Spanish, rarely utilize contractions, and the contractions may not incorporate the use of an apostrophe. Prepositions in English may not translate directly from all languages. English can do some odd things. In English, we talk about getting in a car, but also refer to getting on a plane, when the action is basically the same in both instances. This can confuse the emergent bilingual. Last but not least, consider the use of idioms. Expressions that are commonplace in English do not have the same meaning when translated into another language. In English, we refer to raining cats and dogs. An emergent bilingual could become confused because they know such an event never happens.
Book Introductions
The teacher should carefully plan how a new book will be introduced to a child. The book introduction should set the child up for success, while also allowing opportunities for new learning to naturally occur as the child reads. When planning the book introduction, consider the child’s prior experiences with the genre or story content. When introducing a fable, the teacher will need to explain that animals take on human characteristics in this type of story. If mystery is a new genre for the child, the teacher may need to explain how a mystery works.
Other factors for the teacher to take into consideration might include an unfamiliar language structure or vocabulary that is new to the child. In the instance of unfamiliar language structure, the teacher will want to have the child practice the unfamiliar phrase in order to give them experience with the phrase, and help them incorporate it into their repertoire of oral language. For example, a book might have the phrase, “Down came the rain.” When we talk, we would not normally phrase a sentence this way because oral language does not typically begin with a preposition. However, this type of language structure is often found in stories. Having the child practice this phrase will help them recognize the phrase when they come to it in the story and begin to realize that “book talk” often differs from everyday talk. Learning that books can sound differently from the way people talk is an important milestone.
We must also consider the child’s word knowledge. When stories contain unfamiliar vocabulary or familiar vocabulary used in a new way, the teacher needs to address these items during the book introduction. An unfamiliar word, such as bommyknocker, in The Hungry Giant’s Soup (Cowley, 1992), will need to be explained as an instrument for punishment if the giant’s wishes are not met. In Mushrooms for Dinner (Randell, 1996), Baby Bear finds a ring of mushrooms in the forest, referring to a group of mushrooms growing in a circle. This definition of ring differs from the ring on their mother’s finger.
The book introduction needs to include enough information to provide the child with a successful first reading of the story. During the book introduction, the teacher and students will look at and discuss the pictures while talking about what is happening throughout the book. To support emergent bilingual students, it helps to use concrete objects, gestures, or additional visuals to scaffold their understanding of the new language. As teacher and students are turning the pages, the teacher will draw attention to the new vocabulary as it is printed in the text. The child should be asked to locate the new word, causing them to be actively involved in learning the word. Following the child’s locating the new word, ask the child how they know they are right. Their answer will provide the teacher with some insight into the child’s way of thinking. For example, after locating bommyknocker, the child might respond that they recognized it because it started with the letter b, or they may have recognized a larger chunk within the word. In addition to locating unknown words, early readers should be asked to locate some known high-frequency words, such as to, can, and go. This will solidify their knowledge of these small words that need to be recognized quickly.