Kevin Engberson

Language Diversity Plan

I will be teaching science in a middle or high school setting. I want to

teach in a school with an economically and ethnically diverse student

population, most likely a Title 1 school somewhere in the Salt Lake valley.

As a science educator, I am presented with unique challenges and

opportunities in regards to instruction for my English Learner students. One

benefit is that many methods of teaching science are also helpful to EL

students: a focus on learning new vocabulary terms, hands-on learning

activities, and using visuals to present data or illustrate concepts. I believe

that hands-on activities are important for all students, but especially ELs

because they allow students to make connections between concrete

experiences and academic (sometimes abstract) concepts.

But it is also important to modify instruction for ELs specifically,

without lowering rigor or standards. This is a difficult challenge, but its one

that all educators must be preparing for in todays diverse classrooms.

The first step of this process is understanding your EL students. For

example, the capabilities and needs of a student who grew up in a Spanish-

speaking home in the US, a recent refugee from Tanzania with no secondary

school experience, and a Chinese foreign exchange student are going to be

very different from one another. The first may need assistance bridging from

conversational to academic language and writing. The second may need to

focus on learning new vocabulary and the skills and routines of school. The

third may have prior content knowledge which they need help translating

over into a new language. We cannot just assume these things from their

situation (as I did) but must use appropriate assessments.

One support I like is using graphic organizers which students can fill in

with key concepts or vocabulary terms throughout the lesson. I like this

because it can be easily adapted to different levels. It can provide a basic

structure for the content for a higher level EL, or be a fill in the missing

word for a student who has a lower proficiency.

Science can be very engaging or very boring for students. By utilizing a

variety of hands-on activities and appropriate adaptations, I hope to create

an engaging learning environment where all my students are motivated to

ask big questions and search for the answers.