Course Profile Literacy Skills:
Unit 1: Where am I?
Time: 15 hours
Unit Developer:
Cathy Costello
Development Date:
July 2000
Activity 1 | Activity 2
| Activity 3
Students develop an understanding of their current skills and strategies in reading and writing through a series of diagnostic exercises such as interest and attitude surveys, Cloze passages, spelling analysis, an individual oral reading survey, a writing piece, and self-reflection on past performances in various subject areas. As an option, reading and discussion exercises such as True Colours© and approaches to multiple intelligences may be used to assist students in identifying their strengths, interests, and needs. Based on the results of individual diagnostic assessments, and opportunities for reflective self-assessment through a written Record of Learning and a Portfolio of Written Responses, students set personal learning goals to improve their reading and writing skills. In a broader sense, through the experience of writing a personal mission statement, learners are guided to recognize the importance of assessing and communicating information accurately and effectively in the world beyond school. The emphasis is on before, during, and after reading strategies, and students practise them with subject specific textbooks and a variety of contemporary fiction, non-fiction, and poetry pieces relevant to their experience.
Strand(s): Reading Skills, Writing Skills
Overall Expectations:
REV.01, REV.04, WRV.02, WRV.03.
Specific Expectations:
RE1.01, RE1.02, RE1.03, RE1.05, RE3.01, RE4.01,
RE4.02, RE4.03, RE4.04, WR1.01, WR1.04, WR2.02, WR3.01, WR4.05, WR5.02, WR5.04.
|
Activity 1 |
Finding Your Strengths (and Course and Unit Overview) |
375 minutes |
|
Activity 2 |
Exploring Your Dreams |
225 minutes |
|
Activity 3 |
Setting Your Goals |
300 minutes |
· In this introductory unit, the teacher establishes classroom routines and principles of classroom management.
· The teacher researches a variety of poems and short fiction and non-fiction pieces on the topic of the legacy of family, dreams, and goal setting. Some resources are listed for this purpose.
Note: Sensitivity is required regarding the concept of family.
· The teacher employs a variety of diagnostic tools throughout this unit to determine students’ strengths and needs. Some samples are included as appendices to this unit.
· Students should be familiar with the a Portfolio of Written Responses and the Record of Learning as ways of reflecting on and tracking their own learning.
· Students should be aware of their personal academic records so that they can be used as a tool for goal setting.
In this unit, students evaluate their strengths and weaknesses in reading and writing skills through a variety of diagnostic instruments. At the same time, to promote reflection and goal-setting, the teacher introduces a variety of poems, short fiction, and non-fiction pieces to stimulate students’ memories and knowledge of their own strengths, both inherited and acquired/developed. Teachers’ strategies and activities should show sensitivity to the life circumstances, abilities, and academic backgrounds of students in this course. Teachers must accommodate various learning styles and use a variety of approaches including:
· whole class discussion and instruction;
· direct instruction, including teacher read aloud;
· partner learning;
· cooperative group structures, including shared/choral reading experiences, and brainstorming;
· self-directed, individual learning, including sustained silent reading and Records of Learning and Portfolios of Written Responses to track their own learning and reflect on their own learning experiences.
· Diagnostic assessment tools are the focus of this unit: interest and attitude surveys, a diagnostic writing task, a Cloze passage, an individual oral reading survey, and spelling analysis
· Record of Learning and Portfolio of Written Responses and other written records provide formative assessment as students reflect on their own experiences and learning.
· Students will use the results of the diagnostic tasks to set personal learning goals, for a summative assessment piece.
· Accommodations during diagnostic assessments are necessary to ensure that the assessment accurately measures student learning. Such accommodations are appropriate for exceptional students and those for whom English is a second language. Assessment tools and strategies should reflect a sensitivity to the cultural diversity within the English classroom.
Andersen, Neil, et al. Literature & Media
10.
ISBN 0-17-618719-7
Archer, Lynn, Cathy Costello, and Debbie Harvey.
Atwell, Nancie. In the Middle: New
Understandings About Writing,
Barry, James. Departures.
Barry, James. Themes On The Journey.
Canfield, Jack, Mark Victor Hansen, and Kimberly
Kirberger. Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul.
Canfield, Jack, Mark Victor Hansen, and Kimberly
Kirberger. Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul Journal.
Covey, Sean. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective
Teens.
Davies, Richard, Glen Kirkland, and Jeff Siamon. Crossroads
10.
ISBN 0-7715-1332-1
Duncan, Barry, Sue Harper, Douglas Hilker, and
Andrea Mozarowski. Transformations.
Hilker, Douglas and Sue Harper. Elements of
English 10.
ISBN 0-7747-0594-9
Lazare, Gerald, Sherry Nicholls, and Jack Shallhorn. Mindscapes:
Teaching for Multiple Intelligences.
Time: 375 minutes
This first activity enables students to develop a picture of their own and others’ strengths especially in writing, but also in other areas of their lives. Ice-breaker strategies allow students to meet and to appreciate each other’s strengths, while literature pieces are designed to provide inspiration for student writing and reflection on their own interests and attitudes. The students also analyse their attitudes towards reading, and learn some skills for navigating textbooks in other subject areas. Following the “bragging” exercise, the teacher shares a course overview, paying particular attention to an outline of the activities planned for Unit 1.
Overall Expectations
REV.01 - demonstrate an understanding of a variety of contemporary texts;
WRV.02 - demonstrate an understanding of the forms of writing appropriate for specific purposes and audiences, with an emphasis on using the forms to communicate information clearly and accurately;
WRV.03 - organize information, ideas, and supporting details in written work.
Specific Expectations
RE1.02 - use and assess strategies before, during, and after reading to understand a variety of contemporary texts, with an emphasis on setting a purpose for reading, making predictions about content, skimming and scanning, using prior knowledge to understand text, predicting and confirming while reading, discussing main ideas and supporting details, rereading sections, and summarizing key points;
RE1.03 - use knowledge of the organization of texts to locate relevant information;
RE1.04 - make inferences, draw conclusions, and make judgements based on implicit and explicit information in texts;
RE1.05 - compare their own interpretations of texts with those of others;
RE3.01 - describe how particular words and phrases in a text help communicate ideas, feelings, and information effectively;
WR1.01 - describe and use strategies to generate ideas and explore topics for writing;
WR2.03 - use the appropriate person and level of language for a specific form, purpose, and audience;
WR3.01 - construct complete sentences to present information and ideas, using a variety of sentence types;
WR3.02 - organize sentences about a topic into coherent and unified paragraphs;
WR3.03 - organize paragraphs into coherent and unified narratives, reports, letters, and short essays;
WR5.02 - describe and use strategies to edit, proofread, and correct written work.
· The teacher explains to students the purpose of a Record of Learning and the basic setup required, e.g., date, brief summary of classroom activity, and student reflection on what he/she has learned about personal learning style or about the particular topic.
· For Parts C to E, students must bring at least one textbook from another subject area to class.
· For Part E, students may bring a photograph (preferably an old one) from home.
· The teacher prepares copies of a handout on multiple intelligences (based on Lazare, 30-32).
· The teacher prepares copies of the Interest Survey and the Attitudes to Reading Survey (see appendices).
· The students will be familiar with partner activities and cooperative learning models.
· The students will be familiar with some elements of textbook structure.
Part A: My Talents and Abilities
1. To allow students to become acquainted with each other, the teacher will engage them in an introductory “think/pair/share” ice-breaker activity called The Bragging Exercise. Students think about the things that they do very well and things they enjoy doing. Why do they do them well? How long have they done these things? Why do they enjoy doing them?
Note: the teacher may feel a need to set limits for this bragging exercise, i.e., things which are appropriate for sharing in the classroom context.
2. Students will share their thoughts about what they do well with a partner, and find out what that person does well. They must remember, that they may only say what they do well. They must brag, even if it is a little uncomfortable. Also, in introducing this exercise, the teacher reminds students to keep some details about their partner in mind so that they can introduce him/her to the class.
3. Students introduce their partners and explain what he/she does well. The teacher brings closure to this exercise by asking students what helped them to become very good at the various activities. The teacher may be able to reinforce the importance of reading and writing, or communications skills here.
4. Course and Unit Overview – the teacher distributes the course overview and takes some time to read and explain the purposes and units of the course to the students. Then the teacher spends additional time outlining the three main activities of Unit 1 – Finding Your Strengths, Exploring Your Dreams, and Setting Your Goals.
5. Multiple Intelligences: The teacher asks students what they think the word “intelligence” means, or what is involved in being “intelligent”. Then the teacher reads and discusses with the class a handout on multiple intelligences – the seven ways in which people may show that they have special talent or ability (Lazare, 30-32). Note: The teacher should adjust the level of language in this material to make it accessible to the students. The teacher leads some general class discussion about theories of intelligence, IQ, EQ, and how such theories are changing our understanding of “intelligence.” We may not all be intelligent in the same way. Each of us has special abilities and a preferred way to learn.
6. Students work in groups of three to five to re-read items on the handout and to share what they think their particular intelligence(s) might be. They are encouraged to think back to the bragging exercise for evidence to support their conclusions.
7. The teacher reads a poem such as “Gurl” by Mary Blalock (Andersen, 238-239), then engages students in a shared reading of the poem, designating each of the groups, which have just worked together to read different stanzas aloud. The teacher invites each group to consider its stanza and the dominant idea and feeling expressed there. Each group reports, and the teacher helps the class to summarize, by asking them to choose one adjective to describe the “voice” of the poem (confident). The teacher asks the students to consider how the poem fits with the other exercises they have done in this class. The poem is about a girl feeling confident enough to strut her stuff and go to the top or walk around the world. She knows what she’s got – her own strengths and talents.
8. The students write a Record of Learning on what they have discovered about their strengths, and the particular intelligences that they manifest. They comment on their own sense of confidence.
Part B: What’s Important to Me?
1. The teacher asks the students to do another think/pair/share on the topic, Something Important in My Life.
2. The teacher tells students to think of an object they have had for some time – an artifact, or something from the past – that is important to them. When did they get it? How did they acquire it? What have they done with it? Why is it important to them?
3. Students share thoughts about this object with another person in the class (different from the partner for the bragging exercise), and ask him/her to share thoughts about an important object.
4. Optional (if time allows): Students introduce their partner to the rest of the class, explaining a little bit of what they have discovered about this person through the object that is important to him/her. The teacher brings closure to this activity by inviting students to consider the range and diversity of important objects (perhaps they could be listed on the board), and asking them to determine how each person’s object relates to the “intelligence” he/she exhibits.
5. As students follow the text, the teacher reads aloud a personal anecdote such as “The Game of Our Lives” by Peter Gzowski (Kirkland) or “Shinny Game Melted the Ice” by Richard Wagamese (Andersen, 81-83) as an example of a person recalling and identifying a key important experience in his life. Following the reading, the teacher leads a whole class discussion about why the author chose that topic, and what effect hockey had on his life. By giving a title to each paragraph in the Gzowski piece, students will see how the author moves from his own particular experience of hockey to a more general view which sees hockey as being important to all Canadian males. By examining the title and the conclusion of the Wagamese piece, students determine the larger lesson that he took from his game of “shinny” with his brother.
6. The teacher asks students to engage in a diagnostic writing activity. Students write a piece about one event or experience, one person, and one book that have been important to them and have made a difference in their lives. The prompt for this writing piece is simply to do about one page of “best writing” in sentences and paragraphs. Because this piece will be assessed by the teacher to determine writing strengths and needs both of individuals and the class, no further criteria should be supplied. Before writing, students may brainstorm ideas for this piece with one of their partners from the previous think, pair, share exercises. Prior to submitting this piece of writing which will be done entirely in the classroom, students will have a brief opportunity to proofread their own work to make corrections with the use of a dictionary, if they wish.
Part C: My Interests
1. The teacher distributes copies of the poem “Please Hear What I’m Not Saying” (uncopyrighted, author unknown, as found in Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, 187-188), reads it aloud to students, and then leads a whole class discussion on why people wear masks, and what they might be hiding behind those masks – both positives and negatives. The teacher asks students to consider how we can help others to be truly genuine and spontaneous, as described in the poem, and summarizes this information on the blackboard. One way we can help is to truly get to know the hobbies and interests of another person. An optional “multiple intelligences” activity at this point would be to allow students the opportunity to create a personal mask. A simple method would be to use cardboard plates, and use collage technique with pictures from magazines, markers, feathers, sequins, etc.
2. The teacher distributes an Interest Survey (see appendices to this unit for a sample Interest Survey) and asks students to complete it. From this survey the teacher can discover reading and writing topics students may be willing to explore, and some student strengths in terms of personal prior knowledge. Additionally, students complete an information sheet about other subject areas on their timetable, and the reading and writing requirements of each, as well as their own perceived strengths and needs in those subject areas in terms of reading and writing skills.
3. Reading Textbooks #1: How to find information. The teacher surveys students to discover which textbooks from other subject areas have been brought to class. Students with the same textbooks (e.g., for Science or Geography) can be grouped. The teacher asks students to examine their textbooks to determine what features allow them to find information quickly and easily and how these features help. Items to discuss are the table of contents, the index, framing or boxing of information, italics, and boldface. During whole class discussion, the teacher summarizes some of these special features and how they assist students, e.g., definitions often appear in italics or boldface. Students may record these devices and their purposes in a simple chart-style note.
4. Groups then examine different chapters in the textbook to analyse and outline the typical, repeated chapter format and structure. Each group shares what they have discovered about the particular textbook they examined. The teacher summarizes by pointing out that textbooks were designed to be predictable, and to make information easy to find so that learning difficult facts can be easier.
5. Record of Learning: Students make an entry about their prior knowledge of reading skills that will help them to learn in each of their subject areas, and some of the things they know already about each subject area. They will also summarize some of the special features, which they learned for their own subject area textbooks.
Part D: My Attitudes
1. The teacher asks students what it means when you say that someone has “attitude” or “an attitude problem”? Then the teacher shares “Can-Do” (Covey, pp. 63-65), or “Hey! You Can’t Wear That in Here!!!” (Duncan, 102-105) or some similar piece about personal attitudes, asking students first to predict what the piece might be about, and then to read it silently to themselves. The teacher asks students to compare what they read with their predictions, and then to discuss the questions:
· How do we develop our attitudes?
· What effect do our attitudes have on ourselves and on others?
· What is the importance of “attitude”?
2. The teacher asks students to think about themselves as readers and to complete the Attitudes to Reading Survey. (See sample in Unit Appendices.) This diagnostic activity will reveal to the teacher how students see themselves as readers, and may determine some interventions required.
3. Reading Textbooks #2: How is the reading of textbooks different from reading stories and poems? The teacher asks students to recall the short personal story which they read two lessons previous to this one (the Gzowski or Wagamese piece), and to compare it to their subject textbooks. The teacher makes a board note on these differences.
· How do they typically read a story, novel, or poem, i.e., begin at the first sentence and read through to the last sentence?
· How might they approach textbooks differently, for example to respond to chapter questions, i.e., skim and scan to find the specific information and then read closely and carefully? The teacher should point out that in a textbook (a) there are many signposts or entry points to the information, from sub-headings to boxed or italicized items, and (b) pictures and graphical information are almost always as important as the text or words, illustrating what has been described or adding information. To provide contrast, the teacher asks students how they feel about pictures in a story or novel, or accompanying a poem? (At this stage, they are an “add-on” and often we prefer to imagine the characters and details of setting. The topic of graphical text will be explored further in another lesson.)
· The teacher may also ask, “What are some strategies which are helpful to readers if they are used consistently?” and gather perceptions and information from students, e.g., using the context or surrounding words and sentences to help with the meaning of unfamiliar words, sounding out new or difficult words, re-reading sentences or paragraphs to understand the meaning better. The teacher may also wish to point to things which can cause difficulty with reading, such as skipping words you don’t know (and thereby missing meaning), and relying on one reading and your memory to recall details or determine the meaning of sentences or paragraphs.
4. Record of Learning: Students write an entry listing some of their own reading habits and skills and identifying two of their needs as readers, e.g., “I need to re-read paragraphs in my Science textbook more often.” Or, “I need to use the glossary in my Geography text to learn the meaning of some words.” They also record the board note on how reading stories and poems is different from reading textbooks.
Part E: Is a picture worth a thousand words?
1. Students work with photographs from home, or from the teacher’s picture file. In small groups, they determine all of the types of information which they can “read” from a picture, e.g., time, place, event, attitude of people, their situation in life, rich or poor, healthy or sick? The teacher may also encourage students to examine some of the diversity of the style of pictures, from formal studio portraits to casual unposed shots, which capture the moment, and to determine how their perceptions of the people and situations are affected by the style of photograph. This is also a good opportunity for students to examine the biases they may feel towards the subjects of the photograph, again depending on the style and situation. For example, if students look at a photograph taken in the early twentieth century, or at a posed studio portrait, they may be likely to think that the people are serious and without a sense of humour because they are not smiling. On the other hand, the photographer may have “framed” or set up the photograph to elicit a certain reaction from the audience.
2. Reading Textbooks #3: Reading pictures and graphics and how they relate to the text (words). The teacher asks students to work in pairs (or heterogeneous groups of three including a stronger reader and an ESL student) to look through subject textbooks and list all of the different types of graphics and pictures which they find, e.g., charts, graphs, labeled diagrams, photographs, maps. The teacher asks each pair of students to choose one graphic or photograph, to look carefully at it, and then to read the surrounding text or words, considering these two questions:
· How is the graphic the same as, or different from the text?
· How does the graphic add or contribute to their understanding of the words or text?
3. Providing a picture of class writing strengths and needs: The teacher shares with students first a list of whole class strengths, and then a list of common needs as revealed through the diagnostic writing activity. The teacher invites the whole class to participate in setting goals around the needs, and indicates a course of action such as mini-lessons, and a framework for routines such as peer editing.
4. Individual Strengths and Needs in Writing: Students reflect on their own strengths and needs both as identified in the writing piece, and from their personal knowledge of their own writing in their Record of Learning.
Diagnostic
· interest survey – what the student will read or write, and the student’s prior knowledge
· diagnostic writing piece – student’s strengths and needs
· attitudes to reading survey – how the student views him/herself as a reader.
Formative
· Record of Learning entries on personal strengths and abilities, prior knowledge in subject areas, and reading skills with textbooks
· Writing Strengths and Needs sheet
Andersen, Neil, et al. Literature & Media
10. Scarborough: Nelson Thomson Learning, 2000.
ISBN 0-17-618719-7
Archer, Lynn, Cathy Costello, and Debbie Harvey. Reading and Writing For Success. Toronto: Harcourt Canada Ltd., 1998. ISBN 0-7747-0197-8
Atwell, Nancie. In the Middle: New Understandings About Writing, Reading, and Learning. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1998. ISBN0-7725-2682-6
Canfield, Jack, Mark Victor Hansen, and Kimberly Kirberger. Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul. Deerfield, Florida: Health Communications Inc., 1997. ISBN 1-55874-468-1
Covey, Sean. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. New York: Fireside (division of Simon and Schuster), 1998. ISBN 0-684-85609-3
Duncan, Barry, Sue Harper, Douglas Hilker, and Andrea Mozarowski. Transformations. Toronto: Harcourt Brace & Company Canada, 1996. ISBN 0-7747-0168-4
Kirkland, Glen and Richard Davies. Dimensions. Toronto: Gage, 1986. ISBN 7-71-56854-1
Lazare, Gerald, Sherry Nicholls, and Jack Shallhorn. Mindscapes: Teaching for Multiple Intelligences. Toronto: OSSTF, 1997. ISBN 0-920930-86-7
· Extra time may be allowed for students to complete the surveys and the diagnostic writing piece.
· Teacher and students can brainstorm words that may be difficult to spell, listing them on a board or on chart paper to assist students as they write their Record of Learning entries.
· Peer tutors or mentors could assist ESL or learning disabled students with reading selections and Record of Learning entries. Students might also use taped readings as an aid.
· Create cooperative groups that are heterogeneous, including a strong reader, a medium reader, and an ESL student.
· Place ESL students with stronger readers in groups of three rather than in pairs.
Time: 225 minutes
In this activity, students read poems and short fiction and non-fiction, both to imagine what may seem out of reach, and to get some focus on the possible in preparation for goal setting. Students are also encouraged to examine the strengths and skills that they may have inherited, or acquired through their association with parents, guardians, or other relatives. Through these subtasks, students continue to explore their reading and writing strengths and needs. They will also continue to learn reading strategies through the literature pieces provided and use of their textbooks.
Strand(s): Reading Skills, Writing Skills
Overall Expectations
REV.01 - demonstrate an understanding of a variety of contemporary texts;
REV.04 - use a variety of strategies to understand words encountered in texts;
WRV.02 - demonstrate an understanding of the forms of writing appropriate for specific purposes and audiences, with an emphasis on using the forms to communicate information clearly and accurately;
WRV.03 - organize information, ideas, and supporting details in written work.
Specific Expectations
RE1.01 - read a variety of self-selected and teacher-assigned contemporary texts for different purposes, with an emphasis on locating important information, identifying main ideas and supporting details, extending personal knowledge, and responding imaginatively
RE1.02 - use and assess strategies before, during, and after reading to understand a variety of contemporary texts, with an emphasis on setting a purpose for reading, making predictions about content, skimming and scanning, using prior knowledge to understand text, predicting and confirming while reading, discussing main ideas and supporting details, rereading sections, and summarizing key points;
RE1.04 - make inferences, draw conclusions, and make judgements based on implicit and explicit information in texts;
RE1.05 - compare their own interpretations of texts with those of others;
RE3.01 - describe how particular words and phrases in a text help communicate ideas, feelings, and information effectively;
WR2.03 - use the appropriate person and level of language for a specific form, purpose, and audience;
WR3.01 - construct complete sentences to present information and ideas, using a variety of sentence types;
WR3.02 - organize sentences about a topic into coherent and unified paragraphs;
WR5.02 - describe and use strategies to edit, proofread, and correct written work.
· The teacher finds short fiction and non-fiction pieces and poems from current and available resources about conflict between parents/significant adults and children and pursuing your dreams. Selections are suggested in the Teaching/Learning activities.
· The teacher provides a suggested format and some sentence starters for the Portfolio of Written Responses.
· The teacher prepares a Cloze passage from a current, available, grade-level reading selection, preferably non-fiction with little subject-specific or specialized vocabulary.
· The teacher prepares copies of a simple chart handout for Before, During, and After reading strategies, and copies of the Attitudes to Writing Survey (see appendices).
· Students have some familiarity with poetry and figurative language.
· Students have used graphic organizers and charts to record information.
Part A: What Do I Take and What Do I Leave?
1. As a pre-reading exercise, the teacher asks students to use a T-chart to describe themselves and a significant adult in their lives. On one side they list adjectives that describe themselves under the title “I Am…” For example, “I am…smart, brave, impulsive, caring, sometimes lazy, energetic.” On the other side, they list adjectives to describe a parent, guardian, close family member, or other significant adult. The teacher then asks:
· What characteristics do you admire, or did you acquire or inherit from this significant adult?
· What one characteristic or quality of this person would you “leave” or not wish to have?
· Example of a T-chart:
|
I am… |
My significant adult is |
|
caring |
strong |
|
|
|
|
|
|
2. Teacher reads aloud “A Secret Lost in the Water” by Roch Carrier (Duncan, 32-34) or “First Day” by Edward P. Jones (Andersen, 58-62), or a story with a similar theme (What do we take and what do we leave behind from a significant adult in our lives?). Following the reading, students work in pairs to create a T-chart for the parent and child in the story similar to the one they did for themselves. Then the teacher leads whole class discussion on the questions:
· How did the child feel about the parent? Why did the child feel that way?
· What qualities/abilities of the parent did the child not recognize as valuable? Why?
3. Vocabulary in Context: The teacher asks students to find several words or expressions on the first two to three pages of the story which they find confusing, or which they do not know. The teacher asks students how they might discover the meaning or come to an understanding of these words or expressions, and then provides some direct instruction on determining the meaning of words or phrases in context.
4. Students write a Portfolio of Written Responses entry retelling the most significant moment of the story for them, and explaining how they relate to the narrator’s feelings for his/her parent by referring to their own parent or significant adult.
Part B: Dreams Are Important
1. As a pre-reading activity, the teacher asks students to imagine that they could do anything or go anywhere, and then to list three to five things which they dream of doing. The teacher then asks how students would feel if they could fulfill those dreams, and how they might feel if they never accomplished some or all of them.
2. The teacher puts students into a co-operative group structure, designating one student in each group to read aloud the poems “Dreams” and “Dream Deferred” by Langston Hughes (many sources, including Barry, Departures and Themes on the Journey). The teacher distributes a work sheet with a chart where students can identify the images/metaphors in the poems and suggest their effects. The teacher also clarifies at this point the concepts of imagery and metaphor. In their groups, students discuss the images, their meanings and effects, and then report back to the whole class.
3. The teacher leads a summary discussion on the importance of dreams:
· What do they add to life? How do the two poems help you to understand what dreams add?
· What individuals do you know who have accomplished a dream? How did these individuals feel when they accomplished them?
· How do the poems help us to understand what life would be like without dreams?
4. Students write a response for their Portfolio of Written Responses identifying what they found to be the most effective image from the two poems and commenting on how that image spoke to them about the importance of dreams. They may also wish to write about the one dream which they are determined to accomplish, and how their lives might be different if they do accomplish that dream, or if they do not accomplish it.
5. Reading Textbooks #4: Before, During, and After strategies. The teacher distributes a summary chart to students, and through whole class discussion and use of the board or an overhead, assists them in creating a summary of techniques and strategies they have used for reading over the past seven classes. Students complete their own chart and include it in their Record of Learning. Example:
|
Before Reading |
During Reading |
After Reading |
|
· survey titles and subheadings · think of what I know about the topic · make predictions · formulate questions |
· check unfamiliar vocabulary · re-read sentences I don’t understand · infer meaning from clues |
· think of my similar experiences · confirm predictions · make notes · use a graphic organizer |
6. The teacher writes the question on the board, “Should you put limits on your dreams?” and asks students to respond. The teacher reads aloud the poems “Cooks Brook” by Al Pittman, and “I, Icarus” by Alden Nowlan (available in Barry’s Departures and Themes On The Journey, respectively, as well as other sources). The teacher leads students to a deeper understanding of these poems by giving one question per group to consider, and subsequently leading a whole class discussion. Assigning only one question per group allows the students to do intensive re-reading of the poem with a single purpose.
· Group 1: Why are these poems a good matching pair to study?
· Group 2: How are the experiences in the poems different?
· Group 3: What is the role of dreams in each poem?
· Group 4: Which experience is the better one? Why?
· Group 5: Which experience is more real? Why?
In the following discussion of responses, the teacher asks whether any students know the story of Icarus. The teacher briefly tells the story if no student volunteers, and asks students to re-consider their responses to the last two questions. The teacher invites the class to return to the initial question on the blackboard, “Should you put limits on your dreams?” and to respond with their opinions. Note: Different cultures may have different attitudes towards dreams and ambitions. The teacher should offer the possibility of exploring this avenue of discussion in various ways.
7. Students write a response in their Portfolio of Written Responses, detailing the limits they believe they may have to put on their own dreams, and thinking of ways they might overcome those limits. They share this entry with one or two other classmates to get suggestions on overcoming their limits, which they will then add to their entry.
8. The teacher distributes an Attitudes to Writing Survey for students to complete. (See appendices.) This survey will give the teacher insights into how students feel about their skills as a writer.
Part C: Following Your Dreams
1. The teacher asks students to work in partners to respond to the following questions:
· What three things are you absolutely certain you would like to do or accomplish in your life?
· What will you do to accomplish them?
· How many years will it take to accomplish them?
Students are invited to share their responses, and the teacher summarizes these on a board or overhead, clustering them under several categories, e.g., family, adventure, job, education, travel.
2. The teacher asks students to read silently “The Adventurous Life of John Goddard” (Davies, 179-182), or a similar piece. Their purpose for reading is to see how many things John had on his list, and whether he accomplished those items. After students have had a reasonable time to finish the profile, the teacher asks:
· What do you think of the way John Goddard has lived his life?
· Which things on his list would you consider adding to yours? Which would you exclude?
· What surprised you the most about this story? What inspired you?
3. Students write a response in their Portfolio of Written Responses, making their own list of things that they would like to accomplish in their lifetime.
4. The teacher distributes a Cloze passage – about 250 words drawn preferably from a non-fiction piece with familiar, rather than highly specialized, vocabulary and a reasonable readability level (Grade 9 or 10 readability should be fairly challenging for struggling readers), and asks students to read and complete it as well as they can. (See the appendices for instructions on how to create and score the Cloze passage.) This diagnostic task alerts the teacher to difficulties which students may have with the semantic or syntactic cueing systems as they read. The teacher should administer an individual oral reading survey (miscue analysis or running record) to those students who do not test in the independent range in order to refine the diagnosis of reading needs.
Diagnostic
· Attitudes to Writing Survey
· Cloze passage
Summative
· Portfolio of Written Responses entries can be recorded as complete or incomplete or one may be polished for a grade.
· The Record of Learning on Reading Strategies should be assessed for completeness and revised as necessary as this will be a key learning tool for students.
Andersen, Neil, et al. Literature & Media
10. Scarborough: Nelson Thomson Learning, 2000.
ISBN 0-17-618719-7
Barry, James. Departures. Scarborough: Nelson Canada, 1991. ISBN0-17-603717-9
Barry, James. Themes On The Journey. Scarborough: Nelson Canada, 1989. ISBN 0-17-603089-1
Beers, Kylene. Into Focus: Understanding and Creating Middle School Readers. Norwood MA: Christopher-Gordon Publishers, 1996. ISBN 0-9268-4264-1
Davies, Richard, Glen Kirkland, and Jeff Siamon. Crossroads
10. Toronto: Gage Publishing, 2000.
ISBN 0-7715-1332-1
Duncan, Barry, Sue Harper, Douglas Hilker, and Andrea Mozarowski. Transformations. Toronto: Harcourt Brace & Company Canada, 1996. ISBN 0-7747-0168-4
Fountas, Irene C. and Gay Su Pinnell. Guided Reading: Good First Teaching for All Children. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1996. ISBN 0-4350-8863-7
· Students may have additional reasonable time to complete the survey and the Cloze passage.
· The teacher and students should brainstorm spelling words which may be used in the Portfolio of Responses, e.g., adjectives describing personality or physical characteristics, and they can remain on a board or chart paper for the duration of these lessons.
Time: 300 minutes
Through reading reflective poetry, inspirational non-fiction pieces, and practical procedures, students set personal learning goals for the course and especially for their reading and writing skills. As a culminating activity for this unit, they create a personal mission statement and a critical path for their semester and year, setting personal learning goals especially for their reading and writing skills.
Strand(s): Reading Skills, Writing Skills
Overall Expectations
REV.01- demonstrate an understanding of a variety of contemporary texts;
WRV.02 - demonstrate an understanding of the forms of writing appropriate for specific purposes and audiences, with an emphasis on using the forms to communicate information clearly and accurately;
WRV.03 - organize information, ideas, and supporting details in written work.
Specific Expectations
RE1.01 - read a variety of self-selected and teacher-assigned contemporary texts for different purposes, with an emphasis on locating important information, identifying main ideas and supporting details, extending personal knowledge, and responding imaginatively;
RE1.02 - use and assess strategies before, during, and after reading to understand a variety of contemporary texts, with an emphasis on setting a purpose for reading, making predictions about content, skimming and scanning, using prior knowledge to understand text, predicting and confirming while reading, discussing main ideas and supporting details, rereading sections, and summarizing key points;
RE1.04 - make inferences, draw conclusions, and make judgements based on implicit and explicit information in texts;
RE1.05 - compare their own interpretations of texts with those of others;
RE3.01 - describe how particular words and phrases in a text help communicate ideas, feelings, and information effectively;
WR1.01 - describe and use strategies to generate ideas and explore topics for writing;
WR2.03 - use the appropriate person and level of language for a specific form, purpose, and audience;
WR3.01 - construct complete sentences to present information and ideas, using a variety of sentence types;
WR3.02 - organize sentences about a topic into coherent and unified paragraphs;
WR3.03 - organize paragraphs into coherent and unified narratives, reports, letters, and short essays;
WR5.02 - describe and use strategies to edit, proofread, and correct written work.
· The teacher finds short non-fiction pieces and possibly suitable poetry on the topic of making choices and setting goals.
· The teacher enlarges the two pages and prepares overheads of the selection “Sparky” from Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, 192-3.
· The teacher prepares overheads and handouts for activities on creating a critical path, setting goals, and personal mission statements. See especially Covey, 75-91, and Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul Journal, 235-310.
· Students have some sense of word families and spelling rules.
Part A: Making Choices (75 minutes)
1. As a pre-reading activity, the teacher asks students, working in partners, to brainstorm about areas of their lives where they have had to make, or will have to make, difficult choices. In a whole class discussion with a student scribing on the board, the teacher facilitates the development of a summary of some of these choices, and asks students to explain some of the factors that might help them to decide for or against these options. Board note sample:
|
Choices to
Make |
Factors In
Favour |
Factors
Against |
|
friends to ‘hang’ with part-time job drinking, smoking |
parents like them money to spend friends do it, “cool” |
parents don’t like them time from school work drunk driving, cancer |
2. The teacher shares “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost (Departures, 58 and many other sources), and explains that this is a poem about making choices. The teacher reads it aloud to students, and then asks the following questions:
· Why is the road image a good way to represent the making of choices?
· Why did the narrator choose one road over the other?
· How does the narrator feel about his choice?
· What do you think he means by the last line?
3. The teacher then asks students to re-examine the list on the board, and to think about what the difference would be for their own lives if they made certain choices. Some students may also wish to discuss making the best of situations, in which they did not have a choice, e.g., moving to another country. Students discuss in pairs and whole class discussion follows. The teacher summarizes with a statement such as, “Every choice we make has consequences, some of which we may not realize until we are very far down that path or road (as Robert Frost points out). It is important to do some thinking at the point of making the choice.”
4. The teacher reads aloud the short selection “Sparky” (Canfield, 192-193), while putting it on the overhead so that students can follow the piece. Then the teacher asks students to consider what else they have learned about making choices from this story of the early life of Charles Schultz, the creator of “Peanuts.” That is, if you are convinced that you have made the right choice, stick with it and make it work.
5. The teacher asks students to discuss once again with a partner some key choices that they will have to make this school year. What factors will help them to make those choices? What choices do they think they will make? Students then write in their Portfolio of Written Responses on what they have learned from the two reading selections, and the choices they are facing in their lives right now.
6. The teacher will administer the Diagnostic Spelling Test to students. (See appendices.)
Part B: From Dreams to Reality – Setting Goals (225 minutes)
1. The teacher asks students to consider the word “excellence.” Who are some people who represent excellence to them? What does it take to achieve excellence? Then the teacher reads aloud the first section of “Visions of Excellence” by Mark Tewksbury (Duncan, 192-194), asking students to read the second section (“My Olympic Dream…”) silently, as they ask themselves how Mark turned his dream into reality. The teacher asks students some or all of the following questions:
· What was Mark Tewksbury’s biggest dream?
· What was his inspiration for that dream?
· With what other dreams had he suffered disappointment?
· Why did he continue to dream? What helped him?
· What is the difference between parts one and two of this personal anecdote?
· What abilities did Mark develop which helped him to reach his dream of Olympic gold?
2. The teacher asks students to work in partners to re-read the selection and to summarize the pathway Mark took from dreams to reality. That pathway involves: focusing on the dream; determining abilities or strengths; setting short term goals; moving out of your comfort zone (or challenging your limits); practising to develop confidence; preparing yourself physically and mentally; visualizing success; visualizing problems and dealing with them; and re-focusing your goals. The teacher summarizes these steps in a whole class discussion, drawing out details, and shaping the steps to the pathway described above.
3. The teacher provides a chart handout where students can summarize the steps for the Critical Path to Make Dreams a Reality. Students begin to draft their critical path for the year, starting with the dream, and then focusing on short term goals, e.g., the reading and writing skills which will help them to be successful in this course and other subjects.
4. Students receive their Diagnostic Spelling Test results, and the teacher asks them to do some analysis of their spelling in their Record of Learning.
· Which words did they misspell? Is there a pattern to their errors?
· Do any words come from a meaning-based family, e.g., two, twenty, twice, twins?
· Do any words come from a letter pattern family, e.g., know, knee, knight?
· Can they think of a special memory device or saying which would help them to spell this word, e.g., highlighting the ‘e’ in “cEmEtEry”?
5. For the remaining two classes in this unit, students prepare their critical path including their goals for improving their reading and writing skills, for this course, and as they relate to their other subject areas. They also write a personal mission statement after looking at some examples. Students should have the opportunity to write a draft and participate in peer editing and revision.
6. The teacher assists with these activities by sharing overheads and handouts based on “Begin with the End in Mind,” “The Great Discovery,” and “Getting Started On Your Mission Statement” (Covey, 75-91). Selections from Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul Journal (especially 235-310) may also be helpful.
7. Students are directed to return to their Record of Learning entries about their writing strengths and needs, the reading strategies which they need to employ especially with textbooks, and their spelling analysis, to set their literacy goals. They should also draw from their Records of Learning and Portfolios of Written Responses about their personal strengths and abilities.
Diagnostic
· Spelling Analysis – students record their errors in a personal spelling record.
Formative
· Record of Learning – students analyse the types of spelling errors they are making.
Summative
· Students’ critical path, goals and personal mission statement are graded using a checklist or rubric, with an emphasis on the quality of thinking and the content.
Barry, James. Departures. Scarborough: Nelson Canada, 1991. ISBN0-17-603717-9
Canfield, Jack, Mark Victor Hansen, and Kimberly Kirberger. Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul. Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications Inc., 1997. ISBN 1-55874-468-1
Canfield, Jack, Mark Victor Hansen, and Kimberly Kirberger. Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul Journal. Deerfield Beach, Florida: Health Communications Inc., 1998. ISBN 1-55874-637-4
Covey, Sean. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. New York: Fireside (division of Simon and Schuster), 1998. ISBN 0-684-85609-3
Duncan, Barry, Sue Harper, Douglas Hilker, and Andrea Mozarowski. Transformations. Toronto: Harcourt Brace & Company Canada, 1996. ISBN 0-7747-0168-4
· Peer tutors may assist students with brainstorming and notes during the draft stage of the critical path and mission statement. Tutors should be reminded that the writer owns the writing, and that their job is to assist in identifying trouble spots and to make suggestions about ways to fix them, i.e., not to do the work for the student.
· Key words and phrases can be brainstormed by the class and put on the board or on chart paper for the duration of this activity.
Appendix A – Course Overview for Students
This course emphasizes the strengthening of reading and writing skills essential to all subject areas. You will read short plays, short stories, novels, poems, newspaper and magazine articles, and opinion pieces. You will practise the important reading skills of locating key information, identifying main ideas and supporting details, extending your personal knowledge, responding imaginatively, and using specific strategies to identify words in context and expand vocabulary. You will write clear, accurate, and coherent narratives, summaries, reports, letters, and short essays. Strategies will be taught to assist you in using correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
|
Unit |
Unit Title |
Major Assignment(s) |
Class Time |
|
Unit 1 |
Where am I? |
Personal Assessment and Mission Statement |
15 hours |
|
Unit 2 |
You Are Here. |
Meeting Place Collage, Zine |
25 hours |
|
Unit 3 |
Downtown and Around Town |
Brochure or Directory |
25 hours |
|
Unit 4 |
Going Places |
Verbal-Visual Essay, Virtual Vacation |
30 hours |
|
Unit 5 |
You Know You’ve Arrived When… |
Hero/Mentor Profile and Pathway to Success Journal |
15 hours |
|
|
|
|
110 hours |
These units have been developed to move you through a progression of reading and writing skills.
Unit 1 focusses on exercises and activities to reveal your strengths and needs, as well as on goal setting so that you can gain a sense of personal direction and capability with the reading and writing skills required for all subject areas. Reading includes poetry, short stories, and short non-fiction pieces. You will write in your Portfolio of Written Responses and Record of Learning.
Unit 2 allows you to practise various reading skills intensively while exploring youth culture and communication through magazines, newspaper articles, opinion pieces, and popular fiction such as tabloids and comic books. You will have opportunities to express your opinions and personal style through writing pieces, especially a “zine”.
Unit 3 stresses practical reading of various community guides, flyers, brochures, and directories, allowing you to develop inquiry and investigative skills, as you explore what your community has to offer and create a directory of resources for other young people. You will also read and respond to drama based on community experiences.
Unit 4 allows you to travel to other locations through poetry, a novel study, and Internet websites. You will learn the power of language to convey the richness and diversity of other cultures, while at the same time you will evaluate fact versus fiction based on your own prior knowledge. You will write a journal or diary of a “virtual vacation” developed with research conducted through print and electronic sources.
Unit 5 provides an opportunity to do research on a mentor or hero, and to create personal steps for success based on what has been learned from the mentor/hero’s life. This is a culminating unit where you can demonstrate the reading and writing skills that you have mastered.
An interest survey helps the teacher to assess what topics students may be interested in reading and writing about. Attitude surveys tell the teacher how students feel about the tasks of reading and writing and how capable they feel as readers and writers. If students do not feel positively about themselves as learners, they will read and write reluctantly. Unless students believe that they have some control of their reading and writing tasks, and see that reading and writing have value as practical and enjoyable activities, they will not be highly motivated to engage in them. It is, therefore, important to involve students in authentic tasks on topics where they have some prior knowledge and interest.
Materials: one copy of the Interest or Attitude Survey for each student. Students fill out the survey.
Teachers should encourage their students to be honest. Sometimes students will give the answer that they think the teacher wants to hear rather than sharing how they really feel. They need to understand that the purpose of this survey is to provide the teacher with information to help with planning the program based on their interests and needs.
Keen observation of and conversation with students engaged in meaningful activities will also give the teacher information about students’ interests and attitudes towards reading and writing activities.
· If there appears to be a negative attitude, try to determine why this might be, e.g., past negative reading or writing experiences.
· Determine the interests of the student so that reading and writing can be based on some interests to be more meaningful to him/her.
· Direct the student to reading material that he/she will be able to read successfully (see Cloze test).
· Provide successful reading experiences through teacher modelling (read-aloud), shared reading (choral reading, readers’ theatre), and guided reading activities (e.g., teaching of explicit reading strategies to small groups).
· Provide successful writing experiences through modelled, shared, guided and interactive writing activities.
· Arrange for the student to work with a peer tutor.
I Am Unique
Complete the following statements.
1. My favourite place is ___________________________________________________________
2. One person or event which has had a strong influence on my life is _______________________
3. Three things which I enjoy doing are ______________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
4. Three things which I prefer not to do are _____________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
5. The best advice I have ever been given is _____________________________________________
6. The best movie I ever saw was ______________________ because _____________________
7. An achievement that made me proud was __________________________________________
8. The two best books I have ever read are ________________________________________ and
_____________________________ because _______________________________________
9. The worst book I ever read was ________________________ because ___________________
10. I most admire ___________________________ because _____________________________
11. One thing that really interests me is ______________________________________________
12. One thing that really worries me or causes me concern is _____________________________
13. One valuable lesson I have learned is _____________________________________________
14. One thing I really wonder about is _______________________________________________
15. In the next two years, I would most like to accomplish _______________________________
Name: _____________________________ Grade: _______ Date: ________________
1. How do you feel about reading?
2. How much time do you spend reading each day? Who are your favourite authors?
3. Do you read at home? What do you read – books, magazines, instruction manuals, cookbooks, etc.?
4. How did you learn to read? What was your best reading experience ever?
5. Why do people read?
6. Approximately how many books do you own?
7. How do you decide which books, magazines, etc., you’ll read?
8. What does someone have to do in order to be a good reader?
9. Do you discuss things you have read with anyone? If so, what do you enjoy discussing?
Name: _____________________________ Grade: ________ Date: ______________
1. How do you feel about writing and what you write?
2. What was your best writing experience? Why?
3. What was your worst writing experience? Why?
4. List three topics about which you feel you could write easily.
5. What do writers need to do in order to be good at writing?
6. What do you do when you have finished a piece of writing?
7. What helps you the most when you are writing?
8. For what person/audience do you most like to write?
Cloze activities provide a teacher with information about the student’s use of the various cueing systems available in a text. The teacher can determine whether the student uses:
· the syntax of the writing, that is the typical word order in a sentence, to provide an appropriate part of speech;
· the semantic cues which point to a word with a particular meaning;
· prior knowledge to infer meaning;
· the pragmatic cues or print conventions of particular forms which suggest the type of information and its organization, e.g. menu, theatre ticket, page of a science or social studies textbook;
· in some instances, the graphophonic cueing system if a part of a word has been deleted.
In evaluating the student responses to a Cloze passage, the teacher gains information about the individual student’s reading level on specific materials, that student’s vocabulary range in a specific subject or topic area, the student’s language skills, and an estimate of an individual’s general comprehension level.
Cloze may also be used to give the teacher information about the readability of certain materials.
The teacher chooses an appropriate passage either from literature or from student content texts. Typically, the first and last sentence of the passage are left intact, and in the remaining sentences, every fifth or seventh word is deleted and a blank left in its place. However, the method of deletion can vary according to the purpose. You may choose to omit:
· target words such as nouns or verbs to test use of the syntactic cueing system, or words which will trigger use of contextual meaning (semantic cues) for the response;
· parts of words, e.g. prefixes or suffixes or silent letters;
· phrases, colloquial expressions with which the student should be familiar.
Passages are usually 250 to 300 words in length and total deletions should not exceed 50.
· Before administering a Cloze test, students should have five to ten practice sentences in order to become comfortable with the task.
· For ESL students, you may wish to provide two or three word choices for each blank.
· Students should read the entire passage quickly and then a second time to fill in the blank spaces.
· Students should be told to choose a word that best fits the sentence. If they cannot think of an appropriate response to a blank, they should skip it and come back to it later.
· Cloze exercises are not usually timed, but you should administer this assessment within a reasonable time frame.
Accept the exact response or an alternative which makes absolute sense in the context, e.g. street for road, or bright for shiny (the bright penny), or ran for scurried.
To calculate the percentage of correct responses, divide the number of correct responses by the total number of blanks and multiply by 100.
Sample calculation: 31/40 x 100 = 77.5%
|
· 60%+ |
independent level |
|
· 40 - 59% |
instructional level (Determine which cueing systems to teach.) |
|
· Below 40% |
frustration level (Give student easier reading material and teach cueing systems.) |
1. The percentage of errors indicates whether the material is at an appropriate level for the student to read unassisted.
2. Examining each error and categorizing the type of error indicates what strategies the student is employing and the difficulties the student is experiencing. This analysis informs the teaching focus to be followed.
There are some standard spelling lists which are available and which can be analysed diagnostically, e.g., the Morrison-McCall Spelling Scales, and the Gates McGinitie Spelling subtest, both of which yield a grade equivalency in spelling. It is more important to analyse the types of errors students make in their spelling than to assign a grade equivalency. For example, does the student consistently miss initial silent consonants? Is the student a purely phonetic speller, representing sounds with letters, but not attending to any typical letter combinations or to the meaning base which may influence the spelling, e.g., two, twice, twins. Does the student understand some of the basic rules for adding suffixes such as ‘ing,’ or for making the plural form of nouns ending in ‘y,’ or for doubling final consonants?
The pattern for administering a spelling test is to say the word, say the word in a sentence, and then say the word again. The following words may assist the teacher and students in analysing spelling difficulties.
|
|
Word |
Sentence |
Word |
Analysis |
|
1 |
knew |
I knew the answer on the
test. |
knew |
silent initial consonant,
knew/new confusion |
|
2 |
too |
They ate too much junk
food. |
too |
to, too, two confusion |
|
3 |
attacked |
The cat attacked the
paper ball. |
attacked |
silent consonant,
phonetic confusion over ‘ed’ ending, e.g., “attact” |
|
4 |
dessert |
My dad loves dessert. |
dessert |
dessert/desert usage |
|
5 |
through |
He drove through the
town. |
through |
non-phonetic spelling |
|
6 |
receive |
Did you receive the gift? |
receive |
i before e, except after
c |
|
7 |
accept |
She will accept the job
offer. |
accept |
accept/except usage |
|
8 |
Wednesday |
His brother arrives on
Wednesday. |
Wednesday |
capital on proper noun,
plus hearing all syllables |
|
9 |
friend |
Will you be my friend? |
friend |
‘i’ before ‘e’ |
|
10 |
countries |
They visited many
countries. |
countries |
plural of word ending in
‘y’ |
|
11 |
athlete |
Charmaine is an Olympic
athlete. |
athlete |
phonetic spelling with
silent e. Student may hear an extra ‘e’
- “athelete.” |
|
12 |
tragedy |
The accident was a
tragedy. |
tragedy |
Student may insert an
extra consonant - “tradgedy.” |
|
13 |
loneliness |
His loneliness was
unbearable. |
loneliness |
change y to i when a suffix is added |
|
14 |
mischievous |
The child was
mischievous. |
mischievous |
irregular spelling |
|
15 |
heart |
Her father had a heart
attack. |
heart |
‘ea’ combination |
|
16 |
whether |
He didn’t know whether to
call. |
whether |
whether/weather usage |
|
17 |
neighbour |
The neighbour held a
noisy party. |
neighbour |
i before e rule, plus
‘our’ ending |
|
18 |
descend |
We will descend the
stairs. |
descend |
‘sc’ combination may be
heard as ‘s’ |
|
19 |
interfering |
You are interfering with
my studies. |
interfering |
adding ‘ing’ suffix to
word ending with ‘e’ |
|
20 |
physical |
She teaches physical
education. |
physical |
irregular spelling,
especially of ‘f’ sound |