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after watching the building oral language for ELL, I saw that making relevant connections throughout the day to the same things across content areas will create meaningful experiences for ELL students. The use of stations/centers that build on a VAKT model for her students incorporate different activities that connect to one another.

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In the teaching reading K-2 video about oral reading, it was very interesting to see how a school so close to us teaches students who come to school knowing and learning a variety of languages. The teacher includes morning activities to develop independence for students. By having morning jobs, students develop reading and writing skills, while following the routine of the classroom. Room writers and questions of the day are also two strategies that I enjoyed in the video. This teacher is so supportive of her students and uses many unique strategies to make all students feel like they are learning.

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English language learners should not be held to lower standards. One teacher believes that "by holding them all to the same standards, I am giving them all an opportunity to succeed." It is also important to allow students to draw on what they know in their first language in order for them to become successful in their second language as well. Second language learners can really benefit from working together. It is comforting to have someone else understand what it's like to learn and struggle with a new language. This can build self-esteem, confidence, and reading/writing skills with those students.

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Something that I think is important for ELL and classroom teachers to consider is all the different students who they are going to be teaching, the backgrounds their students are going to come from, and the cultures and diversity they will bring into the classroom. It is not only important for teachers to provide books about other cultures, but to make sure their lessons incorporate diversity as well. All children need to feel important and worthy. I agreed with Grace Lin when she said that children who read culturally diverse books will become more empathetic of people and where other people come from. Overall, it was an awesome video!

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Books that reflect our students true identities as opposed to stereotypical portrayal of a race are needed in our classroom so that all students can feel proud and confident about their heritage. Teachers and parents should build libraries that reflect many diverse communities in an authentic way. Children also need to be exposed to books that reflect a window into other cultures. This is necessary because books provide students with many ideas and information about diverse topics. Also, books that show a window into other cultures helps build a community of learners that is more accepting and welcoming. As Grace Lin stated, kids need books that are both a window and mirror because it allows children to not only see themselves in a positive light, but to also into the word of other races or cultures and become more understanding and caring to one another.

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I really enjoyed the TEDtalk because Grace Lin brought up a very interesting point about how there was no multiculturalism in the books she loved to read, which made her ashamed of her heritage. It makes me think that there has to be a ton of children who are in the same boat as her. It was really cool that she wrote books about her culture and that the children who read her books responded so positively. I really enjoyed the analogy she used about books being windows and mirrors and that children need books that are both.

As a future educator I will make it a point to have books that are both windows and mirrors so that my students can feel as though their culture is valued. I had always heard that miulticulturalism is important, but this new take was definitely eye opening.

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For vocabulary instruction the most important pre-reading vocabulary instruction techniques is accessing background knowledge and connecting new vocabulary words with background knowledge

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I watched the video "Teaching English Language Learners." I really liked how this video emphasized the fact that having a language background other than English is a strength rather than a weakness. ELL's should embrace their cultural heritage and appreciate their knowledge of their native language. Teachers who allow students to talk and write about their unique family histories help students recognize the culturally diverse world that we live in. I also took away that it is essential that teachers provide ELL's opportunities to work in small groups or work with a peer. Whole group instruction and individual work may frustrate ELL's who cannot grasp reading material. Working with one's peers builds a student's confidence and provides them with an even greater drive to learn a new language.

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Grace Lin relates her love of books with her experience as a Chinese student in an  American schools. I like how she was able to use her experience to help other Chinese or other ELL students who may be struggling with feelings of inadequacy through this talk but more importantly through her books that have been shared in so many schools today. As teachers in the general classroom learning to implement ALL students and their culture into the classroom will create both understanding and empathy.

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Grace Lin relates her love of books with her experience as a Chinese student in an  American schools. I like how she was able to use her experience to help other Chinese or other ELL students who may be struggling with feelings of inadequacy through this talk but more importantly through her books that have been shared in so many schools today. As teachers in the general classroom learning to implement ALL students and their culture into the classroom will create both understanding and empathy.

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Kerrin Dooley

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I really liked the way Mrs. Wilson taught her class.  She made sure to pay close attention to her second language learners.  One thing I noticed in particular was that she asked one boy what the Chinese name for pie was.  When the students weren't sure, she asked the instructional aide for help too.  I also loved that she said one of the most important pieces in Kindergarten is developing oral language.  I couldn't agree more and find that that is one of the foundational skills in Kindergarten that will carry into the other grades as students move on. A place in the classroom where they can develop their oral language is at the sensory table, where they can have a conversation with each other. She mentioned that you can't just take what you've learned in professional development and apply it, but you also need to consider who your students are and apply that to your instructional practices.  This is definitely something I agree with because you always need to be on your toes and be ready to change a lesson on the fly or each year depending on your population of students. Encouraging and teaching the students to go back and read is so important for learning, especially for a second language learner.

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After listening to Grace Lin speak about her own experiences as a child, feeling like an outcast and not having any characters to relate to, it's incredible that she was able to learn more about herself and her culture to better benefit the younger generation of students. Her metaphor began with saying that children of minorities need "mirrors" in their books so that they have role models they can relate to and not feel as alone. She also went on to mention that it's just as important to expose the rest of the population to everyone's differences so that we can all be a little more accepting and cherish each other's unique qualities. This is important for all people of any age, but especially for young impressionable minds.

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It is beneficial for all students to see all different cultures within books. Children need the books to be windows to help with empathy of cultures, also different cultured books promote diversity within the classroom and beyond.

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Best practice for teaching ELL's is best practice for teaching all students. Several accommodations, however, can be made to ensure maximum learning. These include extended explanations, use of visuals, extra attention in regards to vocabulary, texts which student's can relate to/ have an understanding of, and allowing plenty of time for conversations with both peers and the teacher about various topics.

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ELL students would benefit from assessment and instruction that is linked clear learning objectives, many opportunities for authentic learning experiences and active engagement in the activities. There is a large population of ELL students in urban schools across the country and it is important for teachers to learn how to adapt their instruction to meet the needs of ELL students. Also, research shows that L1 instruction contributes to L2 academic learning.

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I leaned just how important representation of different cultures is for students. Grace Lin felt like she could not be who she really was and felt pressured to look like all the other girls in her school. She also felt like certain opportunities were not open to her, like the lead in the play because she was Asian. This problem affects the other students in the class because they also start to believe that only certain races and ethnicities can play roles and do certain jobs and that is not true. By reading books with students from all different cultures every student's mind gets opened and they realize how all people no matter what race or culture can do the things they can.

Near the end of her talk Grace Lin shares a letter she got from a teacher who said a new asian girl at their school was being bullied, but after they read Lin's novel with asian characters the other students started to think how cool it is to be asian. Reading books with a different culture helped open their minds up to people who may look different on the outside but are still the same on the inside. To read a book with a strong female, asian lead is not only extremely beneficial for young asian students but also their classmates.

I really like the question she leaves the audience with. She challenges them to look at their bookshelves to see if all of their books are mirrors or windows.

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Even Grace Lin’s opening statement made me think about diversity in the classroom. “Books can show you the world but can also show you a reflection of yourself… but what if you never see someone in a book that looks like you?” As teachers, we need to promote diversity, not only by explicitly teaching about different cultures and ethnicities, but by keeping diversity in the books that we read and videos we watch.

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Schools can benefit when they talk to parents or family members with knowledge that can help their children advance. One way is for the parents to read to their children a loud when they are in preschool and early grades. The children should read aloud the books they brought home when they are in elementary school.The parents should be having conversations with their children about different types of literature as well as current events.

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This article mentioned that the single best predictor of an LL's academic achievement is their knowledge of vocab. The article showed a great activity for helping introduce new words to all students - both ELLs and "traditional" students. Before the reading, the teacher identifies new vocab words and lists them on a piece of chart paper folded into one square per word. Before the reading takes place, all students write or draw what they think of when they see each new word. They are able to discuss with each other what the words are about. Then, once the reading begins, the teacher pauses whenever they come across one of the vocab words. They discuss the words when they reach them. After the reading is done, students get together in groups to create definitions for the vocab words.

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I found the ted talk by Grace Lin very interesting. She explained how much being the only person in her class that was Asian impacted her in school. She spent so much time expecting that she wasn’t Asian that she ultimately forgot that she was. She was never surrounded by other Asians in her class and instead was always reminded about her ethnicity. I think as a teacher it is important to make other students aware of their different ethnicity and not make students think that being “different” is a bad thing. She shared with her audience the breaking point where she first became ashamed for the right reasons. When someone stopped and asked her about her heritage, it showed her that she should never be ashamed of her heritage and instead should embrace it.

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I  read the "Beginning English Language Learners" article and I liked the idea of Juliana reading to Cheung in Chinese first so he could understand the purpose of the text, and then having him read the text chorally with her using dramatic movements and gestures to increase comprehension. I have personally always had the goal of being fluent in Spanish so I could utilize that with the high population of EL students I teach. In accordance this, I also appreciate how Juliana "...used a number of people to support Cheung’s native language—other Chinese students in the class, a Chinese native-language teacher, and Cheung’s parents" This use of connections and appreciation of his home life and culture will help create a bond and various inputs to help Juliana best teach him.
Another takeaway is in reference to the following quote, "Harper and de
Jong (2004) point out that comprehensible input, repeated exposure to the target language, and interaction with native English speakers are not sufficient for EL children to develop L2 literacy. Instead, they suggest that teachers incorporate linguistic aspects
of the English language, such as grammar and phonology, into instructional learning tasks." No matter how many strategies and teaching methodologies someone is taught, those are not enough and we need a more substantial and foundational education on approaches to help newcomers develop the very basic understanding of the English language; which in all honesty does not really make that much sense! It is still amazing to me that after taking 5 EL courses, getting my license in ESL, and being a teaching of a majority-ELL population; there is still so much work and new information to benefit an EL student in the classroom.

Post article ELA/Writing/Guided Reading big takeaways:
■Link personal classroom experiences with
events and actions in the text
■ Use the native language to make concepts and
ideas comprehensible
■ Participate in guided reading instruction
■ Engage in story retelling and summary writing
of the text
■ Use the native language to make concepts and ideas comprehensible
■ Participate in guided reading instruction
■ Engage in story retelling and summary writing of the text

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In the Teaching English Language Learners video, it is emphasized that ELs should not receive "watered down" versions of the English Language or receive materials that are below grade level because it will lead to students falling behind in academics and lead to struggles in the future.

It is also discussed that ELs should utilize their first language literacy to help them develop and build their second language acquisition. Students who are fluent in their first language are able to develop their English skills more quickly because they can transfer their prior knowledge into their new language. Students who do not have a strong background in their native language are unable refer back to their language to assist them in developing English.

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Ms. Wilson's Classroom
Using a question at the beginning of the day that requires the students to think about their background and life experiences. The question then relates to activities that the students will do that day.
For students who speak other languages it is important to keep their language and culture in daily activities; don't dismiss it. Example: asking students to say the English word in their language. Using books that are illustrated or written by Chinese, Spanish, ect. people.
Having stations that are all similar in topic but vary by activity. For example: acting it out, drawing, sensory, writing and reading. Have stations that are clearly laid out. It helps them move toward being independent learners.
I loved the idea of oral story telling. I like how she worked with the EL student to get him started. She used sentence starters and prompts. I also liked how they orally told the story, then wrote it, colored, and finally told the story.

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The Ted Talk with Grace Lin was eye opening because she spoke about how being Chinese in a school of almost entirely white students made her feel. She related her feelings to books and described how "books can show you the world" and how they can also show you "a reflection of yourself". She used this to describe how she could never relate to a character in a book because she was never was exposed to books with Chinese characters. This opened my eyes to realizing that in a classroom it is very important to have books for students to read about characters from different places. All students should feel equal and accepted and this will help them feel that way.

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The TedTalk was interesting because Grace Lin stressed how books should be both a window to the world and a mirror to yourself. Having a lack of reading materials featuring diverse characters can negatively affect students of diverse backgrounds. If students do not have the opportunity to see characters that are like them in books than they may end up feeling like they are not important because people of their ethnicity are never showcased as important. All students should be able to identify with the characters in their books.

Grace Lin also stressed how important it is for students to use books as windows. Reading books where characters are of different cultures and ethnicities gives students the opportunity to broaden their world knowledge. They are then better to see things from other viewpoints and develop empathy.

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Meghan Leary -Promoting Literacy Development For Beginning ELL Article

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Meghan Leary -Promoting Literacy Development For Beginning ELL Article

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Children who have well-developed oral and written skills in their
native language are able to proceed with the acquisition of L2 reading much faster.
incorporating real life experiences with new vocabulary words makes learning for ELL students easier and more beneficial.
A good resource and tool for these students would be a bilingual dictionary. Students who create their own dictionary make connections.
For emergent ELs, retelling the story in paragraph form comes after the students have had multiple opportunities to read the text and answer comprehension questions about the reading.

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I loved that the teacher in the 2nd video. She was so supportive of her students. I loved the "Question of the Day" that was posted. The Question of the Day was a preview of what was to come. The Question of the Day was "Have you ever eaten a rice cake?" Later in the day the teacher read a book called "Runaway Rice Cake." At the end of the story she asked her students if this story reminded them of another story they read. One student said "The Gingerbread Man." Then she started comparing the two stories. Then she actually brought in some Chinese rice cakes for the students to try if they wanted to. I love this because the students who are not Chinese are able to expand their horizons alittle bit.