STANDARD 19

Four All Who Reed and Right ~ Author Unknown

We'll begin with a box, and the plural is boxes;
but the plural of ox became oxen not oxes.

One fowl is a goose, but two are called geese,
yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice;
yet the plural of house is houses, not hice.

If the plural of man is always called men,
why shouldn't the plural of pan be called pen?

If I spoke of my foot and show you my feet,
and I give you a boot, would a pair be called beet?

If one is a tooth and a whole set are teeth,
why shouldn't the plural of booth be called beeth?

Then one may be that, and three would be those,
yet hat in the plural would never be hose, and the plural of cat
is cats, not cose.

We speak of a brother and also of brethren,
but though we say mother, we never say methren.

Then the masculine pronouns are he, his and him,
but imagine the feminine, she, shis and shim.

Let's face it,
English is a crazy language.

There is no egg in eggplant,
nor ham in hamburger;
neither apple nor pine in pineapple.
English muffins weren't invented in England.

We take English for granted.
But if we explore its paradoxes,
we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square
and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea, nor is it a pig.

And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing,
grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham?

Doesn't it seem crazy that you can make amends,
but not one amend?

If you have a bunch of odds and ends
and get rid of all but one of them,
what do you call it?

If teachers taught,
why didn't preachers praught?

If a vegetarian eats vegetables,
what does a humanitarian eat?

Sometimes, I think all the folks who grew up speaking English
should be committed to an asylum for the verbally insane.

In what other language do people recite at a play
and play at a recital?

Ship by truck and send cargo by ship?

Have noses that run and feet that smell?

How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same,
while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites?

You have to marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which
your house can burn up as it burns down;
in which you fill in a form by filling it out
and in which an alarm goes off by going on.

STANDARD 19 – Content Reading

The competent science teacher understands the process of reading and demonstrates instructional abilities to teach reading in the content area of science. Knowledge Indicators - The competent science teacher:

19A. understands that the reading process is the construction of meaning through the interactions of the reader’s background knowledge and experiences, the information in the text, and the purpose of the reading situation.

19B. recognizes the relationships among the four language arts (reading, writing, listening, and speaking), and knows how to provide opportunities to integrate these through instruction.

19C. understands how to design, select, modify, and evaluate materials in terms of the reading needs of the learner.

19D. understands the importance of and encourages the use of literature for adolescents in the curriculum and for independent reading.

19G. understands the importance of the unique study strategies required of the specific content area in developing reading comprehension.

19H. understands the importance of the relationship between assessment and instruction in planning.

Performance indicators: The competent science teacher:

19I. plans and teaches lessons for students that develop comprehension of content-area materials through instructional practices that include analyzing critically, evaluating sources, and synthesizing and summarizing material.

19J. plans and teaches lessons on how to monitor comprehension and correct confusions and misunderstandings that arise during reading.

19K. plans and models use of comprehension strategies before, during, and after reading of text.

19L. provides opportunities for students to develop content-area vocabulary through instructional practices that develop connections and relationships among words, use of context clues, and understanding of connotative and denotative meaning of words.

19M. plans and teaches lessons that encourage students to write about the content read in order to improve understanding.

19N. plans and teaches lessons to help students develop study strategies that include previewing and preparing to read text effectively, recognizing organizational patterns unique to informational text, and using graphic organizers as an aid for recalling information.

19O. plans and teaches units that require students to carry out research or inquiry using multiple texts, including electronic resources.

19P. provides continuous monitoring of students’ progress through observations, work samples, and various informal reading assessments.

19Q. analyzes and evaluates the quality and appropriateness of instructional materials in terms of readability, content, length, format, illustrations, and other pertinent factors.

19R. promotes the development of an environment that includes classroom libraries that foster reading.