ASSIGNMENT #5: Problem-Solution Essay

Many parents encourage their children to learn foreign language as soon as they can because they believe that people can learn languages faster and effectively when they are young.
According to statistics in Korea, Korean parents spend about 10 billion dollars a year on their children to learn English (Kim, 1996, p. 1). Many children go to private English kindergartens, get a tutoring from native speakers, or go to English-speaking countries to learn a foreign language.
Researchers argue that it would be harmful to the mental development of young children if taught more than one language (Saville-Troike, 1988). In other words, early English education can cause children to get stressed about learning and therefore it will affect the development of first language. Also, it will hinder the progress of the first language when the other languages are taught to young learners who do not acquire their first language. It may cause them to experience cultural confusion because they are too young to establish their own cultural understanding and identity. For example, when Koreans feel sorry for something, we make smile, but western people maybe do not understand about this kind of situation. Also, Koreans bow to seniors, but western people say just hello.
There would be some consequences of failing to solve the problems. In spite of parents’ consistent effort and support, some kids show such as depression, abusiveness, and insomnia when parents have them learn a foreign language. MBC News of Korea reported about an eleven year-old Korean boy. Since his parents had him go to an international school, he started show all kinds of symptoms of a mental disorder. For instance, he refused to go to school, got easily depressed, and didn’t talk to anyone (Shin, 1998, p. 2). Also, If many parents spend too much money for their children’s early English education then domestic economy will lose the balance.
To solve these problems, it is important to have good educational preparation in public school. This is for developing the teaching methodology that accords with the steps of children’s growth and their levels. If public school could provide high quality of English education with free of charge, parents do not need to spend so much money. Also students could start learning English from elementary school
Also teacher need to make interesting atmosphere using interesting chants or songs.
It is important not only to learn new concepts in English but also to represent the concepts they already know in English. Children like various activities such as games, arts and crafts. They acquire language naturally while having fun and voluntarily participating in enjoyable dynamic or creative activities. Each young child is unique and has a different temperament. To pursue learner-centered education, teachers should recognize their individual strengths and weakness and allow them to acknowledge each other’s differences and cooperate together. Teachers should investigate various teaching methods and search for appropriate and interesting teaching materials. The storytelling introduced in this thesis accords with the characteristic of early English education. Stories deal with many different people and their lives. Stories sometimes give clues for solving a problem or conflict in various situations. It causes children’s interest and motives for learning English to read or listen to stories in English. Maybe they don’t understand completely at first. However, if they listen to a story over and over again, they get used to various expressions including key words and key sentences. Therefore, as story is a teaching material that unifies four functions of language.
In conclusion, some Korean kids are forced to learn foreign languages at a too young age when they are not being ready. Also, some Korean parents spend too much money for language education. Due to these reasons, children get stress on language learning and show lots of side effects. However, this problem could be solved with well prepared teaching materials in public school. Teacher could make interesting circumstances with interesting sources. Also storytelling is very good source for young learners as they deal with many different people and their lives.

Chapter Blog 1

Chapter 5. Journal writing

Tomkins (2008) says people use journals to record personal experiences, explore reactions and interpretations to books they read and videos they view, and record and analyze information about literature (Tomkins, 2008). For children, there are usually six types of journals. They are personal journals, dialogue journals, reading logs, learning logs, double-entry journals, simulated journals. Among many kinds of journal types, dialogue journal attracted my attention. Children converse in writing with the teacher or a classmate through dialogue journal. It is new to me and I would like to try this kind of journal writing with my students.
In journal writing, a writer can choose a variety of topics for different purposes. Writing about everyday episode of experiences and observation and comprehension of reading and learning are considered as journals. The author recommends children to write in ournals at a particular time each day in spiral-bound notebooks.
The website http://42explore.com/journl.htm gives very simple idea about journal writing. It says a journal is a continued series of writings made by a person in response to their life experiences and events. Diaries contain a description of daily events. A journal may include those descriptions, but it also contains reflections on what took place and expresses emotions and understandings about them. It doesn't matter what you call your writing, either a diary or journal, as long as you see the distinction between these two ways of writing.
Reference:

Journal Writing. (n.d). Retrieved March 02, 2010 from http://42explore.com/journl.htm
Tomkins, G. E. (2008). Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter Blog 2

Chapter 8. Expository writing

People use expository writing to learn and to share information. So it is for a wide, unknown audience.
Exposition is a type of oral or written discourse that is used to explain, describe, give information or inform. The creator of an expository text can not assume that the reader or listener has prior knowledge or prior understanding of the topic that is being discussed. Since clarity requires strong organization, one of the most important mechanisms that can be used to improve our skills in exposition is to provide directions to improve the organization of the text. It is interesting to know vague information is clearly described by graphic organizer and paragraphs illustrating the five expository text structures which are description, sequence, comparison, cause & effect and problem & solution.
In the website http://k6educators.about.com/b/, Beth mentioned about expository writing as below and I have same veiw with her :
Through our education classes, we learn that scaffolding isn't just a term used on construction sites. In the classroom, scaffolding is actually a key instructional technique that helps develop our students' understanding gradually and with specifically design support. There are many different ways to scaffold instruction for your students. The most important thing is that you do it on a regular basis. I think that graphic organizers are one of the most important techniques for supporting student learning. Since I am a very visual learner myself, it makes natural sense to me that I should always try to present my students with a visual way to understand the material that I am presenting to them (Lewis, 2010).
An effective Journal Writing program doesn't mean you just sit back and relax while your student write about whatever they want. Teacher can use well-chosen journal topics, classical music, and checklists to make the most of our students' daily writing time.

References:
Lewis, B. (2010, March 29). Scaffolding as an Instructional Tool. Retrieved March 31, 2010 from http://k6educators.about.com/b/
Tomkins, G. E. (2008). Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter Blog 3

Chapter 12. Persuasive writing

People use persuasive writing to argue logically with reasons. Tomkins (2008) says people can be persuaded in three ways. The first appeal a writer can make is based on reason. A second way to persuade is through an appeal to character. Other people are important to us, and we an be persuaded by what another person recommends if we trust that person. The third way people can be persuaded is by an emotional appeal. Emotional appeals can be as strong as intellectual appeals because people have a deep concern for their well-being and for the rights of others (Tomkins, 2008, p. 268). We are living in the complicated society so there are many chances to persuade somebody. In persuasive writing, a writer takes a position FOR or AGAINST an issue and writes to convince the reader to believe or do something.
Rubenstein (2010) explained persuasive writing steps briefly as below:
1. Give yourself time.
2. Brainstorm.
3. First Paragraph This has to be your paragraph that draws attention to your essay.
4. Start off your essay by stating your views.
5. Make body paragraphs.
6. Finish off with a conclusion (last sentence). Proofread.
Also he provided useful tips for persasive writing as below:
Make sure you know your audience. Stick to a certain tone, whether it's formal, informal, funny, pleading, etc.
Be aware of the possible counter-arguments that would go against what you are trying to say. You need to plan ahead for oppositions. Therefore, list some common oppositions and have counters for them.
Avoid the use of personal pronouns such as "I" or "you". This takes away from your writing's professional touch.
Use synonyms. Having the same word over and over will place a toll on the reader's nerves. Mix it up a bit. Also, do not use boring words, such as big or nice. Try and put them as enormous or compassionate.

References:
Rubenstein, L. B. (2010, March 19). How to Write a Persuasive Essay. Retrieved March 31, 2010 from http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Persuasive-Essay
Tomkins, G. E. (2008). Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter Blog 4

Chapter 11. Poetry writing

People write poetry to create images, explore feelings, and entertain (Tomkins, 2008). Writing about poetry can be one of the most demanding tasks that many students face in a literature class. Poetry, by its very nature, makes demands on a writer who attempts to analyze it that other forms of literature do not. People think writing poetry is difficult task, but it is easy and even young children can try poetry writing.
When teacher ask children write poem, usually they do not know what to write. Ghare introduced some tips in the website http://www.buzzle.com/articles/writing-poetry-how-to-write-a-poem.html. There are several things that one must consider while wondering how to write poetry. Here is a list of things to think about that.
The Subject:
An interesting way to take the jump from this point is writing down the words, phrases or sentences that come to your mind when you are thinking about the subject or the theme of your poem. Don’t worry if nothing sounds or feels right, just write it down for now.
The Feeling:
A poem, no matter how descriptive it may be, is not to be used to state the obvious. We all know that the grass is green, for example. What you need to express in your poem is what you felt when you saw the green grass. What emotions did it evoke within you?
The Mood:
How do you want to portray your thoughts, ideas and feelings via this poem? Do you want to make it a serious poem, or a funny one, a sarcastic one or an irreverent one? The mood can often help you convey the feelings more effectively.
The Style:
Choose a style of writing the poem from among several – from classical to the modern contemporary styles of writing poetry, there are many to choose from. Pick a style which is easier for you to work with. Most modern poets often use the free verse style of poetry.

References:
Ghare, H. (n.d). How to write a poem. Retrieved March 02, 2010 from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/writing-poetry-how-to-write-a-poem.html.
Tomkins, G. E. (2008). Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Chapter Blog 5

Chapter 10. Descriptive Writing

People use descriptive writing to decorate word and to make their writing more vivid. For descriptive writing, we can use many descriptive techniques such as adding specific information, choosing words carefully, crating sensory images, making comparisons and witing dialogue. I am interested in applying sensory images for essay.
When we read some writing with sensory words, we feel like staying in the place where the author is explaining.
Below is the example of sensory writing.

“ I spent a day at the beach with my friend. Children was playing in the sand. I could hear chatter and laughter of children. There were slight fishy smell. The water tasted like salt water. I felt a heat of sun on back.”

In the Website, I found very simple explanation of descriptive writing. This site was created by TQ22 5th grade team. They say Descriptive writing, sometimes called "showing writing" is writing that describes a particular person, place or event in great detail. Descriptive writing uses a lot of flowery adjectives and adverbs to describe what is going on or how something appears. If you were going to describe biting into an apple, you would not simply say: "He bit into the apple and it tasted good". Descriptive writing would convey the same sentence as follows: "He slowly closed his teeth on the ripe, succulent, ruby colored apple. The crunch of his teeth piercing the apple's skin was deafening and the sweet juices of the apple ran down his chin. The taste of the meat was as sweet as candy and he felt euphoric."

References:
http://library.thinkquest.org/J001156/forms%20of%20writing/em_descriptive.htm
Tomkins, G. E. (2008). Teaching Writing: Balancing Process and Product. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.

Assignment #7 Five Rubric Websites that offer samples to assess the kinds of writing genres.

1. Free writing
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=1335631&

2. Expository writing
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=1340960&

3. Narrative writing
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=1537325&

4. Descriptive writing
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=1820735&

5. Creative writing
http://rubistar.4teachers.org/index.php?screen=ShowRubric&rubric_id=1777559&