Presentation: Thematic Approach to Develop BICS and CALP Proficiency in ELL Students

By John ‘JR’ Reafleng Rita Chavira Christopher Garcia

Presentation: Thematic Approach to Develop BICS and CALP Proficiency in ELL Students

1. ‘Do Now’2. Preview presentation objectives3. Discuss Objectives4. Closure activity5. Handout.

Thematic Approach to Develop BICS and CALP Proficiency in ELL Students

Agenda

Turn to your neighbor and ask and respond to the following question: What does thematic instruction mean to you as an educator?

Do Now:

It is likely that your responses addressed one more of the following aims of today’s presentations. Today we will:

Identify three major characteristics of thematic instruction.2. Discuss ideas from two or three recent articles provided that will help use thematic instruction with bilingual learners.3. Present other ideas from our professional experiences concerning thematic instruction that have proven beneficial that have not been mentioned in this training.


AIM:


Ideas from our professional experiences concerning thematic instruction that have proven

beneficial (review of the underlying concepts)


BICS and CALP

What are they?

Why are these concepts important?


BICS and CALP

Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS)

Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP)


Integration of Language and Content:



Language used to be taught in isolation. This meant that teachers used to teach grammatical rules, vocabularies, etc. as separate lessons.



Learners used to be asked to memorize rules and vocabulary lists which were meaningless and had no relevance to the students’ lives.


Integration of Language and Content: Now teachers are asked to teach English through meaningful materials and lessons important to the learners’ academic development.


Interactive Classrooms:

Interactive Classrooms are the most effective classrooms for learning a second language.



Students learn a great deal when they interact with their peers and their teachers.



Cooperative learning helps them develop social skills as well as linguistic and academic skills.


What are three major characteristics of thematic instruction?


1st Major Characteristic of thematic instruction

Academic contents are intertwined with language concepts that are organized around a central real life theme.



The lesson structure of Thematic Approach is

characterized by authentic activities within a collaborative

environment.



This collaborative environment identifies and develops

students’ prior knowledge, pre-taught content vocabulary,

provide visuals


2nd Major Characteristic of thematic instruction

Students achieve CALP within a communicative environment

that facilitates comprehensible input.



Cultural and social factors, learning styles, and levels of

language proficiencies of students are criteria for

establishing a strong thematic approach to teaching.



These criteria provide for consistency of instruction, thus

providing a structured environment.


3rd Major Characteristic of thematic instruction

Instruction is focused on engaging the three groups of learners: auditory, kinesthetic,

and visual.


3rd Major Characteristic of thematic instruction

As a result students are providing with the opportunity to

learn in the way that is most natural to them.


Discuss ideas from two recent articles provided that will help use thematic instruction with bilingual

learners.


The organization Focus on Effectiveness in their 2005 online

article Thematic Instruction discuss several ideas for implementation

of this methodology.

Focus on Effectiveness . (2005). Thematic Instruction . Retrieved from

http://www.netc.org/focus/strategies/them.php


Key Concepts from Article:

“Themes are a way of understanding new concepts. They provide mental organizing schemes for students

to approach new ideas.”

“Research on brain-based teaching explains that the brain learns, and recalls learning, through nonlinear

patterns that emphasize coherence rather than fragmentation. The more teachers make connecting

patterns explicit and accessible for students, the easier

the brain will integrate new information.”


Key Thematic Methods Discussed in Article :

“Choose authentic themes that matter. Choosing themes that are authentic content connectors strengthens students' ability to build fluency between school subjects and apply them in real-world contexts. Select concepts or

ideas that will blend disciplines and create bridges to new knowledge.”

“Connect to the local surroundings. Extend the classroom into the neighborhood, town, and environment by integrating them into the

curriculum in meaningful ways.”


The article notes: “Effective thematic instruction involves using a theme as ‘conceptual glue’ for learners, strengthening bonds to knowledge. This approach relies on teachers who have a strong sense of curriculum as a learning process and can see ways to connect learning with key concepts. The goal is to choose themes that relate to students' lives to ensure interest and engagement in the content.”


In the article Launching a Thematic Unit for Bilingual Learners from the blog “Bilingual Learners”, specific strategies are given to facilitate ELL students via Thematic Instruction.

Bilingual Learners. (2013). Launching a Thematic Unit for Bilingual Learners. Retrieved from http://josdpf.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/launching-a-thematic-unit-for-bilingual-learners/


“ELL students should have plenty (of) opportunities to feel successful and (be) encouraged to try harder and give their best.”

ELL students will make many mistakes by virtue of nature of second-langauge learning and multiple opportunities will allow for greater chance for success.

“Use their input and get ideas from students before making your final decision (regarding the Thematic Unit).”

This is an opportune moment to solicit output, written or oral, at the students current level out output.

http://josdpf.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/launching-a-thematic-unit-for-bilingual-learners/


“Write your content objectives and your language objective side by side for each content area. Make sure to include the National Standards or Common Core state Standards as well as the WIDA or TESOL standards that you will be addressing in each content area.”

Language goals are not an afterthought - the are integral to the lesson.



“Decide what types of authentic assessment will better fit and demonstrate students’ learning (e.g., portfolio, research project, a musical, a play, a science inquiry experiment). Plan plenty opportunities for informal, formal, peer assessment and self assessment.”



Finally the author advises teachers to look for clues about how to engaged ELL students during thematic instruction. Though they may be in a so-called ‘silent period’, they are still communicating.

Describe three major characteristics of thematic instruction to your partner.2. Discuss at least 2 ideas from two or three recent articles provided that will help use thematic instruction with bilingual learners.3. Present at least one other ideas from your professional experiences concerning thematic instruction that have proven beneficial that were or were not mentioned in this training.


Closure: (Debrief)

Handout (‘Strategies and Methods’)

Documents

Presentation: Thematic Approach to Develop BICS and CALP Proficiency in ELL Students