Language aspects covered in the book

One of the most important components of a balanced literacy classroom is read aloud. It is
considered that read aloud helps students to improve their interactive learning journey
(Bingham & Hall-Kenyon, 2013). It also helps in making the classroom more engaging as
well as meaningful. In context to oral language there are five components which include
phonological skills, syntax, pragmatics, vocabulary and morphological skills. Since the book
chosen (The Other Side by Jacqueline Woodson) in the above oral presentation is a read
aloud, there are various Language aspects that are essential in the book (Benito, 2015).

The further discussion will take under consideration the strengths of the above text as well as
the language aspects that are covered in the book. The book has covered major language
aspects including vocabulary, phonology, and morphemes which will help the students to
improve their oral language skills (McBride-Chang et al, 2008). Clearly, the book has made
use of engaging vocabulary which will contribute to the learning opportunities of the
language students. The use of strong vocabulary has made the book more receptive for
teachers as well as students (Bishop, 2020). The above oral presentation represents the level
of vocabulary that can be taught to the students through the help of this book. The book will
help students to become autonomous vocabulary learners.

Phoneme awareness helps the students to gain accuracy of the language. It is also considered
as most important predictors of the ability of a student to read fluently. Through the help of
the above oral presentation the language instructor will be able to develop a better connection
with the students as they will acquire language skills more easily.

Research indicates that morphological awareness enhances the speed and accuracy of the
language learning journey of students (Douglas, 2010). The book has made use of a lot of
morphemes which makes it easier for teachers to communicate the language aspects to
students.

Learning activity
Learning intention: Develop understanding of vocabulary, comprehension and information
processing through read aloud role play.

Content descriptor
 - Understand that social interactions influence the way people engage with ideas and
respond to others for example when exploring and clarifying the ideas of others,
summarizing their own views and reporting them to a larger group (ACELA1488 -
Scootle )
- Understand how to use knowledge of letter patterns including double letters, spelling
generalisations, morphemic word families, common prefixes and suffixes
and word origins to spell more complex words (ACELA1779 - Scootle )
- Understand how to use phonic knowledge to read and write multisyllabic words with
more complex letter combinations, including a variety of vowel sounds and known
prefixes and suffixes (ACELA1828 - Scootle )

Activity:

- Students will be divided into groups of 4-5.

- Each group will be asked to pick one character from the book and one group will be
assigned the task for narration.
- Students will have to enact and read aloud the book. Student form each group will be
given a chance to speak.

Objectives:

- Through this activity, students will be able to involve with texts which might be
difficult for them otherwise.
- Students will be able to explore language through the help of characters and a story.
- Classroom can be more interactive and teachers will be able to develop better
communication with their students.

Through the help of the above activity, teachers can inculcate the knowledge of language
aspects in students (Hermann-Wilmarth, Lannen, & Ryan, 2017). The above read aloud role
play will ensure that the students are able to understand the phonemes, morphemes and
vocabulary used in the book.
References
Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority. (2022).

https://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/f-10-curriculum/english/

Benito, R. D. (2015). The other side as a rule rather than an exception. Procedia-Social and

Behavioral Sciences, 178, 66-69.

Bingham, G. E., & Hall‐Kenyon, K. M. (2013). Examining teachers' beliefs about and

implementation of a balanced literacy framework. Journal of Research in

Reading, 36(1), 14-28.

Bishop, R. S. (2020). An Invited Dialogue with Jacqueline Woodson. Language Arts, 98(1),

31-35.

Douglas, S. (2010). Coming of Age and Constructing Identity, with Jacqueline Woodson: An

8th Grade English/Language Arts Unit.

Hermann-Wilmarth, J. M., Lannen, R., & Ryan, C. L. (2017). Critical Literacy and

Transgender Topics in an Upper Elementary Classroom: A Portrait of

Possibility. Journal of Language and Literacy Education, 13(1), 15-27.

McBride-Chang, C., Tardif, T., Cho, J. R., Shu, H. U. A., Fletcher, P., Stokes, S. F., ... &

Leung, K. (2008). What's in a word? Morphological awareness and vocabulary

knowledge in three languages. Applied psycholinguistics, 29(3), 437-462.