NPR STORY: Struggle For Smarts? How Eastern And Western Cultures Tackle Learning

I heard this story this morning on NPR.  I have linked the article and podcast.  It gives great examples on how different cultures celebrate success and set expectations for students.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/11/12/164793058/struggle-for-smarts-how-eastern-and-western-cultures-tackle-learning

Goanimate.com tutorial

 Use goanimate.com for ESL students to create their own cartoon videos.  It is so simple and they will be totally engaged.  They use their writing skills, creativity and they self assess by listening making sure everything sounds right.  It is very simple.  Give them the website and they will have it figured out in minutes. Here is a short tutorial for those of you who may find this resource intimidating. Don't be afraid just go for it!

World Series Champ makes a Statement about Sterotypes

I thought this article was a great example of a celebrity/professional athlete using their platform to raise awareness in a subtle way.  Go Romo!

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/sergio-romo-dons-thought-provoking-t-shirt-giants-003022090--mlb.html

Animation in the Classroom

     Today I gave my students the opportunity to choose how they wanted to accomplish showing me they mastered a certain learning target.  I gave them a list of resources to use such as prezi.com, sliderocket.com, symbaloo.com, goanimate.com, glogster.com and myhistro.com.  Nearly half of the boys in my class including both of my ESL students chose to make online animation cartoons.  They used goanimate.com and xtranormal.com to create online cartoons to show they knew all the aspects of a certain region of the 13 colonies.  They were totally engaged for two entire days and asked me if they could come in during their enrichment time to work on them.  I was completely amazed at how fast they learned how to use the websites and the level of creativity they showed while managing to include the necessary information.  

     I think this is a great option for ESL students because their are several ways to make your characters speak.  They can type in text, speak in microphone, call in with their cell phones and use their own voice.  This format can boost the confidence of an ESL student and would be useful to use in a transition stage.  Let your students give this a try, I think you will be amazed at what they come up with.

Websites/Resources

www.goanimate.com

www.xtranormal.com

Graphic Novels in the Classroom

We can not ignore the fact that 3 out of the 5 movies that grossed the most money this year so far have been created based on graphic novels.  It is crazy to think about how many movies are being made from these graphic novels.  To list a few Diary of Wimpy a Kid, Thor, Green Lantern, The Avengers, Transformers, Spiderman, Batman, Ironman, the Hulk and the list goes on and on.  Students love to read graphic novels so much that the media specialists says she can not keep them on the shelf.  These are a great option for your ESL students for a few different reasons.

- They provide a visual to help understand the emotion and action behind what they are reading
- They are engaging and usually not intimidating
- Graphic Novels are a great way to introduce new cultures or let a student share theirs. for example if a student is familiar with Manga they can teach the other students how to read them from back to front and right to left.

  Graphic Novels are not just about super heros.  You can find them on just about anything these days.  There are have been a few that have won many honorable awards.  Here are two links that very useful in learning how and why to incorporate graphic novels into your curriculum.

A Graphic Novel about how to use Graphic Novels :)
http://www.janebaskwill.com/comics_LA08.pdf

Why use Graphic Novels
http://www.edutopia.org/blog/graphic-novels-comics-andrew-miller

Cultural Awareness

Getting To Know the Culture of Your Language Learner

Getting to know your English language learner is a huge step in the right direction to bridge social and academic gaps in the learning environment. Please take a few moments to check into cultural factors, views of family, religion and heirarchy.  Not understanding a language learner's background may be the source of academic and social chasms in the classroom.

• African American
• Arab American
• Asian American
• Central Asian
• Hispanics/Latinos
• Muslims
• Native Americans
• Pacific Islanders
• South Asians

Cultural Information Link

Title III Limited English Proficient (LEP) & Immigrant Students District Procedures – NCLB Requirements

Kentucky Department of Education
2007-08

As the 2007-08 school year begins, we would like to remind you of the following expected practices for identifying and servicing English language learners (ELLs), based on federal and state regulations:

• All new enrollees to the district are administered a Home Language Survey to screen for a language background other than English. A sample Home Language Survey can be found on the ELL web page*. Multilingual language surveys are available for free via www.transact.com.

• If the answer to any of the four required Home Language Survey questions is any language other than English, students are considered to be from a non-English language background (NELB) and must be administered the WIDA ACCESS Placement Test or W-APT. The W-APT identification test is downloadable free to districts from a password protected site http://wida.us. ELL Test Administrators should contact their District Assessment Coordinators (DACs) for password information.

• A student is formally identified as LEP based on the results of the W-APT (four domains: listening, speaking, reading and writing) in conjunction with professional judgment. The results of the W-APT and the instructional plan (Program Services Plan/PSP) must be shared with the parents within the first 30 days of the school year or within two weeks of enrollment during the school year. Written documentation and/or oral interpretation should be provided to parents/guardians, to the extent practical, in a language that they can understand.

• A district or school Program Services Plan (PSP) committee (e.g., ELL and mainstream teachers/ specialists, an instructional leader, counselor, parent, student) will design a PSP for each student identified as LEP. The PSP should include the following: the reasons for identification (results of the W-APT and, when appropriate, annual language assessment), level of English proficiency, previous academic background and experience, cultural and language history, service delivery model/s for English language instruction, and all appropriate instructional and assessment accommodations and/or modifications.

• The PSP will be shared with all stakeholders involved in the ELLs academic and language education to guide placement and instruction. Administrators will ensure teachers are being prepared to implement appropriate accommodations and modifications. Educators’ professional growth plans and the school’s/district’s professional development plans may reflect teacher development needs and expected outcomes for language and academic learning of ELLs.

• The 2007-2008 Kentucky annual English language proficiency (ELP) assessment is ACCESS for ELLs™. The state will follow a scheduled testing window of January 7 – February 15, 2008. Each district must ensure that all ACCESS test administrators are certified. Each district’s DAC will ensure that testing materials have been ordered, received and returned in the required time frame and coordinate with ELL test administrators.

• Implementation of the PSP is consistently and regularly monitored for relevance and effectiveness throughout the year. Individualized accommodations are evaluated for appropriateness and revised at least once a year based on the annual ACCESS results.

• Entry, testing and accommodation/modification data must be entered into STI or Infinite Campus on all LEP students monthly and kept updated. There will no longer be a spring extract/upload of district LEP data to KDE. KDE will access this data monthly from the State database to satisfy inquiries from the Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) and the KDE Office of Assessment and Accountability.

For more ELL information and resources:

 Visit the KDE home page, click on Quick Links/English Language Learning http://www.education.ky.gov/KDE/Instructional+Resources/High+School/Language+Learning/English+ Language+Learning/English+Language+Learner

 Contact Shelda Hale, Title III Program Consultant – Shelda.Hale@education.ky.gov

KDE Kentucky ELLs Program Quick Guide

KDE Kentucky ELLs Program Quick Guide

From the KDE “Quick Reference Guide”:

Steps:

1. Select educational approach for ELD

2. Identify potential ELL’s

3. Administer W-APT

4. Placement

5. Provide resources and staffing

6. Transition to regular program participation

7. Monitor for 2 yrs.

8. Program evaluation

KY ELL Accommodations

KY ELL Accommodations

The Kentucky Department of Education has determined the following instructional accommodations effective for LEP students:

Read text in English
Scribe responses
Bilingual or English dictionary
Promoting/cueing
Provide visuals/organizers
Use spell-check
Provide content objectives
Engage in academic conversations
Teach and model mega-cognitive
Oral native language support
Read test in primary language
Extended time
Small group/single test form admin.
Provide adapted materials/tech
Link instruction to prior learning
Build background knowledge
Scaffold responses (oral/written)
Bilingual or English glossary
Simplified language
Assistive technology
Adapt pace of instruction
Use computer/software
Provide language objectives
Model language/task completion
Provide interaction opportunities

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Voki.com - give students a voice

I am so excited about this new resource I learned about today.  It is www.voki.com
It allows students to create a speaking avatar.  This is a great way to give your ELL students a voice and build their confidence.  They will be so engaged, I know I was.  The students can create what they want it look like and they can make it speak by using four different methods:
- speaking into the microphone
- calling in and speaking through their phones
- typing in the dialog
- uploading an audio file

Types of assignments:
presentations of speeches, poems, songs, create a character from a book, create a character from history

Assessments for ESL

ACCESS is an assessment that is given in Kentucky and many other states to measure annual growth for English Language Learners in Writing, Reading, Speaking, Comprehension.

KDE and ACCESS link:

http://www.education.ky.gov/KDE/Administrative+Resources/Testing+and+Reporting+/District+Support/English+Language+Proficiency+Testing/ACCESS+for+ELLs.htm

Welcome to Adventures in ESL

file://localhost/Users/tiffanybaczek/Desktop/BLOG_podcast.mp3

Lesson on Listening

This would be a great lesson to do with all students not just ESL for a practicing good listening skills.  Lets be honest with all the distractions we face in just a 5 minute time period in our tech savvy world we could all use a lesson in listening.

courses-accredited-tesol-tefl/150-hour-level-2-tesol.

The "Silent Period"

As a general ed teacher it may seem obvious that a child that has just moved from another country and speaks another language is not very chatty the first few days of school.  It is important to know that there is something called the "silent period" with ELL students.  Particularly the students who have recently moved from their home country or from a very different region.  This time period can last from a few days to a few months because all students will acclimate at their own pace to a new school, new community, new town and new culture in general.  The best thing you can do during this time is respect what the student must be going through and be sensitive to their situation while creating the safest and least threatening learning environment possible.  This is a great time to lean on your ESL teacher for advice on resources to help the student acclimate to your classroom so the student can continue to grow and learn.

Wiki's and Blog's can ramp up engagement and participation for the ESL population

Wiki's and Blogs are great online tools that can and should be used with ELL students.  Students are more likely to participate in these formats because they are less threatening and can help the students gain confidence in their reading and writing.  Blogs are particularly good for the purposes of letting students create a place that is theirs for them to communicate freely with people from home and school. Wiki's are good for collaborating because some students may feel timid to make corrections on someones paper.  When they can do it online and at their own pace the participation rates go up as well as the quality of editing and positive collaboration.  Both Wiki's and Blogs can be used as evidence for AYP(adequate yearly progress) and used as a type of portfolio. This can mean less work for you if they are done correctly. Who doesn't love that?

Wiki - it is an online tool that can be used for collaboration. The wiki is created for a purpose for a specific group of people.   It can be changed and edited as the group members see fit.  The work is instantly published and sent out into the world wide web for all to see.

Examples of how to use them in the classroom

• Research Paper collaboration
• Webquests
• Planning a class or school event
• Online study groups
• Sharing Works of Art, Music, Writing

Blog - a website that is created by an individual or group where they post their opinions, ideas or information on a topic.  The types of blogs are endless, they can range from cooking tips to time travel.

Examples of how to use them in the classroom

• Class Debates
• Poetry Collections
• Creative Writing
• Novel or Story Reviews
• Writing journals or diaries

Note: When using these types of resources it is important to set clear goals and expectations with the students.  The students should know that it is a working educational format and should be respected and treated with the same appropriateness expected in the classroom.  If everyone is on the same page from the beginning it will make the project go much smoother and you are more likely to have successful outcomes.

Both Wiki's and Blogs can be used as evidence for AYP(adequate yearly progress) and used as a type of portfolio. This can mean less work for you if they are done correctly. Who doesn't love that?

Using Wordle or Tagxedo with ELL Students boost confidence

  There are many great resources to use online to integrate technology into the classroom.  I really like using Wordle and Tagxedo as a means of creating a visual about a topic.  There are a variety of ways to use these websites to engage your students.  Basically you insert the copy of an article into the program and it pulls out the words that are repeated the most and makes them larger.  This automatically creates a visual that will tell you what the main points are in a topic.  For example the tagxedo I have pictured above was created out of text I copied from wikipedia under English as a Second Language education. Both sites do the same thing, however, I prefer tagxedo because you can put your text into different shapes which will enhance the meaning of your visual.  The students can enter words about themselves and create a wordle that describes their strengths and interest.  Its really neat if you have each student create one and hang them together in a common area.  The students are able to see what things they have in common with other students as well as learn about each other differences.  There are many websites that list uses for wordle/tagxedo, here is the one I felt was most useful:

https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_157dpbsg9c5&pli=1

Happy Wordling!!

Tagxedo

http://www.tagxedo.com/

Wordle

www.wordle.net