There were quite a few things that I took away from chapters
four and five but the thing that will probably stick with me the most is the
word gap. It is just absolutely astonishing to me that socioeconomic status can
have such a huge effect on language development. What is the word gap? Well, it is the fact
that by the age of three there is a difference of 30 million words that high
SES children have heard compared to low SES children. Not only are higher SES
children exposed to more words, they are exposed to more positive comments than
a low SES child is. There are those that offer tips on how to help close the word gap.
image from: http://teachinginpoverty.blogspot.com/2013/07/the-30-million-word-gap.html
I also folded down the page in the textbook that began to
talk about Marzano’s six step instruction (115). The six steps, in order, are:
the teacher introduces the vocabulary by explaining it, students explain the
new vocabulary in their own words, students create a non-linguistic visualization of the word (like a picture), students engage in activities to
become familiar with the meaning, students discuss the new word, and games are
used to reinforce the learning of the new word. I may like this so much because
I love to follow steps. It makes things so much easier when you know what
happens next in the process. This would work well with the word wall that was
mentioned last week where students draw pictures to explain the word wall
words. In school I memorized words, I think drawing will increase retention.
Do you think you will notice the word gap in your classroom? What are some ways you will help to bridge the gap?
Do you think you will notice the word gap in your classroom? What are some ways you will help to bridge the gap?
I also found the 30 million word gap mind blowing! Thirty million words is a lot of words! In a 3 year period, that's over 2000 more words per day that are spoken in a high SES household. We normally speak at an average rate of about 150 words per minute. That means that high SES parents spend about 14 more minutes per day talking or reading to their child. That doesn't sound like much, however, we can see that it all adds up!!!
ReplyDelete14 more minutes per day, huh? So if those parents of the low SES are just not reading the books after school to their children, them adding this activity to their daily schedule could really help bridge the gap. Of course, the negative words of the rest of the day need to be replaced with positive words too. These are all estimates though.
DeleteI know I will notice the gap in my classroom. Simply by listening to them and reading their writing will tell me a lot about what types of words they use with frequency, the way they structure their sentences, and what they are used to hearing. Word walls, talking with them, having them talk to each other, and practice what they have learned in class will help to fill in that gap.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed tons of word gaps just from subbing. I work at a super small school and know a lot of the parents. I can see a huge difference in students who I know parents are teachers or other professionals versus parents who did not attend collage or graduate high school.
ReplyDeleteSo. You are one of those, huh? The fold-the-page-back bookmark people???
ReplyDelete