Transcript Heritage Speakers: A Unique Challenge for Instructors

Teaching Heritage Speakers III: Differentiated
Teaching and mixed classes
STARTALK, 2012
National Heritage Language Resource
Center, UCLA
First presentation
(Monday morning)
• The elements of HL teaching;
• Identifying good materials;
• Adapting not so good ones
Second presentation
(Monday afternoon)
• Introduction to differentiated teaching with a
focus on three tools: templates, agendas,
centers.
Today
• Two more tools of differentiation (cont.)
Formative assessment
Group work (paired work, ½ class)
• Mixed pairings (HL + L2)
Ask me later, if you are interested:
Small groups
Contracts
First: The exit card question
• Question: How do you differentiate with a
fixed syllabus?
• Answer: Design the syllabus for the “typical
student”. Build in pathways for students at
different levels to meet course objectives.
The exit card question (cont.)
Not so good
Better
Best
Start at the front of the
book, curriculum is fixed.
Start with a curriculum that
is designed to meet the
needs of the majority
(typical learner) for the
learner and program.
Start with a curriculum that
targets majority needs and
is flexible enough to
respond to the needs of
individual learners.
Appropriate for
homogeneous classes, not
for mixed classes
Weakness: Neglects those
who fall outside that group
.
Strength: Meets the needs
of all learners.
Conditions essential to differentiation
• Instructors: Need to know students’ needs
and strengths and be able to use the tools that
support differentiation;
• Students: Need to know where they are,
relative to where they need to be. Need to
become independent learners;
Formative assessment makes this possible
• Instructors: Need to know students’ needs
and strengths and be able to use the tools that
support differentiation;
• Students: Need to know where they are,
relative to where they need to be. Need to
become independent learners;
Templates and exit cards can help with this
• Instructors: Need to know students’ needs
and strengths and be able to use the tools that
support differentiation;
• Students: Need to know where they are,
relative to where they need to be. Need to
become independent learners;
Creating independent learners
palabra
significado
significado
Mi
my
me
Tu
you
your
Te
pronoun
tea
Se
I know
pronoun
De
of
give
Mas
more
but
Si
yes
if
El
the
he
oración
What do you need in order to
differentiate?
• Instructors: Need to know students needs and
strengths and be able to use the tools that
support differentiation;
• Students: Need to know where they are,
relative to where they need to be. Need to
become independent learners;
How do these tools support
differentiation?
• Templates
• Agendas: Vary pacing
• Centers: Vary process (how you acquire
knowledge)
• Group work
• Contracts
Back to today
• Two more tools of differentiation (cont.)
Formative assessment
Group work (paired work, ½ class)
• Mixed pairings (HL + L2)
Ask me later, if you are interested:
Small groups
Contracts
Assessment
• Diagnostic (pre-instruction)
• Formative (during instruction)
• Summative (post instruction)
Assessment
• Diagnostic (pre-instruction)
• Formative (during instruction)
• Summative (post instruction)
Formative assessment
Formative assessment
Summative assessment
Purpose
To improve instruction and provide feedback
to students
To measure student competency
When administered
Ongoing, throughout unit
End of unit or course
How students use results
To self-monitor understanding,
Identity gaps in understanding and strengths
To monitor grades and progress toward
benchmarks
How teachers use results
To check for understanding, modify their own
teaching to enhance learning
For grades, promotion
How programs use results
To modify the curriculum and program
To report to external entities
Adapted from Checking for Understanding. Formative Assessment Techniques for Your
Classroom by Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey, ASCD, 2007
In essence, formative assessment…
Provides information to instructors, learners and
programs about
a) where they are;
b) where they need to be;
c) how to bridge the gap between (a) and (b)
HOW DID THE EXIT CARD
ACCOMPLISH THESE GOALS
YESTERDAY?
Almost everything can function as
formative assessment
Exit card
Quizzes, practice tests (group + individual)
Quick checks
Templates
Homework exercises
Class activities
The KWL chart (What I know, What I want to learn, What I
learned)
Why do we need formative
assessment?
Diagnostic
assessment
(placement)
Summative
assessment
(grades)
Placement
Summative
assessment
(Grades)
Suppose the following HL Learners are all in the
same class:
Advanced bilingual, schooled: Born abroad.
Arrived in the US at age 9;
Typical HL learner: US-born. Both parents are
native speakers, immigrants.
Receptive bilingual US-born. Speaks HL only
with mother. Father does not speak HL.
Two-track program:
Arabic 100 for HL learners
Arabic: Diglossia
• Modern Standard Arabic (High prestige, formal situations, written,
known by educated speakers, lingua franca among Arabs from different
countries);
• Colloquial Arabic (Low prestige, home language, informal
communications, not commonly written, mutually unintelligible regional
dialects) (Maamouri 1998)
Arabic 100:
• 11 students from six Arab countries (Syria, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia,
Jordan, Morocco, Egypt) and 1 student from Indonesia (Muslim).
• 2 have four or more years of education abroad, 3 have three years of
religious education in Arabic in the US; the rest have no literacy skills in
Arabic;
How do you assign a grade to these
students and
• Maintain standards
• Address issues of fairness
Answer: Differentiate instruction
BUILD IN PATHWAYS FOR ALL
STUDENTS TO MEET COURSE
OBJECTIVES
Example from my own class
• Online exercises
• Homework
• Exit cards
Medium stakes
formative + summative
• Tests
• Final writing
• Quizzes
• Practice writing
Lowest stake
formative
High stakes
summative
Back to outline
• Two more tools of differentiation (cont.)
Assessment
Group work (paired work, ½ class)
• Mixed pairings (HL + L2)
Ask me later, if you are interested:
Small groups
Contracts
Types of groups
• Learning partners (1/1)
• Small groups (3-5)
• Half-class/half-class
Grouping strategies
By ability
By interest
By learning style
Flexible
By student choice
By chance/proximity
By HL/L2 status
Grouping strategies:
Earlier activities
By ability
By interest
By learning style
Flexible
By student choice
By chance/proximity
By HL/L2 status
Grouping strategies: Focus of this
presentation
By ability
By interest
By learning style
Flexible
By student choice
By chance/proximity
By HL/L2 status
Learning partners: HL-L2 pairings
• In Bowles (2012) HL-L2 pairings worked on an
oral information gap activity involving home
vocabulary. Results: L2 learners benefited
more from the activity than HL learners.
• In Bowles (2011) HL-L2 pairings worked on
oral and written tasks involving wider range of
vocabulary. Result: both types of learners
benefited equally from the activity.
What made the difference?
• Material + task
HL learners are better at spontaneous tasks that
tap into intuitive use of language, L2 learners,
on the other hand, do better at tasks that
require meta-linguistic knowledge;
HL learners are more familiar with home
vocabulary; L2 learners, on the other hand,
are more familiar with academic vocabulary
Key ideas about HL + L2 pairings
• Take advantage of complimentary strengths of
learners
• To the extent possible match HL-L2 pairs for
proficiency
• Mix tasks that require intuitive knowledge
with tasks that require meta-linguistic
knowledge
• Hold both students accountable for
contributing to the task
The house comparison task:
HL + L2 learner pairings
• Using the house…yes or no?
• Having only an oral component…yes or no?
Activity for the geography reading
• Task: Discuss the reading with the goal of identifying
differences between Mexico and the US. Write 15
sentences that compare and contrast the countries.
Ten sentences must draw on information in the
reading and 5 on background knowledge.
Another activity
• Designing a word cloud for the reading
Activity
• Task: Design a word cloud consisting of 30 - 40
key terms – not based on frequency, but on
importance to the main ideas;
• Why is this a good task?
Types of groups
• Learning partners (1/1)
• Small groups (3-5)
• Half-class/half-class
Use agendas to break up the class
into two groups…
Group 1 works with the instructor;
Group 2 works on their agenda (a list of activities
students must complete in a given time. Vary
the pace and product. Support self-directed
learning and effective classroom management)
With the little bit of time left…
A challenge for the most intrepid…
• A native speaker in a class of HL learners;
• What do you do with this student? How do
you challenge him/her? How do you make
sure that other students’ learning is not
compromised?
Contracts
• Contracts: An agreement between the teacher
and student. Individualized.
• Agendas: A list of activities all students must
complete in a given time.
Contracts
• What can you put in a contract for very
advanced/native students?
Summary: Differentiation
Templates
Agendas + contracts
Formative
assessment
Centers
Flexible grouping
Summary – group work
• Paired work, HL-L2: To the extent possible, match
students for proficiency. Design activities that tap
into complementary strengths.
• Half class: Use agendas when meeting with one half
of class.
All classes
• Use templates to differentiate instruction by learner
needs and foster independent learning;
• Use agendas and centers to vary pace, process, and
content;
• Use contracts for students whose abilities far exceed
those of the class.
Thank you!