Selecting Texts for English Language Learners

When considering ordering new literacy resources, this research may be helpful in making selections that support student learning (e.g. not whole class novels).  This research underlines the connection between student achievement and motivation.  As educators, providing classroom resources to support students is a key component in differentiating instruction and providing opportunities for our students to gain the skills necessary to be successful.  Perhaps the following 7 "rules" could be used as a checklist to evaluate the reading selections that are offered to our students.  These rules also provide some ideas for activities that would engage students and increase their motivation to read.  The following is a summary of an article from the Reading Teacher.

Seven Rules of Engagement
What's Most Important to Know About Motivation to Read?
 (Reading Teacher, Nov. 2011, vol. 65)

1.  Students are more motivated to read when the reading tasks and activities are relevant to their lives
- when students can make connections between the material they are reading and their lives, they become more involved and engaged in comprehending text
- teachers could ask students to keep a reading diary to record how what they are reading connects to their own lives

2.  Students are more motivated to read when they have access to a wide range of reading materials
- creating a classroom environment rich in a wide variety of genres which include magazines, the Internet, resource materials and real-life documents
- teachers could do weekly "book-selling sessions" to generate interest in the selection of books available to students because students often select books  they know something about

3.  Students are more motivated to read when they have ample opportunities to engage in sustained reading
-  in a study of classrooms where 90 minutes or more was devoted to reading/language arts instruction, researchers found that students spent an average of only 18 minutes actually engaged in reading texts
-  teachers could gradually increase the time for sustained reading starting with 5 or 10 minutes, particularly for students who are not not motivated to read

4.  Students are more motivated to read when they have opportunities to make choices about what they read and how they engage in and complete literacy tasks
-  researchers have found that students who are allowed to choose their own reading materials are more motivated to read, expend more effort, and gain better understanding of the text
-  teachers could help students make appropriate reading selections by choosing four or five books related to the students' interest that are at the appropriate reading level and then letting the student pick from this selection which one they would like to read

5.  Students are more motivated to read when they have opportunities to socially interact with others about the text they are reading
-  a number of studies have documented that instruction that incorporates social interaction about text increases students' motivation to read and reading  comprehension achievement
-  teachers could provide opportunities for social interaction such as: talking about books with others; reading together with others; borrowing and sharing books with others; talking about books with peers in class; and, sharing writing about books with others

6.  Students are more motivated to read when they have opportunities to be successful with challenging texts
-  research indicates that students who believe that they are capable and competent readers are more likely to outperform those who do not hold such beliefs.Struggling readers do not necessarily fail in reading because they lack motivation; they often fail because they do not experience progress and competence.
-  teachers could create opportunities for students to successfully read moderately challenging texts by scaffolding instruction and providing descriptive  feedback about what the student has successfully accomplished

7.  Students are more motivated to read when classroom incentives reflect the value and importance of reading
-  constructive and supportive teacher feedback provides a powerful and motivating incentive to learn
-  classroom libraries can reflect how much we value reading.  Teachers could review their classroom libraries to ensure that the selections are in good condition, current and provide choices that are interesting for students

Some articles from The Reading Teacher may be accessed by non-members at this website http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1936-2714

Dr. Allen Luke

Today I got to see Dr Luke, please see my notes below...

Dr. Allan Luke: The New Literacies

Effective educators understand that what happens in educational systems must align with the world students will face in the 21^stcentury. Although it is impossible to know precisely what the future holds, educators do know that students will live in a rapidly changing world where knowledge and information increase exponentially. Individuals will need to be lifelong learners, critical thinkers, and flexible, creative problem-solvers who work well collaboratively and independently. They will need to be responsible global citizens, open-minded, and able to communicate effectively with people from all over the world. Students will need to develop habits of mind that help them embrace change with enthusiasm, wonder, and a sharp critical eye.

Dr. Allan Luke is an educator, author, activist, and international researcher and policy change agent in all Australian states as well as New Zealand, Singapore, and Hong Kong. His work has influenced educators globally, including in Canada and the United States.

In this webcast, Dr. Luke presents his views and provides an international perspective on the new literacies, with a focus on the importance of helping our students develop in the area of critical literacy.

The purpose of this webcast is to promote professional learning. The following questions are intended to stimulate thoughtful dialogue and inspire action that changes educational practice and improves student learning and achievement.

• What are the new literacies? Why are the new literacies so important to student learning?
• What do educators at every level need to consider during their planning in order to prepare students for the 21^st century?
• What is the new "eduscape" and what does it mean to teachers, administrators, and board-level staff?
• What are the current issues that face educators in all parts of the world?
• What is critical literacy?
• What does critical literacy look like in practice?
• What is the Four Resources Model of reading and how does it impact on the teaching of reading?
• Where do phonics and basic decoding fit into the Four Resources Model of teaching reading?
• What practical steps can be taken to create an environment that effectively prepares students for the future?
• What obstacles might stand in the way of change? What strategies are most useful in dealing with such obstacles?

"We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelong process of keeping abreast of change. And the most pressing task is to teach people how to learn."

Notes:

Where the social justice and equity happens is in the classroom, the face to face.
We are doing a good job with social class-in Ontario, the data confirms this
Teacher and principal are the  lynchpin, keep wheel from coming off

Instructional focused leadership is what moves kids ahead

Postal codes= social class- middle class no incentive for teachers to do well , kids do well despite us

Poverty matters but pedagogy matters too

Scatter gram regression analysis social class is not accounting for as much variance in Ontario but within district see outliers poverty does matter, you can take 2 schools who have same social class and you can see a difference with good pedagogy

Mobilize elementary easier than secondary, disciplines are never what they used to be except in high school! Secondary is a tough nut!

There is a generation of young teachers that have never had to plan their own lessons (USA mostly)

New fad online portfolios result of high stake testings failure to produce

We will begin testing creativity future assessment will be digitalized

We are losing market share , moving to privatization of education globally,

Teacher Merritt pay does not show results

Social class accounts for 15% of achievement so does prior performance, kids who are low performers get locked in

Phonics is necessary but not sufficient decoding knowledge is a  constrained skill, comprehension much bigger job unconstrained skill

Permeable flexible reading groups!

Streaming /tracking systems increase and exacerbate the equity gap...think about French Immersion?

Grade 1 gifted?

Train mammals educate human beings!

Cool curriculum means you have some autonomy hot curricum means no thinking

early yrs instruction should be developmentally based

Pull out does not work , like throwing stones in grand canyon,

Principals create schools in the image of their own expertise

Move their culture and SIPSA toward their area of expertise

Pd for a common vocabulary is absolutely necessary

Agnostic about pedagogy- there is no right way

Direct instruction ,Rote memory has its place- supports rich tasks

To Generate an overview of current school literacy program:

•  Post the following four headings on the wall
• 4 resources model, coding, semantic, pragmatic/critical
• Have teachers post their assessment tasks under the correct heading
• teachers will engage in accountable talk about the assignments then they will learn what is happening in other grades
• Last...Hypothetically walk a kid through the school, see where there is overlap and gaps

Audit of staff expertise ~drop consultants and have teachers teaching teachers

Scaffolded reading comprehension important

Assememt is DVD of kid reading and first step curriculum

Requires teacher moderation

Moderated assessments valid but not completely reliable-moderation is the pd, talking about student work is the best pd

YouTube thumbs up moderated marking,

Staff turnover? Marker of an easy middle class school no turn over

Substantive content- don't dumb down curriculum for social class, or esl

Rich tasks!

Aboriginal kids first person and narrative, esl kids marginalized kids get slaughtered when the move from story telling to content knowledge

Essays lab reports biology uses passive voice

 

Secondary esl needs to focus on genre specific instruction in texts required in secondary science, arts, vocational knowledge

Book Review David Corson Lexical Bar

David Cordon the Lexical Bar:

Lexicle bar- keeps lower social class and ELLs down

Vocabulary, words words words raise the lexical bar

I've been working with an online binder called LiveBinders, I'm not ready to share my creation but here is a great ESL resource I found on the site

World Languages via Livebinder

Welcome back... for many this month will be extremely busy.  EQAO and Exams are rapidly appearing on the horizon.

But there are many digital support resources that help you through this period.  You may not be aware of the Homework Help Conference.  It can be found in the left panel on the Elementary Education or Secondary Education conferences.

The main Homework Help conference provides access to a wealth of mathematics resources and also access to the Ontario Educational Resource Bank (OERB).

To get to the mathematics resources, simply select the Homework Help Icon. In this sub-conference you can find EQAO resources, information in the Homework Help site (provides access to live mathematics teachers at night to grade 7-10 students),   extensive review materials and much much more.

To get more information on the OERB, you simply select the OERB access button in the Homework Help Main conference.  The OERB is an amazing site full of useful resources at any time of the year.  It houses over 27 000 curriculum resources in any subject from k-12.  These include:  interactive tutorials, lesson plans, entire course units (great for review), Smart Board Resources and many fun activities and games to name a few.  They are readily searchable by resource type or learning style.  The site also provides access to the LEARN360 video bank.  This is an extensive library of over 25 000 video and video clips.  You can access LEARN360 material initially through the OERB but then you can search using its' own extensive searching capabilities.  You can literally find a video on most topics and play it in the classroom in less that 5 minutes.

Also by opening the Video Tutorial link below, you can access step by step video tutorials on how to register students on Homework Help and how to get access and search for materials on the OERB. Simply accept the terms and conditions and listen to the video introduction.

Video Tutorial

It's never too hard if what you're doing makes a difference

Guess the word!

Media Literacy Activity

Watch the Video and guess the word! from Radio Lab NPR

Did you know…?

            -        It can take 5-7 years or more for an ESL student to get their English to level where they can understand abstract academic concepts.

          -        Learning a language is a process of stages/steps from basic to advanced.   A student who barely speaks in phrases now can eventually master the language at a sophisticated level.

          -        Reading textbooks, participating in academic discussions, or writing essays or examination answers may be much more difficult for ESL students than for first-language English speakers.

-        In general, accents can be difficult to change after about 12-13 years old.  Pressing for a perfect accent in a learner over this age may not be useful.

-        Many beginning ESL students go through a "silent period".  This is a period of time where they are not producing any language but are silently 'taking it all in'.  This period could last days, weeks or months and it is an important step in the process of acquiring a new language.

-        ESL students need to understand what is being said to them in order to improve their English.  At the same time they need exposure to more advanced English in order to improve. In one-on-one conversations, try to communicate using an English level only a little more advanced than their level. So, if a student's English is at a level 1, don't speak to them using highly fluent level 5 English, but rather try to speak to them at a level closer to theirs, like level 1.5 or 2.

-        Learn a few words in your ESL student's first language ('hello', 'how are you', 'goodbye').

-        Allow your ESL student(s) to use their first language when they feel it necessary/helpful. This demonstrates that they, their culture and language are valued.

-        Encourage students to share their home language and culture with and your class.



Top 10 Accommodations for ELL Students
Primary Classrooms


1.Use Visuals as much as possible to reinforce main ideas and instruction!  Break important tasks into steps and create simple graphics.  If you do similar tasks for different lessons create a poster with the steps and hang in the classroom.Use and have students model/act out  co-created success criteria.


2. Repeat instructions, have a student paraphrase instructions then check in with students after all instructions to ensure understanding.  Done in private, this can help alleviate student frustration or discomfort in asking for instructions to be repeated in front of the larger group.  You can also assign a “buddy” to check in with the student.


3. Label everything in your classroom!  Get 3x5 cards and stick them on everything that you can in the ESL student’s environment.  The word with a simple graphic is great.  Turn it into a class activity by having the students  create a list together of what needs to be labelled and work together to create neat, legible labels for everything in as many languages as possible. This will make your ESL students feel comfortable and welcome in their environment.Try to include labels for all the first languages of the students in your class and colour code them by language.


4. Assign ESL students with peer buddies to help with classroom tasks, modelling behaviour expectations and helping them to feel comfortable.


5.Have a Listening Centre where ESL students can go and listen to books on tape or instructions for a task. Provide a variety of text types!


6.Provide opportunities for small group work – provides students with a chance to listen and speak to obtain social and academic skills.Accountable talk and flexible groupings will provide opportunities for both oral language input and output


7.Classroom games/Dramatic activities – are key for reinforcing vocabulary, social skills and conversational English.  ELL students can participate in presentations even if they can just help with props and set-up.Try tableau's for early stage/step 1 and 2 students


8. Be sure all activities relate to the curriculum content being taught, Ells do not have time to waste learning skills in isolation, they must learn English while learning the curriculum!


9. Provide extra practice.  When starting something new, try to send home a simplified version or the vocabulary with a frayer organizer. The student can review at home or  with a buddy in class.  ELL’s benefit from practice and additional time in thinking about new information. Pre-teach to build schema and vocabulary.


10.  Provide visuals or models whenever possible before a unit begins as concrete examples of what you are speaking about.  Pictures, posters, manipulatives, and graphic organizers are all useful in increasing contextual understanding for ELL students.

Why is Harper so confused?

Government funding:

Why is Harper so confused as to where the $90 million went? As I reside at the bottom of the government  funding food chain, I've posted a link to the Attawapiskat budget. The connection here is that school boards across the province receive funding for First nations, Native,  Metis,  Inuit, and English language Learners. The money received by school boards is not "sweatered" (this means schools boards can spend the money at their discretion on anything deemed necessary ). Like Attawapiskat, when we crunch the numbers the inequity towards marginalized groups becomes very apparent. It is important to educate and advocate for transparency at all levels so that funding reaches those that need it most.

The real math behind attawapiskats 90 million