Running head: STRATEGIES AND METHODS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 1

Strategies and Methods for English Language Arts

Name

Institution
STRATEGIES AND METHODS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 2

Strategies and Methods for English Language Arts

Introduction

According to Winters (2009), fourth grade English language and arts is usually extended

beyond just reading and writing. It includes other skills including speaking, listening, and

viewing. English Language arts often offer students a way in which they can communicate.

Through English Language Arts, a fourth grade student is allowed to apply what he or she learns

in order to solve real problems not only at school, but also at home, as well as, in the community.

A fourth grade student in English Language Art is expected to accomplish two objectives at the

end of the grade; learning and applying the English Language Arts content, and to meet the

English Language Standards set by a state on the fourth Grade English Language Arts test,

scoring at and above the standard. However, as Winters (2009) held out, to aid and maximize

the ability of the students to achieve these two objectives, specific educational strategies and

instructional methods must be utilized and implemented. This forms the bulk of the present

study. The study will aim at discussing the strategies and methods that would be most

appropriate in maximizing the population under consideration to learn and apply the English

Language Art content. In addition to this, the present study will explore the most viable

strategies and methods that could be used to assist a student meet the New York English

Language Arts tests, scoring at least at the standard.

Strategies and methods to assist a student learn and apply the contents

The very first strategy is the educator referring to details, as well as, examples in a text

while in the process of explaining its context and implication and while drawing inferences from

it. According to Beers (2003), this strategy is implemented in three ways. Foremost is through

speech bubble writing. This involves the teacher whiting out the speech bubbles on a number of
STRATEGIES AND METHODS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 3

comic strips and then photocopying them for class use. The teacher then haves groups, which

make decisions regarding what might be occurring in each frame of the comic trip. Once they

finish this, the teacher is required to encourage sharing of ideas among the class, and sharing

information on why they made specific inferences from the pictures under consideration.

The second implementation approach for the above-described strategy is achieved using

newspaper cartoons. This involves the teacher having his or her fourth grade students looking at

cartoons in the newspaper and making decisions regarding what inferences need to be made in

order to allow others to perceive the cartoons as comical. It also involves the teacher thinking

aloud on a few cartoons; he or she tells the students about the inferences needed to understand

the humor of the newspaper cartoons. The last step is to encourage the students look at the

cartoons individually and independently and then write the inferences necessary in order to

derive humor in them (Beers, 2003).

The third way of implementing the strategy is by considering a detail and an inference

two-column chart. This involves a teacher encouraging the students to read a story. After doing

this, the teacher is required to model for students regarding the manner in which they can make a

two-column chart of the class board with the headings “Details” and “Inference.” The next step

involves the teacher writing various details or inferences on strips of sentences and having fourth

graders put each sentence into the appropriate column. It also entails the teacher discussing the

distinction existing between details and inferences. However, the teacher is required to ensure

that the students understand that he or she can point to a detail in the text as opposed to an

inference, where one can point to something in the text that seemingly hints at the inference.

The second strategy to assist a student learn and apply the contents is determining a

theme of a story, drama, or poem, from detail in the text and doing a summary on that text.
STRATEGIES AND METHODS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 4

Citing Lesesne (2000), here are three ways in which this strategy could be implemented. The

first method is a four-step to a summary approach. This involves reading a passage with an aim

of modeling five summarizing steps, which includes going through the passage and deleting

materials deemed unnecessary or trivial, deleting redundant materials, and modeling on the

manner to substitute terms for lists. The other two steps include modeling on how to come up

with a one-sentence summary based on the previous steps, and encouraging the students to try

this strategy individually after practicing the strategy together.

The second implementation method is through a one-sentence paraphrase, abbreviated as

1SP. Citing Lesesne (2000); at the core of this method are five fundamental steps. Foremost is

the teacher selecting a section of the text, which is inclusive of a number of several paragraphs

(Lesesne, 2000). On this, the teacher ought to consider a method, which displays the text on a

surface such as the board or screen in order to allow the students to work as a group when

learning this strategy. This step then transitions to the second step, which entails the teacher

reading the first paragraph with the students. The teacher ought to cover the paragraph and then

ask the students to write one sentence, which reflects how they understand that paragraph. The

third step involves the teacher sharing a number of sentences as written by the students while

assessing them in order to point out points of similarities and differences. The teacher reading the

next paragraph and continuing with the process as above then succeeds this. Once the students

have developed comfort with the process, the teacher ought to have them work individually.

The third method of implementing the strategy is through theme hunt. Lesesne (2000)

describes a theme simply as the message of a story. It regards what the author of a price of a

given text intends the reader to recall the most. To explain this stance, Lesesne (2000) profiled

themes of several arts such as fable, which he stated moral as the common theme, and parable,
STRATEGIES AND METHODS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 5

whose theme is teaching. For the theme hunt method, the best point to start is to look at fables.

Lesesne (2000) mentioned that in fables, students could identify the theme in the correct manner.

This is precisely so as the authors often explain the theme to the readers. The teacher should

encourage the students to read a number of fable versions and then summarize the theme in each

fable. The teacher should also collect poems, which he or she deems as representing various

forms of themes, and then have the students categorize then in a center.

The third strategy relates to the teacher describing a character, setting, or an event in a

story or drama in an in-depth way, drawing on specific detail in the text (McLaughlin and Allen,

2002). To achieve this strategy, four chief methods could be used; character Web, stick

character, character change, and sketching the text. For character web, it involves the teacher

writing the name of a character, event, or setting in the center circle. In the circles that branch out

from the center circle, the teacher is required to write the details about the character, event, or

setting. The teacher may encourage the students to draw their own web and draw as many circles

as they wish. The teacher may also encourage the students to write notes or even draw pictures in

those circles.

The second way of achieving the strategy is through a stick character. The teacher could

encourage the students to draw a stick person with one extended hand. The students placing an

item on the character’s extended hand, in order to signify something about it, would then follow

this up. The last step in this method entails adding any other details such as clothing, speech

bubbles, or other features to the stick character in order to assist in tracking the details of the

character.

A further method would be a character change. Once the students read a given text, the

teacher should encourage the students to take note of the changes in a main character during the
STRATEGIES AND METHODS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 6

story, as well as, the reason as to why change take place. The teacher should also encourage the

students to use specific details from the story as they explain.

The last method to implement this strategy is through sketching a text. This entails

helping the students to read closely while at the same time analyzing the role of the setting in the

story. It also involves encouraging the students to sketch the setting as they read. However,

according to McLaughlin and Allen (2002), there are three fundamental questions, which should

guide the focus in implementing this strategy. These include; where the story takes place, why

the place is essential, and the specific details from the story to support answers to the two

questions.

The third strategy of helping or increasing the student’s ability to learn and apply content

is providing an explanation on the major difference between English language arts, when

speaking or writing about texts. This strategy could be achieved in three major ways;

categorizing, Is/But chart and gallery walk (Pearl Production, 2005).

Explaining categorizing, Gregory and Chapman (2007) indicated that a teacher ought to

create a three-chart column and label each with a literary form such as prose and poetry. The

teacher should then have the student brainstorm the structural elements, which are common to

each column. The teacher should also seek to encourage the students to provide an illustration for

each genre drawn from their own reading to include on the chart. The teacher should then post

the chart and then revisit it throughout the year with an aim of adding or refining elements, or

adding other illustrations. Besides this, as Gregory and Chapman (2007) stated, the teacher

should have the students use the chart in order to classify pieces of English language art, which

they read independently. The teacher can also use the chart as not only a guide in setting-up but

also running a student-led classroom library organized by genre.

STRATEGIES AND METHODS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 7

Is/But chart entails allowing the students to collect a series of distinct definition of

English language art elements such as poetry and prose from different sources. The teacher

should then follow this up by creating a two-sided chart, which states, “Poetry is…” on one side

and “But Prose...” on the other side. The students should then fill in the charts with the

information that they collected from all the sources they consulted.

Gallery walk, according to Gill (2007), represents a cooperative learning method where

the teacher posts examples of English language art elements such as poetry and drama around the

class. The method involves the teacher organizing students into several groups. These groups can

be as many as the posts are. Gill (2007) indicated that each group moves from post to post and

this provides the rationale behind the name “walk.” Once the group writes two or three

characteristics or points of comparison and contrasts of the text at the first post, they rotates to

the next position, adding to what is already in place. At the very last post, each group

summarizes and provides a report to the class. The teacher should have each group using a

distinct colored marking pen. After this, the teacher may then lead the entire class in discussing

the differences between the different English language art elements, which were being

considered in the exercise.

Strategies and methods to assist students meet the New York State ELA test, scoring at or

above the standard

In New York, students from grade three all through to grade eight take the State English

Language Arts tests each spring. Citing Calo (2011), these assessments are used majorly in

measuring the common core learning standards. The ELA tests are often a timed test containing a

number of distinct questions. Students are often required to answer multiple questions based on

short passages, which they have read, and at the same time read responses to open-ended
STRATEGIES AND METHODS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 8

questions based on stories, poems, articles they read or listen. To ensure that the students

perform or score at or above these standards, there are a number of ways and methods that can be

implemented. The first strategy is by providing the students with sample questions, which

emphasize the instructional shift that the common core standards demands. These questions

ought to be inclusive of short constructed response, multiple choice and extended constructed

response questions. Calo (2011) indicates that sample questions are very essential teaching tools

for educators and they ought to be shared in a free manner with both the students and parents.

They should be designed in such a way that they helps the students illuminate on the manner in

which the common core standards ought to drive instructions and how the students will be

assessed in a given school year. Staal (2000) further stated that the sample questions should be in

passages, which accompany the ELA questions. Additionally, the sample questions should be

drawn from public domain sources. The use of sample questions is very essential in extending

the ability of a fourth grade student to score at or above the state standard as they signify a shift

in the level of text complexity. Therefore, if the level of complexity rises, using the sample

questions, the students will be able to note the shift. Therefore, due to their awareness, the shift

will not take the better of them. Rather, they will be able to cope up with the complexity and

thereby perform at or above the standards. However, using the sample questions requires a good

understanding on the manner in which one can use the different aspects of sample questions

(Reyes & Vallone, 2007).

Multiple-choice questions are intended to assess the ELA reading standards. They tend to

ask the students to establish the different aspects of any given text, which includes style elements

and vocabulary. These forms of questions usually assess the reading standards in a number of

ways. In using sample multiple-choice questions to increase the ability of the students to score
STRATEGIES AND METHODS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 9

either at or above test standards, the teacher should seek to combine skills. The teacher should

ensure that for a student to provide the correct answer, he or she should help that student

understand or comprehend the central idea and then transition to showing an understanding on

how that idea is supported. Besides this, a teacher should ensure that the student negotiates

applausive, text-based distracters (Reyes & Vallone, 2007). The teacher should draw each

detractor from the text and then encourage the students to truly comprehend what they have read

and this will in turn discern the correct response.

Concerning the sample questions requiring short constructed response, Staal (2000)

indicated that they are often intended for assessing the reading standards. The teacher should

introduce sample single questions where the students are encouraged to respond to a prompt by

describing their answers and at the same time providing textual evidence in support of the

answer they give. The teacher should also motivate the students to show their ability to

comprehend texts in a succinct manner. In an attempt to respond to these questions, the teacher

should require the students to write not more than three complete sentences.

Extended constructed response sample questions are designed with the motivation to

assess the ability of a student to write from a source. For these forms of questions, the primary

focus is on the writing standards and a majority of them are often framed around a centralized

question, and tend to reference on at least one text. This strategy is also necessary as it allows the

fourth grade ELA students to demonstrate the ability to come up with a coherent essay with the

use of textual evidence to support their ideas. The command of evidences is always enough to

ensure that a student scores at or above the ELA standards.

Conclusion
STRATEGIES AND METHODS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 10

From this analysis, maximizing the ability of a fourth grade student in English Language

Arts to learn and apply the content, and to meet the NYSELS on the fourth Grade ELA test,

scoring at and above the standard is a necessity. However, it requires one to come up with the

most appropriate educational strategies and instructional methods. To maximize the ability to

learn and apply the content, the established strategies include; reference to details, as well as,

examples in a text while in the process of explaining its context and implication and while

drawing inferences from it; assisting a student learn and apply the contents is determining a

theme of a story, drama, or poem, from detail in the text and doing a summary on that text; and

describing a character, setting, or an event in a story or drama in an in-depth way, drawing on

specific detail in the text. On the other hand, to help a student meet the New York State ELA

test, scoring at or above the standard, the best strategy is to use sample questions, including

sample multiple questions, sample short constructed response, and sample extended constructed

responses. Sample questions are necessary as they orient students on shift in educational

complexity.
STRATEGIES AND METHODS FOR ENGLISH LANGUAGE ARTS 11

References

Beers, K. (2003). When kids can't read: What teachers can do. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Calo, K. (2011). Comprehending, composing and celebrating graphic poetry. The reading

teacher. 64(5), pp. 650-657.

Gill, S. (2007). The forgotten genre of children’s poetry. The Reading Teacher. 60(7), pp. 622-

625.

Gregory, G. & Chapman C. (2007). Differentiated Instruction: One Size Doesn’t Fit All.

Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Lesesne, T. (2000). Finding the thread: Character, setting, and theme. Voices from the Middle.

8(1), pp.78-84.

McLaughlin, M., & Allen, M.B. (2002). Guided Comprehension: A teaching model for grades

3–8. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Pearl Production (2005). English-Language Arts Skills & Strategies Level 4. Saddleback

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Reyes, S. A. & Vallone, T. L. (2007). Constructivist Strategies for Teaching English Language

Learners. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Staal, L.A. (2000). The story face: An adaptation of story mapping that incorporates

visualization and discovery learning to enhance reading and writing. The Reading

Teacher, 54 (1), 26-31.

Winters, R. (2009). Interactive frames for vocabulary growth and word consciousness. The

Reading Teacher. 62(8), pp. 685-690.