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IDIOMThat effective collaboration benefits students (and teachers alike) isaffi rmed by the well-deserved at-tention it has received most recently in the professional literature (see, for example, DelliCarpini, 2008, 2009;Ho-nigsfeld & Dove, 2010; NACTAF,2009; NEA, 2009; Pawan & Ortloff,2011) and in the TESOL educational com-munity (e.g., themes of 2011 NewYork State and Kentucky TESOLconferences). Acknowledging theimportance of collaborative ex-changes among teachers is not a completely novel idea, though. Close to three decades ago, Judith Warren Little (1982) examined the differences between more and less effective schools and found that the more effective ones had a greater degree of collegiality. She noted four unique characteristics of collegiality (or col-laboration) in successful schools, where teachers participate in the fol-lowing activities:• Teachers engage in frequent, continuous,and increasingly concreteand precise talk about teachingpractice.• Teachers are frequently observedand provided with useful critiquesof their teaching.• Teachers plan, design, evaluate,and prepare teaching materialstogether.• Teachers teach each other thepractice of teaching (pp. 331–332).Consider what Warren Little’s

(1982) frequently quoted four key ideas could mean for ELLs in today’s schools. What if we translated her seminal find-ings into a contemporary framework of four Cs, in which“collaborative” serves as a defi ning adjective, followed by a key activity or desired teacher behavior necessary for improved student learn-ing?• Collaborative Conversations:Through enhanced communication,allteachers have the opportunity to devel-op ownership and shared responsibility for ELLs’ learning.• Collaborative Coaching:Through an encouraging schoolclimate and supportive framework,teachers offer and receive feedbackon their teaching practices.• Collaborative Curriculum Develop-ment:Through curriculum mapping and alignment and collaborative materials development,teachers match both their longtermand day-to-day instructional.

Collaborative Conversations..1

Promising Practices..4 Resources for the Common Core..6

Acting..10Conversations in Support...12

Talking is learning..14 Book Review..16

SIGs and Regions..17Small Talk..18

Members Only Website ..20 Editorial Notes..22

Upcoming Idiom Themes..22 Calendar and Announcements..22

NEW Membership Form..23Conversation Table..24

This issue’s theme: Conversations

Collaborative Conversations by Andrea Honigsfeld

CONTENTS

Vol. 41, No. 3 http://www.nystesol.org Fall 2011

cultural notes

Book review

promising practices

conversations

EDITORIAL NOTES

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BOOK

REVIEW

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New York State Teachers of Englishto Speakers of Other

LanguagesOfficers and Executive Board 2010-11

President, Nanette DoughertyNYC Public SchoolsFirst Vice President, Rebekah JohnsonLAGCC, CUNYSecond Vice President, Christy Baralis South Huntington School District Second Vice President Elect, Olivia Limbu Pace UniversityPast President/TESOL Liaison, Constance Dziombak Mount Vernon City SchoolsSIG Coordinator, Laura Van TassellSouth Huntington School DistrictSIG Assistant Coordinator, Jennifer Scully, ConsultantRegions Coordinator, Tina VillalobosHicksville Public SchoolsAssistant Regions Coordinator,Lynn Ellingwood, Brighton Central School DistrictMembership & Marketing Chair, Patricia JuzaBaruch College, CUNYAssistant Membership Chair, Drew Fagan, Teachers College, Columbia UniversityCurriculum and Standards Chair, Maria DoveMolloy CollegeAssistant Curriculum and Standards ChairPosition OpenProfessional Concerns ChairPorfi rio Rodriguez, East Ramapo CSDProfessional Concerns Assistant ChairPosition OpenPublications/Technology Chair, Fran Olmos,Yonkers Public SchoolsIdiom Editor, Cara Tuzzolino WerbenNassau Community CollegeDialogue Editor, Sue PetersonSt. John’s UniversityWebmaster, David HirschNew York CityBusiness Manager/TreasurerL. Jeanie Faulkner, Cornell UniversityCertifi ed Public AccountantJim Stotz,

NYS TESOL Executive Board Meetings and General Information

Members are welcome to attend Boardmeetings. For information, contact:NYS TESOLBox 185Teachers College, Columbia University525 W. 120th StreetNew York, NY 10027Tel./Fax: (212) 678-3074E-mail: nystesol@nystesol.orgWeb site: http://www.nystesol.org

Dear Colleagues,I hope you have been enjoying a happy, healthy and restorative summer.I would like to update you on some chang-es and challenges facing educators.On July 13, I attended the Bilingual/ESL COP (Committee of Practitioners)meeting at Teachers College, Columbia University. The most major changesinclude the New Evaluation Law for K-12 teachers and principals:

1. Annual evaluations for all teachers and-principals2. Clear, rigorous expectations for instruc-tional excellence, prioritizingstudent learning3. Multiple measures of performance4. Multiple ratings: Four performance levels to describe differences inteacher effectiveness5. The new system should encourage regular, constructive feedback and ongoing development6. Signifi cance: results are a major factor in employment decisions.

You can view all documents discussed at the COP Meeting at the followinglink: http://www.p12.nysed.gov/biling/bilinged/BilingualESLCOP.html. Formore information about the Common Core Standards, please consult the website at: http://www.corestandards.org/ and see the article in this issue.

Though it was not considered at this meet-ing, the 14 Bilingual/ESL TechnicalAssistance Centers (BETACs) across New York State closed permanently onJune 30, 2011. This puts both our schools and our LEP/ELL populations at risk of not having the appropriate resources to meet their educational and programmatic needs over the next five years.

Our new Commissioner of Education, Dr. John B. King, Jr., may not be familiar with the importance of the resources offered by the BETACs. You may e-mail him directly at: jking@mail.nysed.gov. In addition, you may email the NYS Board of Regents on this

issue at: RegentsOffi ce@mail.nysed.gov.

At the Melville Marriott October 28 through the 29th, I will be passing the gavel to our incoming President, Rebekah Johnson. I would like to thank the many wonderful members of my Executive Board and the many SIG and Region Leaders for their service to the organization. Spe-cial thanks to Cornelia Randolph, a constant support and inspiration, and Fran Olmos, for her guidance. You will be receiving ballots for the Executive Board slate in the mail shortly. Thanks to our Nominating Committee, led by Cornelia Randolph and Terri Brady-Mendez, for their time and efforts. Members, please do not forget to vote for your new leadership in our organization by returning your ballots. As always, please continue to keep in touch with issues, concerns, and ideas on how our organization can best serve you. Best wishes for a great school year to all.

Peace and blessings to you, Nanette Dougherty, President, NYS TESOLP.S. We’re so very excited to be launching our new Members Only website - please read more about it in this issue and log in soon to check it out. Please contact us with ideas!

From the President’s Desk by Nanette Dougherty, NYS TESOL President

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• Collaborative Craftsmanship: Through conscious efforts for continuous improvement of the craft of teaching, teachers explore ways to enhance instructional time, language development, and content area resources, and offer support for each other. Table 1 shows how the concept of collegiality and collaboration may offer a system of support in a linguistically and culturally diverse school context by including the four Cs with ample examples. Collaborative Conversations*

Collaborative Conversations

Talk about - Students’ needs - Students’ lives - Students in and out of school work - Curriculum and instruction - Teachers’ own struggles - Teachers’ own successes - What matters to you, the teacher

Collaborative CurriculumDevelopment Align - Lesson objectives (language objectives and content objectives) - Unit goals - Curriculum maps - Primary and supplementary instructional materials - Adapted texts and materials - Resources

Collaborative Craftsmanship Explore - ELLs’ background knowledge - ELLs’ prior learning - Peer coaching - Planning instruction collaboratively or in the context of co-teaching - Effective methods for aligning curriculum and objectives - Using time more effectively - Making the most of collaborative efforts

Collaborative Coaching

Use peer coaching to improve - Lesson planning - Lesson delivery - Unit design - Use of supplementary materials - Adapted content - Modifi ed instruction - Assessment practices

Collaboration may start out as a small, grassroots effort, involving only two or three teachers who share the responsi- bility for some of the same ELLs and are concerned about their students’ progress. It may involve an entire grade level.

Some examples include grade clusters working together to develop or enhance curricula in elementary schools; an inter- disciplinary team of math, science, social studies, English, and ESL teachers (sharing responsibility for a cluster of classes

in middle schools); or a discipline-specifi c department (focusing on preparing all students to meet graduation requirements of high schools). Regardless of the local context, all these collaborative efforts start with professional conversations,

through which teachers collaboratively explore their students’ needs and responsive practices.

References DelliCarpini, M. (2008). Teacher collaboration for ESL/EFL academic success. The Internet TESL Journal, 14(8). Re-

trieved from http://iteslj.org/Techniques/DelliCarpini-TeacherCollaboration.html

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SIdioms pop up everywhere in English media, often met with confused looks by our students. Even more advanced students have diffi culty using them with any degree of competence,especially if the idioms are cul-turally different from their own (Irujo, 1986). Given their impor-tance, more attention should be paid to teaching idioms inESL settings (Cooper, 1998). It is up to teachers to help stu-dents not only learn idioms, but also to encourage their usage in an intelligible manner. How can we incorporate idioms intoclassroom settings in a relaxed, communicative, and student-centered way? More impor-tant, how can we teach the intonation of idioms to achieve students’maximum intelligibil-ity? I have found the following three activities to be helpful for my students.

BYOI—Bring Your Own Idiom

Each student chooses one idiom to “teach” the class. They may choose from any source, and learn it well enough to be able to explain it in front of their classmates. This is a great warm-up; it’s student-centered and exciting, since they have chosen these idioms themselves based on their own interests. Don’t be surprised if anumber of idioms come from

Promising Practices

This is an ongoingcolumn, featuring

advice for effectiveteaching. Please sendarticle submissions tothe column editor, AnnC. Wintergerst (contact

information on page 22 of this issue).

Piece of cake! Idiomactivities and the importance of proper intonation by Andrew EdisonSchneider

Girl or Glee, American television programs-centering around high-school students, so idioms relating to dating and shopping tend to surface quite often (i.e., It’s on me; She’s into him; Those shoes are totally you). During the students’ explanations, I stay offto the side and will assist only if the situa-tion calls for it; I have even done this activ-ity remotely via Skype when I was homsick in bed. Having the students in charge of this activity made it quite manageable. It can also act as a springboard for all kinds of culture relatedd iscussions.Where Is the Change?A major obstacle facing our students is intelligibility, especially when using idioms. While pronunciation may be a factor, an equally important factor is proper intona-tion. As the pitch in our voices rises andfalls, these changes in intonation areprocessed by the listener (Cruttenden, 1986). If you have ever studied Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese, you may be famil-iar with the inextricable link between the proper tone and communication. In English as well, when language is given the cor-rect intonation, communication can be greatly enhanced. To emphasize this point with my students, I imitate the “wa wa” teacher from Charlie Brown. I walk around the class, lock eyes with a student, raise my hand, and slowly say “Wa, wa wa Wa?” What I am actually saying is “Hi, how are You?” Students inevitably guess correctly and are quite surprised that they can un-derstand what I am saying. Once they have caught on, we can then create contextual situations and apply the proper intonation. A mini-dialogue I might have with a student in front of the class, in which my role would beB, is as follows:A: What are you doing this weekend?B: This weekend? Nothing special.I’ll probably just hang OUt.A: OK. Give me a call.B: Alright.After the classmates have heard the dialogue, I will ask them, “Where is the

change?” Hopefully, they willhear “OUt” on the fi rst try. I will then mark it on the board. The rise in pitch at the beginning of “OUt” rather than on the word “hang” is essential to the intelligibility of the idiom as well as to the rest of the dialogue. Teachers play a vital role here. Once an idiom is presented, either the students or the teacher should provide/elicit the properintonation and then mark it. Thismarking system is especially impor-tant for non-native-English-speakingteachers who may be unfamiliar withthe proper intonation of idioms.The good news regarding idiomaticphrases is that there are generalintonation patterns. In an emphasizedtwo-syllable word, such as “brainer”in the expression “no-brainer,” theword tends to receive a higher tone orpitch on the fi rst syllable. It’s a no-BRAIner. In the case of a one-syllableword, such as “cake” in the expres-sion “piece of cake,” there is a highertone on the fi rst half of the word: It’sa piece of CAke. In either case, therising intonation at the beginning isthen followed by a falling intonation.Saying the idiom in front of your stu-dents in slow motion can really helpto clarify this, and it is also good for alaugh. When students know the proper intonation, communication can be achieved even with less-than-perfectpronunciation. This is good news forour students, as it is generally mucheasier to change the pitch of a wordthan to pronounce the word properly.Mini Dialogues The mini dialogues written by the students, followed by an in-class role play, are not only a lot of fun but practical and effective exercises for ESL students (Nunan, 2003; Scott & Ytreberg, 2000). They could be done as homework or in class individually,in pairs, or in groups.

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promising practices

conversations

EDITORIAL NOTES

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dialogues supply the context necessaryto achieve natural usage and effective communication (Nippold& Martin, 1989). The task is to writemini dialogues, where each dialoguecontains at least one idiom from class, either from our text or from one of the students’ BYOI. There should be just enough context (4-6 lines) for the exchange to be meaningful (Nip-pold & Martin, 1989).

Make sure the students understandthat even though these dialogues arebeing written down, they should bestriving for spoken and not writtenEnglish. I also ask them to considerthe roles of the speakers as in the fol-lowingstudent dialogue (the professoris putting on her coat as her studententers the office):

A: Excuse me. Professor? Are youbusy?B: I’m running LAte, actually. I’ll behere tomorrow.A: Ok, thank you.B: Alright.

This exchange meets the criteria inthat it is a spoken dialogue, the rolesare defi ned, at least one idiom is used,and the idiom is marked with the properintonation. Once their dialogues are done, I collect, cor-rect, and return them. Afterward, I circulate, taking student questions on my corrections. Then, I have each pair practice and perform at least one of their dialogues in front of the class. Eye contact, body language (students must sit facing each other), and voice management should be emphasized during practice time. Be sure to circulate, as some stu-dents will simply read the dialogue together. I walk around with a blank sheet of 8½ x 11 paper, which I use to cover up the dialogue they are working on. This forces them to look up and, hopefully, at each other. The

students then perform at the front of the class. I act as the director, yelling “Ac-tion!” and opening/closing my cell phone like a director’s slate. The class listens for the idiom used in the dialogue. This is always fun, as students enjoy watching their classmates perform. I like to supply props/wigs to spice it up. Be prepared for the cameras to come out! I also quiz them on the idiom and theintonation right after each dialogue.

Conclusion

English continues to be a global language. Proper knowledge and usage of idioms are powerful tools for anyone requir-ing English in daily communication. By focusing on the proper intonation for our students to achieve maximum intelligibil-ity, we are better equipping them for the English-speaking world. It is important for us as teachers to go the extra mile.

References

Cooper, T. C. (1998). Teaching idioms.Foreign Language Annals, 31(2),255-266.

Cruttenden, M. (1986). Intonation.Cambridge, UK: Cambridge UniversityPress.

Irujo, S. (1986). Don’t put your legin your mouth: Transfer in theacquisition of idioms in a secondlanguage. TESOL Quarterly, 20,287-304.

Nippold, M. A., & Martin, S. T. (1989).Idiom interpretation in isolationversus context: A developmentalstudy with adolescents. JournalSpeech & Hearing Research, 32,59-66.

Nunan, D. (2003). Practical Englishteaching. New York: McGraw Hill.Scott, W. A., & Ytreberg, L. H. (2000).Teaching English to children. NewYork: Longman.

Andrew Schneider has been teachingESL/EFL for 20 years, having taughtin Japan, Spain, and the United States.He currently teaches medical studentsin Kanazawa, Japan.<Andrew@med.kanazawa-u.ac.j

Greetings Idiom readers,I am delighted to combine mybackground in publishing with mylove of TESOL as the new editor ofIdiom. Thank you to my predecessor,Julie Dziewisz, for her great workand help with a smooth transition. Ialso thank the column editors, copyeditor, NYS TESOL leadership andmembers for the warm welcome.My career began with a B.A.in journalism from NYU. After Iswitched to marketing, and laterfundraising, I volunteered in anESOL classroom and loved it. I enrolledin Teachers College, ColumbiaUniversity, graduated with an Ed.M.in TESOL, and began working as anadjunct at Pace, CUNY, andColumbia.Presently, I work in an intensiveEnglish program at Nassau CommunityCollege. We focus on improvingstudents’ skills through an integrated,holistic approach, so that they canexit our program and be prepared forcollege-level work. I also instruct andmentor aspiring TESOL teachers atthe Literacy Assistance Center.I welcome the chance to meet withinterested writers during the Annualconference in October. See you there!--Cara<idiom@nystesol.org>

Introduction from the new Idiom Editor, Cara Tuzzolino

Werben

NYS TESOL6 NEW

SThe Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS) have been adopted by dozens of states. The NYS Board of Regents ad-opted the new P-12 CCLSfor ELA, Literacy, and Matemat cs in January 2011; it will be phased in over the next year. Beginning in school year2012-13, NYS assessments for English Language Arts and Mathematics will measure stu-dent achievement of the P-12 CCLS. Find New York State’scomplete CCLS timeline at www.usny. nysed.gov/rttt/docs/ccsstimeline.pdf.

The initiative began in the spring of 2009 and was coor-dinated by the National Gover-nors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices and the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSO). The advisory group for the initiative com-prises Achieve, Inc., ACT, the College Board, the NationalAssociation of State Boards of Education (NASBE), and the State Higher Education Execu-tive Offi cers (SHEO).

The Common Core State Stan-dards Initiative released a draft of the math and language arts content standards for public comment in September 2009,and the individual K-12 grade-level content standards in these subjects were released for public comment in March 2010. Both sets of content standardswere finalized in 2010.

Criteria for Development

This process differed from paststandards initiatives because it was state led and had the

support of educators across the country as well as prominent education, business andstate leaders’ organizations.The standards were developed by the following criteria:• Aligned with expectations for collegeand career success;• Clear, so that educators and parentsknow what they need to do tohelp students learn;• Consistent across all states, so thatstudents are not taught to a lowerstandard just because of wherethey live;• Inclusive of both content and theapplication of knowledge throughhigh-order skills;• Built upon strengths and lessonsof current state standards and standardsof top-performing nations;• Realistic, for effective use in theclassroom;• Informed by other top-performingcountries, so that all students areprepared to succeed in our globaleconomy and society;• Evidence and research based(Quay, 2010);• Application of the Standards forEnglish Language Learners.

Common standards can potentiallyprovide a greater opportunity for statesto share experiences and best practiceswithin and across states that couldlead to an improved ability to serveELLs. The K-12 English-language artsand mathematics standards do includeinformation on the Application ofthe Standards for English LanguageLearners, located at http://www.corestan-dards.org/assets/application-forenglish-learners.pdf.

One segment of the Applicationof ELA Core Standards recommendsthat to help ELLs meet high academicstandards in language arts it is essentialthat they have access to:• Teachers and personnel at theschool and district levels who are

Resources for Implementing the Common Core for ELLsby Diane Garafalo

well prepared and qualifi ed to sup-port ELLs while taking advantageof the many strengths and skillsthey bring to the classroom;• Literacy-rich school environmentswhere students are immersed in avariety of language experiences;• Instruction that developsfoundational skills in English and enables ELLs to participate fully in gradelevel coursework;• Coursework that prepares ELLsfor post secondary education or the workplace, yet is made comprehen-sible for students learning content in a second language • Opportunities for classroomdiscourse and interaction thatare designed to enable ELLs todevelop communicative strengthsin language arts;• Ongoing assessment and feedbackto guide learning;• Speakers of English who know thelanguage well enough to provideELLs with models and support;• Need for English Language Profi -ciency Standards.

The Common Core did not spellout how the standards applied to specifi c levels of English profi ciency. It was left up to states to create Eng-lish Language Profi ciency Standards that align with the Core Standards or to explain how specifi c standards can best be taught to students de-pending on their level of English profi ciency. In her July 12 blog at Educa-tion Week, “Learning the Language,” Mary Ann Zehr recognized this need by reporting that Stanford University has received a $1 million grant from the Carnegie Corporation of New York to create English Language Profi cien-cy Standards for the states’ Common Core Academic Standards. Dr. Kenji Hakuta, a professor of education at Stanford University, a member of the Common Core Validation Committee,

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Some Helpful Resources

♦ Common Core Curriculum Maps:www.commoncore.org/free/♦ Common Core Standards andEnglish Language Learners:www.colorincolorado.org/educators/common_core♦ Common Core State StandardsInitiative Web site:www.corestandards.org♦ Common Core Standards Workfor ELLs: The Importance ofLinking English Language Profi -ciency Standards to the CommonCore Standardswww.colorincolorado.org/powerpoint/ELLELPStandardsPPT%20Slide.pdf♦ K-6 Units in ELA Aligned withCommon Core Standards:www.elementarytests.com/blog/k-6-ela-common-core/♦ P21 Common Core Toolkitwww.p21.org/images/p21_toolkit_fi nal.pdf♦ www.thejournal.com/articles/2011/08/02/common-core-toolkit-aligns-standards-with-21stcentury-skills-framework.aspxWebsites of the members of theadvisory board to the Common CoreInitiative:Achieve, Inc.: www.achieve.orgACT: www.act.orgThe College Board:www.collegeboard.comNational Association of StateBoards of Education:www.nasbe.orgState Higher Education ExecutiveOffi cers: www.sheeo.org

and a long-time expert on ELLs; and Maria Santos, the former director of programs for ELLs for the New York City school system, are co-chairs of this national effort to write standardsfor ELLs to parallel the Language Arts and Mathematics Standards of the Common Core, as well as the Sci-ence Standards that are expected to be developed. This grant award fi lls the gap in the process of implement-ing the Common Core for ELLs (Zehr, 2011).The grant, which lasts for two years,is called “Building on Common-Core Standards to Improve Learning for English-Language Learners.”

“The effort is to think about the con-tent areas in the common core thatof-fer strategically fertile areas aroundwhich language instruction can take place,” Dr. Hakuta explained. “The standards will elaborate on what ELLs should know and be able to do in the content areas at different English pro-ficiency levels,” he added. (Zehr,2011)

Preparing ELLs for the Common Core—A Webinar

On May 5, 2011, Dr. Hakuta present-ed a webinar at www.teachscape.com called “Research to Practice: PreparingELLs for the Common Core.”He offered his thoughts and ideas during the webinar under the topic of planning for the Common Core, including:• Recognize that language is neces-sary to teach, learn, and demonstrateunderstanding in school subjects, and that this is true for all students, but especially for ELLs;• Engage in the idea that excellencein instruction and assessmentaround content revolves aroundthe idea of rich language use;• Build the professional developmentaround the idea that languageinstruction is the domain

of all teachers, not just English Language Arts and ESL teachers;• Identify your objectives, assessments,and best practices in classrooms and ensure that you’re making progress toward those objectives;• Use the Common Core to recognizeand amplify the opportunity for rich lan-guage development for ELLs and for all students (Hakuta,2011). According to Dr. Hakuta, there are some key elements for ELLs regarding the Common Core, includ-ing:• The Common Core provides a strong incentive to examine the role of language in content instruction and in assessment; there is a role for leadership to take advan-tage of this opportunity;• Even though the Common Core says nothing about the English Language profi ciency expectations of ELLs, there is a requirement that English language profi ciency be aligned to the Common Core;• There will be more commonality across states in the identifi cation of students be-cause there will be more commonproficiency tests;• The Common Core has the potentialto move ELL performance/profi ciency both across schoolsand across the country (Hakuta,2011).

Criteria for Writing Common CoreCurriculum Materials

Last summer, the nonprofi t group Common Core issued a set of free curriculum maps. The maps are designed to give an under-standable sequence of thematic curriculum units that connect the skills provided in the ELA

NYS TESOL8

Above: Everyone listens as Ufualè Afola Amey talks about learning English from her teacher Dave, a Peace Corps volunteer.

Right: Sonia Portugal, Peru, performs Floating Words, a dance she choreographed to portray the spirit of English language learning.

Below: Ahmed El-Habashi, Egypt; Tomoko Kihira, Japan; Ufualè Afola Amey, Togo; Osiris Romero, Dominican Republic and Elena Lyumanova, Russia, come together in anticipation of their panel presentation.

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Resources forimplementing...

(continued from page 7)

standards with recommended stu-dent objectives, texts, and activities. Examples of these thematic cur-riclum units include: Grade 1: The Amazing Animal World; Grade 3: The People, the Preamble, and the Presidents;Grade 6: Folklore: A Blast from the Past; Grade 9: Literary Ele-ments of a Short Story; and Grade 12: European Literature: Renaissance and Reformation. Common Core is working with schools and districts in different states to implement the maps. Arizona and North Carolina are using them statewide to help districts put the standards in place (Gewitz & Robelen, 2011).

Two writers have recently crafted documents outlining Common Core curriculum criteria. Working under a contract with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a strong supporter of the

standards, David Coleman and Susan Pimentel, co-authors of the Common Core Standards for ELA/Literacy, wrote two documents highlighting the key ideas of the standards and describing the qualities of instructional materials they consider an ac-curate reflection of them (Gewertz, 2011).

Common Core Assessments and PARCC

According to the National Governor’s As-sociation/CCSSO, the Common Core State Standards will also ultimately be the basis for a system of high-quality assessments. New York State is a governing member of the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC), which was awarded Race to the Top Assessment funds in 2010. The PARCC Web site can be viewed at http://parc-conline.org/. Over the next few years, New York and 25 other tates will develop a set of English Language Arts and Mathematics assessments, which will be fi nalized in 2014-15 (NYSED, 2011). Common Core Standards Assessment Resources are located at http://education northwest.org/

resource/1331. Idiom will work to keep read-ers aware of all the upcoming changes.

References August, D., Cortese, A., La Fonde, S., Leos, K. (2010). Making Common Core Standards work for ELLs: The importance of linking English Language Profi ciency Standards to the Common Core Standards. October 21, 2010. AFT Educa- Resources for Implementing...

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SActing is a sport. On stage youmust be ready to move like a tennis player on his toes. Your concentration must be keen, your refl exes sharp;your body and mind are in top gear; the chase is on. Acting is energy. In the theatre people pay to see energy.—Clive SwiftGood teaching is one-fourth preparationand three-fourths theater.—Gail GodwinIf “acting is energy,” teaching ismany things: a combination of knowledge,experience, aware-ness, expertise,tand care. It is also the energy we,as language instructors, bring into the class-room that absolutely affects theorder of the day. As a theater lover and past occasional performer, I have often thought about the parallels betweenteaching and acting. Here are a few that come to mind.You’re on stage. All eyes are on you. You’re the initial focal point of attention. Your presence shifts the energy in the room. Sometimes, you literally have a podium, with desks arrayed in rows before you like patronsat a theater. There is noise, chatter, laughter, shuffl ing in the room until the lights dim. Curtain up! Enter stageleft, the professor. Cell phones get put away, or at least dis-creetly placed to the side. Chitchat dies down. Theroom is hushed a moment, the pause of anticipation before the fi rst wordsof dialogue are spoken. All eyes are on you. An actor uses her body to convey information about her character

before she even speaks. So do you. How are you dressed? Does what you wear convey some message about your posi-tion in this play, your role, your persona as teacher, leader, or facilitator of the energy in the room? How do you walk in? Are your eyes downcast, refl ecting your students’ spent energy at the end of a long week, or do they sparkle? Doyou walk in the room with pizzazz,transmitting vital energy to them, tocreate the cycle of give-and-take neces-sary for effective language learning? Do you use gestures, winks, and nods to con-vey information, emotion, even comedy? These are things worth thinking about, because one of the most important ways you are like an actor is in this all-important function. Your energy and presence set the tone. Just as audiences must have faith in actors and suspend their disbelief to fully enter into the world the actors are creating, your students must agree to the unspoken contract of trust that bonds them to you in a vulnerable learning situation. Your abil-ity to create that atmosphere of trust is important; your dynamism helps your class generate energy that in turn feeds you and helps the learning environment be dynamic. This is important for learning as well as for the teacher’s ability to sustain energy and passion both within a class and over her entire run.Actors use their voices as tools,relying on not just word choice butinfl ection, intonation, varying volume, and the judicious use of pauses to capture the audience’s attention, rivet them, spellbind them, draw them forward in their seats wondering “What’s next?” You too can use your voice itself as a tool that weaves the bewitching spell of energy, dynamism,and trust that makes for a lively and effec-tive learning environment.The show must go on. There aredays when you can’t imagine generating that energy at all. On those days, you have to “act as if”: put on your teaching persona as an actor dons a mask or stage makeup,

All the World’s a Stage:Ways in Which Teaching Is Like Acting by Elizabeth Fonseca

preparing herself to go before the lights. If you don’t show up, or show up without energy, you might fl op. This leads us to the all-important teaching persona. As an actor slips intoa role through preparation, curiosity,and the desire to share emo-tion andinformation with an audience, you canslip into your teaching persona, com-prised of your sincere and genuine self with a soupçon of public-role poise, strategic sass, and teacher’s tools you’ve learned throughout your teaching days that help you on the way. Is your persona the classic scholar? Do you have a little playful clown thrown in? Are you the com-passionate guide, leading students to the knowledge they already possess? Can you switch hats to that of the taskmaster, pushing for and demand-ing the very best? It can be useful to think of the teacher role as composed of these different personae that serve useful functions in the various pro-cesses of learning, including enabling you to reach students of different backgrounds, needs, and learning styles. Even if you are not like that, your alter ego, “Professor Picky”, can be. Although you are more lenient, “Scholar Strict” can be called upon as necessary to whip an underachieving class into shape. Being a teacher is a public role that requires daily public speaking; why not train for it and fi nd useful tools and approachesthat may aid in maintainingyour interest, creating a positivelearning environment, and aiding ineffi cient classroom management?If you think some training mighthelp you focus your body as instru-mentand help you channel energymore effi ciently and effectively in the

11

classroom, here are some suggestionsto get you started:• Take an acting class. Learn howto use body language, breath, andvoice to create energy and atmo-sphere.• Take a public speaking class.Learn relaxation techniques, visual-izationtechniques, and tips foreffectively conveying a message.• Join a group such as ToastmastersInternational, where you’ll learntips for public speaking.• Listen to and read poetry aloud.Learn about cadence, rhythm, andvolume to use your voice moreeffectively—and to save it fromtoo many of those hoarse, raggedy,“I’ve-spoken-too-much” days!• Similarly, take a vocal or voicetraining class. Learn specifi cbreathing exercises to strengthenyour voice and to become expertin effectively and effi ciently usingand saving your voice.Here is a web-site to get you thinking about your own parallels between acting and teaching: http://www/ jbactors.com/actingphilosophy/ actingquotations.html.References Godwin, G. (1974). The Odd Woman.New York: Ballan-tine Books.http://www/jbactors.com/actingphilosophy/actingquotations.htmlElizabeth Fonseca is an avid trav-eler who has taught ESL/EFL in such countries as Italy, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates. Her work has been published in the Arabia Review and the Traveler’s Tales series, among others. Her interest in acting stems from high school and community theater days, as well as more recent poetry readings.She currently teaches at Nassau CommunityCollege in New York.<Elizabeth.fonseca@ncc.edu> NYS TESOL Remembers Jeanette D. Macero. The field of ESOL has lost

one of its most revered members, Jea-nette D. Macero, who died May 9, 2011. Jeanette was passionate in her dedication to non-native speakers of English as ex-emplifi ed by her teaching, mentoring and participation in professional organizations. Jeanette, one of the founders of NYS ESOL BEA (now NYS TESOL—seenote below), was a leader in that organiza-tion nonstop until her retirementfrom Syracuse University in 1998, as as-sociate professor of English andTESOL coordinator of languages, litera-tures and linguistics. She moved toMedfi eld, MA to be near her family.Many NYS TESOL members will testify to the mentoring they receivedfrom Jeanette, who held leadership posi-tions in the organization for her entirecareer. Jeanette graduated with a BA in English from Barnard College, an MAin linguistics from Columbia University, and did doctoral study in linguisticsat the University of Michigan. She was president, second vice presidenttwice, and chair of various TESOL com-mittees: publications, paper selection,awards and nominations. Twice, she re-ceived the NYS TESOL DistinguishedService Award.In addition to Jeanette’s full-time teaching at Syracuse University, shepublished skill books for beginners of English through Laubach Literacy(now known as ProLiteracy), as well as a number of scholarly papers and ad-dresses,edited books of readings, and acted as consultant to many groups.All those who knew Jeanette are aware of her many accomplishmentsin professional organizations and her skill-ful teaching, but those closest toher will remember most her kind and compassionate manner to all she metand worked with, her hearty laugh, and her engaging personality. Jeanette’sfriends and colleagues have lost a trea-

sure.Vel Chesser, retired from Syra-cuse University, can be reached at<vfchesse@syr.edu>Editor’s note: With thanks to NYS TESOL historian George Morris: Thevery fi rst organization was called NY TESOL (No “S” for State), then NYSESOL BEA. The founding date is 1970 (hence our 40th anniver-sary in 2010). The split into NYS TESOL and NYSABE was in the early 1980s.

NYS TESOL Remembers Jeanette D.Maceroby Vel Chesser

NYS TESOL12 NEW

SAdolescent ELLs are secondlanguage learners who are still developin their profi ciency in academic English. Moreover, they are learning English at the same time they are studying core content areas throughEnglish. Thus, English language learners must perform double the work of native English speakers in the country’s middle and high schools. At the same time, they are being held to the same ac-countability standards as their native English-speaking peers (Short& Fitzsimmons, 2007,p.1.)Conversations with ELLs andcolleagues are viable ways for ESL teachers to help their stu-dents navigate academic chal-lenges. My shorttime at Jamaica High School has been filled with conversations that have driven my instruction to best support the ELLs in my charge.

Curriculum Experiments Based on Conversations with ELLs

At Jamaica High School, an ESL support class is offered zero period, 7:22 to 8:06 a.m., to provide intermediate ELLs with additional targetedinterventions. September 2011 will be the third year I am teaching zero period, and each year is an ongoing cur-riculum development action re-search experiment. I conduct the course as a combined resource room and advisoryclass model. Based on daily conversations with my students about their challenges, I provide homework help;teach problematic topics in mathematics, science, and social studies; and assess and teach diverse skills necessary for academic success. The first year of the experiment, my curriculum included mathematics symbols and word problems; the living

environment topics of scientifi c method, evolution, and organ systems; social studies topics of feudalism, estates, and analysis of political cartoons; English language arts topics of idioms, formal versus informal language, and dictionary/glossary skills; and academic readiness intest-taking strategies, study skills, time management, notebook organization, public speaking skills, and computer-skills. I also taught graph skills across the disciplines. This class was one of a select few Jamaica High SchoolEnglish and ESL classes that benefi ted from TeenBiz3000 (Empower3000),a Web-based individual-ized reading program by Achieve3000.

Conversations with ELLs form partof the data collection that drives my curricu-lum changes. Several first-year students (participants in Experiment) reported the lessons and activities helped them pass content-area finals and New York State Regents examinations. When asked how the support class could be improved for the following year, ELLs suggested thatI allot more time to science, continueteaching math and social studies, and retain computer instruction on Teen-Biz3000. One student, who was particu-larly resistant to my teaching anything but ESL all year, later admitted he benefitted from content-area instruction by his ESL teacher. Allstudents expressed a deep appreciation for the bilingual content area glossaries I provided.

In the second year (Experiment II),I spent less time on dictionary/glossaryskills; did not teach idioms; and, upon careful review of recent livingenvironmentRe-gents exams, added an ecosystem unit, a lesson on pH, and group activities on bar and line graphs. I replaced the formal versus informal English lesson with daily academic English and everyday English-explanations and defi nitions. Studentsassessed their multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1983; Gardner, 1993, 2996; McKenzie, 1999), and learing styles(Dunn & Dunn, 1993; Dunn & Griggs, 2003, 2004, 2007; Missere & Dunn, 2005).

I added native-language transla-tions of key content vocabulary tomy student notebook grading rubric. Groups researched conti-nents and explorers and presented their PowerPointslide shows to ELLs in otherclasses. TeenBiz3000 was replaced by Study Island, Web-based instruction built on New York State standards, that provided all Jamaica High School students practice for English, mathematics,science, and social studiesRegents exams; and for ]nationalScholastic Achievement Test (SAT) and Advanced Placement (AP) exams.Based on requests from Experiment I participants for Internet resources for speaking practice, I cre-ated lists of Web sites and links with podcasts and speaking exercises. As I gear up for Experiment III inthe 2011-2012 school year, I plan tode-vote more time to dictionary skills, such as alphabetizing, and contentar-ea textbook structure, with specialat-tention to textbook glossaries andindices; the participants in Experi-mentII were lacking in dictionary/text-book research skills and did not make optimum use of these resources. I provided a list of Web sites and links for Regents practice and bilingual glossaries, and will again provide copies of bilingual glossaries in Experiment III. I have decided to step up test-taking strategies and content writing practice in the zero period support class beginningin September.

Conversations with FamiliesIndividual writing conferencesoften involve reinforcing the student’s strengths and discussing specifi c areas in need of improvement. I had conversations with each student about his/her multiple intelligences and learning style profi les generated from the Dunn and Dunn Learning Style Model high school assessment Learning in Vogue: Elements of Style (LIVES) (Missere & Dunn, 2005) and

Conversations in Support of HighSchool ELLs by Victoria Pilotti

13

suggested individual study and homework strategies. My students had critical conversations with their families about their personal pref-erences, strengths, and areas for improvement. Some students discussed their need for a quiet, cool, and brightly lit place to study and complete homework assignments. One student, who was not a morning person, discussed her need for an alarm clock to wake her so she could arrive to class on time. Sadly, her family did not want to be disturbed by the sound of an alarm clock so early in the morning and the student’s guidance counselor suggested drop-ping her from this support class. Conversations with Colleagues

My fellow ESL teachers, bilingual guidance counselor, and department supervisor met regularly to discuss parent outreach, truant students, misplaced students, overcrowded classes, credit accumulation, and NY-SESLAT scheduling, among the nu-merous challenges facing our ELLs. These conversations led to solutions and consensus on major decisions and new initiatives. Colleagues who shared students would (a) discuss division of language skill focus—one would emphasize the writing process, vocabulary, and grammar, while the other would provide readings of a broad range of literary genres, teach literary terms and vocabulary, and emphasize listening and speaking, (b) collaborate and share data for each student before making ar-rangements to call parents on each other’s behalf—each teacher relayed messages of both teachers, and (c) preview and review each other’s lessons so we could reinforce what was learned in each other’s classes. Much to our dismay, we discovered that students often did not transfer learning between ESL classes and

teachers—somehow, the learning remained in the classroom environment and was for-gotten in a new setting.

Conversations with mainstream English colleagues centered on implementation of TESOL strategies to meet the needs of tran-sitional and post ELLs. Conversations with mathematics, science, and social studies assistant principals and teachers helped me focus on topics that they found were the most problematic for ELLs. As the ESL teacher component in a collaborative team teaching mathematics class, daily co-teach-ing experiences and collaborative conferenc-es led to differentiated tutoring and small-group instruction. I reinforced basic math skills to the students who did not know simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, while my math colleague rein-forced higher-level math skills and concepts.

Conclusion

These conversations take time and energy. High school teachers of ELLs may find they, too, are performing double the work to support adolescent ELLs in meeting the challenges of second language acquisition inan academic environment. This increased responsibility, however, may prove worth-while when the resulting conversations lead to targeted instruction and interventions as teachers collaborate in assessing ELLs and planning instruction for their students.

References

Dunn, R., & Dunn, K. (1993). Teaching secondary stu-dents through their individual learning styles: Practical approaches for grades 7-12. Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

Dunn, R., & Griggs, S. A. (Eds.). (2003, 2004, 2007). Synthesis of the Dunn and Dunn learning-style model research: Who, what, when, where, and so what? Jamaica, NY: St. John’s Univer-sity’s Center for the Study of Learning and Teaching Styles.

Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (2001). Guiding readers and writers grades 3-6: Teaching com-prehension, genre, and content literacy. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of mind: The theory of multiple intelligenc- es. New York: Basic Books. Gardner, H. (1993, 2006). Multiple intelligences: New Horizons. New York: Basic Books. McKenzie, W. (1999). Multiple Intel-ligences Inventory. Retrieved from http://surfaquarium.com/MI/inven-tory.htm

Missere, N., & Dunn, R. (2005). Learning in vogue: Elements of style (LIVES). Retrieved from www.learningstyles.net

Short, D., & Fitzsimmons, S. (2007). Double the work: Challenges and solutions to acquiring language and academic literacy for adoles- cent English language learners—A report to Carnegie Corporation of New York. Washington, DC: Alliance for Excellent Education.

Victoria Pilotti, Ed.D., is an ESL teacher at Jamaica High School. A former Region 3 secondary schools mentor, NYC Department of Educa-tion, she has taught TESOL method-ology graduate courses at St. John’s University and Hunter College. <vpilotti.TESOL@gmail.com>

NYS TESOL14 FEAT

URES ESL teachers employ a variety of instruc-

tional tools in the classroom.Conversation can be used to help students practice pro-nunciation, to prepare and develop a well-thought-out paragraph, and to enhance listening skills. Most important, conversa-tional activities tap into students’ schemato help them fully develop critical thinking skills in English. Below are several activities I have used with my students.

To introduce the concept of students’ origins, I show students how to use the Reporter’s Questions (Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How) to gather informa-tion. Students partner with one another to ask these questions and record the answers. When the class comes together again, I ask the group, “Who has a partner coming from a country whose name beginswith the letter A?” Students might answer Argentina. The class then identifi es which continent Argentina is on. Students check the map in the classroom to know more about their partner’s home country. This isrepeated until the end of the alphabet.Students work with their partners to see what they already know about these coun-tries. This prior knowledge helps students realize that they know more than they think about geography and other topics.

Next, the class discusses the varietyof languages spoken by the students.After obtaining this information, studentsput the names of these languageson the board. This fi rst conversationin class provides information neededfor the fi rst writing assignment, whichis the biography of a class member.The fi rst draft begins in class andis peer reviewed for content by thestudent’s conversation partners. Theirhomework is to review the draft andto rewrite it at home on the computer.The next day, I review the homework with students and focus my comments on a

grammatical topic, such as verb tense usage. I choose to focus my feedback on one or two aspects of the writing assignment so that a completelymarked-up paper does not increase students’ writing anxiety.The next assignment involves reading a biography about a famous Ameri-can. It might be a commonly known American like George Washington or someone from a particular fi eld. After forming groups and prior to reading, students discuss what they already know about the person and what they expect to see in the article. I intro-duce the concepts of topic and main idea as well as vocabulary specifi c to the story. After reading the biogra-phy, students individually answer the Reporter’s Questions from the article, and then share their answers with theirconversation group. in groups, students generate their own ques-tions using the Reporter’s Questions. When the class comes together, one student from each conversation group writes one question on the board—the questions should not be duplicates of other groups’ questions. Students read each question aloud. I ask the whole class for grammaticalcorrections to the questions. Aftercompleting the exercise, students write a summary of the biogra-phy—they can use these questions or the ones from the conversation group—and show this to their con-versation partner forfeedback. Their homework is to create a revised version of the in-class written sum-mary that incorporates their partners’ feedback. They staple the draft to the top of the rewrite. Using conversa-tion sheets, such as those available at www.bogglesworldesl. com, also provides opportunitiesfor interaction. Each conversationsheet centers on

For ELLs, Talking Is Learningby Elaine Caputo Ferrara

Come to the Annual Conference

October 28-29, 2011

New York State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages41st Annual Conference “Enhancing English Learning: Connecting Communities Through Collaboration”Marriott Hotel Melville, NY For further information, go to www.nystesol.organd check your e-mail on the NYS TESOL Listserv If you are interested involunteering or have questions,contactConference Chair Christy Baralis atvp2@nystesol.org

15

For ELLs, Talking Is Learningby Elaine Caputo Ferrara

a theme such as seasons, media, habits, and customs. These can be usedto talk about the topic in con-versation groups, to learn vocabulary specifi c to a topic, and to practice pronunciation. I ask students to look up defi nitions of highlighted words on the sheets. As an instructor, using these sheets is a way to determine students’ familiarity with Ameri-can culture and to plan class trips. Students can also conduct research to enhance their knowledge about media. I used these conversation ac-tivities with levels 3 to 7 students (as measured by the Best Plus) enrolled in non-credit ESL CUNY courses for a semester or more. Students ranged from 18 to 60 years, were from all over the world, and spoke a wide variety of languages. Some were re-cently arrived professionals who had university degrees; others had a basic education in their native country.Students developed a sense ofcommunity because of the shared-conversation exercises. Many good friendships began in class and continued after graduation. These friendships made it more enjoyable for many to attend class on a regular basis and did lead to fewer absences. By the end, students learned how to express their ideas more clearly in English and how to formulate ques-tions for future educational use. Their critical thinking skills were used to evaluate the new information and to compare it to what they already knew.

Elaine Caputo Ferrara received a Master’s degree from N.Y.U. in educational psy-chology, with a specialty in reading and special education. At the College of Staten Island, she teaches reading and writing to college

CALL FOR AWARDS

Exceptional ProfessionalsTo honor contributions made within our fi eld, NYS TESOL presents severalawards

annually, including:

James A. Lydon Distinguished Service AwardOutstanding Teacher Award

Recognition AwardLifetime Achievement Award

James E. Weaver Memorial AwardSpecial Award

Year Award Honoree 2010 Recognition Award Dr. Anita Batisti Outstanding Teacher Dr. Maria Dove

2009 Lifetime Achievement Award Estee Lopez Recognition Award Dr. Walter Sullivan

& Saul Cohen Outstanding Teacher Barbara Suter 2008 James E. Weaver Memorial Award Alison O’Neil

Recognition Award Sam Hoyt Outstanding Teacher Donna Bove

2007 James A. Lydon Distinguished Service George Morrisw Recognition Award Maria Neira Outstanding Teacher Dr. Andrea

Honigsfeld & Caryn Bachar

2006 James A. Lydon Distinguished Service Dr. Frank Tang Outstanding Teacher Patricia C. La Rose 2005 James A. Lydon Distinguished Service Diana Segovia

Praus

2011 Award Winners will be presented at the41st Annual Conference

October 28th & 29th, 2011Please review our available awards and criteria for submission at

www.nystesol.org.Submit all nominations and supporting documentation as attachments

via e-mail to:Meredith Van Schuyler, awards@nystesol.org

All submissions due September 23, 2011.

NYS TESOL16 BOOK

REV

IEW More Grammar Games: Cognitive,

Affective and Movement Activities for EFL Students. By Mario Rinvolucri and Paul Davis. Cambridge University Press. Cam-bridge. UK. (2010). 176 pp. ISBN: 978-0-521-46630-1

Reviewed by Kathryn North

Mario Rinvolucri and Paul Davis’ More Grammar Games: Cognitive, Affective and Movement Activities for EFL Students provides a revamping of their earlier work Grammar Games, which was originally pub-lished in 1984. The authors designed the text to provide EFL/ESL teachers witha framework for games that can bemodified to be appropriate for differentage groups and varied English proficiency levels. Therefore, whilethe usefulness of the book as a supplemental text in the adult ESL classroom is the main purpose of this review, its utility can be applied to various teaching scenarios.

The text is divided into nine sectionsin-cluding “Competitive Games,” “Cognitive Games,” “Feelings and Grammar,” “Lis-tening to People,” “Movement and Gram-mar,” “Meaningand Translation,” “Problem Solving,”“Correction” and “Presentation,” for a total of 81 games, or mini-lessons.As the titles suggest, many lessons arerooted in the principles of well-known English lan-guage learning methodologies including the Silent Way, as well as Counseling-Learning/Community Language Learning (CLL). The book begins with a table of contents noting the games and page numbers. This is fol-lowed by a detailed map of the book with the game titles, grammar topics covered, and levels and time needed. The introduc-tion also includes commentary from the authors on how the book can be used and their rationale for the methodologies utilized by section.

Each game begins with the title of the game and a box restating the details from the map of the book. If the game can be adapt-ed for other structures and levels, a sub-box states this. To start the main portion of the mini-lesson, the authors note anypreparation required before class. Thisis followed by a breakdown of the in-class procedures of the game. Theauthors also

include examples, variations,a rationale overview, and notesor acknowledgements when neces-sary. Lastly, any required handouts are provided. On a minor note, the examples and handouts are writ-ten using British English vocabulary. In the case of classes in the United States, instructors will need to rewrite these in Standard American English.

The first section includes competitivegames, which are designed toincrease motivation by fostering col-laborationwithin groups while creatinga safe, spirited environment. Manyof the games in this section focus onthe correction of material provided bythe teacher. This, of course, means that the instructor must devote time to the preparation of the game. For some this could be less than ideal.

The cognitive games in section twoare unique in their structure as, ac-cording to the authors, the exercises are mostly grammar exercises that require one correct response. The fl ex- ibility of the activities allows students to discover various aspects of the language without the direct infl uence of the instructor. While these types of activities can be very creative and and root meaning of language by linking English with their mother tongue. While the debate over the use of trans- lation in the ESL class-room continues, using native lan-guages as a resource in the foreign/second language clasroom can help to build linguistic abilities in both languages, bridge existing knowledge to the acquisition of the

This is an ongoing column,featuring reviews of books

and other materials forESOL teachers and students. Please

sendarticle submissions to the column editor,Nanette Dougherty (contact information

is on page 22).C

Book Review cultural notes

Book review

promising practices

conversations

EDITORIAL NOTES

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new language, and give validity to thefi rst language (Baker, 2006; Gibbons,2009). Therefore, if instructors usethese mini-lessons, they may find thatwhen properly administered, deeplearning can take place during gamesthat use translation.

The last three sections are lesssub-stantial. Section seven deals withproblem solving. Section eight offerstechniques for self, peer and teachercorrections. Finally, section ninerec-ommendsalternatives for the prsenta-tionof new grammar topics to a class.

Both students and teacher havemuch to gain from More GrammarGames. The authors offer ideas forgames that appeal to many differentlearning styles. With the exception ofmusical and natural intelligences, thisbook contains games that promoteall the multiple intelligences (Gardner,2006). The book also lists gamesspecifi cally designed to strengthen receptive skills to help students become more active listeners and readers. Furthermore, utilizing gram-mar games, an instructor can adeptly introduce grammar topics without the use of overt grammatical language. Although the discussion of teaching grammatical form vs. focusing on communicative interactions is still very predominant in the ESL teaching fi eld, research has shown that the integration of grammar with contex-tualized language creates the most effi cient mode of learning(Larsen-Freeman 2001).

To offer some criticism, the organiza-tional structure of the text can bechallenging. For those who normallyorganize lessons in a progression ofscaffolded topics, the division byunderlying pedagogical approachesmay be less intuitive. In addition, theorganization within the sections is unclearand fi nding a game for a spe-cific grammar topic or level requires somehunting within the map of the

text. Further, many of the games, especiallyin sections one and two, require a fair amount of setup. While an instructor may hope to use a book of games as a quick reference for lesson ideas, the time re-quired for finding an appropriate lesson and setup prevent the book from being used in that manner. Finally, while one would assume that all of the games are related explicitly to grammar, some have a more semantic focus. This does not deter the student from gaining knowledge but should be noted.

ReferencesBaker, C. (2006). Foundations ofbilingual education and bilingualism(4th ed.). Toronto: MultilingualMatters.Gardner, H. (2006). Multiple intel-ligences:New Horizons. New York:Basic Books.Gibbons, P. (2009). English LearnersAcademic Literacy and Thinking:Learning in the Challenge Zone.Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.Larsen-Freeman, D. (2000). Teach-ingand Principles in LanguageTeaching (2nd ed.). New York:Oxford University Press.Larsen-Freeman, D. (2001). Teach-inggrammar. In M. Celce-Murcia(Ed.), Teaching English as a Secondor Foreign Language (3rd ed.)(pp. 251-266). Boston: Heinkle &Heinkle Thomson Learning.Rinvolucri, M., & Davis, P. (1995).More Grammar Games: Cognitive,Affective and MovementActivities for EFL Students. NewYork: Cambridge University Press.Kathryn N. North is a recent gradu-ateof New York University’s Master’sProgram in TESOL. An ESOL instruc-torwith the New York Public Library,Kathryn also tutors writing and developmentalreading at the Borough ofManhattan Community College.<knnorth@gmail.com>

cultural notes

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promising practices

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Small talk prior to thestart of ESL class can be a very useful strategy. The purposeof small talk is not about gaug-ing how grammatically correct my students can speak in Eng-lish -- although I do makemental notes of students’ gram-matical diffi culties for subse-quent lessons. It provides the opportunity for my students to be heard in a very relaxedsetting, while allowing their English to emerge. It certainly can be a challenge to insert those few minutes during thefast-paced schedule of a typical school day, but I have found it to be a source of valuable information. I often begin the small talk session with an infor-mational “wh” question such as “How was your appointmentat the dentist?” or “What did you do after school yesterday?” The responses are quite reveal-ing. Some students, especially those in middle school, areinitially guarded, while others seemsurprised that I want to know more about them. Gradu-ally as they learn to trust me as well as their classmates, the students slowly open up. It isgratifying to see a once pain-fully shy kindergarten student now coming to class with daily announcements such as, “You know what? Yesterday, I lose(sic) a tooth.” There are other times when students express more sensitive issues, which we discuss further in private.One example of this occurred when anELL in third grade told me during oursmall talk session that one of the otherstudents in the mainstream class made fun of his speech and called him

“stupid.” Neither his classroom teacher nor I had noticed any tension between these two students. The fact that the ELL who mentioned this incident had always felt self-conscious about his ability to speak English prompted my immediate arrangement of a meeting with his teacher and the other stu-dent. Fortunately, we were able to resolve the situation, but it taught me to become more vigilant when working with ELLs in the mainstream classroom. It is impressive to listen to a student retell a story or incident, but the most gratifying part is when he or she is able to connect it to a new concept.When studying the concept of cause and effect during a reading lesson, I sensed that only a few students understood this concept, while many did not. Suddenly, one student announced, “Do you remember when I told you the story about how I acci-dentally spilled water on the kitchen fl oor?”He proudly continued, “That was an example of cause and effect. The cause was when I spilled water on the floor. The effect was when my mom became an-gry.” His classmates nodded their heads in agreement. It was as if a light bulb had been turned on! I could not have provided a better example of cause and effect! As ELLs become more confi dent in speaking English, more of their personalitiesemerge. During one of our small talk ses-sions, I asked a beginning ELL in the fi rst grade, “Where does your brother go to school?” Without hesitation, she stated, “My brother go (sic) to Sleepy HollowSchool. Zzzzzzzz. Sleepy School. I amsoooo sleepy!” as she put her head onthe desk and pretended to sleep. Priorto that comment, I had not seen thathumorous side of her. I noticed how thrilled she was that she had made me laugh. I then decided to follow her quip with an-other “wh” question. I tapped her on the shoulder as her eyes snapped open and her head bobbed up from the table. “What does yourbrother like to do at school?” I asked. She smiled and impishly replied, “He like (sic) to sleep.” How clever this little girl

Small Talk: A MeaningfulConversation Tool by Joy Scantlebury

was! I realized several things during our small talk exchange. This student demonstrated that she understood the word “sleepy”, she connected that understanding to a different con-text, and she found a way to make it humorous. None of these is easy to do, especially at the beginning of thelanguage acquisition process. Laterin the day, I had this student retell thejoke to her teacher and some of herclassmates. This small talk sessionwas a pivotal moment for this studentbecause she was clearly pleased to see that she could be funny in Eng-lish. I have noticed that ELLs have thecapacity to dissect words in inter-esting ways, especially when these words are spoken. When native English speakers think about words, we tend to focus on the sum and not the parts. When a student was begin-ning ELL in second grade, I recall his reading a passage out loud. After encountering the two-syllable word, “awesome”, he pronounced it as if were a threesyllable words, “a – we—some”. Prior to that day, I had never realized that the word “awesome” is comprised of three smaller words: “a”, “we” and “some”. That was a revelation for me. How awesome!I am sure that many ESL teachersutilize small talk or some variant of itin their classrooms. It is not a novelconcept, but I fi nd that it is valuableduring a limited amount of time. Con-versations, which on the surface mayappear superfl uous, are in actuality agold mine of enriching and relevantinformation. Joy Scantlebury is a graduate of Smith College. She received her M.A. in TESOL from Teachers College, Columbia Univer-sity. Joy currently teaches ESL at Po-cantico HillsCentral School in Sleepy Hollow, NY. <conset@aol.com>

19

NYS TESOL20

Check out the new Members Only website! We’re very excited to announce the launch of the new Members Only website for NYS

TESOL. We are just gearing up, but hope this will become a major resource and networking site for our members.

Current members were sent an email alert in early September containing their username and password. Of course, your email system may have fi ltered our message into a spam folder —

if you are a current member and did not receive a notice with your login information, please contact us at businessmanager@nystesol.org.

With annual conference registration already under way, please act quickly to login and verify your profi le data and networking preferences.

What’s There Coming Soon • Your profi le page

• Membership renewal • Discounted event registration

• Members Only online publication, Dialogue • Discussion boards • Networking options • SIG/Region E-lists

• Job Coach/Career Mentoring • Service opportunities and awards

Your PRIVACY This site is viewable only by active members. And, because this is new, we have also

blocked your contact information from members. So, unlike Facebook, where you decide what to set as ‘private,’ we’ve already done this. The only information visible to other members is: your Name, Member Type, Region and SIG preferences. You can privatize these, too, if you

wish, by updating your profi le. However, for those of you who want to network with other members, there are 2 optional

fi elds – an “email to share” and a “website/blog address” both set up as viewable by all mem- bers. And you can upload a photo. You control the privacy settings for these fi elds and

can edit them at any time .

What’s Next? We’d like you to tell us! Please look around the site, update your profi le, join a discussion

board, and send us ideas for additions and improvements.

Discounted Membership Update NYS TESOL is committed to providing members with the most up-to-date resources, news and educational

tools. To enable access by all members of our fi eld, NYS TESOL offers discounted memberships. Recently, we revised the documentation policy for discounts to align with other non-profi t organizations as well as to create

greater consistency and transparency. Please check the new requirements when you prepare to renew. For questions regarding membership status and discounts, please contact us at membership@nystesol.org.

21

DelliCarpini, M. (2009, May). Dia- logues across disciplines: Prepar- ing English-as-a-second-language teachers for interdisciplinary collaboration. Current Issues in Education (Online), 11(2). Re- trieved from http://cie.ed.asu.edu/ volume11/number2/

Honigsfeld, A., & Dove, M. (2010). Collaboration and co-teaching: Strategies for English learners. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future (NAC- TAF). (2009). Learning teams: Creating what’s next. Retrieved from http://www.nctaf.org/docu- ments/NCTAFLearningTeams- 408REG2–09_000.pdf

NEA (2009). NEA reiterates collabora- tion as key to keeping teachers. Retrieved from http://www.nea. org/home/31477.htm

Pawan, F., & Ortloff, J. H. (2011). Sus- taining collaboration: English-as- a-second-language and content-ar- ea teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education, 27, 463-471.

Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld is associate dean and professor in the Division of Education at Molloy College, Rock-

ville Centre. She is the co-author with Maria Dove of a recently published

book, Collaboration and Co-Teaching: Strategies for English Learners (Cor-

win Press, 2010). <ahonigsfeld@gmail.com>

*Sections of this manuscript have grown out of the author’s collabora-tive conversations with Dr. Maria Dove and are featured in their coauthored book, cited above. tional Policy Forum. http://www. colorincolorado.org/powerpoint/ ELL-ELPStandardsPPT%20Slide. pdf Colorin Colorado (2011). Common Core Standards and English Lan- guage Learners. Reading Rockets. WETA Learning Media. http://

www.colorincolorado.org/ educators/common_core/ Gewertz, C. (2011). Common Core Writers Craft curriculum criteria, July 22, 2011. Education Weekly. http://www.edweek.org/ew/article s/2011/07/21/37curriculum.h30.ht ml?tkn=UPSFLpcFv4ebJmsg2qZx 2C7B8rKm7AL%2FiacG&cmp=c lp-sb-ascd Gewertz, C., & Robelen, E. (2011). Curriculum maps aim to bring ELA Standards to life. July 25, 2011. http://blogs.edweek.org/ edweek/curriculum/2011/07/the_ nonprofi t_group_common _cor. html

Hakuta, K. (2011). Webinar: Research to practice: Preparing ELLs for the Common Core, Teachscape, May 5, 2011. http://marketing. teachscape.com/K12Kenji ELLMay2011WebinarAccess.html Lopez, E. (2010). ELA Standards: Shifting the focus to the Common Core comments, standards and curriculum, NYS TESOL, October 2010. http://www.nystesol.org/ curriculum-standards/swtandards. html

Nagel, D. (2010). Feds award $330 million to fund alternatives to high-stake bubble tests. The Jour- nal, September 2, 2010. http:// thejournal.com/arti- cles/2010/09/02/feds-award-330- million-to-fi nd-alternatives-to- high-stakes-bubble-tests.aspx?sc_ lang-en

NYSED (2011). FAQs—Common Core learning standards. http:// www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/com- mon_core_standards/faq.html NYSUT (2011). Educational Resourc- es for English Language Learners. http://www.nysut.org/cps/rde/ xchg/nysut/hs.xsl/k12_13765.htm Quay, L. (2010). Higher standards for all: Implications of the Common Core for equity in education. Civil Rights Research Roundtable on Education, Berkeley Law, April 2010. http://www.law.berkeley. edu/fi les/Education_Roundable_ Standards_Brief_ 4_10.pdf

Washington State School Board (2010). Common Core Stan- dards—Process FAQs. http:// www.sbe.wa.gov/documents/ FAQ%20Common%20 Core%Standards%20Process.pdf

Zehr, M. A. (2011). Conference: Implementing Common Core Standards for ELLs, Learning the Language Blog, August 11, 2010. Education Weekly. http://blogs. edweek.org/edweek/learning-the- language/2010/08/conference_ implement-ing_common.html Zehr, M. A. (2011). Stanford to lead creation of ELL standards for “Common Core” Learning the Language Blog, July 12, 2011, Education Weekly. http://blogs. edweek.org/edweek/learning-the- language/2011/07/stanford_to_ lead_creation_of_e.html

Diane Garafalo is a former ESL teacher at Oswego City School District. She was also a second-ary English teacher, with a total of fi fteen years of public school teaching experience. Diane’s previous positions include work-ing as an adjunct professor of written communications for ITT Technical Institute and a human resources and training manager for a variety of Fortune 500 companies. Currently, Diane is an HR and workforce literacy consultant for DRG Associates. <dgarafalo@earthlink.net> Resources for Implementing... (continued from page 17)

NYS TESOL22

cultural notes

Book review

promising practices

conversations

EDITORIAL NOTES

NYSTESOL

BOOK

REVIEW

NYS TESOL

NYS TESOL

Editorial Notes

Idiom is a quarterly publication for members of NYS TESOL. The editors welcome articles as well as reactions to articles. All copy (maximum 1000 words, typed, double-spaced, with word count provided ) should follow APA guidelines and be submitted via e-mail (MS Word). Please include your name and address (including telephone number and e-mail address), as well as a brief (3-4 sentences) biographical statement. Please visit idiom.nystesol.org for links regarding APA guidelines and to view a sample article.

Idiom’s editorial goals are to be ac- curate, to maintain the writer’s message, content, and style, and to fi t the work in the space allotted. Idiom reserves the right to edit all manuscripts for clarity, brevity, and style; the editors will consult with con- tributors on substantive revisions. Ar- ticles from Idiom may be reprinted with proper acknowledgment of the source.

Editor:Cara Tuzzolino Werben LINCC-Nassau Community College One Education Dr. Garden City, NY 11530 (516) 573-0165 Editorial Consultant: Ceil Goldman

Printing and Mailing: The Coughlin Printing Group, Watertown

Column Editors: Book Review Nanette Dougherty Email: idiom@nystesol.org

Culture Notes Elisabeth Gareis 257 Crest Drive Tarrytown, NY 10591 Tel.: (914) 524-7915 E-mail: egareis@baruch.cuny.edu

Promising PracticesAnn C. WintergerstDept. of Languages and LiteraturesSt. John’s UniversityQueens, NY 11439E-mail: winterga@stjohns.edu

Calendar &Announcements

October 28-29, 2011 NYS TESOL 41st Annual Conference “Enhancing English Learning: Connecting Communities Through Collaboration” Melville Marriott in Melville, Long Island. See http://www.nystesol.org February 11, 2012 33rd Annual Applied Linguistics Win-ter Conference “Connections: TESOL and Applied Linguistics in a Global Context” We’ll continue to keep you posted! Questions? Contact us at: appliedlinguistics@nystesol.org March 28-31, 2012TESOL International Convention and English Language Expo “A Declara-tion of Excellance” ,Philadelphia For more information:

www.tesol.org/s_tesol/conven-tion2012/index.html

Upcoming Idiom

Themes Annual

Conference Please submit

articles based on presentations at the

NYS TESOL conference

(Oct. 28-29, 2011) “Enhancing English

Learning: Connecting

Communities Through

Collaboration” at Melville Marriott

Submission Deadline: Dec. 1

TBDDeadlines and

themes for 2012 will be published in the

Winter 2011 issue of Idiom.

23

cultural notes

Book review

promising practices

conversations

EDITORIAL NOTES

NYSTESOL

BOOK

REVIEW

NYS TESOL

NYS TESOL

APPL

YNew York State Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages

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NYS TESOL24 FEAT

URESOnce a month, the Haggerty

English Language Program at SUNY New Paltz hosts an infor-mal learning luncheon known as Conversation Table to encour-age casual conversation on a range of topics in an inviting environment. The program was established to help promote in-teraction and dialogue between international students (particu-larly ESL), faculty, and staff and American students interested in interntional studies. Occasion-ally, co munity volunteers attend as well.

Conversation Table is held at the Center for International Pro-grams on a different weekday each month to ensure that stu-dents have the opportunity to attend at least once a semester. At the catered lunch, 20-25 guests meet for 45 minutes. Attendees are seated at a large rectangular table conducive to interaction. Faculty, staff, and volunteers may lead discus-sions with students on topics such as food, cultural simi-larities and differences, religion and government. If a student seems lonely, the faculty is there to make introductions and initiate dialogue. The program promotes Con-versation Table in a variety of ways. At the beginning of each semester, all new students receive an event handout. ESL teachers review it in class, answer questions, and promote attendance. One week prior to

the luncheon, fl iers are posted and e-mails sent out. Students can RSVP and comment on the event’s Facebook page. The day before the event, we remind students to attend. On the day of the luncheon, the event coordinator arrives early at the venue to set up and greet guests. At the end of the meal, students are asked to help with cleanup. Afte the gathering, photographs of the event are uploaded onto the ESL department Face-book page. Students post photos and comments. A student survey on Facebook following the luncheon helps with prepara-tion for future events. A student journalist writes an article about Conversation Table for the ESL department newsletter, which is distributed to all ESL students as well as other departments on campus.

Conversation Table has become increas-ingly popular because of the opportunity it offers for socialization and discussion. Attendees leave having shared dialogue, laughter, smiles, and good food. ESL students also have a valuable language ex-perience and new connections with native speakers.

Sarah Elia is a lecturer in ESL at the Hag-gerty English Language Program at SUNY New Paltz. As the program’s event co-ordinator, she works to actively promote positive interactions between international students and American students. Elia has a B.A. from Bard College and an M.A. in TESOL from SUNY New Paltz. <elias@newpaltz.edu>

Timed Conversations By Phillipa Arthur

Introduction During Timed Conversations, learners primarily practice listening/ speaking skills and a host of other conversational skills, including but not limited to: turn taking; the language of encouragement and praise; the lan- guage of expressing unfamiliarity with topics; comprehension checking; and agreeing and disagreeing. Although gener-

Conversation Table by Sarah Elia

A single conversation across the table with a wise person is worth a month’s study of books. —Chinese proverb

ally referred to as Timed Conversa-tions, some specify the time limit in the title, for example: Four Minute Conversations. Timed Conversations are typically fl uency-based and op-portunities for learners to personal-ize and converse about a topic, for a specified period of time. For the instructor, Timed Conver- sations can function as: a warm-up activity to activate learners’ sche-mata, to focus learners on the lesson topic or to connect the previous and current lessons; a follow-up activity to allow learners to expand on and personalize lesson content; a fi ller activity to purposefully utilize ‘extra time’ at the end of a lesson; a stress-reliever activity to infuse a sense of fun into a lesson; a review activity for content courses; and a speech-sampling activity to gauge learners’ conversational skills.

Materials

In order to conduct Timed Con- versations you essentially need two things- a timer and topic cards. Con- veniently, wrist watches, cell phones, iPads, computers, stop-watches, kitchen timers and classroom clocks can all function as timers. Ideally, the topics refl ected on the cards should complement your lesson topic. For example, if you were planning a les-son on ‘classic baked goods,’ each topic card could refl ect the name of a classic baked good. Format topic cards on a computer, print in color and laminate them (if these are resources available to you and if you will add this activity to your repertoire). Of course, you can also prepare a slide show of ‘topic cards’ to display on a computer or iPad. Topic cards can be word-based (pie, quiche, tart);statement-based (“Tell me about your favorite baked child-hood dessert.”); and picture-based (image of a six-tiered wedding cake).

25

Preparation Consider your learners’ profi le, les- son topic and objectives when decid- ing if this is an appropriate activity to do with your learners. 1. Consider how much time you want to allot to the ac tivity. Multiply the number of topic cards by the duration of each conversation- 10 topic cards X 2 minutes per conversation = 20 minutes total. 2. Decide which version of the activity you are going to do. You can choose to keep: a. Conversation pairs static and have learners switch topic cards. With static pairs, learners get to ‘bond’ with one conversational partner over various topics while focusing on sharing their ideas and personalizing the topic. b. Topic cards static and have learn- ers switch partners. With dynamic pairs, learners get to interact with diverse speakers while refi ning their ideas about one topic and polishing their delivery. c. Both topic cards and conversation pairs static while reducing the duration of the conversations in set increments. This version lends itself to learners who are prepar- ing for timed oral presentations and assessments, by allowing learners to refi ne their ideas about one topic and polish their timed delivery. d. Decide how you will pair off your learners and if pairs are go- ing to sit in two rows or stand in two concentric circles facing their partners. 3. Decide what an odd-numbered learner would be responsible for- time keeper or ‘English only’ enforcer. If you choose to have all learners participate (and have them change partners instead of topic cards), an extra chair can allow the odd-num-bered learner to ‘rest’ for one turn. Of course, you can always choose to participate in activities with learners.4. Plan to model activity and deliver

clear instructions specifi c to the ver- sion of Timed Conversations you are going to do. 5. Plan what you will observe while monitoring learners during the activ- ity. This will consequently direct the feedback you will give learners. 6. Plan the questions you will use to elicit feedback from learners after the activity about their performance dur- ing activity.

Procedure Use teacher talk appropriate to the profi ciency level of your learners to deliver clear instructions and to con- fi rm your learners’ comprehension of your instructions. 1. Deliver global instructions to your learners which include: the activity title, sequencing/format, purpose and duration, and, if necessary, responsi- bility of odd-numbered learner or use of ‘rest’ chair. 2. Pair off learners and arrange pairs so that they are either seated in two rows or standing in two concentric circles facing their partners. 3. Model activity for class and demon- strate how: a. you will start the activity by say- ing “begin” b. pairs will take turns to converse about the topic indicated on the topic card for X minutes c. pairs will converse only in English d. every X minutes, a time keeper will say “switch” indicating that pairs need to switch topic cards by passing them to the pair to the right (or to the left) e. you will end activity by saying “the end.” 4. Model that learners can remind their partner to stay on-task by simply pointing to the topic card 5. Model some of the conversational language you expect learners to use- the language of urging and praise; of agreeing and disagreeing and so on. 6. Begin activity and cycle through the number of topics you have planned.

Circulate and monitor learners throughout activity.

Follow-up Elicit feedback from learners about their performance. Give learners feedback based on how successfully they com-pleted the activity. Remember, this is a fl uency-based activ-ity. However, if you modify it to include specifi c verbal strate-gies or a focus on form, you could document the inaccura-cies of your learners’ English as you circulate, and do a whole-class correction on the whiteboard following the activ-ity. 1. Elicit specifi c feedback from learners about how they felt about hav-ing to: a. sustain a conversa-tion in English for X minutes at a time b. switch topics every X minutes c. include conver-sational language d. have a classmate time them or sit in the ‘rest’ chair e. Stand or sit during activity; pass along topic cards; change partners 2. Give learners specifi c feed-back about: a. how well they sustained their conversations in English for X minutes at a time b. how well they stayed on task c. their use of conver-sational language .d. how effi ciently they followed instruc-tions 3. Promise to do variations of activity throughout the se-mester. These fl uency-based activities may generate future conversations in your class-room, providing rich opportu-nities for students to interact and practice English-speaking skills. Phillipa Arthur has taught ESL/EFL in the United States, China and Korea. She is currently a Language Lecturer at Yeungnam University in South Korea. <Parthur31@hotmail.com>♦

NYS TESOL26

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–Renowned international faculty, including:

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27

Let’s Talk about It! by Yanick Chery-Frederic

ELLs respond well to lessons in the form of conversations as another way to incorporate some of the same strategies and scaffolds used for writing. As an example, I often give students a prompt of 5-10 words. For all grades I have used “My greatest surprise.” Fourth graders write about justice. The students use the prompt as a starter and begin writing, eventu-ally producing a well-developed para-graph. These same prompts can be used to maintain intelligent discourse among students. The difference with making conversations the major goal in a lesson is that the discussion will not be based on previous read-ing and/or writing, but strictly on the present conversation. Self-expres-sion, thoughts, ideas, and opinions will begin and end with clarifi cation through conversation only. Making this an integral part of lessons will address the challenges faced by our ELL population in verbal communica-tion, and can enhance the student’s listening and speaking skills. Another value with conversations as a major focus is that the vocabulary challeng-es faced by many of our ELLs will be considered. Our students may have divided language skills. They are comfortable with a specifi c lexicon from the home language, but use a different second language lexicon. A stronger emphasis on classroom con- versations will allow for a balance and exchange of word comprehension of similar vocabulary in both languages. Conversations will be a major theme in my ESL classrooms this school year in support of enhancing my stu-dents’ oral language skills.

Further Reading

Beck, I., McKeown, M., & Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing words to life: Robust vocabulary instruction. New York: Guilford.

Gordon, T. (2007). Teaching young children a second language. West- port, CT: Praeger. Yanick Chery-Frederic is an elemen-tary school ESL teacher for grades 2-4 in Central Islip, as well as an adjunct professor of ESL at Suffolk County Commu-nity College. She has also taught a Methods under-graduate course in TESOL at St. Joseph’s College in Patchogue. <yanick1530@yahoo.com>

Explicit Communication by Ellen Terry Vandrew-Wald

The manner in which language and writing are understood and misunderstood pro-motes success or failure. Understanding what is said is the key to communicative competence. Explicit communication is dia-logue that is clear, sure, and restated when necessary. Crawford (1993) states that the processes of literacy and language learning require learners to be immersed in meaningful, relevant, and functional situ-ations. In this way, students can learn to handle themselves in various situations. Let’s begin with a kindergartener meeting an instructor for the fi rst time. If the child is asked to describe something, perhaps drawing it is a much better way of commu-nicating what happened. Description may not simply be done by talking. The explicit communication would require that the teacher talk and demonstrate so that this student knows what to do. Middle school students who do not speak English can benefi t from explicit communication as well. Classmates might offer to translate for this student, but that means that every utterance requires assistance. When I write the aim and other particulars on the board (I verbally explain to the rest of the class), I open a newcomer’s notebook and write a few of the words from the board in his or her notebook, giving the student explicit communication for instruction by dem-onstration. The student copies what is on the board. Then I say “Copy.” From that time on, this student knows what the word “copy” means and can copy. Explicit com-munication with parents is one of the most important types of communication. After all, the parent(s) or caretaker is the first teacher and the one who can do the most to facili-tate a student’s academic success. In par-ent meetings, I combine simple words with academic language and have the requisite

bilingual dic- tionaries. By explaining and demonstrating slowly and carefully, explicit communication and a good dialogue can be created. When one speaks with humility and caring, the communication is explicit. Explicit communica-tion is the key to all forms of dialogue; if one method does not work, just keep on trying. References

Crawford, L. W. (1993). Language and literacy learn-ing in multicultural classrooms. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Ellen Terry Van-drew-Wald was born in the Bronx into a multicultural, reli- gious background. Barry Wald, her husband, encour-aged her to become a teacher. She got her B.A. from Manhattan College in 1999 and M.A. in TESOL from Hunter College in 2004. She is a NYC public school K-12 teacher,ilanawald@yahoo.com.

NYS TESOL28

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The theme of the Winter 2011-12 issue of Idiom is “Annual Conference.” The deadline is December 1.

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Applied Linguistics Winter Conference

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Connections: TESOL and Applied Linguistics in a Global Context

SATURDAY, FERBUARY 11,2012Teachers College, Columbia University525 W. 120th Street, New York, NY

-Presentations throughout the day-Poster Sessions-Publisher Exhibitions

Organized by:NYS TESOL Applied Linguistics SIG& Teachers College,Columbia University

Contact us at: appliedlinguistics@nystesol.org