January update

So....before I head off for the long weekend, I figured I better get something down in writing.
Question is related to how students' word consciousness help them learn vocabulary (or better yet, help me help them learn).
I still have to watch 2 videos filmed of my 3 focal students and transcribe in some form the conversations.  It's been several weeks since filming and a 1st review and I'm sure I'll learn something new.
After reading another Graves article, this time about specific strategies that can be done in the classroom, I've started an "informal" word wall on the white board in the back of the class.  Students can write words on it that they come across in the course of their day - words that seem interesting to them or that make them curious or whatever.  Then, they, or other students can add synonyms, antonyms, or other related words in a web format.  As the board fills up, I'll photograph it and then erase it so we can start again.  This is a play on one of the strategies discussed in the Graves article and hopefully another way to collect data for a project that is beginning to seem too esoteric!

December 6 - Part 2

What I learned from this conversation …

1. How incredibly connected the three inquiries are!

2.  That I'm giving myself more work to do....but it's okay because it's a topic of tremendous interest to me and that I think I'll learn a lot from it.

3. That I need to watch (and possibly transcribe) the video of my lunch with the focal students and see what information it gives me that I hadn't noticed or am not thinking of. 

My next steps are …  

1. Create a concrete path to collect another data source.  Options:

      a. record the 3 focal students having a conversation and listen to it with them to listen for "interesting" words

     b. have focal students pay attention to their own speech and notice if any of the words they're identifying in their word lists are translating into conversation

     c. collect word data and chart or record on a weekly basis - either have 1 focal student be "in charge" or consider charting -- in this include relationships of words that they know or hear me model

2. Watch the video and listen carefully -- see what I can glean from that.  

3. Consider having lunch with the focal students one more time before winter break, but definitely before January's meeting.  Perhaps have lunch with them 1:1 to have a deeper conversation with them alone.

December 6 - Part 1

1. What question are you thinking about?

How can students' word consciousness help them improve their vocabulary. 

2. What specifically do you want students to learn and be able to do?

I want my students to be able to use their awareness of words to help them improve their vocabulary.

3. What is something that you have learned about your focal students’ learning that has surprised you or been unexpected?

I have learned that they all like to be challenged, and will figure out a way to challenge themselves when given the opportunity.

4. Look at the work you brought today, what do you notice? What do you wonder?

I wonder how to incorporate the word lists they're keeping into a tangible teaching activity for the non-focal students (as well as the focal students)

Dec. 2 - an update after lunch with the ladies!

I just had lunch with my 3 focal students and they were quite cute.

I talked with them about how to take their word collections to the next level and "L" said that she wanted to do something more challenging than just making lists.  (I agree.)

"I" likes to write stories, so she suggested that.  "S" agreed, but I wanted this to be something more fun and less work-feeling.  I suggested a cartoon or comic book and they seemed lukewarm to that idea. Then, we suggested a crossword puzzle.  "L" said she learned how to make them in 4th grade, so there they sit (as I type) with "L" teaching the other 2 girls how to make crossword puzzles, with the agreement that they'll have theirs finished in a week at which point we will all get a chance to fill in each other's puzzles!

LOVE 5th graders! :)

12/1 Update (a bit early)

    "Here's what I'm planning to do on my inquiry between now and the December meeting ...."

 

I have identified my 3 focal students and each has received a notebook to use as a "word notebook".  They are writing down any word that interests them during the time I read aloud (about 15-20 minutes daily).  Before the December meeting I plan to have a lunch meeting with these three students to talk about what they wrote, why they chose the words they did, what questions they have, and generally talk about words.  I plan on video taping this meeting so I can review it several times and watch for growth and changes in the words they choose or the reasons they choose them.

     "One thing I'm wondering about is ..."

 

What I'm pondering now is how to take the data collection deeper.  I think I have to wait until I meet with them to hear what they have to say.  I've glanced at their notebooks and the words they are choosing are varied, so I'll be curious to hear their reasoning.  On student, the student who is ELL and struggles with English, has written "What does it mean?" and "vocabulary" all over the cover of her journal.  She so wants to know what all words mean!  

11/8/11: Part 2

Something I think I could collect is …

I am planning to give my 3 focal students notebooks to write in while I'm reading aloud (I do this daily for enjoyment purposes).  I want them to listen for and write down words that are interesting that they hear while I'm reading and perhaps write what they think the meaning is or write down why they thought the word was interesting.  Then I can plan to chat with them on a biweekly or triweekly basis to talk about the words they wrote down and have discussions about why they chose them and perhaps also include conversations between the 3 of them about words.

What I hope that would help me know about my students learning is …

I am hoping to develop their word awareness, which is one of the 2 key components to word consciousness.  I am also thinking that this collection of vocabulary can evolve into more specific types of words to listen for (or phrases) such as onomatopoeias, similes, or idioms.  But I'm sure this will evolve as the year moves forward and I see what develops from this first step.

Because I am very explicit about the books I read aloud and want to make sure they're challenging to all learners (I have a particularly interesting group of 5th graders who have reading comprehension skills at the 10th grade level), I think this might be really interesting.  I'm planning on reading books such as A Wrinkle in Time and The Phantom Tollbooth and hope that they elicit some good responses and ideas from the students.

What I’m thinking now about my inquiry is …

I'm more excited!!!!!  I'm considering removing the section about "content areas" in my question, but I'm not going to change that NOW....

I feel like I have concrete data to collect now after talking it through with Anne and that's a good thing because when I walked in this evening and listened to all the discussion about data that can be collected I was feeling really discouraged.

11/8/11: My data collection

1. Describe briefly the data you collected since the last time we met:

I have surveyed my students about their experience and understanding of English, what they know about how words are built, and their interest in learning more English and questions they have about words in English.

2. What are your first impressions of what you can take away from looking at these data?

I thought it was interesting that my 5th graders had a lot more interest in language, words, and word play than my 4th graders did; my students have a deeper experience with other languages than I knew about and yet, some students who use another language in their home lives did NOT include it in their survey; about 1/2 of my students have further questions about words in English while the other 1/2 don't have any.