| first graders |
2/12/07 3:38 PM |
| Author:
ann myers
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Mr. Guerra, That whiteboard probably looks like art to many first graders regardless of their home language. Fortunately we know that when we routinely apply lessons learned from scientific findings, including daily, explicit, sequential, and systematic instruction we can teach almost all students to decode our language. But in order to attain the skills needed for higher learning, students must also learn to use language to comprehend, communicate, and reason. Teachers are expected to expand competency in language use with regard to oral, aural and written language. As I posted earlier, there is a significant language deficit seen in many of the Spanish speaking students entering kindergarten (or preschool). Instead of a vocabulary of some 5000 words by five years, these students often have perhaps 1000 or less, likely due to the their parents lack of education. Our schools have not been in the past and are not prepared today to deal with the numbers of students that enter the system with this lack of perequisite skills.It remains unknown when and if it ever will be. I would argue that would require a top to bottom reform beginning with schools of education that are today essentially useless. As of now our system has simply been overwhelmed by these children in the last decade due to non-enforcement of our laws. With no reasonable end in sight, our state now faces a future that will be defined by our having allowed millions of low-skilled, poorly educated people to mow lawns, wash dishes, and pick fruit not recognizing to enormous human and social costs we would incur. By the way only a very few benefit economically from the use of this labor and I am not one of them. And this is occuring just when we need a highly skilled and educated workforce to compete in a global economy.
The clear message sent by those such as your boss that we will provide their children an education K through college,along with other incentives resonate and encourage illegal entry and likely will be responsible for a precipitous decline in our state.
Posted as a reply to:
English was my second language by Eric Guerra
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