everythingESL - a blog about teaching English Language Learners

Comparing Educaton in Finland and in the U.S.

2011-10-21T08:09:00.000-07:00

In Diane Ravitch's blog she talks about her recent trip to Finland where she visited schools and spoke to educators. Ravitch discovered how horrified educators in Finland are that the U.S. schools are increasing the use of standardized tests, basing teacher evaluations on how well students score on the tests, and will receive merit pay if students do well. Ravitch reports that there is no standardized testing in Finland and teachers are responsible for the curriculum taught in their schools.

There are several reasons that I think it is difficult to compare U.S. education to Finnish education. First of all, the student population in the U.S. is much more diverse.
Twenty percent of U.S. students speak a language other than English at home. Over 400 different language are spoken by students in U.S. schools.
Most English language learners(ELLs) go to the poorest schools and live in abject poverty. Lawmakers are ignoring poverty as one of the reasons for the achievement gap.

U.S. lawmakers are ready to reauthorize ESEA without addressing the unique needs of ELLs. The companies working on the new assessments barely address how ELLs are tested. No one is paying attention to the fact that beginning and intermediate ELLs can not be held to the same standards as the native speakers when being tested in content areas in English. They simply do not have enough language to demonstrate what they know.

Tests in native language do not resolve this problem. The companies designing new standardized tests plan to translate them into 10 languages. Translated tests are not reliable measures for ELLs. Also, if students are learning content material in English, it makes no sense to test then in native language.

ESL and bilingual teachers need to become aware of national educational debates. Our students will be affected. Perhaps more than native English speakers. I encourage you to read Diane Ravitch's blog and to write comments. She has been asking to hear other voices.

2011-07-14T12:03:00.000-07:00

Matthew Lynch published an article today in Education News entitled Supporting English Language Learners I applaud his recognition of the need for supporting English language learners in the classroom. I think his intentions were good. From the list of publications at the bottom of the article, it is apparent that Lynch is knowledgeable in many areas of education but there is much he does not know about teaching ELLs. I left a short comment on his blog but I could have written a book. Wait! I did write several books on this topic.
The topic of teaching English language learners has become very hot over the last year. Many educators who are known in other fields of education are jumping on the bandwagon and publishing information that is dated or not in line with current research.
Lynch seems to assume that ELLs can learn English using technology out of the classroom but that they shouldn't use translators in the class because "There is some debate however as to whether or not these forms of assistive technology actually defeat the purpose of English language learning."
Language is not "soaked up.” English language learners must be able to understand the communication that is conveyed by the teacher. They need comprehensible input. We need to use every tool that we have to provide comprehensible input to ELLs including translators.
Lynch ignores the role of literacy in native language in second language acquisition.(Thomas & Collier, 1997) ELLs who become literate in native language first learn to read and write in English more quickly. Lynch's article implies that ELLs should not use their native language in learning English.

Using Music to Teach Language to ELLS

2011-04-14T15:43:00.000-07:00

On the April 11th #ELLCHAT, a Twitter discussion group for teachers of English language learners, we discussed the benefits of using music and drama in to teach English to ELLs. One of our participants asked the groups’ thoughts about bilingual songs that switch between languages.
My reaction to this question was that it would be fun to have songs that switch between languages - especially for ESL. It’s normal for bilingual children to switch from one language to the other. I was looking at the question from an affective point of view, not a linguistic one. I was thinking of the ELL who is bombarded by information in English all day long. He may be new to the country and suffering from culture shock. He may be a young preschooler or kindergarten student who feels homesick. By including bilingual songs in the curriculum, I believed that teachers are demonstrating an appreciation of other languages and establishing a welcoming environment for ELLs in our classroom.

My friend and active #ELLchat participant @Karen Nemeth. Preschool expert and author of Many Languages, One Classroom: Teaching Dual and English Language Learners convinced me that I can not ignore the linguistic ramifications. Thank you Karen for your input.
Here is Karen’s answer to me.
Language experts are always in favor of using songs and music to support language learning because of the rhythms, focus on sounds like rhymes, the repetition and the familiarity and the kinesthetic learning associated with movement and dancing - as well as the fun! Early literacy experts focus heavily on the value of music for supporting language and literacy learning for ALL young children - and we also know that plenty of music education is linked to better math skills later on also.

What I object to is the notion of having two languages in the same song. We know from research about young children's language processing that their brains will focus on the familiar language and tune out the new language when they are presented simultaneously. I recommend singing lots of songs - but singing in one language or the other. Songs sung completely in one language or the other help the children to focus on whole phrases and sentences and get used to pronouncing strings of words.

So, by all means, I would expect that every early childhood teacher that has children from other languages in her class should be singing songs in their language right from the start. Even if the class were called "ESL" I would never condone a class for preschool or kindergarten that has nothing in the child's home language. So even if the teacher knows no words in Polish, for example, she can play Polish music and learn with the kids - and all the kids can learn some of their friend's language too.

I believe it is essential that teachers of young children in diverse classrooms MUST learn at least a few words of every language in their class and they MUST have materials to support every language they have. Every teacher MUST show respect for each child's language because it is part of his or her identity - and the teacher does this by making the effort to learn those few words and songs and stories. And the teacher must actively demonstrate this respect because she is a critical role model for respecting differences and valuing each student equally regardless of majority or minority status. When the teacher brings in Polish music and learns with her student, this forms the bridge that supports the Polish child getting used to school and learning in English as well. And - sometimes the whole class should also be singing songs in English because the repetition, movement, sounds etc will help with the transition to English, while nicely supporting literacy learning in the monolingual English speakers at the same time.

Thank you Karen for this outstanding answer. From now on, I will advocate that teachers make children feel welcome in their classrooms through the use of songs in the native languages of her students.

To Karen and me, this conversation is an example of the collegiality and collaboration that grows via Twitter, Facebook and our other social media.

Do children really learn languages more easily than teenagers or adults?

2011-03-14T11:52:00.000-07:00

I recently received an e-mail from a colleague who stated “There seems to be some conflict with the statement you make in your book (Getting Started with English Language Learners) about adults learning language faster than children."
I do say this in my book. I present this as a myth of second language acquisition in order to give classroom teachers realistic expectations for the English language learners in their class. When I say that teenagers and adults learn a second language faster than children, I am talking about academic language. (Mc Laughlin, 1992) The purpose of presenting this myth to teachers is to emphasize that they should not expect miraculous results, assume that children have few inhibitions than adults or expect that learning a new language is easier for children than it is for adults.

I think we all recognize that young children easily acquire the language required for social interaction in an elementary school. Children outperform adults in the area of pronunciation, Children might also be more motivated to interact socially with their classmates and to acquire social language. They do not have to learn as much to achieve communicative competence in a second language. A child's constructions are shorter and simpler, and vocabulary is smaller.

Older students and adults, however, have access to the memory techniques and other strategies that more experienced learners use in acquiring vocabulary and in learning grammatical rules. These findings may reflect the mode of language instruction used in Europe, where emphasis has traditionally been placed on formal grammatical analysis. Older children are more skilled in dealing with this approach and hence might do better.

This same colleague told me that Patricia Kuhl’s findings prove that children learn languages faster. However, Patricia Kuhl's research does not negate the myth. She maintains that babies' brains have the ability to retain sounds from different languages There are many more factors involved in language acquisition than retaining sounds. .

New studies are being done all the time. New studies are exciting and do spark a lot of interesting conversations.

Reading Comprehension Strategies for ELLs: Inferring

2011-03-07T16:37:00.000-08:00

Good readers make predictions and inferences while they read. Inferring is how readers “read between the lines.” Much of what an author conveys in English is not directly stated. It is implied. English language learners (ELLs) need to learn strategies to infer meaning. The goal is to help readers get deeper meaning from the text by making connections to prior knowledge, visualizing, and predicting. Inference is a very difficult task for English language learners. In addition to struggling with decoding, grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary and a myriad of other language and reading skills, ELLs are also trying to understand what the inferences mean. We want English language learners to develop critical thinking skills, interpret the text that they read and draw conclusions. These skills must be explicitly taught. Teachers need to give their English language learners a model in a frame to help them to express their ideas. Teach students phrases such as *I predict . . ., My guess is . . .I think that….., My conclusion is… I infer that……”

Let’s visit Mrs. Schnee’s 1st grade ESL class. Her students are on the rug on a cold winter day. They can see the field covered in snow from the window. Mrs.Schnee is holding up the book, The Snowy Day (Keats,1976) and tells students, "When I look at the cover, I can infer that this story takes place in the winter. I infer that because I see snow, just like outside my window." She then asks students to infer from the picture what happens in the story. One student, Karim, said, I infer that boy can’t play outside for a long time. ” He used the language that he had been taught to describe what he believed had occurred in the story. When Mrs. Schnee asked him why he thought that, he replied, “My schema tells me that it is winter and the snow is cold.” Then, Mrs. Schnee asked Karim to point out what in the picture helped him think it was winter and Karim pointed to the snowsuit that the boy is wearing and the snow, Thus, she checked for Karim’s understanding by asking him for a rationale for his answer. All students need strategies and language to infer meaning from pictures and text. English language learners especially need this modeling from the teacher and peers with a clear demonstration of how the inferences are made.

Reading Comprehension Strategies for ELLs: Determining Importance

2011-03-07T16:35:00.001-08:00

Ms. Mc Bride was teaching animal adaptations to her 3rd grade science class. She wrote down the key idea of the chapter that the class is reading on the chalkboard: Adaptations are important to an animal’s survival. She taught her students that relevant information is that which is related to the key idea. She gave several examples of information from the chapter and asked students to practice deciding what is relevant and what isn't. Students then read the chapter. When they were done, Ms. McBride divided them into groups and had them brainstorm what they'd learned. Students in each group wrote a list of information they'd learned from the chapter, and then placed an R next to facts that they feel were relevant. Ms. McBride made a large T-chart and displayed the relevant and irrelevant facts from the groups' lists in front of the whole class.

Good readers can distinguish between important and unimportant information in nonfiction text. This ability is key to understanding the content that students must read. First, teachers should introduce students to the conventions of nonfiction text, such as by having them scan chapter titles, headings, subheadings, picture captions, maps, glossaries, and indexes. English language learners should receive plenty of support before they even begin to read the text. They need to understand that reading is not necessarily a front-to-back task.

Students can then learn to identify the title, table of contents, bolded words, photographs, captions, maps, headings, subheadings, and labels in a textbook chapter to preview information. These conventions of nonfiction text help students to identify what is important in the text. Even though the text as a whole was above the reading level

Reading Comprehension Strategies for ELLs: Asking Questions

2011-03-07T16:34:00.000-08:00

Good readers are always asking themselves questions before reading, during reading and after reading. In this blog, I will discuss how to help English language learners learn to use this strategy. It's difficult for ELLs to ask questions about a topic for which they have no background knowledge.

Let's peek in Mrs. Mahoney's 6th grade social studies class and observe as she discusses the title of a nonfiction book about the Underground Railroad. Mrs. Mahoney modeled “I wonder” questions for the students. Maria, an English language learner in the class, wondered how a railroad could really be underground. It was apparent that she knew the meaning of the words “underground” and “railroad” but had a lot of difficulty with the concept. Through picture books and reading material on her reading level, Maria was able to participate in this discussion.

Hyung Jae, another ELL in Mrs. Mahoney’s class, read an entire book at home about the American Civil War in Korean. This background information gave him a springboard for asking questions. Although his language was still quite limited,he developed the schema that he needed to participate in the social studies lesson. The important point is that the ELLs in Mrs. Mahoney’s class were able to read about the topic on their own level or in their own language and ask questions that were on their English language levels. They were able to follow much of the class discussion and pose simple “I wonder” questions such as “Why is this family running away?” “Were the people afraid?” Also, they were able to participate because their teacher had made a point to teach her students about the ways to respond to “I wonder” statements. The teacher modeled these questioning strategies and Maria and Hyung-Jae were able to draw from her examples.

English language learners may not be able to ask questions about the author’s language or vocabulary in the same the way that proficient English native speakers do. However, they can begin to make a habit of questioning and this habit will improve their capacity for understanding and thus support their becoming more proficient readers of English text. It is important to emphasis with ELLs that they need to voice what they don’t understand and use reading strategies to figure out answers.

Here are some questions to help your ELLs get started.
• Ask students to predict what the story will be about based on the title and/or a picture on the cover. This is a strategy that can be used at all grade levels.
• Explain that a prediction is a guess. It doesn’t have to be correct. It just needs to make sense. Help students to become aware that their predictions might change as they read.
• Help ELLs identify “stopping places” in the text where they may have questions or should make predictions. Ask them to mark these places with sticky notes or write about them in their reading notebook. This will help ELLs to become better readers and supports their reading comprehension.

Reading Comprehension Strategies for ELLs: Making Connections

2011-03-07T16:31:00.000-08:00

Good readers make connections to their background knowledge. They activate their schema. Schema is the prior experience that students bring to the text they are reading. In the case of ELLs, the schema that they bring to the classroom may be very different from their classmates’ experiences. It is important that classroom teachers help English language learners to relate their schema to the book they are reading. Our goal during Reader’s Workshop is to help our students make the following connections: text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world.
Text-to-self connectiona are associations that readers make between the text they are reading and something that happened in their own lives. This connection allows ELLs to share their unique schema with classmates. They learn the phrases, “ I have a text to self connection; “This reminds me of when I....” We use this strategy so that students see how their own experiences help them better understand what the characters in the story feel.
Text-to-text connections is a link that students make between the text that they are reading and another story that they have read. It is important to teach students the language of text-to-text connections. When I teach this strategy in my ESL classroom, I prompt the connections by asking, “Does anyone remember another book where children had to share with their friends?”
Text-to-world connections are those links students make between the text and something that has happened in the world. My students make connections to their lives in Korea, Japan, China, India and South America. If we read about a hurricane in a 5th grade ESL class, the students have the language to make the connection between the text that we are reading and extreme weather that has occurred in their own countries. This is a powerful strategy for ELLs because they are using their schema to contribute to the class discussions..I teach them to use sentences such as “This makes me think about,” “I remember when..” or “this is what happened in my country.”
Help your ELLs to learn how to comprehend what it is they read in English. Begin by using the strategies used in Reading Workshops.

Reading Comprehension Strategies for ELLs: Visualizing

2011-03-07T16:29:00.000-08:00

I am reposting several blogs that I published #ELLCHAT will be able to read them.

Part One: Reading Comprehension Strategies for ELLs: Visualization

I was reading a story with my 2st grade ESL class entitled The Doorbell Rang (Hutchins, 1989). I wanted to teach my students the reading comprehension strategy of visualizing what was happening as they read. At the end of the first page, I asked them to make a picture in their minds of the cookies they thought Ma made for the two children to share. Once they had the picture in their minds, I asked them to draw it. After students made their drawings, we examined the picture of the twelve chocolate chip cookies that appeared on the next page of the book. One of my students, Yeon Ji sighed, “I was wrong” and showed me her picture of twelve sugar cookies with red sprinkles. I explained to students that the “movie” in their minds could change when they got new information and that a picture is new information. This is important to teach to students from other cultures because they are often product-oriented and focus on the “right” response..

When teachers in my school started exploring Reader’s Workshop and began to teach their students what good readers do, I immediately saw the application to teaching reading comprehension strategies to English language learners (ELLs). I liked the format of a short mini-lessons about comprehension strategies followed by independent or partner practice using books that are on each student’s reading level. The mini-lesson is directed to the whole class but the practice is individualized. Classroom teachers are able to differentiate instruction by holding extra conferences with English language learners. I decided to adapt this instructional model to teach reading to my ESL classroom so that I am using the same language as the classroom teachers.
Over the next few weeks I will be talking about 6 different strategies to teach reading comprehension to ELLs. In this first blog, I will discuss two reading comprehension strategies that ESL teachers adapt for English language learners of any age: Visualization and Making Connections.

Visualizing what is happening in the story
Good teachers teach students to visualize, to make pictures in their minds as they read. We might ask students to practice this skill as we read to them. Have students close their eyes and imagine what is happening in the story. In the above scenario, the visualization techniques in The Doorbell Rang, help students understand how the 12 cookies are divided first by 2 children, then by 4 and by 6. Eventually, 12 friends are sharing the cookies. We want students to use visualization as a means of understanding the story structure. As the story progressed, students were asked to visualize four children and the cookies that they would have on their plates. Students then made a drawing of their mental picture. If students didn’t draw a plate of three chocolate chip cookies at this point in the story, the teacher could monitor how well they were understanding the meaning of the story. She could have the class get in groups of four and make and divide twelve cookies. Students should be taught to visualize before, during and after reading.

Collaborative Teaching for ELLs: Are Two Teachers Better Than One?

2011-01-17T17:47:00.000-08:00

Over the past few years collaborative or co-teaching has become more popular as school districts search for ways to best serve the needs of their English language learners. What is collaborative teaching? Does it work? In this blog I will try to explain how collaborative teaching works for English language learners.

In a collaborative or co-teaching setting, the ESL teacher "pushes into" the general education classroom to collaborate with the teacher. Collaborative teaching involves two credentialed professionals who are partners in the instruction of the lesson. One professional is usually a classroom or subject area teacher and the other is a certified ESL teacher. Ideally, co-teachers have equal responsibilities for planning instruction. Together the two teachers are lowering the student-teacher ratio and providing differentiated instruction in a manner that is not possible for one teacher.

Collaborative teachers are using the same physical space. Students are not pulled out of the classroom for one of the teachers to instruct. Although small heterogeneous groups may occasionally be pulled aside for reinforcement, I think that English language learners should not be isolated from mainstream students in the back of the classroom. In elementary schools, ESL teachers may come into the classroom for one instructional period each day.

Over the past few years collaborative teaching has become more popular as school districts search for ways to best serve the needs of their English language learners. If you ask ESL teachers who have tried co-teaching, you will hear both negative and positive responses.

Here is an example for a poor collaborative teaching situation. Paulo is a "push-in ESL teacher in a large school district in N.J. He teams with five different teachers each school day. He also teaches two classes of beginners in a pullout setting. Because of his work load, he is unable to plan lessons with his co-teachers. When Paulo goes into some classrooms, the teacher turns the students over to him and uses the time as a prep period. In others, he is helping a few ESL students at the back of the room while the classroom teacher works with the rest of the students. Usually, he serves as a classroom aide, roving around the room to help students who do not understand the instruction. He is not necessarily scheduled into a classroom when the students need him most. In one class, he comes in when kids are eating snack.

This is collaborative teaching at its worse. ESL professionals are not classroom aides. They should not be relegated to the back of the room with English language learners. What is the point of "push-in" ESL if students are kept on the fringes of the "real" instruction? Both teachers have a contribution to make. The classroom teacher contributes knowledge of the curriculum and of all the students in the class while the ESL teacher brings information about teaching strategies, second language acquisition and diverse cultures.

It is my experience that ESL teachers who are pushing into general education classrooms are generally more satisfied if they:

* have input into their schedule and whom they will be teaching with.
* co-teach specific subject and are in the classroom each time the subject is taught.
* have time to plan with the co-teacher
* enjoy equal status with the co-teacher.
* can discuss and decide their role and responsibilities in advance.

Here are some models that are used when co-teaching English language learners:

* Teach and write. One teacher teaches the lesson while the other records the important points on an overhead or chalkboard. ELLs benefit from this because information is being presented to them through different modalities. Station teaching. Students rotate through predetermined stations or activities. Each teachers works with all the students as they come through the station.
* Parallel teaching. The class is divided into two groups and each teacher delivers the content information to their group simultaneously. This allows teachers with distinctly different styles to work together.
* Alternative teaching. Teachers divide responsibility for planning. The majority of the students work in a large group setting but some students are pulled into to a smaller group for pre-teaching or other types of individualized instruction. The same students should not be pulled into the small group each time.
* Team Teaching. Teachers co-teach each lesson. This requires a great deal of planning and cooperation. Both teachers are responsible for all of the students.
* Lead and support. The lead teacher instructs the class while the supporting teacher provides assistance as she roams around the room. The supporting teacher may elaborate the important points or retell parts of the lesson. Ideally, classroom and ESL teachers should alternate roles so that one is not always the lead teacher. This type of instruction can be misused and the ESL teacher may find herself in a subordinate role.

There are many obvious benefits to co-teaching for students. ESL students have both academic and social benefits. They are exposed to the mainstream content but have the support of a second teacher. They are not pulled out of the class and learn with their classmates.

ESL teachers, however, cite many concerns. They do not want to lose ownership of their students be relegated to the status of an aide. They feel that collaboration is a lot of additional work especially if they are co-teaching with several different teachers. ESL teachers are concerned about beginners, who they feel do not really benefit from learning in the large group setting.

I think the benefits of collaboration outweigh the drawbacks. When teachers share the responsibility of instruction, lessons are more creative because two people are planning them. It's nice to have another adult in the room to be able to provide a range of support to students and to share those "ah-ha" moments.
Posted by everythingESL at 4:38 PM

Tips for Teaching ELLs to Write

2011-01-01T21:12:00.000-08:00

Writing is the most difficult language skill for ELLs to master. Here are some of the challenges these students face in a writing class.

* English language learners have a limited vocabulary. They repeat the same words and phrases again and again. Content is restricted to known vocabulary.
* ELLs are reluctant to use invented spelling and content is restricted to words they know how to spell.
* Verb tenses are inaccurate. ELLs will usually write in the present tense.
* The chaotic structure and grammar of students' composition make their writing difficult to understand.
* When ELLs read their writing aloud, they have no sense of what sounds right and what doesn't.
* In many cultures, students are not encouraged to express their opinions. ELLs may have little experience with creative writing to bring from their native language.

What is Translated Writing?

The biggest challenge for teachers working with ELLs is translated writing. This occurs when English language learners develop their ideas in native language and then try to translate them into English. Even if they don't write this native language text down, they are thinking in native language first. When this happens, the writing is full of inaccurate verb tenses and unintelligible sentences. The chaotic structure and grammar make the writing difficult to understand.

Editing this type of writing presents insurmountable challenges for teachers. One strategy is to pick a skill, such as verb tenses, to correct. However, it is better to avoid having students write down their ideas in English through the filter of their native language. Once the student has written an incomprehensible passage, you are stuck with it.
What about Free Writing and Unscaffolded Journal Writing?

Should students be encouraged to free write? (Free writing is a method of writing where students write without stopping for a predetermined amount of time.) The idea behind this is that the more students practice, the better they will write and they will write without an internal censor. It is my experience that free writing and unscaffolded journal writing are not beneficial to beginning ESL students. Students will translate from native language when writing in English.

Teach nonfiction Reading and Writing

Here are some tips to help your students avoid translated writing and promote thinking in English.

* Teach nonfiction reading writing first. This type of instruction gives ELLs language chunks that they can use in their writing.
* More time should be spent in the pre-writing stage. It is better for ELLS to develop a topic orally with a small group rather than to allow them to choose their own subjects.
* Chart facts about a nonfiction topic. Strengthen the link between oral and written language. Have students read the facts from the chart aloud.
* Use graphic organizers to introduce the skill of arranging information for writing. Have students learn to write from this organizer.
* Use sentences on your organizer rather than phrases. ELLs sometimes find it difficult to go from notes to comprehensible sentences.
* Don't expect students who are not fluent in English to self-edit. They will not usually find their mistakes. Teachers will have to be more hands-on with the writing of their non-native speakers.
* When ELLs read their writing aloud, they have no sense of what sounds right and what doesn't. Working in pairs to edit work is good practice for social skills but it probably won't improve the beginner's writing.
* Specifically model good writing from texts at the learner's English language level. For example, to demonstrate a specific skill such as writing a good opening paragraph, have students examine opening paragraphs in books on the same topic.

Selecting Other Genre

Once students have written nonfiction pieces and you want them to move on to other types of writing, you will still need to carefully select the genre. You still want to avoid translated writing. Give students real reasons to write: Letters, invitations, postcards, lists and interviews with classmates.

When you are ready to teach creative writing, use a dialogue journal rather than having students write in their own journals.

Have students write about topics they find interesting. Reflect what they have told you in your response in correct English. If students write at home on their own, you will find that the work is not always their own and you risk having them revert to translated writing.

The December Dilemma and English Language Learners

2010-12-13T18:01:00.000-08:00

Hyungsoo, a 2nd grade student from Korea, sat across from me at the table in my ESL class with a pained look on his face. “Santa didn’t come to my house!” he complained. “I didn’t get any presents.” I knew the source of his disappointment. Many young public school students in the United States spend a good part of December discussing Santa, elves, and presents. They listen to stories about Santa, make presents for their parents, and exchange grab bag gifts with their classmates. Hyungsoo’s family is Christian, and for them [Christmas is strictly a religious holiday. Hyungsoo’s parents did not realize that most of his classmates would be receiving gifts from Santa, and they were not aware of how left out he would feel. Unfortunately, most elementary schools give little thought to the children who are looking in from the outside during December.Another of my students, Priya, told the class, “I am Hindu and I don’t celebrate Christmas. Santa doesn’t come to my house.” Priya’s family celebrated Diwali in September.

Herein lies a dilemma that public schools in the United States face. Every December the elementary school becomes a battleground. A war is waged over what should be taught, what symbols can be displayed in the school hallways, and what music is sung at the December concert. Emotions run high. Christian parents do not want the mention of Christmas to be banned in schools, and parents from other religious backgrounds don’t want their children to be inundated with Christmas festivities. Teachers and administrators walk a tightrope in between. We are so worried about offending someone that public elementary schools are not teaching about any religion at all.
In the United States the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution calls for the separation of Church and State. Government agencies and employees, including public school teachers, are not allowed to promote one religion over another. Schools must approach religious holidays from an academic viewpoint, not a spiritual one, which means that we can teach about diverse religions in school, but we may not celebrate religious holidays. That seems clear enough, but the interpretation of the First Amendment is complicated by the fact the courts have deemed, and many religious leaders agree, that some of the Christmas holiday symbols have become part of the secular celebration of Christmas. As you walk along the hallways of many public elementary schools in December, you will see a plethora of Santas and Christmas trees on bulletin boards. Are Christmas trees and Santa truly secular symbols? It depends on whom you ask.

As I looked at my group of 2nd grade ELLs, I realized that all of these students were on the fringes of school life during December. Although it can be argued that no religious symbols are displayed, our bulletin boards abound with fir trees, reindeer, and especially Santa. In our front lobby there is a menorah and a “holiday tree” decorated with student-made ornaments. There is also a Kinara, a candleholder with seven candles that is a symbol of Kwanzaa. This is an effort to give equal time to other celebrations. Many students, however, observe holidays that are never represented in the front lobby.
Let’s go back and look at the rest of my ESL class. One of my students, Marina, is Russian and her family is Jewish. They celebrate Hanukkah in December, but Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah are much more important religious holidays for them. Karim is Muslim and his family celebrates Ramadan in September. Rei is Japanese and his family is Shinto. Rei celebrates Oshogatsu on January 1st. Hui is Taiwanese and his family is Buddhist. They celebrate Buddha’s birthday in May. Except for the recognition of Hanukkah, none of these holidays is part of our school curriculum. The majority of the students in my school are Christian, but this ESL class of six students represents all of the major religions in the school population.
At the center of the December wars is the traditional school concert that is at the heart of the celebration of Christmas. The dilemma comes when deciding what music to sing. The question is whether a school concert can include religious Christmas music without promoting a particular belief. The courts have decreed that some religious music may be included if the purpose is to teach about a particular religion and the program is balanced. In reality, however, if the program includes a variety of music from various religions and cultures and secular Christmas music (involving Santa and reindeers), Christian parents complain. If religious Christmas music is the bulk of the program, parents representing other religious groups complain. One of my Jewish colleagues told me that she spent all her years in school singing Christmas songs and how marginalized that made her feel. She dreaded December and the feeling she got of being an “outsider.” I wonder if my students Hyungsoo, Priya, Karim, Marina, Rei, and Hui feel the same?

We all have to work to make our schools more inclusive. Our job is to protect the religious rights of all our students. I think the onus should be taken off of December. Let’s solve the December dilemma by learning about Diwali and Ramadan in September, Rosh Hashanah in October, and Christmas in December. Let’s explore the secular holidays such as Chu suk, the Chinese Moon Festival, and Holi. We should not overemphasis one particular holiday, and the students in my 2nd grade ESL class should not feel they are on the outside looking in.

Imber, M. (December, 2003), The Santa Dilemma, American School Board Journal, Vol. 190, No. 12.

Anti-Defamation League, (2004) The December Dilemma, http://www.adl.org/issue_education/december_dilemma_2004/

Lombardi, K. (2006) Decorate Schools for Holidays – but with What? New York Times, December 17, 2006. www.nytimes.com/learning/students/pop/articles/17wecol_LN.html

Seven Teaching Strategies for Classroom Teachers of ELLs

2010-11-28T13:00:00.000-08:00

In Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas (ASCD, 2010), Debbie Zacarian and I listed seven teaching strategies for mainstream teachers of ELLs. These seven strategies are designed to help teachers meet the needs of all the students in their class and to help make mainstream classroom instruction more inclusive for ELLs.

1. Provide comprehensible input for ELLs. Language is not “soaked up.” The learner must understand the message that is conveyed. Comprehensible input is a hypothesis first proposed by Stephen Krashen. (Krashen, 1981) He purports that ELLs acquire language by hearing and understanding messages that are slightly above their current English language level. When newcomers are assigned to a mainstream classroom and spend most of their day in this environment it is especially critical for them to receive comprehensible input from their teachers and classmates. If that teacher provides information by lecturing in the front of a classroom, the English language learner will not be receiving this input. Teachers need to speak more slowly, use gestures and body language to get across the meaning to ELLs. For more information on comprehensible input see Comprehensible Input/Output.

2.Make lessons visual. Use visual representations of new vocabulary and use graphs, maps, photographs, drawings and charts to introduce new vocabulary and concepts. Tell a story about information in the textbook using visuals. Create semantic and story maps, graphic organizers to teach students how to organize information.

3. Link new information to prior knowledge. Teachers need to consider what schema ELL students brings to the classroom and to link instruction to the students’ personal, cultural, and world experiences. Teachers also need to know what their students do not know. They must understand how culture impacts learning in their classroom.

4. Determine key concepts for the unit and define language and content objects for each lesson. Teachers write the key concept for a unit of study in student-friendly language and post it in the room. New learning should be tied to this concept. Additionally, teachers should begin each lesson by writing a content objective on the board. At the end of the lesson, students should be asked if the objective was met. Classroom teachers also need to set language objectives for the ELLs in their class. A language objective might be to learn new vocabulary, find the nouns in a lesson, or apply a grammar rule.

5. Modify vocabulary instruction for ELLs. English language learners require direct instruction of new vocabulary. Teachers should also provide practice in pronouncing new words. ELLs need much more exposure to new terms, words, idioms, and phrases than do English fluent peers. Teachers need to tie new vocabulary to prior learning and use visual to reinforce meaning. Content area teachers should teach new vocabulary words that occur in the text as well as those related to the subject matter. Word walls should be used at all grade levels. More information on vocabulary instruction for ELLs can be found at Vocabulary Instruction for ELLs.

6. Use cooperative learning strategies. Lecture style teaching excludes ELLs from the learning in a classroom We don’t want to relegate ELLs to the fringes of the classroom doing a separate lesson with a classroom aide or ESL teacher. Working in small groups is especially beneficial to ELLs who have an authentic reason to use academic vocabulary and real reasons to discuss key concepts. ELLs benefit from cooperative learning structures. Give students a job in a group. Monitor that they are participating.

7. Modify testing and homework for ELLs. Content area homework and assessments needs to be differentiated for ELLs. Teachers should allow alternative types of assessment: oral, drawings, physical response (e.g., act-it-out), and manipulatives as well as modification to the test. Homework and assessment should be directly linked to classroom instruction and students should be provided with study guides so that they know what to study. Remember that the ELLs in your class may not be able to take notes.

How Culture Shock Affects ELLs

2010-11-19T13:13:00.000-08:00

Do you have newly arrived immigrant students who are acting out in your classroom? Don't underestimate the effects of culture shock. The emotional upheaval of moving can be devastating to any child. These symptoms are compounded when the child comes from a different culture and does not speak English.

Culture shock a term used to describe the feelings people have when they move to an unfamiliar culture. Immigrant children may become withdrawn and passive or they may be aggressive. The more different the new culture is from their own, the greater the shock. Newcomers have left behind family members, friends, teachers, and pets. They have lost their language and culture. Often they do not have the support of their parents who are in shock too.
Four Stages of Culture Shock

It must be emphasized that every child reacts differently to moving to a new place. New arrivals usually go through four stages of culture shock.

1. Euphoric or Honeymoon Stage

During this stage newcomers are excited about their new lives. Everything is wonderful and they are having a great time learning about their environment.

2. Rejection Stage

The differences between the new and the native cultures becomes more apparent. Students feel overwhelmed at this stage. There is so much they do not understand about their new surroundings. They are frustrated because they can not communicate and are bombarded with unfamiliar surroundings, unreadable social signals and an unrelenting barrage of new sounds. Students suffering from culture shock may seem sleepy, irritable, disinterested or depressed. Some students may become aggressive and act out their frustrations.

Newcomers in this stage of culture shock need time and patience from their teachers.

3. Integration Stage

Newcomers start to deal with the differences between the old culture and new. They learn to integrate their own beliefs with those of the new culture. Some newcomers will start to replace the old values with new ones. Others will begin to find ways to exist with both cultures.

4. Acceptance Stage
Newcomers are now able to enter and prosper in the mainstream culture. They accept both cultures and combine them into their lives. Some students will adopt the mainstream culture at school and follow the values of the home culture outside of school. Many immigrant parents start to become alarmed at this stage. They do not want their children to lose their language and culture. This is because many immigrant students forget their native language and reject their culture.

Holding Conferences with Parents of English Language Learners

2010-10-16T08:36:00.000-07:00

It's conference time again and I wanted to repeat this blog about holding conferences with parents of English language learners.

The increasing population of linguistically and culturally diverse students in our schools poses a challenge for classroom teachers who need to communicate with their families. Parents of English language learners may not be familiar with the practice of meeting with their child’s teacher and do not know what is expected of them during a parent-teacher conference. Many classroom teachers do not know how to communicate with parents who do not speak English and who are not familiar with U.S. school practices. The goal of this blog is to help you hold productive parent-teacher conferences.
Conferences with parents of English language learners (ELLs) require preparation. First, you need to determine whether a translator is needed. Many parents do not speak English well enough to understand what you are saying so it is important to the success of a conference to contact a translator for parents who need one. If your school does not provide translators, ask parents to bring a bilingual family member. Siblings, or worse yet, the child herself, should never be used to translate for the parents. When a translator is needed, the meeting time should be lengthened to ensure that there is enough time for the teacher to provide information and answer questions. Assemble samples of the student’s work to share with parents. Have a solid understanding of the student’s current English proficiency level and prepare to provide samples of this during the meeting. Try to schedule the conferences so that both parents can attend. In some cultures, the father must be included since no important decisions are made without his agreement.
You want body language to reflect a receptive attitude. Walk to the door of your classroom to greet parents as they come into your room just as you would greet guests in your home. Do not greet them from across the room behind your desk. Don't make assumptions about the parents’ name. The U.S. custom of birth name, then family name is not universal. Learn how names are used in the cultures of your school. Children may not have the same name as their mother even though the mother and father are married. Korean and Chinese women do not take their husband’s name but retain their own family name. Children from Spanish-speaking families may have a given name followed by two surnames. The first surname is the father’s family name, and the second one is the mother’s family name. Some parents will hyphenate the double name. Others will Americanize their names so you need to ask what name they want to be called.
There are diverse cultural norms about whom it is appropriate to touch in different cultures. Although many people have adopted the Western manner of shaking hands, in some cultures this manner of greeting is not appropriate. Asian women, for example, do not generally shake hands. A male teacher would not touch or shake hands with a Muslim woman. People from Thailand and India greet each other by clasping their hands together. When in doubt, wait and see if the parent offers his/her hand first.
Consider the physical set-up of your conference space. A face-to face setting may be too confrontational for parents of some cultures. Arrange chairs so that your body is at a 45-degree angle to the parents. Place the parent between yourself and the translator.
During the conference you should speak in short uncomplicated sentences and stop so that the translator can translate for parents every few sentences. If you do not stop speaking every few sentences, your whole message will not be conveyed. Do not use educational jargon. Avoid speaking directly to the translator. Include the parent in the conversation. When you ask the parent questions, give the translator time to talk to the parents.
It is imperative for you not to misinterpret parents’ meaning if they don’t make eye contact. In the U.S we feel that someone who doesn’t look us in the eye is untrustworthy. People from some cultures consider making eye contact confrontational. Sitting at a 45-degree angle to the parent helps minimize the amount of eye contact.
An important area for misunderstandings is in the attitude of different cultures toward time. The U.S, Canada and northern European countries see time as being highly structured, logical, exact, and sequential. We are monochronic. People from South and Central America, Spanish-speaking Caribbean countries, Asia, Middle East, Southern Europe and Africa like to keep their time unstructured. They are polychromic. To a monochron, time is exact and being late is both rude and disrespectful. To a polychron, the time set for a meeting is just an approximation. If parents arrive at a meeting 45 minutes after the appointed time, it is because arriving up to 45 minutes after the designated time is not considered late.
When parents are actively involved in the education of their children, those children are more likely to make good grade and test higher on standardized tests. They will attend school more regularly, be less likely to drop out. This is a worthy goal that teachers can strive for when they have effective conferences with the parents of English language learners.

10 Tips for Testing ELLs in Content Area Classes

2010-10-11T16:19:00.000-07:00

The ELLs in your content area classes probably range in English language ability from the beginning stage of language acquisition to the those who are fluent. As ELLs become more proficient they will be able to participate in some of the testing done in your content area classes. Here are some hints for modifying assessment for these students.

1. Have students role play to show understanding of a topic. Group ELLs with native English speakers.
2. Instead of writing a book report, have students show comprehension of the book by role playing the plot, making a cover, or designing a book mark.
3. Allow ELLs to consult their book or notes during a test.
4. Provide simplified study guides and limit assessment to items on the guide. Only key vocabulary and concepts should be covered.
5. Allow students to answer essay questions orally.
6. Have students compare and contrast concepts previously taught in class.
Use a graphic organizer with information already filled in. Review the information in class. Have students study the information on the organizer at home before the assessment.
7. Have students fill in a modified outline, story web, chart, graph or timeline. Provided some of the answers and have students fill in what is missing.
8. Reformat the test so that test the type is larger and there is more white space.
9. Simplify the language of essay questions or break them into manageable parts. Read questions aloud modifying the language of the question.
10. Complete class projects in cooperative groups and grade ELLs on their participation in the group.

Education Nation and English Language Learners

2010-10-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

I am writing this blog after reading an article by Ellen Galinsky in the Huffington Post about Education Nation and how it was demonstrated that children were not being put first. When speakers were asked why the U.S. fell behind many thought it was because we were complacent about the U.S. supremacy in the world. We didn’t, says Galinsky, put children first.

I am not at all surprised that children were not put first. Just look at the way we are overwhelming them with standardized tests and telling them they are only as good as their test scores.

Throughout Education Nation, there was a focus on student achievement as seen by scores on a standardized test. The importance of student engagement was totally ignored according to Galinsky. I agree with this observation. Children whose eyes are bright with excitement and are engaged in learning may become extinct. We are now seeing children who are anxious, nervous and even physically ill each time standardized tests are given. This is even more evident with our English language learners who are double tested each year. They are required to take standardized tests designed for English speakers and then a test designed to measure growth in English language acquisition.

Another facet of education that Galinsky feels was ignored during Education Nation is preschool education. How can a national forum for education reform ignore our preschool population? Galinsky doesn't mention that economists reviewing the Perry Preschool Study and other longitudinal studies have found time and again that children with a great start stay in school longer, have greater earning potential, less placement in special education, lower likelihood of incarceration or dependence on welfare. How can we narrow the achievement gap if our youngest students aren’t part of this discussion? According the Karen Nemeth, author of Many Languages, One Classroom: Teaching Dual and English Language Learners, "The great thing is that investing in high quality preschool education not only benefits ELLs, but elevates the chances for success for all children who participate. It is a win win situation if there ever was one."

Education Nation also told us that public schools are failing and that poor teaching and unions are the cause of this failure. No one mentioned poor school leadership. I think new teachers need mentoring during their first three years of teaching. This mentoring is usually done by administrators. If we have poor teachers in our schools it is because an administrator did not take the time to work with those teachers. Most mentorship programs are weak and only last for a year. Were the new soon-to-be poor teachers given honest evaluations? Or were they sugarcoated? Did principals follow up with unannounced visits to the classroom to see if the new teacher was actually making progress. Did he look to see if the students in this teacher's class were engaged and enthusiastic about learning? A teacher who is not engaging students during the first three years should not be given tenure. If a poor teacher is given tenure, than there is a principal some place that has not done his/her job. Who suffers when this happens?.
The children!

Celebrating My First Year on Twitter

2010-09-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

Recently, Shelly Terrell, the co-founder of EDChat, invited me to present at the Virtual Round Table Language Online Conference on October 8th. The theme of this conference is "Language Teaching and Technology." Ten years ago I co-founded everthingESL.net with my son Charles. This inspired an interest in technology and the possibilities of using it with my students. Last year, I decided to join Twitter because I was Conference Chair and VP of NJTESOL-NJBE and a member of the Board, Cassy Lawrence, suggested that we feature technology at our next conference and establish a presence on Facebook and Twitter. I realized that my knowledge of technology was out-of-date.

I decided that I needed to understand the Web 2.0 technology that was going to be featured at our conference. I joined Twitter and it wasn't too long before I discovered Tom Whitby and Shelly Terrell and their amazing Educator's PLN (Personal Learning Network). I followed many of the educators that participated in #EDCHAT and started to build my PLN. I looked up every technology reference that I didn't know and investigated a wide variety of Web 2.0 applications related to education including a large number of blogs, classroom Wikis, Delicious, Prezi, Wallwisher, Google Docs and voicethread.

The best part of this journey, however, turned out to be the contacts and friendships that I established on Twitter. It is amazing to me that I can communicate with educators all over the world. In January 2010 I wrote my first blog, everythingESL. NJTESOL-NJBE now has committee meetings on Chatzy. A colleague and I had a proposal on using technology with English language learners accepted at the N.J. Education Association's yearly conference. Last June I co-founded #ELLCHAT with Linda Hahner. A few weeks ago, I gave my first webinar Myths of Second Language Acqusition. And in a few weeks I will be presenting at my first online conference. So I thank you Cassy, Shelly, Tom and Linda for contributing to this outstanding year of professional growth.

Sensitizing your Mainstream Students to Needs of ELLs

2010-09-20T13:04:00.000-07:00

Do you want your mainstream students to accept and help the new learners of English in the lunchroom, on the playground, on the bus, in their neighborhoods? Here are some ideas to make your students sensitive to the challenges the newcomers face.

Cooperative group work
Have students divide into groups of 4 or 5 students. Have them discuss the following topics.

* Who has moved and changed schools? Where did you move from? How did you feel the first few days? What was different in your new neighborhood? How did you handle being without your friends? How did you make new friends? What did people do that make you feel welcome in your new school. What did you wish some would have done? What should the teacher do?
* Who came here from another country? What country? When did you come? Could you speak English? How did you feel? How did you make friends? What helped you learn English.
* How many of you speak another language? Can you teach us to say hello? Count to five? Why is it good to know another language?
* How many of you have traveled to a country where English is not the main language? How did you feel when you couldn't communicate? Would you like to learn another language? How long do you think it takes to learn a new language?

Have each group of students present a short summary of what their group discussed and what conclusions they reached?
Reverse Roles

Rearrange the students again in groups of four or five. Have them discuss the following: Imagine that your parents have to move to Japan. You have to go to a Japanese school because there is no American school near your new home.

* Would you want to go? What would you want to take with you? Who are the people you would miss?
* Do you think you would have trouble learning Japanese?
* Who would you talk to if you were the only one in your class who speaks English?
* How would you make friends with kids who didn't speak English?
* How would you feel if the other students laughed at you if you made mistakes when you tried to speak Japanese? How would you feel if you couldn't do any of the work?

Brainstorm with your how they would feel if they were newcomers in the United States. How would they want the students in their new school to treat them? How would they be able to communicate with their classmates.

Establishing a Bully-free Environment for ELLs

2010-09-20T12:41:00.000-07:00

The information for this article is based on a chapter in Authenticity in the Language Classroom and Beyond: Children and Adolescent Learners entitled Sticks and Stones: Preventing Bullying in the Elementary School by Joann Frechette and Judie Haynes (TESOL, 2010)

There are many types of bullying. Physical bullying is comprised of actions such as hitting, pushing and punching; verbal bullying includes name-calling and teasing; and emotional bullying consists of behaviors such as excluding someone from an activity. The ELLs in the suburban school where Joann Frechette and I taught were often the victims of verbal and emotional bullying. Their parents were not likely to report verbal or emotional bullying to the school. In my experience ELL parents did not appear to recognize the emotional damage that bullying can cause in children. They often expressed that this type of bullying is a normal part of growing up. Furthermore, ELLs who were victims of bullies were usually reluctant to draw attention to themselves. They were not only embarrassed to talk about their problems with bullies.

Staff members in my school district received training in an anti-bullying program adapted primarily from the book, Bully-Proofing Your School by Cam Short-Camilli (1994). We called our program We Respect ALL People (WRAP). At the heart of the WRAP program are various strategies that students employed to deal with bullies. From the beginning we wanted to make sure that the English language learners in our school were included in the program. We found that they needed extra practice with some of the strategies, and that they felt more comfortable talking about their experiences in their ESL class. So, we decided to reinforce the WRAP strategies as part of the ESL curriculum.

Even though ELLs do not often assert themselves while an actual bullying incident is happening, they will usually bring the problem to the ESL class. There, the ESL teacher teaches assertive language that ELLs can use with bullies. As the students gain more confidence through practice, they are more willing to stand up to a bully. Building community and encouraging classmates to be of assistance to each other goes a long way in helping ELLs avoid problems with bullies.

There are many long-lasting effects of bullying for the victim. Children who are bullied have low self-esteem and tend to be anxious and insecure and are often lonely and depressed. it is important for ESL teachers to work with classroom teachers to ensure that ELLs have a bully-free environment in school.
Reprint of blog published in June, 2010.

What Language should ELLs Speak at Home?

2010-09-05T09:23:00.000-07:00

It's the beginning of the school year and many teachers and administrators will be meeting with the parents of English language learners. This is an excellent opportunity for school administrators and classroom teachers to encourage parents to speak their native language at home. It is much more beneficial for children to hear fluent native language with a rich vocabulary than it is to hear imperfect, halting English. When ELLs learn academic concepts in their primary language, it will help them acquire English. Let's see an example of an English language learner, Isobel. and her family as they try to integrate English into their home life.

Isobel's family is from Costa Rica. Her parents speak some English and are literate in Spanish. When Isabel's teacher told them that they should speak English at home, her parents became distressed. They tried to speak English with her at the dinner table, but their conversations were stilted. Isobel's parents no longer felt comfortable asking her about her school, classes, and homework in Spanish. They stopped discussing books and the television news with her. Although the family reverted to their native language at the dinner table after a week of hesitant English, Isobel felt ashamed of her native language. She wished her parents spoke English.

What Isobel's teacher and parents did not know was that by reading and discussing stories with her and by encouraging Isobel to share her school experiences in Spanish, they were giving her experiences in their native language. Informal conversations like these are critical for Isobel because they will help her establish values and discuss ideas that she is not ready to learn in English. Eventually, what she learns in Spanish will help promote her English proficiency. The concepts and skills that students learn in one language will transfer to the second language when the learner is ready.

Students who are literate in their native language have many skills to draw on when they learn academic English, even when the writing system is different. It is more difficult to teach a concept in English if the student does not know it in native language. Once students grasp the underlying literacy skills of one language, they can use these same skills to learn another language. For example, 10th graders who are literate in Spanish will understand the underlying process of reading in English. Older students will be able to transfer skills such as scanning, selecting important information, predicting what comes next, and visualizing to enhance comprehension. Younger children who are literate in one language will know that printed words carry meaning, that words can be combined into sentences and paragraphs, and that certain letters stand for certain sounds.

So when you meet with the parents of your English language learners, be sure to encourage them to speak native language at home.

Learning about Immigrant Students' Names

2010-08-30T16:32:00.000-07:00

With the school year just starting, we want to think about how we register immigrant students in our schools. Here are some hints about names from different cultures. All guidance counselors and school secretaries who register new students should be aware to the varying naming conventions.

Avoid the temptation to Americanize a student’s name or create a nickname. Immigrant students have already suffered the trauma of leaving behind their extended family members, friends, teachers, and schools. Don’t further traumatize your students by calling them by an American name. If the child comes to school with an Americanized name, there is not much you can do, but the school should never Americanize a student’s name. It is important to learn how names are used in your students’ culture. Here are a few examples:

1. Korean names are written with the family name (Kang) first and then the given name (Chung Hee) which usually has two parts. Two-part names should not be shortened. Also, Kang Chung Hee’s mother does not take her husband’s name, but she retains her own family name.
2. In general, children from Spanish-speaking families have a given name followed by two surnames. The first surname is the father’s family name, and the second surname is the mother’s family name. Schools should not drop either of these surnames. If a child registers as Maria Hernandez Lopez, both the Hernandez and Lopez and should be retained. Spanish-speaking families who have lived in the United States awhile will often either hyphenate the double surname or use the father’s family name.
3.Because Hindu names are often very long, family members and friends may shorten a child’s name. In school, however, teachers use the formal names. Hindu adults and children do not call anyone who is older by their name. A six-year-old girl will call her seven-year-old brother “Bhaiya” or “Older Brother” and he calls her by her first name.
4. Chinese names are usually made up of three characters. The first character is the family name, and the other two characters are the given name. Families generally give their children two names. One name is a nickname to be used by friends and family and the other is an official name used for the birth certificate and the school. Students are usually called by their full name in school, but friends and close relatives may use just the given name. One of the readers of this blog wrote to tell me that sometimes a student might have just one character for their given name. However, if the student does have two characters for their given name, both of them are used. You wouldn't use just one part of a two-part given name.
5. In Russia, children have three parts to their names: a given name, a patronymic, and the father’s surname. A patronymic is a type of middle name based on the father’s first name. If a student named Marina Viktorevna Rakhmaninova enrolls in your school, you can tell that her father’s name is Victor. The “a” at the end of all three names shows that she is female. In American schools, Russian students will often use their given and family names following American custom.

Using word walls is more than just displaying words

2010-08-03T09:59:00.000-07:00

ASCD author Debbie Zacarian presented on the topic of word walls at TESOL 2010 in Boston. Her presentation was based on information from her latest book (co-authored with Judie Haynes)on Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas (ASCD, 2010), Although this presentation was geared toward English Language Learners (ELLs), Zacarian’s points are valid for all learners.

Reading researchers such Beck, McKeown, and Kucan. (2002). divide vocabulary into three tiers: Tier 1 includes basic 1-2 syllable words or phrases used in everyday conversation (e.g., blue, pencil, chair). Tier 2 words are synonyms for Tier 1 words and translition words that mean and but and so. Tier 3 words are low-frequency multi-syllabic words that students often learn in subject area study. (eg: quadratic equation, iambic pentameter, ecosystem) These words are not generally used outside of the classroom.

English Language Learners and students who struggle to learn are often not directly taught much needed Tier 2 words. Vocabulary should be taught in chunks as opposed to single words. Zacarian uses the acronymn TWIPS to help teachers and students to consider vocabulary as key terms, words, idioms and phrases. (TWIPS) Word walls help visually communicate key vocabulary to help students to learn, understand and, most importantly, use.
Zacarian recommends having two "word walls" in your classroom to help students practice their words and phrases: one reserved for for Tier-1 and Tier-2 TWIPs, and another reserved for content-specific Tier-3 TWIPs. Transition words, such as and, but and so, for example, should be included on word walls of synonyms that students can readily see and use to develop and expand their vocabulary. The words on the Tier-3 wall should change from unit to unit. Words should not be arranged on a wall in alphabetical order but in categories. This helps students remember the words.

Collaborative Teaching for ELLs: Are Two Teachers Better Than One?

2010-07-26T16:38:00.000-07:00

Part IV - Reading Comprehension Strategies for ELLs - Making Predictions and Inferring

2010-06-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

Good readers make predictions and inferences while they read. Inferring is how readers “read between the lines.” Much of what an author conveys in English is not directly stated. It is implied. English language learners (ELLs) need to learn strategies to infer meaning. The goal is to help readers get deeper meaning from the text by making connections to prior knowledge, visualizing, and predicting. Inference is a very difficult task for English language learners. In addition to struggling with decoding, grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary and a myriad of other language and reading skills, ELLs are also trying to understand what the inferences mean. We want English language learners to develop critical thinking skills, interpret the text that they read and draw conclusions. These skills must be explicitly taught. Teachers need to give their English language learners a model in a frame to help them to express their ideas. Teach students phrases such as *I predict . . ., My guess is . . .I think that….., My conclusion is… I infer that……”

Let’s visit Mrs. Schnee’s 1st grade ESL class. Her students are on the rug on a cold winter day. They can see the field covered in snow from the window. Mrs.Schnee is holding up the book, The Snowy Day (Keats,1976) and tells students, "When I look at the cover, I can infer that this story takes place in the winter. I infer that because I see snow, just like outside my window." She then asks students to infer from the picture what happens in the story. One student, Karim, said, I infer that boy can’t play outside for a long time. ” He used the language that he had been taught to describe what he believed had occurred in the story. When Mrs. Schnee asked him why he thought that, he replied, “My schema tells me that it is winter and the snow is cold.” Then, Mrs. Schnee asked Karim to point out what in the picture helped him think it was winter and Karim pointed to the snowsuit that the boy is wearing and the snow, Thus, she checked for Karim’s understanding by asking him for a rationale for his answer. All students need strategies and language to infer meaning from pictures and text. English language learners especially need this modeling from the teacher and peers with a clear demonstration of how the inferences are made.

Part III – Reading comprehension Strategies for ELLs: Determining Importance of Information

2010-06-28T13:30:00.000-07:00

Part II - Teaching Reading Comprehensiion Strategies to ELLs - Asking Questions

2010-06-28T13:28:00.000-07:00

Part 1 - Teaching Reading Comprehension Strategies to ELLs: Visualization and Making Connections

2010-06-28T13:26:00.000-07:00

I am reposting four blogs that I published a few months ago so that participants in the June 28th #ELLCHAT will be able to read them.

Part One: Reading Comprehension Strategies for ELLs: Visualization and Making Connetions.

I was reading a story with my 2st grade ESL class entitled The Doorbell Rang (Hutchins, 1989). I wanted to teach my students the reading comprehension strategy of visualizing what was happening as they read. At the end of the first page, I asked them to make a picture in their minds of the cookies they thought Ma made for the two children to share. Once they had the picture in their minds, I asked them to draw it. After students made their drawings, we examined the picture of the twelve chocolate chip cookies that appeared on the next page of the book. One of my students, Yeon Ji sighed, “I was wrong” and showed me her picture of twelve sugar cookies with red sprinkles. I explained to students that the “movie” in their minds could change when they got new information and that a picture is new information. This is important to teach to students from other cultures because they are often product-oriented and focus on the “right” response..

When teachers in my school started exploring Reader’s Workshop and began to teach their students what good readers do, I immediately saw the application to teaching reading comprehension strategies to English language learners (ELLs). I liked the format of a short mini-lessons about comprehension strategies followed by independent or partner practice using books that are on each student’s reading level. The mini-lesson is directed to the whole class but the practice is individualized. Classroom teachers are able to differentiate instruction by holding extra conferences with English language learners. I decided to adapt this instructional model to teach reading to my ESL classroom so that I am using the same language as the classroom teachers.
Over the next few weeks I will be talking about 6 different strategies to teach reading comprehension to ELLs. In this first blog, I will discuss two reading comprehension strategies that ESL teachers adapt for English language learners of any age: Visualization and Making Connections.

Visualizing what is happening in the story
Good teachers teach students to visualize, to make pictures in their minds as they read. We might ask students to practice this skill as we read to them. Have students close their eyes and imagine what is happening in the story. In the above scenario, the visualization techniques in The Doorbell Rang, help students understand how the 12 cookies are divided first by 2 children, then by 4 and by 6. Eventually, 12 friends are sharing the cookies. We want students to use visualization as a means of understanding the story structure. As the story progressed, students were asked to visualize four children and the cookies that they would have on their plates. Students then made a drawing of their mental picture. If students didn’t draw a plate of three chocolate chip cookies at this point in the story, the teacher could monitor how well they were understanding the meaning of the story. She could have the class get in groups of four and make and divide twelve cookies. Students should be taught to visualize before, during and after reading.
Activating background knowledge
Good readers make connections to their background knowledge. They activate their schema. Schema is the prior experience that students bring to the text they are reading. In the case of ELLs, the schema that they bring to the classroom may be very different from their classmates’ experiences. It is important that classroom teachers help English language learners to relate their schema to the book they are reading. Our goal during Reader’s Workshop is to help our students make the following connections: text-to-self, text-to-text, and text-to-world.
A text-to-self connection is an association that readers make between the text they are reading and something that happened in their own lives. This connection allows ELLs to share their unique schema with classmates. They learn the phrases, “ I have a text to self connection; “This reminds me of when I....” We use this strategy so that students see how their own experiences help them better understand what the characters in the story feel.
Text-to-text connection is a link that students make between the text that they are reading and another story that they have read. It is important to teach students the language of text-to-text connections. When I teach this strategy in my ESL classroom, I prompt the connections by asking, “Does anyone remember another book where children had to share with their friends?”
Text-to-world connections are those links students make between the text and something that has happened in the world. My students make connections to their lives in Korea, Japan, China, India and South America. If we read about a hurricane in a 5th grade ESL class, the students have the language to make the connection between the text that we are reading and extreme weather that has occurred in their own countries. This is a powerful strategy for ELLs because they are using their schema to contribute to the class discussions..I teach them to use sentences such as “This makes me think about,” “I remember when..” or “this is what happened in my country.”
Help your ELLs to learn how to comprehend what it is they read in English. Begin by using the strategies used in Reading Workshops.

Establishing a Bully-free Environment for ELLs

2010-06-02T19:46:00.000-07:00

The information for this article is based on a chapter in Authenticity in the Language Classroom and Beyond: Children and Adolescent Learners entitled Sticks and Stones: Preventing Bullying in the Elementary School by Joann Frechette and Judie Haynes (TESOL, 2010)

There are many types of bullying. Physical bullying is comprised of actions such as hitting, pushing and punching; verbal bullying includes name-calling and teasing; and emotional bullying consists of behaviors such as excluding someone from an activity. The ELLs in the suburban school where Joann Frechette and I taught were often the victims of verbal and emotional bullying. Their parents were not likely to report verbal or emotional bullying to the school. In my experience ELL parents did not appear to recognize the emotional damage that bullying can cause in children. They often expressed that this type of bullying is a normal part of growing up. Furthermore, ELLs who were victims of bullies were usually reluctant to draw attention to themselves. They were not only embarrassed to talk about their problems with bullies.

Staff members in my school district received training in an anti-bullying program adapted primarily from the book, Bully-Proofing Your School by Cam Short-Camilli (1994). We called our program We Respect ALL People (WRAP). At the heart of the WRAP program are various strategies that students employed to deal with bullies. From the beginning we wanted to make sure that the English language learners in our school were included in the program. We found that they needed extra practice with some of the strategies, and that they felt more comfortable talking about their experiences in their ESL class. So, we decided to reinforce the WRAP strategies as part of the ESL curriculum.

Even though ELLs do not often assert themselves while an actual bullying incident is happening, they will usually bring the problem to the ESL class. There, the ESL teacher teaches assertive language that ELLs can use with bullies. As the students gain more confidence through practice, they are more willing to stand up to a bully. Building community and encouraging classmates to be of assistance to each other goes a long way in helping ELLs avoid problems with bullies.

There are many long-lasting effects of bullying for the victim. Children who are bullied have low self-esteem and tend to be anxious and insecure and are often lonely and depressed. it is important for ESL teachers to work with classroom teachers to ensure that ELLs have a bully-free environment in school.

Holding an Effective Conference with Parents of ELLs - Part 1

2010-05-22T10:47:00.000-07:00

This post has been excerpted from Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas (ASCD, 2010) by Judie Haynes and Debbie Zacarian

The increasing population of linguistically and culturally diverse students in our schools poses a challenge for classroom teachers who need to communicate with their families. Parents of English language learners (ELLs) may not be familiar with the practice of meeting with their child’s teacher and do not know what is expected of them during a parent-teacher conference. Many classroom teachers do not know how to communicate with parents who do not speak English and who are not familiar with U.S. school practices. The aim of this blog is to help you hold productive conferences with the parents of the English language learners in your classroom.
Advance planning can make your conference successful. Conferences with parents of English language learners require preparation. First, you need to determine whether a translator is needed. Many parents do not speak English well enough to understand what you are saying so it is important to the success of a conference to contact a translator for parents who need one. If your school does not provide translators, ask parents to bring a bilingual family member. Siblings, or worse yet, the child herself, should never be used to translate for the parents. When a translator is needed, the meeting time should be lengthened to ensure that there is enough time for the teacher to provide information and answer questions.
Notify parents in native language. You will want to provide a translated notice to parents with the beginning and ending times of the conference. An oral invitation in native language should also be issued so that parents who are not literate are informed of the conference. Assemble samples of the student’s work to share with parents.
Assemble student work to show parents.Have a solid understanding of the student’s current English proficiency level and prepare to provide samples of this during the meeting. Try to schedule the conferences so that both parents can attend. In some cultures, the father must be included since no important decisions are made without his agreement.
Greet parents at the door. You want body language to reflect a receptive attitude. Walk to the door of your classroom to greet parents as they come into your room just as you would greet guests in your home. Do not greet them from across the room behind your desk. This does not convey a welcoming attitude.
Consider the physical set-up of your conference space. A face-to face setting may be too confrontational for parents of some cultures. Arrange chairs so that your body is at a 45-degree angle to the parents. Place the parent between yourself and the translator.
How to include parents in a translated conference. During the conference you should speak in short uncomplicated sentences and stop so that the translator can translate for parents every few sentences. If you do not stop speaking every few sentences, your whole message will not be conveyed. Do not use educational jargon. Avoid speaking directly to the translator. Include the parent in the conversation. When you ask the parent questions, give the translator time to talk to the parents. It is imperative for you not to misinterpret parents’ meaning if they don’t make eye contact. In the U.S we feel that someone who doesn’t look us in the eye is untrustworthy. People from some cultures consider making eye contact confrontational. Sitting at a 45-degree angle to the parent helps minimize the amount of eye contact.

When parents are actively involved in the education of their children, those children are more likely to make good grade and test higher on standardized tests. They will attend school more regularly, be less likely to drop out. This is a worthy goal that teachers can strive for when they have effective conferences with the parents of English language learners.

Ten Strategies for Teaching Study Skills to English Language Learners

2010-05-12T18:41:00.000-07:00

English language learners (ELLs) need to learn specific strategies to prepare them to take tests. These strategies are most effective if they are built into instruction.
1. Teach students to study actively. They are more likely to remember material if it is written down or if they say it out loud than if it is only read or heard. Give plenty of opportunities to students for active study.
2. Make sure your students really comprehend the material they are studying. You do not want them to memorize facts without really understanding them. If they understand the material, they will be able to remember it better.
3. Assess prior knowledge so that you can connect new material to something your students already know. Teach students to make this connection themselves. You want to foster independent learners.
4. Have students create their own examples when trying to understand and remember a general concept. This not only helps students remember the concept better, but also helps them check their own understanding.
5. Teach students to visualize what they're trying to learn. Have them create a mental image or organize information on a graphic organizer.
6. Show ELLs how to pick out the most important concepts. They will not be able to memorize everything in a unit. They need to learn to pay attention to the information the teacher indicates is important. Demonstrate to ELLs how teachers signal important information. It could be written on the board, repeated many times or prefaced with words such as "This is important."
7. Set reasonable goals for the material that English language learners should be responsible for. Teachers can adapt tests to fairly assess what ELLs. There is no point in their memorizing a list of spelling words, for example, if they do not understand what the words mean.

How to memorize material effectively

ELLS need to learn to space study sessions so that they are not overwhelmed by the language demands and the content material to be mastered at the same time. They will be more apt to remember material if it is studied over several days (or weeks) rather than in a single session. Here are some "tricks" to help memorization.

8. Categories: Have students learn how to group items into categories in order to memorize them. If they have a long list of things to memorize, show them how to group similar items together.
9. Key words: To learn this list of reasons why an event in history occurred, show students how to pick out a key word for each reason and then learn just the key words.
10. Teach students mnemonic devices. These can be short rhymes or poems to help students remember lists or facts. Remember that mnemonic devices can also be visual or kinestetic. I recommend Flocabulary's list of rhymes. http://www.flocabulary.com/why.html

Nine Postulates of U.S. Culture

2010-05-06T16:02:00.000-07:00

In 1969 Francis Hsu wrote an excellent little book, The Study of Literate Civilizations, where he attempted to develop a basic working philosophy of U.S. culture to a series of postulates. Hsu was an anthropologist who lived half his life in China and half in the United States. The raw material for identification of these postulates comes from his personal experience, both literary and popular prose, social science studies, and studies of crime and other forms of societal breakdown.

Here are nine of Hsu's Postulates of Basic American Values:

1. An individual's most important concern is self-interest: self- expression, self-improvement, self-gratification, and independence. This takes precedence over all group interests.

2. The privacy of the individual is the individual's inalienable right. Intrusion into it by others is permitted only by invitation.

3. Because the government exists for the benefit of the individual and not vice-versa, all forms of authority, including government, are suspect. But the government and its symbols should be respected. Patriotism is good.

4. An individual's success in life depends upon acceptance among his or her peers.

5. An individual should believe in or acknowledge God and should belong to an organized church or other religious institution. Religion is good. Any religion is better than no religion.

6. Men and women are equal.

7. All human beings are equal.

8. Progress is good and inevitable. An individual must improve himself or herself (minimize efforts and maximize returns); the government must be more efficient to tackle new problems; institutions such as churches must modernize to make themselves more attractive.

9. Being American is synonymous with being progressive, and America is the utmost symbol of progress.

How much of Hsu's selection of U.S. cultural items was provoked by the particular way the items contrasted to the Chinese norm that Hsu expected to find in the United States? We must remember when reading this list that it reflects the observations and study of an anthropologist who was bought up in another culture.

My question to you is how do these postulates measure up to what Americans are in 2010? Please comment.

Part IV: Reading Comprehension Strategies - Making Inferences

2010-04-06T13:03:00.000-07:00

Good readers make predictions and inferences while they read. Inferring is how readers “read between the lines.” Much of what an author conveys in English is not directly stated. It is implied. English language learners (ELLs) need to learn strategies to infer meaning. The goal is to help readers get deeper meaning from the text by making connections to prior knowledge, visualizing, and predicting. Inference is a very difficult task for English language learners. In addition to struggling with decoding, grammar, sentence structure, vocabulary and a myriad of other language and reading skills, ELLs are also trying to understand what the inferences mean. We want English language learners to develop critical thinking skills, interpret the text that they read and draw conclusions. These skills must be explicitly taught. Teachers need to give their English language learners a model in a frame to help them to express their ideas. Teach students phrases such as *I predict . . ., My guess is . . .I think that….., My conclusion is… I infer that……”

Let’s visit Mrs. Schnee’s 1st grade ESL class. Her students are on the rug on a cold winter day. They can see the field covered in snow from the window. Mrs.Schnee is holding up the book, The Snowy Day (Keats,1976) and tells students, "When I look at the cover, I can infer that this story takes place in the winter. I infer that because I see snow, just like outside my window." She then asks students to infer from the picture what happens in the story. One student, Karim, said, I infer that boy can’t play outside for a long time. ” He used the language that he had been taught to describe what he believed had occurred in the story. When Mrs. Schnee asked him why he thought that, he replied, “My schema tells me that it is winter and the snow is cold.” Then, Mrs. Schnee asked Karim to point out what in the picture helped him think it was winter and Karim pointed to the snowsuit that the boy is wearing and the snow, Thus, she checked for Karim’s understanding by asking him for a rationale for his answer. All students need strategies and language to infer meaning from pictures and text. English language learners especially need this modeling from the teacher and peers with a clear demonstration of how the inferences are made.

Part III – Reading comprehension Strategies for ELLs: Determining Importance of Information

2010-03-30T06:33:00.000-07:00

Howard Gardner's Five Minds for the Future

2010-03-24T20:35:00.000-07:00

I am at TESOL 2010 in Boston, an international conference of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages. It is so energizing to be with the 7000 attendees that have come from all over the world. Tonight I attended Howard Gardner’s Opening Plenary on Five Minds of the Future with approximately 1500 other people. Dr. Gardner’s speech was so relevant to many of the topics that I have discussed on Twitter with educators in my PLN about the future of education.

Rather than tweet lines from his speech, I decided to put together a blog and outline his what he said.

There are several major changes in our culture that have occurred that have led to a transformation in how we view education.

·Globalization has resulted in mega cities all over the world. It is the reason that immigrant children are entering U.S. schools in unprecedented numbers. The emergence of global markets and knowledge-intensive economies are bypassing national borders.

·Biological revolution – The potential of brain science for education are indeed enormous Teachers today need to know about how the brain works. Educators and scientists need to cooperate so the educators know about brain science and scientist know about education

· Digital revolution – I won't go into all that Gardner mentions about the digital revolution but he specifically mentions the advent of social networking such as Twitter and the possibility of allowing students to use cell phones and other electronic devices in the classroom. Technology has changed the way we think about learning.

· Lifelong learners – people cannot go to school and then stop learning in today’s world. We must learn to think outside the box, to be flexible and learn beyond our disciplines.

The Five Minds for the Future are:

* The Disciplinary Mind: The goal of schools can no longer be the memorization of an assortment of facts. Students need to learn to think across many disciplines (historical, mathematic, artistic, scientific) and to become experts in one discipline. t
* The Synthesizing Mind: This is the ability to synthesize information has become more and more important. There is so much information available to students that is undigested and unevaluated. Students need to be able to synthesize the information that is available and communicate it to other.
The Creating Mind: This is the ability of a person to clarify new problems and come up with new solutions. The Creative Mind thinks outside the box and is not afraid to try new things and fail.
* The Respectful Mind is respectful of the differences among human beings. Diversity is a fact of life and we must go beyond mere tolerance to show our respect for others.
* The Ethical Mind demonstrates the ability to conceptualize oneself as a good worker and a good citizen. We must take our responsibilities in these two areas seriously.

So with this new book Five Minds for the Future, Howard Gardner goes beyond the cognitive realm and into the realm of getting along with other cultures and living up to our responsibilities to our community.

Part 2 - Reading Comprehension Strategies for ELLs: Asking Questions

2010-03-15T16:42:00.000-07:00

Collaborative Teaching for ELLs: Are Two Teachers Better Than One?

2010-02-26T10:06:00.000-08:00

Over the past few years collaborative or co-teaching has become more popular as school districts search for ways to best serve the needs of their English language learners. What is collaborative teaching? Does it work? In this blog I will try to explain how collaborative teaching works for English language learners.

In a collaborative or co-teaching setting, the ESL teacher "pushes into" the general education classroom to collaborate with the teacher. Collaborative teaching involves two credentialed professionals who are partners in the instruction of the lesson. One professional is usually a classroom or subject area teacher and the other is a certified ESL teacher. Ideally, co-teachers have equal responsibilities for planning instruction. Together the two teachers are lowering the student-teacher ratio and providing differentiated instruction in a manner that is not possible for one teacher.

Collaborative teachers are using the same physical space. Students are not pulled out of the classroom for one of the teachers to instruct. Although small heterogeneous groups may occasionally be pulled aside for reinforcement, I think that English language learners should not be isolated from mainstream students in the back of the classroom. In elementary schools, ESL teachers may come into the classroom for one instructional period each day.

Over the past few years collaborative teaching has become more popular as school districts search for ways to best serve the needs of their English language learners. If you ask ESL teachers who have tried co-teaching, you will hear both negative and positive responses.

Here is an example for a poor collaborative teaching situation. Paulo is a "push-in ESL teacher in a large school district in N.J. He teams with five different teachers each school day. He also teaches two classes of beginners in a pullout setting. Because of his work load, he is unable to plan lessons with his co-teachers. When Paulo goes into some classrooms, the teacher turns the students over to him and uses the time as a prep period. In others, he is helping a few ESL students at the back of the room while the classroom teacher works with the rest of the students. Usually, he serves as a classroom aide, roving around the room to help students who do not understand the instruction. He is not necessarily scheduled into a classroom when the students need him most. In one class, he comes in when kids are eating snack.

This is collaborative teaching at its worse. ESL professionals are not classroom aides. They should not be relegated to the back of the room with English language learners. What is the point of "push-in" ESL if students are kept on the fringes of the "real" instruction? Both teachers have a contribution to make. The classroom teacher contributes knowledge of the curriculum and of all the students in the class while the ESL teacher brings information about teaching strategies, second language acquisition and diverse cultures.

It is my experience that ESL teachers who are pushing into general education classrooms are generally more satisfied if they:

* have input into their schedule and whom they will be teaching with.
* co-teach specific subject and are in the classroom each time the subject is taught.
* have time to plan with the co-teacher
* enjoy equal status with the co-teacher.
* can discuss and decide their role and responsibilities in advance.

Here are some models that are used when co-teaching English language learners:

* Teach and write. One teacher teaches the lesson while the other records the important points on an overhead or chalkboard. ELLs benefit from this because information is being presented to them through different modalities. Station teaching. Students rotate through predetermined stations or activities. Each teachers works with all the students as they come through the station.
* Parallel teaching. The class is divided into two groups and each teacher delivers the content information to their group simultaneously. This allows teachers with distinctly different styles to work together.
* Alternative teaching. Teachers divide responsibility for planning. The majority of the students work in a large group setting but some students are pulled into to a smaller group for pre-teaching or other types of individualized instruction. The same students should not be pulled into the small group each time.
* Team Teaching. Teachers co-teach each lesson. This requires a great deal of planning and cooperation. Both teachers are responsible for all of the students.
* Lead and support. The lead teacher instructs the class while the supporting teacher provides assistance as she roams around the room. The supporting teacher may elaborate the important points or retell parts of the lesson. Ideally, classroom and ESL teachers should alternate roles so that one is not always the lead teacher. This type of instruction can be misused and the ESL teacher may find herself in a subordinate role.

There are many obvious benefits to co-teaching for students. ESL students have both academic and social benefits. They are exposed to the mainstream content but have the support of a second teacher. They are not pulled out of the class and learn with their classmates.

ESL teachers, however, cite many concerns. They do not want to lose ownership of their students be relegated to the status of an aide. They feel that collaboration is a lot of additional work especially if they are co-teaching with several different teachers. ESL teachers are concerned about beginners, who they feel do not really benefit from learning in the large group setting.

I think the benefits of collaboration outweigh the drawbacks. When teachers share the responsibility of instruction, lessons are more creative because two people are planning them. It's nice to have another adult in the room to be able to provide a range of support to students and to share those "ah-ha" moments.

25 Quick Tips for Teaching ELLs

2010-02-20T09:54:00.000-08:00

Do you want to create an effective learning environment for your English language learners? Pick five ideas that you have never tried from the list below and implement them in your content area or mainstream classroom. You will be surprised to see how much the learning of ELLs improves.

Before Teaching the Lesson

1. Determine the English language learning level of your ELLs. Be realistic about what you expect them to do.

2. Plan ahead. Think about how you will make the content comprehensible to your ELLs. Consider how will you link the content to the students’ previous knowledge.

3. Decide what concepts need to be pre-taught and how you can develop content area vocabulary.

4. Prepare teaching aids such as maps, charts, pictures, and flashcards before the lesson is taught.

5. Add vocabulary word banks to student activities.

6. Adapt text so that the concepts are paraphrased in easier English. Eliminate non-essential details.

7. Find non-fiction books in the library written at a lower level about the topic you are teaching.

During the Lesson

8. Build on what ELLs already know.

9. Simplify vocabulary and sentence structure. Pre-teach vocabulary in context.

10. Use embedded or yes/no questions; give ELLs questions you will ask in advance so that they can prepare.

11. Introduce concrete concepts and vocabulary first.

12. Teach students to categorize their information using graphic organizers. Create semantic and story maps.

13. Demonstrate highlighting techniques so that students can highlight important information.

14. Review and repeat important concepts and vocabulary.

15. Provide concrete “real” examples and experiences.

16. Teach ELLs to find definitions for key vocabulary in the text.

17. Help ELLs become acquainted with their textbooks (table of contents, glossary, index, etc.)

18. Model your thinking processes for students using “think-alouds”.

19. Tape record part of your lesson to reinforce learning.

After the lesson

20. Have classmates make copies of their notes for ELLs to use.

21. Have ELLs watch videos or listen to tapes about current lesson using close caption feature.

22. Provide follow-up activities that reinforce vocabulary and concepts.

23. Have students work in small groups or pairs so that language and concepts are reinforced.

24. Adjust homework assignment to your ELLs’ English language proficiency level.

25. Modify assessment so that your ELLs have an opportunity to show what they have learned.

K-5 Web Sites for English Language Learners

2010-02-09T15:25:00.000-08:00

Attention all elementary ESL and classroom teachers! Do you want to discover great web sites for the English language learners in your class? Here is a painless way to give students English language practice in the classroom or at home. These sites are designed for ELLs in grades K-5.
Sites for Grades 1-2
• Starfall.com- Reading instruction and games for students in Pre-K-1. It's hard to believe this site is free.
• Reading is Fundamental. Look at the many stories for grades 2-6 students.
• Storyplace.org -a site with online stories and activities. Grades pre-K-Kindergarten.
• British Council Stories -This site has many stories that are read aloud. Check for spelling and pronunciation differences.
• Games on PBS Kids - Games for K-2. "WordPlay" can be used for students in grades 3-4.
• Arthur -Sequencing activity where students hear a story and put pictures in order.
• Storyline Online -A terrific site with stories read by actors from the ScreenActors' Guild. Grades 1-4.
• Reading-A-To-Z - This is a commercial site with free books that you can download and print. Grades 1-4.
• Raz-kids.com-Reading and listening activities for elementary age students. This is not a free website but is well worth the minimal cost.
• Tumblebook Library – This is a wonderful collection of online books that is well worth the cost. Prices are for schools, school districts or public libraries, not indiviiduals. Take the free trial to check it out.
• Berenstain Bears Games and Songs - Great activities for young children including word games, songs and puzzles. Grades K-1.
• Enchanted learning Printable books and information written for students in grades K-5.
• Continent song Good for students learning the names of the continents.
Sites for Grades 3-5
• Discover Science Simulations Science content from Houghton Mifflin Science Series. Gr. 2-5
• KidsKnowit Network - Learning videos for students is grades 3-6.
• Grammar Gorillas for Advanced Beginners in Grades 3-5
• Bookhive.com -This site has multicultural children's stories told by famous storytellers. Be sure to
• Postcards from Buster - See Busterï¿½s adventures from various places in the U.S. Each city has video, audio, map skills and games. Grades 3-5.
• Scholastic - A program for kids to make flashcards. Grades 3-5
• Surfing the Net with Kids -Site with games and puzzles in different subject areas.
• Book Report - Students make a book report sandwich. Grades 4-5.
• Literactive This site has great oral stories and games for grades 1-12.
• Spelling Wizard - Use spelling words to make a word search or sentence scramble. Grades 3-5.
• Songs and Rhymes- Songs for students in all grades.
• Zoom - Games, activities and science experiments from the TV Show Zoom. Grades 4-5.

20 Tips on Communicating with English Language Learners

2010-02-05T07:45:00.000-08:00

Teachers and students can communicate with new non-English speaking students from the very first day. Here are some suggestions to aid that communication:

1. Use drawings, dramatic gestures, actions, emotions, voice, mime, chalkboard sketches, photographs and visual materials to provide clues to meaning.
2. If necessary, repeat your actions using the same simple structures and actions.
3. Simplify your message as much as possible breaking them into smaller, manageable parts to give newcomers a chance at comprehending.
4. Make sure the student's attention is focused.
5. Don't insist, however,that students make eye contact with you when you are speaking to them. This is considered rude in many cultures.
6. Modify your speech. Talk at a slow-to-normal pace, in short sentences. Use a pleasant tone of voice.
7. Use simple sentence structure (subject-verb-object) and high-frequency words
8. Use names of people rather than pronouns.
9. Pause after phrases or short sentences, not after each word. You do not want to distort the rhythm of the language.
10. Avoid using the passive voice and complex sentences.
11. If you have something important to convey, speak one-on- one to the student rather than in front of the class. The anxiety of being in the spotlight interferes with comprehension.
12. Ask simple yes/no questions. Accept one-word answers or gestures.
13. Be an active listener. Give full attention to your newcomer and make every effort to understand his / her attempts to communicate. Smile.
14. Talk in a calm, quiet manner. Raising your voice does not help comprehension
15. Demonstrate your patience through your facial expressions and body language.
16. Give your English language learners extra time to respond.
17. Encourage new learners of English to act out or to draw pictures to get their meaning across. Don't jump in immediately to supply the words for the student.
18. Correct pronunciation and grammar by repeating the response accurately. Do not ask the student to repeat the correction. This can be very embarrassing. Resist the urge to over correct. This will inhibit newcomers so that they will be less willing to speak.
19. Allow students to use a bilingual dictionary or electronic translator for words that can not be acted out.
20. Check comprehension frequently. Don't ask "Do you understand?" This is not a reliable check since many students will nod "yes" when they don't really understand.

Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas

2010-02-02T11:12:00.000-08:00

I am proud to announce the publication of Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas (ASCD, 2010). I had a wonderful time writing this book with Debbie Zacarian, whom I met at TESOL when we both wrote columns for the TESOL publication, Essential Teacher. Writing a book alone is a long, lonely task but co-writing can be a wonderful journey where authors grow as writers. This was the case with my collaboration with Debbie.

Our book can be ordered now on the ASCD website. In fact, the table of contents and the first two chapters are available at ASCD Bookstore. It is also available on Amazon.com and at Barnes and Noble.

Here is what ASCD writes about the book on their site:

Taking off from the ideas in our best-selling book Getting Started with English Language Learners (Judie Haynes, ASCD 2007) here’s a book that helps teachers in every subject area become expert teachers of English language learners (ELL). Using classroom scenarios that depict common challenges in elementary, middle, and high school content area classes, the authors describe the basics that every teacher needs to begin teaching both content and the English language, including

Learning environments that provide ELLs with multiple opportunities to practice activities and connect learning to personal and cultural experiences.
Lesson plans that identify core ideas, tap students’ background knowledge, and use visuals, think-alouds and other ways to engage ELLs.
Small‑group configurations that include ELLs in mainstream instruction by involving them in activities with their fellow students.

Discover how mainstream, subject area teachers can modify instruction to involve ELL students—while still engaging the whole class—by implementing proven classroom strategies, including

Visual and tactile activities that provide ELLs with adequate repetition and practice of new vocabulary words and concepts.
Six essential reading comprehension strategies that should be taught to ELLs in all grade levels.
Five do’s and don’ts for teaching writing to ELLs.
Techniques for assigning homework and creating assessments that are appropriate for the stages of English language acquisition.

English Language Learners and the Silent Period

2010-01-31T18:19:00.000-08:00

According to research, most new learners of English will go through a "silent period" which is an interval of time during which they are unable or unwilling to communicate orally in the new language. The silent period may last for a few days or a year, depending on a variety of factors, and it occurs before ELLs are ready to produce oral language. New learners of English should not be forced to speak before they are ready and we don't want to embarrass them by putting them on the spot.

ELLs need time to listen to others talk, to digest what they hear, to develop receptive vocabulary, and to observe their classmates' interactions. When they do speak, we want the speech to be real and purposeful instead of contrived. This does not mean your students are not learning. They may understand what is being said, but they are not yet ready to talk about it.

What determines the length of the" silent period?" There are several factors involved. First, personality plays a key role. A normally shy and quiet youngster in native language is usually going to take longer before they feel comfortable speaking. Native culture will also play a role. In many cultures, for example, girls are not expected to speak out. They play a more passive role in family and classroom dynamics.

Teacher instruction is also an important factor in the length of the silent period. If the teacher provides "hands-on" activities and has students interact in small groups, ELLs will be able to participate in the life of the classroom a lot sooner. They will feel more confident in risking oral language. It should not be assumed that young learners of English do not feel embarrassment or shyness when attempting to speak in a second language. Classroom and subject-area teachers can alleviate many of the newcomers' fears by creating a language-nurturing environment in their classes. The first weeks are crucial. A good relationship with classroom teacher and classmates will provide a great deal of the help and support newcomers need to cope with the challenges they face. This can't be emphasized enough. The more comfortable newcomers feel in your classroom, the quicker they will be able to learn. The more anxiety students experience, the less language they will comprehend.

How do English language learners acquire English?

2010-01-27T16:08:00.000-08:00

How do newcomers learn English? Can they soak up language by sitting in the mainstream classroom? Learn how Comprehensible Input and Output are important to the acquisition of a second language.

Comprehensible Input

Language is not "soaked up."The learner must understand the message that is conveyed. Comprehensible input is a hypothesis first proposed by Stephen Krashen . (Krashen, 1981) He purports that ELLs acquire language by hearing and understanding messages that are slightly above their current English language level. Although there is controversary among researchers about this theory, practioners in the field will find that ELLs learn when they understand the message.
An English language learner may understand the message "Put the paper in your desk." By slightly changing the message to 'Put the paper in the garbage." the speaker scaffolds new information that increases the learner's language comprehension. In order to do this, the teacher must provide new material that builds off the learner's prior knowledge.
When newcomers are assigned to a mainstream classroom and spend most of their day in this environment it is especially critical for them to receive comprehensible input from their teachers and classmates. If that teacher lectures in the front of a classroom, the English language learner will not be receiving this input. Imagine that you and your family were sent to Japan for a year. Would you be able to learn Japanese by simply sitting in a Japanese classroom? You wouldn't unless the teacher made an effort to make the Japanese you were hearing comprehensible. The teacher would need to support learning with lots and visuals and opportunities to practice.

Comprehensible Output

According to Merrill Swain(1995), learners need opportunities to practice language at their level of English language competency. This practice with English-speaking peers is called Comprehensible Output. Many researchers feel that comprehensible output is nearly as important as input. Cooperative learning groups are one way for new learners of English to receive plenty of understandable input and output. Here are some reasons why.

A small group setting allows for more comprehensible input because the teacher or classmates modify or adapt the message to the listener's needs.
Speakers can more easily check on the understanding of the listener.
There is more opportunity for oral practice and for repetition of content information as peers help new learners of English negotiate meaning.
Student talk in this small group is centered on what is actually happening at the moment as the task is completed.
Feedback and correction are non-judgmental and immediate.

What does this mean for teachers in general education classrooms? Lecture style teaching cuts English language learners out of the lesson unless the talk is supported by comprehensible input. This includes visual support such as photographs, maps, graphic organizers, charts, and pictures.

What's in a gesture?

2010-01-22T17:22:00.000-08:00

Very few gestures are universally understood and interpreted. What is perfectly acceptable in the United States may be rude, or even obscene, in other cultures. It is important for teachers to understand how the gestures they use unconsciously may be misunderstood.
Each of the following gestures can have a very different meaning in other cultures:

Beckon with index finger. This means "Come here" in the U.S. To motion with to someone to come with your index finger can be insulting in many cultures. Expect a reaction when you beckon to a student from the Middle or Far East; Portugal, Spain, Latin America, Japan, Indonesia and Hong Kong. It is more acceptable to beckon with the palm down, with fingers or whole hand waving.

Point at something in the room using index finger. It is impolite to point with the index finger in the Middle and Far East. Using an open hand or your thumb is more acceptable.

Make a "V" sign. T his means "Victory" in most of Europe when you make this sign with your palm facing away from you. If you face your palm in, the same gesture means "Shove it." Very few gestures are universally understood and interpreted. What is perfectly acceptable in the United States may be rude, or even obscene, in other cultures.

Smile. This gesture is universally understood. However, it various cultures there are different reasons for smiling. The Japanese may smile when they are confused or angry. In other parts of Asia, people may smile when they are embarrassed. People in other cultures may not smile at everyone to indicate a friendly greeting as we do in the United States. A smile may be reserved for friends. It is important not to judge students or their parents because they do not smile, or smile at what we would consider "inappropriate" times.

Sit with soles shoes showing. In many cultures this sends a rude message. In Thailand, Japan and France as well as countries of the Middle and Near East showing the soles of the feet demonstrates disrespect. You are exposing the lowest and dirtiest part of your body so this is insulting.

Form a circle with fingers to indicate "O.K." Although this gestures means "O.K." in the U.S. and in many countries around the world, there are some notable exceptions:

In Brazil and Germany, this gesture is obscene.
In Japan, this means money.
In France, it has the additional meaning of "zero" or "worthless."

Pat a student on the head. This is very upsetting to students from Asia. The head is the repository of the soul in the Buddhist religion. Children from cultures which are influenced by Buddhism will feel uncomfortable if their head is touched.

Pass an item to someone with one hand. - In Japan this is very rude. Even a very small item such as a pencil must be passed with two hands. In many Middle and Far Eastern countries it is rude to pass something with your left hand which is considered "unclean."

Wave hand with the palm facing outward to greet someone. In Europe, waving the hand back and forth can mean "No." To wave "good-bye," raise the palm outward and wag the fingers in unison.

Nod head up and down to say Yes. In Bulgaria and Greece, nodding your head up and down means "No."

Understanding the development of academic langauge for ELLs

2010-01-20T11:02:00.000-08:00

I don't know how many times I hear teachers say, "That child is very lazy. He knows more than we think he does. He pretends he can't do the work in my class but I hear him speaking English on the playground." Classroom and subject area teachers need to understand the difference between social language and academic language acquisition. Here is a simple description of BICS and CALP as theorized by Jim Cummins.

Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills

Experts such as a Jim Cummins differentiate between social and academic language acquisition. Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) are language skills needed in social situations. It is the day-to-day language needed to interact socially with other people. English language learners (ELLs) employ BIC skills when they are on the playground, in the lunch room,on the school bus, at parties, playing sports and talking on the telephone. Social interactions are usually context embedded. They occur in a meaningful social context. They are not very demanding cognitively. The language required is not specialized. These language skills usually develop within six months to two years after arrival in the U.S. Problems arise when teachers and administrators think that a child is proficient in a language when they demonstrate good social English.

Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency

CALP refers to formal academic learning. This includes listening, speaking, reading, and writing about subject area content material. This level of language learning is essential for students to succeed in school. Students need time and support to become proficient in academic areas. This usually takes from five to seven years. Recent research Thomas & Collier, 1997 has shown that if a child has no prior schooling or has no support in native language development, it may take seven to ten years for ELLs to catch up to their peers.

Academic language acquisition isn't just the understanding of content area vocabulary. It includes skills such as comparing, classifying, synthesizing, evaluating, and inferring. Academic language tasks are context reduced. Information is read from a textbook or presented by the teacher. As a student gets older the context of academic tasks becomes more and more reduced. The language also becomes more cognitively demanding. New ideas, concepts and language are presented to the students at the same time. Jim Cummins also advances the theory that there is a common underlying proficiency (CUP) between two languages. Skills, ideas and concepts students learn in their first language will be transferred to the second language.

How long does it take to learn English?

2010-01-13T18:48:00.000-08:00

How long does it take to learn English? This is the most frequently asked questions by administrators, school board members and classroom teachers.

The Research

The most comprehensive work done in this field is the research conducted byWayne Thomas & Virginia Collier . Thomas & Collier studied the language acquisition of English language learners in a longitudinal study from 1982 to 1996. They wanted to find out how long it took students with no background in English to reach native-speaker performance (50th percentile) on norm-referenced tests. In addition, they looked at variables such as socioeconomic status, first language, programs used to learn English, and number of years of primary language schooling. In their study, Thomas & Collier found that the most significant variable in how long it takes to learn English is the amount of formal schooling students have received in their first language.

Here are some other conclusions from their study:

Those students who were between 8-11 years old and had 2-3 years of native language education took 5-7 years to test at grade level in English.
Students with little or no formal schooling who arrived before the age of eight, took 7-10 years to reach grade level norms in English language literacy.
Students who were below grade level in native language literacy also took 7-10 years to reach the 50th percentile. Many of these students never reached grade level norms.

This data holds true regardless of the home language, country of origin, and socioeconomic status.

How do ELLs in ESL Programs Compare?

English language learners receiving ESL services do not make more rapid progress in English than students in other types of programs.
It is a common belief that students in ESL programs outperform second language learners in any other type of progam. Research does not support this belief. Across different types of bilingual and ESL programs, Thomas & Collier found that:

English language learners who received all of their schooling in English did extremely well in kindergarten through third grade. The gains these students made in English were dramatic.
From fourth grade on through middle and high school, when the academic demands of the curriculum become more rigorous, the performance of these students fell substantially below the 50th percentile.Why did this happen? Native English speakers make an average gain of ten months each school year. However, English language learners only made a 6-8 month gain per school year. The gap between native-English and second language speakers widened from the 4th grade through high school.
Students in Two-Way Bilingual Immersion and Developmental Bilingual programs reach the 50th percentile in both their native language and English by 4th or 5th grade in all subject areas. These students were able to sustain the gains made in English, and in some cases, to achieve even higher than typical Native-English-speaker performance as they move through the secondary years of school.

This does not mean that all bilingual programs are more effective than all ESL or sheltered content programs. It is important to look beyond the program label. Are teachers qualified to teach English language learners? Are there sufficient materials.? What instructional methods are used? Are students exited into all English programs too quickly?

What Does this Research Mean for Schools?

Bilingual programs are not always feasible, especially in school districts where students come from multiple language backgrounds. Here are the key considerations for school districts:

Give students more time to develop English language academic skills. Don't rush K-3 students through your language support programs.
Provide more support services to under-schooled upper elementary and middle school students. Remember that it will take them 7-10 years to reach grade level norms.
Maintenance of native language in the home should be encouraged. Development of native language literacy should be fostered. Persuade parents to send their children to after-school and Saturday instruction in first language. If your school district has the requisite number of students, push for a developmental bilingual or two-way immersion program.

How Culture Shock Affects ELLs

2010-01-11T13:58:00.000-08:00

Don't underestimate the results of culture shock. The emotional upheaval of moving can be devastating to any child. These symptoms are compounded when the child comes from a different culture and does not speak English.

What is Culture Shock?

Newly arrived ELLS who act out in the classroom are probably suffering from culture shock. This is a term used to describe the feelings people have when they move to an unfamiliar culture. Immigrant children may become withdrawn and passive or they may be aggressive. The more different the new culture is from their own, the greater the shock. Newcomers have left behind family members, friends, teachers, and pets. They have lost their language and culture. Often they do not have the support of their parents who are in shock too.

Four Stages of Culture Shock

It must be emphasized that every child reacts differently to moving to a new place. New arrivals usually go through four stages of culture shock.

1.Euphoric or Honeymoon Stage

During this stage newcomers are excited about their new lives. Everything is wonderful and they are having a great time learning about their environment.

2. Culture Shock Stage.

The differences between the new and the native cultures becomes more apparent. Students feel overwhelmed at this stage. There is so much they do not understand about their new surroundings. They are frustrated because they can not communicate and are bombarded with unfamiliar surroundings, unreadable social signals and an unrelenting barrage of new sounds. Students suffering from culture shock may seem sleepy, irritable, disinterested or depressed. Some students may become aggressive and act out their frustrations.

Newcomers in this stage of culture shock need time and patience from their teachers.

3. Integration Stage.

Newcomers start to deal with the differences between the old culture and new. They learn to integrate their own beliefs with those of the new culture. Some newcomers will start to replace the old values with new ones. Others will begin to find ways to exist with both cultures. Many immigrant parents start to become alarmed at this stage. They do not want their children to lose their language and culture.

4. Acceptance Stage.

Newcomers are now able to enter and prosper in the mainstream culture. They accept both cultures and combine them into their lives. Some students will adopt the mainstream culture at school and follow the values of the home culture outside of school. During this stage many immigrant parents make it clear to their children that they do not want them to adopt the mainstream culture. This is because many immigrant students forget their native language and reject their culture.

Remember that students suffering from culture shock need time to adjust.

The importance of teaching social skills to ELLs

2010-01-06T15:09:00.000-08:00

In my experience, we should not assume that English language learners will acquire socially appropriate language simply by being with English-speaking natives. ELLs need to be specifically taught social skills such as how to greet people, to give and receive compliments, to apologize, and to make polite requests. Students need to understand nonverbal language and proxemics. They need to be able to discover the appropriate voice tones, volumes, and language for different school settings.

The need for teaching socially and culturally appropriate language in social situations is evident every day in our classes. We have all had students who use the same language when speaking to a teacher that they would use when talking to a peer. I once had a beginning English language learners who had learned how to say "yeah, yeah, yeah" to friends during recess. He couldn't say or understand much else in English. Whenever I gave him directions, he would reply, "Yeah, yeah, yeah." I had a difficult time making him comprehend that this was inappropriate language for a child to use to an adult. I finally taught him to say, "Yes, Mrs. Haynes" but I needed to have a translator explain why "yeah, yeah, yeah" was unsuitable for the classroom.

The same thing occurs when a second language speaker swears in class. An English language learners in my school used an "x-rated" expression in his third grade classroom. The teacher was understandably distressed and required that the student write an apology for homework. Even more upsetting to the teacher was that the student's parents did not take the infraction of school rules seriously. I explained to her that swearing does not have the same "shock" value in a person's second language as it does in their first. So the parents were not "shocked" by their child's use of this language. What is considered "shocking" or inappropriate language for the classroom must sometimes be directly taught.

Use role playing to demonstrate social English

I spend a lot of time teaching students how to give and receive compliments, to thank someone for something, to answer the telephone, to ask directions, and to make small talk. Role playing, teacher modeling, peer modeling, and video are all good tools for teaching these social skills. Have students learn how to observe their peers for models of correct behavior. Use real incidents that come up in your class. Have students practice saying "good morning" and "good-by" to their teachers and classmates right from the beginning. Encourage classroom teachers to set expectations for these behaviors. Classroom and subject area teachers need to learn about some of the cultural differences in manners and behavior. You don't want teachers to over-react when a student won't make eye contact or relates to other children by touching them all the time, or smiles at inappropriate times.

Giant Steps for ELLs with Nonfiction Writing

2010-01-06T13:55:00.000-08:00

The biggest challenge when teaching writing to Gr. 4-12 new learners of English is that many of them develop their text in their native language and then try to translate into English. This translated writing is full of inaccurate verb tenses and unintelligible sentences. There are so many errors that editing becomes problematic for teachers. I feel strongly that it is better to help students avoid writing in English through the filter of their native language.

What problems do our students face when learning to write in English? First, their vocabulary is restricted and they limit themselves to words they know how to spell. Let’s examine the work of a 5th grade newcomer, Yimin, who wrote the following text in her mainstream classroom in response to the prompt: “If you were an animal, what animal would you like to be and why?”

“I like be eagle becas eagle birds king and he fly very up. They scard. When they baby, they take off they feather and they squek they claw.

How do we avoid the garbled writing that Yimin produced? I am convinced that English language learners write better if they begin with non-fiction reading and writing. Graphic organizers such as story maps, T-charts, and Venn diagrams help scaffold writing and provide students with language chunks that can be used in their text. If topics are developed orally, non-fiction vocabulary expanded and charted, and correct sentence structure modeled, student writing will improve dramatically. One way to achieve this is to teach non-fiction writing during writing workshop and to modify writing process steps for beginning English language learners. The topics used during this lesson should be taken from the students’ subject area content. I recommend the following steps :

Prewriting: You will need to spend a lot of time in this stage with new learners of English.

As a follow-up to non-fiction reading, brainstorm and chart facts about the topic in sentence form. Have them read the facts from your chart orally. Strengthen the link between oral and written language.
Keep a running list of content vocabulary. Review and practice the vocabulary every day. Speak and write facts in full sentences.
Use graphic organizers to help students arrange ideas. ELLs will usually find it difficult to go from phrases to comprehensible sentences so complete the organizer with sentences, not phrases. Your students may not value this strategy if they have not used organizers to write in their native language so you will need to insist on it.

Writing: Have students practice writing from a story map, Venn diagram or other type of graphic organizer. Provide them with an organizer that you have written together on the non-fiction topic. This gives a beginning writer the language and structure that they need. Show clearly what should be covered in the writing and how it should be organized.

Editing: Don’t expect students who are not fluent in English to self-edit. They will not usually find their own mistakes. You will have to be more hands-on with the editing of non-native speakers and conference with them on a regular basis to discuss their works–in- progress. If you have your students peer-edit, they may be reluctant to share their work with native speakers. You may want to group beginners with more fluent native speakers. Give pairs a specific item to check. For example “Check the ‘s’ at the end of a verb if you are talking about one other person.” You may need to teach a mini-lesson about the item you want edited.

Revising: English language learners will not remember what to revise unless changes are clearly marked on their papers. Instead of writing “Add more information here,” write more specifically “Tell what eagles eat here.” If students are a part of the editing process, the revisions will be more meaningful to them.

Publishing: This is an important step. Help students develop a sense of audience by encouraging students to share their writing with classmates and family. Display work in the classroom and hallway or make classroom books.

I see my students take giant steps when non-fiction writing is introduced to beginners in writing workshop and steps are modified as shown above. Yimin wrote this piece on a forest animal in her ESL classroom.

“Eagle are carnivores. They live in forest. They eat small mammal, fish and snakes. They use eyes to see prey. They catch food with sharp talon. They are diurnal because they hunt in the day.”

DSL- Digital as a Second Language

2010-01-05T08:31:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. This is my very first blog. In order to get my feet wet, I am basing this entry on an article from my website, everythingESL.net.

“Are we writing on the computer today?” my eager 4th grade beginners asked as they piled into the ESL classroom. My English language learners are suddenly excited about writing. They enter my classroom with enthusiasm and leave reluctantly. Last year I wouldn’t have believed it possible. What brought about my students’ enthusiasm for writing? The purchase of wireless Apple iBook laptops for the ESL classroom has transformed the way I teach my English language learners. I have seen remarkable progress in their writing and in their motivation to learn.

When I first started to use a computer about 19 years ago, it took a while before I felt comfortable writing directly in a word processing program. In contrast, I’ve found that most of my students prefer writing directly on the computer. This has a huge impact on writing because students are much more disposed to edit and rewrite. They are also more willing to begin by putting their ideas on a graphic organizer and developing their compositions from there. As a result, the length and depth of their written work has greatly increased and they are more willing to expand on their ideas. Most importantly, they have become much more enthusiastic about writing, and projects that once took weeks are now completed in a few days.

According to Mark Presensky (2001), today’s students are “digital natives”. By this he means that they have grown up in an environment that has always included computers, the Internet, cell phones, digital cameras, and MP3 players. We, the teachers of these digital natives, are what Presensky calls “digital immigrants”. We speak “digital” as a second language (DSL). We grew up in a drastically different text-based environment and even if we have tried to keep up with current technology, we speak this language with an accent. Presensky contends that our educational system was not designed to teach today’s students.

Technology has had an enormous influence on my teaching. I feel that elementary-age students need to be encouraged to do research, take notes, and write on computers. This keeps them engaged. As an example, let me explain a project I developed for my 4th grade intermediate learners.

In response to a fictional story we read, I asked my students to describe a place where they enjoyed spending time. They first arranged their ideas on a graphic organizer using Kidspiration software. They completed this organizer directly on the computer. One of my best writers, Erin, wrote the organizer to show three activities that she liked to do at the park.

From this outline, I asked Erin to expand the information under “Have fun with my family.” Her resulting organizer showed three ways she had fun with her family in the park. Next, I asked Erin to write about the badminton game that she had listed on our organizer. Here is what she wrote:

The last time I went to the park, I play badminton with my family. We divide into two teams and play against each other. I practice badminton with my dad for a whole week so I thought I could beat my cousins. Unfortunately, I was wrong. My cousins are much better than me!

You can see how Erin expanded one part of her organizer and fleshed it out so that it became a paragraph of her completed essay. She repeated this technique with each part of her organizer.

With 5th & 6th grade groups, I used Inspiration. With the latest version, my students could research information for a report or other writing assignment and organize it on a template in Inspiration directly on their laptops. They can spell check their work, use a thesaurus or dictionary, change the organizer into an outline and export that outline to their word processing program. These outlines become their frame for writing.

Let’s face it, students do not learn in the same way that they did ten years ago. We can blame technology or we can use it to our advantage. We can no longer, however, teach in the same way. Even though digital may be our second language, as digital immigrants we can become more collaborative in our approach, while learning from the digital natives in our classes.

References

Kidspiration (2001) Inspiration Software, Inc. Portland, OR

Inspiration 8.0 (2006) Inspiration Software, Inc. Portland, OR

Prensky, M. Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants Part 1, On the Horizon, September/October 2001, Volume 9, Number 5; NCB University Press. http://www.marcprensky.com/writing/default.asp

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