The Language & Learning Post

Weekly News, Tips and information for the classroom teacher of English Language Learners!
Key Ideas--

MODELING, MODELING, MODELING!!!
Everyone of us should be a SUPER MODEL. Yes I said it.
YOU ARE or SHOULD BE A SUPER MODEL!
It is easy as we move through the year to fall into a rut of
telling our students vs. showing them WHAT we expect
and HOW to do it. For the ELL, your modeling during a
lesson, is often the difference between success and failure. I
know, that is a lot of responsibility on your shoulders, but I
know you can do it!
Now I know a few of you are thinking, They just end up
copying me. That may be true to some extent, but doesnt
a baby learn to talk my copying the sounds they hear?
Eventually those babies do manage to talk on their own and
are not just repeating what we say. (except of course when
we dont want them to and they tell the outside world what
daddy said when he dropped the hammer on his finger!) Any
way, you get the drift!
One KEY area of curriculum for modeling is writing. To
create good writers, you have to model good writing. (I said
good writing not award winning composition!) All students,
especially ELLS, need to see you think through getting
thoughts onto paper. They need to see and hear how you
notice your mistakes for editing. They need to have practice
helping you revise your work so that they know how to do it
in theirs!
So be brave, become a SUPER MODEL!
A Word about VOCABULARY...
Academic language is just as important as the content
vocabulary! BE careful to not make assumptions about
the knowledge level of your students. Sometimes we
ask students to clarify predict evaluate ... and so
on. The words that go along with reading can be just as
difficult as the content specific words in the text. Take
time to explicitly teach the academic language as well
as the words that will be unfamiliar in the text.
ELPS FOCUS For the week of 12/9/13
Kinder
LLS: llsLen Lo
and derlve
meanlng from
a varleLy of
medla such as
audlo Lape,
vldeo, uvu,
and Cu 8CM Lo
bulld and
relnforce
concepL and
language
aualnmenL.[2l]
FIrst
* "#$%& 4C
demonsLraLe
comprehenslon
of lncreaslngly
complex Lngllsh
by paruclpaung
ln shared
readlng, reLelllng
or summarlzlng
maLerlal and
respondlng Lo
quesuons.
Second
* internalize new
basic and academic
language by using
and reusing it in
meaningful ways in
speaking and writing
activities that build
concept and
language attainment.
[1E]
learn new language
structures,
expressions, and
basic and academic
vocabulary heard
during classroom
instruction and
interactions.[2C]
Third
*"#$%& [2l] llsLen
Lo and derlve
meanlng from a
varleLy of medla.
[4l] demonsLraLe
Lngllsh
comprehenslon.
of supporung ldeas
and deLalls ln LexL
and graphlc
sources.
Fourth
*LLS: 4k
uemonsLraLe
Lngllsh
comprehenslon
and expand
readlng skllls by
employlng
analyucal skllls
such as evaluaung
wrluen
lnformauon and
performlng crlucal
analyses
commensuraLe
wlLh conLenL-area
and grade-level
needs.
Fifth
*"LS: 4k
demonsLraLe
comprehenslon by
employlng
analyucal skllls
such as evaluaung
wrluen
lnformauon and
performlng crlucal
analyses.
Sixth
*"#$%& 4u use
pre-readlng
supporLs such as
graphlc
organlzers,
lllusLrauons, and
pre-LaughL Loplc-
relaLed
vocabulary and
oLher pre-
readlng acuvlues
Lo enhance
comprehenslon
of wrluen LexL.
by, Alissa Tubbs
ESL Teacher
Lawrence
Just a thought....
A couple of weeks ago I went to a writing training with
Kathy Shada! She had a few toys that went well with
idioms (figurative language) that we often use. One cute
one that I thought you might like is keep an eye out
for... or keep you eye on.. She put a large styrofoam
ball on the end of a stick and painted and eyeball on it.
As student read a section of text, hold up you eyeball
and tell them to keep an eye out for answeres to their
prereading questions. Then as the students read give
them a couple of wiggly eyes. When they find an
answer to a question (or whatever it is you want them to
look for) they lay their eye on the text that supports
their response. -- Pretty cute, I thought! I have a large
styrofoam eyeball if anyone wants to see.