Recently, I had an interview with an English Learner. The only difference in this interview is that it pertains to an adult, rather than an EL in either secondary, primary, or collegial schools. To be clear, this interview also allowed me to see how nerve-wrecking it can be for some people, especially ELs to share how they are learning. Although it may depend on the personality, we must always be cautious and kind when talking with them about it.

Sadly, I cannot share the audio, but I can divulge the information that helped me understand learning English as one’s second language. My interviewee states that as she is learning English, she prefers to speak English as a form of practice rather than speak in her native language, Spanish. She has been taking English community classes on and off for the last twenty years and admits that when in conversation, she is sociable and willing to learn other people’s experiences and cultures. She accounts the assignments in her classes, such as writing letters, and it falls in the category of grammar and tenses.

          However, she also reaffirms that when learning English, she uses outside technology, such as videos, songs, the computer, and even movies. In fact, she explains that the use of subtitles helps her understand what the movies are talking about, in terms of the context. Nevertheless, she also admits that the difficult translation from Spanish to English, such as “Yo escribo” means different things in English: I am writing or I write, while each one of those phrases mentioned is stated differently going backwards. Outside of those classes, she states that her children and co-workers at her job help her learn English, mostly prevalently in her conversation skills.

          She also admits that her classes struggle, in terms of the pace, as the class is not structured to deal with students, in terms of different levels of the proficiency in English. She states that these types of classes are being cut, or discarded, and so these issues come up a lot. Overall, I understand that ELs, whether in schools or alternate adult classes, must have good support, relationships, and structure to understand and utilize the English language to the best of their abilities. In my interview, I see as much as I can of her perspective of the concerns she relayed and hope to be better accommodated for all students’ linguistic needs, if they are any.

Here, we have a SIOP lesson, which pertains to a review to areas of geometric shapes. A SIOP lesson is a lesson “that links content objectives to language objectives” (Berry, Bucio, Burns,  Dabul, Markiewicz, Rentas,…Vu, 2012). To be clear, this lesson serves as a precursor to future lessons, which revolve around the volume of geometric 3D shapes. This lesson is manufactured with the possibility of having ELs with different levels in the proficiency of English. The mentioned strategy, Numbered-Heads-Together, is used as a base method for the body of the lesson. ‘Numbered-Heads-Together’ is a strategy that “holds each student accountable for learning the material…promotes discussion and both individual and group accountability” (Berry, Bucio, Burns,  Dabul, Markiewicz, Rentas,…Vu, 2012). Yet, the strategy is adapted, in terms of directions, to fit appropriately with the topic of the lesson. Supports, like the word banks, sentence stems, oral or visual responses, and bilingual dictionaries, pertain to the material or activity stated and how it may help students comprehend vocabulary better, structure their written responses, and compare terms between the English and their native languages. Nevertheless, this lesson further explains and showcases how a lesson may be created to teach all students, especially students, who are ELs and who may need additional supports.

*SWBAT = Students Will Be Able To…

Citations:

Berry, C., Bucio, O., Burns, T., Dabul, J., Markiewicz, J., Rentas, I., … Vu, C. (2012). Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Strategy Guide for ELL/Bilingual Learners.

It’s not an occupation that each student holds. To be clear, this video shows students being teachers temporarily, when doing homework reviews. The idea of peer teaching is used as a method for homework. Usually, homework review takes time in class, if the teacher goes over every question, thus losing time for the next lesson. Otherwise, teachers may just show the answers to students, who may or may not understand how and why the appropriate answer is this one on the board. Therefore, this method is useful, as it provides a clearer understanding and starts to build social relationships between classmates. Especially for ELs, this method can be further adapted to include sentence stems or sentences frames for their responses and questions about the problems given. For examples, “Yes/No, this is/is not…” or “How many…” may be used for possible setups for their responses and questions, respectively.

           The relevance of this tactic is the number of possibilities it may be used before, during, and/or after the lesson. As stated, homework may be reviewed in this manner as students can help each other understand questions or problems one or more students may have trouble with. During a lesson, teachers may give a set of problems, put students in groups or pairs, and have students choose the questions each wishes to explain. After an allotted time, students then share their work and see if there are any similarities or differences for each question or problem. After a lesson, students may be given a group project and may give students the choices to see which topic and parts of the project, such as examples, the history, etc., to do. After every student has a good understanding and has done an appropriate amount of work for their part, each student may want to share one’s findings, to make sure all group members understand and see what one comes with, for their part.

            The main reason I see this method interesting is the connections it may build between one student with few classmates or even the whole class. In fact, for ELs, the use of supports may be beneficial, depending on what level a certain EL is at. To be clear, one may want to combine classmates together in a heterogeneous manner, thus ELs may learn how certain terms are stated appropriately. Altogether, students “become the teacher…you’re either teaching your peer or teaching the whole class” (Teaching Channel, 2018). Thus, with the appropriate planning and procedures, the application of peer teaching may be used to help students grasp the material clearer.

Links:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/student-peer-teaching

Citations:

Teaching Channel. (2018, June 27). Math Homework Review: Peer Teaching. Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/student-peer-teaching

           What components may be used to construct and teach a lesson that includes ELs? This post has an answer, in the form of five tools. The main idea is that these five tools are examples and topics to comprehend, as educators, to seek the best results from all students, including ELs. In fact, these tools circulate around the use of one’s native language to engage a certain word problem, by either rewriting it in their native language and/or answering it bilingually. The issues that come up surround students’ writing, reading, and speaking and how teachers must allow students choices in how to answer or respond to certain dilemmas or situations in class. Therefore, it speaks to how students may feel comfortable and safe to respond to any questions that the teacher may have for them.

           Looking at this article, I see how important it is to make sure students are not given a harsh time with their work, as all students are learning and mistakes happen. In fact, it should be quite apparent that we also do the best to include them and their culture in the lesson. As one of the tools mentioned, cultural background may prove to beneficial to them, as it relates to the topic of the lesson and it provides a good-feeling environment in the class. Depending on the levels of certain individual students as well, we must provide the appropriate supports as well. In fact, it is best said that we, as educators, “aim to narrow the gap between different cultures, increase students’ mathematics vocabulary, promote motivation and understanding…” (Zhao, Lapuk, 2019).

            In terms of creating a lesson, I suggest these tools may be useful and considerate, as an educator must concern oneself of the students’ needs and background. Although this article pertains to teaching mathematics specifically, the information and examples may always be transferred throughout all the contents. For instance, English teachers may focus on learning specific vocabulary, so students work on words that appear frequently in these certain texts. Thus, the teacher may create materials and supports for all students, especially ELs, to better comprehend the lesson, such as allowing for different types of responses, like oral or written responses in both English and one’s native language. In social studies, one’s lesson, such as a lesson of an ancient civilization, may pertain to relate it to modern life, by being aware of students’ cultural roots and using it as responses in this lesson. Finally, we must look at the big picture. These tools are just a part of a possible instruction, but they are proven to be beneficial in creating a better class environment.

Links:

https://www.nctm.org/Publications/Mathematics-Teacher/2019/Vol112/Issue4/Supporting-English-Learners-in-the-Math-Classroom_-Five-Useful-Tools/

Citations:

Zhao, M., & Lapuk, K. (2019, February). Supporting English Learners in the Math Classroom: Five Useful Tools. Retrieved from https://www.nctm.org/Publications/Mathematics-Teacher/2019/Vol112/Issue4/Supporting-English-Learners-in-the-Math-Classroom_-Five-Useful-Tools/

           To be fair, these steps are more of an example of a good activity to help all students, even those who are ELs. This exercise pertains to students’ prior knowledge by making students mainly focus and build their speaking and listening skills in English proficiency. As stated in the video, “students had to ask for the information…listen and understand the information…then report that information” (Teaching Channel, 2018). Another benefit from this exercise is that it also builds students’ vocabulary, as they listen and speak for the other person’s argument. In fact, this exercise may be adapted to fit into other contents’ goals and lessons. For example, in English classes, one may give a simple question of a text, such as “Is this character a protagonist?” and this activity follows the same format but may produce different sides for students to defend. Another instance is that history classes may use this activity by asking students to pretend to be on the sides of certain historical parties, such as the North vs. South or the Loyalists vs. Patriots.

            To digress, this video shows how this activity invigorates students’ prior knowledge. Throughout the video, the lesson makes students require to recall the last argument one had and how they convinced that person. Using their own recollection, this allows students to structure their arguments in their own words, instead of using certain guidelines, in terms of specific words. Although the questions were planned for their interview, the teacher also gave feedback for any questions of what certain words meant. This allows for an efficient breakdown on certain words’ meanings and allows all students to understand what they are doing, saying, and answering from their interviews.            
            Another reason for this video is that it engages students to be interactive with each other and process their own thinking as well. Students are in groups of four and then separated into pairs. When in pairs, each individual student must ask one’s partner questions and then switch when the teacher states to do so. This activity also allows students the appropriate time to fully say what they want, without any constraints. What also is very interesting about this activity is that it builds up from a pair conversation to a group conversation. At this transition, students can share what they learned from each other and this also makes sure that students are becoming more aware of what persuasion means.

Overall, this activity may work to benefit students’ understanding on certain topics within one’s classroom. I believe communication, whether it manifests in an activity or in the general classroom atmosphere, is vital to students’ dynamics in their work and engagement. As we were high school students before, we know that students left on their own may have more of a negative effect on the student’s participation and conversation skills. Thus, as educators, it is important for students to interact comfortably and efficiently as possible during any lesson.

Links:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/activating-prior-knowledge

Citations:

Preparing Learners: Activating Prior Knowledge. (2018, September 7). Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/activating-prior-knowledge

          When thinking of games, we think of Candy Crush or Tik Tok or what the new game craze is about. However, certain games have additional and helpful values and advantages in education, especially for ELs. One game is a board game, called Taboo, which has people must describe a word, with certain similar words and phrases being “taboo” or forbidden to say aloud. This helps by making students be aware of how to model their descriptions. It also goes to the benefit of all students to practice and better understand how to orally describe the word appropriately. Another game is an app called Township, which is building a town, with attributes of urban and rural locales. This game also incorporates different settings for the languages and this part may help student go back and forth from their native language to English. This works almost as a bilingual glossary.

           For an educator, there would be some modifications for the Taboo game, but there would be both drawbacks and advantages for both games. For Taboo, one may make the game more challenging by adding a restriction, such as no words beginning with a certain letter. Thus, students must figure out how specifically describe the word, given the current restrictions. There are some disadvantages, such as students, who may be at different levels of English proficiency, may be confused or possibly lost. To specify, an example would be the possibility of an EL with low English reading, speaking, or listening skills may not understand what the game and its instructions. Thus, the student is lost during this activity with this game. Another example is when I played this recently with these restrictions. Although my letters were rarely used as a first letter, I noticed my fellow classmates struggle with letters, like ‘g,’ ‘a,’ or ‘f.’ Along with nerves, we tend to have an even more limited word bank in our heads, due to these new added rules. Nevertheless, one advantage is that they get practice from how to say and pronounce words in English, from listening from their classmates. In fact, it may be pertinent for students to repeat phrases or terms as much as possible, to sound out those terms appropriately for all students around them. Another important aspect is the support and building of a collaborative relationship between classmates. Thus, all students, including ELs, have “meaningful and low-anxiety opportunities for learners to…remember things faster and better” (Ferlazzo, Sypnieski, 2012)

           For Township, there are many parts of the game that lend itself to the contents, such as using the money with its correspondence to the items, for the math lessons based on ratios or proportions. Another advantage are the language settings, which provide multiple languages and English, which gives the student aid in understanding what certain objects, verbs, or places mean in English and in their native language. The only setback is the language set itself, as it only contains a certain amount of languages. This only gives a setback, given the possibility that a student may not speak any of the other languages given. Yet, as I keep playing this game, I notice that certain verbs in a native language, like “llegado” means arrived, as the vehicles in the game come back with more material. Thus, certain English connotations may be learned over a gradual amount of time, in terms of an EL’s process.

          Overall, I believe these games are good uses for all students, especially ELs. Nevertheless, I would warrant only a certain amount of time in class for them, even if it helps ELs learn to communicate English in a more proficient manner. The games themselves are best used for the qualities stated and then for the students’ personal times, if they continue to like them.

Links:

https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2012/09/19/tln_ferlazzo_hull-sypnieski_ell.html

Citations:

Ferlazzo, L., & Sypnieski, K. H. (2012, September 19). Using Games in the ELL Classroom, Part I. Retrieved from https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2012/09/19/tln_ferlazzo_hull-sypnieski_ell.html

           At first, background knowledge seems to be troubling, depending on the subject one has and even the specific topics a class is being taught. However, there are some strategies and methods that may help with the design of a certain lesson. One of them happened to be the use of categorized sticky notes. The use of these sticky notes state to “give students…a question or topic related” and then they “respond to the question or topic…post their notes on the board…” (Fenner, 2017). This strategy works to evaluate students’ prior knowledge on the lesson’s topic of that day. Another example happens to relate to the use or mention of real-world examples. The use of these examples, such as the use of hand-on materials or worldly structures, helps the lesson “reinforce concepts…that students can picture…” (Fenner, 2017). Another helpful tip was the use of prediction/anticipation guides, which happen to “provide students with written statements related to the text before they begin reading” (Lent, 2012). These guides simply give educators foresight of the amount and understanding of their knowledge on the following topic. This also has an added benefit such that if their predictions are appropriate, then “the information often sticks with them longer” (Lent, 2012).

            To relate to the idea of background knowledge, lessons are more resonant to students if they can relate the material to what they know or have learned before. Now, it is understandable that students may be unaware of the information being taught. If that happens, educators may be able to coincide their lessons with other content teachers’ material. This way shows a collaboration between teachers and make sure that students are more capable to understand what is going on. Thus, this component shows that it is “essential to find out what your students know about the topic” (Lent, 2012).

           Looking back, it is pertinent to evaluate how students may respond to a lesson and see how the future lessons can be adapted to further connect with students, such as the inclusion of their interests, culture, or hobbies. Personally, for math classes, the most noticeable use of background knowledge is to incorporate them in the creation of original word problems. However, this depends on the topic of the lessons. Nevertheless, other uses of background information may be used in projects, such as creation of symmetric poster projects or the types of properties (associative, communicative…). Thus, educators may include parts, such as the creation may relate to what one loves to do or create your own word problem based on these properties, respectively. To digress, background knowledge is an essential part of a lesson, because, if possible, an educator may find which students have the appropriate info of the topic and which students do not.

Links:

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/113005/chapters/Background-Knowledge@-The-Glue-That-Makes-Learning-Stick.aspx

Citations:

Lent, R. C. (2012, November). Background Knowledge: The Glue That Makes Learning Stick. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/113005/chapters/Background-Knowledge@-The-Glue-That-Makes-Learning-Stick.aspx

Fenner, D. S. (2017). Unlocking English Learners’ Potential. Sage

This video link below showcases a strategy called Debrief Circles. This strategy
combines certain aspects vital in teaching all students, such as communication, engaging activities, and self-reflection. The use of debrief circles, in Ms. Ekmalian’s lesson on proportion and ratio, is an exemplary use, as they discussed the use of batter and water in making waffles. To clarify, the Debrief Circles have two circles: The inside and the outside. As the inside circle shared their wonders and the outside circle shared what they noticed, one can use this activity to better English proficiency all around, including for ELs. The inside circle then turns around two times, as to have different partners, for a couple of rounds. As noted by the teacher, it was also a gradual process as this form of communication also helped better the relationships between students. During this process, students have articulated their thoughts verbally and very appropriately.

For both non-ELs and ELs, this may work well in any debates or conversation throughout all contents, depending on the topics. Just like the proportions and ratios, other topics, with this peer collaboration between all students, may better their speaking skills as well as their learning process. Also, their inputs were insightful, as it was a combination of self-reflection, peer reflection, and insights gained from this topic and its activity. Generally, these circles remind me of Socratic Circles, as they have a similar setup, but the responsibilities differ. Nevertheless, it helps any student build up courage to talk about their observations and offers teachers a better view on how they may adapt the questions they ask their students.

Another interesting point is the transition of this activity to students’ writing abilities, especially for ELs. This idea, brought up by a peer of mine, revolves around one’s inquisition of how to use this strategy to activate and better students’ written skills. This is interesting, because this strategy requires more of students’ speaking abilities than their written words. Although the video has students read their notes, the focus is not entirely on their note-taking, but what they can say about their notes. A detail to this idea was that if students aren’t comfortable writing as much as speaking, a support, such as sentence stems or frames, may be included as an aid to help their thoughts come across to their classmates. Overall, it is best said from Ms. Ekmalian herself and that this strategy helps students receive “the deeper learning and the deeper understanding of why it was?…, what they did…either worked or not worked” (Teaching Channel, 2014).

Links

https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/students-reflect-on-learning-exl

Citations:

Debrief Circles. (2014, June 27). Retrieved from https://www.teachingchannel.org/video/students-reflect-on-learning-exl

This is a graphic visual depicting multiple strategies and ideas that surround how educators must teach ELs appropriately. These quick and concise motions are just few yet vital points that can help teachers create a safe and productive atmosphere in their classrooms. In fact, this works for all students, especially for English learners. The main reason of this info-graphic is to allow all educators, experienced and fresh, to see that these components of teaching all ELs efficiently and engagingly as possible. These ideas showcase certain parts of the curriculum that revolve around the contents in schools. These strategies are possible supports, interactions, or aids that may help both students and teachers in their lessons and classes. In fact, especially with students, who are learning how to be proficient in their English skills, teachers may have to be aware of their students and their lives, inside and outside of the school. Hence, teachers can start to better plan their instruction to better the learning and motivation of all their students.

To detail the parts of the infographic, I divided this material into two parts: The Ideas and The Strategies. These parts are just a couple suggestions to help ELs learn in a much more efficient manner in their content classes.

The ideas consist of the creations and uses of differentiated instruction, scaffolded lessons, language objectives, activities of academic conversation, and a well-structured assessment. Each idea given surrounds the necessity and awareness of how educators must notice of all students, especially ELs, and their needs, strengths, concerns, and supports, if any. All students in one’s class must be taken into consideration, as student may have certain needs that differ from their fellow classmates.

The strategies pertain to certain supports, like cultural background, sentence stems, sentence frames, word banks, word walls, and graphic organizers, and collaboration between students and between educators. Each strategy revolves around how certain students may need assistance, especially for ELs with different proficiency levels in English. The collaboration comes into play when students communicate with each other as well as ESOL and content teachers. Lastly, the cultures of students may help students become more comfortable and at ease when learning the lesson at hand. Overall, this material provides a clear and concise picture on what educators may use to reach ELs.

            I been part of the NCTM group since the beginning of the school of 2018 – 2019. This website includes many resources and blogs and it has math teachers all around the nation giving out their advice and ideas. The post also touches upon the idea that teachers need to put themselves into certain students’ shoes, especially ELs. This link is specifically inclined to the ideas of one math teacher and how one may need to interact and assist English learners in mathematics. In fact, this post on the website has two authors, as Mr. Milyutin interviews Ms. Meyer on the Do’s and the Don’ts and how there must be beneficial interactions between teachers and students.

            Another point that is stated is the challenges that English Learners face when learning another “language,” such as speaking mathematically or scientifically, alongside English, too. As stated in this blog, some of these students may “fail to grasp concepts in math, science and, of course, language arts.” (Milyutin, Meyer, 2018). Teachers would have to try to work with ESOL educators and have a certain bilingual program, depending on the EL’s native language and current English proficiency. In fact, collaboration must be inclusive as well, as being exclusive, such as specific classes to ELs, may prove to stagnant in students’ education. To create efficient and meaningful teaching, educators must put in effort to build connections between themselves and all students, including English learners.            

In fact, the choice of NCTM proves to be insightful and caring, as it helps teachers, upcoming and experienced, understand how to help all students, especially English learners. For instance, the Don’ts are stated explicitly on this link post. One idea happens to be that one doesn’t need to generally translate while instructing, as the idea of the class is to make sure that lesson focuses on the math and all the computations. This idea and the rest focus on not isolating the ELs during the class but making sure that it is given to all students, with the ELs in one’s class in mind. The Do’s revolve around pre-instruction and participation, such as making vocabulary given to students before the intended lesson or supporting all students to work together and learn from each other. Thus, this website proves to be influential to all teachers of math to better interact and instruct with students in their classroom.

Link:

https://my.nctm.org/blogs/evgeny-milyutin/2018/02/27/how-do-we-support-english-learners-success-in-math

Bibliography:

Milyutin, E., & Meyer, L. (2018, February 27). How Do We Support English Learners Success in Mathematics? Retrieved from https://my.nctm.org/blogs/evgeny-milyutin/2018/02/27/how-do-we-support-english-learners-success-in-math