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English in Minutes and the SOSOSY Language Screener HOW ARE YOU ENGAGING ALL LEVELS OF YOUR ELL LEARNERS! Out of School Youth What quality services are you providing your OSY? Do you feel you are able to meet their needs through the services you provide? What areas do you want to improve on in your service plan? Are you making the needed gains with these students? The Basics: Second Language Acquisition Natural for kids (youth and parents) to pick up a second language Informal interactions with peers “Playground talk” (talk at work) Difficulty increases as students learn more complex aspects of language Social Proficiency to academic proficiency Things to think about What should your tutoring session, ELL class for students, or youth, or parents look like? How do you think you can best engage them? How can you help them increase their academic abilities? Learning English Learning English encompasses everything! Think outside of the box for best results! Learning English Should we do this experiment? Let me speak Chinese to you all day! I think you will pick something up! Learning English “Learning English” simply is not enough when the rest of the school is learning math, science, social studies, the regular English language arts curriculum, and all the other subjects typically taught. Our insistence on seeing English skills as a pre-requisite for, rather than an outcome of, a meaningful school experience is costing English language learners valuable time they need to close the academic learning gap. Only after we examine what curriculum will be taught, how English language learners will learn it, and how long we will need to support their continuing academic progress should we begin to address the language of instruction issue. And, like it or not, local context will often determine when, where, and to what extent we use one language versus another. Tim Boals, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction Learning English How does that apply to youth and parents? Reading Skills and Language Development I want to teach English to my OSY but they don’t read well? How can I help them learn English if they don’t read well? What would you say? Research Findings/Implications Key Elements of effective reading instruction for all students including vocabulary, comprehension and phonics are also important for(ALL) ELL students Teachers need a solid grounding in the language learning and reading processes and strategies for effective reading instruction Florida State Dept of Education Some Resources to get Started English in Minutes English Classes SOSOSY Resources Language Screener the username is OSY and password is screen!@# The OSY English Language Screener (ELS) is a short, easy-to-administer assessment tool that can be used with minimal training. The purpose of the screener is to help educators make informed decisions about: where to begin English language instruction what language skills need work (listening, speaking, basic literacy) what instructional materials to use The ELS screens students for the English language skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing. The ELS has 6 parts, shown in the chart. All students should take Parts 1, 2, and 4. Students who do well on those will also take Parts 3 and 5, which are at a higher level. Part 6 is an optional writing screener for students who are interested in improving their writing skills or preparing for the GED test. The writing screener can be given in English or Spanish. Reading Strategies Readers need to know how to read, that is, to use reading strategies. Reading strategies are actions that connect or link ideas in two ways : they link ideas in the text at any time with ideas that they have read earlier in the text or they link ideas in the text with ideas they have already learned and stored in their existing knowledge. Ex. Reading a Book Visualizing? Inferring? Summarizing? Reading Strategies Comprehending strategies; actions readers use to manipulate and link ideas at each level Visualizing Inferring Summarizing Part of a reader's literacy knowledge, their knowledge of how to make sense of written text. Research Findings/Implications If the achievement gap is to be closed ELL students must be taught the important core subject matter content expected of all students. Soloman and Rhodes Research Findings/ Implications Effective instructional input must be comprehensible, in context and for a real life purpose Teachers need to understand the concept of “comprehensible input” and how to apply this in classroom instruction Tarone and Tedick Steven Krashen "The best methods are therefore those that supply 'comprehensible input' in low anxiety situations, containing messages that students really want to hear. These methods do not force early production in the second language, but allow students to produce when they are 'ready', recognizing that improvement comes from supplying communicative and comprehensible input, and not from forcing and correcting production." Steven Krashen "Language acquisition does not require extensive use of conscious grammatical rules, and does not require tedious drill." “Acquisition requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances but with the messages they are conveying and understanding." GRAMMAR! Grammar Girl here. Today's topic is a versus an. A lot of people learned the rule that you put a before words that start with consonants and an before words that start with vowels, but it's actually a bit more complicated than that. For example, here's Matthew with a question: I've been wondering if it is actually a hour or an hour. An hour sounds more correct, but a hour reads more correct. I'm just curious on what it should be. http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/a-versus-an.aspx GRAMMAR! The rule is that you use a before words that start with a consonant sound and an before words that start with a vowel sound (1). So to answer Matt's question, an hour is correct, because hour starts with a vowel sound. People seem to ask most often about words that start with the letters h and u because sometimes these words start with vowel sounds and sometimes they start with consonant sounds. For example, it is a historic monument* because historic starts with an h sound, but it is an honorable fellow because honorable starts with an o sound. Similarly, it is a Utopian idea, but an unfair world. The letters o and m can be tricky too. Usually you put an before words that start with o, but sometimes you use a. For example, you would use a if you were to say, “She has a one-track mind,” because one-track starts with a w sound. Similarly, “She has an MBA, but chooses to work as a missionary.” Steven Krashen By definition, language that is incomprehensible cannot result in learning regardless of what is being taught. Children who enter schools not speaking English find, at least initially, that most everything they hear in English is incomprehensible. If English were the only subject learned in school, these students would simply have to learn to speak, read, and write their new language (a process difficult enough as those who have seriously studied foreign languages know!). While mastering English, however, they must also acquire literacy skills commensurate with their age and grade, and reach academic parity in the content areas taught in school (Krashen, 1996). Two independent systems Second language performance: 'the acquired system' and 'the learned system'. The 'acquired system' or 'acquisition' is the product of a subconscious process very similar to the process children undergo when they acquire their first language. It requires meaningful interaction in the target language - natural communication - in which speakers are concentrated not in the form of their utterances, but in the communicative act. The 'learned system' or 'learning' is the product of formal instruction and it comprises a conscious process which results in conscious knowledge 'about' the language, for example knowledge of grammar rules. According to Krashen 'learning' is less important than 'acquisition'. Two independent systems How do we get these two systems to meet in the middle? Where do we start? SOSOSY Language Screener Listening Speaking Reading and Writing section Need to have a basic idea of what level the student is on. Two independent systems What can I do help students on different levels? How should I structure my class? Research Findings/ Implications Culturally-informed teaching strategies are more effective with ELL students Teachers must be aware of how their own culture impacts their instruction as well as cultural nuances that can impact students learning. Soloman and Rhodes Perceptions Everyone in the US is rich Always talking about us in Spanish Parents don’t really care about their childs education Americans don’t know how to cook Don’t know how to work Not family oriented Mariela and Adan Education What is your “perception” regarding our migrant parent, youth, and student interest in education? Do you think they value education? Do you think they think of education in the same way you do? Why are they interested in learning English? What motivates them? What puts them at ease? What subjects do they most enjoy learning about? What is different? Language Background Opportunity Resources People are people and guess what they all have the same basic wants and needs… DREAM THEORY……………….IMAGINATION Research Findings/ Implications An understanding of how second language learning works and the use of approaches tailored to the ELL levels of students supports student achievement Teachers need info regarding student levels and instructional strategies appropriate to each level Tharp (1997) Research Findings/ Implications Students who learn academic English as well as conversational English are more successful in school Oral skills in English develop more easily and quickly than academic skills such as reading and writing so a long-term scaffolded approach is instruction is needed. CREDE (2002) Research Findings/ Implications Speaking-listening skills are most effectively supported through interactive methods, such as teacher-student interactive facilitation, student teacher dialogue and instructional conversations A “sink or swim” approach is likely to frustrate both teachers and students CARLA Facilitating Comprehension 61 Classroom Strategies from Tidunoff et al., 1991 use appropriate wait time believe students are capable of learning provide structured time to use English give immediate feedback adjust own English for comprehension Adjustments The bright amber colored bird perched on the redwood tree outside of my porch. I sat and reflected on the natural beauty of the morning as the mists glistened around the reservoir of spring water. Adjustments- ELL instruction- Migrant Students and Adults What subjects would interest your students? How can you effectively teach your subject? What types of learners do you have in your class? How will you teach a multi-leveled class? How will you gauge if your students are learning? Incorporate the different learning styles Speaking Reading Writing Listening Doing It needs to teach a life skill and language skills ESL Instructional Strategies Use of visual and verbal prompts Incorporate activities for all learning styles Repetition Modeling Recognizing cognates Use of language that is comprehensible to the learner Activities with high functional value Native Language Allow students to use their native language to respond to questions asked in English. ♦ Use students’ native languages for concept development/clarification. ♦ Use students’ native language in order to develop competence in English. Student Talk Allow students to interact with others for class activities, tasks. ♦ Don’t correct ungrammatical utterances of students. ♦ Assign students to cooperate on instructional tasks. ♦ Ensure that student talk dominates the lesson Don’t overlook Focus on English language development as integral part of lesson. Emphasize meaning rather than grammatical structure of students’ responses. Make use of visuals or manipulatives to teach content. Show sensitivity to students’ language and culture. Active Filter hypothesis Krashen's view that a number of 'affective variables' play a facilitative, but non-causal, role in second language acquisition. These variables include: motivation, self-confidence and anxiety. Krashen claims that learners with high motivation, self-confidence, a good self-image, and a low level of anxiety are better equipped for success in second language acquisition. Low motivation, low self-esteem, and debilitating anxiety can combine to 'raise' the affective filter and form a 'mental block' that prevents comprehensible input from being used for acquisition. When the filter is 'up' it impedes language acquisition. On the other hand, positive affect is necessary, but not sufficient on its own, for acquisition to take place. Points to remember Students acquire language most effectively when they are NOT focusing on language learning Content knowledge facilitates language acquistion Ask questions to check for understanding Repeat what child says (correctly) and elaborate Levels of English Proficiency Concrete Ideas and concepts Explicit meaning Familiar situations Information registers General vocabulary Single words and phrases Non-conventional forms Abstract ideas and concepts Implicit meaning Unfamiliar situations Formal registers Technical Vocabulary Extended discourse Conventional forms Successful ELL class ideas and themes Use ipods Be prepared! Read to students of all ages- don’t be afraid to act goofy Boost confidence Comfort level Chose valuable life skill Respect their time Food and nutrition Music- HELP! Doctor STEM Lesson Units English in Minutes ELL resources Contact Information Jessica Castañeda 4660 Hills Creek Road McMinnville, TN 37110 [email protected] www.tnopportunityprograms.org 931-668-4139