On page 16 in Tompkins, the importance of meeting needs of English Learners is talked about in great depth. Tompkins gives ideas to teachers on how they can support English Learners’ Language Development. Many of those ideas Mrs. DiPietro displays in her classroom and it’s really interesting to see the connection with what Mrs. DiPietro does along with what Tompkins says to do. Tompkins says for teachers to:
- create a stress-free environment
- show genuine interest in children
- their language and their culture
- build students’ background knowledge using artifacts, videos, photos, maps and picture books
- read aloud to students everyday
- avoid forcing students to speak
- don’t lower your expectations for any group of students
- have students work together with partners and in cooperative groups
- expand the two- and three- word sentences that students produce.
During class time, the children often do a ton of writing to strengthen their vocabulary and sentence structure among many other things. One great thing I observed within the classroom is how Mrs. DiPietro really encourages "T" and her writing.
On page 251, Tompkins has an entire section on how teachers can meet the needs of English Learners in the writing area. Again, I saw and made connections to what Mrs. DiPietro does and what Tompkins says to do. Tompkins states “English learners use talk as a learning took in all four patterns of practice.” Tompkins says to:
- involve students in hands-on, active learning opportunities
- have students work with classmates in small groups
- clarify meaning with objects, photos, and demonstrations
- demonstrate how to ask and answer higher-level questions
- involve students in making small-group projects to demonstrate their learning.
I focused this post around "T" and what Tompkins had to say because sometimes teachers are unaware and nervous as to how to handle ELL students. I hope these tips help! If anybody as anymore comments or ideas, please let me no! It'll be interesting to see everyone's views. What do you feel about ELL students? Some schools do not have an ESL program, do you think that is a good thing?
6 comments:
I feel that ESL programs are wonderful when they are implimented correctly. While completing my field work for diversity I was in a classroom that was wonderful. The classroom was all spanish speaking students. It was the last year that they were aloud to be in the program and the class was taught prodiminently in english. These students know are able to speak english and have the same knowledge base as their peers. They have been placed at their proper schools and are no longer segregated from the other children. As much as your teacher may not think that it has made her job any harder I still cannot imagine that. Do you feel that it will be harder if you had a student in your class that did not speak english and how do you plan on helping those furture students? Do you feel that your teacher's approaches are correct or would you change anything? I believe that you gave some great ideas about how to involve these students in our furture classrooms.
I think it is really great that your Tuesday Experience teacher is able to integrate "T" and does not feel like it is a huge challenge. It sounds like she is very positive and encouraging, which is definitley helpful for "T." It is one thing to read a text book and be told how to include ELL students in the classroom, and it is something else to be able to do it. I whish I was in your school to be able to see what your teacher actually does.
I do not see much of an ESL or ELL program in my school in West Hartford. However, during the CMT I noticed that one of the girls in my class leaves with another teacher to take the test in a different room. I asked the teacher what the reasoning behind this was and found out that she gets time and a half on her test because she is still new to the english language. Both of her parents speak spanish and do not try to speak english. I would imagine this can get frustrating for her because she wants to better her english but has to only speak spanish at home. She is a very bright girl, but sometimes needs the extra help when it comes to writing english sentences. I know she goes to speech and reading each day, but I wish she got more instruction in the classroom for the classroom teacher. This may be hard to do because they teacher has such a big class, but it would not take much to sit down with her and a writing assignment for a few minutes a day.
Alicia,
I do have some experience with ELL students especially with volunteering in Hartford. I feel that if I have an ELL student in my classroom. I will do all I can to make that student feel comfortable and at ease. I plan on not lowering my expectations of that student and make them feel as welcome as possible and include them. I will hopefully be able to make time throughout my day and work with that student or students one on one helping them with the curriculum being studied. I really feel that my teachers approaches are correct and I am learning so much through my experience with her. I am grateful for this and hope to be the best I can be in the classroom.
I was reading throught the chapter on talk in Tompkins, and the chart that you mentioned on page 251 really jumped out at me. This past Friday at my school, I was eating lunch with the fifth grade teachers in our classroom. Some of the students in my class had a working lunch that day. One of the girls that worked through lunch moved to the U.S. from Russia when she was in Kindergarten. She said something to the other students that stayed in, and we started discussing her and what she has learned. She still struggles with English. She can communicate with everyone, but her use of certain words is not always appropriate, and her vocabulary is still developing. She was exited from ELL, so many of these tips and suggestions may be very helpful. I hope I will get to see more of them used in this classroom, especially with this one student. Christina, have you seen any of the ways from the chart used effectively in a classroom with ELL students?
Many institutions limit access to their online information. Making this information available will be an asset to all.
Post a Comment