Today, I actually found out that I will be teaching Kindergarten during my student-teaching internship next year! This news inspired me to pay close attention to the information provided by Ormrod through Table 2.2. This table contains information particularly valuable to me on the "Linguistic Characteristics and Abilities" of students in the primary grades, K-2.
In reading and examining Table 2.2, I learned that students in grades K-2 sometimes encounter problems understanding complex sentences, often overly rely on word-order and context when interpreting messages, and regularly misinterpret statements that are indirect or metaphorical. In addition, students may also apply regular word endings to irregular words and may show some reluctance to initiate conversations with adults. Students sometimes also have an incomplete understanding of what it means to be a good listener (they may believe that being a good listener simply means being quiet and sitting still). I also learned that students in grades K-2 become increasingly competent in their story telling abilities, demonstrate mastery of most sounds, and are able to practice basic etiquette in conversations. Keeping in mind this information on K-2 students' linguistic characteristics and abilities, Ormrod suggests the following five strategies.
- Read age-appropriate storybooks as a way of enhancing vocabulary: I absolutely plan to implement this strategy. In Reading Education 430, I learned what a significant, positive influence simply reading stories to children can have on the development of students' reading abilities. Next year in my Kindergarten classroom, I hope to incorporate many Read-Alouds into reading instruction activities. To further help students enhance their vocabularies, I intend to utilize the word wall strategy in which important words are discussed, recited, and displayed on classroom walls.
- Give corrective feedback when students' use of words indicates inaccurate understanding: I feel that this strategy can and should be applied at all grade levels. I think it is extremely important to provide corrective feedback both verbally and on student work (projects, papers, etc.). In order for students to develop and strengthen their linguistic abilities, I must make sure to address and help students correct their misconceptions.
- Work on listening skills (e.g., sitting quietly, paying attention, trying to understand and remember): I must work to help my students develop their listening abilities. Students must understand what it really means to be a good listener. For example, I will teach my children to be "active listeners." Among other things, active listening involves giving the speaker your full attention and making a real effort to remember what is being said. In my future classroom, I plan to display a listening chart similar to the one included below.
- Ask follow-up questions to make sure students accurately understand important messages: I think that it is essential to ask follow-up questions to check for understanding. In my future classroom, I might ask the "same" question in different ways to make sure that students really do understand the meaning of messages and information.
- Ask students to construct narratives about recent events (e.g., "Tell me about your camping trip this weekend."): I certainly plan to implement this strategy in my classroom as well. To incorporate this strategy, I might call on different students to construct brief narratives about their school day, their weekend, their spring break, etc.).
I too plan to incorporate active listening skills in my classroom to show my students that good listeners understand what they hear and don't just sit quietly. I love how you plan to use read-alouds and a word wall to encourage the growth of your students' vocabularies. Reading is one of the main ways that students learn new words and by reading aloud to them and encouraging them to read on their own, you are providing them ways to build their vocabularies. Great post!
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