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Purpose:
The purpose of a readers theater is to give a meaningful context to reading aloud with correct expression and fluency. In a readers theater, a group of students acts out a short dialogue (Bafile, 2005). Students have the opportunity to practice fluency and expression in a meaningful context by rehearsing the dialogue and adding emotion (Bafile, 2005 ).

Classroom Use:
I would use a readers theater in my ninth grade English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to practice expression. Many of my own students do not understand the purpose or importance of using correct expression when reading aloud. In a readers theater, my students would see the significance of expression in creating meaning out of a text. My students would also be able to hear more proficient English speakers engage their fluency and expression skills when working with a text, giving less proficient students an example of engaged reading. Further, because many of my students cannot read with correct expression, they lack the ability to draw conclusions about characters or plot in longer stories. A readers theater will require students to interpret a character's reaction to certain elements of dialogue and insert the emotions that fit with their interpretation. Overally, a readers theater will give students in my class an opportunity to engage text, speak English aloud, and practice interpreting and adding correct emotions to dialogues and characters.

Bafile, C.  (2005).  Readers theater: Giving students a reason to read aloud.  Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/readers-theater-giving-students-reason-read-aloud

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Purpose:
The purpose of a write around activity is to encourage students to dialogue with texts and their peers. In a write around session, passages or images from a text are placed on large sheets of paper in a circle with groups of students moving from sheet to sheet annotating the original text and what other students have written about it (Cicchetti, Lund, & Hamilton, 2013).  Students are given ten minutes with each passage to insert drawings, highlight important passages, or add ideas to the text (Cicchetti, Lund, & Hamilton, 2013). When the write around is done, teachers can use the annotations to drive dialogue regarding the text or clarify any questions.

Classroom Use:
I can use this strategy in both my ESL classes and my secondary ELA/Reading classes to illustrate active reading. The write around activity provides a visual and collaborative format for showing students how to dialogue with texts in a meaningful way. Many of my students have questions or notice details about passages that they are unable to articulate fully in a conversation. The write around will give them the time and casual writing format to express these ideas without the pressure of a formal writing essay. Moreover, students can see their peers' ideas and agree or disagree with their conclusions. Overall, the strategy allows students to utilize active reading skills and engage in an anonymous dialogue.

Cicchetti, D.,  Lund, J.,  & Hamilton, B.  (2013, December 20) First efforts at written conversation strategies [Web log post].  Retrieved from  https://theunquietlibrarian.wordpress.com/2013/12/20/first-efforts-at-written-conversations-strategies-write-around-text-on-text/

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Purpose:
The purpose of a Jigsaw group is to promote collaborative learning and communication by making students experts in a specific topic and responsible for sharing their information within a group. In a jigsaw classroom, students are originally divided and each group is given a different topic (Tewksbury, 2017). Students in the original group work together to become experts of their topic (Tewksbury, 2017). Then, each group is redivided, with each topic being represented in the new group by one member, where students then share the information they learned on each topic (Tewksbury, 2017). In this way, students are able to practice collaboration skills and communication skills by being responsible for instructing their peers on the topic they have researched.

Classroom Use:
I can use jigsaw groups in my secondary ELAR classes to introduce new texts with unfamiliar settings and backgrounds that may require some research. For example, since struggling readers benefit from previewing texts and making predictions, students can also benefit from reviewing historical significance and genre of a book like 1984. I can assign four different groups topics to research: historical background, dystopian fiction, George Orwell, and cultural references to "Big Brother." Once each group has created an overview of their topic, I can redistribute the groups with their information in hand and have them teach their peers the information. In this way, students actively engage a text while also building background information that will contribute to the interpretation of the text as we read. This also encourages students to retain more information by requiring them to communicate and re-communicate the information on their topic.

Tewksbury, B.  (2017) Jigsaws.  Retrieved from http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/teaching_methods/jigsaws/index.html

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Purpose:
The purpose of a "think, pair, share" strategy is to give students time to articulate their thoughts with a partner prior to sharing them with a group. During a "think, pair, share" session, students respond to a discussion question with a partner and each group shares a summary of their conversation to the class (Allen, n.d.). In a "think, pair, share," each students gets the opportunity to articulate a response to an answer, rather than having a particular group of students always responding to questions before other students have a chance (Allen, n.d.). Moreover, the level of each student's academic language proficiency and how they are paired differentiates instruction and allows more advanced students to utilize higher order thinking skills (Allen, n.d.). In this way, a "think, pair, share" allows every student the opportunity to articulate his ideas and communicate these ideas orally.

Classroom Use:
I can use the "think, pair, share" strategy in my ESL classrooms to encourage students with lower levels of English proficiency to communicate with peers without the pressure of speaking in front of an entire class. Also, when pairing, I can pair students with higher levels of English proficiency with lower leveled students to give them the opportunity to work with a peer on correcting common grammatical errors, or I can pair lower level students with other lower level students so that we can address issues that they both experience in speaking orally. Overall, the "think, pair, share" takes the pressure out of oral presentation and will encourage quieter students to participate in classroom conversation.

Allen, C.  (n.d.).  Using think-pair-share technique. Retrieved from http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/using-think-pair-share-30626.html?main-tab=1#main-tabs

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Purpose:
The purpose of personality grouping is to allow quieter students the opportunity to take leadership roles in groups while more outgoing students learn to work together with students of similar personalities (Rance-Roney, 2010). Rance-Roney (2010) describes personality grouping as distinguishing students as either dominant or reticent in their approach to group settings. Rather than distributing against these personalities, teachers can group each personality together in order to force more outgoing students to work out social roles in which they may not be leading, while more reticent students navigate communication heavy roles in order to accomplish a required task (Rance- Roney, 2010). Groups that are based on personality group gain the opportunity to work through tasks by specifically confronting their communication strengths and weaknesses.

Classroom Use:
Typically, in my ELAR classrooms, quieter students allow more outgoing students to take on active roles in group work and avoid participation by staying quiet. Personality grouping can encourage quieter students to become more active in group work by reducing the temptation to depend on the communication skills of other students. For example, I often have my students work in groups to complete vocabulary sheets. Many times, my quiet students sit and listen while copying down what more communicative students are saying. In a group based on personality, these students would not be able to sit back and listen: they would have to take on an active role to move forward with the other students in their group. Further, my more social students will have to practice their listening skills in order to accomplish their task, rather than being able to take over the entirety of the conversation.

Rance-Roney, J.A.  (2010).  Reconceptualizing interactional groups: Grouping schemes for maximizing language learning.  English Teaching  Forum 48(1), 20-27.

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Purpose:
The purpose of fixed grouping is to encourage student engagement by providing them a familiar and comfortable partner or group to work with overtime (Rance-Roney, 2010). In a fixed group setting, students work with the same partner or group of students everyday to communicate with and accomplish tasks. The result is "tolerant and trusting relationships" that encourage creativity and risk taking (Rance-Roney, 2010, p. 21).

Classroom Use:
Many of my ESL students shut down when presented with the task of communicating with an unfamiliar peer or adult. By using fixed groups in my ESL classes, students can develop relationships with one another that encourage open communication and mistakes. Moreover, I can address individual issues or questions more easily by noting common pronunciation mistakes per group and using these notes to structure small group work.

Rance-Roney, J.A.  (2010).  Reconceptualizing interactional groups: Grouping schemes for maximizing language learning.  English Teaching  Forum 48(1), 20-27.

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Purpose:
The purpose of performance based grouping is to differentiate the level of inquiry in a specific activity by allowing more proficient students the opportunity to work together while less proficient students can work at their level on the same task. Rather than aiming instruction at the lowest level of proficiency in whole group instruction, teachers can divide according to proficiency levels and address the needs of each group (Yee, 2013). Proficiency grouping allows an instructor the ability to differentiate instruction while also addressing student needs and challenging more advanced students.

Classroom Use:
Although proficiency grouping can reduce the amount of higher level instruction some students receive, I can use proficiency grouping in small group settings to address specific needs that students share. For example, many of my students do not read fluently in English or read at varying levels. For less proficient students, I can group them together and practice reading aloud with a lower level readers theater. My more proficient students can also work on a readers theater, but one with more advanced vocabulary and dialogue. Thus, every student can receive grade level whole group instruction, but also receive differentiated reading instruction in a small group setting.

Yee, V. (2013) Grouping students by ability regains favor in the classroom. The New York Times Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/10/education/grouping-students-by-ability-regains-favor-with-educators.html

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Purpose:
Similar to performance based grouping, grouping based off of language proficiency allows for teachers to differentiate instruction according to English language proficiency levels in an ESL classroom. Teachers can group students by language proficiency and articulate tasks or base instruction based off of a specific language need in each group (de Jong & Commins, 2006).

Classroom Use:
In my ESL class, I have students of varying levels of English proficiency that require different levels of language supports. I can group students by language proficiency to articulate instructions for less proficient students in their native language or clarify vocabulary for them without extending listening time for the rest of the class. Moreover, I can allow students at higher levels of English proficiency the time and space to utilize translation strategies like finding cognates, using resources, or asking a peer, rather than answering each vocabulary question aloud and disallowing the practice of these techniques for the whole class.

de Jong, E. & Commins, N.L.  (2006).  How should ELLs be grouped for instruction? Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/how-should-ells-be-grouped-instruction