Sentence or Fragment, You be the judge By Schimica J. Gauldin

What I Wanted to Teach Poetry Terms Tone Imagery Poets Robert Frost Emily Dickinson Carl Sandburg

What the student wanted to study Grammar Pronunciation Literature

What did I teach? I taught what Maffy wanted to learn because it is important to listen to a student when they express an educational need We agreed on grammar and pronunciation We discussed two objectives Language Content

Student Background From Tajikistan 16 Wants to be a lawyer Came to the US in order to better herself Is a student member of UNICEF Will be here until May Likes being here and making friends and meeting people

How did I teach the two objectives? Content Objective Used teacher created and professional grammar worksheets Started with a drill She had to identify sentences and fragments Corrected fragments She had to create brand new sentences and fragments Graded each activity after she completed them Answered the same question during the drill and after all activities had been completed to gage comprehension Question: What is the difference between a sentence and a fragment? Language Objective Had student read each and every sentence Had student repeat words and sentences when I wasnt sure she said them correctly Corrected her when I thought it would help her Allowed her to say some words incorrectly Explained words that she couldnt figure out Tried to identify a pattern in order to understand the words she mispronounced

What did I learn? From the Content Perspective Student had good content knowledge Eager to learn Was not embarrassed asking for help Lacked some prior knowledge that might have been helpful Enjoyed completing the activities and wanted to know if there was anything else She is comfortable in academic settings She wanted to make sure her sentences made sense Enjoyed correcting them when they didnt make sense From the Pronunciation Perspective She didnt know she was saying the words incorrectly I corrected her sometimes I explained what a tepee was Gave her an opportunity to self correct but she still repeated some words incorrectly Didnt notice a pattern about the words she mispronounced Didnt get offended when I corrected her but I didnt do it for every word

What would I do Differently From the Content Perspective Give her time to read the sample paragraph a head of time Have her look up words she didnt know right then and there versus me explaining what they mean Discuss how the word is used in context to figure out what it is Have her use the words she didnt know in a sentence or two of her own From the Language Perspective Show her hold to look up the words online to hear them said correctly because she could do that any time she says a word wrong I should have said all of the words she said incorrectly and had her repeat all of them instead of some of them Asked if she had trouble saying any particular constants or vowels in English

Final Thoughts Maffy was the ideal student because she has great content knowledge already She was a willing learner and participant She knew her strengths and weakness She is not the typical ELL I missed an opportunity to help her because I explained the words instead of making her look them up in the dictionary I should have showed her how to use an online dictionary to hear the words said correctly Always pay attention to what students need or want to learn Keep additional activities available when they would like additional practice Have high expectations for ELLs because they have it for themselves

It is not the end but a New beginning By Schimica J. Gauldin