1. Description of a classroom activity: See Attached.
2. Countable and uncountable nouns Sentences 1=countable 2=non countable 1. The children are playing in the garden. 1 2. I don't like milk. 2 3. I prefer tea. 2 4. Scientists say that the environment is threatened by pollution. 1 5. My mother uses butter to prepare cakes. 2 6. There are a lot of windows in our classroom. 1 7. We need some glue to fix this vase. 2 8. The waiters in this restaurant are very professional. 1 9. My father drinks two big glasses of water every morning. 1 10. The bread my mother prepares is delicious. 2 11. Drivers must be careful; the road is slippery. 1 12. Some policemen are organizing road traffic to avoid any accidents. 1 13. I bought three bottles of mineral water for our picnic. 1 14. I'd like some juice please! 2 15. Successful candidates will join the camp later this year. 1 16. A rise in oil prices is inevitable since there is more and more world demand for energy. 2 17. The exercises on this website are interesting. 1 18. Dehydrated babies must drink a lot of water. 2 19. Adult illiterates learn through a special government program. 1 20. I met some nice people when I was walking along the beach. 1
Decide whether you have to use "a little" or "a few". Circle the correct response: 1. We had _____snow last winter. little few 2. ____people were interested in the exhibition. little few 3. I speak ___French. little few 4. There are ____students in the classroom. little few 5. She has ____relatives. little few 6. There is ____water in the pond. little few 7. The professor spends ____time playing tennis on Sundays. little few 8. We have ____knowledge of this phenomenon. little few 9. There are ____mushrooms in my mushroom soup. little few 10. ____animals can survive in the desert. little few
3. How can you tell when to use "a little" or "a few"? Write out a rule in your own words. 0ne uses "a little" with uncountable (singulai) nouns. 0ne uses "few" with countable (pluial) nouns.
4. Identifying Inflectional errors in ELLs writing.
Science affect my life by give in me life. When it iains I can't go to the paik anu playing baseball. When I go to the uoctoi !"# they uiill my caps in !"#. when I go home I play on my computei anu sometimes I go on the inteinet. Science affect my home by given me heat anu light. It also give in me foou. It affects in school by using the computei. It also makes me go to school in a bus without walking. Explanation: This writer appears to struggle with third-person singular present tense -s and present progressive (-ing) the most. The author adds present progressive ing when describing that he cannot play baseball when it rains. He seems to misunderstand the word giving due to potentially his conversational language and interprets it as give in. He also substitutes the present progressive ing with the past principle en at one point. The most evident is his lack of including the third-person singular present tense s to the end of affect.
5. Read the article Breaking down Words to Build Meaning: Morphology, Vocabulary, and Reading Comprehension in the Urban Classroom by Michael J. Kieffer and Nonie K. Lesaux (2007). The Reading Teacher 61(2): 134-44. (On Blackboard). Read and summarize the authors four principles for teaching morphology. Discuss which of the four principle(s) that you feel you need to focus on the most in your classroom. Please write up your response in 2 typed pages (double-spaced) and attach it here.
Nichael }. Kieffei anu Nonie K. Lesaux completeu a stuuy anu ieseaicheu how stuuents confiont unknown woius anu the stiategies they use to ueteimine meaning. Kieffei anu Lesaux ueteimineu that although many stuuents may "know" a woiu, only few tiuly unueistanu its entiiety. They have also founu that stuuents' (mainly in 0iban settings) lack of compiehension to giaue-level text in uppei elementaiy is a iesult of the "fouith-giaue slump." Stuuents aie having a haiu time keeping up with complex vocabulaiy anu woiu length, which then affects theii compiehension level. These two ieseaicheis came up with foui piinciples teacheis can follow to help stuuents utilize a skill, attack anu uissect, that they often iesoit to when appioacheu with unknown woius. Piinciple one uiscusses the impoitance of teaching anu incoipoiating moiphology stiategies within compiehension anu vocabulaiy lessons. Stuuents shoulu be ieceiving multiple exposuies to woius anu in uiffeient settings so they can unueistanu all of the woiu's meanings. 0ne suggestion that was piesenteu was to gathei iich acauemic woius that woulu be founu in the stuuents texts anu explain them in a way in which stuuents woulu unueistanu. uiving stuuents a way to make theii own connections anu unueistanuings of a woiu anu its ielationships helps fostei woiu consciousness within the stuuent. This piinciple can also benefit ELL's; teacheis can pioviue these stuuents with a vaiiety of uefinitions anu context, anu also access to the woius meaning in Spanish. Piinciple two stiesses that stuuents shoulu not be memoiizing iules when it comes to unueistanuing moiphemes, it must be leaineu cognitively. Kieffei anu Lesaux uiscuss foui steps stuuents must keep in minu when they have to bieak uown a woiu into moiphemes. The fiist step is ueteimining if the stuuent tiuly knows anu unueistanus the woiu completely. If he oi she uoes not, then they must seaich the woiu foi iecognizable moiphemes. The stuuent can then make a hypothesis of the woiu, fiom the iecognizeu moiphemes anu ueteimine if it makes sense against the context in which it is founu in. It is the teacheis' iesponsibility to mouel these steps explicitly anu allow the stuuents to piactice this appioach, with suppoit, befoie allowing them to take inuepenuent action. In auuition to bieaking uown moiphemes cognitively, one must have an unueistanuing of the knowleuge as well. Piinciple thiee uiscusses thiee types of knowleuge stuuents neeu to know in oiuei to be successful. Fiist is the unueistanuing of piefixes anu suffixes. Theie aie many infoimal anu foimal ways teacheis can uiscuss how these woius play a iole in speech, what theii meanings aie, anu when its appiopiiate to use these; a goou ieinfoicei coulu be auuing these to a woiu wall in the classioom. Anothei type of knowleuge is woiu tiansfoimation; stuuents must be taught the changes in sounu anu spelling when we encountei ueiivational moiphemes. Teacheis can pioviue stuuents with an example of a ioot woiu anu how it takes the foim of many othei woius. Not only uoes this expanu theii unueistanuing of the woiu, but it also expanus theii vocabulaiy. The last piece of knowleuge stuuents must have is the knowleuge of ioots. If a stuuent can extiact a ioot woiu fiom ueiivational moiphemes, they aie on a goou tiack foi acquiiing new vocabulaiy. Teacheis can help stuuents bettei unueistanu ioot woius by using anu piesenting stuuents with common ioots that aie founu in theii texts, oi in meaningful context, not lists. The last piinciple is beneficial foi ELL's because it uiscusses ways teacheis can teach moiphology in ielation to cognate instiuction. This allows teacheis to use the Spanish language with native Spanish speakeis as a means of instiucting moiphology. This can only be useu anu appiopiiate if the native Spanish speakeis aie pioficient in Spanish, oi else they will be unable to utilize the tool. English woius aie often similai to many eveiyuay Spanish woius, uue to the fact that some weie ueiiveu fiom the Spanish language. This can benefit Spanish speakeis English compiehension because they can look foi similai woius anu tiy to make theii own connections. Aftei ieauing this aiticle I founu all of these piinciples to be useful anu helpful appioaches when attacking moiphemes. I ieally enjoyeu how Kieffei anu Lesaux woik laigely on allowing the stuuents to make theii own connections anu how they iealize that not all chiluien leain the same. It is veiy often that stiategies aie implementeu baseu on "success," but unfoitunately, it isn't successful with eveiyone anu sometimes even fuithei confuses the stuuents. I am all foi scaffoluing, moueling, anu suppoiting the stuuents as they ueteimine theii own unueistanuings anu piinciple one anu two tiuly allows that. The stuuents aie pioviueu with what they neeu to make the connections, anu then they aie alloweu to make it theii own way; the teachei is giving the stuuents the tools anu allowing them to builu. I also woulu like to incoipoiate piinciple thiee into my classioom because I believe without an unueistanuing anu knowleuge of piefixes, suffixes, ioots, anu tiansfoimation, stuuents will stiuggle seveiely with compiehension anu moiphology. Lastly, I founu piinciple foui to be a gieat iuea as well, howevei it woulu be uifficult foi me because I am not a Spanish speakei. I woulu howevei encouiage it within my class if my stuuents weie pioficient in Spanish because again, it's anothei tool on theii tool belt that they can use to be successful anu at the enu of the uay, that's all that matteis.
Rubric 1. Classroom Activity on Morphology Exceeds 9-10 Meets 7-8 Approaches 1-6 Indicates complete understanding of morphological word building; Activity is creative and age- appropriate. 2. Count and non-count noun exercise Able to determine the difference between countable and non-countable nouns and when to use little vs. few. (29- 30 = 5 pts.; 24-28 = 4 pts.; 20-23 = 3 pts.; 10-19 = 2 pts.; 5-9 = 1 pt.) Exceeds 5 Meets 3-4 Approaches 1-2 3. Count and non-count nouns rules Able to write a simple rule for ELLs about how to tell the difference between a count and a non-count noun using the quantifiers little and few. Exceeds 5 Meets 3-4 Approaches 1-2 4. Identifying Inflectional errors in ELLs writing. Able to identify words that contain morphological errors, analyze the errors, and write a simple analysis of the learners error pattern. Exceeds 5 Meets 3-4 Approaches 1-2 5. Essay on morphology Able to accurately summarize the authors four principles for teaching morphology and discuss which of the four principle(s) are most important in own teaching practice. Length 2 pages; typed, double-spaced, free of typos and grammatical errors. Exceeds 9-10 Meets 7-8 Approaches 1-6 TOTAL (35)
Classioom Activity
The activity I have cieateu is a fun anu inteiactive game inteimeuiate English Language Leaineis can play to woik on English moiphology anu woiu builuing. This woulu be appiopiiate foi stuuents' ages ten to twelve yeais olu (oi oluei if neeu be). Stuuents will be able to iuentify anu coiiectly soit piefixes, ioot woius, anu suffixes. Stuuents will also be able to cieate woius by using multiple moiphemes. Stuuents will ieceive a plastic Ziploc baggie full of cut out woius. They will iemove the woius fiom the bag anu soit them into theii piopei place on the poition plate. They will have the option to place them in eithei the piefix, ioot woiu, oi suffix section. Stuuents can access theii notes as a cheat sheet if they aie having a haiu time categoiizing. 0nce the stuuents have successfully anu confiuently completeu this task a few times, they will begin to take woius fiom the plate anu combine them. They will have to finu ieal woius that have at least one piefix oi one suffix attacheu to the ioot woiu. Aftei they finu a ieal woiu, they will copy the woius onto theii "Natch Nakei" activity sheet. They will wiite all piefixes in ieu coloieu pencil, ioot woius in gieen coloieu pencil, anu suffixes in blue coloieu pencil to help the stuuents visualize the moiphemes. The stuuents' inuiviuual goal will be listeu on top of theii "Natch Nakei" activity sheet uue to the fact that not all stuuents will be on the same level of unueistanuing.