Blog #6

Directions: Label each activity (L) for learning/word recognition or (A) for acquisition/sociopsycholingiustic view. Some activities can have both labels. Be prepared to explain your choices.
The students:	The teacher:
L Look up words in the dictionary to write definitions. A Make a Venn diagram to compare two stories L Practice sounding out words L/A Read in round-robin fashion A Correct peers when they make a mistake during reading L Identify words on a big book page that start with the same sound A Group cards with classmates’ names by a criterion on such as first or last letter A Write rhyming poetry and then discuss different spellings for the same word A Ask the teacher how to spell any word they don’t know A Read a language experience story they have created with the teacher A Work in pairs to arrange words from a familiar chant into sentences L Divide words into syllables L/A On a worksheet, draw a line from each word to the picture that starts with the same sound A Make alphabet books on different topics	L/A Pre-teaches vocabulary A Does a shared reading with a big book A Makes sure that students read only books that fit their level L Has students segment words into phonemes A Writes words the students dictate for a story and has students help with the spelling of difficult words A Asks students to look around the room and find words starting with a certain letter L/A Uses decodable text A Sets aside time for SSR each day L/A Teaches Latin and Greek roots A Has students meet in literature circles L Conducts phonics drills L/A Chooses predictable texts A Teaches students different comprehension strategies A Does a picture walk of a new book L/A Uses a variety of worksheets to teach different skills

Learning vs. acquisition is an interesting dynamic.  I found myself determining a learning activity as one that a child would need to be able to move to the next stage of acquiring language skills.  When completing the task, it was easy to assign the titles of learning and acquisition when I was thinking of young children, but as I tried to make myself think of older children, the task took on a different role.  I found that activities that were labeled acquisition activities were activities that would need some scaffolding or primer activities (the learning activities).  The activities that were labeled both learning and acquisition were done so because I felt that the activities could be learning activities if a child was at a beginning stage.  Children could be simply identifying sounds or words.  If the activity was extended (it was difficult to tell what all was included in the activity), the child could then be acquiring information or language from the activity. 

I believe a strong foundation is key to sustained learning.  I would focus on language activities initially, and as students began to develop the necessary skills, I would then move to more acquisition activities.  I do believe that a good teacher should be able to take any activity and adjust as needed for the students.  Therefore, just about any activity could be a learning activity or an acquisition activity.  The trick is to know where your children are and how best to guide them to the next level.  Some children may be able to recognize letter sounds but still have a difficult time naming the letters.  Because every child is unique, we as teachers need to plan activities that can build the necessary language skills so that all children can focus on the acquisition of both language and knowledge.