Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test

The Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test is an assessment that allows a student to make direct comparisons between receptive and expressive vocabulary performance. This assessment presents students with a set of pictures and the examiner must ask them to correctly read the number or point to the picture of the item asked. In RED 4519, Dr. Behrens explained to her students how the Peabody Test is administered and I was very interested in learning because I wanted to use it myself. I decided to use the Peabody for my second AIP and based on my student’s results, I would create an instructional plan to help her needs and build up. The student I worked with had very good receptive vocabulary and I was very impressed that she was a 7-year-old student recognizing 13-year-old words. (REC 5.11) I think that the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test would work excellent with ESOL students since the test is mostly pictures and visuals and ESOL students can identify words based on what they can see with the picture provided. (ESOL 20) Teachers can administer the Peabody test and interpret these test results and apply what the students know. Aside from the Peabody, there are other forms of assessments and evaluation for LEP students. For AIP 2, I used the Peabody test, which can measure language and word recognition, but for AIP 1, I used comprehension tools to help students with literacy and academic content. (ESOL 21) Both AIPs identify the characteristics of language and cognitive development and address cultural and linguistic differences that ESOL students can use and relate to (REC 4.1, REC 4.9) My instructional plans incorporate ESOL accommodations and strategies that they can comprehend.

Highlighter Activity

Dr. Behrens taught us how to use a highlighter activity in class that really caught my attention. The highlighter activity is a way to build metacognition for students. This is an activity that may not work very well with students at a young age because there may be many things they do not understand quite well yet. For this activity,  students will read a passage and highlight with two different colored highlighters. (Choose two highlighters that make a different color when they overlap.) The example in class had blue and pink highlighters that made the color purple when they overlapped. As students are reading, they will highlight what they do not understand in pink and highlight when they do understand in blue. When they reread, they can see what they can change to the color purple using their metacognitive strategies. Using this activity can not only help to build metacognition, but it can be used to summarize, predict, reread, clarifying, connecting, questioning, and using context clues. I think this would be a very engaging activity that does not require much knowledge to do. It is very simple, for a student to use one color highlighter as highlight what they know with previous knowledge and then reread the passage to go over what they did not quite understand and see where they blend. I will definitely use this in my classroom. Highlighters are so much fun :)

Frayer Model

In RED 4519, I learned how to use the Frayer Model and I found this graphic organizer to be very helpful for me as well as for students. I am a very big fan of graphic organizers because I am a visual learner and I like to see things visually and learn this way, rather than learning through listening. I also am a hands-on kinesthetic learner, but I think that seeing things visually gives me an understanding, especially when learning new words. I enjoyed learning about the Frayer Model because it is not the original word and definition sheet we are used to seeing everywhere in classrooms. The Frayer Model shows a box with the vocabulary word in the center and the space around is used to help you learn the word with the definition, synonyms, antonyms, an example, and with a drawing.  I enjoyed using the Frayer Model that I wanted to incorporate this into my AIP to have my student learn new words with this graphic organizer as well. This model gives a chance to learn through examples and definitions, and by drawing a picture, students can memorize the word visually and this is a technique they can use for the rest of their lives, even for non-vocabulary words they learn throughout the future. 

Reflection on AIP

While assessing the QRI with my student, I noticed how difficult it was for my student to recall key ideas. I thought he did a really good job reading the word lists and reading the passage, although there were a couple miscues. Recalling main ideas and details was definitely the toughest portion of the assessment for my student. I have noticed how informal assessments can be very useful in the classroom, especially when determining a child’s reading level. Informal assessments as a professional practice can assist a teacher to help their students succeed. I believe that using these types of informal assessments can also increase a student’s reading comprehension level if the student is assessed regularly. (REC 3.2, REC 3.9) I am glad I got the opportunity to assess a student using the QRI so I know what to change when I assess students of my own. In my future classroom, I would like to use words from the QRI word lists to teach my students how to read them and slowly build up onto bigger words that they will be able to read and understand. I instantly imagine a word wall in my classroom with many of the words students are supposed to know at their grade level. My RED 4519 class with Dr. Behren’s has taught me a lot about sustainable strategies that I can teach my future students to use in their everyday lives. I now know how to use informal assessments and I have learned how to interpret formal assessments also. (REC 3.3) I have learned more about the use of graphic organizers and I plan to use them on many of my lessons as a future teacher as well.

90-minute reading block

In RED 4519, I learned that the 90-minute-reading block is a safeguarded time where the teacher must give a full, uninterrupted, 90-minute reading instruction. Last semester I volunteered in a Kindergarten classroom and I realized how this 90-minute instruction came to life in Mrs. Marques’ classroom. First, she would start with an activity to get the students engaged, then she would read a story to her students, and then she had various centers that the students would rotate in. One of the centers she used was a one-on-one table where she worked with a few students at a time. During this time, Mrs. Marques scaffolds her students and assists students with difficulties in their reading growth. (REC 5.3) Another thing Mrs. Marques assisted her students with was difficulties in any area of the reading components. (REC 4.5) Some students really struggled with vocabulary, while others struggled with phonics, phonemic awareness and comprehension skills. I found the opportunity of working with Mrs. Marques very interesting because I had not been in a classroom during a 90-minute reading block. One ah-ha I learned about the reading block is that it cannot be interrupted. If there is an assembly during the 90-minute reading block, students will not be able to go because the 90-minute block is very essential and the most important 90-minutes throughout the school day. 

Fist to Five!

In RED 4519, I learned a new scale technique that is used in Professional Learning Communities (PLC) and can even be used by students in a classroom. This kind of scale is called the “Fist to Five” scale and this is where students hold up their hands and show the teacher how well they are comprehending the material using a 0 to 5 scale with their fingers. Depending on how well they can comprehend, students will show a number from 0 to 5, 0 being the least and 5 being the greatest. This gives the teacher an understanding of where her students are. Students can also use this Fist to Five scale when they are going over the standards for the week and they can show how well they understood the concept. I think this strategy would work well with ESOL students, because although they may not be able to fully grasp new concepts, they can use their fingers to show how much they know. Teachers can also use this to recognize indicators of learning disabilities and see how well they can comprehend and if they are not, the teacher should spend extra time with the child. (ESOL Strategy 25) Sometimes, they know more than we think! 

Triage

I previously knew about the word “triage” and I have heard it many times before, but instead it was used to refer to things other than education. In education, students in the triage are placed in categories of needs and the highest needs are met first. One ah-ha from learning this in RED 4519, is that a triage can be used for ESOL students as well as mainstream. When I heard of what a triage is, I immediately thought of ESOL students so that I can meet the needs of my ESOL students since it will be more difficult for them to learn in a whole new language. I also thought of my exceptional needs students because I believe it is important that their needs are met early as well. For students that learn differently, it may be difficult to put them in the same categories of needs as the mainstream students. Mainstream students can be taught concepts much quicker than ESOL students or students with exceptional needs. It is important to see how much students gain from instruction, whether they may be ESOL students, mainstream, or diverse populations. (REC 4.3) As a class, I am willing to treat all students equally but I would also like to help my students in need the best I can.

Gradual Release Model

The Gradual Release Model is one of the most important steps to teaching. This is a scaffolding technique that the teacher performs in order for her students to learn how to do something on their own with no assistance or modeling from the teacher.  First thing to do when doing the Gradual Release Model is to explicitly teach. “I do it, we do it, and you do it,” is the basis of this model. First the teacher does it to show the students, then the teacher and the students do it together, and finally the students will be able to do it on their own with no help. Jeff Wilhem added “Y’all do it to the model placed before the “you do it” so that students can do it together before they do it by themselves. The Gradual Release Model is very effective with ESOL students as well as teaching mainstream students because each student needs to be explicitly taught something to learn something new. When teaching ESOL students, it is important to go over the new technique one-on-one because students can benefit better when they are learning alone rather than working as a whole in a classroom. As for testing ESOL students, it is important to consider current issues and know techniques for teaching, scaffolding, and testing. (ESOL 19)

Progressivism and Constructivism

Before taking RED 4519, I had heard about theorists and their learning theories but I never knew which theory belonged to what theorist. I learned that John Dewey is the father of Progressivism and he said that people learn by doing. I also believe in this theory because as children are actively learning and are “doing,” they are also gaining knowledge at the same time. Jerome Bruner believed that learners construct new ideas or concepts based on their current or previous knowledge. Bruner named this theory Constructivism. In both circumstances, students are learning; whether it may be by doing, or by constructing based on knowledge. Progressivism and Constructivism are both theories that can enhance instruction of cultural characteristics in which can benefit an ESOL student. (ESOL 4) Both theories also promote assistance for ESOL students because if a teacher believes in Progressivism, she will teach her students to learn by being actively engaged. This does not require much knowledge of the language, but about knowledge in engaging to learn. If a teacher believes in Constructivism, ESOL students can construct things based on what they already know in their native language and slowly build on as they learn the new language. ESOL students and mainstream students will gain knowledge from either or both theories.