Literacy
Links
TERM 2
JUNE 2006
A Newsletter for Itinerant Teachers of the Deaf in the Central and Southern Regions of New Zealand
Writing Project Teams Visit to Toronto and Rochester
April 2006
Michele Yonetani, Jane Peterson and Tess Hillmer from
VADEC and KDEC staff Beatrice Nuthall and Kathy
Bruce, visited Toronto and the National Technical
Institute for the Deaf, in Rochester.
Visits were made to schools for the deaf and a variety
of deaf preschool programmes, with some of the group
spending time with ITOD in Toronto.
The “Written English for Deaf Students – Action
Research Project” was presented
to teacher of the deaf candidates
at York University, Toronto and
academic staff at the Rochester
Institute of Technology. The
feedback was very positive with
great interest particularly in the
English Matrices developed,
correlating with the exemplars
of deaf students’ writing.
The team came away with a
realization of the magnitude
and significance of the research accomplished and
an appreciation of the uniqueness of New Zealand,
geographically not vast and with its teachers of the deaf
being employed by two Centres, which enabled research
of this national scale in Deaf Education to be possible.
All who supported and contributed to the writing project
deserve to be very proud - all indications suggest that
New Zealand is currently a forerunner in this field.
Above: The Bob Rumball Centre for the
Deaf, in Toronto.... The Manor: A specialized parent and infant programme
for deaf 0 - 4 years old is offered here.
Left: Happy Hands Preschool for 2½ - 5
years old deaf children or hearing children
with deaf family members.
Below: A deaf mainstreamed student
receiving itinerant support at her local
school, in Toronto.
Using A Prop to Retell with Fiction Texts
Retelling props are like a security blanket for beginning readers.
Try using the Retelling Hand for students who are just learning to retell.
Retelling Hand
•
Characters –thumb
•
Setting–index finger
•
First event - middle finger
•
Middle event –ring finger
•
Final event – pinkie
A new resource called the Retelling Hand has just been developed. As
a variation make a hand for/with your student using a photo/picture of
their hand and icons or images that are meaningful for them.
van Asch Deaf Education Centre 2006
Ideas for Teaching Word Order
Match up
Teacher Modeling
Have the student match the subject, verb or object
with the rest of the sentence.
As a teacher you need to model writing sentences.
The student could contribute ideas while the teacher
recorded them. The writing could be based on a topic
in the classroom or a personal recount. In addition
a dialogue journal is a perfect vehicle to model
sentences and word order on a regular child centred
basis.
The student should have access to a reference sheet
that has examples of the sentence patterns that are
their writing goals.
For example:
The dog got
to school.
The girl walked
lunch.
The children ate
a ball.
Complete the sentence -a cloze activity
Identify which part of the student’s sentence pattern
structure is omitted. For example if the verb is omitted
model this in a meaningful context first then construct
some practice sheets.
Upstart- A New Magazine for
Primary Aged Students
My sister can jump.
My dog _____ jump.
The horse _____ jump.
The best examples to use would come from the
student’s own writing where a word had been omitted.
Cut up sentences
Record a sentence from the student’s written work
(correct it into standard English first) on card then cut
it up into chunks at first.
For example: I
got a ball.
As students progress more parts of the sentence can be
cut up until each word in the sentence is separate.
The child’s written language book or the envelope that
holds the cut up words can provide a correct written
model that the student may or may not need to consult
initially to remake the sentence.
For example: On Saturday
I
played
soccer for my team.
Magnetic Sentences
Cut up sentences, as above. Stick a magnetic strip on
the back of each phrase/word so that the student builds
up a bank of personalized words. These can also be
used as a kinesthetic aid for composing sentences
before they are written down.
Jumbled sentences
Once the student has an understanding of the basic
sentence pattern, challenge them to unjumble simple
sentences written on the white board or in her/his
exercise book. The response does not need to be
written all of the time. A signed or spoken response
would be fine.
The magazine offers inspirational material that
encourages reading – much of it peer-written. Upstart
is written for seven to twelve year old New Zealand
children.
The content includes entertainment, letters, books,
challenging current topics, personal development,
sport, science, puzzles, games, quizzes, posters,
prizes, creativity and more!
There are opportunities for children to contribute and
have their work showcased either in the magazine or
the website.
Curriculum based teaching tips and lesson outlines
will be provided online for teachers.
Upstart is produced by the publishers of Tearaway
(a magazine for NZ teenagers).
The first issue of the magazine will be available in
August 06 while the full website is operational from
July with much of the website available now.
www.upstartmag.co.nz
Graphic Novels
van Asch Deaf Education Centre Library has the
following Graffix, which have a variety of authors and
illustrators but are all published by A C Black, London.
The Listener by Elizabeth Laird
Biker by Anthony Masters
Captain Hawk by Jim Eldridge
Bodyparts by Theresa Breslin
Moving Goalposts by Rob Childs
The Headless Ghost by Pete Johnson (Has Grant, a deaf character in the story.)
Laser Quest by Mike Gowar
A Boy Like That by Tony Langham
Hero by Anthony Masters
Hot News by Pete Johnson
Goal-Getter by Michael Hardcastle
The library also has a number of titles from the Myth
Men Adventure Series and graphic novels by Terry
Prachett. The Regional Literacy Web Site
www.vanasch.school.nz/literacy
The latest reading piece is about 3G video phones and how to use them.
Find it soon in the student pages. The article explains how to use this exciting technology.
Book Reviews
Effective Literacy Practice in Years 5 to 8
Ministry of Education, Learning Media, Wellington, 2006
This text has now been distributed to schools.
Educating Deaf Students -From Research to Practice
By Marc Marschark, Harry Long & John Albertini
This book presents a summary of the current state-of-the-art in deaf education.
With dramatic changes in deaf education over the past 30 years, this book
considers what we now know, what we do not know, and what we should know
about the education of deaf students. Taking a developmental perspective, the
authors look first at the history of deaf education, and then at education as it
begins at home and in the classroom, encompassing discussion about reading,
American Sign Language, and school choice. The various programs available for
deaf children and young adults are appraised, including details of the curriculum in
English, math and science, and social studies. Using a research-based yet readable
approach, the authors set aside the politics, rhetoric, and confusion that often
accompanies such discussions.
• This book is available from the VADEC library.
Spell Right: The Essential Lists (CD ROM)
Runs on PC and Mac
An interactive CD based on the well-known New Zealand Spell-Write book.
The CD Rom contains the seven essential word lists that of nearly 300
words. They make up 75% of writing vocabulary.
This CD is designed as part of the variety of activities that form the
classroom spelling programme.
The key features of the CD are:
* The words from each list come up randomly each time so that
students can expect to practice their words in a different order each
time they use the CD.
* There is a range of activities for each stage of learning. (Kid Pix type activities: zoom in, zoom out, letter forms, stamp, explode, jump, flash)
* Feedback is given at each stage to enhance learning.
* There is an audio option so that students can hear, as well as see, each
word. Many deaf students would have difficultly hearing the voice
and applause. A teacher aid could easily teach a student how to use
the programme independently fairly quickly.
Winner of the 2004 TUANZ award in the education category.
Available from the NZCER website www.nzcer.org.nz
NZ$32.00 exc. GST
Internet Sites
Journal Surf
http://journalsurf.learningmedia.co.nz
Journal Surf – Online Catalogue of the School Journal
and other Resources
van Asch subscribes to this service, which is
particularly useful for ITOD to select topic based/
integrated reading material at the appropriate reading
level.
How to Use the Journal Surf Online
Catalogue
Real Special
3.
Enter Journal Surf URL
Carole Bennett (formerly an ITOD in Nelson) has
a website selling educational products. She has just
started a newsletter that you can subscribe to from her
site www.realspecial.co.nz <http://www.realspecial.
co.nz> She would welcome contributions for the
celebrations/birthday column, jokes, tips etc. There
is even a monthly competition to design an outfit for
Edith, the company poodle!
Journal Surf Online Catalogue will come up on
screen
[email protected] <mailto:sales@realspecial.
co.nz>
URL as follows:http://journalsurf.learningmedia.co.nz/login.php
1. Open Search Engine
2. Enter your name and password (for internet
access)
4. Enter “van” & select van Asch Deaf Education
Centre from pull down
5. Enter password: “XXX” (If you have forgotten the
password contact Marg Hunt VADEC library)
6. Login
7. Journal Surf - search window will appear.
New Resources
Retelling Hand
Advanced Colour Word Poster A visual prompt designed to be discarded as soon
as the student understands and is competent with
using the retelling process. The student should be
able to transfer the process seamlessly onto his or her
own hand. They should be encouraged to make this
transition as soon as possible.
This A3 poster was designed to support the extension
of students’ vocabulary beyond the elementary names
for colours. The subtleties of similar hues are portrayed
through coloured objects. This poster will facilitate
the acquisition of colour adjectives and enrich the
student’s expressive language.
Vocabulary included: black,
ebony, charcoal, navy, blue,
sapphire, gold, yellow, lemon,
straw, jade, emerald, green,
olive, peach, orange, amber,
flame, red, wine, ruby, pink,
ivory, cream, white, purple,
lilac, mauve, plum, tan, rust,
brown and chocolate.
•
Characters – thumb
•
Setting – index finger
•
First event - middle finger
•
Middle event –ring finger
•
Final event – pinkie
Size: A5
Cat. No: 274
Price: $1.00
Cat. No. 275
Price: $4.00
These resources have been sent to the ITOD host schools for cataloguing into your resources.
A reminder about an existing resource…
NZSL Signs and Concepts (Signed/Voiced)
Parts of Speech - English Grammar
Cat No. 500a Video / Cat No. 500b DVD
Parts of Speech
Punctuation
Noun
Apostrophe
Pronoun-possessive and reflective
Brackets
Adjective- comparative and superlative
Capital Letter
Verb
Comma
Verb tense - past, present, future
Exclamation Mark
Full-Stop
-simple, continuous, perfect
Adverb
Hyphen/Dash
Preposition
Question Mark
Conjunction
Quotation Marks
Interjection/Exclamation
Speech Marks
Literacy Terms
Punctuation
Antonym
Brackets
Synonym
Capital Letter
Simile
Comma
Metaphor
Exclamation Mark
Onomatopoeia
Full-Stop
Personification
Hyphen/Dash
Question Mark
Alliteration
General Terms
Apostrophe
Abbreviation
Contraction
Suffix
Quotation Marks
Letter
Speech Marks
Determiner/Article
Syllable
Homophone
Word
Idiom
Sentence
Singular
Paragraph
Plural
Vowels
Prefix
Consonants
Video - Cat No. 500a
DVD - Cat No. 500b
Price $10.00