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Promoting Literacy in Elementary Classes When Students Don’t Speak English Allison Cummings Deborah Sams Sevier County Schools ELAP Program Promoting Literacy in Elementary Classes When Students Don’t Speak English Allison Cummings Kindergarten ELAP Teacher Deborah Sams ESL Teacher Sevier County Schools Anticipation Guide • Part One: Exploring Theory • Part Two: Strategies and Practices • Part Three: A Make and Take Session! Objectives • Gain an awareness of second language acquisition • Empathize with English Language Learners (ELLs) • Make instructional decisions with ELLs in mind • Discover new ways to promote literacy in elementary classrooms The Menu Activity Take your menu. Select 6 things on the menu. Write your order. Send one person from your table to ‘pick up’ the orders. Enjoy! The Menu Activity Discussion Questions • How did you feel during this activity? • What strategies would have improved comprehension? • What did you learn? A Few Myths of Second Language Acquisition Answer the following statements as True or False 1. Middle and high school students learn second languages more quickly and easily than primary students. 2. Second language learners will acquire academic English faster if they speak English at home. 3. Once students can speak English, they are ready to undertake the academic tasks of the mainstream classroom. 4. Student should be strongly encouraged to speak English from the first day of class. The Silent Period Krashen, 1985 The Affective Filter Occurs when the learner is… • • • • • Unmotivated Lacking in self confidence Anxious On the defensive Fearful that their weakness will be revealed • When there is a possibility of failure Stevick, 1977; Krashen & Terrell, 1983; Krashen, 1985. Building Background Knowledge • Don’t just rely on definitions • Use words aloud frequently • Use visual representations (pictures, mental pictures, act it out, etc.) • Require multiple exposures to the words • Students should discuss words, use words, and play with the words Marzano, 2005 BICS and CALP • Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (social language) • Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (academic language) Cummins, J. ,1991 BICS • Social situations • Day-to-day language • Used on the playground, in the lunch room, on the school bus, at parties, playing sports and talking on the telephone • Context embedded • Not very cognitively demanding • The language required is not specialized • Develops within six months to two years Cummins,1991 CALP • • • • • • Academic learning Listening, speaking, reading, and writing about content Essential for success in school ELLs need time and support About 5-7 years, but with no prior schooling 7-10 years It includes skills such as comparing, classifying, synthesizing, evaluating, and inferring • Information is read in a textbook or presented by the teacher • Academic language tasks are context reduced • Cognitively demanding Cummins,1991 Dumfrase Needed The bogo also recognizes the need to invest more in cucio themselves, 40 percent of which now lack basic sumwalz. Ligachev said cicio for 28 million monus will be frazequack by the year 2006, and that capital expenditures in blocka will increase drastically. 8 unknown words About 80% known words. Source: Gickling E.,& Thompson,V. (1992) Curriculum based assessment: A naturalistic guide to reading and mathematics instruction. Workshop presented at the Council for Exceptional Children, Baltimore. A Common Teaching Sequence • • • • Read the text Answer the questions Discuss the material Do the applications/expansions Sometimes we should teach the text backwards Principles Which Help ELLs Succeed in School • Increase comprehensibility • Increase interaction • Increase thinking skills Check vocabulary before lessons for … • • • • • • Key terms Words with multiple meanings Cognates Advanced vocabulary Idioms and figurative language Complex grammar structures Adapted from Calderon, August, Slavin, Duran, Madden, &Cheunget, 2005 By Arguelles 2008 Instructional Routine • Introduce • Write and say the word/ have students repeat it • Explain • • Use a ‘student friendly’ explanation Show picture/demonstrate • • • • Provide sample sentences Engage students in activities/elaboration Monitor understanding Revisit words over time From Arguelles 2008 Less effective strategies “ Does anyone know what ____means?” Look it up in the dictionary. Then, copy it into a sentence. Copying words several times each. Activities that don’t capture deep processing (crosswords, word search, fill in the blanks, etc)) Rote memorization. Teaching words in isolation. Passive reading. Adapted from Arguelles 2008 Accommodations and Modifications Add… • • • • • • • • A copy of notes Examples Word banks Audio books A dictionary Assign a buddy Visuals Allow extra time Limit… • Limit the number of questions • Limit the length of response • Limit reading requirement Differentiating Instruction for English Language Learners • View ELLs as a resource; draw on personal experience • Use concrete objects/visuals to reinforce verbal content (hands-on demonstration) • Focus on a limited number of vocabulary words and concepts in each lesson • Limit the amount of information an ELL student needs to learn • Use graphic organizers • Teach reading strategies • Use both oral & written modalities frequently • Use cooperative learning techniques • Substitute alternative text(s) • Substitute alternative assignments • Test students in concrete terms • Allow brief answers instead of full sentences • Modify assessment tools as necessary • Allow use of a bilingual dictionary OR English/English dictionary Ideas for Adapting Texts (especially for higher elementary grades and beyond) • Give language chunks to use in writing • Brainstorm vocabulary and themes (in small groups, if possible) • Use graphic organizers to gather facts (use in sentences when possible) • Show ELLs good writing models for their grade level • For editing, choose one skill to work on and pair them with a partner Haynes, 2007 Adapting Text (cont.) • Teacher written summary of content (the ESL summary) • Give vocabulary words with simple definitions • Students can make vocabulary flash cards and study them • Students can find words in the ESL summary, highlight them, then write a sentence with each word • Make vocabulary matching activities with word banks for student practice Haynes, 2007 Summarizing Text for ELLs • Use controlled vocabulary • Simplify sentence structure • Define vocabulary words in context (when possible) • Identify and highlight main ideas • Use cloze activities (paragraphs with ‘fill in the blank’ format) Haynes, 2007 Recipe for Structured and Predictable Lessons 1. Chapter summary 2. Vocabulary page 3. Vocabulary matching 4. Cloze activities Haynes, 2007 Part Two Reading Strategies Best Practices and Good Ideas Read! Read! Read! Books + Access to libraries + Allowing student choice in books + Providing time to read books ________________________________ = Keys to developing literacy • Krashen, 1985, 2001, 2004, 2007 Reading Strategies Phonics Decoding and Word Building Sentence Building Read Aloud and Interactive Storybook Readings engage children with books help students explore language and literacy help develop ideas of text ‘words’ and ‘letters’ important for ELLS who may have little experience with storybooks develop appreciation of text share the joy of reading motivate children to learn to read themselves. Holdaway, 1979; Martinez et al., 1989; Snow and Tabors, 1993 In Snow, C., Burns, M.& Griffin, P. (1998) Big Books • are large enough to share with a large group or entire class • perfect to read with ‘finger wands’ • can help teach directionality of print • help students become familiar with text and repetitive features • make it easier to compare words in text • allow student to hunt for letters, sounds, sight words, rhyming words, etc. Snow, C., Burns, M. S., and Griffin, P. (Eds.), (1998). Predictable and Repetitive Books • allow students to predict a story • teach students to use pictures to support reading • offer a perfect way for students to practice handling books Martinez et al., 1989 Vocabulary Model academic language • • • • • • • I know/ believe/find I agree/disagree I expect/learn/think It seems that... How do you say…? How do you write…? Where can I find…? Girard, 2003 How well do you know these words? pedantic erudite book From Arguelles 2008 More ideas to support reading instruction… • books on tape • dramatic play/puppet theater • computer-based reading, writing, and storybook activities • board games • children's magazines • individual and group projects Snow, C., Burns, M. S., and Griffin, P., 1998 Make it comprehensible! Krashen, 1985 Graphic Organizers Use graphic organizers and thinking maps Newcomers Bears can swim. Bears have fur. bears Intermediate Bears have claws and teeth to help them eat nuts. Advanced Berries and nuts supply bears with food so they can hibernate all winter. can walk swim breathe eat have fur claws teeth cubs eat berries nuts mast _____ ______ 8 From Arguelles 2008 Games Sentence Scramble Game expand vocabulary and content by card games Plants use sunlight, water, and air for photosynthesis. air and for photosynthesis Plants sunlight, water, use Discussion Question and Answer Session Make and take! Enjoy teaching your English language learners! Deborah Sams ESL Teacher Sevier County Schools Sevierville, Tennessee [email protected] Doctoral Student IUP Comp/TESOL program Indiana University of Pennsylvania Allison Cummings Kindergarten / ELAP (English Language Acquisition Program) Sevier County Schools Sevierville, Tennessee [email protected] References Cummins, J. (1991) Language Development and Academic Learning. Haynes, J. (2007). Getting Started with English Language Learners: How Educators Can Meet the Challenge. ASCD. Holdaway, Don. 1979.The foundations of literacy. New Hampshire: Heineman. 232 pages. 0868960144. Krashen, S.D. & Terrell, T.D. (1983). The natural approach: Language acquisition in the classroom. London: Prentice Hall Europe. Krashen, Stephen. (1985). The Input Hypothesis: Issues and Implications. New York: Longman Press. Krashen, S. 2001. Do teenagers like to read? Yes! Reading Today 18(5): 16 Krashen, S. 2004. The Power of Reading. Westport, CONN: Libraries Unlimited and Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Krashen, S. 2007. Literacy Network News, Spring, 2007, page 7 (Literacy Network of Greater Los Angeles) http://www.sdkrashen.com/ Snow, C., Burns, M. S., and Griffin, P. (Eds.), (1998). Preventing reading difficulties in young children. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.