Please Don’t Let This “News” Pass, Our Children’s Lives Depend on It
I woke up this morning to the barrage of media covering yet another unimaginable mass shooting. The families and extended communities of 17 high school children must now grapple with the loss of the lives that were and the lives that would have been. As I sit here writing this post with tears in my eyes, I am struggling with the overwhelming need to will away the inner voice that is asking, “What if it had been my student? What if it had been my child?”
A Dedication to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr
Today is a day dedicated to honoring the legacy and impact of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. And while many simply enjoy the extra day at home, it is vital to reflect on what this day truly means. His life’s legacy is one of equity, access, equality and the ability of each person to realize their own dreams regardless of race, color, or creed. As an educator, I see the overwhelming challenges our children face to realize that legacy every day. Not all students experience an equitous educational experience, have access to the conditions that will ensure their success, or are faced with a set of experiences that prepare them to realize their dreams. With barriers existing for so many children (black children, brown children, language learners, exceptional children, children living in poverty, LGBT, and so many other silenced voices), I know that this work can not live on just one day of the year. Rather, we must fight, now more than ever. We must honor his legacy as we serve and guard the amazing children that are entrusted to our care. So let us not be silent, for our children – all our children – are the future and the legacy of our humanity.
How Modeling Translates to Outcomes for Struggling Students & ELLs:
Modeling is one research-based strategy that allows students to hear a teacher’s thought process. By making their thinking or process visible and clear, teachers are able to help students to mirror or parallel that thinking process or level of performance. This is nothing new and it is mostly human nature. When we want to learn something new, most of us go online and look for a youtube video or an example of it on some website, like pinterest that will give a clear visual. When I wanted to learn how to braid my daughter’s hair, I went online and watched a 5 minute video. It showed me the process and talked me through each step as it was going on, which helped to guide me when I was ready to start braiding her hair. For struggling students and English language learners, the theory is no different. Rather, this is an essential strategy that must be used if ELLs and struggling students are to be successful. A well-planned and clear model can be used any time of the year to show students a way of thinking about something or a way to do something. With strong models, students get a clear visual of what is expected of them and what success looks like. When modeling a new task (as in during math problems, science experiments, etc.), students get the opportunity to feel more confident as they begin a new task since they know what the steps and process that is expected of them. Additionally, think alouds help students to understand how to interpret, analyze, and make inferences about content that has just been learned. When thinking aloud, it is important for students to understand the thought process or the “why” as the teacher is working through the problem. It is also important to consider what language to use in order to make the teaching as clear and explicit as possible for the range of learning needs represented in your class. So how can you begin modeling effectively in your own classroom? Try following this quick process. Teacher explains what the skill or strategy is and why there is a need for the skill that is about to be presented. Teachers shows how to do the new skill (routines or procedures can be taught in this manner as well), walking through each step explicitly. Teacher explains “out loud” why they are including each step in the process as they get to it. Students have the opportunity to share what they notice about the modeled skill or strategy. Students practice the new skill or strategy right away while it is fresh in their minds allowing them to forge the new learning and make the connections stronger. Teacher observes students as they practice and they receive immediate and targeted feedback while practicing the new skill or strategy in order to avoid misconceptions becoming part of the newly acquired skill or strategy.
What Makes a Text Complex?
So the easy answer is short sentences and easy vocabulary makes sentences and texts easier to understand. Right? Well, not exactly. Some leveled texts that English language learners and struggling readers get, end up having really choppy sentences that communicate nowhere near the quality or quantity of material than their high achieving and mono-lingual peers receive. In some cases, the depth of content learning these students receive is comparable to the instruction and exposure received by students’ 3-4 grades below their own. So are simplified texts a problem for comprehension and content mastery, in general? Not necessarily. It goes back to how text complexity and readability is calculated by most publishing companies. When the majority of companies simplify a text, they do so by limiting the number of words and controlling the difficulty of vocabulary. However, by trying to adhere to these constraints, many of these texts end up becoming more difficult to comprehend. This is because the consistency in voice, relationship between sentences, exposure to the grammatical structures of the discipline, relevance, and usefulness of the information are compromised to meet requirements. English language learners and struggling readers are ultimately left to infer or guess much of the background information, causal relationships, and relevance of the information presented, because none of that information is provided. Additionally, students with language limitations make these inferences with texts that might not be as engaging as those of their monolingual and avid reading peers. This leaves our students at a greater disadvantage to have the ability or motivation to engage in such guess work. So if these books cannot serve as the model of academic language, what can, and how should this resource be used? The answer is not necessarily changing one resource for another. Rather, it is understanding that there is more to text complexity for struggling readers and English language learners than the number of words in a sentence and how hard the vocabulary is. Some of the other ways that texts are complex is the syntax, context, grammatical structures used, verb tense, use of pronouns, and semantics. Together these components work together to help students create or struggle with meaning. Students actually need an opportunity to engage, at times, with grade level texts that contain all of these complex language structures. This interaction with grade level texts is a powerful opportunity to gain access to rich, vivid accounts of the content they are expected to learn. Grade level texts also give learners a chance to learn grade appropriate academic vocabulary, grammatical structures, phraseology, and linguistic devices that are a natural part of the discipline in that grade. However, English language learners and struggling readers cannot simply be handed a grade level text to see how they do. It must come with teacher support. Teachers can and must take the opportunity to show students how language is used and ways they can incorporate those structures into their own language use in order to support students’ language development. More importantly than using grade level texts, however, is to know that there is no one text that is going to serve the full range of needs that your ELLs and struggling readers have. The key is to balance. There are times that a modified text might be the perfect resource to frontload some key ideas for a small group of students before the entire group begins a unit of learning. There are other times that you want to do a close reading of a Social Studies textbook in order to provide students with the opportunity to analyze a powerful section of the text that is critical for the unit of study. Other times, it might be something different such as: Independent reading Content reading Buddy reading Interactive read aloud Shared reading Readers theater in-class assignments homework All of these structures for reading with students allow for varying level of readability and language complexity. As part of the planning process, teachers can think about what is appropriate for their students based on the learning outcome for the lesson and language proficiency levels in order to help them make wise decisions about the texts they chose at any given time. Just remember to use more than sentence and word length as the determining factor for choosing the text. Other considerations can be the following: syntax, context, grammatical structures used, verb tense, use of pronouns, semantics
Improving Fluency with Partner Reading:
What is partner reading? Partner reading is a cooperative learning approach where a student works with a partner to read a text. While there many different approaches to text selection, partnerships should be carefully considered and both partners should be able to access the text. Why use partner reading? Partner reading allows both readers to take turns reading a text for the purpose of increasing accuracy, rate, and expression by reading and re-reading a text. Part of the effectiveness of the this strategy is the structures in place for readers to model fluent reading with expression, to provide each other opportunities to collaboratively build on their comprehension, and to work together to provide each other with positive and targeted feedback. In addition, this student-directed learning gives teachers the opportunity to monitor student learning and provide individualized support as needed. When to use partner reading: Partner reading works best when students have basic print concepts and phonemic awareness. For ELLs, it is also important that partners are given an opportunity to experience a model of fluent reading. Finally, many teachers find that partner reading fits best within the context of “Daily 5” or “Centers” time. How to use partner reading: 1. Choose the partners (One way to choose partners is to pair high-performing readers with a lower-performing reader for fluency practice. Additional considerations for ELLs is to ensure that one reader is more advanced in their vocabulary and text meaning. An additional strategy for choosing partners can be to pair readers by instructional need in order to facilitate teacher support or to partner readers across grade levels.) 2. Assign partner roles – A and B. 3. Model the strategy with a think aloud of partner dialogue and feedback. 4. Select reading texts or passages at or close to the partners’ independent reading level. 5. Make sure each partner has a copy of the text. 6. Have the partner A begin reading the text aloud for a set length (it can be 1 minute, 5 minutes, 2 pages, etc.) 7. While partner A reads, partner B should follow along and correct any mistakes when necessary. 8. Partner reading can and should include a comprehension check as final part of the process and accountability measure for their work. Adaptations for ELLs: 1. Be sure that during the modeling and explanation of the strategy, students know that pronunciation of words based on accent should not be corrected. 2. Have partners retell orally and then write a summary of their retell of the story rather than answering comprehension questions. 3. Have partners develop and write a 7-word summary of their reading rather than answering comprehension questions. 4. Have partners identify unknown words to add to their words study and vocabulary development. 5. Have students identify the main idea and their logic behind it. 6. Have partners read informational texts in order to build content background knowledge for upcoming Science, Social Studies, and other units of study.
5 Easy Ways to Build Your Students’ Academic Language
Last week we discussed the need to intentionally frame the social language of schools. Social language of school is the language that follows the rules of academic conversations and is flexibly used for a variety of purposes. This week, we look at academic language. Academic language is the language students need to access textbooks, assignments, assessments, and other academic tasks. It requires students’ knowledge of a number of grammatical features, vocabulary terms, and other features of the discipline. There are two main components to academic language: language of instruction and language of the discipline. The language of instruction is tier 2 vocabulary terms that are essential for students to complete learning tasks and engage in rigorous thinking. They are terms such as: support, analysis, determine, evidence, critique, and more. The language of the discipline is tier 3 vocabulary terms that are essential for students to learn the content to the degree embedded within the common core. They are terms like: axiom, theme, alliteration, democracy, slope, mammal, and more. It may seem like a daunting task to have to begin teaching academic language. So what can teachers do to support students’ mastery of both components of academic language? The following strategies can be used by teachers at any grade level to help begin the process of moving students from casual social language use to greater comfort using their academic language. Encourage and model the use of academic terms during casual classroom communication. When students are engaged in cooperative learning, projects, and group processing, monitor and provide feedback around students’ use of precise terminology. Model the explicit use of precise language, as well. Encourage students to read a wide range of texts. Students should have opportunities to read texts at their independent level, instructional level, grade level, and (as long as they are supported through close reading tasks and shared reading experiences) push level. Students should also have the opportunity to read from a range of genres within fiction and informational texts as well. Teach key vocabulary that students need to know and help students process when and how they are to use them. Allow students various opportunities to use those words in a range of authentic contexts. The more regularly students are able to uses the words and the more varied the practice, the greater the impact on student learning. Provide language stems to anchor students thinking and use of academic language. Language stems give students the academic language as a scaffold until they are comfortable enough to use academic language on their own. An example of a language frame is: My analysis showed that _____ because ______________. I know this because on page __________ the author states that __________________. Bridge academic and social language. All students benefit from translating their casual language to their academic language as sort of a side by side dictionary. This translating of social language provides students an opportunity to see the similarities and differences between the two which helps them make critical connections in the brain. This connection makes it easier for students to use precise language when it is needed.
3 Big Reasons We are All LanguageTeachers:
When we introduce ourselves in education, it is commonplace to identify with the content area or grade level we teach. I am a Science teacher, a Math teacher, a 3rd grade teacher, etc. But one thing is for certain; we are all language teachers, and we are all teachers of students. This means that there may be more similarities than meets the eye when it comes to the ingredients necessary to help students achieve success. When it comes to language, there are a range of pre-requisite skills necessary in order to be successful. Both social and academic language are necessary for meaningful learning to take place. And while we will talk more about academic language next week, it is important to also understand the needs of every learner when it comes to social language. Social language includes the words and communication tools students use in social situations. In school, that involves three major skills: using language for a variety of purposes, changing language, and following rules of academic conversations. There are a number of purposes for using language in school. Students must greet each other, share information, make requests and ask questions, and make commitments. Even when these language uses don’t involve the use of tier II and tier III terms, are students able to appropriately use language in these context? In an age when students spend more time texting in jargon like LOL, tweeting with limited characters, and pinning images that spark their interest, it is becoming more and more difficult for them to change their language for those purposes. After all, these social media and mobile communication tools has made using short hand code, the norm. These methods of communication also prevent students from seeing their audience. This makes it harder for students to assess the needs of the listener or audience which translates to difficulties meeting the needs of the listener or audience in real life. Not only that, but more and more, students are struggling to even understand the need for a different approach to conversation when they are talking to an adult vs a friend, speaking during after school activity vs during a conversation about a class project, and giving enough details for people to follow the speakers’ logic. When teachers wonder how children could be so rude or inappropriate in a classroom, they can ask whether the students know the “rules” of following classroom conversations. Chances are, they have not. So what can a teacher do to develop the social language needed to succeed in class? The rules needed for social language in a school setting are the following: Turn-taking in conversation (including active listening) introducing topics of conversation staying on topic rephrasing when misunderstood (clarifying speech) how to use verbal and nonverbal signals (saying thank you and making eye contact) proximity to peers when speaking (shoulder length apart and knees to knees) how to use facial expressions and eye contact
1 Research-based Strategy Truly Great Teachers Use
In the world of high stakes testing, we often worry about how we are going to “cover” all the standards in our curriculum, especially when we serve EL’s (English Learners) and struggling students that need greater amounts of support. It is a real concern with no easy answers. So what is one part of the solution? Chunking. Chunking is an approach based on cognitive theories, or constructivism. It is based on how teachers “chunk” or group information into logical and related units. These units are then easier to commit to memory because it reduces the amount of cognitive stress levels as the amount of information that the learner has to process is divided into smaller, more manageable units. Teachers’ ability to effectively chunk information for learners aides in and facilitates much needed information retrieval so that students are more easily able to engage in higher order cognitive demands. One of the most powerful benefits of chunking for EL’s and struggling students is the fact that since teachers are planning smaller chunks of information as a unit, it allows each element within that unit to serve as background knowledge for the next piece in the chunk. Teaching, then, simultaneously becomes new information and background knowledge for students to make vital connections to the information already present in their long-term memory. So, for example, if I want to teach student how to compare themes in literature, I know that students must be able to do several things. They must learn how to make comparisons, make inferences, understand what a theme is, cite evidence from a text, etc. Each of these units could be sequenced as chunks that go deep into new learning before moving into the next chunk. So when thinking about what to teach next in your unit, try not to think about what fun holidays or activities might be around the corner. Try to ask yourself, what’s the next chunk of learning that will make a difference for students’ ability to master the standards? Here are five great reasons that you should chunk. Creating small pockets of learning for students to hang on to promotes greater learning outcomes Sequenced “chunks” build background knowledge for the next “chunk” Chunking supports short memory functioning Allows for closure of each small “chunks” which enhances recall Facilitates comprehension
5 Reasons Why Expectations Change Results for all Students, especially ELLs
It seems simple, that as educators, we have the same high learning expectations for all students in given classroom, grade level, or school. After all, we wouldn’t want to knowingly deny the access and benefits of a high-quality educations to any child. And the reality is that the vast majority of educators do not approach their educational planning and instruction with low expectations in mind. After all, this ideal of high expectations is founded on the concept that whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you are probably right. Our beliefs and expectations have a profound impact on our hopes for accomplishment and effort to succeed. So what does this mean? It means that students who are expected to learn at high levels tend to do so, while students who are expected to learn at low levels also tend to achieve exactly that – regardless of their ability. This phenomenon has long-been researched and is most commonly known as the Pygmalion Effect. In this study of the self-fulfilling prophecy, people internalized their positive and negative labels. Their level of success followed their labels accordingly. The conclusion was that by increasing the leader’s expectation of those who followed, the performance will result in better performance by those who were following them. The impact of this study has implications in more than just education and extends from education, to social class, and of course, ethics. Yet, when we are faced with students that don’t speak English, that read significantly below grade level, and are otherwise challenged to perform at grade level expectations, many are at a loss in terms of what to do to marry the competing worlds of meeting students’ needs and meeting the Common Core State Standards. And whether intentionally or unintentionally, we find ourselves lowering the expectations for these groups who already have a history of underperforming. And while the challenge is certainly a perplexing one, this solution only results in further exacerbation of the very problem. So what is a reasonable, yet high expectation for our struggling students, particularly those who are English Learners? And why should we commit to this course? Research shows that shifting our instruction to support the development and emphasis of more academic English leads to greater academic success. Without intervention and increasing success rates for English Learners, they will drop out of high school at twice the rate as the English-speaking peers (Rumberger, 2006). It is true that English Learners achievement levels and growth progress at different rates, but cognitive scientist agree that it is by increasing the success rates on challenging tasks that increasing the rate of growth for all learners. Student access to the core academic curriculum (Callahan & Gandara, 2004) – which is now the Common Core State Standards – is one of the most important variables leading to English Learners growth and ultimate success. Research has shown that the simple act of asking students (particularly English Learners and struggling students) to elaborate one powerful way to challenge students in a manner that demands that they explain the details of what they know. This is an opportunity to solidify connections in their minds which is proven to have a greater impact on rate of growth and overall achievement.
Essential Language for Reaching the Common Core:
Over the last few weeks, we have talked at length about a number of ways to increase your students’ vocabulary so that they are able to access increasingly more complex text and grow as readers and intellectual beings. In fact, with the arrival of the Common Core State Standards, we’ve all become more mindful of the complexity of texts we present to our students and the tasks they are given to process what they’ve read with increasing depth and challenge. In order to begin accessing increasingly complex texts, we know that one thing students need to acquire is a growing bank of words at their disposal in order to make meaning. However, in order for students to begin to successfully tackle more rigorous tasks, there is another critical need. It is absolutely vital that students understand what a performance task, practice application, or assessment is asking for them to do with the same level of fluency and automaticity that we expect from them when reading any text or passage. The Common Core State Standards offer us two categories of words that students must master – nouns and verbs. The nouns of the standards detail the key concepts and ideas that are essential take aways in Literacy, Math, and NGSS. Without access to these words, students will struggle to make meaning of and from the standards with rigor or precision. The verbs of the standards outline the thinking and mental tasks for which students must be prepared to engage. It is one thing to give students the opportunity to critique a peer’s argument, and to revise their argument based on that feedback (depth of knowledge 4). It is another reality for that student to expertly know what it means to offer a peer that critique. There are a number of strategies that you can leverage in order to teach these words such as: gradual release with modeling, visual representations, total physical response, four square, concept mapping, categorizing, creating student glossaries/dictionaries, gradients, word play, and more. Additionally, it is critical to know what these high leverage words are. While the nouns vary between the different subject areas and grades, the following list of verbs will be an incredibly helpful starting point in teaching your students words that will help them to think with the depth necessary to successfully complete tasks and master the standards. Analyze Articulate Cite Compare Comprehend Contrast Delineate Demonstrate Describe Determine Develop Distinguish Draw Evaluate Explain Identify Infer Integrate Interpret Locate Organize Paraphrase Refer Retell Suggest Summarize Support Synthesize Trace If there are additional ways that you help your students to access the language of the Common Core State Standards, please comment below. Or you can email us at tajulearning@gmail.com.