LANGUAGE AND THE DEAFSESSION 7Jessica Scott, Boston University, February 29, 2012

Food for thought “But as far as my work is concerned, I

see no impediment, and various advantages, to being deaf.”    Stephanie Beacham

Agenda Discussion Teaching Reading and Writing Break! CI Corner Practice: Working with books Housekeeping

Goals for the Session To understand the various skills that are

necessary for reading To consider how these skills relate to

writing To consider modifications to literacy

instruction for Deaf children To think about using text interpretation,

as Livingston suggests, as a teaching methodology

Agenda Discussion Teaching Reading and Writing Break! CI Corner Practice: Working with books Housekeeping

Discussion: David!

Discussion Board Interlude One main point that Livingston stresses

again and again is to focus on meaning and motivation. I agree with her that grammar is not a very interesting, meaningful, or motivational topic for students. Picking reading material that makes students want to read is better than picking beginning "readers" only for their grammatical simplicity.

Discussion Board Interlude There are great examples for different

interpretation strategies: explicitness, reiteration, background knowledge, relating text to children’s experiences, picture reference and deletions. I could visualize myself doing those things during reading aloud. But actual doing it, can I do well? I think it would be good idea if we each have a children book and practice doing it, and the audience could give constructive feedback.

Agenda Discussion Teaching Reading and Writing Break! CI Corner Practice: Working with books Housekeeping

What is reading? RDIAENG. Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at an Elingsh

uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer is at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.

 So… reading can’t just be about decoding, thankfully

What is reading? “The procedure is actually quite simple. First

you arrange things into different groups depending on their makeup. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step; otherwise you are pretty well set. It is better to do few things at once than too many. Remember mistakes can be expensive. At first, the whole procedure will seem quite complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another fact of life.”

What is reading? “The procedure is actually quite simple. First

you arrange things into different groups depending on their makeup. Of course, one pile may be sufficient depending on how much there is to do. If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, that is the next step; otherwise you are pretty well set. It is better to do few things at once than too many. Remember mistakes can be expensive. At first, the whole procedure will seem quite complicated. Soon, however, it will become just another fact of life.”

Bransford & Johnson (1973) WASHING CLOTHES

Think*Pair*Share THINK for one minute about how you

learned how to read. What was helpful for you? What was not helpful?

PAIR with a person or two sitting close by

SHARE your thoughts on your own reading development

Thinking about the reading Livingston had excellent suggestions for teaching

reading: Text interpretation

Explicitness (adding information to make the story clearer) Reiteration (emphasizes important ideas) Background knowledge (to tell students what they need to

know to understand the story Relating text to children’s experiences (talking about what

students know makes it meaningful) Picture references (pictures often contain important info) Deletions (sometimes there is info not needed to

understand) What do you think about these strategies?

Literacy and Deaf Students We know that Deaf children have different

needs than hearing children in terms of learning to read Do they have Deaf parents? Do their parents sign?

Do they have a strong foundation in ASL? However, lots of lessons for teaching Deaf

children to read have come from literature on hearing children (See Schirmer & McGough’s article on the National Reading Panel and Deaf children) I have seen Deaf Education classrooms using guided

reading, literature circles, and writer’s workshop

So with that in mind… We will talk through these instructional

approaches, while thinking about modifications that might be necessary for Deaf students…

…As well as talking about approaches that have been designed specifically for Deaf students!

Guided reading: General Small groups of

children (3-5) Flexible grouping “Instructional Level”

text Which the student can

read with support, but could not read on his or her own

With scaffolding from the teacher

Guided Reading: General What does a guided reading lesson look like?

Book introduction Short description or reminder from last time

Vocabulary introduction Of words that may trip them up

Comprehension strategy instruction Which skill are you working on?

Independent reading with conferences With a running record

Discussion or Extension activity

Guided reading: General The goal of guided reading is to provide

enough support that children are able to practice word reading and comprehension skills in an appropriately leveled book

Guided Reading: Modifications for Deaf Students

One on one, rather than small group Most classrooms are already quite small,

students may be reading on very different levels

Should ask students to read silently, rather than orally, as signing word-for-word will not maintain meaning

Have you seen guided reading sessions with Deaf students? Were they successful?

Messy Hair Club Kristin DiPerri A short piece of text (sentence up to a

whole paragraph, depending on the ability of the student) is displayed for the class Student stands with his/her back to the

audience and read silently Student turns around and signs it in ASL Other students and teacher give feedback

Encourages translation and separation of languages

Literature circles Students have a say in

the book they will read Students do NOT read

during group meeting time, they read either at home or at another time in the school day

Student driven – the teacher is a discussion facilitator, who after a little while should be able to say almost nothing

Literature circles Procedures:

Establish roles (or not) Discussion facilitator, illustrator, connector,

summarizer, word wizard, figurative language finder (Daniels)

Students discuss book – using roles, or more independently Minimal support or guidance from the teacher

Set goals for next time How much to read, goals for discussion

Literature Circles How do you think these might work in

classrooms with Deaf children? What problems might you foresee in

implementing such an activity? Could Livingston’s strategies be helpful

here?

Teaching Writing Fluency is important!

We want students to feel comfortable getting their ideas out

We don’t want them to feel like they cannot write because they can’t spell every single word

Experimenting is important Students should know that writing is to

communicate ideas, and try out different ways to do so

Teaching Writing: Writer’s Workshop

Writer’s workshop is extremely popular in general education as a writing approach Takes students through the entire writing

process (brainstorming, drafting, revising, editing, publishing)

Students work at their own pace Mini-lessons are designed to target student

needs Do you think such an approach is

feasible in a classroom with Deaf children? Why or why not? What modifications might need to be made?

Teaching Writing: Modifications for Deaf Students

Kristin DiPerri (and Todd Czubeck?): Quick writes Students are shown a picture or other

prompt Students write for 15 minutes, silently Students use hand-shapes from ASL to

stand in for unknown English words Have you seen this strategy in

classrooms in the past? What did you think of it?

Agenda Discussion Teaching Reading and Writing Break! CI Corner Practice: Working with books Housekeeping

Break!

Agenda Discussion Teaching Reading and Writing Break! CI Corner Practice: Working with books Housekeeping

CI Corner Effects of Cochlear Implants on

Children’s Reading and Academic Achievement By Marschark, Rhoten & Fabich 2007, Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf

Education

Selected Abstract This review, however, reveals that although

there are clear benefits of cochlear implantation to achievement in young deaf children, empirical results have been somewhat variable. Examination of the literature with regard to reading achievement suggests that the lack of consistent findings might be the result of frequent failures to control potentially confounding variables such as age of implantation, language skills prior to implantation, reading ability prior to implantation, and consistency of implant use.

What did they do? Looked at research on cochlear

implantation from a number of studies What are their important findings:

Children with implants and strong oral language still may struggle in the classroom

Cochlear implants do not guarantee high levels of achievement Even those with early implantation

Agenda Discussion Teaching Reading and Writing Break! CI Corner Practice: Working with books Housekeeping

Practice: Thinking about books You will receive a picture book In groups of three, consider Livingston’s

discussion of text interpretation How might you read this book with Deaf students? How would you use Livingston’s strategies during

reading? explicitness, reiteration, background knowledge,

relating text to children’s experiences, picture reference and deletions

Volunteers will read their book for the class to get feedback

Agenda Discussion Teaching Reading and Writing CI Corner Break! Practice: Working with books Housekeeping

Assignments Housekeeping The second essay is now posted to the

wiki It is due by class time next Wednesday

Either via e-mail or hard copy

Assignments Housekeeping Your final paper proposal is due between

March 21 and April 11 Flexible dates to give you time to consider

what you want to research 1-2 pages

Discussion of what topic you are interested in researching

A broad outline Some possible references

Questions?

Housekeeping: General Next week we will start our discussion of

Vygotsky Remember to switch to the Vygotsky

book (We will finish up REDS later) No student discussion next week!

Have a fantastic week!