English-Bilingual Exercises to help build connections between languages.
http://larryferlazzo.com/englishbil.html
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Digital Storytelling
http://digitalstorytelling.coe.uh.edu/esl.html
Digital storytelling enhances the learning environment to make meaning from our experiences. This site has several examples of ESL and language learning purposes for the classroom.
Digital storytelling enhances the learning environment to make meaning from our experiences. This site has several examples of ESL and language learning purposes for the classroom.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Classroom Blogging
Title: Classroom Blogging: What is the Role in Science Learning?
Authors: Sawmiller, Alison
Source: Clearing House; 2010, Vol. 83 Issue 2, p44-48, 5p
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Summary:
The number of blogs worldwide is estimated at around 70 million, with 120,000 new blogs created every day (Sifry 2007). Educators may create them in order to connect with students’ interest in technology while making the learning extend beyond the classroom walls. This will increase the effectiveness of the whole process of learning and may make our students more curious about the world in which they live. Those who have been born during these times is referred to as a “digital native” and views technology as essential to learning, not a tool. The gap between their home and school experience is growing as far as the use of technology is concerned.
Technology’s role in the classroom can either be learning from technology or learning with technology. An increased pressure is put on the teacher to effectively utilize technology to aid in learning, not just for the sake of using technology. The use of technology allows the student more autonomy in the direction of the learning. There is now so much information available to students, that schools must realize this and implement it accordingly. Being able to effectively communicate what you are learning is paramount to today’s student. By blogging students are organizing their thoughts and writing about their experiences in the classroom.
Motivation to do one’s best is high with this mode of writing. As a student prepares for the blog, many factors come into play, one of which is the audience. When writing in the classroom, the audience is usually just the teacher. In a weblog the audience is the whole world. Student collaboration is high in a weblog and the differentiated instruction allows students to effectively aide one another’s progress. Those students who normally are quiet in the classroom can find their voice through the use of a blog. The actual implementation of weblogs needs to be considered carefully before beginning such a program.
Review:
Writing about a subject, even science, will increase the learning that takes place. It is through the critical process of analyzing our thoughts that real clarity comes to our minds about what we are learning. Science journals and lab reports written on paper are now being replaced with electronic media, like a weblog. The use of a weblog in the science classroom can aid in differentiated instruction, while making the connection between school work and a student’s interest in technology.
The author poses real reasons why the use of a weblog will be beneficial to learning in the classroom. My experience with online instruction at college has shown me that with a bit of help from tutorials I could learn just about anything for free. The interaction between students would be most effective in the classroom in person to establish the weblog. Once it is up and running, then interaction could take place more online. There are not any real examples of using science in this article, so it could be true of any subject.
In relation to the students doing a better job of organizing their thoughts before posting to the web, it may or may not be true. With the teacher’s guidance the students will be challenged to create better posts. This could be an aspect of the grade, that the teacher guides the student to increase the degree of verbal expressiveness, thus increasing writing skills. As far as the implementation of a weblog, there needs to be communication with parents, principal, and even other teachers to make sure it would have support. I agree the use of the Internet is increasing. It’s up to us as teachers to make sure we utilize it effectively.
Digital Jumpstarts for Academic Reading
Title: Jump-Starting Language and Schema for English-Language Learners: Teacher-Composed Digital Jumpstarts for Academic Reading.
Authors: Rance-Roney, Judith
Source: Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy; Feb2010, Vol. 53 Issue 5, p386-395, 10p
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Summary:
Digital storytelling technologies can enhance the academic literacy of English language learners (ELLs). The article deals with pre-service and in-service teachers who worked together to compose “digital jump-starts” to use as pre-reading contextualized learning tools. Instead of the traditional pre-reading activities designed to facilitate the English speaker’s understanding, these voice-overs will include images, video, and words which the ELL will encounter in the reading to take place.
The digital storytelling method will provide background information, develop schema, and preview vocabulary of the content to be covered. The software programs are readily available and once created the student can view it over and over. Using the technology of this method will increase the ELL’s opportunities to interact with the vocabulary in a nonthreatening atmosphere. In contrast to the traditional jump-start activities (ie. Graphic organizers, parallel reading of simpler texts, pre-reading self-questioning, and prediction questions) the problem lies in the classroom management of other students. The ELL can even take a DVD format home to view with their families. It can be uploaded to free-access websites such as YouTube.
For mastery of the English language, ELLs need multiple and multimodal exposures to correct meaning, context, and pronunciation. It could take eight to ten explicit word encounters for an ELL to fully master phonology and the depth of the meaning in order to feel confident enough to use it in classroom conversation. Through digital storytelling a visual context is provided to place the language in so it makes sense.
Review:
The explanation of the process was described clearly for the production of a DJ (digital jump-start). The reasons for using them were given as multimodal exposure to the language using visuals. The student could even follow it up with creating one of his/her own to describe what was learned in the process (thus practicing the speaking of the language). There were several examples given which clearly identified the strengths of this method.
To get the student to interact and relate to the experience is a major purpose of the DJ. In one example, the teacher used a biographical article of Cesar Chavez to connect to the reading of The Circuit: Stories From the Life of a Migrant Child. In the process it was realized that not only did the DJ need to introduce academic language but also preview vocabulary words that would appear in both the article and the book (e.g. laborer, migrant, fields, organize, rights, boycott). Even such phrases as was raised, one of six children, and lacking basic necessities needed clarification. The superimposed vocabulary over certain images would increase the understanding.
Several things were learned through the process of creating these DJs. In the beginning it took longer to make them, but as experience was gained the time decreased. This would be true for an implementation of any new technique or technology. Several tips for teachers making these are included, which are very useful. Not only did the teachers gain understanding of the material better, but viewing it from the perspective of a non-American helped them to present it in a little different light than if it was prepared only for English speakers who had grown up here. The author does comment on the future research of the effectiveness of the use of DJs is yet to be seen. It is for sure that this approach will enhance some learners’ understanding, so that makes it worth it.
Record of Student Performance
| Record of student performance Week of: | Listening: | Speaking: | Reading: | Writing: |
| Current data will show what the student is doing | | | | |
| Goals: | | | | |
| Lesson implementation: | | | | |
| Was it effective? How do you know? | | | | |
Resources for Multiple Intelligences
Resources for Multiple Intelligences
http://www.edutopia.org/stw-differentiated-instruction-free-resources-tools
Home Visit Questions
Home visit questions:
To effectively utilize a home visit for pre-assessment of the student’s prior classroom experiences, try to interact with as many of the family members as possible. Ask them to tell you what they expect out of a teacher. Have them write it in native language, then translate if necessary. Try to ask about the typical school day in home country, what kind of student s(he) was there, and the role of the teachers from home country. By taking your spouse or child, you will lower the affective filter by showing them that you are similar to them in many ways. They can see you as a normal person. Ask the student’s favorite subject or the one which the student found most simple. This will give you knowledge of comfort zones.
By finding out information about the student’s prior experiences, you will be able to build upon prior knowledge and skills. Also finding out the most difficult subject areas will allow you to target those and help that student find success. Another relevant area may be prior schooling in America.
A creative way to find time to have semi-structured conversations with the CLD family is to visit their place of work for a short “hello.” Going to markets or businesses run by a community of similar ethnic background to do business shows you are interested in getting closer to them. Asking them to help you understand their language better would be a good gesture.
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