February 5, 2005
Reading Groups Are Initiated
with Chapter One Reports.
 Section 002, the Tuesday and Thursday class, has initiated the Reading Group page with the first reports from Chapter One. Notice the links on the left sidebar. Each class has its own pages, but I encourage both classes to read the other's reports.
I view the first efforts in a favorable light. Several common ideas have emerged: children are not little adults; children learn through play; language is biological, ecological, and primary to communication; children are creative in learning language; language has four layers; to understand a child, listen to her speech.
Each group had its own unique way of interpreting and reporting the chapter information, and I would like for the spirit of originality to continue. I'm not eager to dictate a specific ordering of information for your reports. Group identity and cohesiveness emerge through the discussions and summaries — cogent indicators of the way the group understands the chapters.
We will have a "reading group debriefing" after each session by viewing the reports in class and comparing the findings of each group. Your next group task is to choose names for your group in our first debriefing. Keep in mind that the reading groups are exploratory and evolving. I will also add "ecological" because, as your text mentions, we are involved in the four layers of conversation: phonology, pragmatics, semantics, and syntax.
The Ideas that Bind
I'd like to return to the overarching ideas that bind the reading groups to the goals of the course.
How do children learn to talk?
Why is language acquisition important to us as teachers?
What do we need to know to help our students as they acquire language?
How does language acquisition relate to the school environment?
Keeping these four essential questions in mind will help us uncover what we need to make us better teachers and our students better learners.
Reading Group Redux
Let's go back and review the reading group roles. There are five designated roles for each group:
- Cyber Citer,
- Discussion Director,
- Fact Formulator,
- Quiz Questor, and
- Word Wizard.
However, as we discussed in class, each person should keep all roles in mind as they read the text. Your role may be Quiz Questor, but if you have a question about terminology, you can bring that to the discussion.
The reading group roles were created as a starting point for the discussions. With that in mind, each person can add to each individual role or delete if there is redundancy. Of vital importance is contribution and timeliness. You have already exchanged E-mail addresses so that if one person is absent, it is their responsibility to send their contribution to the group before the discussion. This first go around, we have already seen the results of the lack of responsibility. Several students were absent and had not notified their group members. We will discuss appropriate consequences during our debriefing.
The first role, Cyber Citer, has the most responsibility at the end of the session, for he must summarize the discussion and report the findings of the other members. Cyber Citers have a 24-hour deadline to post the information to me. Failure to do so will result in a delayed posting. Again, we will discuss the consequences for failure of responsibility.
The other four roles have the initial responsibility, for they have to bring written work to the discussion table. We decided on a minimum of five "findings" for each role.
The Discussion Director brings the essential questions, the "big ideas and little ideas" or "big questions and little questions" of the chapter, to initiate the discussion. The Discussion Director is also the facilitator of the group to make sure the group stays on-task and that each member has time to present their information. The "DD" also gives the Cyber Citer time to recap the discussion for posting on Planet Gnosis.
The Fact Formulator is the "sleuth," seeking out the details that support the big and little questions and answers. These "facts" help focus the learning and make subject-knowledge possible.
The Quiz Questor is the assessor of the group. The questions help us to make sense of anything we do not understand and give us the opportunity to demonstrate that we understand it. Questions should be varied: objective and discrete, global, open-ended, and situational.
The Word Wizard is the lexophile of the group, seeking words or terms that impact the learning of the content. Word choice is not limited to specific language development jargon. Any word, term, or phrase that supports understanding of the main ideas are open for the choosing.
Assessment
Assessment for this learning component has been narrowed to attendance points. However, I am already concerned that some group members are behaving in an irresponsible and disrespectful manner by not actively participating in the sessions. A student who doesn't participate provides no tangible evidence of learning.
My approach to Language Development is unique to our classes, and I am optimistic and convinced that it is a reliable and valid approach to learning for understanding. However, it does put a lot of responsibility on the learner. Follow the approach closely and you will remember the information.
Building group cohesion is another consideration. To have a community of learners, everyone must be a part of the community. Responsibility and community create learner understanding.
Questions for Consideration
Here are three more questions for you to consider in your group discussions:
What information do I need to be familiar with in this chapter?
What information is important for me to remember?
What do I need to learn for understanding that goes beyond this classroom?
Ms. Bowles
*This is the next step toward THE One World Language.
Step Sixteen: *Your dangling participle injected with botox.
Planet Gnosis is ruled by Freddie A. Bowles, a professional educator and fellow at the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. An independent entity in the CornDancer consortium of planets, Planet Gnosis is dedicated to the exploration of education and teaching. CornDancer is a developmental website for the mind and spirit maintained by webmistress Freddie A. Bowles of the Planet Earth. Submissions are invited.
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