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I chose to include my notes from the week we discussed family and community engagement. I think this will be a valuable resource for me as I choose how and why I want my students families involved in my classroom!

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This is a screenshot from one of our slides for the lesson plan! It has a fun song that is great for remembering directions!

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This is a screenshot from one of our slides for the lesson plan! It has a fun song that is great for the scientific method!

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This is a screenshot from one of our slides for the lesson plan! It has a fun song that is great for knowing the difference between mean, median, mode, and range! We also included TEKS and ELPS

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This is a great representation of a lesson plan that is conducted in a classroom for students of multiple languages as well as from multiple culture. I could see this lesson being used in my future classroom!

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I chose to use this learning reflection because it highlights the benefits and drawbacks of summative assessment, and it will be a great resource in my future!

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This uses the scaffold of sentence frames to help with geometry! It is great practice for academic language as well as math content!

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http://minds-in-bloom.com/modified-guided-reading-for-ells

This website shows how important a balance of reading and writing are in the classroom. And, it shows a variety of strategies to use with ELLs in the classroom.

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English Language Proficiency Standards - these are important to include in the language objectives when lesson planning and for determining which language domains are begin addressed with the lesson.

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This is a screenshot from one of our slides for the lesson plan! It has a fun song that is great for prepositional phrases!

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https://vimeo.com/99825098

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Scaffolding Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners

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Caitlin LeClair, seventh-grade social studies teacher at King Middle School in Portland, Maine, supports her students to read complex texts—fiction and nonfiction—about South Sudan. LeClair supports her diverse group of learners by choosing compelling topics; working through a progression of increasingly complex texts; and providing scaffolding and support to build their skills as close readers.

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https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/using-science-develop-ells-language-skills

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Using Science to Develop ELLs' Language Skills

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"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka! I found it!' but 'That's funny...'" - Isaac Asimov "Oh, you mean the life cycle." This was my pre-school daughter's response to my long explanation of the metamorphosis of the butterfly.

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http://buenocenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/7-Assessment-Alvermann.pdf

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The BUENO Center for Multicultural Education

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Bilinguals United for Education and New Opportunities (BUENO)Located in the School of Education at the University of Colorado, Boulder, The BUENO Center is

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This is a snip for the power point. It shows different ways to promote writing development in ELLs.

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Proficiency Level Descriptors - these are important to refer to when monitoring the progress of the English learners. They also serve as reminders of what students can do at each level of proficiency within each domain of language.

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This article is a great read for understanding how to write language objectives and the benefits that objectives have for students.

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Just as travelers need a map or a GPS to help them find their way to their destination, likewise students also need to be explicitly told what the final objective of the lesson is, and how the teacher would like to see the students achieve it. Research has shown that objectives help both teacher and students focus attention on what is most important to learn (Duchastel, 1979; Marzano, Pickering,&Pollack, 2001). Supplying objectives in advance gives students a clear direction and something to work toward (Woolfolk, 2001). Teachers of English Language Learners (ELLs), especially, must be very explicit in developing purposeful objectives. This helps students to stay focused on the instructional path and not wander aimlessly, not knowing their purpose. ELLs need both language and content objectives; teachers should give them both within a limited amount of time (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2008).

Learning Objectives are also important because the introduction of WIDA standards for English Language Learners has resulted in an increase in rigor and a focus on academic language. With this shift, the language service models that isolate language development from content have given way to co-taught classrooms where everyone is exposed to the same academic language with scaffolded content instruction.

Research has shown that it is very important for ELLs to be exposed to academic language and that language taught through content instruction is far more beneficial to the ELL students. It is difficult to teach content to newcomers who come with no or very limited English proficiency, but it can and should be done. By using visuals, sentence frames, word banks, or even rewriting the chapter of the novel in language that is more comprehensible (as a scaffold into grade-level text), content can be taught without watering it down. The student can also listen to the book or have it read aloud to him or her to scaffold their own engagement with the text. I have a student in fourth grade who has very limited academic English (although his social language is good). I select six vocabulary words (from the fifteen that the rest of the class does) and use visuals and simpler definitions to help him understand the words. I pick words that would help him not only understand the text but also help him in other academic areas, too.

What are Learning Objectives?

There are two important and distinct Objectives:

1. Content Objectives

2. Language Objectives

Content Objectives identify what students should know and be able to do at the end of the lesson. These objectives will frequently be used to form assessments. They are derived from the core standards. They focus on the "What."

Language Objectives are "how" the students will show what they are learning. They are focused on the four domains of Speaking, Listening, Reading, and Writing. The ELP (English Language Proficiency) standards and the WIDA standards are sources of language objectives. The WIDA consortium has compiled a list of "Can Do" descriptors that can help teachers identify the kind of language tasks students should be able to perform according to the five differing levels of English proficiency and different grade-level clusters. To view these descriptors, visit the "Can Do" page on the WIDA website.

Planning language objectives isn't always an easy, straightforward process. It has to be based on the students' needs. Here are some questions that could help you develop language objectives:

What language forms or structure are students struggling with?

What language functions do they need to access content learning?

What gaps most need to be filled?

What will increase their fluency?

What will help prepare students for the next proficiency level?

Here are some examples:

Key:

Content-Bold

Language function- Italicized

Language structure- Underlined

Students will be able to identify the main idea and three supporting details from the text by using the sentence stem, "The main idea is ___________. Three supporting details are ____."

Students will be able to solve two-step equations "using inverse operations."

I focus on one or two language and content objectives and keep my wording of it as student friendly as possible. The objectives could be for a day, for a week, or for an entire lesson. I initially started incorporating content and language objectives only for Reading, but I found they were equally powerful when used with Writing lessons.

Here are some examples of Content and Language Objectives that I used in my third grade co-teach classroom:
Other Examples of Content and Language Objectives:
Content Objective: "Students, today you will learn about the causes of the American Revolution."

Language Objective: "Students will be able to orally explain the connection between the French and Indian War and the American Revolution."
Verbs for Content Objectives:
Content Objective: "Students will find the lowest common denominator (LCM) of two or more numbers."

Language Objective: "Students will write the steps used to solve the problems."

Verbs for Writing Content and Language Objectives based on Bloom's Taxonomy and the four domains of language:

Knowledge- list, describe, identify

Comprehension- summarize, explain, recall
Verbs for Language Objectives
Application- compare, contrast, classify, solve

Synthesis- compose, create, infer, elaborate

Evaluation- recommend, justify, support, defend

Listening-identify, tell, show

Speaking- discuss, explain, summarize, ask and answer questions

Reading-find specific information, preview, read aloud or with a partner

Writing- summarize, provide evidence to support your answer, state and justify opinions

My Personal Experience using Content and Language Objectives:

Our school district has recently introduced the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) model of instruction, and one of the strategies that SIOP considers as part of best teaching practices is introducing Learning Objectives before the lesson is taught. We follow the push-in, co-teach model in our district and I have been using the Learning Objectives in a 3rd grade classroom for ELA and Writing. I have found that periodically reviewing the content and language objectives with the students has helped them to stay focused on what they are expected to learn. I also ask them to read the objectives back to me and I ask questions to clarify their understanding of the objectives. Posting the objectives has helped the classroom teacher and me to focus on the students who are struggling in specific areas like comprehension, sentence structure,or vocabulary development. The objectives have also helped us to create assessments .

I have also found that language objectives are beneficial not only for ELLs but also for all students, as everyone can benefit from the clarity that comes with a teacher outlining the requisite academic language to be learned and mastered in each lesson.

As an ELL teacher, I am able to identify my ELL students' language proficiency to determine appropriate language objectives. I am also able to differentiate the Language Objectives for my ELL students, while keeping the content objectives the same. We do not post the differentiated language objectives in the classroom, but during our lesson planning, the classroom teacher and I decide how we will differentiate the language objectives for the ELLs and other struggling students. For example, I have an ELL student in third grade, who recently moved from another state. She is a level 3 in Oral Proficiency but is a level 1/2 in Reading and Writing. The classroom teacher and I provide her with word banks and sentence frames to help her meet the content and language objectives. I also provide other forms of support, like small group instruction and modified assessments, for her and a few other ELLs.

The writing of objectives have also helped us as a classroom management tool. We use them to make sure we are not sidetracked by other conversations. The objectives have also helped my co-teacher and me to periodically review the progress in meeting our objectives. Are they being met? If they are not, we know we have to teach it differently or change the objective to suit the needs of the students. The language objectives particularly have to be student-driven. We have determined that our students struggle with summarizing and providing evidence to support their answers, so that is a language objective we have been focusing on as we do our ELA unit this quarter.
https://ellevationeducation.com/blog/crafting-language-objectives-support-english-language-learners-ells http://wp.lps.org/isell/blog/2014/06/06/content-and-language-objective-examples/ http://www.colorincolarado.org/article/language-objectives-key-effective-content-area-instruction-english-learners
Finally, Dr. Cynthia Lundgren, an English Language Development Specialist, sums it up well, "One of the most powerful ways to change teacher instruction is to look at content and language objectives. And with the standards, we're in a standards-based movement, we have great state to national standards. So these are available to teachers, they don't have to reinvent the wheel. But they often have to break them down into what is going to be accomplished during a unit, during a week, during a day. And then the next step is to look at the language that's expected of that because everything that we teach kids and expect them to do is through the medium of language. It's listening; it's responding, it's reading, it's writing. So what do we need to do to make sure that the reading, writing, listening, speaking is an open pathway to the content? And writing language objectives and content objectives is one way to keep on track."

References:

Making Content Comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP Model- Jana Echevarria, Mary Ellen Vogt, Deborah J. Short

Dr.Cynthia Lundgren, English Language Development Specialist

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Using Content and Language Objectives to Help All Students in Their Learning - Peers and Pedagogy

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Just as travelers need a map or a GPS to help them find their way to their destination, likewise students also need to be explicitly told what the final objective of the lesson is, and how the teacher would like to see the students achieve it.

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This Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System link has important information regarding assessment that English Learners will experience through grade K-12. This website can aid teachers who are struggling with their English language students and need more examples of what skills to work on with their students.

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The Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) is an English language proficiency assessment aligned to the Texas English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS). This assessment is designed to assess the progress that emergent bilingual (EB) students make in learning the English language. TELPAS fulfills ESSA requirements for assessing EB students in kindergarten through grade 12 in four language domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Grades K-1 include:

holistically rated observational assessments of listening, speaking, reading and writing
Grades 2-12 include online tests for:

listening and speaking

reading and writing

Who Is Tested?

All EB students in kindergarten through grade 12 enrolled in Texas public schools or open-enrollment charter schools are required to participate in TELPAS. EB students are required to be assessed annually with an English language proficiency assessment until they meet EB reclassification criteria.

What Is Tested?

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The Texas English Language Proficiency Assessment System (TELPAS) is an English language proficiency assessment aligned to the Texas English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS). This assessment is designed to assess the progress that emergent bilingual (EB) students make in learning the English language.

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This youtube video describes a great tool for teachers to use to practice bilingual instruction for students preparing for the TELPAS. Seesaw allows teachers the opportunity to find multiple worksheets and activities EL students can use to practice their second language proficiency.

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The court cases represented in this chart are valuable to remember in regards to English language learners. Remembering how these policies have shaped teaching ELL students to better prepare the teachers and the students can make me a better teacher in the long run.

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Types of ELL programs are important to research about as an educator. Knowing the different resources that are available for students learning a second language is beneficial for the educator and the student involved.

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Understanding what bilingual education is and the guidelines included with the programs will allow for successful implementation within the classroom.

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Transitional Bilingual Education (TBE)

A Transitional Bilingual Education program is defined in the M.G.L. 71A as, "a program designed to allow English learners to achieve long-term academic success through English-medium instruction in general education classrooms; provided, however, that the native language of the English learner is used to support the student's development of English and content learning and is then gradually phased out of instruction as a student's English proficiency increases." While, unlike SEI programs, native language is used in content to support ELs, TBE programs are subtractive, because unlike Dual Language programs, native language instruction is gradually phased out of content as a student's English language proficiency increases and a student is eventually promoted out of the TBE program.

TBE programs enroll ELs who speak a common home language. It is important to recognize that ELs may vary in a few other important areas, including country of origin, home language literacy experiences, prior schooling experiences, individual learning needs, and level of English proficiency. TBE programs can start or end at any grade level, according to individual student performance patterns and needs, and based on district policy. As such, TBE programs have the flexibility to support more transient student populations. Generally, programs that target early exit from TBE (early-exit programs) transition students to Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) programs. Students from early-exit models are still English learners (ELs) and should receive EL services.

Essential Features of Effective TBE Programs

TBE programs are designed to respond flexibly to students at different English proficiency levels, who are fluent in their home language. Typically, in TBE programs, initial content and literacy instruction is in the student's home language, paired with systematic and sequential ESL instruction. Teachers leverage students' linguistic and cultural resources to support language and literacy development and grade-level-appropriate content learning.

In TBE programs, initial instruction occurs primarily in the home language, with a small amount of English instruction that increases from year to year until students are able to successfully achieve in classrooms where the sole language of instruction is English.

The amount of time used for content instruction in the home language and English varies according to the students' English language proficiency and grade levels. The ratio of home language instruction progressively decreases as the ratio of English instruction increases, until instruction in the home language is phased out altogether.
Key features include:

1. Clear articulation of the role and use of students' home language and English to support language and literacy development and mastery of grade-level content;

2. Integration of students in the TBE program to the largest extent possible without compromising the integrity of their education; and

3. High academic expectations for all students.

TBE Program Models (Early Exit vs. Late Exit Models):

Within the TBE classroom, there are two main models of instruction dependent on the students' language proficiency:

The main goal of the early-exit model is to expedite the acquisition of the second language so that ELs can be integrated into classrooms with native speakers of English. This model uses ELs' first language as a foundation for building English language competency. Students receive instruction in both languages to progress academically and prepare to transfer rapidly to a mainstream classroom with English native speakers of English in an SEI setting. The program can last from one to four years, usually from kindergarten to third or fourth grade. As students' competence in English increases, it gradually takes the place of the first language, so English is often taught at the expense of the first language. As a result, ordinarily students do not exit the program truly bilingual.

Implementation of Early-Exit Bilingual Programs

ELs who share the same first language are grouped in the same classroom. They have bilingual teachers who teach content subjects such as math and science in either the students' first language or in English. Districts may vary in the amount of first-language instruction that is utilized; however, the degree to which the ELs' first language is spoken in the classroom depends on the proficiency level of the ELs who generally require more instruction in their native language at earlier grade levels. In kindergarten, the average length of instruction in the first language may be approximately one hour to 90&percnt; of the school day. The amount of time spent teaching in the first language is then reduced in grades 1 and 2. Although ELs may be instructed in the language arts of both first and second languages simultaneously, instruction in reading in the second language doesn't typically begin until students meet the standards for reading in their first language. As ELs make progress in their second language, it becomes increasingly incorporated into the core content curriculum, gradually taking the place of the first language. A key component of the program is to teach the students' culture, and this is done through classroom activities and materials.

The main goal of the late-exit model is to facilitate understanding of all core content subjects while maintaining use of the students' native language, allowing a greater transitional period during which students acquire the second language at a slower pace. Unlike the early-exit model, more time and attention is given to mastering literacy in the students' home language to support new learning in the second language. Students typically spend a greater deal of time-especially in elementary school-learning in their native language. In late-exit transitional programs, the transition may take up to six years. The more closely ELs' prior experiences and background knowledge align with the academic and other expectations of U.S. schools, the more likely it is that the ELs can move through the program quickly. Students who may have limited or interrupted formal education ("SLIFE") need more time. A gradual transition of at least four to six years is may be optimal to provide these students with the necessary support for academic success.

Implementation of Late-Exit TBE Bilingual Programs

Like in early-exit programs, ELs who share the same first language are grouped in the same classroom and they have bilingual teachers who teach content subjects such as math and science in either the students' first language or in English. Both languages are used in the classroom; however, unlike early-exit programs, instruction in content areas is conducted in the first language for a longer period of time. A key difference between early- and late-exit programs is that late-exit programs generally span five to seven years, whereby it is more likely that students become truly bilingual when they exit the program. As ELs make progress in their second language it gradually takes the place of the first language. Like early-exit programs, a key component of the late-exit program is to help ELs to be proficient in their native language and bridge the academic gap between themselves and English only students.

No matter the model, TBE programs can start or end at any grade level. They have the flexibility to support more transient student populations, as the program design allows students to enter at any time and exit at any time according to individual performance patterns.

Guidance for Transitional Bilingual Education Programs

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massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education

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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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The goal of the Massachusetts public K-12 education system is to prepare all students for success after high school. Massachusetts public school students are leading the nation in reading and math and are at the top internationally in reading, science, and math according to the national NAEP and international PISA assessments.

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There are multiple language acquisition theories and knowing the first language theories individually will aid me in comprehending how to handle students who struggle in their first language.

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Keywords: theory of first language acquisition

Imagine a blank template, a light sheet of paper, thats how human being begins. From a crying baby in a cradle, to babbling, to simple sole words, little by little progressing into two-words, then finally a entire sentence, ever ask yourself how one acquires the opportunity to produce the dialect? Linguists through the entire ages have tried to find out how does one ACQUIRE a language, is it a deep composition as claimed by Kimball? Or is it an innate ability, a build-in human capacity propagated by Chomsky?

Various theories have arose since dialect studies found fore, and the capability to acquire terminology has interested various get-togethers because the dawn of man. From the dunes of Egypt,Â Psammeticus, the Pharaoh through the 7thÂ hundred years BC, believed dialect was inborn and that children isolated from birth from any linguistic effect would develop the language they had been born with. Fast onward to the 15th hundred years,Â King James VÂ of Scotland performed a similar experiment; the kids were reported to have spoken great Hebrew. Akbar, a 16th century Mogul emperor of India, wanted to learn whether dialect was innate or acquired through contact with the speech of people.Â He believed that vocabulary was learned by persons listening to each other and therefore a kid cannot develop language by itself.Â So he ordered a residence built for just two infants and stationed a mute nurse to care for them.Â The kids didn't acquire speech, which appeared to verify Akbar's hypothesis that language is acquired and does not merely emerge spontaneously in the lack of exposure to speech.Â

Henceforth, modern linguists have been trying hard to crack the codes which govern the acquisition and learning of a language. Theories ranging from Jean Piaget's Cognitive Theory(1929), Skinner's Behaviorist Theory (1957), to Chomsky's The Innateness Hypothesis, and Lambert's Critical Period Hypothesis(1967) for first language acquisition, and finally Krashen's 5 hypothesis of second vocabulary learning have paved a means for an insight, a way to unravel what sort of mind works in obtaining and learning a words -which are actually distinct in one another-, and here, we are looking at the theories that contain been the workhorse of language acquisition and learning.

Definition

First Language Acquisition is touted by linguist as the process of acquiring a language via exposure whilst youthful. First language is defined as the primary language -not always mother tongue- which the speaker initial acquires and use on a continuous basis. According to Lennenberg (1967) the vocabulary that one picks up during the vital period will generally get the person's first terminology. The Canadian census agrees that the 1st words that one acquires during childhood is the first language.

A second language, on the other hand, can be quite a related language or a completely several one from the initial language. Language acquisition is definitely a cognitive method cognitive method (reasoning, perception, judgment and memory) of "acquiring" a language. It is often done subconsciously, with your brain slowly but surely structuring the template to mold the words into shape. Dialect learning however, means a person is trying to learn the vocabulary consciously through practice, training, or experience.

Amongst the virtually all prominent theories of words acquisition that is submit by linguists is the:

Cognitive Development Theory

According to Jean Piaget's cognitive theory (1970s), terminology is a subordinate part of cognitive development. Language is mapped onto an individual's group of prior cognitive structures. The concepts of language are no different from other cognitive concepts. A person becomes with the capacity of abstraction, of formal thinking which excels concrete encounter and direct perception (Freeservers.com, 2012). Firstly, the kid becomes aware of an idea, they find the words and patterns to convey the concept. Simple concepts are expressed sooner than more complex ideas whether or not they are grammatically more complicated. Piaget described four specific phases of childhood cognitive expansion such as sensorimotor stage, pre-operational stage, concrete operational level and formal operational level and relates them to someone's capability to understand and assimilate fresh information (Springhouse Corporation, 1990). First language learners are thought to creatively apply their skills of cognition so that you can figure out the next language of their personal. For adult learners, they own the ability to abstract, classify and generalize offers them an edge to systematically solve problems. Adult dialect learners rely on their cognitive activities of general info processing because their Vocabulary Acquisition Device gradually becomes unavailable for them (Hadley, 2002).

Piaget promises that the individual mind includes a template known as the schema: The representation in your brain of a couple of perceptions, strategies and /or actions which go along (Atherton , 2011). The schema helps individuals understand the many happenings around them, an understanding of oneself (self-schemata), various other people (people schemata), occurrences/situations (celebration schemata) and roles/occupations (role schemata).

According to psychologists, cognitive expansion starts at adaptation, accompanied by assimilation and lodging close after. Assimilation may be the procedure for incorporating new information into pre-existing schema, more often than not leading to overgeneralization. For instance, the child refers to a whale as a fish, due to the fact the whales and fish, possess fins and lives in the sea. After assimilation, comes accommodation, whereby the mind has the capacity to differentiate concepts made during the prior phase.

Piaget contends there are four levels of cognitive advancement which are sensorimotor level (birth-2years), pre-operational stage (2-7 years), concrete operational stage (7-11years) and formal operational level (11 years or more).

The first stage or the sensorimotor stage may be the stage in which a child learns about himself and his environment through motor and reflex moves. The child's thoughts derive from movement and sensation (Springhouse Company, 1990). They find out and progress by performing simple motor movements such as for example looking, grasping, crying, listening, touching and sucking. Additionally down the road, they will also gain a basic knowledge of the relationships of trigger and effect. Object permanence appears around 9 months and additional physical development allows the kids to begin developing new intellectual abilities. Piaget contends that some fundamental language abilities are developed in the end of this stage.

Pre-operational stage follows following the child reaches at age 2. Throughout that stage, a child's cleverness is demonstrated through the utilization of symbols, and his words make use of matures, advancing to simple sentences. The child's storage and creativeness are developed to a particular extend but thinking is done in non-logical and non-reversible manner.

The following stage is the concrete operational stage -where the kid reaches the age of 7-11-: Children then develops seven types of conservation, namely number, duration, liquid, mass, weight, area and volume level. The child's cleverness is further demonstrated through logical and systematic manipulation of symbols linked to concrete objects, and his operational thinking evolves exponentially, nevertheless, his thinking at this stage is still concrete.

The final stage in the cognitive advancement may be the formal operational stage, where in fact the child's developed intelligence can be demonstrated through the logical make use of symbols linked to abstract concepts. That is reflected in his/her speech as in selection of words, and capacity for metaphorical usage.

Humanistic Methodology (Abraham Maslow, Carl Rogers)

Abraham Maslow proposed the humanistic approach as a method of words acquisition and learning. The idea takes into factors of the feelings, determination levels and self-confidence of a person Regarding to Carl Rogers however, the individuals consciousness of their private identity is about patterns central to oneself. Rogers believed that people could just fulfill their potential for growth if indeed they had basically great self-regard. On the other hand Abraham Maslow's thought that those that satisfied all their requirements might turn into self-actualizers (Sammons, n.d.).

Humanistic methodology differs it attempts to encourage positive feelings that help words acquisition such as for example self-esteem, motivation, empathy and risk acquiring. In addition, it tries to dampen bad emotions such as low self-self-confidence, nervousness and mental inhibition (Villatoro, n.d.) and in a way, it coincides with Skinner's Behaviorist Theory.

Behaviorist Theory

B.F. Skinner defined learning as a tendencies produced by learner's response to stimuli which may be reinforced with great or negative responses to environmental stimuli. Skinner added that learning can be observed, described, and predicted through observing antecedents and effects. Both great reinforcement and harmful reinforcement increase the probability that the antecedent habit will happen again. In contrast,Â punishmentÂ (both positive and negative) decreases the likelihood that the antecedent patterns will happen again. Positive indicates the application of a stimulus; Negative shows the withholding of a stimulus. Learning is as a result thought as a change in habit in the learner. Punishment is sometimes used in eliminating or reducing incorrect actions, followed by clarifying desired activities. Educational effects of behaviorism are essential in developing basic expertise and foundations of understanding in every subject areas and in classroom control.Â

Skinner's Behaviorist methodology contends that children learn words through imitation, repetition and the reinforcement of the successful linguistics attempts. Mistakes are considered to be the result of imperfect learning or insufficient options for practice. In such, that a child having a pleasurable learning experience (such as rewards or praise) is positive reinforced. Through that positively reinforcing stimulus, a child's learning capacity is triggered. However, distressing experiences (such as for example punishment) serve as harmful reinforcements, and cause learners to avoid unwanted responses to stimuli. As such, continuous reinforcement increases the rate of learning, come to be it great or negative; a child will respond to different triggers and with experience, remember what is to do and also to avoid. Consequently, intermittent reinforcement helps a child to a longer retention of what is learned.

Skinner contends that both positive and negative reinforcement can form behavior, and this subsequently impacts their language acquisition capability, as such, a lack of any reinforcement can also shape behavior. If people get no acknowledgement of their tendencies, they'll likely change that tendencies until they get some kind of reinforcement.

Behaviorism provided birth to a stimulus-response (S-R) theory which views language as a set of structures and acquisition as a subject of habit formation. Ignoring any internal mechanisms, it takes into account the linguistic environment and the stimuli it creates. Learning can be an observable tendencies which is instantly acquired by way of stimulus and response in the form of mechanical repetition. Thus, to get a language is to acquire automatic linguistic habits. According to Johnson (2004:18), "Behaviorism undermined the role of mental operations and viewed learning as the ability to inductively discover habits of rule-governed behavior from the examples provided to the learner by his or her environment". Larsen-Freeman and Long (1991:266) consider that

S-R models offer "little guarantees as explanations of SLA, aside from maybe pronunciation and the rote-memorization of formulae" (Menezes, V. n.d.).

This view of dialect learning gave birth to research on contrastive analysis, especially error analysis, the primary focus of which may be the interference of your respective first language in the mark language. An important a reaction to behaviorism was the interlanguage research, as the simple comparison between initial and second vocabulary neither explained nor explained the language made by SL learners. Interlanguage research will be present in additional SLA perspectives, as the concern of the region has been primarily with the acquisition of grammatical morphemes or particular language structures.

Behaviorist Theory for Second Vocabulary Learning

Under this theory, it is believed that the second language learning learner attempts to imitate what he hears and practices the second language regularly to develop habits in the vocabulary. This theory also believes that learners try to relate their knowledge of the native terminology to the second language which could bring about positive together with negative results. Nevertheless the imitation of 1 language with the various other isn't recommended as this does not help in real life situations. The behaviorists believe First vocabulary learners (FLL) involves learners imitating what they hear and develop patterns in the first language (FL) by routine practice. In this view, the learners are thought to relate what they find out of their 1st language to what they recognize in the second language. "Positive transfer" is a result of similarities between your first language and the next language, because habits found in the first language easily transfer to the second language. On the other hand, "negative transfer is caused by differences between the first language and the next language, because errors derive from using patterns from the first dialect in the next language.

Problems with this viewpoint of FLL include the fact that imitation will not support the learner in real-life circumstances. Learners are continually necessary to form sentences they have never previously noticed. A finite quantity of pre-practiced sentences isn't enough to carry on conversation, not with an instructor. Another problem with apa format for essay this viewpoint is that most of the errors made by FL learners are not predicated on the first language. Rather, the problems frequently encountered by learners resemble mistakes made by children during the period of first language acquisition.

The Innateness Hypothesis

Noam Chomsky believes that children will be born with a dialect acquisition machine (LAD) which encodes the important principles of a dialect and its grammatical structure into the child's brain and thus possesses an inherited capability to learn any human words. He claims that certain linguistic structures which kids use so accurately must be previously imprinted on the child's mind.Â Kids have then only to learn brand-new vocabulary and apply the syntactic structures from the LAD to create sentences.Â Chomsky points out that a child could not possibly learn a words through imitation alone for the reason that vocabulary spoken around them can be very irregular - adult's speech can often be split up and even in some cases ungrammatical.Â Chomsky's theory applies to all languages as they all contain nouns, verbs, consonants and vowels and kids appear to be 'hard-wired' to acquire the grammar.Â

Chomsky defends the innate hypothesis with regards to an elaborated linguistic theory which postulates not just a general ability in humans to obtain language, but also the power that comes from a specific language acquisition machine in the mind, equipped previously at birth with particular grammatical rules and principles.

The main arguments towards the innateness hypothesis will be first, language acquisition will be diï¬ƒcult and even impossible lacking any innate grammar: "Just how do we come to have got such wealthy and speciï¬c know-how, or such intricate devices of belief and understanding, when the data available to us is so meager?" (Cook, 1985).

Chomsky promises that the mere presence of language universals supports the hypothesis that these are innate, & most essentially all individuals acquire language, and no other animals do.

The LAD can be a hypothetical brain mechanism that Chomsky recommended to explain human acquisition of the syntactic structure of language. This mechanism endows children with the capability to derive the syntactic framework and rules of their native terminology rapidly and effectively from the impoverished suggestions supplied by adult language users. These devices is made up of a finite set of variables which languages change, which are place at unique levels for several languages based on language exposure. The LAD reflects Chomsky's underlying assumption that many aspects of language are universal (prevalent to all or any languages and cultures) and constrained by innate main understanding of language called Common Grammar.Â

Universal grammar is defined by Chomsky as "the machine of principles, circumstances and guidelines that are components or properties of all human languages" (Cook, 1985). The language homes inherent in the individual mind constitute 'Universal Grammar', which consists, not of particular guidelines or of a particular grammar, but of a set of general principles that connect with all grammars and that leave certain parameters open; Universal Grammar sets the limitations within which individual languages can vary.

Universal Grammar within the child's mind grows in to the adult's understanding of the language as long as certain environmental 'triggers' are given; it is not learnt just as that, say, riding a bike or playing the guitar will be learnt: 'a central part of what we phone "learning" is in fact better understood as the development of cognitive structures along an internally directed course under the triggering and potentially shaping effect of the environment' (Cook, 1985).

Language acquisition is the progress of the mental organ of vocabulary triggered by certain words experiences. Hence the idea of Universal Grammar is frequently known as part of biology. In fact the theory isn't dissimilar from thoughts current in biology on additional issues, for example the check out that 'Embryogenesis will then be observed as the progressive, orderly manifestation of the data which is definitely latent in the egg' (Cook, 1985).

So, to obtain language, the child needs not merely Universal Grammar but also evidence about a particular language; he needs to notice sentences of English to learn how to repair the parameter for the buy of Verb, Subject matter, and Object. The data he encounters could be positive or negative (Make, 1985).Â

By applying the same vocabulary principles, a French kid constructs a grammar of French, an English kid a grammar of English. Both grammars represent different alternatives within the rules set by General Grammar, unique applications of the same linguistic ideas in response to different environments; 'Experience is essential to repair the parameters of core grammar' (Cook, V, 1985). However the children also need to learn aspects of terminology that will be peripheral, that do not conform to Common Grammar. The child's head 'prefers' to look at rules based on the handy set of principles with which it is equipped; they are in a way the easy way out, and need just triggering experience to be learnt. By listening to the words around him, he can determine how to repair the parameter of sentence purchase as SVO or SOV, for instance. His mind 'prefers' not to adopt peripheral solutions, because they fall outside his pre-programmed guidance; they are more challenging. This can be interpreted through the concept of markedness: the kid prefers to learn 'unmarked' understanding that conforms to General Grammar, rather than 'marked' knowledge that's less appropriate for it.Â

Chomsky's job has been extremely controversial, rekindling the age-old debate over whether words exists in the mind before knowledge. Despite its few limitations, The Innateness Hypothesis can be rich enough to supply a substantial idea of how a kid acquires his/her first language.

The Critical Period Hypothesis

According to Eric Lenneberg's Cirtical Period Hypothesis in 1967, the hypothesis theorized that the acquisition of dialect is an innate method that determined biologically. The notion of critical period was connected only in the first dialect acquisition (freeservers.com, 2012). Lenneberg assumed that the coffee shop business plan structural reorganizations within the mind were developed just from roughly the age of two to puberty that was around thirteen or fourteen. Language skills which were neither learned nor being shown in this age would remain permanently undeveloped (Schouten, 2011). Lenneberg's hypothesis claimed that the absence of language was not a lot of in the first language acquisition through the early childhood exposure (citizendium.org, 2009). He believed that the brain would drop the plasticity after two sides of the mind has developed specialized functions.

The Important Period Hypothesis is definitely Lenneberg's response to the long-standing debate in dialect acquisitionÂ over the extent to which the acquireÂ vocabularyÂ isÂ biologicallyÂ linked to age (citizendium.org, 2009) Lenneberg proposed that the power of brain to get a language is halted at puberty with the onset of human brain lateralization. He refers that human brain lateralization, which is a process which the both sides of brain develop specialized function, where after the process, the mind would shed its plasticity as the function of the brain is set.

Lenneberg explained that if the kid didn't learn the language before the puberty, the dialect could by no means be learned in a complete and functional way. He proves his theory by referring to cases of feral kids, such as for example Genie. Discovered in age thirteen and a half in 1970 within an isolated and neglected living condition, Genie didn't had any type of communication, and she was neither in a position to speak nor write. After getting saved from her ordeal, she started to learn language slowly, but she never regained total language capabilities.

According to Lenneberg, first dialect learners should receive publicity on the first language ahead of puberty to get the best acquisition benefits. He contends that the important period for learning an initial language would same apply to acquiring a second language Studies have proven that before the brain is completely developed another language can be learned easier. However, while many persons have been able to get better at the syntax and vocabulary of a second language after puberty, few achieve native-speaker fluency, compared to first dialect learners, or bilinguals who start off at a age. A notable trait for FLL is certainly that their phonological may be the most apparent evidence for the critical period hypothesis, as their learning another language would be influenced by their first words accent.

Lenneberg's works continues to be highly regarded among the most reputable psycholinguistic argument of vocabulary acquisition.

Krashen's Theory of Second Words Acquisition

Stephen Krashen's theory

of second words acquisition offers been of much debate in the psycholinguistic circles. His theories will be well regarded, and provide a different insight into how the brain works in learning a second language.

The first of the five of Krashen's theories may be the Natural Order Hypothesis. Predicated on a robust analysis of research outcomes, Krashen's natural buy hypothesis suggests that the acquisition of language, especially the rules of vocabulary, follows a predictable natural order. For any given words, some grammatical structures have a tendency to be acquired earlier than others. This notion reflects Noam Chomsky's groundbreaking notion that have a built-in Language Acquisition Product (LAD), which within the first of all year of the children lives begins to allow them to understand and acquire language.

Because of the nature of the LAD, kids tend to learn several structures at different amounts as young children. Researchers have discovered that the same style occurs for aged learners - not a surprise to seasoned terminology teachers! It is the "predictable natural order" of this hypothesis.

Secondly, may be the Acquisition or Learning Hypothesis. The distinction between acquisition and learning is the most fundamental of all the hypotheses in Krashen's theory, since it suggests that language involves children in two somewhat various ways. Acquisition is one. Terminology can be acquired by it for real conversation while learning, which he describes as "knowing about" language, is quite a different thing.

Acquisition is the merchandise of a subconscious process very similar to the procedure children undergo when they acquire their first language. It needs meaningful interaction in the mark language-natural communication, where speakers concentrate not really on the type of their utterances, however in the communicative action. Learning, on the other hand, provides conscious knowledge about the target language. Hence, it is less important than acquisition for basic communication, nonetheless it still plays a crucial role in vocabulary learning. In short, learning is likely to take place in the "study" segment of an English lesson, while acquisition takes place during language activation.

Thirdly, is the Monitor Hypothesis. The essential distinction between acquisition and learning leads directly to another hypothesis. The keep an eye on hypothesis relegates vocabulary learning (that is, a student's responses from what the teacher teaches) to a secondary place in the scheme of language learning.Â

The monitor hypothesis may be the proven fact that conscious learning - that's, the results of grammar instruction and other activities that were the traditional inventory in trade of the vocabulary teacher - serve only as a monitor or an editor for the terminology student. Real acquisition takes place as "meaningful conversation in the mark language - natural communication - in which speakers can be involved not with the type of their utterances but with the messages they happen to be conveying and understanding."Â

Following that is theÂ Source Hypothesis. The input hypothesis suggests that people acquire language in only one way: by understanding messages, or by getting 'comprehensible input'. Based on the input hypothesis, learner's improvement by acquiring second language input that's one step beyond their current level of linguistic competence. Acquisition for learners with words knowledge "i" can only just take place if they are exposed to comprehensible type at a slightly higher-level, which Krashen describes as level "i + 1".Â

And finally, the Affective Filtration system Hypothesis. Finally, the Affective Filtration system Hypothesis proposes that a mental block due to affective or emotional elements can prevent input from reaching the student's language acquisition product. The affective filtration hypothesis says that affective variables like self-confidence and anxiety are likely involved in words acquisition. When the filter is up, that is, when negative emotional elements are in play, dialect acquisition suffers while when the filtration system is down, terminology acquisition benefits.

Similarities between First Dialect Acquisition and Second Dialect Learning

There have already been many arguments about language acquisition, some promises that acquisition and learning is the same procedure, whilst some beg to differ. Here are several similarities between first words acquisition and second dialect learning which have been argued before.

Physical process sensible, the learners of both primary language and second words hear the spoken words and begin to comprehend how it sounds, the mind works to grasp the essential sounds, which in turn, facilitates learning. The learners grab content in the terminology and begin to develop a vocabulary, this is then implemented up by grasping the grammatical structure and learning how exactly to form simple and complicated sentences in the words. Subsequently the learners are eventually able to understand new phrases by context plus they are in a position to express complex concepts and thoughts in the words, and lastly, learn to pick up writing and reading skills in the vocabulary (Panse, 2010).

Universal grammar mayÂ influence learningÂ either independently or through the 1st language in second words learning. For both earliest vocabulary acquisition and second words learning now there areÂ predictable levels, and particular structures, are acquired in a collection order.Â Individuals may move more gradually or quickly through these phases, however they cannot skip ahead.

Making errors is a part of learning.Â Learners have to make and test hypotheses about language to build an interior representation of the dialect.Â In the initial levels of learning, learners might use chunks of dialect without breaking them down or digesting them as independent models.Â In later stages, they could make new errors because they commence to process the parts of each chunk based on the rules of their dialect system.Â For instance, a learner may start out using the right kind of an irregular verb as part of a language chunk, but later overgeneralize and place a normal affix on that same verb.

Differences between First Vocabulary Acquisition and Second Vocabulary Learning

Many studies resolved the distinction between first language acquisition and second words learning. The primary distinction may be the natural process where first language learners acquire their expertise naturally and the conscious process in which second language learners master their second vocabulary.

First language acquisition is a natural process which is certainly genetically triggered at most crucial stage of the child's cognitive expansion where children subconsciously procedure and develop the linguistic understanding of the setting they live in and are unaware of grammatical rules.

In contrast, second words learning takes place where the target language may be the words spoken in the language spoken in the language community that varies from the earliest language. Second language is not genetically triggered in any way unless the child matures bilingually in which particular case, it is not considered second language learning at all.

FirstÂ language acquisitionÂ is mainly passive. Children usually listen to the people around them, their speech melody, their noises, their thoughts, and their sentence structures. Prior to the child can even read or write an individual word in his first of all language, he's already using an extraordinary vocabulary and many important grammar structures. Some people never discover ways to read or write but can still speak their first terminology fluently. Most infants learn rules while hearing the people around them. They are able to distinguish sentence structures at the early age of seven a few months as experiments have shown. They also grab new words from their surrounding persons. At the age of six, most kids have acquired their native language(s) with no effort.

Second language learning, however, is an active process. Second words learners need to learn vocabulary and grammar so as to achieve their goals. Many people will require an instructor, the teacher at school or the guidance of a course book or audio course. For those learners to attain fluency or near fluency in a second language, it requires years of learning and likely an extended stay in another country. Many people won't reach anywhere near fluency with any second dialect. Most experts see the ages between 3 to 4 years as theÂ crucial ageÂ when first vocabulary acquisition ends and second language learning begins.

Another area of difference between first language acquisition and second vocabulary learning is input - particularly the quality and level of input. Language learning process is determined by the input regularity and regularity. The amount of exposure to a target language a child gets is immense when compared to amount a grown-up receives. A kid hears the language 24 hours a day, whereas a grown-up learner may simply hear the target language in the classroom - which could be as little as three hours weekly. Even if one talks about an adult in a complete submersion situation the number is still less because the amount of one using one interaction a child gets for instance with a mother or father or other caregiver continues to be much higher than the adult receives. Thus, in first terminology acquisition, learners have many chances to practice with native speakers, specifically caregivers.Â

The next superb and obvious difference between first language acquisition and second words learning is age. A large part of the train of thought is the idea of a "critical period, or the "time after which successful vocabulary learning cannot happen. This time is often aligned with puberty. This change is significant, because practically every learner undergoes significant physical, cognitive, and emotional changes during puberty. Additionally, in second dialect acquisition, learners may or may well not have the possibility to practiceÂ extensively with native audio speakers. Furthermore, the acquired first of all language will not suffer from the probability of fossilization due to lack of use, when compared to learned second language.

For first words acquisition, if given even minimal 'input' during important pre-pubescent development, all humans acquire the first terminology of the world or public group they happen to be born into as an all natural and essential component of their lives. Also brain-damaged and/or retarded kids usually acquire the total grammatical code of the dialect of their society or interpersonal group. Same can't be said about second language, as having less usage and contact with the language, will cause regression.

Conclusion

Language acquisition and learning own long been a subject of interest since time memorial, and various theories have been paddled to ascertain the way the brain functions in acquiring terminology. From Piaget to Lenneberg, their gets results in this discipline have provided a broad insight concerning how human acquire and find out a language. However, there are several stark differences which different acquisition and learning, and it's been a spot of contention for the linguists and psychologists. However, language acquisition is and can always be a significant biological facet of a individual.

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First Language Acquisition Theories - Maison 8

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First Language Acquisition Theories Keywords: theory of first language acquisition Imagine a blank template, a light sheet of paper, thats how human being begins. From a crying baby in a cradle, to babbling, to simple sole words, little by little progressing into two-words, then finally a entire sentence, ever ask yourself how one acquires the ...

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Being able to understand the research that is behind second language acquisition will be useful for a teacher to understand when there are students in the class who are learning English as a second language.

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The second language acquisition theory is the brainchild of renowned linguist and researcher, Stephen Krashen. The theory is important because as early as the 1980s, it was influencing all research into how a second language is acquired.

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The Theory
According to the theory, one does not need to use grammatical rules of the target language extensively in order to learn it. All that is required are meaningful interactions in the language, which generally focuses more on the message that is conveyed than the grammer and rules of speech. Competence in the language is acquired as a result of receiving comprehensible input without having undergone any formal instruction or training on the grammar or reading of the language.
The Hypotheses
Krashen's theory consists of the following main hypotheses.
1. Acquisition Learning Hypothesis
According to Krashen, there are two second language performance systems.

- Acquired system, where language is acquired subconsciously. This happens when a child, for example, who has been exposed to a language in a natural environment, like home or school, starts reproducing correct grammatical structures unconsciously. The child focuses more on communicating his message and the language that comes naturally to him. As he has not learnt the language, he does not focus on what he is uttering. Acquisition of a language only happens when a child can understand the message in the second language.

- Learned system, where an individual learns a language through formal instruction in a classroom setup. Here, the focus is on learning the rules of grammar and being conscious of the process through which they understand the form of the language.

When comparing these two systems, Krashen points out that acquisition is more important than learning. He feels that learning can only test a person's knowledge of grammar, but when a person has to focus on the content he is producing, mistakes in grammar will occur. Learning grammar does not ensure that one knows how to use it correctly. Fluency in a language requires the person to efficiently communicate the message. Therefore, for true mastery of a language, the individual should acquire it.
Criticism
This hypothesis has been criticized for failing to provide sufficient evidence and for the fact that language has been mastered in formal setups as well, where students do not interact with people and yet speak the second language in a natural setting.
2. Monitor Hypothesis
Krashen believes that every second language learner has a monitor that he uses to refine his language. A learner will use his learned system as a monitor to polish, edit, and correct what has been learned through his acquired system. A monitor can be used more easily in written than in oral form.

This is because while talking, there is more focus on what is being said rather on how it is being said. Also, there is normally very little time to recollect what rules one has learned about the language. Second language learners can either over-use, under-use or optimally use their monitors.
Criticism
The criticism here is that there is no concrete knowledge of how the monitor works and if it actually works at all. There is also a debate as to why a monitor should only exist in a learned system.
3. Natural Order Hypothesis
This hypothesis states that individuals tend to acquire grammatical structures of a second language following a natural order that is predictable. This means that they are more likely to acquire certain grammatical structures before others. The acquiring patterns are different for the first and the second language. But the acquiring patterns for a second language are the same for both a child and an adult.
Criticism
The hypothesis is criticised for being based solely on observations of how a second language that is used in a surrounding environment is acquired by people. The second criticism is that it makes the process of cognitive learning seem very simple by drawing a clear distinction between acquiring and learning.
4. Input Hypothesis
This hypothesis explains how a language is actually acquired. When a person, is exposed to comprehensible content/input by reading or listening to language structures that exceeds his current stage of language competence, he acquires the language. Krashen uses the formula i+1 to show that input should consist of language structures from the next stage.

Krashen believes that, learning progresses and takes place in a natural order and not all individuals will have the same level of competence. Hence, the natural communicative input should be used to meet individual needs. The input should not consist of grammar structures that have been used on purpose and should be natural. Finally, the learner should not be forced to speak. Speech will occur when he is ready.
Criticism
In this hypothesis, comprehensible input cannot be clearly defined. The other criticism is that the language level of a learner or a level higher than their existing level cannot be determined.
5. Affective-filter Hypothesis
According to this hypothesis, the emotions of an individual act as filters that help or obstruct the acquisition of language. A highly motivated and confident person with low anxiety levels will be more successful than someone with low motivation, confidence and high anxiety levels in acquiring a language. Lower levels of motivation and confidence will hinder the process of subconscious language acquisition.
Criticism
The criticism is that this filter is said to be present only in adults and not in children and there is no concrete explanation of how such filters work.

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The second language acquisition theory is the brainchild of renowned linguist and researcher, Stephen Krashen. The theory is important because as early as the 1980s, it was influencing all research into how a second language is acquired. michaeljung/dollar photo club The Theory According to the theory, one does not need to use grammatical rules of [...]

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The ability to adapt strategies to better suit English language learners can support these students in their reading and writing development.

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4 Simple Ways to Support English Learners’ Comprehension

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Simple strategies—like providing visual cues—that teachers can use to help English learners improve their understanding in any class.

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With more strategies available to help EB/EL students with their writing and reading skills a teacher can be prepared to help any student who comes through their door.

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6 ways to help ELLs improve reading, writing skills - SmartBrief

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Insights is a SmartBrief Education Originals column that features perspectives from noted experts and leaders in education on the hot-button issuessaffecting schools and districts. All contributors are selected by the SmartBrief Education editorial team. In today’s column, Natasha Chenowith, professional development manager for Learning A-Z, offers ideas for supporting English language learners. Are English language […]

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With incorporating cultural diversity into the classroom teachers are creating a positive environment that represents acceptance and understanding of multiple cultures for their students. Having strategies and ways to do so is important to an educator.

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The Importance of Diversity & Multicultural Awareness in Education

Drexel University School of Education

Cultural diversity in the classroom is on the rise. In 2014, U.S. public schools hit a minority majority milestone with Latino, African-American, and Asian students having surpassed the number of white students. In 2044, the U.S. Census predicts that over half of the nation's population will be people of color, so this trend will likely continue.

In our increasingly diverse and multicultural society, it's more important than ever for teachers to incorporate culturally responsive instruction in the classroom -- whether teaching elementary school, middle school or high school students. And the increase of diversity doesn't only relate to race and ethnicity; it can include students of different religion, economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity, and language background.

Interested in becoming a teacher? Learn more about Drexel's Teacher Certification program.

Why is it Important to Encourage Diversity in Schools and Workplaces?

Fostering inclusion and awareness around multicultural education and taking a culturally responsive approach to teaching benefits all students. Not only does creating greater multicultural awareness and inclusion help students with different backgrounds and needs succeed, but it encourages acceptance and helps prepare students to thrive in an exponentially diverse world. Our Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Wellness Certificate Program is a great opportunity for teachers to learn how to create positive classroom environments and can serve as a foundation for understanding how to promote diversity in your classroom.

Diversity in and out of the classroom will continue to grow, so it's essential we prepare students to adapt to an evolving world and embrace those different from themselves. Learn more how the programs at the Drexel School of Education are helping to prepare more culturally-responsive educators today.

Types of Cultural Diversity in the Classroom

Every student is unique. In order to properly understand and promote cultural awareness, teachers need to understand all the different types of diversity they may encounter in their classrooms including:

Race

A person's skin color can have a great impact on their experience in society. It can also impact how they view themselves and others when engaging in classroom activities.

Ethnicity

Ethnicity relates to a person's culture and nationality. Ethnicity is sometimes confused with race, but it is important to recognize that while some people may have the same skin color, they may come from different places and have vastly different cultural beliefs and views of the world.

Religion

It is important to understand that people have different religious belief or no religious beliefs, and it may impact their participation in the classroom. Students may react differently to lessons based on their religion or may not be able to be present on certain religious holidays.

Language

While English is commonly used in American classrooms, for some students, it is not the language they speak at home. Accommodations should be made to help students for whom English is a second language.

Socioeconomic Status

A student's socioeconomic status can affect their ability to participate in the classroom without some type of accommodation. For instance, access to a computer at home or reliable internet access is not a given for some children. Teachers should be aware of this and the stress it may cause students who may struggle due to a lack of resources.

Sexual Orientation

A student's sexual orientation can have a great impact on how they are experiencing the world. Teachers should understand the struggles that exist and ensure that the lessons taught in their classroom are inclusive.

Gender Identity

Similar to sexual orientation, it is important to understand each student's gender identity and how they would prefer to be recognized. Teachers should respect their student's identity and use preferred pronouns when interacting with their students.

How can you Promote Diversity and Multiculturalism in the Classroom?

There are several ways teachers and administrators, such as principals and coaches, can ensure that both the classroom environment and curriculum are responsive to the increasing cultural diversity of our society. These strategies will encourage all students' cultural awareness, enhancing each student's sense of identity, and foster inclusion in the classroom community.

1. Get to Know Your Students Ensuring that cultural awareness is promoted in the classroom starts with the teacher understanding each individual student. Take the time to learn about each student's cultural background, hobbies, learning styles, and what makes them unique. Demonstrating a genuine interest in learning about each student and their culture will help establish trust and allow you to form a bond with them so they feel valued. If students feel appreciated by and comfortable with the teacher, there's a better chance they'll feel comfortable talking with and respect their peers in the class - and communication is the core to a culturally aware and inclusive classroom.

2. Maintain Consistent Communication Aside from getting to know your students, teachers should also continue to maintain ongoing communication throughout the semester or school year. Scheduling 1-on-1 meetings with students to "check in" every so often will allow you to consistently improve how accessible the classroom is to everyone. Students can talk about whether they felt included in the classroom culture. This can help identify issues or ways to improve the overall experience. It's also an opportunity to discuss their progress in the class and offer guidance on how they can improve, based on their individual needs as a student.

3. Acknowledge and Respect Every Student It's also important for students to celebrate and respect their own diverse backgrounds, as well as each other's. When appropriate, teachers should encourage students to research and learn about their own ethnic and cultural backgrounds. This allows them to better understand their own culture as well as the differences and nuances with their peers. As a bonus, this can be a great ice breaker assignment, allowing students to give presentations about their family traditions and culture to help expose the class to concepts outside of their own familiar comfort zone. Acknowledging these differences and creating a safe space for discussion helps promote understanding in the classroom and beyond. Also, as you encourage students to learn about their diverse backgrounds, remember to take the time to highlight what's offensive and the distinction between cultural celebration and appropriation. Learning how to talk about other cultures in a respectful, mature way is essential for success in life outside the classroom.

4. Practice Cultural Sensitivity While it's important to keep an open dialogue amongst students, it's equally as important to make sure you're being sensitive to everyone's culture, beliefs, and language concerns. Take the time to understand each student's cultural nuances - from learning styles to the language they use - and use these insights to design your lesson plans. For example, provide English language learners with appropriate and relevant resources that help them improve their English comprehension skills. Rather than teach with a traditional lecture style, create learning experiences that are more interactive and require collaboration. These considerations will help ensure that every student feels included, is given the space to learn in their own way and is given a chance to succeed.

5. Incorporate Diversity in the Lesson Plan The classroom environment is important for fostering cultural awareness, but you also should ensure diversity is represented in your actual lesson plan. For example, broaden history lessons so that they encompass the world beyond United States history and culture. Or, use references and analogies to other cultures in your lessons and assignments to help students with diverse backgrounds personally connect. Another great strategy is bringing in diverse speakers to add varying points of view and real-life context to different subjects.There are several ways you can ingrain cultural awareness and diversity into your lesson plan, and it will vary depending on the cultures represented in your classroom and the course you're teaching. Regardless of the subject, always try to present and connect lessons to real-world issues. It's easier to promote cultural awareness within your lessons when there's a real example for students to relate to.

6. Give Students Freedom and Flexibility Teachers often feel like they need to take on a strict, authoritative approach when it comes to managing their classroom. The most valuable lessons are often learned through a student's own experiences, so giving them some freedom in the course encourages more connection to the curriculum. Allow students to read and present their own materials that relate to the fundamental lesson so they can approach the topic from their own perspective. As a teacher, you can act as a facilitator and encourage conversation and healthy debate between diverse opinions. Group assignments are also a great way to expose students to diverse perspectives, allowing them to work together to explore and solve a problem. This will also help prepare them for a diverse workforce where they'll have to partner with a range of people to accomplish their professional goals.

Why is it Multicultural Education Important to Students?

It is important to remind ourselves why diversity and cultural awareness is so crucial in the classroom and the benefits it can have on students now and in the long-term. Teaching diversity exposes students to various cultural and social groups, preparing students to become better citizens in their communities. These culturally responsive teaching strategies will help you to promote diversity in the classroom.

With these culturally responsive teaching strategies in mind, it's important to remind ourselves why diversity and cultural awareness is so crucial in the classroom and the benefits it can have on students now and in the long-term.

Students Become More Empathetic

Promoting awareness and creating a personal connection with diverse cultures in the classroom can prevent students from developing prejudices later in life. It allows them to empathize with people different from themselves since they're more aware of the experiences someone of a different race or cultural group may face.

Students Gain a Better Understanding of Lessons and People

When working and learning with people from a variety of backgrounds and cultures present in the classroom, students gain a more comprehensive understanding of the subject matter. It also teaches students how to use their own strengths and points of view to contribute in a diverse working environment.

Students Become More Open-Minded

Naturally, by exposing students to a diverse range of opinions, thoughts, and cultural backgrounds, you're encouraging them to be more open-minded later in life. This will make them open to new ideas and be able to attain a greater comprehension on a topic by taking in different points of view.

Students Feel More Confident and Safe

Students who learn about different cultures during their education feel more comfortable and safe with these differences later in life. This allows them to interact in a wider range of social groups and feel more confident in themselves as well as in their interactions with others.

Students Are Better Prepared for a Diverse Workplace

With the rise of globalization, it's more important to be able to work with people from different cultures and social groups. If students are exposed to diversity and learn cultural awareness in the classroom, it sets them up to flourish in the workforce.

Learn More About Cultural Diversity in Education

There are additional resources available to help educators grow their knowledge of cultural diversity and apply it to their classrooms. Here are a few sites where you can find more information:

Additionally, Drexel offers programs that can help broaden a teacher's expertise in multicultural education including our online Teaching English as a Second Language and Social Emotional and Behavioral Wellness certification programs. You can also contact us to request more information.

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The Importance of Multicultural Education - School of Education

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As classrooms become more diverse, it's crucial for students to learn about other cultures. Discover how students benefit from classroom diversity with Drexel.

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By allowing families of the students in the classroom an opportunity to get involved in a school project where the students are able to teach their classmates about their individual cultures there is a positive culturally inclusive environment created.

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America is often referred to as a "melting pot" and this is reflected in the multicultural nature of many of our schools. It's therefore very important to create multicultural classroom activities that embrace the range of cultures represented; not only to help all students feel included but also to help the uninitiated explore your school's rich diversity.

With that in mind, here are five easy activities that bring multiculturalism in your schools to life while also linking students, parents, and educators.

1. Encourage students to "show and tell" the class about their heritage

Start by choosing a topic relevant to the students' country or culture. As a homework assignment, the student and the parents will write about this topic, whether it's an aspect of their culture (such as festivals, holidays, etc.) or family photos relating to their own or their ancestors' story of coming to America. Projects will be shared with the class as a speech or "show and tell."

2. Extend the invitation to their wider family members

Invite parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles (always great to include other family members!) to personally share a 15-minute presentation on their culture. The family may dress in cultural dress, bring pictures, or even share online images about their culture. Allow some time for students' questions and let the kids satisfy their curiosity!

3. Organize a "showcase" night and connect through food

Give each student a paper "doll" to take home. Students can decorate the dolls to represent their cultural heritage. Have the students bring in a recipe from their culture to go with this. Then, on a certain "showcase" night, the dolls are presented together complete with the recipe card. Students & parents are encouraged to bring a dish of the recipe to share for a potluck dinner. This can be done with just one or two grades at a time if the school is too large to arrange such a presentation in one night.
With the world enduring a pandemic, the landscape of education is changing. Read our post Flipped Upside Down: COVID-19 and e-Learning.
4. Make it real with field trips

Field trips are also a wonderful way to really see the fruits of multiculturalism. Visits to local workplaces, restaurants, museums, and government facilities allow students to witness diversity not only in the classroom but in the communities in which they live. You can even go on a virtual field trip. (For those schools in large urban areas, this may be just a short walk away).

5. Encourage playful participation

Different cultures play different games - and which child doesn't love games? Invite family members to describe and demonstrate cultural games with the students. Students can play and learn!

Teaching across cultures

American classrooms are multicultural and should be celebrated for their diversity. That's why it's so important to teach our students about a plethora of cultures, foods, games, and knowledge about others that they may otherwise not experience. These five ideas can expand the horizons not only for the students but for the whole school faculty.

Let's stir the melting pot!
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5 Great Multicultural Classroom Activities To Involve Parents - ClassTag

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America is often referred to as a "melting pot" and this is reflected in the multicultural nature of many of our schools. It's therefore very important to create multicultural classroom activities that embrace the range of cultures represented; not only to help all students feel included but also to help the uninitiated explore your school's rich diversity.

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This article is useful to remember the key aspects involved in creating a multicultural classroom. This will benefit me in making students from all backgrounds learn to value education and feel included.

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The United States has always been a multicultural country. As a result, the US education system is made up of students from a variety of backgrounds. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 50.7 million students attended public elementary and secondary schools in 2018, bringing a variety of backgrounds, languages, perspectives, and cultures to the classroom. Since culture and education have an impact on each other, it is important for people of all cultures to value education and for the education system to value all cultures.

Educators can use different teaching methods to promote multicultural education. They can cultivate learning environments that benefit diverse student populations. Even though instruction often relies on the contents of specific curricula, teachers can infuse multicultural education into every element of their instruction, from the projects they assign to the lessons they teach. Teachers in the US education system should be willing to ask what multicultural education is and how they can incorporate it effectively.

What Is Multicultural Education?

Multicultural education values different student cultures and prepares students to thrive in a diverse world. At its core, multicultural education fosters equality, justice, and equity, and it establishes the reality of philosophical ideals in classroom environments. Multicultural education is what schools implement to establish equitable educational opportunities for all their students. It is also an ongoing process of helping students succeed in their academic and personal lives.

Teachers, administrators, and school leaders play an important role in ensuring the incorporation of multicultural education by selecting and managing policies, curricula, and teaching styles. The practice relies on educators who value the histories and experiences of diverse groups of students. Schools and teachers can approach multicultural education in a variety of ways, supporting students as they develop positive perspectives of their own cultures as well as the cultures of their peers. By incorporating culturally responsive pedagogy in curricula and teaching practices, teachers can create an inclusive classroom that values all students.

Four Ways Educators Can Implement Multicultural Education in the Classroom

There are many ways educators can promote social justice and equity in schools, from working to hire a more diverse teacher workforce to mindfully selecting assigned readings that reflect broad cultural diversity. Additionally, teachers promoting equal learning opportunities for students of all races, ethnicities, and backgrounds can implement multicultural education in the classroom in the following ways:

Be Aware of Biases

For educators to understand what multicultural education is and implement it in their classrooms, they need to be aware of potential biases. While teachers may be open minded and want to deliver equitable instruction, they may have underlying biases they may not be aware of.

Further, teachers should understand they may be working with students from many backgrounds who may have biases against one another for cultural, racial, ethnic, or religious reasons. To cultivate safe and productive learning environments, teachers should be aware of any bias and work toward dissipating it. Teachers can also challenge the status quo by inspiring students to address social and school-based inequities that create unequal experiences for marginalized people. Students can be taught to recognize inequities in their classroom and community and use the classroom to discuss real problems their students identify.

Value Life Experiences

It's important for educators to value their students' experiences. Students bring unique perspectives to the classroom and can share their own stories or those of family members. Allowing students to share these experiences with their classmates can accomplish at least two goals: providing validation for the students who share similar experiences and introducing students to new perspectives. Teachers can also incorporate the history, values, and cultural knowledge of students' home communities in the classroom instruction. This transformative practice validates students' identities and communicates the importance of learning about others' experiences.

Understand Student Learning Styles

Teachers can promote equitable learning by being aware of their students' various learning styles, which can be influenced by their backgrounds and upbringing. Some students may be visual learners, others tactile learners or auditory learners. To embody what multicultural education is, teachers can vary their methods of instruction to reach all of their students. Teachers should design lessons that allow students to express their thoughts and experiences in their own voices. Teachers can encourage students to learn from one another's experiences and ask questions that promote understanding.

Assign Multicultural Projects

Teachers can emphasize the importance of different cultural backgrounds represented in their classrooms through lessons and assignments. They can highlight different cultures in their curricula embedding the study of diverse cultures and peoples in their core academic content. All students can engage with this authentic reading, writing, and problem-solving experiences. Students can write about their family histories or interview family members. They can work with each other to learn about new cultures.

Benefits of Implementing Multicultural Education

Teachers who ask themselves "What is multicultural education?" can develop curricula around their students' cultural backgrounds. Students in multicultural educational environments can learn how to value all cultures, bonding with peers over what makes them similar as well as what makes them unique. If students learn from a young age to be comfortable with differences, they are less likely to develop biases toward people of a different race or ethnicity. Ideally, they may become inclusive adults, free from racial or ethnic biases.

Implementing multicultural education benefits not only individual students but also society as a whole. Multicultural education has long-term benefits for students because those who learn to appreciate and value the cultural diversity of their peers will ideally grow up to be adults who likewise promote equality and justice.

Pursue a Master of Arts in Teaching or Master of Education in Education Policy and Leadership

To apply effective teaching practices with diverse student groups, teachers should understand how to create equitable learning environments and multicultural education classrooms. Teachers interested in implementing multicultural education techniques in their classrooms can pursue advanced degrees to understand how laws, policies, and leadership play a role in establishing curricula and coursework that positively impact students. Throughout their coursework, they can train as a classroom teacher through placement in an actual school setting.
Teachers interested in honing their skills as multicultural educators can pursue a Master of Education in Education Leadership at American University, choosing from courses including Education Program and Policy Implementation and Educational Leadership and Organizational Change. The American University program prepares teachers to become leaders in education and gain insight into legal education policies and programs. They develop research skills to help organizations enact legal and economic policies.

Educators can also further their academic journeys by earning a Master of Arts in Teaching, choosing from courses such as Effective Teaching for Diverse Students and Theories of Educational Psychology and Human Development. They learn how to develop evidence-based coursework in order to help establish multicultural education classrooms.

Advance Your Career Today

American University's School of Education prepares graduate students who want to transition to a career as a classroom teacher, students who are teaching assistants, and current teachers who want to earn an advanced degree while teaching. They learn how to create equitable and effective learning environments in which students from diverse backgrounds can flourish. Explore how American University's Master of Arts in Teaching and Master of Education in Education Policy and Leadership degree programs can help you gain insight into what multicultural education is and further your goals as an educator.

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What Is Multicultural Education? An Educator's Guide to Teaching Diverse Students

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The United States has always been a multicultural country. As a result, the US education system is made up of students from a variety of backgrounds. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 50.7 million students attended public elementary and secondary schools in 2018, bringing a variety of backgrounds, languages, perspectives, and cultures to the classroom.

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With the ability of an educator to understand the role of academic language in the classroom and the qualities that are required from a teacher to do so the educator will be more equipped to handle the situation when it occurs in their classroom.

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This article helps educators understand the role that academic language plays in their classrooms and in ELL student success.

The article also includes information on social vs. academic language, as well as numerous examples of the different kinds of academic language needed for all students to fully participate in classroom activities and assignments. Additional articles, books, and videos can be found in our Academic Language and ELLs Resource Section.

Academic Language: An Overview

Why is academic language important?

Perhaps you or your colleagues have taught a student, who, like Carlos, gave every sign of being fully "fluent" in English, only to find that the student struggled on more academic kinds of assignments.

Many students, including English language learners (ELLs), have difficulty mastering the kinds of academic language needed to succeed in school, especially if they have never been explicitly taught how to use it. These students include long-term ELLs, students who have attended U.S. schools for much or all of their education but have not yet mastered the language of school.

At the same time, many educators have never learned how to teach academic language since language has traditionally been considered the domain of English as a Second Language (ESL) or English language arts teachers. Yet the use of academic language is more important than ever in preparing students for academic and professional success, particularly in the era of rigorous college- and career-ready standards (such as the Common Core State Standards) that require an increased use of academic language in and across all disciplines.

What is your role?

It may seem daunting at first, but you have an important role to play in supporting your students' academic language development. You do not need an in-depth background in linguistics or ESL methods to do so; rather, you need some guidance and practice in learning how to recognize the role academic language plays in your subject area and classroom, as well as support from colleagues who can guide you in your efforts. Many ESL and bilingual colleagues have extensive experience in identifying students' academic language needs and collaborating with colleagues and will be more than happy to do so if asked!

In this article

To get you started, this article shares three things you need to know about academic language:

The difference between social and academic language

The importance of looking beyond vocabulary

How academic language will be used in your classroom

The article will also share recommended resources for further review. For specific instructional strategies on increasing the use of academic language in your classroom, see these ideas from ELL expert Kristina Robertson, as well as the resources at the end of the article, and check in with your ESL/bilingual colleagues for additional suggestions!

The difference between social and academic language

As the example of Carlos above suggests, teachers may be most familiar with the level of students' social language - the language they hear students using with their friends in the hallways or on the playground. Students typically achieve proficiency in social language long before they have mastered a grade-appropriate level of academic language. As a result, a student's ability to use language in social settings is not necessarily an accurate indicator of their mastery of academic language.

What is academic language?

Academic language is the language of school and it is used in textbooks, essays, assignments, class presentations, and assessments. Academic language is used at all grade levels, although its frequency increases as students get older.

It is also the language of the workplace - for example, the language used to write a business letter as opposed to a casual e-mail to a co-worker.

Examples

One strategy that academic language expert Dr. Robin Scarcella uses to help her college students understand the difference between social and academic language is to provide them with similar sentences or passages that convey the same meaning but that are written in different styles, such as the following:

I like this book more.

This story is more exciting than the first one we read.

Because they were brave.

The soldiers received the medal because of their courage.

If you were to compare other kinds of passages or documents, some examples might include:

A business letter vs. a personal e-mail (noted above)

A newspaper's summary of a research report vs. the actual abstract of the report

A customer review of a book vs. the publisher's description of the book

As your students become more familiar with the differences between social and academic language, it will be easier to identify which is which and what is most appropriate for a certain setting. Kristina Roberston notes in her video clip on our academic language playlist that her students call this "sounding smart" - and they know it when they hear it. When they hear themselves "sounding smart," it is a source of excitement and motivation in the classroom.

Additional resources

To learn more about the distinctions between social and academic language, take a look at the following resources from Colorín Colorado:
Discussion questions:

Have you had any students who were proficient in social language but struggled with academic language?

If so, how did their social and academic language use differ?

Did anything in their language abilities surprise you?

What are some examples that could be used to compare social and academic language in your classroom?

Beyond vocabulary

Many people think of vocabulary first when it comes to academic language. While content-area vocabulary words and terms are certainly an important component, academic language also refers to the words and phrases used to connect these key words and to communicate concepts. Here are two different ways to understand a broader interpretation of academic language.

"Bricks and mortar"

Dr. Cindy Lundgren explains the idea of " bricks and mortar" in our academic language video playlist, where "bricks" are the key vocabulary words and concepts in a sentence, and "mortar" is the language (such as signal words and phrases) holding the bricks together. Here is the example she explains in the video:

Even though bats have wings, they are not birds.

In this sentence, the bricks are the key vocabulary words in bold:

Yet to fully understand the sentence, students must understand the meaning of "even though." Here is a sample definition:

"Even though" means that two items are similar, but they are not the same. In this case, bats and birds both share a similar feature (having wings), but they are not the same animal.

Understanding signal words and phrases is a key step in a student's ability to "unlock" the academic language they encounter, as well as to start using it correctly themselves.

Video: Bricks and mortar in language instruction

Dr. Cindy Lundgren discusses the concept of "bricks and mortar" when thinking about effective vocabulary instruction for ELLs.

TWIPs

Debbie Zacarian and Judie Haynes (2010) also look beyond discrete vocabulary words in their academic language definition, including a range of structures they call TWIPs ( Terms, Words, Idioms, and P hrases). Here are some examples:

Note that, in the second example, the "Declaration" is a single word standing in for the official name of a specific document (the Declaration of Independence). Many textbooks used abbreviated terms in the interest of space, which requires students not only to track the references back to the original term but to build on existing background knowledge about the subject being discussesd. ELLs may need some extra preparation to draw upon or build background knowledge in order to fully understand the academic language being used.

Same Word, Different Meaning

Keep in mind that some key words or terms may have different meanings across disciplines and may be used as different parts of speech in different contexts (i.e., noun vs. verbs):

Lunch table (Social language)
Periodic Table of Elements (Science)
Table of Contents (ELA)
Multiplication tables (Math)
To table (delay) the discussion (Social Studies)

Plot of a story (ELA)
Plot of land (Geography)
Plot ordered pairs on a graph (Math)
To plot a government coup (History)

Branch of government (Social Studies)
Branch of a river (Geography)
To branch out (Idiom)

Your foot (Health)
One foot in length (Math)
Foot in your mouth (Idiom)
Foot of the mountain (Geography)
To foot the bill (Idiom)

As you identify the academic language you will be focusing on in a particular lesson, take a moment to think about whether any of the words or phrases may have another definition so that you can anticipate any possible confusion. You may wish to share your list with your ESL colleagues for input as well.

Cognates

Finally, there is a great tool you can use to bolster academic language for students who speak a language related to English. This is the use of cognates - words that have a similar spelling and meaning in both languages. More than a one third of words in English have a Spanish-language cognate! These often include technical or content-specific words that can help students make a connection between both languages, such as the following:

You can see many more in our list of Spanish-English cognates, and your ESL or bilingual colleagues may be able to think of other related examples as well. Once students know how that a connection exists, they will start noticing more words that are related and they will be able to apply their own existing background knowledge about those words to the vocabulary they encounter. They may need some guidance initially, and we provide some tips on how to use cognates in this Colorín Colorado article to help you get started.

Note: There is such a thing as a false cognate, the most famous one being that embarazada in Spanish is not "embarrassed" - it means "pregnant"! It is not a 100% foolproof strategy - but it is generally a very useful tool.
Discussion questions:

What are examples of key vocabulary words, terms, idioms, and phrases that are useful to know in your subject area?

Can you think of some phrases or signal words that are not content specific but are commonly used in your area (such as "In comparison...")?

Looking at the list of cognates from Colorín Colorado, find 10 words related to your subject area.

Planning for purpose and products

Now that you have some more background on what academic language is, it's time to think about how it is used in your subject area. Academic language is used for a variety of purposes across disciplines:

Students may write a lab report in science class.

Students may orally explain their reasoning in math class.

Students may listen to and compare two famous speeches in history class.

Students may compare a scene from a novel and a movie in an English language arts class.

Domains of language

As you can see in these examples, academic language is used in all four domains of language (reading, writing, speaking, and listening), and all four domains are needed to achieve the above tasks. While the uses of academic language may be more obvious for reading and writing, academic language is also necessary for listening to class discussion, lectures, and debates, as well as delivering speeches, presentations, and oral arguments. Students may need just as much help using academic language in their speaking as in their writing, and they may be at different levels across different domains. Carlos, for example, has strong academic listening and speaking skills, but weaker writing skills.

Students may also need help moving from the word level to the sentence, paragraph, or essay/project level in these sophisticated assignments. The most important thing you can do is to provide examples and model the kinds of language you expect students to use on a regular basis. By doing so, you will help familiarize students with the kinds of academic language needed to succeed in your classroom, as well as the purpose of the language they are using. Our Academic Language booklist and webcast include a number of subject-specific strategies for helping students master the kinds of language needed in different content areas.

This is also another area where ESL/bilingual colleagues can help you; they may have tried and true strategies, graphic organizers, and suggestions for modeling academic language and for helping students transition into more sophisticated assignments. One great example is the process that high school ESL teacher Michelle Lawrence uses to help her students transition from sentences and paragraphs to essays. (See Playlist: Writing Process 2.)

Note: Another helpful tool for communicating expectations about academic language is the use of language objectives , which you can learn more about from Colorín Colorado.
Discussion Questions:

As you consider how academic language is used in your discipline, what kinds of assignments are students expected to produce in your classroom and in higher grades?

What are some examples of academic language that are needed for each of these activities?

How are different language domains used at different steps of the process? (For example, a lab may require spoken language to be used in discussions between partners, and then writing to be used for the final written lab report.)

Based on what you now know about academic language, what kinds of support do you think Carlos needs in his chemistry class?

Do you have any ideas on how Mrs. Wilson can support his written academic language?

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Academic Language and ELLs: What Teachers Need to Know

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This article helps educators understand the role that academic language plays in their classrooms and in ELL student success. The article also includes information on social vs. academic language, as well as numerous examples of the different kinds of academic language needed for all students to fully participate in classroom activities and assignments.

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Strategies for Incorporating Academic Language

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Strategies for Incorporating Academic Language

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To have strategies that implement academic language into the classroom is important. This website has great examples of how to do so.

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August, D., & Hakuta, K. (1997). Improving schooling for language-minority children. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

August, D., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.). (2006). Developing literacy in second-language learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Bailey, A. (Ed.). (2006). The language demands of school: Putting academic English to the test. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.

Callahan, R. (2005). Tracking and high school English language learners: Limiting opportunity to learn. American Educational Research Journal, 42, 305-328.

Celce-Murcia, M. (2002). On the use of selected grammatical features in academic writing. In M. C. Colombi & M. J. Schleppegrell (Eds.), Developing advanced literacy in first and second languages (pp. 143-158). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Diaz-Rico, L. T., & Weed, K. Z. (2002). The crosscultural, language, and academic development handbook: A complete K-12 reference guide. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Dutro, S., & Moran, C. (2002), Rethinking English language instruction: An architectural approach. In G. Garcia (Ed.), English learners reading at the highest level of English literacy. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Echevarria, J., Vogt, M. A., & Short, D. J. (2004). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP model (2nd ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Feldman, K., & Kinsella, K. (2005). Create an active participation classroom. The CORE Reading Expert. Retrieved from http://www.corelearn.com/pdfs/Newsletters/CORE%202005%20Spring%20Newsletter.pdf.

Fillmore, L. W. (2004). The role of language in academic development. In Excerpts from a presentation by Lily Wong Fillmore at the Closing the Achievement Gap for EL Students conference. Santa Rosa: CA: Sonoma County Office of Education. Retreived from http://www.scoe.k12.ca.us/aiming_high/docs/AH_language.pdf.

Fillmore, L. W., & Snow, C. E. (2002). What teachers need to know about language. In C. T. Adger, C. E. Snow, & D. Christian (Eds.), What teachers need to know about language (pp. 7-54). Washington, DC, and McHenry, IL: Center for Applied Linguistics and Delta Systems Co., Inc.

Francis, D. J., Rivera, M., Lesaux, N., Kieffer, M., & Rivera, H. (2006). Practical guidelines for the education of English language learners: Research-based recommendations for instruction and academic interventions. Retrieved from http://www.centeroninstruction.org/files/ELL1-Interventions.pdf.

Genesee, F., Lindholm-Leary, K., Saunders, W., & Christian, D. (2006). Educating English language learners. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Gersten, R., & Baker, S. (2000). What we know about effective instructional practices for English-language learners. Exceptional Children, 66, 454-470.

Gibbons, P. (2002). Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: Teaching second language learners in the mainstream classroom. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Girard, V. (2005). English learners and the language arts. In V. Girard (Ed.), Schools moving up: A WestEd initiative. Retrieved November 8, 2006, from http://www.schoolsmovingup.net/cs/wested/view/e/140.

Goldenberg, C. (2006). Improving achievement for English learners: Conclusions from 2 research reviews. Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/12918.

Meltzer, J., & Haman, E. T. (2005). Meeting the literacy development needs of adolescent English language learners through content-area learning, part two: Focus on classroom teaching and learning strategies. Retrieved from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/pubs/adlit/adell_litdv2.pdf

Michaels, S., & Cook-Gumperz, J. (1979). A study of sharing time with first grade students: Discourse narratives in the classroom. In Proceedings of the fifth annual meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society (pp. 647-680). Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Linguistics Society.

Proctor, C. P., Carlo, M., August, D., & Snow, C. (2005). Native Spanish-speaking children reading in English: Toward a model of comprehension. Journal of Educational Psychology, 97, 246-256.

Saunders, W. M., Foorman, B. P., & Carlson, C. D. (2006). Do we need a separate block of time for oral English language development in programs for English learners? The Elementary School Journal, 107, 181-198.

Scarcella, R. (2003). Accelerating academic English: A focus on the English learner. Oakland, CA: Regents of the University of California.

Schleppegrell, M. J. (2001). Linguistic features of the language of schooling. Linguistics and Education, 12, 431-459.

Schleppegrell, M. J. (2004). The language of schooling: A functional linguistics perspective. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Scientific Learning Corporation. (2004). Improved language skills by children with low reading performance who used FastForWord language: Maps for Learning. MAPS for Learning, 3, 1-13.

Snow, C. E., & Fillmore, L. W. (2000). Clearinghouse on languages and linguistics. Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/ericcll/teachers/teacher.pdf.

Snow, C. E., & Fillmore, L. W. (2000). What teachers need to know about language. Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/resources/teachers/teachers.pdf.

Uchikoshi, Y. (2005). Narrative development in bilingual kindergarteners: Can Arthur help? Developmental Psychology, 41, 464-478.

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Most scholars believe that instruction in academic English ' done early, consistently, and simultaneously across content areas ' can make a difference in English learners' ability to understand the core curriculum.

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This visual representation of a possible writing objective that is comprehensible for ELL's can help with any future writing objectives that will need to be created.

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With this link I am able to read in more depth about how to plan math curriculum and make it suited to all level of students.

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Rachel, a passionate leader in a New York City-based public school, was concerned about the math outcomes at her school, especially for English language learners (ELLs), who made up about a third of the school community. Rachel knew that the students at her school had tremendous learning potential and that their teachers were motivated. The students had improved in English language arts, but mathematics scores had remained stagnant, particularly for ELLs.

Several math teachers said that the school's adopted curriculum didn't support the kind of instruction required for ELLs and they were creating supplemental resources, but the resulting units lacked cohesion.

Research points to the role of carefully designed, high-quality learning materials. High-challenge, high-support materials allow great teachers to engage students in quality interactions that scaffold and motivate students. Creating a curriculum inquiry team is a way to leverage the knowledge and expertise of educators from different disciplines to establish a more inclusive, engaging, and effective curriculum.

Collaborate and Determine Student Needs

Rachel built a core team of motivated math and ELD teachers, and together they conducted a four-step needs analysis.

1. Explore where the current needs are by surveying teachers. The English Learners Success Forum provides a simple questionnaire, "Taking the Pulse," which helps educators to reflect on their practices and students.

2. Analyze current data. In reviewing test scores of EL students, ask if there is a disparity between these students and their peers. Why might that disparity exist? Look at evidence of student reasoning as they solve problems. What can they already do well? Are difficulties related to language, or are they mathematical reasoning issues that are creating the challenge? Are students able to productively struggle with cognitively demanding problems, or do they give up easily?

3. Capture evidence of students' classroom language use by collecting and analyzing writing. Writing notes about student conversations or regularly recording conversations can be useful in assessing how students work together. Do EL students get equitable opportunities to speak? Are students held accountable for explaining their reasoning? How are students writing about math? Do they become more mathematically formal and precise in their language over time? Do they revise and improve their reasoning and mathematical language as they negotiate concepts together?

4. Formulate goals based on data. One obvious goal would be to improve the test scores of ELLs relative to their peers, but assessment results are not the only objectives. More nuanced goals might include moving students from informal, everyday ways of talking about mathematics into the registers that construe more technical and precise meanings, or providing learning materials that promote engagement in math for all, but particularly for those who are struggling.

Once the team has a better sense of the strengths and needs of both their teacher practices and students' learning, it is easier to identify what curricula are needed.

Dig Into Instructional Materials

Rachel and her team studied current literature on what constitutes a high-quality curriculum responsive to ELLs' needs. Responsive learning materials include some essential components, such as the following:

Rich, intellectually demanding content that provides both mirrors and windows to diverse experiences.

Opportunities to use mathematical language in real-world applications or to solve problems using familiar contexts as a stepping-stone to mathematical concepts.

Opportunities to learn language and content simultaneously through deliberate scaffolding, and opportunities for reasoning using students' home languages and English.

A rubric can guide the team through a series of prompts about the curriculum content, structure, and activities to ensure that essential components are included. Some helpful questions include the following:

Are units explicitly sequenced to strategically build language proficiency alongside content knowledge?

Do language goals help students to develop mathematical words and phrases and syntax and the ability to engage in mathematical practices?

Do materials include ample opportunities for students to use math language in different modalities (listening, speaking, reading, writing) and to refine that language over time?

A rubric may also include ways to assess the usefulness of materials in scaffolding:

Do the materials guide teachers on how to facilitate mathematical discussions among those with varying levels of language proficiency?

Do the materials provide strategies to contextualize math language, connect to students' lives, and build on their background knowledge?

Do the materials draw on multiple resources and mathematical representations-such as objects, symbols, graphs, tables, anchor charts, models?

Do the materials encourage students to build on their existing language resources to communicate their mathematical thinking?

High-quality materials will also include formative assessment tools that capture the range of ELLs' language and content knowledge over time, including writing, work samples, and oral language.

Implement the Changes

After using a rubric to evaluate materials, a team will be able to identify areas for refinement and redesign. For example, if the learning materials provided by the district provide few opportunities for students to use mathematics for real-world purposes, the inquiry team can work together to build those opportunities into units.

Once changes are enacted in the lessons, team members can document new teaching practices and student learning and engagement. This feedback can be used by the group to collaboratively analyze and further refine.

When teachers cooperate in cycles of curriculum study, refinement, and teaching, they can provide content-rich, engaging lessons with high levels of challenge and support. Like Rachel, they can watch their EL students begin to thrive academically and see themselves as mathematicians, regardless of whether they've fully mastered the language of instruction.

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Improving Math Curriculum for English Language Learners

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Rachel, a passionate leader in a New York City-based public school, was concerned about the math outcomes at her school, especially for English language learners (ELLs), who made up about a third of the school community. Rachel knew that the students at her school had tremendous learning potential and that their teachers were motivated.

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The strategies exemplified in this article are great resources to use when a teacher discovers EB/EL students may be struggling with the math curriculum in the classroom.

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The majority of the 5.5 million English language learners in the U.S. public school system speak Spanish as their first language, which makes the capability of teaching math in Spanish, using bilingual teachers or teaching assistants, a high priority. Many of these students may have difficulty learning effectively in English and require specialized or modified instruction, either from their teacher or a Spanish online math program.

Here are six strategies to help ELLs succeed in math:

1. Utilize Bilingual Faculty and Support Staff

There is evidence that Spanish-speaking teachers, or ancillary staff who speak Spanish, can help ELLs to build math skills as they build vocabulary in both English and mathematics. " The Inclusive Classroom, Teaching Mathematics and Science to English-Language Learners " supports the idea that when students use their native language in the classroom to work with their peers or individually, their academic performance as well as English-language development improves. Additionally, skills in content areas like mathematics and social studies, once understood in the first language, are retained when instruction shifts to the second language.

Mathematics for English Language Learners (MELL), a research-to-practice project for ELL educators facilitated by the Texas State University System Education Policy Implementation Center, provides a broad range of resources for teaching math to English Language Learners, including a dictionary of English/Spanish math terms commonly used in middle school.

2. Set High Expectations With A Rigorous Curriculum

The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) and U.S. Department of Education researchers Eugene Garcia and René Gonzalez recommend teaching to a rigorous, standards-based curriculum and never lowering expectations for ELLs even though additional time and instruction will likely be required. They also suggest that students are best equipped to meet and exceed math expectations when they are provided with abundant and diverse opportunities for speaking, listening, reading, and writing as their teachers encourage them to take intellectual risks, construct meaning of math concepts, and seek reinterpretations of knowledge within compatible social contexts to make better sense of mathematical ideas.

3. Use Visual Contexts and Manipulatives

Visual math manipulatives provide students with limited English proficiency ways to construct physical models of abstract mathematical ideas. Multiple modalities are effective in promoting critical thinking and problem-solving skills. Virtual manipulatives have the added advantage of enabling new types of engagement and promoting self-directed learning in a highly interactive, digital environment.

4. Implement Personalized, Individualized, and Blended Models

Combining face-to-face instruction with online learning has yielded strong results as an education strategy. A study from the U.S. Department of Education demonstrated that blended learning classes produce statistically better results than their face-to-face, non-hybrid equivalents. When education technology uses pedagogically sound approaches and curriculum materials, it can increase the individualization of each student's learning experience. Technology support also allows teachers to expand and more strategically use the limited time they have as facilitators of math learning for ELLs. This powerful approach can be leveraged to create the additional time required to meet ELL needs.

For schools that are trying to meet the needs of all ELLs with limited time and resources, an investment in technology, particularly adaptive technology, can enable a more personalized blended learning model that meets the needs of all students.

5. Use Assessment That Is Balanced and Dynamic

NCTM suggests that a best practice for ELLs in math is empowering them to demonstrate and explain their understanding in multiple ways. Latino ELLs often have an incomplete grasp of academic math language, so traditional tests aren't able to provide a complete view of each student's understanding of math concepts. ELLs commonly know more math than they can demonstrate on traditional assessment instruments.

For example, Research has shown that math test items can be linguistically modified to reduce language load without altering the construct being assessed. In a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education, linguistic modifications produced an improvement on math tests among ELLs, while English-proficient (EP) scores remained the same.

6. Increase Engagement and Motivation

Making curriculum engaging and accessible to all students is key. One way to improve engagement is to drive greater oral participation for ELLs in math classes. Improved verbal communication in mathematics is not only a way to demonstrate conceptual understanding, it also has the additional benefit of promoting language-learning overall.

Using game-like activities, in class as well as online, is another great way to engage ELLs and EPs alike, and can aid in developing problem-solving skills and persistence. The most effective math games reward students for both achievement and effort. This is particularly true when trying to level the playing field for Latino ELLs struggling with language.

For more information on six strategies for teaching math to ELLs, be sure to download the white paper, Strategies to Close Math Gaps for ELLS, by Dr. Tim Hudson, PhD.

Free Math Activities

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Six Strategies to Help ELLs Succeed in Math

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Hispanic Heritage month is the perfect time to consider teaching strategies to help English Language Learners (ELLs) succeed in math. Check out these 6 highly effective strategies for teaching math to Latino ELL students. Includes 9 fun and free math activities for K-8 ELLs.

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This list of possible science strategies will be valuable to me as an educator when I am planning curriculum for my future classes.

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With this article I learned strategies to make science content accessible to ELL students and make these students feel involved in their learning.

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This guest blog post was written by my friend Becca over at Science Rocks! She is a terrific teacher with a lot of experience working with ELL students in her science classroom and I collaborated with her in writing this post. I think her ideas are full of fantastic tips for teachers who teach English Language Learners.
If you've been teaching for a while, chances are you have had some ELL (English language learner) students in your classroom. I've known many teachers that have panicked and asked me "how can I teach them science if they don't speak English?" I think many teachers tend to think they need to dumb down the content for these students. They aren't dumb! Your job is to make the content accessible. It's been my experience that ELL students are amazingly hard workers and are a blast to work with. My friend Bethany Lau over at Science with Mrs. Lau and I have created a list of best-practice tips for working with ELL students. We also have some helpful resources to share with you!

Tip #1: Get them talking! A quiet classroom is not conducive to learning a new language. Many students are scared to speak out loud in English, especially in front of the entire class. To help build their confidence, try small group discussions first. To ensure that every student has spoken to his or her group, give each student something color-coded (I use colored popsicle sticks from the dollar store). When a student speaks, they place their popsicle stick in the center of the table. It is easy as a teacher to walk around and monitor who is speaking and who isn't. Make it a requirement that each student has to speak at least twice during group discussions.

Tip #2: SLOW down when you are talking, and use nonverbal cues. This is much easier to do when you have all your ELL students together in one class, but when they are mixed with native English speakers we often don't realize how fast we are talking. It is really difficult for ELL students to process when you are speaking a mile a minute. So take a deep breath, slow down, and use your hands and other nonverbal gestures. Don't be afraid to act things out! Yes they will giggle, and yes they will love it.

Tip #3: Build vocabulary. When you teach new words, always make your students repeat the word out loud after you say it. And if they aren't loud, make them do it again. If you have a word wall in your classroom, go down the list frequently and make your students say them with you. To help students remember the definitions, discuss prefixes and suffixes to help them decode meanings.

Find fun ways for students to practice those new words. Instead of doing vocabulary worksheets, do vocabulary games instead! Bingo is an awesome way to review vocabulary words before a test. Create a bingo card from a free online bingo-card maker such as http://osric.com/bingo-card-generator/. Type in the words you want your students to learn and print a class set. Instead of calling out the words, say the definition and the students need to cover up the correct word. If they get a bingo, they need to say the words out loud in order to win a prize.

Tip #4: Utilize pictures. I used to try and translate parts of my power points into Spanish before the lesson thinking I was doing my students a favor.

I quickly realized that:

1. Google translate is frequently wrong

2. Many of my students could speak fluent Spanish but couldn't read it.

3. Even if they could read most of it, they didn't know the content specific terms in Spanish. Why would I want my students to learn the word "homeostasis" in Spanish AND English? Let's just stick with English.

Instead of translating, stick with visual pictures. Pictures are understood in all languages. Include them as much as possible in your lessons and power points. Make students draw pictures in their notes. Include pictures in all your articles you want students to read. A great pre-reading activity is to have students look at the pictures and captions in an article before they read the body paragraphs. Have them guess what the article is about based on the pictures and discuss with their neighbors (get those popsicle sticks back out). If you have a word wall in your classroom, make sure it includes pictures too! The more they see a picture associated with a new word, the more likely they will remember what it means.

Tip #5: Learn about their language and culture, and include it in your lessons when applicable. Students will have more buy-in to your lessons when they feel like their language and culture is valued. If you can connect their language to the content, chances are they will remember it better. For example, students use the term "liga" in Spanish to mean rubber band or hair elastic. When teaching "ligaments," discuss how they are stretchy unlike tendons. Students won't forget!

Tip #6: Use Manipulatives! Sometimes students need help learning how to structure their writing into logical paragraphs (even native English speakers need this too!) If you have sample paragraphs for them to learn from, you can print separate sentences out on separate lines, and cut them into strips. Then you can mix the sentences up and have students order them in how they should logically appear in a sentence! You can also do this for other parts of a lab report, like the procedure section or even the proper labels for a graph!

You could create your own writing structure manipulatives, or you can check out Bethany Lau's Lab Report Writing Activity Bundle found here. She has a set of activities with manipulative for each and every part of the lab report with a lot of examples for students to learn from.

Tip #7: Get them writing as much as possible. Data shows that when students take the state language proficiency tests, they struggle the most with writing. Find ways to get students writing on a daily basis. This could work in many different formats- just find one that works for you. Daily bellwork is a great place to start, as well as having students keep writing journals.

What should you have them write about? Check out these writing prompts from Science Rocks' store!

These were designed to be used before new concepts are taught, and allows the teacher to assess prior knowledge and check for misconceptions. When students are first learning English, allow them to write in their native language if they are able to and plug in English words that they know. Throughout the year as their language improves, you will see their writing transform from fragmented to fluid sentences.

Another great writing strategy for ELL students are sentence frames. For students still learning how to write a complete sentence, give them half the sentence first and have them fill in the blanks. For example, a hypothesis on a lab report for an ELL student could look like this: "If I change ___________, then I think ___________ will happen, because __________.

Tip #8: Model. And then model some more. As science teachers we tend to think of "modeling" as meaning "I'll show them how to do a lab before it's their turn." Modeling applies to so much more than labs.

1. Model reading strategies. As you read through articles out loud, stop and discuss. What was the main idea? What did you highlight and why?

2. Model writing strategies. When you assign those writing prompts, work through one with them first. Show them what a quality answer would look like.

3. Model behaviors. Many students will enter your classroom from different backgrounds. Behaviors that may have been acceptable where they grew up may not be acceptable in your classroom. If you want them to give a verbal presentation with eye contact, show them what a good presentation looks like first.

4. Model word pronunciation. Sometimes if students are nervous to say things in English, I have them teach me how to say the phrase in their native language first. Once they have giggled at my horrible pronunciation, they aren't so embarrassed to pronounce things in English.

Tip #9: Modify. Yes, one more thing to add to your to-do list. But it can honestly be as simple as cutting down the number of questions for them to complete, or adding pictures to an assessment. One of my favorite websites to find nonfiction science articles on is newsela.com. Not only is it free to use, but once you find an article you can change the lexile! That means all your students can be reading the same article but at a reading level that is assessable to them.

Tip #10: Use formative assessment frequently, and celebrate gains. It's important to check in with ELL students often. Many of them will take notes, smile, and nod during class, but only understood 20% of what was discussed. Exit tickets and note summaries are great ways to check in and see where they need help and what they have mastered. Make your exit tickets specific. Don't just say, "One thing I still need help with is..." but instead ask them to answer a specific question related to the lesson. This will help you group them by mastery and focus on the students that really need your help. Once they have mastered a new concept or learned new vocabulary, don't forget to celebrate! Let them know you are proud of them, and they will work harder in the future. If students feel like their hard work is recognized and celebrated, they will continue to work hard!

We'd love to hear stories from you about what helps your ELL students! Let us know in the comments!

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Ten Tips for Teaching ELL Science - Science and Math with Mrs. Lau

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This guest blog post was written by my friend Becca over at Science Rocks! She is a terrific teacher with a lot of experience working with ELL students in her science classroom and I collaborated with her in writing this post. I think her ideas are full of fantastic tips for teachers who teach English Language [...]

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This article is useful in understanding how students background knowledge is the best opportunity for EL students to comprehend social studies instruction.

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One of the greatest challenges in helping English language learners (ELLs) master Social Studies content is the role of background knowledge. The resources below provide ideas and guidance for planning effective Social Studies lessons for ELLs as well as for choosing appropriate academic language and vocabulary.

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One of the greatest challenges in helping English language learners (ELLs) master Social Studies content is the role of background knowledge. The resources below provide ideas and guidance for planning effective Social Studies lessons for ELLs as well as for choosing appropriate academic language and vocabulary.

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This website is a valuable resource to review because there are multiple strategies discussed within the article to use in a clasroom.

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As we near the beginning of the school year, I thought it would be helpful for me to brush up on some strategies and develop a few more tools for the teaching toolbox this year. Below are some guides that I found helpful, see links below.

ELLs and Social Studies (NYU)

Analyzes difficulties with multiple meanings of common social studies words

Provides strategies to deepen students comprehension of challenging texts with examples of application: T-Notes, analogies, cause-effect chains, concept circles

How to brainstorm to activate prior knowledge

Previewing content vocabulary

When, if ever, to use multiple choice questions

Teaching students to self-assess

Making Social Studies Meaningful for ELL Students (Long Island University: Szpara & Ahmad)
An academic paper but contains a number of research-based specific suggestions for teaching ELLs:

Develop a Socially Supportive Classroom Environment:

Learn students' given/ethnic names

Learn basic greetings in various languages

Explicitly voice high expectations for all students

Explicitly teach Cognitive Academic Language

Give instruction in literacy skills

Teach how to decode new terms

Teach how to skim & scan

Reduce Cognitive Load and Increase Accessibility of Complex Content Knowledge:

Translate key words in English instructions for DBQs

Utilize visual supports

Use graphic organizers-write down all important information

A National Board Certified Teacher, instructional coach, and teacher mentor. View all posts by Arpan Chokshi

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Strategies for Teaching Social Studies to ELLs

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As we near the beginning of the school year, I thought it would be helpful for me to brush up on some strategies and develop a few more tools for the teaching toolbox this year. Below are some guides that I found helpful, see links below.

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I found this video very useful when it came down to how to break up an assessment into a summative over a formative.

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Summative Assessment: Overview & Examples

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The video discusses formative assessments and how this form of assessment can be used scaffold students learning through instruction.

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Formative Assessment (Strategic Assessment System, Part 1)

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The importance of a summative assessment is stated within this article and the value the assessment has over understanding a students mastery of a subject over a period of time.

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When most think of the word "assessment" they envision the large, high-stakes exams that caused stress and sleepless nights while a student. In actuality there are many different types of student evaluation-the most common form being summative assessment.

What is Summative Assessment?

While formative assessment is the evaluation of learning as it takes place (assessment for learning), summative assessment is the practice of evaluating what a student has learned at the end of a given period of time (assessment of learning). As content is taught within a course, educators should evaluate how well the information is absorbed and retained-this is where summative assessment becomes useful. By assessing students at the end of a module, course, or even entire program curriculum, summative assessment provides faculty insight into how well their students have mastered the delivered content.

When Should It be Used

Being the evaluation of learning, assessments should occur at the end of the given period of teaching. Generally, they are an end-of-course or end-of-year exam; however, these are not the only applicable use of summative assessment. Evaluating students' learning could come at the end of a chapter, learning module, or semester. Thus, summative assessments are not only high-stakes final exams, but can (and should) be viewed as a way to gauge, or spot-check, student mastery of a particular area of content.

Keeping Them Secure

Most summative assessments are given with the understanding that the student's score counts towards their final grade. As such, keeping these secure from academic dishonesty is paramount to providing a fair experience for all test takers. Many educational institutions are moving to computer-based testing (CBT); however, testing on laptops or other devices brings an entirely new list of security issues such as access to the internet or other applications during an exam. An effective way to ensure exam integrity for high-stakes assessments is choosing a testing software that does not utilize Wi-Fi during an exam and prevents students from accessing any other information within the device.

The exam environment isn't the only area of the summative assessment process that needs to remain secure-ensuring assessment items remain protected is also a concern. Once a test question has been compromised, it's no longer a valid measurement of student learning. Thus, keeping questions secure in a password protected, cloud-based environment is vital.

Providing Students with Summative Assessment Feedback

While the use of formative assessment hinges around providing students with feedback to help with the learning process, summative assessment happens after the student learning occurs. However, this doesn't mean that communicating students' performance to them is any less important. For students to understand what content they have mastered and which topics might need additional study time, they need detailed information on how they performed not only on the assessment as a whole, but also which specific topics they performed well on.

This type of granular performance data is gained by categorizing summative assessment questions. By tagging exam items to course topics or learning objectives, faculty provide the detailed feedback students need to be more direct in how and what they study moving forward within the curriculum.

Summative assessment is an important part of the assessment process and is incredibly valuable to both students and faculty. Inserting into key moments within the curriculum, ensuring that these high-stakes exams are secure and thus a valid measurement of student learning, and providing students with performance feedback, educators gain insight into how well their content is learned and absorbed.

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What is Summative Assessment and Why Does it Matter?

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When most think of the word "assessment" they envision the large, high-stakes exams that caused stress and sleepless nights while a student. In actuality there are many different types of student evaluation-the most common form being summative assessment.

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This article highlighted key ideas to use to allow formative assessments to be at the level of ELL's as well as whole class instruction.

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By Sarah Ottow
The Latin root word for "assessment" is assidere which means to sit beside. In my work as an English Language Learner (ELL) specialist, I advocate for educators to intentionally sit beside their students to more deeply understand and support their learning trajectory at the classroom level. That is to say, I strongly advocate for an intentional formative assessment approach for ELLs.
Schools can go beyond traditional summative and interim measures to ensure a more balanced assessment approach that brings to light the nuanced and complex process of academic language development. By implementing formative assessments for ELLs, educators can develop a "language lens" that uncovers and showcases the growth of this culturally and linguistically diverse population.

Where do we start?

First, we can examine what comprises our current assessment systems in place. We have large-scale, "big data" summative assessments that give us "big data" once a year on student proficiency. We also have interim assessments that measure growth against benchmarks periodically throughout the year, often with the audience largely being district and school-level stakeholders.
These summative and interim assessments provide "snapshots" of ELL performance and are not always reliable or valid on the ELL population. Therefore, we need to ask ourselves if we have systemic, systematic formative measures in place that provide feedback on teaching and learning specifically for our ELLs? Do we have a "photo album" approach of ELL development? If not, we can add specific formative practices into our assessment system that celebrate student growth and provide next steps for instruction at the classroom level.

What are some effective formative assessment practices for ELLs?

What's important to remember is that formative assessment is flexible and intended to focus on feedback for both the teacher and the student. As an initial step, I highly recommend that teachers keep portfolios of student writing samples to show individual student growth over time. Through portfolios like journals and learning logs, student work can be the centerpiece in conferences and school data meetings.
Next, I suggest that teachers work with students to co-create appropriate goals for using more sophisticated academic language. It's critical to promote student ownership of the assessment process through goal setting, self-assessment as well as peer assessment opportunities.

How can collaboration strengthen formative assessment?

A critical step in strengthening ELL formative assessments is to create and sustain collaborative time to analyze student work. Evidence-based conversations between educators about what students are producing can directly lead to ideas for effective student feedback and instruction. Professional learning communities are also opportunities for collaboration with ELL specialists to deepen content teachers' understanding of language and literacy. One final tip is to consider building data walls of multiple measures of ELL data quarterly to facilitate data-driven coaching cycles and team planning. In these ways, we can offer a "photo album" approach to show progress over time, celebrating students' journey of academic language development.

We know that ELLs are a diverse group of students with unique assets and varying factors affecting academic performance. Many educators need support in reaching ELLs and teaching academic language yet they often don't know where to start. By implementing more formative assessments for ELLs with the appropriate language supports, teachers can better understand their students and become stronger teachers of academic language. After all, all teachers are indeed language teachers!

Formative Assessment Ideas

Journals or learning logs to show growth over time in a portfolio

Academic conversations to explain new learning

Cornell notes or graphic organizers to structure note-taking

Student-teacher conference or small group discussions to recount learning

Exit slips to show "I think..", "I wonder...", "I still want to know..."

Fill-in-the-blank or "cloze" activity using sentence frames

Reciprocal teaching

Recording student language through technology

Drawing or role playing

Gallery walk of student work where students give each other feedback on stickies

Word or concept sorts based on unit themes or student-created categories

One word or one phrase response using whiteboards

Self-checklist or peer-checklist

Label or sequence visuals like pictures, photos or realia (real life objects)

Student-generated questions for peers

This blog is part of the Supporting English Language Learners Series with support from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. For more, stay tuned for the culminating podcast, infographic and publication.
For more, see:
Sarah Ottow is the founder, director and lead coach at Confianza: Educating for ELL Equity. Follow Confianza on Twitter: @ELL_Confianza Stay in-the-know with all things EdTech and innovations in learning by signing up to receive the weekly Smart Update. This post includes mentions of a Getting Smart partner. For a full list of partners, affiliate organizations and all other disclosures please see our Partner page.

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Supporting English Language Learners with Formative Assessments

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By Sarah Ottow - By implementing formative assessments for ELLs, educators can develop a "language lens" that uncovers and showcases their growth.

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The website provides valuable resources for teachers to use to incorporate technology into an EB/EL students curriculum.

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English-language learners (ELLs) come into our classrooms with a wide variety of specific and unique needs for language acquisition. It's hard to talk about them all as one group -- ELLs represent a diverse range of students in every sense. It's needless to say: Working with ELLs is often challenging and also highly rewarding.

Because there are so many apps and edtech tools available today, you might expect to find lots of them made specifically for English language development (ELD), bilingual, or dual-immersion classrooms. Unfortunately, this isn't the case: Tools designed specifically for English-language learners are few and far between (though there are definitely some out there).

There are, nevertheless, a lot of great edtech tools and strategies you can use with your ELLs, even if the tools themselves aren't ELL-specific. Some might even be tools you've already heard of or used -- with an ELL-specific use case that's been hiding in plain sight.

So, what's the best way to find and use great digital tools with your ELLs? A lot will depend on your students' specific needs, but here are a few things to think about when finding the best tools for your classroom.

1. Look for ELL-friendly supports in the tools you're already using.

Lots of online tools have built-in features to support differentiated instruction for a variety of learners. Newsela offers texts at five variable Lexile levels, many in both English and Spanish. ThinkCERCA offers leveled texts with scaffolding for students reading at different levels, including audio versions of texts. Though ELA-focused tools are most likely to have the best English-learning supports, plenty of other tools support ELLs' learning in other subject areas. Khan Academy is one popular example; the site offers a translated version of its curriculum in 12 languages. As you search, keep in mind that these tools are usually aimed at a more general student audience, so they may be better suited to intermediate or advanced ELLs, and beginning-level ELLs may need more robust support.

2. Build basic online resources and productivity tools into daily routines.

From basic translation to productivity tools for consumers, a lot of everyday apps and websites can be great for supporting ELL-centered learning activities. A note-taking tool with recording features like Microsoft OneNote offers opportunities for speaking and listening practice. Simple English Wikipedia is just like it sounds: an adapted version of the standard Wikipedia site but for ELLs, younger students, or anyone else who might struggle with reading. A translation tool is an obvious choice, and Google Translate is generally thought to be the most accessible free option around.

3. Get creative and repurpose a digital-storytelling tool.

Storytelling is an excellent, interactive learning activity for ELLs and bilingual learners of all ages and language abilities. Even though these apps tend to be aimed at younger kids (and not specifically at ELLs), they still offer opportunities for kids to express themselves while they build new language skills. Don't be afraid to age these tools up; they're great even for older ELLs. And for beginning-level English-language learners, creative projects tend to offer opportunities for low-stakes (yet still high-concept) communication-based activities. Also, keep in mind that lots of other digital-creation mediums can offer fun language-building practice, from video production to podcasting and digital design. Find something that suits your students' ages, language abilities, and interests.

4. Find tools that specifically address your ELLs' needs.

As mentioned earlier, tools designed only for ELLs are somewhat scarce, but there are definitely some options. These ELL-centric tools run the gamut. BrainPOP ELL offers a comprehensive online curriculum aimed at improving kids' language skills from beginning to advanced levels. Read&Write is a helpful text-to-speech app for students with a variety of literacy needs, including English-language learners. On the flip side, a platform like Ellevation is designed for teachers and uses robust data to track and monitor students' progress and language growth. As time goes on, we're bound to see more edtech solutions specifically for ELLs. It will be interesting to see what the future holds in this space.

5. Supplement instruction with an online language-learning tool.

Language-learning tools for travelers and consumers are everywhere and easy to find. Although these tools should never replace quality classroom instruction, for some students they could be a helpful option for extra practice or out-of-class enrichment. Because they're often aimed at a general -- mostly adult -- audience, these won't all be the best choice for kids' learning. Nevertheless, in certain situations, some language-learning apps could be appropriate depending on your students' needs. If you do go this route, look for free options that offer adaptive features that challenge students as their language skills grow. If recommending out-of-class use, keep your students' devices and level of network access in mind.

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How to Use Technology to Support ELLs in Your Classroom | Common Sense Education

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Quality edtech for ELLs isn't easy to find, but great options do exist.

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This link is incredibly useful because there are descriptions as well as videos that explain strategies to use technology in the classroom to aid ELL's

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Technology Integration to Support Language Development

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A few strategies coupled with technology integration can enhance English language learning in the primary classroom.

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For a teacher uncertain of how to engage families this link is a list of 30 activities to host that can incorporate families in a student school environment.

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A school activity is any activity that takes place within a school setting, whether it is related to academics or not. School activities can be organized by the school itself, by teachers, parents or by students. They can take place during the school day, after school, or on weekends. The purpose of school activities is to provide students with a well-rounded education and to help them develop skills and interests beyond the classroom.There are several reasons why a variety of impact family engagement activities are important for schools:

ademic outcomes: Research has shown that students tend to perform better academically when their families are actively involved in their education. This is especially true for students from disadvantaged backgrounds , who may not have the same resources and support at home as their more affluent peers.

Stronger relationships: Family engagement activities help to build strong relationships between schools, families, and communities. When families feel connected to their child's school, they are more likely to be involved in their education and to advocate for their child's needs. ​

Increased involvement: Family engagement activities can help to increase the overall level of involvement among families. This can include participation in school events, volunteering, and decision-making processes

Greater sense of community: Family engagement activities can help to create a sense of community within a school, which can lead to a more positive and supportive learning environment for students.

: Family engagement activities can help to improve communication between schools and families, which is crucial for ensuring that students have the support they need to succeed.

Plant the seeds of school improvement in your local schools with activities for your families every week of the school year! Research has shown that high-impact family engagement is critical for student success, and the provide a framework for effective parent engagement in schools. To facilitate family engagement in your schools, here are dozens of family engagement activities, events, and strategies aligned with each of the Six Slices of Family Engagement that can be implemented during the 150 days between Six Slices of Family Engagement and Public School Volunteer Week National Parental Involvement Day - or anytime of the year!

Parental Involvement Toolbox

Slice 1. Welcome All Families

Unlock the potential of parent engagement in your school community with the Events and Activities: ​. The Family Engagement Toolbox. Our comprehensive program is designed to help schools mobilize National Parental Involvement Day & Red Carpet Treatment - Welcome Atmosphere Walk-Through, to create a welcoming environment for parents and students​. Public School Volunteer Week, to increase the involvement of the parents in the school community high-impact family engagement to improve student outcomes. Each toolbox includes a branded Parent Engagement Pledge and Parent Engagement Report Card, tailored to your school's logo. Our research-based and effective model meets district, state and Title I ESSA mandates and helps schools organize parent responsibility effectively.

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32. Metrics Schools ThatCount

Schools can count the number of parent and family volunteers by using a standard hourly rate to calculate the value of the time contributed by parents and families. The average value of volunteer time is $29.95 an hour. This is based on the Independent Sector's value of volunteer time, which is an annually updated estimate of the average hourly value of volunteer time in the United States.

By tracking the number of volunteer hours contributed by parents and family members and multiplying that number by the hourly rate, schools can estimate the monetary value of the time these volunteers have donated to the school. For example, if a parent volunteers for 10 hours in a month, that would be equivalent to a donation of nearly $300 based on the hourly rate of $29.95.

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3. Give Families the Red Carpet Treatment!

Welcome families to your school with the Red Carpet Treatment, an innovative tool designed to create a more welcoming environment for all families. As part of the Family Engagement Toolbox, the Red Carpet Treatment is a family-friendly walk-through process that brings educators, parents, community members, school board members, and administrators together to identify ways to improve the school for families.

By taking the time to walk through the school and consider how it looks and feels through the lenses of all families, including parents of children with disabilities, you can create an environment that truly welcomes and supports every family. This toolkit provides a step-by-step guide to conduct the walk-through, and the checklists and questions to use during the process.

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6. Breakfast or Coffee & Pastries

Set up tables to welcome families and community members to your school. Make available membership forms to enroll new PTA members.

Make special name tags for members that say, "Ask me about the PTA'" or "Join the PTA Today."

Provide "Welcome Bags" with school information, PTA brochures, and goodies gathered from local businesses or organizations. Include a bookmark with the dates of PTA meetings and special PTA sponsored school events.

Have a chart with a list of volunteer opportunities so parents can take the Pledge and sign up to help. Man the table with a volunteer to encourage sign-ups!

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26. Celebrate Dads' Involvement

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30. Family Engagement Game

The Family Engagement Game is an effort, whether online or in-person, to invite meaningful discussion and create a rich learning experience that evokes participation and problem-solving from all learners. The purpose of is to allow practitioners opportunities to collaborate, reflect, try out new ideas, and take risks in a space that is both fun and safe. When designed within the lens of professional development, games provide an opportunity for co-creating learning experiences that capitalize on practitioners' diverse expertise. From the Global Family Research Project.

You can also ask families to bring their favorite board games to play together. You might also call local stores to donate games for this event. Provide a light dinner or dessert night. Some easy and fun ideas are any type of card games (Uno, Go Fish, War, etc.), Pictionary, Charades, Dominoes, Connect 4, etc.

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When educators and schools use culturally and linguistically responsive family engagement practices, they demonstrate an understanding and appreciation of families' cultural backgrounds and linguistic needs. This, in turn, can help to build trust and create stronger relationships between families and schools, which can lead to increased parental involvement.

In addition, when schools engage in two-way communication with families, actively seeking input and feedback, parents feel valued and are more likely to become partners in their child's education. This can lead to increased parent-teacher communication and collaboration, which has been linked to improved academic achievement and higher rates of school attendance.

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Hosting a successful school open house or parent night is a great way to connect with the parents of your students, familiarize them with your teaching style and classroom, and let them know what you expect from their children in the coming year. Additionally, it's an excellent opportunity to get parents involved with the school and volunteering. However, since open houses and parent nights typically have limited time, it's important to plan ahead and make the most of the event.

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21. Home-to-School, School-to-Home Communication

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This event is designed to promote engagement between parents and children, and the games are suitable for all ages, ensuring that everyone can participate. Whether you are at home or at school, you can enjoy these games and help your child learn in a fun and engaging way.

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14. Reaching Out w/Brown-Bag Lunches

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23. Evaluate: Parent Perceptions Scale

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28. Communicate Your School's Event

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Slice 3. Support Student Success

Our comprehensive But the real value comes from the economic impact of the pledge. According to U.S. Department of Education data, Parent Engagement Pledge asks parents to volunteer 10 hours each in their local school and spend 15 minutes each night reading with their children, creating a positive impact in the education of their children. you can achieve a response rate approaching 80%. 43% of K-12 parents volunteer at school. Independent Sector has announced that the estimated value of a volunteer hour in the United States reached $29.95 in 2022. That means, that each parent who takes the Parent Engagement Pledge is generating $300.00 in volunteer impact. Imagine the impact if 43% of the families in your community volunteered in your schools by taking the pledge! That's an impact of over $100,000 for your school.

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18. Parental Involvement Report Card

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20. Traveling Family Engagement Workshop

Promote Project Appleseed's family engagement for schools. Our expert, Kevin Walker, will lead the training and provide evidence-based strategies for involving parents in their child's education. From teacher home visits, parent-teacher conferences to volunteer opportunities, learn how to effectively communicate and collaborate with families to improve student success. Utilize our resources, such as the Parent Engagement Pledge and Inventory of Volunteer Interests, to tailor activities and involve parents in unique ways. Sign up for our workshops now to strengthen family-school partnerships in your community.

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Attendance an Mental Health

We are excited to invite you to our upcoming Parent Advisory Council event, where we will delve into two crucial topics: attendance and mental health. Join us on National Parental Involvement Day as we explore strategies to support our children's well-being.

During this engaging session, expert speakers will share insights on how attendance positively impacts academic success and overall development. We will also discuss practical ways to address barriers to regular attendance and strengthen our children's commitment to their education.

Furthermore, we will shed light on the vital topic of mental health, providing guidance on recognizing signs of distress, fostering resilience, and accessing resources available within our community.

Your voice matters, and we value your input! Join us to collaborate, share experiences, and collectively create a supportive environment for our children. Together, let's empower our children to thrive academically and emotionally!

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Calling all young dreamers and storybook enthusiasts! We are excited to invite you to an unforgettable evening filled with captivating tales and cozy bedtime fun.

Here's what's in store for you:

Bedtime stories: Our talented teachers and special guests will bring beloved stories to life, transporting you to magical worlds and igniting your imagination. Interactive performances: Watch as characters from classic fairytales step right off the pages and into our school, captivating young and old alike.

Craft activities: Unleash your creativity with fun crafts inspired by the stories you hear, allowing your imagination to soar even further.

Milk and cookies: No bedtime routine is complete without a sweet treat! Enjoy milk and cookies as a delightful bedtime snack.

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10. Shine-A-Light Night ​

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13. Mentoring and Tutoring

Through this program, students will have the opportunity to gain valuable skills and knowledge from experienced mentors, who can help guide and support them in their academic and personal growth. The program is designed to give all students the resources they need to succeed, and it is a great way for parents, college students and high school students to give back to the community.

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25. Come to School With Your Student Day

This event, commonly known as "Bring Your Parent to School Day" or "Take Your Parent to School Day," provides an opportunity for parents and caregivers to gain a deeper understanding of their child's daily school experience and to see firsthand the teaching and learning taking place in the classrooms. It allows them to observe the teacher's teaching style, the curriculum, and the interactions between the students and the teacher.

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33. TikTok Gratitude Contest

Dallas ISD is celebrating Nov. 17, National Parent Involvement Day all week long with events hosted by the Family and Community Engagement department. It's important that our parents feel valued and below are ways students can highlight the powerful contributions that parents and guardians provide at school and at home to support student success.

TikTok Challenge Rules:

The TikTok challenge is only open to secondary Dallas ISD students. All submissions must follow guidelines and will be judged on originality and creativity. Use the hashtag #DISDPARENTS to enter.

TikTok must be focused on thanking parents/guardians.

TikTok length: 30-to-60-second video.

Appropriate sound: No profanity or inappropriate language.

Appropriate skit/dance/appearance: no inappropriate gestures or clothing.

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24. Involve Parents in School Health

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Join with families to identify health promotion projects in the community that could involve parents. For example, invite family members to participate in physical activities at school or in the community, such as runs or walkathons. Kick off National Parental Involvement Day & Public School Volunteer Week with a special welcome for new students and families in the community. Host discussions about how parents can support healthy behaviors at home. Such discussions might be held at open houses and back-to-school nights, at parent meetings, and during parent-teacher conferences.

Reaching students with the message about the importance of fitness isn't enough. Go for the gold with events designed to bring in students and their families too. Involve the Physical Education teachers to plan physical activities in the gym like karate, kick-boxing, aerobics, dance, yoga, Pilates, hip hop, Zumba, and body sculpting. In the main hallways provide information tables work with a local community clinic to bring their bus and provide free health screenings for families. Especially popular with students are the opportunities to try physical activities.

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19. Promote Healthy Behaviors

Suggest ways parents can make family outings fun learning experiences and promote healthy behaviors (e.g., picking fruit or hiking). Ask parents to engage their children in health-related learning experiences, such as cooking dinner and packing lunch together, shopping for healthy foods, and reading labels on over-the-counter medicines.

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Slice 4. Speak Up for Every Child

27. Parent Involvement Policy Meeting

Promote the creation of a parent involvement policy within your school or district. Begin by implementing Project Appleseed's Parent Engagement Pledge, a learning compact that clearly communicates the school's commitment to involving families and the community in the education of their children. Establish a parent resource center as a hub for families to access information on relevant topics, connect with one another, and interact with school staff. This center can serve as a valuable resource for promoting and facilitating ongoing parent involvement.

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District Advisory Council

Join our District Advisory Council and be part of the decision-making process. Together, we can strengthen the family's voice and create policies that benefit our children and community. Let's build strong connections and raise concerns together. #SharedDecisionMaking #FamilyEngagement

Note: This single social media post can be shared across platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, to reach a wider audience.

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Family Engagement Activities | Appleseed

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Each day, each week, represents an opportunity to engage parents. School activities build strong relationships between schools, families.