Jessica Haecker's Blog

An important aspect of learning a new language is also learning the culture of that language. The target culture is more accessible to students when teaching is done using both the target and native culture. For example, teaching English while teaching context about their native culture is one way of doing this. There are many ideas that are similar in various cultures such as folklores, fairy tales, holidays, etc. Drawing on these similarities is one way you can tie the native culture to the target culture. Cross-cultural units can create powerful lessons in teaching English.

Sheltered Content Instruction also explains the importance of integrating culturally relevant material. In fact, students perform better when culturally relevant material is used in the classroom. In using the native culture as a link, teachers must be aware of cultural biases. We must look at our own curriculum resources to evaluate how bias our materials are.

Echevarria, Jana, and Ana Graves. Sheltered Content Instruction: Teaching English Learners with Diverse Abilities. 4. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc., 2011. pg 98-99. Print.

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Jlecomete00 offered a website in her blog that deals with this issue exactly. The article explains that incorporating culturally based lessons is necessary. These practices improve learning outcomes for ELL students. I found this resource interesting, especially the statement about ELL students receiving lowed grades, being judged by teachers to have lower academic abilities, and scoring below classmates in reading and math.  The one that struck a cord the most was ELL students are judged by teachers to have lower academic abilities. If their teachers hold low expectations for them, they will achieve less. This is a practice that must be changed.

Anneliess Bodell’s blog explains culture as “how one or a group communicates their worldview.” To incorporate culture, teachers should first learn about their own learning style and preferences to understand how students’ preferences are different. She also suggests comparing three cultures rather than just two to avoid an idea of competing cultures. The idea of comparing three cultures is an “a-hah” moment for me. I had thought about the two cultures competing. This is an excellent suggestion to rectify this issue. Bodell’s explanation of the chapter really showed another aspect I did not touch on.

One of the most important concepts of discourse in the classroom is the development of CALP, or cognitive/academic language proficiency. Many ELL students can achieve conversational skills close to a native-like level within two years. However, CALP is a much more difficult proficiency. CALP skills help students to participate effectively at a high cognitive level. CALP makes content instruction easier for the ELL student.

In Sheltered Content Instruction, basic conversational skills are characterized as the “tip of the iceberg.” The remainder of the iceberg is CALP. This language proficiency is necessary for academic tasks. Thus, as teachers we must promote CALP by explicitly teaching subject matter vocabulary. Using “easier” words will not help our students in the long run. It will hinder their development of CALP, which will make academics more difficult for them.

Echevarria, Jana, and Ana Graves. Sheltered Content Instruction: Teaching English Learners with Diverse Abilities. 4. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc., 2011. pg9-12. Print.

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Billy Cross brings up several good points regarding the discourse used in classrooms. He states that he hasn’t really thought about the discourse he uses, but sees that he too uses the IRF pattern too much. He also points out that ELL students may feel insecure about their oral language, which causes them to not want to participate in oral discussions. I completely agree with Billy. We often don’t think about our discourse. We do what we know and what we are familiar with. The IRF pattern is a heavily used discourse in classroom and has been for many years. I found the information from Sheltered Content Instruction very intriguing. It is interesting that even bilingual education and immersion programs that are focused on language are still dominated by the teacher talk.

Maria Nunez explains how an overuse of teacher-fronted discourse can lead to a lack of interest by the students. She offers the use of task chains as an alternative. She explains that the IRF model can avoid this as well because teachers invite students to participate. I agree with Maria that the use of teacher-fronted discourse can lead to a lack of interest and engagement. However, her statement that the IRF pattern will help to avoid this situation confuses me. It is my understanding that the IRF model is in fact teacher-fronted discourse because the teacher is doing most of the talking.

One of the learner strategies presented in Chapter 5 was graphic organizers. Graphic organizers allow students to visually organize information. Graphic organizers can be especially useful in content areas. Even when the student’s reading ability is weak, they are able to access core content through graphic organizers. Graphic organizers allow students to become more engaged. They are able to rely on other sources of information besides language.

Sheltered Content Instruction explains graphic organizers as a way to differentiate instruction. Graphic organizers can be used to modify difficult sections of a text. The authors state that graphic organizers are useful to all students including ELL and special needs students. Graphic organizers give students a meaningful way to recall and understand concepts.

Echevarria, Jana, and Ana Graves. Sheltered Content Instruction: Teaching English Learners with Diverse Abilities. 4. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc., 2011. 105. Print.

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Anneliess Bodell states that critical thinking skills are an important factor of academic success in North America. The article cited by Bodell includes a statement that texts assume the reader has cultural knowledge, social attitudes, and views of a particular group. Thus, it is important to develop the critical thinking skills of ELL students. This can be done by applying the situation presented to their own lives or a larger social context. I agree with Anneliess regarding critical thinking skills. The statement regarding bias in text is a valid point, and something teachers should take into consideration. I think these skills are crucial for all students. Thus, teachers should incorporate activities that foster these skills.

Trina Lange focused her blog on the learning styles of students. She feels that individualized instruction is next to impossible due to class sizes and time restraints. However, she feels that it is possible to appeal to the different learning styles of students. She includes the Sonbuchner description of a learning style as a combination of information processing and work environment. I completely agree with Trina. In the general education classroom, it is extremely difficult to individualize instruction, but we are able to use a multimodal approach that appeals to all learning styles. I like the description of a learning style. This seems to be the most accurate and simplistic explanation. The bottom line is we all prefer different modes for processing information and different work environments.

One of the main strategies that interested me in chapter six was the IC (instructional conversations) model. My ELL students do not feel comfortable speaking in front of the class during class discussions. Thus, they are not using their oral language in an academic setting as often as they could be. The IC model would allow them to interact in an academic conversation in a less stressful way. This would promote their oral language proficiency in terms of academic language.

In Sheltered Content Instruction, it explains that research has found that when students participate in ICs, they use higher levels of discourse than when lessons were presented in a more traditional approach. There was also a higher understanding of the concepts and complex conceptualization. The research supports this model as a means of increasing mastery of concepts and oral language proficiency. It would be great to use this in my classroom for all of my students.

Echevarria, Jana, and Ana Graves. Sheltered Content Instruction: Teaching English Learners with Diverse Abilities. 4. Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc., 2011. pg 123. Print.

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Andrea Nunez focused on the oracy process, and describes the listening process specifically. The listening process is characterized by listening to repeat, listening to understand, and listening for communication. I feel that Andrea Nunez gave an excellent explanation of each of the listening process. The examples given of each part gives a clear understanding. All three parts are utilized in the classroom to help students develop oracy. Students use listening skills to repeat, understand, and communicate.

Alison H. summarized chapter 6 as a discussion of how people learn to speak and listen. She states the same three parts of listening as Maria did. However, she adds that speaking processes include developing oral language, resources for spoken discourse, and improving pronunciation. She also included information regarding an online guide. I found this resource to be helpful. I agree that this is a technique that should be used with all students. Many native English speakers need to develop oral language as well.

In chapter four, the main idea is performance-based learning and assessment. Performance-based assessment allows a child to show they have mastered a skill by doing. This is a much less strenuous method of assessment.  Many of my students have difficulty reading the tests they are given. If it’s an assessment that is not testing their reading ability, there should be alternatives that won’t hinder scores due to a lack of reading ability. Performance-based learning and assessment gives this option.

Lorraine Valdez Pierce, George Mason University, states in her article that there are a number of reasons that make performance-based assessment a more appropriate means of assessment for English Language Learners. Performance-based assessments provide descriptive information that guides instruction. They also utilize meaningful, context embedded tasks that support the language and cognitive needs of ELL students. Performance-based learning allows students to transfer knowledge to meaningful applications.

Valdez, Lorraine. “Performance-Based Assessment: Promoting Achievement for English Language Learners.” ERIC/CLL newsbulletin 26.1 (2002): pg 1-3. Web. 9 Jun 2010. <http://www.cal.org/resources/archive/news/2002fall/CLLNewsBulletin_Fa02c.pdf&gt;.

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Benita Ansari explains that the focus of chapter four is assessments. She explains that there is a different set of standards for EL students, and the TESOL standards do not state what students should know. She also explains that standardized test show the level of cognition a student has, but does not show how well they are able to perform. I do not see the TESOL standards as a different set of standards, but rather an addition to the content standards. It’s developmental levels that need to be taken into consideration in assessing a student’s language proficiency. I agree that standardized tests are not one size fits all. Students should be allowed to demonstrate knowledge through performance as well as standardized test.

Jeannine feels that actual teaching is decreasing, as the push for accountability for all students grows by adding more and more testing for students. She feels that it is unreasonable for EL students to not have extended amounts of time on the CST. She feels that this also affects the teacher and the amount of time spent on language development activities. I don’t completely agree with Jeannine. I do feel that testing has increased drastically, but I feel that accountability is needed to increase teacher effectiveness. Also, there is no time limit on the CST test. There is a suggested amount of time, but students can take as long as they need. Perhaps the text was referring to state tests in other states.

Hi there,

My name is Jessica. I am a SAI teacher in Lucerne Valley. I literally teach students in grades k-12. I provide traditional RSP support, team teach with the SDC teacher, and provide interventions to general education students.  Hope you enjoy my blog.

Jessica