EDU 512 Reading Notes

Name: Marissa Prins

Book Title: Language Arts: Patterns of Practice by Gail E. Tompkins
Chapter Number and Title: Chapter 11- “Language Tools: Grammar, Spelling, and Handwriting”

Part 1: Chapter 11 talked about grammar and all the different aspects of learning about
grammar. The chapter then talked about how to teach grammar. One of the ways is through
reading. Students can learn about sentence structure as they read. Teachers can also teach about
the parts of speech. This is important if students want to break down a sentence. Teachers can
also teach students how to manipulate sentences. While a sentence may be grammatically
correct, it can mean two totally different things if the sentence is manipulated and slightly
changed.
Part 2: In this chapter I enjoyed learning about the stages of spelling development. This can
definitely be connected to my fieldwork experiences as I have been working with students as
they write. Some of the students in the second-grade class I have been observing in struggle
severely with spelling as they know very little English. Some of the students in this class are at a
kindergarten reading and writing level. This means that they are at either stage 1 or stage 2 of
spelling development. It is important to know these stages of development so that you can assess
your students’ spelling knowledge and make sure they are making progress over the year.
Students move from emergent spelling, letter name-alphabetic spelling, within-word spelling,
syllables and affixes spelling, to derivational relations spelling. It is important to know how to
teach spelling strategies and know how to assess students in the different developmental levels.
Another thing I found interesting and can apply to my future classroom and the classroom
I am doing my fieldwork in is spelling strategies. Many times, we teachers simply tell kids to
sound it out when there is a word they do not know how to spell. This is not always an
appropriate strategy as some words cannot be sounded out. The book shares that you can have
students spell by analogy meaning giving them a similar familiar word and having them
recognize it is spelled similarly to that particular word. You can also have students apply affixes
to root words. Maybe the student knows how to spell the root word but is struggling to piece the
word together. You can have the student start by writing the root and then adding the short affix
to it. You can also have students proofread their work. Instead of simply submitting a worksheet,
you can have students look it over for spelling mistakes and fix it prior to submitting it. The last
strategy in the book is to check the dictionary. If a student knows the general spelling of a word
but is not 100% sure, they can pull out the dictionary and look the word up. These strategies are
great to know and can be used in both my future classroom and while I do my fieldwork.
Part 3: Social Studies strategy 5 (pg. 19), questioning, is a great strategy to use when students
are learning about grammar. Students create a web on the board with a question and begin to
write facts or other information on the board surrounding the question. This can be used when
learning about grammar or when students are peer editing. The students may have questions for
other students, or they may have suggestions. This strategy allows students to offer feedback and
find out why something may need to be fixed, or how it can be fixed.
Social Studies strategy 23 (pg. 112), graphic novels, allows students to either work on
their own or with a small group to create a small novel. This strategy helps students with
grammar and spelling. They have to follow a specific plot line, understand what is grammatically
correct and makes sense, and spell correctly. The students can also handwrite these novels to
work on their handwriting. Penmanship is often overlooked by many teachers, but assessment for
this activity can include penmanship. Some students may easily be able to do this on their own,
but other students may need to work with a partner or group.
Language Arts strategy 38 (pg. 116), revising groups, would be a good strategy to use so
students can edit other student work and they assist each other through the editing process. This
strategy not only assists with spelling errors, but it also helps students see mistakes in their
grammar. It is helpful for students to switch with classmates as it allows them to see a new paper
with fresh eyes. After working on a personal work for a period of time, students can overlook
simple mistakes. Revising groups are also good for making sure what was written makes sense
and follows a plot line.
Language Arts strategy 49 (pg. 151), word sorts, is a good strategy to use with students
who struggle with spelling. Students examine and categorize words based on their spelling, their
meaning, or other similarities. This strategy requires students to closely examine different words
and think of ways they want to categorize them. This is an important strategy to understand how
to use, and it is helpful to students as they are able to manipulate different words and put them in
different categories on their own or with small groups.
Part 4: TPE 1.3Connect subject matter to real-life contexts and provide active learning
experiences to engage student interest, support student motivation, and allow students to extend
their learning.
This TPE was addressed as I learned about different strategies to best engage students in the
learning of spelling and grammar. I also learned how to motivate students through this process.
There are many different activities and strategies in the book. For instance, to practice grammar,
a class may work on graphic novels. The teacher may give them an example that obtains to
something that interests the students. The students will then have the chance to pick their own
topic for a graphic novel and write about it. This ensures the students are engaged and want to
write about the topic they picked. Then, to extend their learning, the students may share their
novels with the class, or they may go home and research the topic they chose in further detail.
TPE 1.8Monitor student learning and adjust instruction while teaching so that students
continue to be actively engaged in learning.
This TPE can be applied to the chapter as the book shared the different developmental levels of
spelling. A teacher may be teaching a spelling or writing lesson and see that the students are not
understanding because the lesson is at a higher level than the students. This is why it is important
to monitor student learning as you are teaching to adjust your teaching so that students are
engaged and actively learning. The teacher can quickly shift her teaching and make it easier to
understand for the students who are not understanding because they are at a lower developmental
level.