¡BIENVENIDOS!

Please pick up a marker and add a few cognate pairs

to our Graffiti Wall!

Capitalizing on Cognates

Kathy Davin, Reading SpecialistMicaela Mejia Pond, 5th Grade English Teacher

Francis Scott Key Elementary SchoolArlington, Virginia

How We Got Here

• Student population at our school is shifting from first generation to second generation “heritage” language speakers

• NCLB

Key Elementary School

• Enrollment -- 612Hispanic – 282White – 269Black – 31Asian – 19Unspecified –

11

An affluent suburb immediately across the Potomac River from Washington DC, a community that takes

pride in its diverse population.

Our Purpose

• capitalize on the empowerment of knowing two languages, “right from the start”

• build meta-cognition

• value the home language

DORMIR

(SP)

DORM

DORMANT(ENG)

Our Journey

• University of Virginia and Words Their Way

• County Initiative:Bringing Words to Life

“robust vocabulary”

•program evaluation—weak in

vocabulary development

Our Conclusions

• Limited use in lower grades--it’s more a visual than an aural strategy

• Random check of 5th grade texts showed the value of making students aware of cognates

HORIZONTAL

HORIZONTAL

Consolation Prize for Lower Grades

Beginning Sound Sort(in your folder)

5th Grade Science TextChapter 3

• célula, membrana celular, núcleo, citoplasma, difusión, ósmosis, órgano, sistema

• cell, cellular membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm, diffusion, osmosis, organ , system

Words Their Way--What Is Word Study?

• Spelling and vocabulary instruction based on classifying words--sound, pattern, meaning

• Teacher sort, student sort, written reflection

Bringing Words to Life--What Is Robust Vocabulary?• Tier 1 -- most basic

words: clock, baby, happy, walk, etc.

• Tier 3 -- low frequency, limited to specific domains: isotope, lathe, peninsula, refinery

Tiers of Vocabulary

• *Tier 2 -- high frequency for mature language learners and found across a variety of domains: coincidence, absurd, industrious, fortunate

--BICS vs CALP

--Latin-based vocabulary

BICS (Basic Interpersonal

Communication Skills)

vs.CALP

(Cognitive AcademicLanguage Proficiency)

Brief History of English• 60% of English is Latin

based

• Norman Invasion and its influence on the language

• Academic language in English (Tiers 2 & 3) is

related to basic, everyday Spanish

(Tier 1)

dormant, verify, culpable, ultimatum

What is a Cognate?

• Not borrowed words taco, enchilada, margarita

• Not just a translation nada/nothing

• Related in origin, certain words in related languages descended from the same root

GAME TIME

• Word Hunt – Parts of Speech • Memory/Concentration• 1,2,3 Game – Dragon to the Finish• Latin Roots – Jigsaw, Tree• False Cognates – Charades• http://eslbears.homestead.com/

cognates.html

*Latin Root Sort

• (If you use online dictionaries, you can type a word root or stem using an asterisk (*) like this: *corp, corp* or *corp* to find related words.)

DOOR PRIZES!

• www.capitalizingoncognates.wikispaces.com

Thanks to the 6 of you left…