For example, in a previous residency, physically-challenged students dictated their stories to a staff member or peer to be presented. A hearing-impaired child shared his story in sign language with an interpreter present to translate for the audience. What a fine opportunity to practice the poised speaking ability that is needed and valued in the professional and business world. Therefore, it is my hope that under Mr. Gasch' s guidance, the students will develop this type of oral language fluency so critical to success in all areas of education along with life-long benefits and pleasure. Meet with four large groups for 45 min.
Students work on writing their stories.
These experiences will serve as a springboard for generous doses of language-rich lessons integrated throughout the curriculum. This immersion in language is highly motivating and effective with the linguistically restricted child as well as the articulate and confident little scholar. Ultimately, children will speak fluently, thoughtfully and joyously in a variety of contexts and settings. It's our responsibility to get beautiful language into the children's ears and provide many, many opportunities for them to speak and write it. The training our teachers will gain through this project will encourage them to take risks and develop innovative ways to expand the speaking and listening components of the Language Arts curriculum.