Journal #4
February 16, 2011
8:30-10:30 (2 hours)
Today’s lesson was pretty simple. I had planned several (5-6) activities and was surprised that Oscar and I only made it through one of these. When I started the lesson I presented Oscar with one small 3x5 note card. I asked Oscar if he had ever heard of tongue twisters. He said no. I explained to him the concept of a tongue twister and then read the tongue twister written on the 3x5 card really quickly. He laughed when he heard it and looked slightly nervous to read the card. Luckily, I was starting with an easier sound for him, even though it sometimes proves to be challenging. It’s a sound I know Oscar can say, but I also know he has to think about it before he pronounces it correctly. The card contained a tongue twister using the “v” sound. I first asked Oscar to read the card slowly, making sure to pronounce every word correctly. He did this. Then, without even asking, he read it again but faster. He was determined to say it as fast as I had without making a single pronunciation mistake. I never asked him to repeat the card. He simply did it on his own until he had matched my initial speed and pronunciation. Once he knew he succeeded he was very content with himself. I smiled and told him he was doing an excellent job. I immediately knew this activity would be beneficial because with enough correct repetition of a tongue twister he will eventually start to say the correct sounds naturally, without thinking about it. Once Oscar mastered this card, I pulled out another with a sound that I also knew Oscar could say if he thought about it, “f.” He immediately started reading the card aloud. Once he finally thought he mastered it he read it again as fast as he could. Then he looked at me and said “you read it.” I laughed at this then read the card aloud as fast as I could. After this he read the card quickly one more time and then looked extremely content in his ability. Next, I moved onto a harder sound, the “th.” I had been a bit tricky with this card. It was a tongue twister that was eight sentences long. Oscar spent a long time working on this card but was just as determined as with the others. I showed Oscar how to break down what he was saying. We practiced one line at a time. Then, when he mastered one line he added the second and would not move on to the third until he mastered the first and second lines together. After about thirty minutes of work on this card he was attempting to say the entire thing. His tongue stumbled the first few times but then he said it quickly without a single mistake. The excitement on his face when he made this realization was amazing. He practiced a few more time, without making mistakes then looked at me. I once again read the card as fast as I could. In this case Oscar showed me up because I had made a mistake when reading the card aloud. Oscar was confident in his ability to read all of these tongue twisters and to say them as quickly and efficient, and in some cases better, than a native speaker.
Then, with about ten minutes left in the lesson I realized we did not have enough time to move on to any of the other activities I had planned. So, I pulled a Harry Potter book off the shelves and asked Oscar to spend the rest of our time together reading aloud. His confidence from the tongue twister exercise was extremely evident because Oscar did not hesitate to pick up the book and immediately start reading. He often came across a word he did not know how to pronounce or that he did not know. In these situations I had him attempt to sound out words, which sometimes worked and sometimes did not. I also had him finish reading a sentence so that he could attempt to discover the meaning of a word on his own. This generally worked; most of the time he was able to figure out the meaning of the term. We did have some trouble with the word “whether” which I also found a bit difficult to explain, but I believe he now has a basic comprehension on when and how to use the word. We made it through about two pages before our time was up. It was a very productive lesson even though we did not do everything I wanted to. It actually worked better than I ever thought it would. I will remember to review these tongue twisters with Oscar next week and will also remember that he enjoys these as well as a good challenge.
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