List of Terms
All Labyrinth Investigation
On Friday, the Labyrinth opens its classrooms for All Labyrinth Investigation. This gives students the opportunity to travel throughout all of the Labyrinth classrooms and freely investigate activities presented in each classroom. Students practice at making responsible social and play choices as they explore each other’s classrooms. Investigation time also provides an opportunity to rekindle old friendships and explore new ones across classrooms.
All Labyrinth Meeting
Once a week, the students meet together to discuss issues that are pertinent to our whole Labyrinth community. Playground and lunchtime are frequent agenda topics. When a student’s agenda item is discussed, that student facilitates the meeting with teacher support. Students practice listening in a large group, thinking of themselves and their role in their community, and sharing ideas that help create solutions.
All School Meeting
Class Reps from all grade levels meet in All School Meeting thirty minutes per week. Representatives serve a four meeting term and participate in discussions about issues that affect the entire school. Students set the agenda and issues are resolved by votes taken back to a daily Class Meeting. Early Elementary representatives bring a summary of meeting topics to each All Labyrinth meeting to help facilitate the sharing of school wide ideas. A teacher from each level (Early Elementary, 1-2s, and 3-4s and 5s) is present at each meeting to help provide counsel as needed.
Early Elementary Program
During Booklist, teachers use this time to work with readers individually on skills and comprehension. Students practice with “just right” reading books that offer them a chance to work on their reading goals set with teachers during conference time. Some common goals at this level are memorizing text and using a finger to match words on the page, building a bank of common sight words (the, have, because) and sharing details about the stories like personal connections to the texts or information about character, setting or plot. Students master the text in a book appropriate for their level, and not only read with teachers but also with friends. This helps to build their fluency and natural inflection and tone. Teachers help students to log books practiced on a Booklist Goal sheet to help track their progress and celebrate their reading success!
Buddies (sometimes known as Truddies) are partnerships between classrooms at different levels throughout the school. Buddies/Truddies meet together several times during the year to read together and share activities, all school celebrations, assemblies, and field trips. Students between levels connect in small groupings or partnerships. The relationship promotes a sense of trust and well-being in the community and a sense of belonging in all areas of the school.
Early Elementary Program
Regular class meetings are dedicated for students to discuss classroom and school-wide issues. The students set the agenda and take turns facilitating the meeting. Teachers participate in class meetings as a member of the class but also provide support as needed to structure meetings, they model group process strategies and provide counsel.
Time is set aside most days for students in each classroom to meet about classroom and school-wide issues. The students set the agenda and facilitate meetings. Class members take turns in the leadership positions. Teachers participate in class meetings as a member of the class but also provide support as needed to help structure meetings, model group process strategies and provide counsel. Each classroom also elects a Classroom Representative to attend All School Meetings. The Representative carries concerns, discussions, and decisions between class meetings and all school meetings.
Coaching and Performance-Based Assessement
Teachers use a variety of coaching techniques and informal “performance-based” assessment tools as they work with students every day. Ongoing assessment is key to constructing our curriculum and developing teaching techniques that meet the individual needs of our students. Classroom teachers carefully observe a student’s approach to a problem and ask probing questions to assess understanding and provide the next challenge. Teachers use these “real time” assessments to help the student stretch and at the same time, to set appropriate goals. Teachers coach children to use specific strategies, organizational tools, and resources that are best suited to achieve their goals.
Continua: Benchmarks for Learning
There is a UCDS continuum for Reading, for Writing, for Math and for Reflective Thinking. The continua serve as benchmarks for learning at each developmental stage and directly inform curriculum design and instruction at each level. Teachers use continua descriptors as a framework for communicating with parents/guardians and with each other about a child’s growth. Teachers mark the descriptors that exemplify exhibited learning behaviors to create a picture of each child as a learner. Students’ progress is marked on the continua in January and June. Each continua document has been created in house by the UCDS faculty over several years of development. Continua are reviewed and updated regularly by the UCDS faculty.
UCDS encourages an individualized and multi-faceted approach to learning. Assessment at UCDS is authentic. Students also participate in standardized tests in order to practice more standard test-taking skills. The Educational Records Bureau (ERB) Comprehensive Testing Program is given annually to students in the third and fourth grades. This testing instrument is the one used by most established independent schools. The reasons for this choice are as follows:
- The test is similar in format to the entrance examination that students will take for middle school admission.
- The ERBs are the most challenging of the multiple-choice tests available for elementary school students. These tests simulate for our students many of the challenges involved in future test taking and, with teachers’ assistance, help them develop test-taking strategies.
- Although no multiple-choice test can fully assess conceptual learning, the ERBs have thoughtful and interesting questions.
- The ERBs reflect a somewhat conservative, but nevertheless widely accepted, sampling of skills elementary students need to assimilate for middle school success. The overall results and general trends of the tests allow the school to evaluate some of the elements within our own curriculum.
This experience is the first exposure to such tests for many of our students. Tests are given on a practice basis; individual scores have only limited validity.
In the fall fifth graders may practice test-taking skills to support them as they independently participate in middle school entrance exams
Early Elementary Program
Each day as students complete their work, they are invited to explore independent and collaborative projects. Teachers select games, puzzles, and other problem solving activities that may be new to children or not normally chosen during “Investigation” times. Some projects are designed for independent work while some are designed to explore with friends. Explorations reinforce and teach both critical and spatial thinking skills and encourage cooperative learning.
Field trips enrich the Theme Study, build community, allow students to explore the arts and learn more about the world. It also gives students a chance to open their minds to the diverse environment around them.
The Early Elementary uses a combination of Handwriting Without Tears and the D’Nealian system of handwriting. Teachers emphasize the development of fine motor skills through a variety of hands-on activities. We begin to explore correct letter formation and strategies for efficient handwriting practices. Stroke patterns are taught in a multi-sensory format.
Cursive handwriting is taught at the elementary level. Stroke patterns are taught and practiced in a format that provides short, regular practice. Both in formal handwriting sessions and when working individually with students, teachers provide multiple strategies for practicing cursive handwriting.
Home Learning and Thinking
The goal of Home Learning and Thinking (H.L.T.) at UCDS is to empower students to become independent learners and self-advocates. H.L.T. helps children to develop personal responsibility, time management skills and to establish organizational routines and structures. H.L.T. gives students extra practice with skills and will help solidify understanding of a concept. The role of the parent/guardian in H.L.T. is to help the child to establish a routine (a time and place) for H.L.T., as well as an expectation that H.L.T. be completed daily. Parents/Guardians can instill confidence in their child by helping them to build and maintain ownership of the process. If a child is experiencing difficulty at home, parents/guardians can provide support by being a resource and by encouraging students to let the teacher know how it is going. Students will vary in their individual approaches to H.L.T.. Teachers check in regularly with students to discuss individual strategies and timelines that best support their success.
UCDS teachers recognize that there will be times when outside influences (family events, celebrations, sports, and extracurricular activities) make it difficult for H.L.T. to be completed in the time allotted. Weekly H.L.T. schedules are created with individual students to support families in making decisions about when and where homework can be done. Having a flexible and responsive schedule promotes student organization, time management and communication skills.
The goal of homework at UCDS is to empower students to see themselves as self-advocates and lifelong learners. Home Learning and Thinking (HLT) is an opportunity to solidify connections between home and school. It allows students to practice concepts and skills and supports classroom activities. HLT expectations grow throughout the year with each individual. HLT helps children to develop personal responsibility, time management skills and to establish organization routines and structures. The role of the parent/guardian in HLT is to help the child to establish a routine-a time and place for HLT, as well as an expectation that HLT be completed daily. Parents/Guardians can instill confidence in their child by helping them to maintain ownership of the process. Parents/Guardians can provide support by being a resource and continually reinforcing the importance that the students actively communicate with classroom teachers about the process. Students will vary in their individual approaches to HLT. For this reason, parents/guardians are encouraged to communicate with teachers for ideas on how best to coach their child to become independent about HLT routines and to become empowered as self-advocates.
UCDS teachers recognize that there will be times when outside influences (family events, celebrations, sports, and extracurricular activities) make it difficult for HLT to be completed in the time allotted. On these occasions 3-4-5 students are expected to write a note that presents a plan for completion. The aim is to foster self-reliance and independent problem solving.
The UCDS daily schedule allows for teaching flexibility and individualized instruction. Students are placed in small groups for their work in a variety of academic areas. These groups allow teachers to tailor learning opportunities for individual students, assess and clarify student understanding, and offer challenges.
Early Elementary Program
Investigation gives students an opportunity to work together and build friendships in the context of play. Each class meets to choose which activities are open. Teachers facilitate these meetings to ensure there’s a balance of activities. For example building, art, imaginative play, and sensory play are just some of the activities that are explored during Investigation. Teachers coach students to maintain friendships and collaborate together.
1-2 Investigation gives students opportunities to move through all the classrooms on the floor and freely investigate activities presented in each classroom. Students practice making responsible social and play choices as they explore each other’s classrooms. Often the activities are designed by the classroom hosts and/or are voted on during class meeting.
At every level, UCDS students keep journals. Journals are places to record ideas through words and drawings, to plan and draft written pieces and to reflect. Students develop the habit of writing regularly as a way to document their thinking, revisit and expand on ideas and evaluate learning experiences. Teachers emphasize practicing reflective thinking skills.
Keyboarding is introduced at the 3-4 level. Typing is introduced in an immersion setting, where students receive direct instruction regularly for a period of time. Following this immersion, teachers provide additional practice through assignments both in class and at home to continue to develop their skills.
Early Elementary Program
Language Group provides children with opportunities to explore a variety of language arts skills, such as letter recognition, vowel spelling rules, root words, or grammar conventions. Teachers introduce these skills to a small group of children that are working at a similar skill level. Games are often used to integrate visual, auditory, verbal and kinesthetic modes of learning.
1-2 & 3-4 Program
Language groups are designed to practice reading, writing, spelling and oral communication in concert with one another. After careful assessment of each student’s language strengths and goals, teachers create and work with groups of 5-9 children on directed lessons tailored to the group’s needs and learning styles. Small groups allow for in depth and ongoing assessment that is used both to design subsequent activities and to create new groupings as children progress. The skills practiced in language groups are reinforced when students work with teachers in the classroom.
To support writing and spelling development, activities such as word sorts, card games, and vocabulary games are tailored to the group’s level and designed to actively engage students in word study. Included are activities for practice as well as for review of skills. This approach is multi-sensory, offering students a variety of learning strategies. For example, students write, say, and hear the spelling patterns, in order to solidify understanding. Teachers may use this spelling practice time to check letter formation and to give extra handwriting practice. It is also an opportunity to teach and review grammar and punctuation rules.
When appropriate, students generate spelling lists that focus on specific spelling patterns, spelling rules and generalizations, and irregular sight words. Included are “personal words”-words selected by the child from journal-writing and Writer’s Workshop projects.
To support reading development, teachers select a piece of children’s literature and teach a lesson that reinforces particular skills including oral fluency, reading expression, vocabulary, word-attack skills and comprehension strategies. Students practice both reading aloud and silently during this time. When a group’s focus is on developing comprehension, guided discussions provide students with the opportunity to understand texts at a deeper level.
As students read, examine and discuss a piece of literature as a group, the author’s use of language is often a focus that may launch into studies that support students’ own writing. Using real literature as a model, students may explore narrative descriptions, work to expand their use of interesting language through synonym study or focus on developing features of their own stories such as setting or character development.
Early Elementary Program
Literature Groups provide us with one more way to promote a love of reading and to study a variety of literary genres with Early Elementary students. It allows all children, regardless of their independent reading skills, to enjoy the same books, to share their thoughts and opinions and to discuss many of the “big” ideas and questions that books can cultivate. In addition, Literature Groups foster a meaningful connection between home and school; they offer a way for students to share a piece of their school day, and a way for parents/guardians to experience some of their child’s blossoming intellect and self-expression.
Children bring books home to be read with a parent/guardian. We encourage using post-it notes to mark favorite pages or note a question or idea that can be shared when meeting with a small group at school. During Literature Groups, group process skills are emphasized, with children becoming proficient at taking turns, listening to others, expressing and supporting opinions and even leading the discussion independently.
Literature Group book discussions make it possible for our students to consider ideas, problems and perspectives that have existed through time and across cultures. Students meet weekly to discuss books from a wide range of genres and reading levels. Teaching teams choose books that deepen student understanding of the year’s all school theme and support cultural awareness, geographical knowledge and social studies. Literature Groups are kept small in order to promote a language-rich experience that develops reading and comprehension skills, as well as speaking, listening and writing. Students practice following the ideas of others as well as expressing their own thoughts and opinions as they engage in lively discourse with peers and a teacher. At the 1-2 level, children examine literary elements, make connections and formulate questions for the group for discussion.
Students take a literature book home each week, read it with a grown-up and return it to school the following week for dialogue with peers and a teacher. Teaching teams select books specifically for their literary themes. For this reason, some books may be difficult for students to decode. We have found that students often have better comprehension when adults and students read the book together and discuss the book as the plot unfolds. Children at these levels are generally asked to respond to the book by reviewing four Table Topic questions, talking about these ideas with adults, and preparing to discuss their ideas with their group. Adults are also encouraged to read the weekly Table Topic assignment and invite discussions on the topics involved. Supporting students to comprehend the themes in the books helps prepare them for discussions in school.
Literature book discussions make it possible for our students to consider ideas that have existed through time and across cultures. Students meet weekly to discuss books from a wide range of genres and reading levels. Teaching teams choose books that deepen student understanding of the year’s all- school theme and support cultural awareness, geographical knowledge and social studies. Literature groups are kept small in order to promote an experience that develops reading and comprehension skills, as well as speaking, listening and writing. Students practice following the ideas of others and taking a leadership role as they engage in lively discourse with peers and a teacher.
Teaching teams select books specifically for their literary themes. For this reason, some books may be difficult for students to decode. We have found that students often have better comprehension when parents/guardians and students take turns reading aloud and discuss the book as the plot unfolds. Parents/Guardians are also welcome to read the weekly written assignment and invite discussions on the topics involved. Students need to comprehend the themes in the books in order to be prepared for discussions in school.
Literature homework is assigned weekly. We create assignments to promote thinking about specific literary elements such as character development, setting, historical context and literary devices. We ask students to plan time to read the assigned pages and to respond to questions through art and writing.
Math Exploration and Skills Time
Early Elementary Program
Each day students are invited to explore independent and collaborative projects. Teachers select games, puzzles, and other problem solving activities that may be new to children or not normally chosen during “Investigation” times. Some projects are designed for independent work while some are designed to explore with friends. Explorations reinforce and teach both critical and spatial thinking skills and encourage cooperative learning.
Time is set aside to introduce and reinforce skills from the UCDS Math Continuum. Manipulative materials are used to solidify students’ conceptual understandings as we teach the pencil and paper algorithms for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Teachers use a variety of resources to provide the practice to become comfortable with each operation. Teachers assess students on an ongoing basis, introducing new concepts and skills as students reach continuum benchmarks.
Students also practice math facts for Home Learning and Thinking (H.L.T.). Students begin with addition and subtraction then move to multiplication and division facts for practice. It often takes children several years to become fluent with math facts and additional practice may be needed beyond the math homework. Flashcards, calculator games, dice games, math fact songs and chants, as well as online platforms such as Freckle, are tools used to reinforce repetition and are a few of the ways that help students commit math facts to memory. Teachers assess students on an ongoing basis and are able to see how well students can access facts when they solve the Math Vitamin. New concepts and skills are introduced as students demonstrate consistent, accurate application.
Targeted math instruction introduces and reinforces skills from the UCDS Math Continuum. Teaching teams often introduce skills that students will need to solve the current Math Vitamins. For example, an activity to introduce measuring angles with protractors might be introduced prior to a Math Vitamin with a geometry focus. Teachers individualize math instruction and help students set appropriate goals.
During math skills time, teachers work with both groups and individuals to help students develop facility with mathematical operations. Manipulative materials are often used to solidify student understanding as we teach algorithms for multi-digit addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Teachers use a variety of resources to provide students the practice that they need to become comfortable with each operation. We assess students on an ongoing basis during skills time and are able to see how well students can use skills when they solve the Math Vitamin. New concepts and skills are introduced as students reach continuum benchmarks. In addition to the math skills, children practice math facts at home to become fluent.
Early Elementary Program
Our students explore math concepts and demonstrate their understanding of mathematical operations and concepts through the daily Math Vitamin. Through the Math Vitamin, children experience math in a very real way by solving problems that are meaningful to them. Teachers create Math Vitamin story-problems that connect to the literature, science, and curricular projects of that level. Teachers also carefully design problems to challenge students at multiple levels of understanding and encourage skill development in the areas identified in the UCDS Math Continuum.
Students have multiple entry points when solving a mathematical problem: build, draw, record. Teachers encourage students to approach a problem using their area of strength. They can develop and express their understanding by building with manipulatives, through drawings, charts or graphs, or recording their ideas numerically. Trying a variety of methods to solve a problem and exchanging ideas through collaboration with peers supports students to be flexible mathematical thinkers. In addition to Math Vitamin, math concepts are explored daily through literature, music, art, science, games and calendars.
Our students explore math concepts and demonstrate their understanding of mathematical strands through Math Vitamins. Children experience math in a very real way by solving problems that are meaningful to them. Math Vitamins are story-problems that connect to literature, science, and curricular projects of that level. Teachers also carefully design problems to challenge students at multiple levels of understanding and to encourage skill development in the areas identified in the UCDS Math Continuum.
Children practice math skills and make their thinking visible using a variety of tools, including manipulative materials, drawings, charts, graphs and equations. Students have the opportunity to approach a Math Vitamin from an area of strength while developing several strategies to arrive at a solution and prove their work.
Our students explore math concepts and demonstrate their understanding of mathematical operations and patterns through Math Vitamins. Through Math Vitamins, children experience math in a very real way by solving problems that are meaningful to them. Teachers create Math Vitamin story problems that connect to the literature, science, and curricular projects of that level. Teachers also carefully design problems to challenge students at multiple levels of understanding and to encourage skill development in the areas identified in the UCDS Math Continuum.
Students apply math skills using a variety of tools, including manipulative materials, drawings, charts, graphs and equations and to show/explain their thinking. Teachers encourage students to use an area of strength to initially approach a problem, to generate an algorithm that expresses their process, and to develop several strategies to arrive at a solution. Teachers also ask students to show their thinking in more than one way.
3-4-5 Math Vitamins may take several days to complete and teachers extend the problem each day based on the students’ responses. Expectations for recording the math vitamin process increase over time as students restate the problem, label drawings, create charts, record equations and explain their thinking. We expect students at this level to produce work that can be read and understood by others.
Milk and Cookies
Early Elementary Program
Milk and Cookie Fridays occur monthly and bring students and their families together in the Discovery Area for a community sing-a-long. Together with our Music Specialists, each class gets an opportunity to compose and perform one song for our Labyrinth friends and grown-ups. After hearing from the class of the day and singing some other favorites, everyone returns to classrooms to share milk and cookies. See the all-school calendar for Milk and Cookie dates.
Early Elementary Program
Students begin each day with a morning note. This may be a Math Vitamin, journaling, or another morning activity. The child with their adults read the board at drop-off each day. If students need clarification, peers and teachers act as resources, helping to develop the students sense of belonging to a learning community.
Students begin each day with a “morning board.” This written greeting may be a Math Vitamin, writing assignment, or other theme related activity. Parents/Guardians are welcome to join students in reading the morning board at drop-off. If students need clarification, peers and teachers act as resources, helping to develop the student’s sense of belonging to a learning community. As students become readers they are expected to read the board independently and begin to self initiate their morning work.
New, Glue and Moving-On
The 3-4-5 community is composed of the New (students who are in their first year at this level), the Glue (students who have had a year of experience at this level), and the 5th grade Moving-On students. We spend time throughout the year to support children to understand their individual contributions to the community of learners who share the 3-4-5 community and to find their own unique way to lead.
Early Elementary Program
Children practice non-fiction writing through News. The students are coached to recall and share personal experiences through drawing and writing. Teachers coach students to elaborate by considering the questions who, what, when, where, and why. Early illustrators are encouraged to use at least as many colors as they are old to express the many details for their personal stories. Teachers continue to individualize to each child’s writing abilities, taking dictation when necessary or working through the editing process with children writing multiple sentence entries.
Each spring the 1-2 level travels to NatureBridge for a two-night overnight trip. NatureBridge is an ideal setting to introduce students to the flora and fauna of the Northwest. A community experience, it celebrates a year of learning and growing together. Students travel in mixed-aged hiking groups. The spring trip is another opportunity for students to see themselves as part of the larger 1-2 community.
The 3-4-5 fall trip is an opportunity to solidify the new 3-4-5 learning community. Each fall the entire community travels to a local camp, where small groups of mixed-age students share cabins for two nights. Students learn, play and participate in team building experiences.
The 3-4-5 spring trip varies in its location and rotates through major regions of Washington State. Connecting the historical, cultural, industrial, geological and geographical origins of Washington, the trip is a culminating event for the major curricular and thematic focus of the spring. Each spring, the 3-4-5 community unites in the study of the chosen geographical area. Third, fourth and fifth grade students combine to explore social studies and literature together. In preparation for the spring trip, groups of mixed-level students read and learn together in small groups.
Each spring, our moving-on Kindergarten class works together as a group to plan an art project for the Early Elementary playground. This project provides a context for the kindergarten class to identify themselves as a group, encourages conversations about the upcoming transition to 1st grade as well as a way to reminisce and illustrate the highlights of their kindergarten year. The portions of the playground are repainted and left behind as a gift to the following year’s Labyrinth students.
READ (Reflecting, Expanding, Analyzing, Discussing)
The years between first and second grades are typically marked by a rapid acquisition of reading skills. A goal for children at this stage is to develop greater fluency and to begin to sustain independent reading for longer periods of time. At the 1-2 level, daily READ time provides students with opportunities to practice decoding, building vocabulary and growing comprehension skills. During this time teachers help students select books and set reading goals that are appropriate to individual reading levels, interests and abilities. Teachers also use this time to work one-on-one with readers to monitor progress, focus on specific strategies and assess the skills outlined in the UCDS Reading Continuum. In addition to the classroom “just right” reading selections, students are expected to read at home each day. Classroom teachers and our school librarians are excellent resources for students as they select books to support their growing skills.
At the 3-4-5 level, readers make the important shift from “learning to read” to “reading to learn.” Daily independent reading time provides students the opportunity to practice their growing independence as readers. During this time teachers help students to select books and set reading goals that are appropriate to their individual reading levels, interests and abilities. Teachers use this time to work one-on-one with readers to monitor progress, focus on individual reading strategies and assess the skills outlined in the UCDS Reading Continuum. A goal at this stage is for students to broaden their reading selections to include choices from a variety of genres, including realistic fiction, historical fiction, science fiction/fantasy, non-fiction, biography, short stories and poetry.
Students make record their reading and responses in a reading log kept in their journals.
Throughout the day there are both formal and informal opportunities for students to share their thoughts about books with their peers and teachers. Independent reading, assigned reading and literature groups give students a sense of belonging to a community of readers. Our school librarian is an excellent resource for students as they select books to challenge their thinking and their reading abilities.
Early Elementary Program
Students spend time each day listening to a teacher read aloud to the class from a wide variety of genres that are connected to the theme. Read Aloud gives students an opportunity to increase listening comprehension, vocabulary and auditory language skills. Teachers use this opportunity to ask leading questions and model literary analysis and comprehension techniques. Children also have weekly opportunities to hear the librarian read aloud and tell stories.
Students spend time each day listening to a teacher read aloud to the class from a wide variety of genres that are connected to the theme. Read-aloud gives students an opportunity to increase listening comprehension, vocabulary and auditory language skills. Teachers use this opportunity to ask leading questions and model literary analysis and comprehension techniques. Children also have weekly opportunities to hear the librarian read aloud and tell stories. Both the classroom teacher and the librarian are a good resource for books that can be read aloud at home.
Teaching levels select a Read-Aloud book inspired by the Theme which often acts as a catalyst for curriculum design. Students spend time most days listening to a teacher read aloud to the class from a wide variety of genres that are connected to the theme. Read Aloud gives students an opportunity to increase listening comprehension, vocabulary and auditory language skills. Teachers use this opportunity to ask leading questions and model literary analysis and comprehension techniques. Children also have weekly opportunities to hear the librarian read aloud and tell stories. Both the classroom teacher and the librarian are good resources for books that can be read aloud at home.
Rest and Read
Early Elementary Program
Time is set aside to promote a community of readers. Teachers use this time to work with readers individually on skills and comprehension. Students select books with their teachers that are appropriate to their individual reading levels, interests and abilities. Teachers talk with students about their book choices to help them become more independent and to broaden their reading selections. At the Early Elementary level, READis known as “Rest and Read.”
We ask students throughout their UCDS experience to evaluate their own work, assess progress, and to set attainable goals. Every day, as part of the coaching process, teachers ask students to recognize and articulate challenges and to advocate for themselves. Teachers also make time for students to write about their educational experience. These written reflections are found in student journals and portfolios. Presentation portfolios are collections of student work culled from student journals, folders and other classroom work collected throughout the year. Students select some pieces on their own and others in collaboration with their classroom teachers. In the spring of each year students meet with parents/guardians at a school-wide Portfolio Share to share their insights and acknowledge both their challenges and accomplishments.
The goal of the service learning program at UCDS is for fifth grade students to gain a deeper understanding of their academic and social/emotional strengths and to increase self and community awareness. This is accomplished through a yearlong Service Learning Project. As a member of a school committee, Moving On students identify a relevant need in the community and design a project to address that need. With their faculty mentors as guides, students establish goals, reflect on their experiences and evaluate their own performance. Students have multiple opportunities to share their goals, strengths and challenges with their fifth grade peers, the greater 3-4-5 community, and the faculty.
Sign-in is part of the daily morning structure and routine. Students are asked to respond to a daily question that reflects some part of a curricular activity, a community event or is connected to a particular homework assignment.
A daily sign-in question starts each day. Students read the question, read the responses of their peers, and compose a unique answer. The question may be in response to the previous night’s homework or a study the class is involved in, or it may require students to think on their feet. 3-4-5 students usually answer the sign-in question in a complete sentence, giving students valuable practice composing a response.
The UCDS daily schedule allows for teaching flexibility and individualized instruction. Small groups are achieved when half of the students from a teaching team attend specialists, leaving half the group at work in the classroom. The remaining students may work together with all the teachers on the team, achieving a low student-teacher ratio in small, flexible groups or stay with their teachers for individualized instruction in their classroom. Small groups are utilized across the curriculum for math skills, reading, literature groups, writing and theme studies.
Students in grades 3-4 participate in standardized tests in order to prepare for future test-taking scenarios. The Educational Records Bureau (ERB) Comprehensive Testing Program is given annually to students in the third and fourth grades. This testing instrument is the one used by most independent schools. The reasons for this choice are as follows:
- The test is similar in format to entrance examinations that students will take for middle school admission.
- The overall results and general trends of the tests allow the school to evaluate some of the elements within our own curriculum.
This experience is the first exposure to such tests for many of our students. Tests are given as practice; individual scores have only limited validity. In the fall, fifth graders may practice test taking skills to support them as they independently participate in middle school entrance exams
Each year, UCDS adopts a theme, or concept, which serves as a unifying thread for curriculum at all levels and opens the door to investigation across all subject areas. The yearlong theme is abstract, universal and timeless. It is purposefully broad to allow for emergent ideas and shifting dynamics. The theme provides the backbone for curricular decisions about everything from literature books to science explorations, social studies and field trips, with each teaching team determining how the theme will be explored.
The UCDS Constitution is at the heart of all social interactions at the school. Each child signs the constitution each year and students live and learn by the words, “We Respect Ourselves. We Respect Each Other. We Respect the Environment.”
Early Elementary Program
Word is our creative writing program. Teachers encourage students to share their imaginative ideas through drawing and writing. Teachers coach each child through the process of representational drawing, letter recognition, sound-symbol correspondence, letter formation, and handwriting. Students develop word recognition skills by reading words that they have previously generated to the teacher and classmates. As children become more independent, they use best guess spelling to write phrases and sentences that express their central idea and are often able to move into writing stories and personal narratives. Children at this level work with a teacher to edit their stories with attention to vocabulary, punctuation and grammar. Teachers then guide students to revise by adding detail and checking to be sure the story makes sense. Children are expected, and are typically delighted, to share what they have written with classmates.
The 1-2 students write daily across the content areas. Our students write to tell stories, express opinions, explore poetic forms and describe their theories and problem solving processes. At “Writer’s Workshop” students move through the stages of prewriting, drafting, revising, editing and publishing on both topics of their own choosing and teacher-created writing prompts. Students at this stage are introduced to narrative, expository and creative writing styles. Teachers assess students as they work through the writing process and coach students individually to address the skills outlined in our Writing Continuum.
3-4-5 students write every day and are expected to use expository, narrative, and creative writing styles. For example, our students write to frame a question, to describe their problem solving process and to explain their conclusions in math and science. While in literature and in personal journals, our students write to respond both critically and reflectively. Teachers assess students as they work through the writing process and coach students individually to address the skills outlined in our Writing Continuum. We expect 3-4-5 students will become increasingly fluent with the writing process, able to use appropriate techniques at each stage of pre-writing, drafting, revising, editing, publishing, and sharing work with peers. Our students learn to evaluate a piece of writing at each stage of development. Students at these levels learn to edit their own work for spelling, grammar and punctuation and are expected to write in cursive or to type a final draft.


Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a neurological childhood (pediatric) speech sound disorder in which the precision and consistency of movements underlying speech is impaired in the absence of neuromuscular deficits (e.g., abnormal reflexes, abnormal tone). CAS may occur due to known neurological impairment, in association with complex neurobehavioral disorders of known and unknown origin, or as an idiopathic neurogenic speech sound disorder. The core impairment in planning and spatiotemporal programming parameters of movement sequences results in errors in speech sound production and prosody. (ASHA, 2007b, Definitions of CAS section, para. 1).
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) is an area of clinical practice that addresses the needs of individuals with significant and complex communication disorders characterized by impairments in speech-language production or comprehension, including spoken and written modes of communication (ASHA, 2020). AAC uses various techniques and tools, including picture communication boards, line drawings, speech-generating devices (SGDs), tangible objects, manual signs, gestures, and fingerspelling, to help the individual express thoughts and wants and needs feelings, and ideas. AAC is augmentative when used to supplement existing speech, and alternative when used in speech production that is absent or not functional (ASHA, 2020). AAC may be temporary, as when used by patients postoperatively in intensive care, or permanent, as when used by an individual who will require the use of some form of AAC throughout his or her lifetime (ASHA, 2020).
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and social interaction and the presence of restricted, repetitive behaviors. Social communication deficits present in various ways and can include impairments in joint attention and social reciprocity and challenges using verbal and nonverbal communication behaviors for social interaction. One might see restricted, repetitive behaviors, interests, or activities manifested by stereotyped, repetitive speech, motor movement, or use of objects; inflexible adherence to routines; limited interests; and hyper- or hypo-sensitivity sensory input.
In cluttering, the breakdowns in clarity that accompany a perceived rapid and irregular speech rate are often characterized by deletion and/or collapsing of syllables (e.g., “I wanwatevision”) or omission of word endings (e.g., “Turn the televisoff”). The child may make many revisions and interject other words and put pauses in places in sentences not expected grammatically, such as “I will go to the/store and buy apples” (St. Louis & Schulte, 2011). Clutter can occur with other disorders.A condition that can be a consequence of cluttering is pragmatic disorder; individuals with cluttering may not attempt to repair breakdowns in communication, resulting in less than significant social interaction (Teigland, 1996) (ASHA, 2020).
Early intervention (EI) is the process of providing services. It supports infants, toddlers, and their families when a child has or is at risk for a developmental delay, disability, or health condition that may affect typical development and learning. The goal of EI is to lessen the effects of a disability or delay by addressing the identified needs of young children across five developmental areas:
- Cognitive development
- Communication development
- Physical development, including vision and hearing
- Social or emotional development
- Adaptive development (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA], 2004)
The earlier that services are delivered, the more likely children are to develop effective communication, language, and swallowing skills and achieve successful learning outcomes (Guralnick, 2011). The Program for Infants and Toddlers with Disabilities, also called Part C of IDEA, is a federal grant program that helps individual states operate comprehensive systems of interdisciplinary EI services for children ages birth to 3 with disabilities and their families/primary caregivers. EI services can also be provided outside of Part C programs in settings such as neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), pediatric rehabilitation hospitals or clinics, preschools, and private practices. Services in these settings may not be covered by federal or state dollars but can be billed to public or private insurance or the family.
is the aspect of speech production that refers to continuity, smoothness, rate, and effort. Stuttering, the most common fluency disorder, is an interruption in the flow of speaking characterized by repetitions (sounds, syllables, words, phrases), sound prolongations, blocks, interjections, and revisions, which may affect the rate and rhythm of speech. These disfluencies may sometimes accompany physical tension, adverse reactions, secondary behaviors, and avoidance of sounds, words, or speaking situations (ASHA, 1993; Yaruss, 1998; Yaruss, 2004). Cluttering, another fluency disorder, is characterized by a perceived rapid and irregular speech rate, which results in breakdowns in speech clarity or fluency (St. Louis & Schulte, 2011)(ASHA, 2020).
Functional speech sound disorders include those related to the motor production of speech sounds and those related to speech production’s linguistic aspects. Historically, these disorders are referred to as articulation disorders and phonological disorders, respectively. Articulation disorders focus on errors (e.g., distortions and substitutions) in the production of individual speech sounds. Phonological disorders focus on predictable, rule-based errors (e.g., fronting, stopping, and final consonant deletion) that affect more than one sound. It is often difficult to differentiate between articulation and phonological disorders; therefore, many researchers and clinicians prefer to use the broader term, “speech sound disorder,” when referring to speech errors of unknown cause. See Bernthal, Bankson, and Flipsen (2017) and Peña-Brooks and Hegde (2015) for relevant discussions.
The definitions of intellectual disability (ID) and related terminology have evolved to reflect the legal and social gains made by individuals with such a disability and their families. See Changes in Services for Persons With Developmental Disabilities: Federal Laws and Philosophical and Perspectives and Federal Programs Supporting Research and Training in Intellectual Disability. These changes reflect the movement from institutionalization to inclusive practices, self-advocacy, and self-determination. There has also been the movement toward recognizing the fundamental communication rights of people with severe disabilities. A Communication Bill of Rights—initially developed by the National Joint Committee for the Communication Needs of Persons with Severe Disabilities (NJC) in 1992 and updated in 2016—recognizes the right of all people to effective communication (NJC, 1992; Brady et al., 2016) (ASHA, 2020).
ID is characterized by
significant limitations in intellectual functioning (e.g., reasoning, learning, and problem-solving);
significant limitations in adaptive behavior (i.e., conceptual, social, and practical skills in everyday life); and
onset in childhood (before the age of 18 years; American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities [AAIDD, 2013]) (ASHA, 2020).
This definition of ID balances limitations with an equal emphasis on skills. Consequently, language and philosophy concerning ID now focus on levels of support necessary to maximize an individual’s ability, rather than strictly on functioning (ASHA, 2020).
There is general agreement that auditory perceptual abilities influence language development—particularly the pre-literacy skills—and that it can be challenging to separate aural and language skills concerning academic demands (Richard, 2012, 2013; Watson & Kidd, 2008). The act of processing speech is very complex and involves the engagement of auditory, cognitive, and language mechanisms, often simultaneously (Medwetsky, 2011).
Richard’s (2013) continuum of processing includes both auditory processing and language processing. This continuum involves the following types of processing:
Central auditory processing begins when the neural representation of acoustic signals is processed after they leave the cochlea and travel through the auditory nerve to the left and right hemispheres (Heschl’s gyri).
Phonemic processing, during which acoustic features of the signal, is discriminated against utilizing phonemic skills such as sound discrimination, blending, and segmenting.
Linguistic processing is where meaning is attached to the signal (begins at the level of Heschl’s gyrus, expands to Wernicke’s area, to the angular gyrus, and finally to the prefrontal and frontal cortex, in planned, organized, and mediated responses) (ASHA, 2020).
Late language emergence (LLE) is a delay in language onset with no other diagnosed disabilities or developmental delays in other cognitive or motor domains. LLE is when language development trajectories are below age expectations. Toddlers who exhibit LLE are considered “late talkers” or “late language learners.”
Late talkers may present with expressive language delays only or mixed expressive and receptive delays. Children with only expressive delays exhibit delayed vocabulary acquisition and often demonstrate slow development of sentence structure and articulation. Those with mixed expressive and receptive language delays indicate delays in language comprehension and oral language production.
Some researchers distinguish a subset of children with LLE as “late bloomers.” Research also indicates that late bloomers are less likely to demonstrate concomitant language comprehension delays when compared with children who remain delayed (Thal et al., 1991) (ASHA, 2020).
Organic speech sound disorders include those resulting from the motor/neurological disorders (e.g., childhood apraxia of speech and dysarthria), structural abnormalities (e.g., cleft lip/palate and other structural deficits or anomalies), and sensory/perceptual disorders (e.g., hearing impairment).
Social communication is the use of language in social contexts. It encompasses social interaction, social cognition, pragmatics, and language processing.
Social communication skills include the ability to vary speech style, take others’ perspectives, understand and appropriately use the rules for verbal and nonverbal communication, and use the structural aspects of language (e.g., vocabulary, syntax, and phonology) to accomplish these goals. For more details, see ASHA’s resources on components of social communication [PDF] and social communication benchmarks [PDF] (ASHA, 2020).
Social communication, spoken language, and written language have an intricate relationship. Social communication plays a role in language expression and comprehension in both spoken and written modalities. Spoken and written language skills allow for effective communication in various social contexts and a variety of purposes (ASHA, 2020). Social communication, such as eye contact, facial expression, and body language, is sometimes influenced by sociocultural and individual factors (Curenton & Justice, 2004; Inglebret, Jones, & Pavel, 2008). There is a wide range of acceptable norms within and across individuals, families, and cultures.
Social Communication Disorder
Children with social communication disorder have difficulties with the use of verbal and nonverbal language for social purposes. Primary challenges are social interaction, social cognition, and pragmatics. Specific deficits are evident in the individual’s ability to communicate for social purposes
- in ways that are appropriate for the particular social context
- change communication to match the context or needs of the listener
- follow the rules for conversation and storytelling
- understand nonliterate or ambiguous language
- understand what is not explicitly stated (ASHA, 2020)
This definition is consistent with the diagnostic criteria for Social (Pragmatic) Communication Disorder detailed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2013).A social communication disorder may be a distinct diagnosis or may co-occur with other conditions, such as:
spoken language disorders;
written language disorders;
attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD);
traumatic brain injury (pediatric and adult);
In autism spectrum disorder (ASD), social communication problems are a defining feature, along with restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior. Therefore, social communication disorder is diagnosed separately from ASD (AHSA, 2020).
Speech sound disorders is an umbrella term referring to any difficulty or combination of problems with perception, motor production, or phonological representation of speech sounds and speech segments.Speech sound disorders can be organic or functional. Organic speech sound disorders result from an underlying motor/neurological, structural, or sensory/perceptual cause. Available speech sound disorders are idiopathic—they have no known reason (ASHA, 2020).
A spoken language disorder (SLD), also known as an oral language disorder, represents a significant impairment in the acquisition and use of language across modalities due to deficits in comprehension or production across any of the five language domains (i.e., phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, pragmatics). Language disorders may persist across the lifespan, and symptoms may change over time.
When SLD is a primary disability—not accompanied by intellectual disability, global developmental delay, hearing or other sensory impairment, motor dysfunction, or other mental disorder or medical condition—is considered a specific language impairment (SLI).
An SLD may also occur in the presence of other conditions, such as
autism spectrum disorder (ASD),
intellectual disabilities (ID),
developmental disabilities (DD),
attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
traumatic brain injury (TBI),
Stuttering typically has its origins in childhood. Most children who stutter begin to do so around 2 ½ years of age (e.g., Mansson, 2007; Yairi & Ambrose, 2005; Yaruss, LaSalle, & Conture, 1998). Approximately 95% of children who stutter start to do so before five years (Yairi & Ambrose, 2005).
All speakers produce disfluencies, which may include hesitations, such as silent pauses and interjections of word fillers (e.g., “The color is like red”) and nonword fillers (e.g., “The color is uh red”). Other examples include whole-word repetitions (e.g., “But-but I don’t want to go”) and phrase repetitions or revisions (e.g., “This is a- this is a problem”). These speech behaviors are generally considered nonstuttered (typical) disfluencies (Ambrose & Yairi, 1999; Tumanova, Conture, Lambert, & Walden, 2014). When a child uses many nonstuttered (typical) disfluencies, differential diagnosis is critical to distinguish between stuttering, avoidance, and a language disorder.Less typical, stuttering-like disfluencies (Yairi, 2007) include part-word or sound/syllable repetitions (e.g., “Look at the b-b-baby”), prolongations (e.g., “Ssssssssometimes we stay home”), and blocks (i.e., inaudible or silent fixations or inability to initiate sounds). Compared with typical disfluencies, stuttering-like disfluencies are usually accompanied by more significant than average duration, effort, tension, or struggle. Aspects that factor into the perception of severity includes frequency and type of stuttering and stutters to communicate effectively.
Some young children go through a period of excessive disfluency, which does not persist for many of these children.
The terms clinical supervisor and clinical supervision are often used about student clinicians’ training and education, recognizing that supervision is part of the training and education process. Clinical supervisors do more than oversee the work of the student clinician. They teach specific skills, clarify concepts, assist with critical thinking, conduct performance evaluations, mentor, advise, and model professional behavior (Council of Academic Programs in Communication Sciences and Disorders [CAPCSD], 2013).
Many professionals involved in the supervisory process suggest that clinical educators and clinical instructors more accurately reflect what the clinical supervisor does (CAPCSD, 2013).
Telepractice is applying telecommunications technology to delivering speech-language pathology and professional audiology services at a distance by linking clinician to client or clinician to clinician for assessment, intervention, and consultation (ASHA, 2020).
ASHA adopted the term telepractice rather than the frequently used terms telemedicine or telehealth to avoid the misperception that these services are used only in health care settings. Practitioners also use other terms such as teleaudiology, telespeech, and speech teletherapy in addition to telepractice. Services delivered by audiologists and speech-language pathologists (SLPs) include the broader generic term telerehabilitation (American Telemedicine Association, 2010).
Use of telepractice must be equivalent to the quality of services provided in-person and consistent with adherence to the Code of Ethics (ASHA, 2016a), Scope of Practice in Audiology (ASHA, 2018), Scope of Practice in Speech-Language Pathology (ASHA, 2016b), state and federal laws (e.g., licensure, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA; US Department of Health and Human Services, n.d.-c]), and ASHA policy (ASHA, 2020).
Telepractice venues include schools, medical centers, rehabilitation hospitals, community health centers, outpatient clinics, universities, clients’ homes, residential health care facilities, child care centers, and corporate settings. There are no inherent limits where telepractice sites as long as the services comply with national, state, institutional, and professional regulations and policies. See ASHA State-by-State for state telepractice requirements (ASHA, 2020).
Standard terms describing types of telepractice are as follows:
Synchronous (client interactive)—services are conducted with interactive audio and video connection in real-time to create an in-person experience similar to that achieved in a traditional encounter. Synchronous services may connect a client or group of clients with a clinician or include consultation between a clinician and a specialist.
Asynchronous (store-and-forward)—images or data are captured and transmitted (i.e., stored and forwarded) for viewing or interpretation by a professional. Examples include transmission of voice clips, audiologic testing results, or outcomes of independent client practice.
Hybrid—applications of telepractice that include combinations of synchronous, asynchronous, and in-person services.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a form of nondegenerative acquired brain injury resulting from a bump, blow, or jolt to the head (or body) or a penetrating head injury that disrupts normal brain function (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2015).
TBI can cause focal brain damage (e.g., gunshot wound), diffuse (e.g., shaken baby syndrome), or both. Symptoms can vary depending on the lesion’s site, extent of damage to the brain, and the child’s age or stage of development (ASHA, 2020).
TBI’s functional impact in children can be different from in adults—deficits may not be immediately apparent because the pediatric brain is still developing. TBI in children is a chronic disease process rather than a one-time event, because symptoms may change and unfold over time (DePompei & Tyler, in press; Masel & DeWitt, 2010).
Concussion, a form of TBI, is an injury to the brain characterized by TBI’s physical and cognitive sequelae. Concussion typically occurs due to a blow, bump, or jolt to the head, face, neck, or body that may or may not involve loss of consciousness (McCrory et al., 2013). Concussion has received more attention in recent years, particularly for sports injuries (ASHA, 2020).
A disorder of written language involves a significant impairment in fluent word recognition (i.e., reading decoding and sight word recognition), reading comprehension, written spelling, or written expression (i.e., written composition; Ehri, 2000; Gough & Tunmer, 1986; Kamhi & Catts, 2012; Tunmer & Chapman, 2007, 2012). A word recognition disorder is also known as dyslexia.
Written language disorders can involve any of the five language domains (i.e., phonology, morphology, syntax, semantics, and pragmatics). Problems can occur in the awareness, comprehension, and production of language at the sound, syllable, word, sentence, and discourse levels, as indicated in the table below (Nelson, 2014b; Nelson, Plante, Helm-Estabrooks, & Hotz, 2015). See ASHA’s resource, disorders of reading, and writing (ASHA, 2020).


Individual differences |
Methods | Statistics | Clinical | Educational | Industrial | Professional items | World psychology |
- Main article: Language education
Language education may take place as a general school subject or in a specialized language school. There are many methods of teaching languages. Some have fallen into relative obscurity and others are widely used; still others have a small following, but offer useful insights.
While sometimes confused, the terms "approach", "method" and "technique" are hierarchical concepts. An approach is a set of correlative assumptions about the nature of language and language learning, but does not involve procedure or provide any details about how such assumptions should translate into the classroom setting. Such can be related to second language acquisition theory.
There are three principal views at this level:
- The structural view treats language as a system of structurally related elements to code meaning (e.g. grammar).
- The functional view sees language as a vehicle to express or accomplish a certain function, such as requesting something.
- The interactive view sees language as a vehicle for the creation and maintenance of social relations, focusing on patterns of moves, acts, negotiation and interaction found in conversational exchanges. This view has been fairly dominant since the 1980s.
A method is a plan for presenting the language material to be learned and should be based upon a selected approach. In order for an approach to be translated into a method, an instructional system must be designed considering the objectives of the teaching/learning, how the content is to be selected and organized, the types of tasks to be performed, the roles of students and the roles of teachers. A technique is a very specific, concrete stratagem or trick designed to accomplish an immediate objective. Such are derived from the controlling method, and less-directly, with the approach.
- 1 Structural methods
- 2 Functional methods
- 3 Interactive methods
- 4 Proprietary methods
- 5 Other
- 6 See also
- 7 References
- 8 External links
- Main article: Grammar translation
The grammar translation method instructs students in grammar, and provides vocabulary with direct translations to memorize. It was the predominant method in Europe in the 19th century. Most instructors now acknowledge that this method is ineffective by itself. It is now most commonly used in the traditional instruction of the classical languages, however it remains the most commonly practiced method of English teaching in Japan.
At school, the teaching of grammar consists of a process of training in the rules of a language which must make it possible to all the students to correctly express their opinion, to understand the remarks which are addressed to them and to analyze the texts which they read. The objective is that by the time they leave college, the pupil controls the tools of the language which are the vocabulary, grammar and the orthography, to be able to read, understand and write texts in various contexts. The teaching of grammar examines texts, and develops awareness that language constitutes a system which can be analyzed. This knowledge is acquired gradually, by traversing the facts of language and the syntactic mechanisms, going from simplest to the most complex. The exercises according to the program of the course must untiringly be practiced to allow the assimilation of the rules stated in the course. That supposes that the teacher corrects the exercises. The pupil can follow his progress in practicing the language by comparing his results. Thus can he adapt the grammatical rules and control little by little the internal logic of the syntactic system. The grammatical analysis of sentences constitutes the objective of the teaching of grammar at the school. Its practice makes it possible to recognize a text as a coherent whole and conditions the training of a foreign language. Grammatical terminology serves this objective. Grammar makes it possible for each one to understand how the mother tongue functions, in order to give him the capacity to communicate its thought.
- Main article: Audio-lingual method
The audio-lingual method was developed in the USA around World War II when governments realized that they needed more people who could conduct conversations fluently in a variety of languages, work as interpreters, code-room assistants, and translators. However, since foreign language instruction in that country was heavily focused on reading instruction, no textbooks, other materials or courses existed at the time, so new methods and materials had to be devised. For example, the U.S. Army Specialized Training Program created intensive programs based on the techniques Leonard Bloomfield and other linguists devised for Native American languages, where students interacted intensively with native speakers and a linguist in guided conversations designed to decode its basic grammar and learn the vocabulary. This "informant method" had great success with its small class sizes and motivated learners.
The U.S. Army Specialized Training Program only lasted a few years, but it gained a lot of attention from the popular press and the academic community. Charles Fries set up the first English Language Institute at the University of Michigan, to train English as a second or foreign language teachers. Similar programs were created later at Georgetown University, University of Texas among others based on the methods and techniques used by the military. The developing method had much in common with the British oral approach although the two developed independently. The main difference was the developing audio-lingual methods allegiance to structural linguistics, focusing on grammar and contrastive analysis to find differences between the student's native language and the target language in order to prepare specific materials to address potential problems. These materials strongly emphasized drill as a way to avoid or eliminate these problems.
This first version of the method was originally called the oral method, the aural-oral method or the structural approach. The audio-lingual method truly began to take shape near the end of the 1950s, this time due government pressure resulting from the space race. Courses and techniques were redesigned to add insights from behaviorist psychology to the structural linguistics and constructive analysis already being used. Under this method, students listen to or view recordings of language models acting in situations. Students practice with a variety of drills, and the instructor emphasizes the use of the target language at all times. The idea is that by reinforcing 'correct' behaviors, students will make them into habits.
The typical structure of a chapter employing the Audio-Lingual-Method (ALM—and there was even a textbook entitled ALM ) was usually standardized as follows: 1. First item was a dialog in the foreign language (FL) to be memorized by the student. The teacher would go over it the day before. 2. There were then questions in the FL about the dialog to be answered by the student(s) in the target language. 3. Often a brief introduction to the grammar of the chapter was next, including the verb(s) and conjugations. 4. The mainstay of the chapter was "pattern practice," which were drills expecting "automatic" responses from the student(s) as a noun, verb conjugation, or agreeing adjective was to be inserted in the blank in the text (or during the teacher's pause). The teacher could have the student use the book or not use it, relative to how homework was assigned. Depending on time, the class could respond as a chorus, or the teacher could pick individuals to respond. It was really a sort of "mimicry-memorization." And it was "Julian Dakin in 'The Language Laboratory and Language Learning' (Longman 1973) who coined the phrase 'meaningless drills' to describe pattern practice of the kind inspired by the above ideas." 5. There was a vocabulary list, sometimes with translations to the mother tongue. 6. The chapter usually ended with a short reading exercise.
Due to weaknesses in performance, and more importantly because of Noam Chomsky's theoretical attack on language learning as a set of habits, audio-lingual methods are rarely the primary method of instruction today. However, elements of the method still survive in many textbooks.
Proprioceptive language learning method
- Main article: Proprioceptive language learning method
The proprioceptive language learning method (commonly called the Feedback training method) emphasizes the simultaneous development of cognitive, motor, neurological, and hearing as all part of a comprehensive language learning process. Lesson development is as concerned with the training of the motor and neurological functions of speech as it is with cognitive (memory) functions. It further emphasizes that the training of each part of the speech process must be simultaneous. The proprioceptive method, therefore, emphasizes spoken language training and is primarily used by those wanting to perfect their speaking ability in a target language.
The proprioceptive method bases its methodology on a speech pathology model. It stresses that mere vocabulary and grammar memory is not the sole requirement for spoken language fluency, but that the mind receives real-time feedback from both hearing and neurological receptors of the mouth and related organs in order to constantly regulate the store of vocabulary and grammar memory in the mind during the speech.
For optimum effectiveness, it maintains that each of the components of second language acquisition must be encountered simultaneously. It therefore advocates that all memory functions, all motor functions and their neurological receptors, and all feedback from both the mouth and ears must occur at exactly the same moment in time of the instruction. Thus, according to the proprioceptive method, "all student participation must be done at full speaking volume". Further, in order to train memory, after initial acquaintance with the sentences being repeated, "all verbal language drills must be done as a response to the narrated sentences which the student must repeat (or answer) entirely apart from reading a text".
The oral approach / situational language teaching
The oral approach was developed from the 1930s to the 1960s by British applied linguists such as Harold Palmer and A.S. Hornsby. They were familiar with the Direct method as well as the work of 19th century applied linguists such as Otto Jesperson and Daniel Jones but attempted to formally develop a scientifically-founded approach to teaching English than was evidenced by the Direct Method.
A number of large-scale investigations about language learning and the increased emphasis on reading skills in the 1920s led to the notion of "vocabulary control". It was discovered that languages have a core basic vocabulary of about 2,000 words that occurred frequently in written texts, and it was assumed that mastery of these would greatly aid reading comprehension. Parallel to this was the notion of "grammar control", emphasizing the sentence patterns most-commonly found in spoken conversation. Such patterns were incorporated into dictionaries and handbooks for students. The principle difference between the oral approach and the direct method was that methods devised under this approach would have theoretical principles guiding the selection of content, gradation of difficulty of exercises and the presentation of such material and exercises. The main proposed benefit was that such theoretically-based organization of content would result in a less-confusing sequence of learning events with better contextualization of the vocabulary and grammatical patterns presented. Last but not least, all language points were to be presented in "situations". Emphasis on this point led to the approach's second name. Proponent claim that this approach leads to students' acquiring good habits to be repeated in their corresponding situations. Teaching methods stress PPP (presentation (introduction of new material in context), practice (a controlled practice phase) and production (activities designed for less-controlled practice)).
Although this approach is all but unknown among language teachers today, elements of it have had long-lasting effects on language teaching, being the basis of many widely-used English as a Second/Foreign Language textbooks as late as the 1980s and elements of it still appear in current texts. Many of the structural elements of this approach were called into question in the 1960s, causing modifications of this method that lead to Communicative language teaching. However, its emphasis on oral practice, grammar and sentence patterns still finds widespread support among language teachers and remains popular in countries where foreign language syllabuses are still heavily based on grammar.
Directed practice has students repeat phrases. This method is used by U.S. diplomatic courses. It can quickly provide a phrasebook-type knowledge of the language. Within these limits, the student's usage is accurate and precise. However, the student's choice of what to say is not flexible.
The direct method
- Main article: Direct method (education)
The direct method, sometimes also called natural method, is a method that refrains from using the learners' native language and just uses the target language. It was established in Germany and France around 1900 and are best represented by the methods devised by Berlitz and de Sauzé although neither claim originality and has been re-invented under other names. The direct method operates on the idea that second language learning must be an imitation of first language learning, as this is the natural way humans learn any language - a child never relies on another language to learn its first language, and thus the mother tongue is not necessary to learn a foreign language. This method places great stress on correct pronunciation and the target language from outset. It advocates teaching of oral skills at the expense of every traditional aim of language teaching. Such methods rely on directly representing an experience into a linguistic construct rather than relying on abstractions like mimicry, translation and memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary.
According to this method, printed language and text must be kept away from second language learners for as long as possible, just as a first language learner does not use printed word until he has good grasp of speech. Learning of writing and spelling should be delayed until after the printed word has been introduced, and grammar and translation should also be avoided because this would involve the application of the learner's first language. All the above items must be avoided because they hinder the acquisition of a good oral proficiency.
The method relies on a step-by-step progression based on question-and-answer sessions which begin with naming common objects such as doors, pencils, floors, etc. It provides a motivating start as the learner begins using a foreign language almost immediately. Lessons progress to verb forms and other grammatical structures with the goal of learning about thirty new words per lesson.
The series method
In the 19th century, Francois Gouin went to Hamburg to learn German. Based on his experience as a Latin teacher, he thought the best way to do this would be to memorize a German grammar book and a table of its 248 irregular verbs. However, when he went to the academy to test his new language skills, he was disappointed to find out that he could not understand anything. Trying again, he similarly memorized the 800 root words of the language as well as re-memorizing the grammar and verb forms. However, the results were the same. During this time, he had isolated himself from people around him, so he tried to learn by listening, imitating and conversing with the Germans around him, but found that his carefully constructed sentences often caused native German speakers to laugh. Again he tried a more classical approach, translation, and even memorizing the entire dictionary but had no better luck.
When he returned home, he found that his three-year-old nephew had learned to speak French. He noticed the boy was very curious and upon his first visit to a mill, he wanted to see everything and be told the name of everything. After digesting the experience silently, he then reenacted his experiences in play, talking about what he learned to whoever would listen or to himself. Gouin decided that language learning was a matter of transforming perceptions into conceptions, using language to represent what one experiences. Language is not an arbitrary set of conventions but a way of thinking and representing the world to oneself. It is not a conditioning process, but one in which the learner actively organizes his perceptions into linguistics concepts.
The series method is a variety of the direct method in that experiences are directly connected to the target language. Gouin felt that such direct "translation" of experience into words, makes for a "living language". (p59) Gouin also noticed that children organize concepts in succession of time, relating a sequence of concepts in the same order. Gouin suggested that students learn a language more quickly and retain it better if it is presented through a chronological sequence of events. Students learn sentences based on an action such as leaving a house in the order in which such would be performed. Gouin found that if the series of sentences are shuffled, their memorization becomes nearly impossible. For this, Gouin preceded the psycholinguistic theory of the 20th century. He found that people will memorize events in a logical sequence, even if they are not presented in that order. He also discovered a second insight into memory called "incubation". Linguistic concepts take time to settle in the memory. The learner must use the new concepts frequently after presentation, either by thinking or by speaking, in order to master them. His last crucial observation was that language was learned in sentences with the verb as the most crucial component. Gouin would write a series in two columns: one with the complete sentences and the other with only the verb. With only the verb elements visible, he would have students recite the sequence of actions in full sentences of no more than twenty-five sentences. Another exercise involved having the teacher solicit a sequence of sentences by basically ask him/her what s/he would do next. While Gouin believed that language was rule-governed, he did not believe it should be explicitly taught.
His course was organized on elements of human society and the natural world. He estimated that a language could be learned with 800 to 900 hours of instruction over a series of 4000 exercises and no homework. The idea was that each of the exercises would force the student to think about the vocabulary in terms of its relationship with the natural world. While there is evidence that the method can work extremely well, it has some serious flaws. One of which is the teaching of subjective language, where the students must make judgments about what is experienced in the world (e.g. "bad" and "good") as such do not relate easily to one single common experience. However, the real weakness is that the method is entirely based on one experience of a three-year-old. Gouin did not observe the child's earlier language development such as naming (where only nouns are learned) or the role that stories have in human language development. What distinguishes the series method from the direct method is that vocabulary must be learned by translation from the native language, at least in the beginning.
Communicative language teaching
- Main article: Communicative language teaching
Communicative language teaching(CLT), also known as the Communicative Approach, emphasizes interaction as both the means and the ultimate goal of learning a language. Despite a number of criticisms it continues to be popular, particularly in Europe, where constructivist views on language learning and education in general dominate academic discourse. Although the 'Communicative Language Teaching' is not so much a method on its own as it is an approach.
In recent years, task-based language learning (TBLL), also known as task-based language teaching (TBLT) or task-based instruction (TBI), has grown steadily in popularity. TBLL is a further refinement of the CLT approach, emphasizing the successful completion of tasks as both the organizing feature and the basis for assessment of language instruction. Dogme language teaching shares a philosophy with TBL, although differs in approach. Dogme is a communicative approach, and encourages teaching without published textbooks and instead focusing on conversational communication among the learners and the teacher.
- Main article: Language immersion
Language immersion in school contexts delivers academic content through the medium of a foreign language, providing support for L2 learning and first language maintenance. There are three main types of immersion education programs in the United States: foreign language immersion, dual immersion, and indigenous immersion.
Foreign language immersion programs in the U.S. are designed for students whose home language is English. In the early immersion model, for all or part of the school day elementary school children receive their content (academic) instruction through the medium of another language: Spanish, French, German, Chinese, Japanese, etc. In early total immersion models, children receive all the regular kindergarten and first-grade content through the medium of the immersion language; English reading is introduced later, often in the second grade. Most content (math, science, social studies, art, music) continues to be taught through the immersion language. In early partial immersion models, part of the school day (usually 50%) delivers content through the immersion language, and part delivers it through English. French-language immersion programs are common in Canada in the provincial school systems, as part of the drive towards bilingualism and are increasing in number in the United States in public school systems (Curtain & Dahlbert, 2004). Branaman & Rhodes (1998) report that between 1987 and 1997 the percentage of elementary programs offering foreign language education in the U.S. through immersion grew from 2% to 8% and Curtain & Dahlberg (2004) report 278 foreign language immersion programs in 29 states. Research by Swain and others (Genesee 1987) demonstrate much higher levels of proficiency achieved by children in foreign language immersion programs than in traditional foreign language education elementary school models.
Dual immersion programs in the U.S. are designed for students whose home language is English as well as for students whose home language is the immersion language (usually Spanish). The goal is bilingual students with mastery of both English and the immersion language. As in partial foreign language immersion academic content is delivered through the medium of the immersion language for part of the school day, and through English the rest of the school day.
Indigenous immersion programs in the U.S. are designed for American Indian communities desiring to maintain the use of the native language by delivering elementary school content through the medium of that language. Hawaiian Immersion programs are the largest and most successful in this category.
- Main article: Silent Way
The Silent Way is a discovery learning approach, invented by Caleb Gattegno in the early 1970s. The teacher is usually silent, leaving room for the students to explore the language. They are responsible for their own learning and are encouraged to interact. The role of the teacher is to give clues, not to model the language.
- Main article: Suggestopedia
Suggestopedia was a method that experienced popularity, especially in past years, with both staunch supporters and very strong critics, some claiming it is based on pseudoscience.
The natural approach is a language teaching method developed by Stephen Krashen and Tracy D. Terrell. They emphasise the learner receiving large amounts of comprehensible input. The Natural Approach can be categorized as part of the comprehension approach to language teaching.
Total Physical Response
- Main article: Total Physical Response
In Total Physical Response (TPR), the instructor gives the students commands in the target language and the students act those commands out using whole-body responses. This can be categorized as part of the comprehension approach to language teaching.
Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling
- Main article: Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling
Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling (TPR Storytelling or TPRS) was developed by Blaine Ray, a language teacher in California, in the 1990s. At first it was an offshoot of Total Physical Response that also included storytelling, but it has evolved into a method in its own right and has gained a large following among teachers, particularly in the United States. TPR Storytelling can be categorized as part of the comprehension approach to language teaching.
Dogme language teaching
- Main article: Dogme language teaching
Dogme language teaching is considered to be both a methodology and a movement. Dogme is a communicative approach to language teaching and encourages teaching without published textbooks and instead focusing on conversational communication among the learners and the teacher. It has its roots in an article by the language education author, Scott Thornbury. The Dogme approach is also referred to as “Dogme ELT”, which reflects its origins in the ELT (English language teaching) sector. Although Dogme language teaching gained its name from an analogy with the Dogme 95 film movement (initiated by Lars von Trier), the connection is not considered close.
The following methods are tied to a particular company or school, and are not used in mainstream teaching.
- Main article: Pimsleur language learning system
Pimsleur language learning system is based on the research of and model programs developed by American language teacher Paul Pimsleur. It involves recorded 30-minute lessons to be done daily, with each lesson typically featuring a dialog, revision, and new material. Students are asked to translate phrases into the target language, and occasionally to respond in the target language to lines spoken in the target language. The instruction starts in the student's language but gradually changes to the target language. Several all-audio programs now exist to teach various languages using the Pimsleur Method. The syllabus is the same in all languages.
Michel Thomas Method
- Main article: Michel Thomas Method
Michel Thomas Method is an audio-based teaching system developed by Michel Thomas, a language teacher in the USA. It was originally done in person, although since his death it is done via recorded lessons. The instruction is done entirely in the student's own language, although the student's responses are always expected to be in the target language. The method focuses on constructing long sentences with correct grammar and building student confidence. There is no listening practice, and there is no reading or writing. The syllabus is ordered around the easiest and most useful features of the language, and as such is different for each language.
There is a lot of language learning software using the multimedia capabilities of computers.
Learning by teaching (LdL)
- Main article: Learning by teaching
Learning by teaching is a widespread method in Germany, developed by Jean-Pol Martin. The students take the teacher's role and teach their peers.
- Richards, Jack C.; Theodore S. Rodgers (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Cambridge UK: Cambridge University Press.
- Universiteit Antwerpen James L. Barker lecture on November 8, 2001 at Brigham Young University, given by Wilfried Decoo.
- Learning Spoken English, page 12-13. public domain.
- Diller, Karl Conrad (1978). The Language Teaching Controversy, Rowley, Massachusetts: Newbury House.
- van Hattum, Ton (2006), The Communicative Approach Rethought
- Language teaching development
- Meddings, L and Thornbury, S (2009) Teaching Unplugged: Dogme in English Language Teaching. Peaslake: Delta.
- includeonly>Luke, Meddings. "Throw away your textbooks", The Guardian, 26 March 2004. Retrieved on 22 June 2009.
- Michel Thomas: The Learning Revolution, by Jonathan Solity.
- E. ter Horst and J. M. Pearce, “Foreign Languages and the Environment: A Collaborative Instructional Project”, The Language Educator, pp. 52-56, October, 2008.
- J. M. Pearce and E. ter Horst “Appropedia and Sustainable Development for Improved Service Learning”, Proceedings of Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education 2008.
- Joshua M. Pearce and Eleanor ter Horst, “Overcoming Language Challenges of Open Source Appropriate Technology for Sustainable Development in Africa”, Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa, 11(3) pp.230-245, 2010.
- Hergueta, Simón. The Natural Approach (Krashen). Youtube. URL accessed on April 16, 2011. A video explaining the Natural Approach and Krashen's SLA theories. Flash Video software or a web browser supporting H.264/MPEG-4 AVC is necessary to see this video.
Language teaching methods
fr:Didactique des langues