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ESL/Civics Education Special Project

Year 2

Basic Skills DepartmentCaldwell Community College and

Technical InstituteOctober, 2003

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Am I having a déjà vu experience?!?!?

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What’s the difference between year 1 and year

2 of the ESL/Civics Education Special

Project?

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Year 1

for beginning learners

has over 80 lesson plans for beginners

Year 2

for intermediate learners

has over 110 lesson plans for intermediate learners

has over 20 PowerPoint Presentations

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Reasons for the project

ESL students need skills that allow them to be contributing members of the community.

Intentional instruction in the area of civics must occur.

Instructors often lack civics education training and planning time.

There is currently no well-developed civics education curriculum.

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What is Civics Education?

Government Citizenship Consumer

Education Community

Resources Money

Management Legal System

Personal Information

American Culture Parenting Employment Forms More

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Objectives of the Project

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Objective #1

Identify the specific skills required for ESL students to be able to fully participate as members of their communities, state, and country.

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Objective #2

Develop an adjunct ESL/Civics education curriculum.

Year 1—Beginning level Year 2—Intermediate Level

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Objective #3

Implement beginning ESL/Civics Education curriculum in at least two (2) pilot sites during year one.

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Objective #4

Implement intermediate ESL/Civics Education curriculum in at least two (2) pilots sites during year 2.

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The Process

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Working with current ESL staff, community agencies, and ESL students, we solicited input as to the competencies whose mastery is necessary for increased civic awareness and participation.

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Using this information, a cross-section of ESL students were asked to rate the competencies in order of importance to them.

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Competencies were identified from this aggregated information.

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Concurrently, “best practices” in ESL instruction were explored.

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The most current and effective instructional materials were researched and critiqued.

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We communicated with ESL service providers all over the country and, in some cases, in other countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia.

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Pilot sites were identified based on…

–the number of intermediate ESL students being served.–the willingness of the instructional staff to be active participants in field-testing.

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With this information in hand, work began on the development of the ESL/civics curriculum.– Each competency was examined and skills

necessary for mastery were identified.– Lesson plans were developed based on each

of the specific skills identified.– Instructional resources necessary to support

the lesson were created and/or purchased.– Lesson plans and materials were assembled

into instructional packets.

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Once the instructional packets were completed, they were field-tested at the pilot sites.– All plans and resources were in the

instructional packet and ready for use.– Minimal out of class planning on the part

of the instructor was required.

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Field-tested lesson plans were then evaluated. Changes and adaptations were made as indicated.

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Instructor Participation and Training

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Instructors at the pilot locations were trained in the implementation of the ESL/civics curriculum by the project director.

staff development staff meetings newsletters e-mails

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Once the ESL/civics curriculum was in place, the pilot site instructors participated in staff development activities with the entire ESL staff on curriculum implementation.

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Evaluation

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Evaluation and revision was concurrent with the development and implementation of the curriculum.

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Evaluation methods Instructor feedback in various forms

including an Lesson Plan Evaluation Form

Student feedback Instructor designed assessments Self-reporting

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At the end of the second year, a fully developed, comprehensive ESL/civics curriculum for beginning and intermediate ESL instruction will be available for implementation in any ESL class.

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Project Dissemination

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The project can be replicated by other ESL programs

Sharing the methodology, curriculum competencies, lesson plans, and resource material inventories with other ESL providers

Presentation at conferences, local, regional, and statewide

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Today you will receive...

Project Summary Beginning Level CD

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Project Summary

As a means of accomplishing Goal 4 (project dissemination), we prepared a summary of the materials you will receive.

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ESL/Civics Education Curriculum, Beginning Level CD

Lesson Plan Folder

Blank Lesson Plan Lesson Plan

Evaluation Form ESL Special

Project Flowchart PowerPoint

Presentations

Staff Development Announcements

Staff Development Calendar

ESL Materials Listing Lesson Plan Listing ESL/Civics Education

Project Summary

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Example of Technology Integration

1.Supermarket Family Feud

2.Wordsheets3.Amusement Parks

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For information

Contact Melinda Hefner, ESL Special Project Director

726-2245 Mhefner@cccti.edu

OR Contact Mandy Williams, ESL Special

Project Curriculum Developer 726-2274 Mwilliams@cccti.edu