Lupita:
Six-year-old Lupita has just enrolled in Mrs. Potter's second grade
classroom. The daughter of migrant
workers, Lupita has been raised by her grandmother in Mexico where she has had
little experience with toys, puzzles, paper, crayons, or scissors, and few
opportunities to interact with other children.
Mrs. Potter rarely calls on her in class because of her apparent lack of
academic skills, and she is wondering whether Lupita is at risk for being held
back for a second year of second grade.
Lupita is
always quiet and well behaved, sometimes so quiet that Mrs. Potter forgets she
is even there. Today, Mrs. Potter
noticed that when Lupita finished her Spanish assignment early, she began to
play with a puzzle during her free time.
Lupita easily fit the puzzle together.
Two classmates who were having difficulty with their puzzles requested
help from Lupita. She patiently showed
them how to assemble the puzzles, and how to help each other.
Possible Solutions: Because of Lupita’s lack of
experience with the types of resources typically used in an elementary
classroom, as well as her little interaction with other children, it may be beneficial
for Mrs. Potter to introduce literacy centers with her class of second
graders. As stated by Tompkins, literacy
centers “contain meaningful, purposeful literacy activities that students can
work at in small groups” (p. 369). While
in centers, Lupita will not only be exposed to resources such as crayons and
paper, but will also be engaged in conversation with her peers about components
of literacy development, such as phonemic awareness or concepts of print. For example, I found a literacy center
activity on Reading Rockets for last week’s class that I thought elicited
conversation and team work among students, as well as exemplified important
components of print awareness. At this
center, there are large pieces of cardstock or construction paper with words
written on them. The words can be
high-frequency words, words that the students are currently learning, or words
that they have mastery of. The cards are
placed in bags that are numbered, indicating that only that group of cards
makes the sentence. Each student holds
one card from the bag and they stand next to one another. Assuming that the cards are not in the proper
order, the students must figure out where their fellow peers are positioned so
that the words make a sentence. For instance,
if the cards are in the order “see I Jane run”, they must rearrange themselves
to make the sentence, “I see Jane run.”
This fosters communication and team work between the students, as they
must agree on the positioning of the cards.
Additionally, it emphasizes the concept that print is read from left to
right, as well as that sentences are made up of words, which are made up of
letters.
Along with the use of literacy
centers in her classroom, Mrs. Potter could also introduce group activities to
the students that again, instigate conversation among students, as well as promote
problem solving skills and descriptive language. We were given a task like this last semester
in our social studies methods class, where each table group had to work
together to find a resulting solution.
Each table was given a manila envelope full of pieces of construction
paper, each cut into a unique shape. The
pieces fit together in a way that made one large square, which was what we were
supposed to present at the end of the activity.
During the process, my group members and I worked together to find the
solution by using descriptive and detailed language, questioning one another,
and encouraging different possibilities.
In some way, we were all engaged in the activity, whether it was asking
a peer to trade pieces or figuring out our own individual puzzle for ourselves
first. Because Lupita is skilled in
solving puzzles and showed her classmates how to teach one another in solving those
that were difficult, she may have the opportunity to be the group leader in
this type of activity. This activity and
the like would be beneficial for her; similar to literacy centers, she could
actively engage with her peers, as well as have an opportunity to learn English
conversational language. Improving her
English speaking ability and bonding with her classmates may force her to come out
of her shell and linguistically participate more in class.
The fact that Mrs. Potter rarely
calls on Lupita in class is creating a vicious cycle; Lupita will be more
likely at risk for retention if she is never given the opportunity to display
her thinking and various academic skills.
However, if she is involved in lessons just as much as her classmates are
her amount of learning will be increased.
I have noticed that a similar problem is occurring does this in my
placement classroom. Rather than not
calling on students she is afraid will answer incorrectly, my mentor teacher
most often calls on the students that waive their hands impatiently, those that
are confident in their answers.
Meanwhile, the students with learning disabilities or those that are English
second-language learners are sitting at their seats and doodling on their
papers, most likely unaware of the questions being asked. In this situation, it may be useful to use a
method for universal response, such as Popsicle sticks, to ensure that all
students have the opportunity to respond and engage in the lesson. Regardless of if the student answers
correctly or incorrectly, they are engaged in the lesson and some form of
learning is occurring. A method like
this will not only engage Lupita, but also allow Mrs. Potter to see the
concepts that she does and does not understand.
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