Literacy Success for English Literacy Success for English Language Learners in Elementary Language Learners in Elementary

SchoolsSchools

Dr. Gilda Del Risco Kean University of New JerseyKean University of New Jersey

October 27, 2004October 27, 2004

Professional Development andIn Class Co-Teaching

“Probably nothing within a school has more impact on children, in terms of skills development, self-confidence, and classroom behavior, than the personal and professional growth of teachers. When teachers individually and collectively examine, question, reflect on their ideals, and develop new practices that lead toward those ideals, the school and its inhabitants are alive. When teachers stop growing, so do their students.”

By Roland Barth

Many English Language Learners:

Come from countries where they have received less than age appropriate education.

Some are illiterate in their native language. Some have never attended school. School has been interrupted by war or political

reasons.

Sheltered Instruction

“The term sheltered indicates that such instruction provides refuge from the linguistic demands of mainstream instruction, which is beyond the comprehension of English-language learners.” (Echevarria & Graves 1998).

Meaning is to be conveyed directly in the target language through the use of demonstration and visuals.

• Make your instructional talk more understandable by speaking clearly.

• Repeat key points

• Define essential vocabulary in context

• Pair your talk with nonverbal communication cues:

objects, pictures, graphs, and gestures.

Verbal and nonverbal communication When we pair these two communication

channels, words and meanings become discernible to the learner.

Strategies

Try to make the information relevant to their lives - Learning occurs best when connections are made to existing knowledge.

Make the students a part of the situation. Acknowledge their input – Positive feedback is

a powerful influence on the brain’s chemistry. It is essential for the development of a good self-concept (Sylwester 1997).

Comprehensible Input Language that is used in ways that make it

understandable to the learner even though second language proficiency is still limited.

• use visuals, realia, manipulatives, and other concrete materials

• use gestures, facial expressions, and body language.

• repeat, rephrase, and/or paraphrase key concepts, directions, etc.

• build on what students already know.

• be careful of idioms and slang.

Strategies to Promote Early Literacy

Creating a literacy-rich classroom environment.

Books, books, books… Daily routines:

-morning message

-wall dictionary Reading aloud to students Word Families

READING IN A SECOND LANGUAGE

Classroom strategies for beginning readers:

• Language-experience approach• Literacy Centers• Patterned books• Illustrating stories and poems• Shared reading with big books• Direct Listening-Thinking Activity (DL-TA) • Reader’s theater• Story map

(NJCCS 3.1)

READING IN A SECOND LANGUAGE

Classroom strategies for intermediate readers:

• Cognitive mapping• Direct Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA) (Fluency)

• Literature response journals

• Developing scripts for reader’s theater. (Fluency)

• Adapting Stories into plays and scripts for film and videotape.)

• Literacy Centers (NJCCCS 3.1)

Phonemic AwarenessRecognizing that speech is made up of a

series of sounds that can be manipulated. It Is not Phonics Phonics

Is a means to decode printed word made up of sounds and is built on the child’s ability to understand Phonemic Awareness. Phonemic Awareness Preceds Phonics.

(Rothman Barbara. BER)

(NJCCCS 3.1)

Phonics Instruction for English Language Learners

The purpose of phonic instruction is to help students recognize words independently, not to have them state rules.

Principles:-Provide ample time for students to read and write for meaningful purposes, allowing. students to develop their own understanding of sound/symbol correspondences

-Teach phonics within a meaningful context. Enjoy the story or poem for

meaning first, then teach the skill. -Remember that phonics and other word recognition strategies are a means to

an end: comprehension.

(NJCCCS 3.1) (Peregoy and Boyle, 2000)

Recognizing Words Independently Using big books to teach sight words and phonics Poems and song lyrics written in large format on chart paper (to develop word recognition and phonics knowledge) Predictable books with repetitive patterns and phrases to teach

or reinforce sound/symbol correspondences, including consonants, vowels, and letter sequences found in rhyming words.

Ask the students to write their own stories following the pattern in predictable books that they have heard several times. This will provide a chance for the students to put their phonics and sight word knowledge into meaningful practice.

Older students who are new to literacy – Same strategies. Short texts with age-appropriate content. Fortunately by Remy Charlip.

• Song lyrics and poems – Good sources of predictable texts.(NJCCCS 3.1)

First Language “During the initial years of exposure to English,

continuing cognitive and academic development in first language is considered to be a key variable for academic success in second language.”

(Garcia 1994; Tinajero & Ada, 1993. In Collier, 1995)

Later on, apply the techniques used to teach English as a second language.

Yo quiero escribir en mi idioma.

Writing in a Second Language

Strategies to assist beginning writers:

• Oral discussion

• Partner stories using pictures and wordless books

• Personal journals

• Dialogue journals

• Buddy journals• Free writing (NJCCCS 3.2)

Strategies to assist intermediate writers

Show and not tell - Provides descriptive details about what the writer wants to convey.

Sentence combining Sentence shortening Sentence models Process Writing: -Prewriting

-Drafting -Revising

-Editing -Publishing (NJCCCS 3.2)

Initial Strategies to Teach English Comprehension to English language Learners

Pre-reading Strategies Background Knowledge Necessary to construct meaning from text.

Development of key vocabulary

Background Knowledge – Teacher builds upon the language, culture and experiential background that students bring to the classroom and relate knowledge to new information provided in the text.

(NJCCCS 3.1)

Students may experience difficulties due to lack of prior knowledge on the particular topic to be read.

Background knowledge can often be accomplished through a sharing of the groups’ knowledge.

It may be recorded in a graphic format.

Guided Reading Strategies

Use questions before and during the reading to help the students to get meaning from the reading.

Hypothesizing or predicting questions. What do you think this story is about? What do you think will happen next?

Data acquisition questions Summary questions Reading aloud – Teacher model predicting, inferring, and

connecting mew text to prior knowledge.

(NJCCC 3.1)

Post-Reading Strategies

Retelling a story after reading

- Offers a means for reinforcing and supporting comprehension. - Provides a means for integrating writing into the program. It can be done in cooperative learning groups, paired writing, or individually.

Building on the knowledge gained through the prereading activities.

More reading (NJCCCS 3.1)

At – Risk Students

Remedial classes and pullout programs have been found to slow down learning

Accelerated Learning

- Focus on enrichment rather than remediation.

- Building on the strength that all students bring

to the classroom.

- Draw on students experiences and interest.

Language Experience Approach

- discussion bases on the content of the text

- review vocabulary found in the reading

- students summarize the reading or story

for the teacher, who acts as a scribe and

writes sentences on the board or chart

paper.

(NJCCCS 3.1, 3.2)

ERRORS Teacher should take into consideration:

• The student’s English language developmental level

• The prevalence of the error type

• The importance of the error type for communication

• Teacher’s specific goals for the students in terms of English language development

• Should be corrected in a non-threatening way

• Repeat correctly what the student has said incorrectly

Assessment Portfolio Assessment Multiple Measures for Assessment - Do not assess only through written tests. If you do not assess the English language learners in many different ways, you will not find out what they really know. Observations - Anecdotal records - Check lists - Concrete materials. Opportunities to demonstrate that they understood the information.

References

Echevarria, J. and Graves, Anne. (1998). Sheltered Content Instruction Teaching English-Language Learners with Diverse Abilities. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Friedlander, M. (1991). The Newcomer Program: Helping Immigrant Students Succeed in U. S. Schools.

http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/ncbepubs/pigs/pigs.htm Carrasquillo A. and Rodriguez V. (2002). Language Minority Students in the Toronto: Multilingual

Matters Ltd. Coolier, V. (1995). Promoting academic success for ESL students. NJTESOL/NJBE Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic

Books. Krashen, S., and Terrell, T. (1983). The Natural Approach. Hayward: The Alemany Press. Peregoy, S. F. and Boyle, O. F. (2000). Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL. New York:

Longman. Rothman, B. Practical phonics strategies to build beginning reading and writing skills. BER. Sternberg, R. J. (1994). Allowing for Thinking Styles. Educational Leadership 52, 3. Sylwester, R. (1997). The Neurobiology of Self-Esteem and Aggression. Educational Leadership

54 (5), 75-79. Tomlinson, C. A. The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. ASCD. Willis, S. and Mann, L. (2000). Differentiating Instruction. In Curriculum by the Association for

Supervision and Curriculum Development. Weinberger, S. (1992). Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom. Minneapolis, MN: Free

Spirit Publishing.