A Picture-Book Read-Aloud Curriculum

for English Learners in Elementary School

José Montelongo, Ph.D., M.L.I.S.

New Mexico State University

Anita Hernández, Ph.D.

Don and Sarrah Kidd Chair for Literacy

New Mexico State University

AASL Conference

Hartford, CT

November 15, 2013

The Cow That Went Oink (Bernard Most)

There once was a cow

that went “oink.” The

cows that went moo

laughed at the cow

that went “oink.”

There once was pig

that went “moo.”

The pigs that went

oink laughed at the

pig that went “moo.”

Lessons from

“The Cow That Went Oink”

Those that can communicate in two

languages have an advantage over

those that can communicate in only

one.

English-Spanish cognates are “funds of

knowledge” for the Latino ELL who

already knows Spanish.

Overview

What are English-Spanish Cognates?

English-Spanish Cognates and

Academic Vocabulary

English-Spanish Cognates and

Morphology

Cognates in Picture Books

Classroom Activities

Main Idea of This Presentation

Teach English-Spanish Cognate

Vocabulary early and often through

picture book read-alouds to:

a) build vocabulary (especially

academic vocabulary)

b) build sensitivities to the similarities

and differences between English

and Spanish

Spanish-English Cognates

Cognates are words in English and Spanish that

(1) possess the same or nearly the same orthography

(2) semantic meaning and

(3) share the same etymology.

Examples

altar—altar hospital—hospital

family—familia, project—proyecto,

rice—arroz, scarce—escaso

Estimate

How many Spanish-English

cognates are there?

More than 20,000

Spanish-English Cognates

Why Focus on Cognates? Research shows there is a strong relationship between knowledge of

vocabulary and ability to comprehend a text.

Explicit vocabulary instruction has been associated with improved

comprehension.

One instructional strategy that has been found to be especially

valuable for Spanish-speaking students is their knowledge of

cognate words, which account for from a 1/3 to as much as

1/2 of the active vocabulary of an average educated English

speaker.

Majority of Dewey Decimal System headings are English-Spanish

Cognates.

Word Play

Goodman (2003)

Through language study, students come to realize that as they talk and think about language in serious ways they are continuously learning about language.

They become conscious that they know a lot about language intuitively and that they can talk about language with others, and they come to believe that they have power and control over language. (p. 9)

Playing Loteria (René Colato-Lainez)

A little boy visits his grandmother in Mexico, and with

the help of la lotería, the boy and the grandmother learn

Spanish and English from each other, respectively.

A special bond between a boy and his grandmother

emerges.

Playing Loteria (Colato-Lainez)

One afternoon, we went to the open market. There were many people selling fruit, meat, and candy.

“Let’s buy un mango,”abuela said.

“Mango is the same in English,” I told her.

“Let’s buy una banana,” abuela said.

“Banana is the same in English, too.”(sic)

“Let’s buy pollo,” abuela said.

“Pollo in English is chicken,” I told her.

Then abuela held a cabbage in her hand and said, “I know! Let’s buy un rechicken”

“No, abuela,” I laughed. “Repollo is cabbage, not rechicken.”

Academic Vocabulary

Latin was once the language of

scholarship;

Academic vocabulary is comprised

mainly of words that originated from the

Latin and Greek;

Many words in textbooks and textbook

glossaries are cognates:

democracy, microscope, literary

A Three-Tiered System for Selecting Vocabulary

Words to Teach (Beck, et al. 2002, 2008)

Tier 1 Vocabulary -- Common everyday words that

children learn at home and no instruction is required as to their meaning. (home, hour, dog)

Tier 2 Vocabulary -- Words that adults know

and for which the students have conceptual

knowledge of.(sufficient, content, analyze)

Tier 3 Vocabulary -- Specific and technical words in disciplines (photosynthesis, democracy)

Many Tier 2 and Tier 3 words are English-Spanish cognates.

Using Picture Books

Create Content Objectives

The value of bilingualism in The Cow That Went Oink

Create Language Objectives

using the English-Spanish Cognates

animal, idea, surprise,

Picture Books are an excellent source of enriched vocabulary

Example

The Sneetches and Other Stories Content Objectives Teach students about Tolerance and Prejudice

Language Objectives

Introduce the English-Spanish Cognates in the book

Really--realmente

Possibly--posiblemente

Precisely--precisamente

Morphology

&

Morphological Rules

Morphology

Use morphology exercises to

make Spanish-speaking ELLs

aware of cognates

Morphology

Many of the Latin and Greek root words can be used to generate hundreds and hundreds of words, many of which are Spanish-English cognates.

For instance, the root word audi- give us:

inaudible (inaudible),

auditorium (auditorio),

audience (audiencia),

Morphology

Root Words (-port-)

import, export, transport, portal …

Root Words (-form)

reform, transformation, formation …

Root Words (-rupt)

corrupt, erupt, rupture

Prefix and Suffix Regularities

There are many prefix and word-initial regularities.

sp- = esp- special - especial There are also many suffix and word-

ending regularities. -ity = -idad honesty = honestidad

Morphology

Nouns

Prefixes and word initial regularities

special = especial state = estado

Suffixes and word ending regularities

vanity = vanidad; brevity = brevedad

-ity = -idad

More …

Your Turn…

Choose a read aloud

Skim the book and …

– Write a content objective

– Write a language objective (Introducing the

English-Spanish

Share your content objective and your

language objective

English-Spanish Databases

http://www.angelfire.com/ill/monte/picturebookcognates.html

Montelongo, Durán, & Hernández (2013)

http://www.angelfire.com/ill/monte/teacherschoices.html

Montelongo & Hernández (2013)

http://www.angelfire.com/ill/monte/findacognate.html

Montelongo, Hernández, & Herter (2011)

Common Activities for

Working with Cognates

Cognates in the Classroom Third-Grade Bilingual Classroom

Example of Cognates in a

Fourth-Grade Classroom

Cognates in a Fourth-Grade Class

Student Cognates in Read Alouds

Cognates in a Fourth-Grade Class

Student Created Lists of Cognates—Homework List

Cognates in a Fourth-Grade Class

Student Created Lists of Cognates—Homework List

Cognates in a Fourth-Grade Class

Student Created Lists of Cognates—Homework List

Word Endings -ic/-ico

Morphological

Regularities

Verifying Cognates

Verified Cognate Pairs Using the Find-a-Cognate Database

Children’s Cognate Suggestions

Morphological

Regularities

Morphology Anchor Charts

Morphological Regularity: tion=cion

False Cognates

False Cognates are words in one

language that are spelled the same or

nearly the same, but which have

different meanings:

carpet (floor covering) carpeta (notebook)

parents (mom & dad) parientes (relatives)

embarrassed (ashamed) embarazada (pregnant)

False Cognates

Usually very few false cognates in

picture books.

When encountering a false cognate

during a read-aloud, use it as a teaching

moment to teach kids about exceptions.

Resources

Colato-Lainez, R. (2005). Playing Loteria/El

juego de la loteria. Luna Rising Books.

Means, T. (2003). Instant Spanish

Vocabulary Builder. Hippocrene Books.

Most, B. (1989). The Cow That Went Oink.

HMH Books for Young Readers

Nash, R. (1999). NTC's Dictionary of

Spanish Cognates Thematically

Organized. McGraw-Hill.

Selected Resources

Hernández, A. C., Montelongo, J. A., Minjarez, P., & Oblack, A. (2011). English-

Spanish cognate phenomena in a fourth-grade classroom. The New

Mexico Journal of Reading, 32, 7-11.

Montelongo, J.A., Durán, R., & Hernández, A.C. (2013). English-Spanish

cognates in picture books: Toward a vocabulary curriculum for Latino

ELLs. Bilingual Research Journal, 36(2), 244-259.

Montelongo, J.A. & Hernández, A.C. (2013). The Teachers’ Choices

Cognate Database for K-3 teachers of Latino ELLs. The Reading

Teacher, 67(3), 187-192.

Montelongo, J. A. (2012). Spanish-English cognates and the Dewey

Decimal System. The California Reader, 45, 11-16.

Montelongo, J. A., Hernández, A. C., & Herter, R. J. (2011). Identifying Spanish-

English cognates to scaffold instruction for Latino ELs. The Reading

Teacher, 65, 161-164.

Thank You for Coming!