### Mia: Developing Emergent Reading Abilities

Sure, I can help you structure and respond to these activities. Let's get started. --- ### ACTIVITY 9 **Questions for Mentor Teacher:** 1. What specific teaching methods do you use to facilitate language learning in the classroom? 2. How do you incorporate listening, speaking, reading, and writing into your language lessons? 3. What kinds of activities or resources do you find most effective in engaging students in language learning? 4. How do you assess students' language development and proficiency? 5. Can you provide examples of how you adapt your teaching methods for students with different language abilities? **Teacher's Answers:** 1. **Teaching Methods:** - I employ a balanced literacy approach, which combines phonics and whole language techniques. - I integrate interactive read-alouds, shared reading, guided reading, and independent reading. - For writing, we use a writer’s workshop model where students are given time to write independently after a mini-lesson on specific writing skills. 2. **Incorporating Language Skills:** - Listening: Through stories, songs, and auditory games. - Speaking: By encouraging students to participate in class discussions and presentations. - Reading: By providing a variety of books and fostering a love for reading through book corners. - Writing: Through journal writing, story prompts, and collaborative writing activities. 3. **Effective Activities/Resources:** - I find that hands-on activities such as word games, storytelling, and drama activities engage students the most. - Using multimedia resources like educational videos, interactive whiteboards, and language learning apps also proves effective. 4. **Assessing Language Development:** - Continuous formative assessments through observations, quizzes, and one-on-one reading sessions. - Summative assessments including term tests and reading comprehension exercises. 5. **Adapting Methods:** - For students with different abilities, I differentiate instructions by providing additional support, modified tasks, or advanced challenges as needed. - Using peer-assisted learning where stronger students help those who may need extra support. **Examples of Approach Observed:** During a reading session, I observed that the teacher used a multimodal approach: she read aloud with animated expressions, asked predictive and inferential questions to engage students, and invited them to participate in reading parts of the story. For writing, students were encouraged to illustrate and write captions for their drawings, integrating visual and verbal skills. --- ### 9.1 Comparing Mentor Teacher's Approach to Language Acquisition Theories **Mentor Teacher’s Approach:** - Balanced literacy, interactive read-alouds, shared reading, writing workshops, differentiated instruction. **Language Acquisition Theories:** 1. **Behaviorist Theory (Skinner):** - Emphasizes imitation and reinforcement. - Comparable aspects: Use of repetitive reading and immediate feedback during guided reading. 2. **Nativist Theory (Chomsky):** - Emphasizes innate language abilities. - While not directly observable, the engagement in rich language environments supports natural language growth. 3. **Social Interactionist Theory (Vygotsky):** - Stresses the importance of social interaction. - Comparable aspects: Teacher’s use of collaborative activities, peer-assisted learning, and interactive discussions. 4. **Cognitive Development Theory (Piaget):** - Focuses on stages of cognitive development. - Comparable aspects: Differentiation of tasks to match students' cognitive and language development levels. Mentor teacher’s approach aligns well with **Social Interactionist** and **Cognitive Development** theories, with a practical application of scaffolding in language activities and promoting social interaction for language development. --- ### ACTIVITY 10 **10.1 Observation of Emergent Reading in Grade R** **Chosen Learner: Alex** **Signs/Behaviors Indicating Emergent Reading:** 1. **Interest in Books:** - Alex frequently chooses books from the classroom library and “pretends” to read, turning pages and narrating stories based on the pictures. 2. **Recognizing Letters and Sounds:** - During circle time, Alex points out letters on the alphabet chart and matches them with the beginning sounds of words. 3. **Awareness of Print:** - Alex traces words with a finger when looking at pictures and tries to imitate the text’s length and structure when drawing and writing independently. 4. **Story Retelling:** - When asked about the story read in class, Alex can retell the main events and even adds personal observations or alternative endings. These behaviors demonstrate Alex’s developing grasp of fundamental literacy concepts, such as the enjoyment of stories, recognition of letters and sounds, and understanding the function of print, which are key indicators of emergent reading abilities. --- I hope this helps you with your assignment. If you have any further questions or need additional guidance, feel free to ask!