Wrap up of Dispositions Diary for INED 7783

Chapter 10 - Issues of Reading Development
This chapter was very interesting and made me think of quite a few of the students I have taught over the years. When you get a child that is new to the US, you expect some difficulties in language acquisition but for some of those students who have been here longer and have developed "conversational language", you wonder if there is another problem when their reading and writing don't seem to be "on par" with speaking. I know I will look much more closely now and find out what kind of support they have at home and also if there is any print development in the child's first language going on in the home. I want to make sure that I can give every opportunity possible and use multiple strategies to help aid in the learning of English and hopefully a transfer or connections to their first language before referring for testing for Special Education.

Overall I have learned a great deal from looking at the SIOP model. I think it is a great structure for writing lesson plans even if you don't teach second language learners. The structure and ideas within SIOP lend themselves to  bolstering the learning of all students not just ELLs. By highlighting certain components, really helps to remind you of what you want to teach and how you want to teach it. I still struggle some with the language objectives as they are a little more difficult to "pin down"and you can have a wide variance in language levels in one classroom. But it has really made me think when planning about making sure I tap into their background knowledge and culture to help build on something they already know. I have also tried to increase the amount of interaction in my classroom in small groups or with partners. Just in the past week I have seen students actively engaged discussing the content with one another and justifying their choices. Just providing them the time to talk has helped tremendously.