Guided Notes for Language Experience Approach

Guided Notes for Language Experience Approach

Uses a student-created story about a “real-life” experience as the basis for reading/writing instruction

· Integrates thinking, listening, reading, writing, and speaking

· Often used with younger readers, but can be an effective strategy for older beginning readers for whom it is difficult to find reading materials that are age-appropriate

· Can be used in conjunction with BigBooks with younger students or by itself

· Is an especially effective strategy with English Language Learners—b/c you are using material that is clearly at the student’s current English language level and is relevant to the student’s culture and life experience

· Can also use Language experience with content areas like science or social studies: for example, rather than write a story, summarize main points about the topic

· Can also use LE to teach writing a letter (a thank-you to a guest speaker), to create a recipes, a set of directions for a task (like buying lunch in the cafeteria or starting a computer program)

· Can integrate with Shared Writing to expand writing (composition) skills and increase student involvement

· Can integrate LE with other approaches – doesn’t have to be the only approach you use in early literacy instruction

· Add drama, art, music to enhance LE instruction (e.g., create pictures for dictated stories, write a play/act it out, use music to accompany readings, create songs, raps, poems . . . .)

· Can work on all of the following areas of literacy instruction using Language Experience activities:

One Way to Use Language Experience (Adapted from T. Gunning, Creating Literacy Instruction for All Children, 2003).

Day 1
Step 1: Build experiential background for the story
Suggested activities / Student(s) have a “real-world” experience that they can write about (a community trip, going to see a play, having a guest speaker, etc.
Step 2: Discuss the experience
Suggested activities / Teacher/EA talk with students about the experience. Adult provides structure/scaffolding to help students reflect on experience and organize their thoughts/information. (e.g., if students baked bread, the teacher would pose questions in such a way that the children would list in order the steps involved)
Step 3: Dictate the story
Suggested activities / Student(s) dictate the story. Teacher/EA writes story on large lined paper, overhead transparency, or on chalkboard, etc. Teacher/EA reads aloud what s/he is writing so that student(s) can see spoken words being written. Also sweeps hand under the print being read so that student(s) can see where each word begins and ends and that reading is done from left to right.
· Can combine with Shared Writing and have students participate in the actual writing of the story
· Put one sentence on each line for beginning readers
· Record exact words of student(s), spelling words correctly
· Have students draw (or find in magazine)pictures to illustrate key points/events in the story OR use photographs taken with digital or Poloroid camera.
Step 4: Review the story
Suggested activities / Teacher/EA reads story aloud to student(s), asking if story says what they want it to say and making changes if student(s) wish to do so. Then re-read story with changes.
Step 5: Teacher/EA and student(s) read story
Suggested activities / Teacher/EA and student(s) read story together. Teacher/EA sweeps hand under each word as it is read.
Step 6: Student(s) read familiar parts
Suggested activities / Student(s) volunteers read sentences or words that they know. (Many students can “read” story by relying on pictures they have included and their memory.)
Day2
Step1: Re-read story
Suggested activities / Teacher/EA re-reads story, pointing to each word as s/he reads with student(s) reading along.
· Volunteer student(s) can read familiar words or phrases
Step 2: Match story parts
Suggested activities / Teacher/EA duplicates story and cuts it into strips. Teacher/EA points to a line in the master story, and students find the duplicated strip that matches it. Can also do this with individual words. Volunteer student(s) read strips.
· Can ask questions such as “which strip tells where we went? Which strip tells what we saw? Student(s) identify and read the strips that answer each question.
· Can ask student(s) to assemble strips in the correct order and then read completed story.
· Cut individual sentences into words that student(s) assemble into sentences. Can do this as a pocket chart activity:
- Scrambled words are displayed; student(s) read each one. Volunteer student(s0 reads the word that comes first, puts it in its place and reads it once more; another volunteer selects the next word, puts it into place, reads the two words, etc. until sentences are complete. Then student(s) read sentence aloud and listen to see if it is put together correctly.
Day 3
Step 1: Re-read story
Suggested activities / Give a copy of story to each student. Discuss story and read in unison.
Step 2: Identify familiar words
Suggested activities / Student(s) underline words that they know. Known words are placed in word banks or used in other activities (e.g., create flash cards for high-frequency words; use in initial sounds sorting activities, etc.)
Step 3: Publish
Suggested activities / Put copies of language experience stories in classroom books for students to re-read during self-selected reading time. Students can include their artwork for stories and/or photographs taken during the experiences.