Entry #8

After viewing the video clip on a sheltered literacy lesson, I felt I needed background information "Esperanza Rising." It enabled me to comprehend the lesson being taught. After researching this book, I found out it was a novel written by Pam Munoz Ryan in 2000. The setting is during the America's Great Depression and focuses on the plight of the Mexican farm workers as they persevere to survive and adapt in the United States. The author was inspired to write this novel (appropriate for grades 6-8) by the stories she heard as a child from her grandmother Esperanza.

In my observation I noticed the teacher used many techniques for learning, comprehension, and participation. She explained the goal for reading was inferences. The teacher then reviewed reading strategies and connections to background knowledge. During pre-reading, Preproduction of language acquisition took place as the teacher extracted vocabulary. For example, harvest means to pick and produce, and discussion of the word bouquet doesn't look like how it sounds. Early Production Acquisition included synonyms of key words and using the students 1st language to clarify vocabulary. Predicting, previewing, and summarizing, encouraged Speech Emergence Acquisition. The teacher brought about Intermediate and Advanced Fluency Aquisition by relating the book to the student's background, guided questions comparing it to the student's culture. She asks the students to clarify "Manzanista," the Spanish birthday song, and suggest they sing it.

I enjoyed viewing the video clip of older students actively engaged, enjoying learning. In this observation, I have found that I already include these sheltering techniques in my teaching, ie. explicit instruction, repetition, modeling, wait time, scaffolding, and review.