If there is no war nobody needs to fight back.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Waingort Jimenez, Elisa" <[email protected]>
To: "Mosaic: A Reading Comprehension Strategies Email Group"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2009 7:39 AM
Subject: Re: [MOSAIC] phonics question- 2nd grade teacher-Framing
Hmm. You got me thinking, Nancy. The thing about the phonics vs. whole
language frame is that there is no vs since phonics is one of the cueing
systems we use as readers and whole language is a philosophy of teaching and
learning, and for some of us it's also the way we live our lives. On a very
basic level, whole language teaching is about looking at the whole
(comprehension) and then moving into the parts (the pieces that help us to
become better comprehenders). But, if we don't recognize that we are
already comprehending when we approach a piece of text due to our background
knowledge (schema) and other cues that the text provides us, then we are
stuck in the false dichomoty of phonics vs whole language. For example, my
almost-five-year-old son can read the McDonalds logo and knows that he can
get a Happy Meal with a toy and that there is a playground at McDonalds
despite the fact that he has never set foot in a McDonald's in his life. He
is comprehending the "McDonalds text" due to TV commercials, his friends
experiences, etc. Whole language teachers understand that there is no
contest here because we understand this fundamental difference. However,
many teachers have been led to believe that there is a "legitimate war"
(still) being waged out there (and that it should continue) and phonics is
the way to go because the way children learn to read is to phonicate them to
death. Of course, this may be considered the extreme but so is the phonics
vs. whole language nondebate, as far as I'm concerned. If we can begin to
understand this a little better then maybe we will all be in a position to
fight back.
Just to make my point as redundant as I can make it: whole language
teachers teach phonics but phonics teachers can't teach whole language.
Make sense?
Elisa
Elisa Waingort
Grade 2 Spanish Bilingual
Dalhousie Elementary
Calgary, Canada
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even
touched. They must be felt within the heart.
-Helen Keller
Visit my blog, A Teacher's Ruminations, and post a message.
http://waingortgrade2spanishbilingual.blogspot.com/
On another listserv, some of us are talking about George Lakoff's book. In
it he talks about how political dialogue shapes our thoughts by the frames
that surround it. Apparently the mind set of the separation of whole
language and phonics has framed some thinking by some posters here. Whole
language teachers have been stating and restating the point that whole
language
includes phonics. Several whole language teachers have posted that whole
language includes phonics, and yet people are still repeating that they are
exclusive of each other. Since this is a list about comprehension, I think
this is a perfect example of how to tackle this kind of problem if it was
in
our classroom. What strategies should be used to help increase
understanding? And as whole language teachers, do any of you have any ideas
of how we
can reframe this long held belief to strengthen understandings about whole
language and let others know it is a strong and current theory of how
children learn to read?
Nancy
In a message dated 7/23/2009 12:54:07 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
[email protected] writes:
I have been reading the responses to your question. I think we need a
balance of phonics and whole language. My father taught high school
English,
he always pushed phonics which I found difficult at time. I also loved
reading which he gave me. As student I wish I was given a balance of
both.
Today we need to look at the strengths of our students to see to direct
our
teaching. We can't use just one way to teach children words and reading.
This is what differentiation is all about.
Diane Weiss
New Hyde Park-Garden City Park
**************What's for dinner tonight? Find quick and easy dinner ideas
for any occasion.
(http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?ncid=emlcntusfood00000009)
_______________________________________________
Mosaic mailing list
[email protected]
To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to
http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.
Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
**************What's for dinner tonight? Find quick and easy dinner ideas
for any occasion.
(http://food.aol.com/dinner-tonight?ncid=emlcntusfood00000009)
_______________________________________________
Mosaic mailing list
[email protected]
To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to
http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.
Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
_______________________________________________
Mosaic mailing list
[email protected]
To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to
http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.
Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
_______________________________________________
Mosaic mailing list
[email protected]
To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to
http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org.
Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
