Entry #5 Children's Books Review

Teachers should think critically about the content in the books that they read to children and more specifically to English Language Learners. What may appear to be strategies for activating prior knowledge, making inferences, or questioning for the purpose of comprehension, may have no impact on the audience of English Language Learners. Teachers should preview text in search of stories and illustrations that are culturally sensitive to the students in their audience. They should also choose books that all students can relate to and comprehend with some scaffolding.

Annotated Resources:
Carrie, & Finn. (2006). Manners at School (Way to Be!). Minneapolis: Picture Window Books.
This book shows students how good manners make a school a nicer place. It
also shows how good manners help everyone learn. Additionally, it demonstrates
the many different ways students can use manners in school.
Wolff, J. & Slate, A. (1996). Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten. New York: Dutton Books.
Miss Bindergarten and twenty-six alphabetically named animal students spend the morning getting ready for their big day. While excited soon-to-be students overcome their fears, their new teacher has her share of humorous mishaps arranging the classroom. Lively illustrations and a relevant topic make this a great choice for preschooler or kindergartner.



What might affect comprehension because of cultural aspects and how might it be introduced to assist ELLs? Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate and Ashley Wolff
1. Students may be confused by some of the animals, such as beaver, quokka, vole, and yak. Teachers can introduce these animals before reading by showing the ELLs pictures of the real animal and have the students match the real animal with the fiction character from the book.
2. Even though the students are in Kindergarten, they may not understand that Kindergarten is a grade level at school. Taking a tour of the school and pointing out each grave level may help with this concept. Also calling the children kindergarteners may also help ELLs identify themselves as being part of this group.
3. The pictures are excellent for describing the action, but the names and the rhyming may be confusing for ELLs. The teacher should try inserting the children’s names within the book with the correct animal. The children may not understand the relevance of the animal, but this strategy will engage the learners with the text.
4. The pictures offer opportunities for clarification of new vocabulary; however, the pictures could cause the students to get off task from the content. It is better to chose a few new vocabulary words based on the pictures prior to reading to the students. In addition, try to clarify confusion and questions as you read, but do not spend too much time off task from the content of the reading.


What might affect comprehension because of cultural aspects and how might it be introduced to assist ELLs? Manners at School by Carrie Finn
1. The word “manners” will most likely confuse English Language Learners. Before reading, act out good manners in different places around the school like the playground or the cafeteria. Talk about what good manners sounds like, looks like, and how it affects one’s feelings. Illustrate and discuss the differences between good manners and the lack of manners using a graphic organizer, such as a t-chart or Venn diagram.
2. Several of the concepts are difficult to understand simply by looking at the pictures. For instance, when the text talks about Marco finishing his test early and asking the teacher to borrow a book during free time, the students will most likely get lost in the length and complexity of the text. A teacher may want to revise this page and adapt it for her students, or be aware that time needs to be spent clarifying many of the words on this page.
3. Another tricky concept for ELLs will probably be when the book states that Paul keeps his eyes on his own work and never peeks at his neighbor’s paper. “Keeping our eyes on something” may not make sense to ELLs. In addition, they are likely to be at a stage where watching the students around them is a helpful tool. I would suggest skipping this page or saying that good manners is sitting quietly while doing our work.
4. Lastly, this book is not designed as a story with a beginning, middle, and end. It is organized more like a list. If the goal is to introduce students to story elements, this book would not be suitable. However, it could be used to show ELLs that they can brainstorm lists or use a web of ideas to create their own writing similar to this story.