Double Entry Journal #10

The main concern when looking at early literacy development are social practices. These social practices are written and oral forms of language when around other people. Leona's specialized form of language features groups of lines which she puts in stanzas. Each line tends to have a parallel structure with other lines in the stanza and matches them in content. Leona's specialized form of language because it does not sound like an early prototype of academic language to teachers even though she uses a complex structure and has learned meaningful language skills. the Snow et al (1998) contradicts itself by stating that we need to improve children in poor areas initial reading skill and then showing that regardless of initial reading level they fall further behind. Some factors that make or break good readers are factor such as racism and power. Some students may dis identify with the teacher based on these will make the learning environment non productive for the students. Some children have a hard time identifying with the "ways with words" in schools because they find other specialized languages more interesting and focus on those.

Double Entry #9

The author states that the strange fact is the majority of students who have trouble with reading come from poor families or minorities and have faced oppression and prejudice. This fact is strange because being in a particular social group or being poor should not have an affect on ones ability to read. School separates students into different groups, the author calls those who enjoy and excel in school the "school club". Traditionalists advocate a skill based approach while more progressive educators focus on meaning making. According to the author reading is not a natural process like learning to speak. A natural process is something that just happens such as learning ones language. An instructed process is something we must learn through skill based approaches such as learning physics. A cultural process is one that a culture values so much that they ensure that everyone who needs to learns it, reading should be considered a cultural process according the author. Humans learn best through cultural processes but reading is taught in schools using the instructed process. The author attributes the "fourth grade slump"to the fact that the students can not read for understanding but can read in the sense of decoding. A better predictor of reading success is language ability. The parents of the child are not to blame because it is more than that. According to the author reading is a cultural process and as a cultural we need to make sure all of us can read. I struggled at certain parts of the chapter and I would say it was due to my unfamiliarity with the specialized language used throughout the chapter. 

Double Entry Journal 8

In Situated Language and Learning, by James Gee, the main challenge being addressed is the tension that everyone faces when dealing with "academic jargon". The author talks about "ways with words" which are the different types of words and structure that we use. One "ways with words" is academic while another is a students out of school language. The author states that the core argument of the book is that people learn new ways with words only when they  find the worlds in which these words apply compelling. I am into video games so one variety of language I have learned outside school is one that I learned through video games. The best way to learn a specialized language according to the author is when we are interested in the world that these "ways with words" are associated with. To be successful in the 21st century we must be "shape-shifting portfolio people" or people with different kinds of experiences that are able to adapt. I do agree with the author, while academic language is still important but in today's society you also need to know many other specialized languages. Many types of language are out in the world and if you don't learn these types you will be unable to communicate with other. Any job you get usually has a specialized language that is not academic language and in order to do the job you must know the language. After only reading the Intro I am still not sure what I personally think of the authors "way with words" but he does a good job of switching between academic language and language everyone could understand.

Double Entry Journal #7

According to the reading one of the major challenges when implementing inquiry approaches is the skill and knowledge of the teacher. It goes on to say that some teachers do not understand all that is included in inquiry approaches and simply dismiss them as unstructured. If this is the belief of the teacher it may result in the students not receiving the proper scaffolding or prior knowledge. Without a strong model in these approaches students may struggle with coming up with driving questions and moving toward the goal of the project. Teachers must, in order to succeed, learn how to juggle different responsibilities. They must also come up with a different idea for classroom management and also make sure that the inquiries are diverse to cover different concepts. While the inquiry approaches can be great it takes a teacher that truly believes in the approach and is willing to work in more ways than just simply directly feeding students facts.