing rules, like listening quietly to others, waiting your turn to speak, responding appropriately to teachers and classmates, and building on conversations begins early. Young students may listen to a teacher read a story and respond to questions, for example. Only later will they learn to read those stories themselves and write down those responses.

2. My discipline is secondary English, and by then more collaborative oral interaction is possible, often based on students doing research that requires being able to read with comprehension. Students should be able to present information orally, often with the help of technology, and also pose thoughtful questions or observations based on another student’s presentation, for example. Readers’ Theatre is also good for this purpose. Students don’t have to memorize text, just practice to understand the characters and read with expression.

3. Equity and justice are a little vague when it comes to oral fluency. I think maybe it comes down to two things: a. Students can research areas of interest related to their culture. How they talk about that, and how their classmates respond with respect and appropriate questions and comments, will facility a sense of safety in the classroom and more of a willingness to share b. Related to that is the idea that dialects and accents only reflect a student’s culture, not their intelligence and certainly not their worth. “Different” is only that, not “lesser,” and our differences are to be appreciated, not criticized.

https://youtu.be/XJpKkKq2kik

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1.Phonological/phonemic awareness is an essential literacy skill since it is a good predictor of how well a student will learn to read. If a student can hear the different individual sounds that make up words and blend them, learning to read words and putting them together for understanding leads to oral fluency. One way to teach this in the early grades is for children to clap out the words in a sentence, then move on to clapping syllables. They can hear that words are made up of blended parts.

2. The only way that I think this might be applicable to the secondary level would be in poetry. Alliteration, onomatopoeia, and even just rhyme have to do with the way words and parts of words sound rather than how they are written. If you see “through” and “drew” at the end of two lines of poetry, you have a rhyming couplet, even though the words don’t look anything alike.

3. Sometimes students might have difficulty breaking down sounds and parts of words because they have learned to say a word “incorrectly” from standard English, even though in their community their pronunciation of a word is acceptable. After all, the purpose of speech is to communicate, and unless the word you are saying is incomprehensible, words can have different pronunciations. I’m thinking of the word “ask” sometimes being pronounce as “aks.” As a teacher you can break up that word into the phonemes a/s/k rather than a/k/s to help a student hear the standard pronunciation. In another example, in the south, “fire” is often one syllable. Other places in the country people say “fi-er.” Both simply reflect dialectical differences.

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1. Phonics is to reading what phonemics is to listening. It teaches the relationships between the letters of written language and the sounds of spoken language. When learning to read, phonics teaches kids to decode the pronunciation of written words by sounding out the letters of the alphabet. This not only helps with word recognition and reading comprehension, but also spelling. Early learners can look at words that all begin with the same letter, for example, to see and hear how they sound the same in different words. Of course some letters do have more than one sound. Usually those are called hard and soft sounds – the c in cat and circle, for example. There’s always some exception to the rule in English!

2. By middle or high school, students are aware that some words are pronounced nothing like they look. “Site” and “cite” are technology words that are probably familiar to most kids and lists of English homophones are easy to find. The more sophisticated readers become, the more they become aware of the phonics rules that don’t work, and at in middle school some study of the history of our language can be made engaging by learning that “knight” wasn’t always pronounced “night,” and why the heck is “colonel” pronounced “kernal”?

3. When children learn to write, all of them, regardless of culture or ethnicity, write words the way they sound to them. The only issue I can think of regarding equity and justice in phonics is to be accepting of these “mistakes” and return to earlier teaching of the sounds the letters of the alphabet make. This doesn’t seem to be an equity issue. Teachers should always start from where a student already is in hearing the sounds that correspond to the letters they know.

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1. Reading fluently means reading smoothly and accurately with understanding. This is easier when reading silently because good readers anticipate words and meaning from context. Reading aloud fluently takes practice, but it is teachable. Sometimes it helps readers to move their index finger under a line, trying not to stop on the individual words but progressing through the reading. Even kindergarteners can recognize simple punctuation and pause when they see commas and periods. As students become more proficient in reading, they learn to chunk phrases rather than resting on individual words in a sentence. It helps in the early grades when words are repeated in a text: “Tony walked to the store. At the store Tony bought some grapes. The grapes were red and sweet. Tony took the sweet grapes home from the store to his family.”

2. In middle or high school, a technique for older students would be to read with a highlighter and highlight unfamiliar words but continue reading with the idea that you can look them up later or that the context will become clear and so you will understand the meaning of the word. And as always, fluency while reading aloud takes practice. Readers’ Theater was mentioned earlier. Giving students a script that they simply have to practice and not memorize is a good way to promote fluency. Practice would include making eye contact and using expressive gestures too.

3. Equity in a classroom frequently involves accommodating learners’ different styles, and this is probably most apparent in reading fluency. Dyslexia requires many specialized teaching techniques at all grade levels. Students who have ADHD often have trouble focusing, so dividing passages into smaller units with breaks in between reading would help them. And aural learners might benefit from listening to a recording – professional or by the teacher – of a particular text, since they can stop and start the recording as needed. They might also be allowed to speak rather than write an assignment, although ultimately fluency in writing needs to be addressed.

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1. Reading comprehension is the end goal. What is the point of learning all the parts – phonemes, spelling, visual cues, if you can’t put it together to understand what you are reading? This can be a slow process as children pick up reading skills at different rates, but the goal is to have a student who can think actively and read fluidly. They have internalized the rules of text structure and can draw on context and their own background knowledge of the content to solve most problems they encounter as they read.

2. Teachers can help students develop comprehension by teaching the basic parts of reading, as have been discussed in prior posts. As children get older, I think that one of the most effective strategies is to model what to do when you are reading and you encounter something you don’t understand. Teachers read a passage in a storybook, for example, and ask young students what’s going on? Tell me about “Joanie.” What do you think will happen? This develops summarizing and predicting skills. Properly summarizing a reading passage shows you understand it.

By upper elementary, students can be taught the two column method of note taking which is great for both fiction and nonfiction. Students summarize sections/events on the left side of a piece of paper (or a computer graph) then write down questions they have, things they don’t understand, words they find confusing, etc., on the right side. This doesn’t interrupt the flow of reading. At some point of course those questions need to be addressed, and collaborative groups are good for that. But often the confusion resolves itself as students continue to read. This is metacognition.

3. I think that equity and justice comes into play in language arts classes, and in fact in all classes, when teachers meet students where they are in terms of ability to read. If a child is far behind his/her peers then it is likely he/she will be in a special reading class as well as an on-level class, or at the very least will be pulled out for extra instruction. But the regular classroom teacher can accommodate the special needs learner through a variety of methods too numerous to explain here in detail. Just as an example, a child with ADHD often has difficulty focusing, so reading extended passages becomes just a recitation of the words without comprehension. Allowing extra time for the child to chunk what he/she is reading and deal with small sections at a time, or take breaks between reading passages and have some one-on-one help (teacher, aide, peer), or even to take an assignment home to finish, will do a lot in facilitating comprehension. It’s not a race, and even college students sometimes need accommodations to allow for more time to work through an assignment slowly and in sections.

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1. Vocabulary study is generally broken down into four subcategories: listening, speaking, reading, and writing, with the first two being essential for basic communication. Children learn vocabulary indirectly just by listening to those around them. They hear adults speak, they listen to stories being read, often following along, and then when they can read well on their own they use context or look up a word’s definition. Children who recognize the sound of words that they read will phonetically connect the word they have heard before and know the meaning of, to the word they have just sounded out and “read” in a book. So children with good oral vocabularies have an advantage in reading comprehension. In some instances, direct instruction in vocabulary is necessary. As students advance in school they encounter more specific vocabulary related to different disciplines – literary vocabulary like transition and metaphor, math vocab like integer and octagon, and a word like hyperbole that is part of both literary and math technical vocabulary but has different meanings.

2. My discipline is English education and most on-level students have reading basics down by middle school, or they are pulled out for individual instruction. Still, specialized vocabulary becomes important in these grades. Reading a novel set in Victorian England would involve a subset of vocabulary that most students wouldn’t be familiar with. Teaching a poetry unit or analyzing a particular author’s style would require knowing literary terms that students may be familiar with but maybe haven’t yet labeled. For example, they know what euphemisms are without necessarily knowing that that’s what those expressions are called.
In elementary school, kids can work with manipulatives, putting together prefixes, roots, and suffixes to create their own words. As they get older they learn the origins of those word parts to help decode new words. They might create their own dictionary of words they encounter in a novel. Having to research those definitions, taking the words apart, giving an example, applying them in context, and maybe even illustrating the word would help them remember its meaning.
And finally, at all levels, just encouraging independent reading and setting aside time for part of a period one day a week will also naturally develop vocabulary. If kids get to choose their own book they may already have background, but they will also be more likely to want to look up words they don’t immediately know or can’t figure out. And even through middle school students enjoy listening to their teacher read to them which also presents a great opportunity to expand vocab through context clues and questioning by the teacher.

3.  When it comes to equity and justice in vocabulary study, teachers realize that students don’t enter school with the same knowledge set. They are sensitive to the different experiences kids may have had and they begin at the child’s level. There are going to be differences in vocabulary depending on a child’s culture, first language, where they were brought up (rural, urban, area of the country), parents’ educational level, etc.. But if differences are handled without judgment, learning new words can be turned into a game. There are many computer programs that let kids work at this individually and they can have fun doing it.
I think that at the secondary level, which is where I will be teaching, acknowledgment that all words are legitimate is important. We all speak a dialect of some sort and use vocabulary with our peers that is more informal than the vocabulary we use in school and maybe even at home. Legitimate isn’t always appropriate, however, so I’m not suggesting that offensive words are okay. But both high school and middle school students know what is acceptable and what isn’t. Emphasizing the importance of knowing standard spoken and written English in order to go to college, have a career, etc. doesn’t invalidate any language they may use in other settings.

https://www.spellingcity.com/teachers-overview.html

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1. Writing is so complex. Listening comes before speaking, speaking before reading, and reading before writing, so children have to have a grasp of all the steps that lead up to those skills before they can put ideas into writing. On top of that, writing involves motor skills like being able to hold a pencil and stay on the paper. Maybe in the near future we won’t even write with pencil and paper, but writing will still involve some sort of physical manipulation even if it’s on a keyboard. Then there are the mechanics of writing. We can pause with our voice but have to have some designation to show that in writing. And finally, as students get older they have to practice the writing process (planning, writing for a particular audience, editing, revising).

2.  Writing is an integral part of language arts, especially at my secondary level. Giving students the opportunity to practice writing for a variety of audiences is important. The entire class could write letters, individual or in groups, to the newspaper or to a politician or school board member about a current topic. Basic software helps correct mechanics, but the most valuable part would be for students to share and revise without the product being graded, until they are satisfied with their letter. Creative writing is also useful. Kids may hate being told to write a story or a poem, but what about an advertisement (with graphics), a journal entry, a paragraph from the point of view of a novel character, reviews of songs, modernizing dialogue in Romeo and Juliet, playing “charades” in writing (great way to improve description skills). Formal essay structure of course has to be covered, but if at first students are allowed to choose their own topic, whether expository or persuasive, the assignment will be more engaging.

3. Equity and justice have to be considered in any form of expression that is subjective. Certain rules of writing are objective; it you don’t put a mark or punctuation at the end of a sentence, your reader may be confused. But then again, in creative writing, that rule isn’t always so strict (ex. E. E. Cummings). Also, at all levels but especially with beginning writers, they write what they hear, and if they hear speech that is never corrected, spelling will always be a problem. It’s kind of like mishearing song lyrics; it can completely change the meaning of what you are trying to communicate. Still, as in all instances of teaching the reading basics, sensitivity and respect for where a student is when they enter is imperative with the goal of learning standard written English as well as acknowledging the value and legitimacy of a student’s vernacular.

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Fluency. Reading Rockets. (2023, January 17). Retrieved February 16, 2023, from https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading-basics/fluency

Phonics and decoding. Reading Rockets. (2023, January 17). Retrieved February 16, 2023, from https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading-basics/phonics

Phonological and phonemic awareness. Reading Rockets. (2023, January 17). Retrieved February 16, 2023, from https://www.readingrockets.org/teaching/reading-basics/phonemic

Submitted by Dr. Marta D. Collier (not verified) on July 24, & Submitted by Patricia Jones (not verified) on May 19. (2020, July 16). Speaking and listening in content area learning. Reading Rockets. Retrieved February 16, 2023, from https://www.readingrockets.org/article/speaking-and-listening-content-area-learning