ILLUSTRATING THE CORE PROGRAM IN ACTIONTHE CONTEXT

Secondary Cycle Two ESL Programs, Day 3 MELS, Fall 2008

Why did the MELS ESL Programs Team

decide to produce a LES?

To see the Secondary Cycle Two ESL Core program in action

To observe and film teachers experimenting the program

To give a meaningful context to the experimentation

Why did the MELS ESL Programs Team

decide to produce a LES?

To illustrate specific aspects of the program: Response Process Production Process Text FeaturesMetacognitive Strategies

Why did the MELS ESL Programs Team

decide to produce a LES?

To use the results of the experimentation in a training workshop

To get teachers’ feedback from the experimentation

Who is it intended for?

Year One of the Secondary Cycle Two Core students

Secondary Cycle Two teachers, as a training tool

Details of the experimentation:

The LES was a collaboration between teachers and the MELS ESL Programs Team

The focus of the LES was on regulation, especially metacognition, guided by the teacher

The LES was planned for 5 to 7 classes

Details of the experimentation:

The LES was experimented in two very different classes: First experiment in January/February

2008 in a small (22 students, mostly girls) quiet class in the Montérégie area

Second experiment in April 2008 in a large (31 students, mostly boys) hockey team class in the Montérégie area

Discoveries: The more motivated the teacher is,

the more motivated the students are...

When teacher and students use English in all classroom situations, it has an impact on students’ involvement in the LES

Teachers’ standards become students’ standards

Discoveries:

When one of the teachers decided to use the English Only policy in class, students were able to use English

Strategies that are taught explicitly are more effectively used by students

Discoveries:

Activating prior knowledge using writing gives results

Simple, structured tasks, carefully chosen prompts and guided questions make it possible for students to use the response process

Discoveries:

Teachers need to get familiar with Text Features before they use them in class

Deconstructing Texts in the Preproduction Phase helps speed up the creation of the poster (final task)

Time spent by teachers commenting students’ metacognition is time well spent

Why Peace?

Wars and repression are still part of our world

Teenagers are in a period of their life where they stand up for what is important to them

The BAL Citizenship and Community Life -Culture of peace- opens up easily to relationships, environment, values..