Engage: I will give each student a worksheet for pronoun-antecedent agreement. I will randomly put a sticker on four worksheets before I pass them out. They will then have the option to come to the board or pick someone else to.
Explore and E-Search: The four students will then come to the board and write the correct antecedent and pronoun on the board. They will have the choice of which sentence they chose.
Explain: I will explain through my power-point presentation the correct way to use pronoun-antecedent agreement and the rules that go with it.
Expand: Together we will go over the worksheet to see if the students did the sentences correctly.
Evaluate: I have provided a homework link, as well as a quiz link for the students. If they feel uncomfortable with pronoun-antecedent agreements these links should help them tremendously! :)
Homework: http://www.towson.edu/ows/modulePAAex1.htm
Quiz: http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/GRAMMAR/cgi-shl/quiz.pl/pronoun_quiz.htm
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Blog Summary: Minimalist Tutoring
Definition of minimalist: (1)one who advocates a moderate or conservative approach, action, or policy as in a political or governmental organization. (2) of, relating to, characteristic of, or in the style of minimalism.
Minimalist tutoring (student-centered tutoring) is an approach to tutoring that seeks to minimize a student's dependence on their tutor. Therefore, the role of the tutor is to act as a guiding tool. The tutor does not proof-read, correct errors, check the style, or explain readings to the student. Instead the tutor works with the student in revising, complicate and develop readings of his or her texts. Basically a minimalist tutor is some-what like a study-buddy. With the tutor the student will find ways to identify her problem areas in writing, plans and ideas on how to improve that writing, and just provide the student with the needed guidance to become an excellent writer.
This form of tutoring works on an individualized basis. Each student has their own tutor to spend one on one time with to ensure that writing, reading and comprehension will be improved. With this basic hands off approach and the comfortable environment of one on one with the student, the tutor allows the student to figure out problem areas on their own, ask questions when needed and to not feel embarrassed when making mistakes.
Minimalist tutoring (student-centered tutoring) is an approach to tutoring that seeks to minimize a student's dependence on their tutor. Therefore, the role of the tutor is to act as a guiding tool. The tutor does not proof-read, correct errors, check the style, or explain readings to the student. Instead the tutor works with the student in revising, complicate and develop readings of his or her texts. Basically a minimalist tutor is some-what like a study-buddy. With the tutor the student will find ways to identify her problem areas in writing, plans and ideas on how to improve that writing, and just provide the student with the needed guidance to become an excellent writer.
This form of tutoring works on an individualized basis. Each student has their own tutor to spend one on one time with to ensure that writing, reading and comprehension will be improved. With this basic hands off approach and the comfortable environment of one on one with the student, the tutor allows the student to figure out problem areas on their own, ask questions when needed and to not feel embarrassed when making mistakes.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
ENG 300-1 Mini Lesson: Semicolon & Colon
8th grade
Engage: Each student will be given an Easter egg. Five so-called lucky students will then be asked to come up to the board.
Explore and E-Search: Five students will come up to the board and correctly place a semicolon or colon in the sentences provided.
Explain: I will explain through my power point presentation the correct ways to use a semicolon and colon.
Expand: The class will then go over the sentences on the board to see if the punctuation was placed correctly.
Evaluate: The students can go to the following website to get a free online quiz. Here they can test their knowledge on the semicolon and colon.
http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar_quiz/semicolons_and_colons_1.asp
Engage: Each student will be given an Easter egg. Five so-called lucky students will then be asked to come up to the board.
Explore and E-Search: Five students will come up to the board and correctly place a semicolon or colon in the sentences provided.
Explain: I will explain through my power point presentation the correct ways to use a semicolon and colon.
Expand: The class will then go over the sentences on the board to see if the punctuation was placed correctly.
Evaluate: The students can go to the following website to get a free online quiz. Here they can test their knowledge on the semicolon and colon.
http://www.grammarbook.com/grammar_quiz/semicolons_and_colons_1.asp
Blog Summary 11: A Comparison of English and German SLI Children
FORMAL FEATURES IN IMPAIRED GRAMMARS: A CAMPARISON OF ENGLISH AND GERMAN SLI CHILDREN
Writen by: Harlad Clahsen, Susanne Bartket, and Sandra Gollner
Writen by: Harlad Clahsen, Susanne Bartket, and Sandra Gollner
SLI stands for specific language impairment.
Introduction
SLI is a developmental language disorder that can affect both expressive and receptive language, it is not related to or caused by other developmental disorders. For example hearing loss or a brain injury that has accured. SLI researchers are trying to set the language problems or SLI kids in the categories of Grammatical theories and theories of grammatical development. It is difficult for SLI kids to know the difference between the elements of a phrase and a clause.
SLI grammar is not the same as impaired childrens grammar. Data has been collected for 9 English and 6 German SLI children. Some of the symptoms that come with SLI are the use of short sentences, and issues making complex sentences. SLI can also be linked with impoverished vocabulary, difficulty learning new words, and complex word finding problems. SLI does continue into adult hood.
SLI GERMAN Children
German SLI children use root infinitives, these are the same grammars as unimpaired children. These children also tend to score low on verb exams, as do SLI English kids. Still with this knowledge SLI children are not incapabale or memorizing irregular verb forms. These children do not have a general idea of the subject verb placement.
SLI English Children
SLI involves a specific impairment of TENSE marking. English SLI students sometimes experience difficulty using the past tense -ed forms. For example SLI English students would confuse a sentence that's in the past tense, and they might say "they was" instead of "they were" or "he don't know" instead of "he doesn't know".
CONCLUSIONS
SLI children tend to have problems with the agreement features of verbs, while the TENSE verbs are far less affected. Alternative explanations have been explored to explain the oddness of SLI, but none that seem realistic.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Blog Summary 10: ASL and Grammar
Since our student, Casey Shepard, did not publish his blog summary that was due today, Wed. 11th, here's the one from the other section. Responses are due on Friday, Feb. 13th, by class time.
_____________________________________
People who communicate through the use of American Sign Language face many of the same dilemmas in learning SWE (Standard Written English) that other ESL students face.
ASL is considered to be a foreign language, just like Japanese, Spanish, or French. ASL “speakers” follow a much different set of guidelines in their language than English speakers. For example, when they are communicating they only use the major words in the sentence – leaving out the articles English speakers are accustomed to. For example, instead of saying “I sit in the chair”, the ASL “speaker” might say “I sit chair”.This is not the only difference in the two languages.
Those you communicate through the use of ASL construct sentences different from what would normally be expected in SWE. When asking somebody a question the ASL “speaker” will typically put the question part of the sentence (such as who, what, when, or where) at the end of the sentence much the way SWE uses a question mark. When stating that something happened in the past ASL “speakers” do not simply change the tense of the verb; they place the word finish before the action. For example:
SWE: I wrote this blog post.ASL: I finish write this blog post.
When citing a specific time, ASL “speakers” place the time at the beginning. To take the last example a step further:
SWE: I wrote this blog post last night.ASL: Last night I finish write this blog post.
To take it a step further, ASL requires that the “speaker” perform movements to help the “listener” understand the message. These movements include head movements, holding signs longer, or even raising/lowering their eye brows.
It is nice to know this information but unless it is applied it is only information. It is important to know this because ASL ‘speakers” are required to write in SWE when they write. This means that they are required to take their own words and translate those words into a different language (SWE) every time they must write. To best help the ASL “speaking” student a teacher must understand the dilemmas faced by the student as well as what kind of errors to expect and how to help them fix those mistakes and become better writers.
By: Eric Yearian
_____________________________________
People who communicate through the use of American Sign Language face many of the same dilemmas in learning SWE (Standard Written English) that other ESL students face.
ASL is considered to be a foreign language, just like Japanese, Spanish, or French. ASL “speakers” follow a much different set of guidelines in their language than English speakers. For example, when they are communicating they only use the major words in the sentence – leaving out the articles English speakers are accustomed to. For example, instead of saying “I sit in the chair”, the ASL “speaker” might say “I sit chair”.This is not the only difference in the two languages.
Those you communicate through the use of ASL construct sentences different from what would normally be expected in SWE. When asking somebody a question the ASL “speaker” will typically put the question part of the sentence (such as who, what, when, or where) at the end of the sentence much the way SWE uses a question mark. When stating that something happened in the past ASL “speakers” do not simply change the tense of the verb; they place the word finish before the action. For example:
SWE: I wrote this blog post.ASL: I finish write this blog post.
When citing a specific time, ASL “speakers” place the time at the beginning. To take the last example a step further:
SWE: I wrote this blog post last night.ASL: Last night I finish write this blog post.
To take it a step further, ASL requires that the “speaker” perform movements to help the “listener” understand the message. These movements include head movements, holding signs longer, or even raising/lowering their eye brows.
It is nice to know this information but unless it is applied it is only information. It is important to know this because ASL ‘speakers” are required to write in SWE when they write. This means that they are required to take their own words and translate those words into a different language (SWE) every time they must write. To best help the ASL “speaking” student a teacher must understand the dilemmas faced by the student as well as what kind of errors to expect and how to help them fix those mistakes and become better writers.
By: Eric Yearian
Blog Summary 9: Twins and Language
Since our student, Ryan Magee, did not publish his post, please find below Blog Summary 9 from my other section. Responses are due on Friday, Feb. 13th, at class time.
_______________________________________________
There is a pervasive assumption in the twin and language development literature that twins are somewhat delayed in language development and more prone to language disabilities.
In the assigned article, the author summarizes several different case studies performed with the intention of discerning whether or not there was a language delay in twins. One early study in particular found that twins usually either spoke in shorter sentences or not very much at all compared to a person of single birth.
There was also a slight difference in a twin's vocabulary than that of a singleton.
Also it was not just biological factors, low birth weight and birth order, that separated the twin case studies but that of maternal speech to the child that added into the resulting language delays. So both biological and environmental factors effect the speech of twins. Even with these factors, most twins don't suffer from any sort of language impairment once they've reached early childhood.
The author does state however that there are several flaws in these case studies. One study described that the researchers did not find it necessary to separate the twins with actual learning impairments from the other twins which lowered the overall results of the study. The researchers also did not record birth weight and birth order of the twins, which has been learned to factor in to language delay. The twins also were not observed independently from one another which might have skewed the results as well.
Most research though has come to the conclusion that it is not biological but social factors that leads twins to having more of a language delay than singletons. They believe this is because as a twin you tend to receive less direct parental speech.
The article also concludes with the idea that the more older siblings you have, the lower your IQ. The general sibling situation states that the lower a child's birth position the lower his or her IQ will be. Even more so when it comes to twins because having a twin is the most extreme case possible of having a sibling.
I felt that the article showed so much fault in the studies that I could not really believe in the results. And since the author said no language delays exist after early childhood, that it really is not fair to single out twins as having language development issues.
by: Danielle McCarty
_______________________________________________
There is a pervasive assumption in the twin and language development literature that twins are somewhat delayed in language development and more prone to language disabilities.
In the assigned article, the author summarizes several different case studies performed with the intention of discerning whether or not there was a language delay in twins. One early study in particular found that twins usually either spoke in shorter sentences or not very much at all compared to a person of single birth.
There was also a slight difference in a twin's vocabulary than that of a singleton.
Also it was not just biological factors, low birth weight and birth order, that separated the twin case studies but that of maternal speech to the child that added into the resulting language delays. So both biological and environmental factors effect the speech of twins. Even with these factors, most twins don't suffer from any sort of language impairment once they've reached early childhood.
The author does state however that there are several flaws in these case studies. One study described that the researchers did not find it necessary to separate the twins with actual learning impairments from the other twins which lowered the overall results of the study. The researchers also did not record birth weight and birth order of the twins, which has been learned to factor in to language delay. The twins also were not observed independently from one another which might have skewed the results as well.
Most research though has come to the conclusion that it is not biological but social factors that leads twins to having more of a language delay than singletons. They believe this is because as a twin you tend to receive less direct parental speech.
The article also concludes with the idea that the more older siblings you have, the lower your IQ. The general sibling situation states that the lower a child's birth position the lower his or her IQ will be. Even more so when it comes to twins because having a twin is the most extreme case possible of having a sibling.
I felt that the article showed so much fault in the studies that I could not really believe in the results. And since the author said no language delays exist after early childhood, that it really is not fair to single out twins as having language development issues.
by: Danielle McCarty
Friday, February 6, 2009
Blog Summary 8: Down's Syndrome and Nonword Repetition Test
Responses are due on Monday, Feb. 9th
_______________________________________
The Use of Nonword Repetition as a Test of Phonological Memory in Children with Down Syndrome
Recent research suggests a significant relationship between verbal short-term memory and normal language development. Poor short-term memory and impaired language are features of Down Syndrome.
This study report the use of nonword repetition with 33 children and teenagers with Down Syndrome aged from 5-18 years, and investigates the relationship between this test and other memory and language measures.
Nonword repetition was significantly correlated with age, and when age and nonverbal cognitive ability were controlled, nonword repetition was significantly correlated with all other language-based memory measures, i.e. auditory digit span, word span, sentence repetition, and fluency, and also with memory for a sequence of hand movements, but not with memory for faces or a visual digit span task.
Down Syndrome, or trisomy 21, is the most common cause of learning disability, affecting an estimated 1/700 to 1/1000 live births. (Hassold & Jacobs) Besides physical appearance a number of other features are associated with the syndrome such as language impairment (Rondal), language development and dissociation within the language system (Fowler & Lenneberg).
There has been considerable research to investigate the memory deficit itself. One way to think of it is with a working memory model created by Baddeley and Hitch. The model includes the notion of separate systems for the processing of visuo-spatial material and verbal material.
The main focus of research on memory in Down Syndrome has thus been on the description of syndrome-specific deficits, the investigation of possible causes, such as a lack of rehearsal, or the remediation of these memory problems.
Hulme and Mackenzie hypothesize that language problems lead to memory problems that, in turn, affect skills such as reading comprehension. In normal development, individual differences in short term memory capacity correlate with reading ability. Findings suggest that learning to read may lead to improved auditory and visual memory skills as well as better vocabulary understanding and language comprehension.
By Lara Nederveen Pieterse
_______________________________________
The Use of Nonword Repetition as a Test of Phonological Memory in Children with Down Syndrome
Recent research suggests a significant relationship between verbal short-term memory and normal language development. Poor short-term memory and impaired language are features of Down Syndrome.
This study report the use of nonword repetition with 33 children and teenagers with Down Syndrome aged from 5-18 years, and investigates the relationship between this test and other memory and language measures.
Nonword repetition was significantly correlated with age, and when age and nonverbal cognitive ability were controlled, nonword repetition was significantly correlated with all other language-based memory measures, i.e. auditory digit span, word span, sentence repetition, and fluency, and also with memory for a sequence of hand movements, but not with memory for faces or a visual digit span task.
Down Syndrome, or trisomy 21, is the most common cause of learning disability, affecting an estimated 1/700 to 1/1000 live births. (Hassold & Jacobs) Besides physical appearance a number of other features are associated with the syndrome such as language impairment (Rondal), language development and dissociation within the language system (Fowler & Lenneberg).
There has been considerable research to investigate the memory deficit itself. One way to think of it is with a working memory model created by Baddeley and Hitch. The model includes the notion of separate systems for the processing of visuo-spatial material and verbal material.
The main focus of research on memory in Down Syndrome has thus been on the description of syndrome-specific deficits, the investigation of possible causes, such as a lack of rehearsal, or the remediation of these memory problems.
Hulme and Mackenzie hypothesize that language problems lead to memory problems that, in turn, affect skills such as reading comprehension. In normal development, individual differences in short term memory capacity correlate with reading ability. Findings suggest that learning to read may lead to improved auditory and visual memory skills as well as better vocabulary understanding and language comprehension.
By Lara Nederveen Pieterse
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Our Survey Topics for Test-Taking
Below are our survey topics for test-taking of the surveys on Wednesday, Feb. 11th.
INSTRUCTIONS for in-class activity on Wed., Feb. 11th:
We are taking each other's surveys, to make sure everything works!!!
Before you start, open the SURVEY GRADING RUBRIC posted on livetext in the "evaluation" section. You will fill it in, and email it to your peers whose surveys you are taking. You will assign the student a final grade for his/her survey.
1) Each student has to test-take the three surveys following his or her name on the list below. The last student on the list skips to the first three names from the list!
(If you don't finish in class, test-take them from home. Deadline for test-taking and comment emails to peers and me is Wednesday, Feb. 11th, at midnight, because the survey authors need at least one day to fix their surveys which are due Friday, Feb. 13th.)
2) When you test-take your peers' surveys, take a piece of paper and write comments on it (which bullets make no sense, which "default section" headline was not changed to a meaningful title, which words were misspelled, which question should be re-formulated, which additional options should be added, whether it was customer-friendly, etc.), and then email these comments to the author of the survey you took. You all know each other's email addresses ;-)
3) Email your three "comment emails" to me as cc, for credit!
4) DEADLINE for our audiences to take our surveys is Monday, February 23rd, at 10:00 a.m. Type it into our header.
5) As soon as you have received your 3 peer-feedback emails with the comments, go ahead and repair your survey accordingly! The repaired survey version is due on Friday, Feb. 13th, for grading by me.
EMAIL me the link of your final (repaired) survey. CAREFUL: it is NOT the link you see in the "menu list" on your screen (this one leads only to the surveymonkey.com login page).
Here is the path how to create the link:
go to "My Survey" --> go to "Collect" --> put the bullet in "Create a link to send in your own email message or to place on a webpage --> click on "Next Step" --> copy the URL you see under "Sending Survey Link in an Email" --> put this URL in an email you send to me on Friday, Feb. 13th!
If you want to see how I am grading the surveys, go to "Evaluations" in our livetext profile, and look at the "Survey Grading Rubric."
EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY for people who missed more than three (allowed) classes unexcused: You can make up ONE day in the past by test-taking THREE additional surveys. In this case, proceed as above, just pick any three surveys you'd like to take (email your peers and me your comment email and grading rubric, but WRITE IN THE EMAIL TO ME: MAKE-UP for.... (and the day for which you are making up)!!!
You can make up for as MANY missed blog COMMENTS as you want by taking an additional survey for each!!! Proceed as above; email the authors and me (as cc) your grading rubrics and comments, and write in the email, "make-up for.... and the topic of your missed blog comment."
SURVEY TOPICS:
1. Nadia Aldroubi: Ebonics in the Workplace
2. Jacqueline Bessette: The Effect of Computers on College Grammar
3. Jennifer Bond: Internet Lingo
4. Monica Brennan: Ebonics and Prejudice
5. Megan Caraballo: Ebonics
6. Adam Chadderton: Internet Lingo
7. Sara Childers: Gender & Grammar
8. Emilie Collier: Autism
9. Jason DeBoer: Text Messaging and its Effect on Grammar
10. Edward Dover: Autism
11. Lauryn Fisherkeller: The Effectiveness of ENG101
12. Jeremy Garrett: Ebonics
13. Diana Howell: The Importance of Teaching Different Learning Styles to Autistic People
14. Romona Jackson: AAE
15. Julia Longueville: English Teachers in SI & Grammar
16. Nathan Maul: Correctness of Grammar vs. Level of Education
17. Lara NP: Internet Slang
18. Henry Phillips: Is AAE a Real Language?
19. Jermaine Pryor: Ebonics
20. Casey Shepard: Ebonics & Slang
21. Daniel Sokolowski: The Effects of Texting Slang on English Language
ATTENTION:
You are NOT sending your surveys out yet!!!!!!
We are taking them in class first, then I'll grade them, then we'll compose an introductory letter, and only when you have MY WRITTEN APPROVAL you can email them out to a list of at least 20 people!!!!!!!!!
INSTRUCTIONS for in-class activity on Wed., Feb. 11th:
We are taking each other's surveys, to make sure everything works!!!
Before you start, open the SURVEY GRADING RUBRIC posted on livetext in the "evaluation" section. You will fill it in, and email it to your peers whose surveys you are taking. You will assign the student a final grade for his/her survey.
1) Each student has to test-take the three surveys following his or her name on the list below. The last student on the list skips to the first three names from the list!
(If you don't finish in class, test-take them from home. Deadline for test-taking and comment emails to peers and me is Wednesday, Feb. 11th, at midnight, because the survey authors need at least one day to fix their surveys which are due Friday, Feb. 13th.)
2) When you test-take your peers' surveys, take a piece of paper and write comments on it (which bullets make no sense, which "default section" headline was not changed to a meaningful title, which words were misspelled, which question should be re-formulated, which additional options should be added, whether it was customer-friendly, etc.), and then email these comments to the author of the survey you took. You all know each other's email addresses ;-)
3) Email your three "comment emails" to me as cc, for credit!
4) DEADLINE for our audiences to take our surveys is Monday, February 23rd, at 10:00 a.m. Type it into our header.
5) As soon as you have received your 3 peer-feedback emails with the comments, go ahead and repair your survey accordingly! The repaired survey version is due on Friday, Feb. 13th, for grading by me.
EMAIL me the link of your final (repaired) survey. CAREFUL: it is NOT the link you see in the "menu list" on your screen (this one leads only to the surveymonkey.com login page).
Here is the path how to create the link:
go to "My Survey" --> go to "Collect" --> put the bullet in "Create a link to send in your own email message or to place on a webpage --> click on "Next Step" --> copy the URL you see under "Sending Survey Link in an Email" --> put this URL in an email you send to me on Friday, Feb. 13th!
If you want to see how I am grading the surveys, go to "Evaluations" in our livetext profile, and look at the "Survey Grading Rubric."
EXTRA CREDIT OPPORTUNITY for people who missed more than three (allowed) classes unexcused: You can make up ONE day in the past by test-taking THREE additional surveys. In this case, proceed as above, just pick any three surveys you'd like to take (email your peers and me your comment email and grading rubric, but WRITE IN THE EMAIL TO ME: MAKE-UP for.... (and the day for which you are making up)!!!
You can make up for as MANY missed blog COMMENTS as you want by taking an additional survey for each!!! Proceed as above; email the authors and me (as cc) your grading rubrics and comments, and write in the email, "make-up for.... and the topic of your missed blog comment."
SURVEY TOPICS:
1. Nadia Aldroubi: Ebonics in the Workplace
2. Jacqueline Bessette: The Effect of Computers on College Grammar
3. Jennifer Bond: Internet Lingo
4. Monica Brennan: Ebonics and Prejudice
5. Megan Caraballo: Ebonics
6. Adam Chadderton: Internet Lingo
7. Sara Childers: Gender & Grammar
8. Emilie Collier: Autism
9. Jason DeBoer: Text Messaging and its Effect on Grammar
10. Edward Dover: Autism
11. Lauryn Fisherkeller: The Effectiveness of ENG101
12. Jeremy Garrett: Ebonics
13. Diana Howell: The Importance of Teaching Different Learning Styles to Autistic People
14. Romona Jackson: AAE
15. Julia Longueville: English Teachers in SI & Grammar
16. Nathan Maul: Correctness of Grammar vs. Level of Education
17. Lara NP: Internet Slang
18. Henry Phillips: Is AAE a Real Language?
19. Jermaine Pryor: Ebonics
20. Casey Shepard: Ebonics & Slang
21. Daniel Sokolowski: The Effects of Texting Slang on English Language
ATTENTION:
You are NOT sending your surveys out yet!!!!!!
We are taking them in class first, then I'll grade them, then we'll compose an introductory letter, and only when you have MY WRITTEN APPROVAL you can email them out to a list of at least 20 people!!!!!!!!!
Ebonics Debate: Inverview with Carrie Secret
This is the post about the Ebonics Debate reading that your peer never published; it is composed by Chris Lacy from ENG300-2. Responses are due on Friday, Feb. 6th, by class time.
___________________________________
*Post from Jan 30th due to snow days*Article
This article is adapted from an interview with Carrie Secret, a fifth-grade teacher at Prescott Elementary School in the Oakland Unified School District. Prescott had been the only school in the system where a majority of teachers voluntarily agreed to adopt the Standard English Proficiency program, a statewide initiative which acknowledges the systematic, rule-governed nature of "Black English" while helping children to learn Standard English.
Carrie Secret instills a very hands-on approach to teaching English as a Second Language to her students. Although she promotes a strong push to use standard English in her classroom, she accepts that Ebonics and other languages are the students "home" or native languages. She allows them to interact in the language that they are most comfortable speaking in. Critics of this approach attest that allowing Ebonics to be used in the classroom will prolong the switch to English. Carrie argues that "If you are concerned about children using Ebonics in the classroom, you will spend the whole day saying, "Translate, translate, translate." So you have to pick times when you are particularly attuned to and calling for English translation." I believe that this method of teaching proper English will be most effective. It reminds the students to embrace their cultural roots, but become mindful of the goal of learning English.
Carrie teaches the students through active listening; making the students read and write in proper English and listening to proper English being spoken. She emphasizes hearing proper English at a young age before habits become too much to overcome. She still reads to her 5th grade students to reinforce proper speaking techniques. She also incorporates black literature into her teaching methods to show students that their own people did wonderful things with standard English.
___________________________________
*Post from Jan 30th due to snow days*Article
This article is adapted from an interview with Carrie Secret, a fifth-grade teacher at Prescott Elementary School in the Oakland Unified School District. Prescott had been the only school in the system where a majority of teachers voluntarily agreed to adopt the Standard English Proficiency program, a statewide initiative which acknowledges the systematic, rule-governed nature of "Black English" while helping children to learn Standard English.
Carrie Secret instills a very hands-on approach to teaching English as a Second Language to her students. Although she promotes a strong push to use standard English in her classroom, she accepts that Ebonics and other languages are the students "home" or native languages. She allows them to interact in the language that they are most comfortable speaking in. Critics of this approach attest that allowing Ebonics to be used in the classroom will prolong the switch to English. Carrie argues that "If you are concerned about children using Ebonics in the classroom, you will spend the whole day saying, "Translate, translate, translate." So you have to pick times when you are particularly attuned to and calling for English translation." I believe that this method of teaching proper English will be most effective. It reminds the students to embrace their cultural roots, but become mindful of the goal of learning English.
Carrie teaches the students through active listening; making the students read and write in proper English and listening to proper English being spoken. She emphasizes hearing proper English at a young age before habits become too much to overcome. She still reads to her 5th grade students to reinforce proper speaking techniques. She also incorporates black literature into her teaching methods to show students that their own people did wonderful things with standard English.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
lie/lay sit/sat raise/rise
Audience: 6th Graders
Explore: I will go over lie/lay, sit/sat, and raise/rise. I will then give examples and have the students attempt a couple sentences to determine what word is the correct one to be used.
Explain: I will explain the grammar rules for lie/lay, sit/sat, and raise/rise. Then I will distinguish between transitive verbs and intransitive verbs. I will then show easy ways to remember how to use the correct word.
Evaluate: After the class I will have a quiz for the student to take over the material in class.
E-search: I will be using power point and using an online quiz for the students to use.
The quiz:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cgi-shl/quiz.pl/lie_lay_quiz.htm
Homework:http://www.english-zone.com/verbs/raise.html
Explore: I will go over lie/lay, sit/sat, and raise/rise. I will then give examples and have the students attempt a couple sentences to determine what word is the correct one to be used.
Explain: I will explain the grammar rules for lie/lay, sit/sat, and raise/rise. Then I will distinguish between transitive verbs and intransitive verbs. I will then show easy ways to remember how to use the correct word.
Evaluate: After the class I will have a quiz for the student to take over the material in class.
E-search: I will be using power point and using an online quiz for the students to use.
The quiz:http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/cgi-shl/quiz.pl/lie_lay_quiz.htm
Homework:http://www.english-zone.com/verbs/raise.html
Speeded Processing of Grammar & Tool Knowledge in Tourette's Syndrome
Tourette’s syndrome is a developmental disorder characterized by the presence of verbal and motor tics. Tics, which may be expressed as “simple” or “complex” motor movements or vocalizations (e.g., “simple” grunting, or “complex” shouting of phrases), are both fast and involuntary. The tics appear to be caused by disturbances of the basal-ganglia and closely connected regions of the cortex.
There are two basic aspects of language profile in TS: idiosyncratic and rule-governed knowledge. Idiosyncratic knowledge includes all arbitrary sound-meaning associations and word-specific morphological and syntactic information. Rule-governed knowledge underlies the combination of words and parts of words into complex words.
Several lines of evidence suggest that Specific Language Impairment is associated with deficits of grammar and of non-linguistic functions that depend on the procedural memory system. All idiosyncratic linguistic knowledge, such as of sound-meaning associations and irregular morpho-phonology (e.g., spring-sprang), is stored in the mental lexicon. Rule-governed complex forms, such as real and novel regular past tenses, are generally computer by the mental grammar (e.g., walk + -ed). Evidence suggests that lexical memory depends on the declarative memory system, whereas the mental grammar relies on the procedural memory system.
However, language in Tourette’s syndrome has not been thoroughly examined. Two studies are mentioned in the text, where eight subjects diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome and eight typically-developing subjects were tested.
Study #1
Past Tense Production Task: Subjects were asked to produce the past tenses of verbs presented in sentence contexts. Four types of verbs were presented: 32 consistent regulars matched to 32 irregulars; 16 inconsistent regulars; and 32 novel verbs. The test was conducted by two trained transcribers, with a third resolving rare disagreements. In this study TS patients averaged slightly lower than the average person in consistent, novel, and inconsistent regulars. However, TS patients scored better in irregular verbs section.
Study #2
Picture Naming Task: Sixty-four pictures were presented to the subjects for them to name. Thirty-two objects were commonly manipulated and the other 32 not commonly manipulated objects. The objects were rated, on a scale from 1 to 7, by seven adults from Georgetown University community. In this study the TS patients scored lower than the regular patients but not by a large margin.
In conclusion, the procedural speeding appears to be accompanied by a slight decrease in accuracy.
There are two basic aspects of language profile in TS: idiosyncratic and rule-governed knowledge. Idiosyncratic knowledge includes all arbitrary sound-meaning associations and word-specific morphological and syntactic information. Rule-governed knowledge underlies the combination of words and parts of words into complex words.
Several lines of evidence suggest that Specific Language Impairment is associated with deficits of grammar and of non-linguistic functions that depend on the procedural memory system. All idiosyncratic linguistic knowledge, such as of sound-meaning associations and irregular morpho-phonology (e.g., spring-sprang), is stored in the mental lexicon. Rule-governed complex forms, such as real and novel regular past tenses, are generally computer by the mental grammar (e.g., walk + -ed). Evidence suggests that lexical memory depends on the declarative memory system, whereas the mental grammar relies on the procedural memory system.
However, language in Tourette’s syndrome has not been thoroughly examined. Two studies are mentioned in the text, where eight subjects diagnosed with Tourette’s syndrome and eight typically-developing subjects were tested.
Study #1
Past Tense Production Task: Subjects were asked to produce the past tenses of verbs presented in sentence contexts. Four types of verbs were presented: 32 consistent regulars matched to 32 irregulars; 16 inconsistent regulars; and 32 novel verbs. The test was conducted by two trained transcribers, with a third resolving rare disagreements. In this study TS patients averaged slightly lower than the average person in consistent, novel, and inconsistent regulars. However, TS patients scored better in irregular verbs section.
Study #2
Picture Naming Task: Sixty-four pictures were presented to the subjects for them to name. Thirty-two objects were commonly manipulated and the other 32 not commonly manipulated objects. The objects were rated, on a scale from 1 to 7, by seven adults from Georgetown University community. In this study the TS patients scored lower than the regular patients but not by a large margin.
In conclusion, the procedural speeding appears to be accompanied by a slight decrease in accuracy.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Autism: Disabled or Differently Abled?
I'm Adam Chadderton and I'm writing this blog about Autism, specifically on 'The Language of Autism' as featured in Wired magazine.
Autism is a brain developmental disorder that is often diagnosed in young children. Those who have autism often suffer from what many would call mental retardation. There is no set standard for how autism effects individuals. While autistic people may lack certain communication skills, or exhibit strange or repetitive behavior, these traits or symptoms occur in various degrees among individuals with autism. Because of this, there can be no set standard for aiding the autistic community. Each person must be provided for on a individual basis.
Generally, autism is seen as a disorder or a defect; a bad roll of the genetic dice. Amanda Baggs, an autistic woman explains the condition differently. She describes it as thinking in a language all her own. This language is not so much communication, instead a reaction to all aspects of her surroundings. While this is a language all her own, Ms. Baggs vehemently believes that it is equally important as any other spoken language. It's obvious through Ms. Baggs 'translation' portion of the video that she is very articulate and intelligent, and that her autism serves as no real disability, only a completely different thought process that seems unintelligible to those on the outside looking in.
Amanda Baggs had a specific reason to post her youtube video. She states in her video that she wished there was as many autistic support sites as there are for the homosexual community. She goes on to state that the video was to serve as a political statement, wishing to disprove claims that autistic people are unable to function effectively in society. Currently, Ms Baggs is working to achieve her goal and is becoming a part of a growing network of autistic individuals. We're beginning to realize that we need to rethink our stereotypes of 'disabled' people. This video is like the beginning of that.
Autism is a brain developmental disorder that is often diagnosed in young children. Those who have autism often suffer from what many would call mental retardation. There is no set standard for how autism effects individuals. While autistic people may lack certain communication skills, or exhibit strange or repetitive behavior, these traits or symptoms occur in various degrees among individuals with autism. Because of this, there can be no set standard for aiding the autistic community. Each person must be provided for on a individual basis.
Generally, autism is seen as a disorder or a defect; a bad roll of the genetic dice. Amanda Baggs, an autistic woman explains the condition differently. She describes it as thinking in a language all her own. This language is not so much communication, instead a reaction to all aspects of her surroundings. While this is a language all her own, Ms. Baggs vehemently believes that it is equally important as any other spoken language. It's obvious through Ms. Baggs 'translation' portion of the video that she is very articulate and intelligent, and that her autism serves as no real disability, only a completely different thought process that seems unintelligible to those on the outside looking in.
Amanda Baggs had a specific reason to post her youtube video. She states in her video that she wished there was as many autistic support sites as there are for the homosexual community. She goes on to state that the video was to serve as a political statement, wishing to disprove claims that autistic people are unable to function effectively in society. Currently, Ms Baggs is working to achieve her goal and is becoming a part of a growing network of autistic individuals. We're beginning to realize that we need to rethink our stereotypes of 'disabled' people. This video is like the beginning of that.
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