EA Summer Training Workshop:Helping ELL Students Access Content

July 8, 9, & 10, 2008 – 2:30 to 5:30 p.m.

Kapi‘olani Community CollegeTeacher Preparation Program

Shawn Ford and Veronica Ogata, Facilitators

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Topic Mns.Greeting/ Schedule Overview/Feedback Rating & Comments/Collect Reflection 10Group Work: Homework Discussion 10Homework Reporting 20Sample Lesson 15

Break (snacks) 10

Session Topic and Introduction –Maxim 2: Overview of Scaffolding 10Scaffolding Techniques 10Sample Materials/ Reflection 25

Break 10

Application of Maxim 2: ScaffoldingGroup Work 30Sharing/ Discussion 20Wrap-up/ Homework/ Feedback 10

WELCOME!

EA in ESL Teacher Training Summer Workshops

Sponsors: Teacher Preparation Program at KCC, funded in

part by a federal Perkins grant

Audience: Workshops prepared for in-service EAs who

work with NEP and LEP students in the DOE

Purpose: Provide EAs with additional training, and

Provide EAs with knowledge and strategies to

facilitate and accelerate the language

development of their ESL students

We hope you enjoy our program and

find it useful for your teaching situations!

Topic: Helping ELL Students Access Content

- Language Arts, Mathematics, Physical Sciences and

Social Sciences

- Primary, intermediate and secondary levels

Goals1. Develop attendee’s individual strategies, and

2. Develop a booklet of sample materials.

During the workshop, please remember to…

1. Actively participate and be open to new ideas.

2. Complete all group, reflection, and “homework”

tasks.

3. Stay on task so we can complete the material

in each session on time.

Group Roles

LeaderResponsible for keeping the group on task. Makes sure that all members of the group have an opportunity to participate and learn.

TimekeeperResponsible for keeping time and making sure that the group finishes the task on time.

RecorderWrites out results of group activities or important discussion points. Also prepares presentation materials for oral reports.

ReporterGives oral responses about the group’s activities or discussions.

Feedback from Tuesday

EA Workshop Summer 08- Session 1

1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5

Background

Presentations

Materials

Scaffolding

Group work

Facilities

Likely

Rate

Category

Feedback

Series1

Series1 4.18182 4.12121 4.27273 4.39394 4.24242 4.30303 4.30303 4.33333

Background

Presentations

MaterialsScaffoldi

ngGroup work

Facilities Likely Rate

Feedback from Tuesday

Start on time, too many breaks, air conditioning too low - but class was great

Facilities warm

Facilities warm, breaks too long, more time for lecture, thanks for snacks!

It would be nice to have a 2-hr. class w/ 1 break

It was too long!!

Presentations: maybe close curtain due to sunlight glare

Group discussions: we need more time

Would like more strategies/ scaffolding activities

Have student work showing different levels of proficiency

This workshop is very knowledgeable. It has much to do to help me in my job.

Today's workshop gave us usable information that we can apply in the classroom.

Group Work: Discussion of Content Selection Homework

In groups at your tables, take 10 minutes to share your homework with your group-mates. Discuss your reasons for choosing your content and your answers to the three reflection questions. After you have talked with each other about your materials, choose one member at your table to give a brief 3-minute report about her/his materials.

For this activity you’ll need a leader, a timekeeper, a recorder, and a reporter.

GROUP REPORT

• Materials• Context• What specific strategies would you use to help

your students understand the passage?• What specific content is necessary to understand the passage?• What language needs will your students have?

Sample Lesson

Materials: Passage 2- “Desert Lions”

Context: 3rd grade, pull-out, NEP students

What specific strategies would you use to help your students understand the passage?

• Assessing background knowledge• Building background knowledge• Flash cards: images and vocabulary• Reading aloud• Repetition• Summarization• Production activities: drawing, word and sentence writing, discussion• Feedback

What specific content is necessary to understand the passage?

• Wild animals: lions, porcupines, ostriches, antelope• Desert environment: hot, dry, sand, sun, summer• Survival: hunger, thirst, hunting

What language needs will your students have?

• Vocabulary: definitions and recognition• Grammar: present-tense verbs• Reading: repetition and word recognition• Pronunciation: Final consonants (deseRT); r-l (Lion); z-dj (deZert)• Writing: vocabulary items and short sentences

10 Minute BREAK

REVIEW: Language Learning Myths and Facts

1. Children learn second languages quickly and easily. FALSE.

2. Children have acquired a second language once they can speak it. FALSE.

3. When learning a second language, it’s best to study grammar and vocabulary first before trying to use the language. FALSE.

4. Children are just like sponges; they absorb the language around them just through exposure to the language. FALSE.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IS NOT

SIMPLY MEMORIZATION.

LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT IS

COMPREHENSION, APPLICATION &

REPETITION.

BICS is the language used in daily interactions with

other people: friends, family, store clerks, etc. CALP is

the specialized language used in academic settings.

BICS: 2 years through daily interactions

General language skills: 3-5 years through

interactions along with focused attention

CALP: 5-7 years of formal study

Content can provide wonderfully abundant

opportunities to teach the whole range of

language skills, including reading, writing,

listening, and speaking, vocabulary, grammar,

pronunciation, and usage.

Feedback is an integral part of any interaction.

Feedback can be spoken or written and can be

either positive (confirming) or negative

(clarifying, rejecting).

Feedback includes the strategies of repetition,

recasting and expansion.

Language Development Maxims:

1. Language should not be taught in isolation.

Language should always be taught in some sort of context, using meaningful content. Any attention to discrete skills should arise from content demands.

2. Learner-directed speech should always encompass BICS and CALP.

This can be accomplished by using complete sentences to facilitate interaction. Repetition and recasting, along with expansion of ideas and the encouragement of inquiry should be part of all feedback.

10 Minute BREAK

CURRENT WORKSHOP

LANGUAGE IS CONTENT –

CONTENT IS LANGUAGE.

Content = ideas, information, knowledge.

Language = the ability to communicate

content.

Survey of your Students Leader - Timekeeper - Recorder

1. What are your students’ native languages?

2. What are 1-2 of the most common pronunciation difficulties for each language group from Q1 above?

Group Activity: Instructor Responsibilities

The instructor is responsible for at least half of

the language development process.

Working with the group at your table, take 5

minutes to brainstorm a list of specific

instructor responsibilities within the language

development process.

GROUP REPORT

Current Workshop Maxims1. Our ELL Students need access to the same grade-level content

as their native-English peers.

In general, content-based instruction seeks to develop the

students’ English language proficiency by incorporating information

from the subject areas that students are likely to study or from

courses they may have missed is they are fairly new to the school.

Whatever subject matter is included, for effective content-based

instruction to occur, teachers need to provide practice in academic

skills and tasks common to mainstream classes. (explanation from

The SIOP Model textbook)

2. A range of scaffolding strategies is necessary to help our NEP

and LEP students access the content.

Scaffolding is the provision of sufficient supports to promote

learning when concepts and skills are being first introduced to

students. These supports may include: language resources, a

warm-up or background-building task, templates or guides, and

specific guidance on the development of cognitive and social skills.

These supports are gradually removed as students develop

autonomous learning strategies, thus promoting their own cognitive,

affective and psychomotor learning skills and knowledge. Teachers

help the students master a task or a concept by providing support.

(explanation adapted from Wikipedia)

3. A range of feedback strategies is necessary to help develop our

NEP and LEP students’ understanding and output to more closely

resemble the input and academic expectations.

Feedback is a process whereby some proportion of the output of a

learner is commented on in some manner and passed (fed back) to

the learner in order to modify the output or inform the input.

Students learn better when they can find out, as soon as possible,

whether or not they are understanding a new topic or performing a

new skill correctly. This means that a teacher should let each

student know, individually, on a frequent basis, which areas of

study he is doing well on, and which areas he needs to work harder

on. Different types of feedback can be either positive or negative

and include correction, confirmation, explanation, elaboration, and

diagnosis. (explanation adapted from Wikipedia)

Group Activity: Revisit Responsibilities

Working with the group at your table, take 5 minutes to add to your list of specific

instructor responsibilities within the language development process.

GROUP REPORT

10 Minute BREAK

Group Work:APPLICATION OF MAXIM 1

Leader – Timekeeper – Recorder – Reporter

Main Group Activity: Application of Maxim 1- Appropriate Content

Working with the group at your table, assess the appropriateness of the following passages for content knowledge and language development.

Choose one passage and discuss what you would do to help your students understand the passage.

Determine specific content necessary to understand the passage. Predict language needs that your students will have.

Context: NEP students; 3rd grade; pull-out learning situation

1. What specific strategies would you use to help your students understand the passage?

2. What specific content is necessary to understand the passage?

3. What language needs will your students have?

Report:

3 groups will now share with us the lesson plan that they created, based on their chosen context and teaching approach.

Shawn’s Report:I would choose passage 2 for its academic, grade-level focus.

1. I would simplify the reading, provide background knowledge on the Kalahari, provide pictures or images, provide important vocabulary, read the passage for the student…

2. Wild African animals, desert environment, survival/ hunting

3. Reading (decoding), vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation

Wrap-up and Homework

As a follow-up activity, find an appropriate

passage that you would use to help develop

your students’ content knowledge and

language.

Make a copy of the passage, provide the

context, and answer the following questions.

Bring the passage and this sheet on

Wednesday to submit when you sign in.

Reflection:

Please take 5 minutes to write down your thoughts...

• What are your thoughts about this approach to

language development?

• What are your thoughts about scaffolding for your

students?

• What will you adapt or adopt for use in your own

teaching situation?

Please write your reflection on another piece of paper

as a formal reflection on today’s workshop. Include any

other thoughts and comments. Bring it on Wednesday

to drop off when you sign in.

Also, please take 5 minutes to complete today’s

workshop feedback form, which is located in your folder.

Please leave it on your tables when you are finished.

Thank you!