[quote=“ironlady”]I’m just not too clear on how providing mostly written materials for the children to work with fits with Krashen’s ideas about language acquisition. Yes, we acquire by matching meaning to form, but the form is generally aural, not visual, first. Visual representations of language are literacy.
I teach using CI as well, but I can’t imagine providing it as a solo activity unless it was absolutely unavoidable.[/quote]
This is an example of why I should NOT type detailed answers like this on my phone. I’m not as able to think as well and be as clear as I type. When I first read your question, I was confused by it. As I read my response to your original question, I see where the confusion comes in. It was my poor explanation. So let me sort of start over and clarify here. The examples of materials to be done by the students themselves and the CI model are different ideas, but it seems like the same idea from the post I typed.
When a student comes into the 3-6 classroom in Taiwan, few of them have been exposed to English on any significant level. What they need at this point are two things:
- To be able to feel comfortable. This means they must feel comfortable both with the classroom environment and with me.
- A LOT of input. The input I provide them must be carefully selected so they have a chance to understand what I am saying.
I do not require the child to use any type of language at all. The children will eventually do this on their own, but for now, they need for me to provide the language for them and for it to be at a reasonable level for them to understand once they are ready.
The opportunity to provide this language mostly arises as they work with the materials. It is then that I have a chance to introduce language to him or her. In the beginning, I usually focus on words or phrases that will be used throughout the classroom no matter what material the child is doing: “Please give me the ____,” “Push in your chair,” “Roll up your rug.” I also always make sure to greet the child, “Hello, Mia,” then thank her at the end.
Once a child understands the language I am using, I introduce more. This is much easier to do once the child is actively listening to me.
This next part is not CI or Krashen. For writing and reading, the Montessori perspective suits me much better. For that, we focus on:
–Building up a child’s listening and speaking ability. This must happen before the traditional language materials are even introduced.
–Preparing the hand to write with exercises that strengthen the hand muscles.
–Helping a child develop more natural left to right motion by appealing to their sensitive period for order.
–Helping a child notice the difference and similarities of things.
–Helping the child hear patterns in language.
–Identifying individual sounds in words, particularly the beginning sound. (Think of the game, “I spy.”)
All of those things are preparation for writing. It is only after a child has a decent level of listening and speaking that I even begin to introduce the actual letters and matching them with the sounds they make. This will usually take more time to get to this stage than in a Montessori classroom in an English speaking country because children in America, for example, will generally come into the classroom with a certain level of spoken English.
We introduce the letters and corresponding sounds with a material called the sandpaper letters. These are smooth wooden boards of varying sizes. Tall letters are on taller boards, small letters are on smaller boards, and “m” and “w” are on longer boards. The vowels and consonants are different colors, most commonly pink for consonants and blue for vowels. The letters can be traced with the fingers so you get a sensation of how the letter feels. The child already understands that words are made up of sounds from the “I spy” game and similar activities. Now we are presenting the visual representation.
Once a child knows enough sounds, we can introduce the movable alphabet. This is box of cut out letters, color coded the same as the sandpaper letters. The child can take a word and “write” it with the movable alphabet. The first lesson involves a lot more help from the teacher, but they are soon able to do this on their own. Eventually, the child realizes that they wrote a word, but others can read it. Then they are ready to begin to learn to read.
I have to run now. My boss is closing up the office. I will try to type more later tonight if I can. If not, I will check back again tomorrow.
