Prompt 2: The authors also state: “We know that integration of language and content learning, along with effective collaboration and in-class support, provides opportunities for all students to engage with challenging, grade-level curricula. There is growing evidence that English language development specialists in schools cannot work in isolation; to provide the most comprehensive support for multilingual learners, all teachers need to collaborate to serve all learners.” (Boals, Hakuta, & Blair, 2015). What models of servicing multilingual learners have you observed in your different placements?  What do you think is the best model for servicing multilingual learners?

 

Prompt 3:  As teachers-in-training, who will be working with mainstream students and students with special needs, what are your thoughts regarding the difference between equity and equality?  How does this relate to “scaffolding up?”

effective in expressing and exploring ideas” (Page 5). Students can learn to express their ideas with the correct supports in the classroom and gain proficiency in English as they go. These participatory structures provide all students with the opportunity to interact with academic content in authentic ways, regardless of their background. This use of scaffolding both before and during instruction allows multilingual learners to access the curriculum as they learn English, to avoid falling behind due to learning in isolation, and can eventually help us to “…cross borders, bridge communities, and help solve the global crises we face…” (Page 1). Therefore, as teachers we need to employ the strategy of “scaffolding up” to push towards equity in our classrooms and allow all of our students to succeed and learn.

the quote, “In the social-constructivist tradition, I recognize that language does not thrive without ample opportunity to participate in meaningful learning activities that require collaboration.” Through engagement and collaboration with other students, students  are provided with an opportunity to further develop their language. This concept goes hand-in-hand with the aspect of interactive supports and how they encourage learning collaboratively, which we have been discussing in class. I find the constant mention of collaboration/interaction to be extremely important in portraying the true importance of it within the classroom. To which I hope to implement these aspects within my own classroom one day!

Something from this chapter which I liked in particular was the word map activity on page 19. This strategy for teaching new vocabulary would be beneficial to all learners, not just ELLs, as it provides a visual and uses several categories of definition which help to more clearly demonstrate the meaning of a word. It could be adapted to include different categories depending on the grade level or content area (for example to include pictures or cognates) making it a very versatile strategy. It also offers more opportunity for engagement with students as they can help the teacher come up with synonyms, antonyms, examples, and nonexamples. Having students work together in this way also allows a teacher to check for understanding of new words, and to clarify any points of confusion from the beginning.

Based on the suggestions in this chapter, if I were to teach vocabulary from this newsela article, three words which I would include would be, “research,” “communication,” and “experiments.” The word “research” is central to the understanding of the article, appears multiple times, and is also used in the form of “researcher.” This allows for discussion of root words and affixes, and of how the addition of “-er” changes the word’s meaning in the text. The word “communication” appears in many different content areas, and students will definitely see it used again in multiple contexts. It also includes the affix “-tion,” and has cognates in languages like Spanish and French. The word “experiments” is also important to the meaning of this text, and will be used in any science based domain. Students will also use the word throughout their science instruction in school, and it has cognates in other languages.

 

Prompt #2: Supporting vocabulary development is a huge component of building background and teaching new content.  Page 83 shows a great example of a useful vocabulary from Carlota Holder.  What elements are essential for strategies, games and activities that support vocabulary development?

 

Prompt #3: Honigsfeld discusses project-based learning opportunities (pp 90-94).  What are some of the benefits associated with these opportunities?  In what ways do project-based learning opportunities connect to the domains of reading, writing, speaking and listening?

     An example of macro-scaffold described in this chapter which I really liked was the illustrated word wall on page 83. Word walls like this one are a great resource to have up in the classroom over the course of a themed unit, as it includes vocabulary which will come up frequently and will be central to student understanding of that unit. The images included are also very helpful, and depending on the topic and students’ proficiency level, more or less images and examples could be included. Having the words up on the wall somewhere central will also help students to see and think about them more often, further helping them to acquire this new vocabulary.

     An example of a micro-scaffold Honigsfeld discusses on page 86 is giving students sentence starters. I liked this scaffold because of its simplicity, and because of how easy it would be to differentiate support. Students could be given simpler or more complete sentence starters (or sentence forms) depending on their particular skill level, or depending on what types of sentences they may struggle with in particular. The chapter does note that while this type of scaffold can be very helpful, it can also be restrictive of students who might not want to write in that one specific form. Therefore, sentence starters should be given as an optional support, there if a student needs some additional structure, but not limiting to their writing expression.

Prompt #2: Look at the inside/outside writing samples on p.69.  How does this strategy support an asset-based view of multilingual learners?  Could you see yourself doing this with a group of students?  How might you set up this experience?  

Prompt #2: Look at the inside/outside writing samples on p.69.  How does this strategy support an asset-based view of multilingual learners?  Could you see yourself doing this with a group of students?  How might you set up this experience?  

 

Prompt #2: Given the ideas about what expanding level MLLs can do (pp. 111-114), what are some potential misconceptions around what expanding level MLLs do or do not need in terms of language support? 

As future teachers, it is important for us to push students to be proud of and independent in their learning. Students must have the drive to learn; we can instill this in them by making learning fun, showing the benefits of learning, and not putting too much pressure on the students. Students will develop these key skills if they are being taught to dose in a positive environment; however, a negative environment, or an unsupportive environment, will only stunt the development of these skills. It is our duty as teachers to prevent that. 

 

Prompt #1: When students become bridging level MLLs, what skills and abilities have they worked towards?  How might we celebrate these students?

 

Prompt #2: What support might bridging students still need?  Think especially in terms of their families?

Bridging level MLLs are able to “understand main ideas, supporting details, speaker’s purpose…understand and respond to both everyday and academic conversations of increasing length and complexity…comprehend increasingly demanding, contextualized, and decontextualized oral presentations” (147) as well as other elements of language. As teachers we must celebrate the strives they have made as learners by providing a lot of praise and positive feedback. With this, we must also continue to push the students to continue their awesome growth. 

One of the suggestions for support Honigsfeld recommends is having students listen to podcasts in order to practice with more challenging listening skills. This activity stood out to me because I remember from my own language education that the most difficult part of any assessment was listening to native speakers talk without any visual support. Giving students the opportunity to practice in this way, with the added support of guiding questions and repeated listenings, is a great way for bridging students to work on this more difficult skill.

It is also important to realize that, even though the student is improving their own English skills, their parents or guardians at home might still primarily speak their native language. Therefore it is important to continue communicating with families in their own language as much as possible, to make sure they can still be connected with what their child is doing in school.

 

Prompt #2: What are your major takeaways about best practice for grouping MLLs to support content and language learning?

 

group work that is open-ended and encourages the exchange 

of ideas” (pg. 5).  ELLs should be put into group work with proficient English speakers. When students are put into groups together, they have the opportunity to learn from the proficient English speakers and challenge their own speaking. I think the idea of an open-ended conversation further contributes to the challenge for ELLs. If the conversation in group work was a sentence answer or a simple answer, they would have less of an opportunity to practice their speaking. An open-ended conversation, like a theme of a passage, would allow ELLs to work on their different speaking skills and contribute to the conversation with an opinion. Students can also ask and respond to questions in open-ended group discussions, which provides ample opportunity for students to expand on their ideas. I think open-ended conversations are one of the best practices possible to encourage conversation for ELLs. 

Another key takeaway for me was the point about “scatter skills,” which I had never heard of or considered before. The article explains that assessors should not necessarily stop at the point they would with a native English speaker, as due to variance in skill development and prior instruction, students may have, “areas in which they test proficient outside the typical sequence of skill acquisition, simply because their language development is also occurring outside that expected sequence,” (10). After reading this, it makes sense that not all cultures would teach language skills in the same way or in the same sequence, and as such students from different countries might have more experience in areas an American educator might not expect. Also, after considering students with immigrant backgrounds might be at an increased risk to have had disrupted schooling, it makes sense that ELL students’ skills might have a wide variance. Teachers should be careful to take this into account when assessing these students and deciding how to progress with their language education.

acquired in a different way, or at a different pace, in another culture” (10)  or due to trauma. This may skew the way you take data and think about what to measure it. It is also important to remember as educators to help all your students view themselves positively, and especially for you MLLs to value their first language throughout their schooling. This just further shows that all teachers should keep equity in mind when creating assessment and tailor it to the backgrounds and needs of all of your students. This will help us to take a more holistic approach to assessment.