This text-based course is a transcript of the webinar, “Written Narrative Language Skills for the Common Core State Standards,” presented by Monica Gordon Pershey, EdD, CCC-SLP.
Introduction and Objectives
>> Monica Gordon Pershey: Today, I will provide an overview of the developmental narrative language capabilities needed for students to meet the common core English/Language Arts Standards in Writing. The topics I plan to cover will give you some general information that can be used to construct informal assessments of written narrative and give you a place to start for interventions to prepare students with language needs to achieve the standards.
We will discuss how to help students develop a process in their writing so they can produce content that is expected by the Common Core State Standards. It is not like teaching grammar, vocabulary, or social studies, or anything like that and helping students to achieve in those areas. It is helping them learn how to become better writers. There are some suggestions for curricular and instructional accommodations and modifications as well, and I specifically welcome your input regarding any kind of intervention strategies.
After this course, I hope that you will know more about oral and written narrative development and how they tie together. You should be able to pinpoint what children should be able to do so that you can identify the difficulties in oral and written narration that are found in K-12 students with language needs who receive mainstream Language Arts instruction.
We are looking to address the needs of students who are higher functioning, but still need services.
We will be progressing from some general information about development to more specific behaviors and skills, looking at what the Common Core has to say, and then putting it all together at the end.
The Author and Her Research
I have been an SLP for almost 30 years, and 20 years ago I defended my dissertation. I earned a doctorate in education in language arts and literacy instruction. I have been a faculty member at Cleveland State since 1995. Most of my academic work relates to language and literacy, and to the pre-professional and professional development of SLPs and teachers. Today, I am sharing with you the instructional implications that have come out of three large studies that I completed over the past several years.
In the first study, I looked at how 75 first-graders spoke for story characters. You know that children are excited when they are read to, and they may speak out in the voices of the characters. I looked at how children get to the point of being able to take on the character's voice and point of view. That is certainly a pragmatic skill involving perspective taking, theory of mind and knowing another speaker's pragmatic purpose. I will talk more about these skills later.
