Module 2: Instructional Challenge

Take a look at the following examples of children's dialect-based miscues while reading and the difference between the child's original response (OR) and expected response (ER). Then answer the questions that follow.

OR: It my little monkey here.	ER: Is my little monkey here?
OR: We got to tell.	ER: We've got to tell.
OR: Frog look at Toad calendar.	ER: Frog looked at Toad's calendar.
OR: A word what sounded good.	ER: A word that sounded good.
OR: hisself	ER: himself
OR: I can come to your party?	ER: Can I come to your party?

Are these children's miscues evidence of proficient or non-proficient reading?  Explain. If you were teaching children who made these miscues, what, if any, assistance or teaching would you offer?

            I would think the student is a proficient reader based on the chart above.  However, comprehension questions following the reading would determine if the reader was truly proficient or not.  I think the original responses show proficiency because the miscues didn’t lead to a loss of meaning.  Using the incorrect punctuation mark in the first example could possibly change the meaning more than having a miscued word.  I think “hisself” is a common mistake even with adults.  The child has probably heard others, maybe even adults, say “hisself.”  I think the last response was definitely learned in the child’s environment.  Posing a question in statement form is something I have often heard people do, and I’m sure I’ve done it myself when causally talking.  It seems as though the student(s) involved in this chart may benefit from lessons about verbs, subject-verb agreement, and tenses or inflectional endings.  If I were teaching these children I would bring it to their attention that often the way we talk isn’t correct/proper English.  I would emphasize that while reading and writing we want to strive to use proper English.  I feel this is important to learn at an early because they will be expected to use proper English throughout school and into their careers.  This past year I had a student, actually one of my brightest students, always use the phrase “ain’t no” when speaking; “There ain’t no more soap.  I don’t got no pencil.”  I knew she was hearing these phrases at home and had no idea they were actually incorrect.  I continually corrected her, in a positive way, and even provided an explanation for her about why using those phrases are considered incorrect.  She seemed to understand, but continued to compose her sentences in that manner.  I felt as though it was a habit that would take some time to break.  Even though her sentences hadn’t lost meaning, I still felt it necessary to correct her because I felt like it could hinder her in the future or maybe even embarrass her when she is older and someone comments negatively after something she says.  Therefore, I would offer assistance to the children who made the mistakes in the chart above as well.  I don’t feel the need to correct every single miscue a student makes, but if I notice a repeating pattern with a child’s miscues I am definitely going to correct them.  That’s why I’m there…to teach them things they wouldn’t learn at home.