Essentials of Integrating the Language Arts

David Yellin

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• ISBN:
  9781351813419
• Edition: 5
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Essentials of Integrating the Language Arts, Fifth Edition, offers students all the practical tools they need to be effective language arts teachers, supported by the necessary theoretical foundation. Like its predecessors, this edition presents a comprehensive approach to teaching the language arts, balancing direct instruction in the communication arts and integrating the language arts with other content areas such as music, art, mathematics, social studies, and science. It explores the important topics of community and caregiver involvement in education and offers thoughtful coverage of diversity in the schools. Practical teaching ideas are found in every chapter.The 5th Edition reflects current teaching practices, field knowledge, and research. Significant changes include:

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• A more streamlined approach to allow readers to move quickly from learning chapter concepts and related theory and research to understanding how they are applied in classroom practices, activities, and strategies
• Discussion of standards, including the Common Core State Standards (CCSS), with the goal of showing readers how they can apply standards in the classroom to help meet their students' needs
• New teaching activities that support the chapter topics and align with the CCSS
• An appendix with more than 25 classroom assessment tools
• Discussion of current, quality children's and young adult literature, including informational texts, supported by an appendix of annotated lists of books by genre

Key Features

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• "In the Classroom" vignettes, describing real teachers implementing language arts strategies and activities with their students
• "RRP" (Read Research Practice) boxed features, offering ideas for activities and projects
• "Teaching Activities, " which future teachers can use in their own classrooms
• "Field and Practicum Activities, " which readers can use now in field and practicum settings
• Discussions of technology and websites, to help readers prepare to integrate technology in their own classrooms

Introduction to the Language Arts

1

OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter, you should be able to accomplish the following objectives:

1. Name the six components of language arts.

2. Explain what the acronym IRA represents and its role in guiding the teaching of the language arts.

3. Explain what the acronym NCTE represents and its role in guiding the teaching of the language arts.

4. Discuss the levels of the Learning Experiences Ladder.

5. Discuss characteristics of learning activities that engage students so they develop a love of learning.

6. Discuss the four ways to teach the language arts.

7. Discuss the initiatives that have changed education.

INTRODUCTION

Each semester, to start the first session of my class on teaching language arts, I (author Beverly DeVries) ask my students: “If you were interviewing with a principal for a fourth-grade teaching position, and he told you that his school is departmentalized and you would be teaching language arts, would you know what you had to teach?” Inevitably, I get answers such as, “grammar, spelling, literature, penmanship, reading, and writing.” When I tell them there is much more they would need to teach, they ask, “Like what?” They are surprised to hear that they also would be expected to teach speaking, listening, viewing, and visual representing.

In kindergarten through grade 8, the term language arts is defined in terms of its six components—reading, writing, speaking, listening, viewing, and visual representing. In this text we share with you learning theories, research, and background information on each component and provide teaching activities related to the six components that are appropriate for primary grades (K-2), intermediate grades (3–5), and middle school (6–8).

If you examine the six language arts components closely, you may realize that three of the components are receptive—reading, listening, and viewing—while the other three are expressive—writing, speaking, and visual representing (see Figure 1.1). When people write, they are expressing their ideas, thoughts, and feelings; others read their stories, poems, letters, or other forms of writing. When people speak, others listen to them; when they visually represent, others view their work. When people read, listen, or view, however, they receive the messages other people have expressed in books, speeches, videos, or other works. In today’s society, students read and write in formats beyond traditional print, they listen to and speak beyond simple class reports, and they view and visually represent beyond traditional pictures. We will share with you many different types of activities involving many different formats for each of the components of the language arts. We stress throughout the text that the components of language arts should be integrated in all subject areas. Thus, students read, write, listen, speak, view, and visually represent in literature, math, science, social studies, music, art, and health and physical education classes.

A great teacher makes hard things easy.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON

The two major professional organizations concerned with teaching the language arts, the International Reading Association (IRA) and the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE), together created the Standards for the English Language Arts (1996). Subsequently, these two organizations with other major educational organizations were active in writing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) that are discussed later in this chapter.

Integrated language arts wheel. FIGURE 1.1

DEVELOPING A PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

When classroom teachers formulated the Standards for the English Language Arts, they were not only pooling their wisdom based on experience, but were also articulating their philosophies regarding child development, their experience with the content and materials of language arts, and their understanding of the teaching/learning process. Successful teachers are also guided by a personal teaching philosophy, a set of beliefs that informs their practices with students.

Throughout this text, you will gradually begin to shape your own philosophy of education, particularly as it relates to how you will teach students about the language arts. You will adopt a philosophy that allows you to make decisions each day—from how you will arrange the furniture in the classroom, to how you will evaluate your students’ skills in reading or writing, to which methods and materials you will use to teach spelling and handwriting, to how you will maintain classroom control and discipline. In short, all of the choices regarding how, when, and what you teach will be ultimately dependent on your personal philosophy.

Acquiring such a philosophy is a slow and sometimes arduous process; it requires that you be open to the views of others but strong enough in your own convictions to resist being led by others. In the classic sociological study The Lonely Crowd (1961), David Riesman describes two types of individuals: The other- or outer-directed person conforms, follows, and looks for the approval of others before acting; the inner-directed person follows an inner set of beliefs and values that guide his or her decision making. Psychologist Jerome Bruner (1962) saw individual mental growth and development in terms of how people move from a state of outer-directedness to one of inner-directedness. As you become a more inner-directed person, your personal philosophy as a teacher will become more evident. Eventually, you will see yourself as a decision maker and others will look to you for advice and guidance.

read RESEARCH practice

Examine the following approaches to viewing the language arts critically. Compare them to your own experiences and observations in the classroom. Your ability to analyze this text, other research literature in the language arts, other learning theories, and your observations in the classroom is part of the process of becoming a reflective teacher with your own personal philosophy of education. As you reflect critically on what you see, hear, and read, you will become a more responsible decision maker in the classroom, which is the hallmark of a professional educator.

To help you in this process, the next section of this chapter describes some learning theories that affect teachers and discusses a number of different ways of viewing the language arts. Each language arts approach has its own strengths and weaknesses. Analyze and reflect on them in conjunction with other learning theories that you have studied. Because every student is different and every student also possesses unique strengths and weaknesses, no one approach will be suitable for all students all of the time. For that reason, you will want to choose the best from the many options at your disposal to find your own way.

LEARNING THEORIES RELATED TO TEACHING THE LANGUAGE ARTS

Before examining the various approaches to teaching the language arts, consider four learning theories that greatly affect teaching in general, and thus teaching of the language arts. The research and theories of four psychologists and educators—Lev Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner, Jean Piaget, and Brian Cambourne—have contributed to knowledge about language and thought, which in turn has greatly affected the latest developments in language arts instruction.

Lev Vygotsky (1896–1934)

Lev Vygotsky (1986) observed young children in Russia as they used language in play and other social situations. Based on his observations, Vygotsky concluded that adults greatly influence children’s cognitive growth. His observations led him to conclude that children’s interactions with adults not only shape their language patterns but also their thought patterns. At first children can understand adult language but cannot reproduce it or generate complex ideas. Later, as speech is internalized, it is used to control thinking. In this sense Vygotsky believed that verbal interactions between children and adults help children “learn how to mean.” Meaningful social interactions with adults spur cognitive as well as verbal development in the child. This theory, called the social interaction theory of development, has greatly influenced the classroom instruction.

Another key concept of Vygotsky’s theory is the notion of the zone of proximal development. This refers to the gap between what the child knows and can express on her or his own and what the adult must provide in terms of information and language structures. Children need adults to help them grow linguistically and cognitively. In a sense, the child is always one step behind the adult, straining to keep up. With the...