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Tambra Isenberg: Okay, kindergarten, we are going to learn a new vocabulary word today.
VO: At Holy Family School in Cincinnati, Ohio, reading specialist Dr. Tambra Isenberg is introducing a brand new word to these kindergartners —collaborate. She kicks things off by having students clap out each syllable.
Tambra Isenberg: Let's clap the parts in collaborate.
Everyone: Col - lab - or - ate.
Tambra Isenberg: Four parts. The word is collaborate. What word?
Students: Collaborate.
VO: Next, Dr. Isenberg shares the meaning of the word and adds a gesture.
Tambra Isenberg: Collaborate means working together as a team. Okay. Repeat after me. "Collaborate means ..."
Students: "Collaborate means ..."
Tambra Isenberg: "working together ..."
Students: "working together ..."
Tambra Isenberg: "as a team."
Students: "as a team."
Tambra Isenberg: Show me the gesture for collaborate.
[They curl their fingers slightly on each hand and then hook those fingers together with the right hand set on top and pulling right, the left hand set on the bottom and pulling left.]
See, we're like holding hands, we're working together. We're a team.
VO: Gestures can be especially helpful for English learners who make up most of this class. Next, Dr. Isenberg will share some examples of the word collaborate in context, including pictures.
Tambra Isenberg: These students are working together as a team. What are they doing everyone?
Everyone: Collaborating.
Tambra Isenberg: Good job. They collaborate to build a tall tower with blocks.
VO: Listen to how many opportunities Dr. Isenberg gives students to say the word and its meaning. This repetition isn't an accident. The more they say it, the more it sticks.
Tambra Isenberg: This family is collaborating. They want to make their bed together. We know that they're collaborating because they're working together as a ...
Student: Team!
Tambra Isenberg: Team. That's right. Collaborating on chores makes the job easier and more fun. Who's collaborating?
Everyone: The family.
Tambra Isenberg: And what are they collaborating on?
Student: The bed.
Tambra Isenberg: Everybody together?
Everyone: The bed.
Tambra Isenberg: That's right. They're collaborating to make the bed so they have more fun doing their chores.
VO: You'll have noticed that Dr. Isenberg references her lesson plan as she teaches. It's from an open source curriculum developed by Mount St. Joseph University called Reading Opens Worlds, or ROW. ROW has a special focus on building oral language skills, the foundation of all reading and writing.
Tambra Isenberg: Okay. I want you to think. I'm going to ask you to turn and talk. Twos are going to talk first and you're going to think of a time when you had to collaborate. I saw you collaborate today. I want you to think of a time when you had to collaborate or work together with someone. You're going to start with, "I collaborate when..." How are you going to start?
Students: "I collaborate when..."
Tambra Isenberg: Go ahead and turn and talk. Twos talk first. I want to hear what you and Legacy collaborate.
Student: I collaborate making a bracelet with my sister. Oh, that's nice. You make matching bracelets.
VO: Many of the students in this class are English learners, so it's no surprise to hear some of them use the Spanish word for collaborate, which is colaborar, as they turn and talk. And this will help them learn to read. Tapping into a home language strengthens the connection to meaning and helps the new word stick.
Student: [In Spanish] Yo colaboré [con] mi mamá porque me ama. [other student claps]
Tambra Isenberg: One of the friends that I heard told me that they collaborate with their dad when they were learning to ride a bike. He helped him ride a bike and then they got to ride bikes together. That was a good way to collaborate. Okay. What was another way that you collaborated?
VO: I collaborate. My dad helped me fix my bike.
Tambra Isenberg: To fix your bike? Wow, that's a skill. So he's teaching you and you're helping him? Do you help hand him tools and things and then he shows you how to do it? Nice job. Kindergarten, you did a fantastic job talking about the word...
Students: Collaborate.
Tambra Isenberg: Collaborate means...
Students: Collaborate means ...
Tambra Isenberg: working to ...
Students: together
Tambra Isenberg: as a...
Students: team.
Tambra Isenberg: That was a good one, friends.
VO: Reading Universe is made possible by generous support from Jim and Donna Barksdale; the Hastings/Quillin Fund, an advised fund of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation; the Emily Hall Tremaine Foundation; the AFT; and several anonymous donors. Special thanks to the Center for Reading Science at Mount St. Joseph University and Holy Family School located in Cincinnati, Ohio. If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our YouTube channel @RUTeaching. Reading Universe is a service of WETA Washington D.C. and was developed in collaboration with the Barksdale Reading Institute and First Book.
