Today we're exploring teaching English Language Learners. Next year, I will be teaching a full load of information communication technology classes. For most of the classes we'll do a quick project using Thinglinks, as a way for students to introduce themselves to each other in the beginning of the school year. The assignment has several components. First students must identify at least 4 events they'd like to share with the class. Then they must write up brief annotations about each event. Next they must find images (preferably their own original work) that represent the images. They must then begin the work of creating their Thinglinks. First, they must upload a background image, and attach tags for each of the four events. Each event will then have an image and their annotation attached to it. In today's post I will explore ways that I can work with English Language Learners to enable them to accomplish this task, and improve their English.
Meet my students. Francis is n the early production stage of English language acquisition. He hardly speaks in class and when he does, he is only able to use the most basic English words and phrases. Lydia is in the Speech Emergent stage of English language acquisition. She has some experience with English, and is can hold her own, able to speak in sentences as long as the context is familiar. When the conversation takes an unexpected turn, she finds it a bit difficult to follow.
Xinrui is from China, and her primary language is Chinese. However she has lived in other countries and attended American schools in each case, and she comes to us from Tunisia. Her experiences put her in the Beginning Fluency stage of English language acquisition. She is able to hold her own in social situations, and academically as well, but struggles with subject specific language and has gaps in her vocabulary that can make it hard for her to express herself at times.
Finally David is from Cote d'Ivoire, so his primary language is French. However he has lived in other countries, and attended American schools in each case, and he has spent time in the United States with his family. So although he is new to our school, he is fairly comfortable with the English language and is able to express his ideas and offer opinions in English.
All four students are in a class of 18 others. I'll begin with an open question to the class about an event that was important to them during the break. I'll share something that I enjoyed as a model. After a few comments have been shared, we'll open a discussion about ways we can share our experiences, accessing prior knowledge about scrap books, video, photo albums, and such. Once they are thinking about ways to share, I'll show them a sample Thinglink that highlights some adventures I had this summer. During this initial presentation, I will list key words on the board for those who are learning language, such as event names, feeling words, etc. I will explain that each of them will be making a similar Thinglink for themselves. On the board and on a handout they will have complete instructions.
However for Francis, we will adjust the assignment - he will need to identify 4 events with simple one word names for the events, and he can find images from home. He and Lydia will have a worksheets with fill in the blank statements and important vocabulary listed, that they can use to build their annotations. Lydia will have a similar accommodation, but will be helped to write more complete sentences about her activities. Xinrui will be asked to explain her activities in more detail, using specific terminology related to her activities, while David will be asked to include opinions about his experiences.
The class will then break into small groups to discuss their summer activities and identify the four activities they would like to focus on. Francis will be paired with David and another English speaking student. David will be able to help Francis with some translation, while our English speaker can record each of their comments. Lydia and Xinrui will be teamed with another English speaking student. The English speaking students will record their comments so that they can refer back to them as they work on their annotations. For homework, each student will have the four items they would like to write about in mind and the text provided from the worksheets and from the student summaries. They are to return with images and annotations for each, that meet their specific requirements.
The next class meeting will focus on working with the Thinglink technology. In this case We will watch a video, which will be made available to the students to watch again and again. I will model the process, highlighting on the board, the key terms related to the accomplishing each step in the task: Upload, Save, Tag, Edit, Create, Annotation, etc. I will provide a slideshow with step by step screen shots of the process, once again highlighting the "survival" language needed to get the job done. Once we've reviewed the steps and the process, students may begin the work.
No comments:
Post a Comment