Always remember to thank a teacher.

Teaching the Writing Process!

Teaching the writing process!!!

1.Prewriting

2. Drafting

3. Revising

4. Editing

5. Publishing

Easy way to track the progress of your students writing!
(popsicle sticks)

Journal Article Critique

Teaching Science to ELL's

Key Strategies every Science teacher should know

Since 1995, the amount of English Language Learners in the United States has risen substantially. Teaching ELL students is a difficult and sometimes daunting task for educators that are not trained in working with ELL learners. Because these students primarily have a hard time understanding the language, their main focus is not on learning content in the classroom. However, if educators can the implement the strategies presented in this article effectively, ELL students should be able to continue developing their English language skills while learning and understanding the academic content. Implementing these strategies in an effective way will also show teachers how to plan and implement their instruction. 

The strategies and research presented in this article have a huge influence on Science teaching. Students depend on us, (educators) to help them learn the language needed to understand the content we teach. In order to help these students better develop their language proficiency, teachers need to make connections and provide opportunities. 

For example: When teaching the concept of different forms of precipitation, a student from another country may not understand the concept of snow if they have never lived in an area where it snows. However, chances are this student has an understanding of rain and cold weather. Teachers can make a connection for these students between rain (which they have experienced) and freezing temperatures and demonstrate how snow can be formed. To check a students understanding of how snow forms, students could do an experiment with water and freezing temperatures over the course of a few days. Give the student many options of ways to express their understanding of forms of precipitation. 

Example of student work - precipitation (modeling) 

Instructing ELL students is a partnership between the general education instructor and the ESL teacher. Without this partnership, content teachers struggle to meet the needs of their ESL students. In an ideal world, content teachers will always have the assistance of an ESL teacher to help them instruct these students. However, many schools do not have the resources needed to instruct these students individually and it is up to teachers to differentiate their instruction to accommodate these students. 

I think that this article is significant to the field of science teaching because students learn through exploration and investigation in Science. The strategies in this article are appropriate for teaching all subjects but especially Science because they focus on opportunity, interaction, representation and exploration which are key components to teaching science concepts.

English/Spanish Science Flash Cards

Content teachers do not have the knowledge and skills to accommodate these students. The research presented here gives teachers a way to create their own improvisations when training is not provided. Also, in my opinion, the way students develop language is significant to teaching science to ESOL students. People generally believe that language development and content learning happen interdependently. However, research and literature show that language development is achieved most effectively while in the context of content learning. Before introducing a new concept to ELL students, teachers could provide a vocabulary list of the language that will be used prior to teaching the new topic. These students will have time to learn to build their proficiency of the language before the concept is even introduced. 

Basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) are picked up by humans quickly and naturally and academic language proficiency (ALP) takes years to develop. This serves as a huge impact to a students learning, and is an even greater impact on ELL students. Teachers should be aware of this fact when instruction ELL students. These individuals need ample time to learn the language and vocabulary of content in order to gain proficiency. In my classroom I will do my very best to scaffold language to maximize language development. 

1st grade - Science exploration 

As a teacher of science I would implement some of the strategies that are presented in this article. Allowing students to provide opportunities for input and output is a strategy that will benefit all students and ELL students especially. I will allow my students to use simulations, models and manipulatives to get a better understanding of the concepts being introduced. Science is a subject that can be taught, if chosen, through the use of manipulatives and visual representations only. This subject involves so much investigation that students have a huge variation of learning styles that could be used to teach content. 

Also, as a content teacher I will do a lot of rephrasing when giving directions and instructions to ELL students. Posters and visual representations are an easy way to allow students to engage in the language while decreasing any anxiety that they may have. I will use as many forms of visual representations as possible in my classroom when teaching all subjects and especially science. In addition to providing multiple means of representation for students, I will also provide ample opportunities for interaction. Allowing students to negotiate with other students in cooperative learning groups or even peer-to-peer connections allows ELL students to further develop their language proficiency skills. Teachers should lower language barriers to show progress in science and not level of proficiency. 

Water Cycle - Visual representation

Water Cycle - written report

Teachers should be aware that all students bring background knowledge and can benefit from connections being tied to their personal lives and experiences. By identifying their students level of English proficiency and tying it to standards and objectives, teachers can set expectations for performance that are reasonable for individual students. I believe that this article brings up very important points that I think are positive aspects to bring to a classroom. My perspective is that students need many opportunities to express their understanding of science concepts. Simply having a student write an essay about the water cycle does not convey whether they understand the concept or not. According to this article, students should be able to express their comprehension in numerous ways such as models, oral reports, presentations, demonstrations or portfolios. The article states that students should demonstrate scientific knowledge and skills through performance and products. I also think that the examples given for group work would work positively in any classroom. The 'information gap' groups allow two or more students to work together to obtain missing information and ELL students can benefit from this activity especially because they have a proficient English speaking student working with them and they should feel more relaxed and more open to asking questions to these students. The strategies in this article are extremely useful and every teacher should have knowledge of them. Whether educators have the help of an ESL teacher or not, they should be able to meet the needs of their diverse learners themselves. 

Our students are our future! 



Reference:

Bautista, N., & Castaneda, M. (2011). Teaching Science to ELLs, Part I. The Science Teacher, 78 (3), 35-39.

Private Universe Project

We all make sense of the world in our own way, our private universe. 

Children need to explore their private universe as well as fact and actuality. 

We need to make sure our students LEARN the material we teach or they will not develop understandings of concepts. 

Interactive Science Notebooks are COOL!

Interactive Science Notebooks are COOL! 
#Kings #College #Educ422 #Science! 

Science Methods - 
1.) Interactive Notebooks
*Promote constructivism 
*Addresses standards and differentiation
*Literacy development
*Students form their own ideas without the teachers approval

*Check it out! 
http://www.nsta.org/publications/news/story.aspx?id=51882

"We Hang Together"

" WE HANG TOGETHER" 

*Welcome activity to get your class familiar with each other and create an atmosphere where students are comfortable with one another. 

*Use in the first week of school !!!! 

Literacy Development!

#Education #423 #Kings #College #108 

Literacy Development! 
* Cooperative Learning Groups 
* Language encouragement