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Math and Science: Skills and Strategies to Adapt Instruction for English Language Learners Hot Topics in ELL Education December 5, 2012 Presenter: Linda New Levine PhD Center for Applied Linguistics

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Math and Science: Skills and Strategies

to Adapt Instruction

for English Language Learners

Hot Topics in ELL Education

December 5, 2012

Presenter: Linda New Levine PhD

Center for Applied Linguistics

Welcoming Quote

Considering the complexity of the language demands facing all science learners, integrating language and

science instruction when working with second language learners is not only a practical alternative, but probably the

only alternative.

(Laplante, 1997, p. 66)

1

1. Goal, Objectives, Research Foundations, and Principles of Instruction

2. Launch Activity

3. The Language of Math and Science

4. Making Math Comprehensible

5. Making Science Comprehensible

6. Making Math and Science Instruction Interactive

7. Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Math and Science

8. From One Teacher’s Perspective

9. Summary

10. Beyond the Workshop

Overview: Topics (p. 2)

Overview: Goal (p. 3)

Participants will learn concepts, methods, and strategies to adapt instruction in math and science for English language learners.

Participants will be able to:

Describe the characteristics of the language of math and science.

Articulate the challenges of learning vocabulary in math and science and practice strategies to address these challenges.

Explain how to make math and science comprehensible to English language learners.

Analyze math and science lessons for examples of ways to adapt instruction.

Incorporate cooperative and small-group learning strategies into math and science lessons.

Overview: Objectives (p. 3)

Participants will be able to:

Promote higher-order thinking through math and science lessons.

Integrate language structures related to specific tasks in a science unit plan.

Reflect on the co-teaching model through video observation and analysis of teacher’s commentary.

Develop a list of teaching and learning strategies, or adapt existing strategies, that are appropriate for English learners in the content areas of math and science.

Overview: Objectives (p. 3)

Overview: Research Foundations (p. 4-5)

Scaffolding is a special form of support that teachers and knowledgeable peers can use to help students develop new skills and concepts as they gradually gain more mastery of the learning task.

It is important to incorporate a variety of scaffolding methods to teach science to ELLs. − Activate students’ prior experiences and knowledge

− Provide explicit vocabulary instruction

− Use multiple modes of communication (aural, visual, and textual)

− Encouraging student writing in a variety of science genres (e.g., describing, explaining, predicting, reporting)

A social and collaborative environment is essential to all learning, including language and content.

6

Overview: Research Foundations (p. 4-5)

Cooperative learning, which is characterized by simultaneous interaction, positive interdependence, individual accountability, and equal participation by students, promotes higher achievement gains for all students, including ELLs.

Learners cannot acquire or learn new language skills unless they are exposed to language that is understandable.

Language learning requires language output. Therefore, ELLs need opportunities to use the language.

7

Overview: Research Foundations (p. 4-5)

Students perform better when their home culture and background knowledge are incorporated into the academic environment.

Experience followed by reflection helps learners understand new concepts based on what they already know or understand.

Advance organizers help students to understand and focus on what they are about to learn. Advance organizers give learners the “big picture” of the learning topic before instruction begins.

8

Overview: Principles of Instruction for ELLs (p. 6)

1. Focus on academic language, literacy, and vocabulary.

2. Link background knowledge and culture to learning.

3. Increase comprehensible input and language output.

4. Promote classroom interaction.

5. Stimulate higher order thinking skills and the use of learning strategies.

9

Community Builder

Whale of a Tale

Listen while each person in your group tells three facts about themselves. Two facts are true but one fact will be a lie.

After each person speaks, decide which fact is a lie. Share your responses.

Continue until everyone has participated.

Single Jigsaw Activity (p. 27)

1. Count off from 1 to 4.

2. Read the introduction and two sections of the article:

− Group 1 = Graphic Organizers and Estimating Handfuls (pp. 27-29)

− Group 2 = Candy Count and Tic Tac Toe (pp. 30 - 31)

− Group 3 = The Hiding Game and Mix and Match (pp. 32-33)

− Group 4 = Inside Outside Circle and Higher Lower (pp. 34 – 35)

3. Meet with the other people who have read your section to form an Expert Group. Together, review key points of the section you read.

4. Compile a list of strategies that make math more comprehensible for ELLs, based on your activity.

5. Return to your Home group. Briefly summarize your section and share the teaching strategies your Expert Group identified. Explain how they promote student engagement and comprehension.

11

Making Math Comprehensible (p. 27-37)

This video features a third grade math class at Oakridge

Elementary in Arlington Public Schools, VA. Ms. Rachna Fraccaro

is the classroom teacher; also present is Ms. Cathy Godean, the

ESL teacher.

Content objective: Students will be able to solve multiplication

word problems (up to 99x5) by using key phrases from the word

problems to determine the correct operation

As you watch, take notes on p. 38 of academic language as well

as strategies that the teachers use to make learning more

comprehensible. Then complete the chart on p. 39.

12

Video: Math Word Problems

Making Math Comprehensible (p. 38)

Making Math Comprehensible (p. 39)

13

General academic: achieve, clarifying, consider, efficient, extraneous, income, indicate, meaningful, objective, predict. process, recognize, regardless, similar, strategy, transition, translate, visualize, volition

Content Specific: altogether, aquatic, difference, equation, in all, left, multiplication, operations, problem, product, quotient. regrouping. subtraction. sum, total

addition, adjective, character, each, efficient, multiply, product, repeated addition, similar, subtract, synonym, the same, visualize

• statement of lesson

objective

• highlight key math

vocabulary with

students

• thumbs up, two

claps/snaps, WoW

• role play

• track speaker with

eyes

• analysis of Chinese

characters

(incorporation of

student’s culture)

• turn and talk

• use of visuals

(drawing)

• use of Spanish

cognates

• picture wall

• self-assessment

• independent work

• cross-curricular

connection to writing

• encourage

students to use

units in stating

math answers

• “You gave five

away, so you

have forty-two what?”

• “Forty-seven

minus five

equals forty-

two”

• “I know that I

need to

subtract

because...”

• “Two and

seven look

similar

because...”

• “I think we

need to

multiply

because...”

• “I recommend

that we use

adjectives to

describe the nouns, like...”

Discussion Questions

1. What do you observe about the use of academic language in this class, both by the teachers and students?

2. Of the strategies you observed in this video, which ones would you be most likely to incorporate in your own teaching? How?

14

Making Math Comprehensible (p. 39)

15

Word Definition

hydrology

protozoa

endocytosis

anaerobic

endothermic

arthropod

n. the scientific study of water

n. any of a large group of single-celled organisms

n. the incorporation of substances into a cell

adj. able to live without oxygen

adj. characterized by or causing the absorption of heat

n. any of a large group of invertebrates with jointed legs

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 41)

The Language of Science

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 42)

Directions: Examine chart on page 42 in the Workbook of science words in English that have cognates in three Romance languages. Do you see any patterns that might be helpful to point out to your ELLs?

16

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 43)

Directions: In the paragraph on page 43 of the Workbook, there are 15 Spanish-English cognates (some are repeated), which are provided in the Word Bank (the Word Bank also includes two false cognates). Read the paragraph. Work in a group or pairs to find and underline only the true cognates.

17

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 43)

18

Word Bank

insects

creatures

considered

diverse

numerous

planet

exist

millions species

scientists

animals

abilities

athletic equivalent

dinosaurs football

ants

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 44)

Directions: Choose five of the cognates you identified on page 43 and write them in the chart on page 44. Then, in the chart, note the number of letter differences between each English word and its Spanish cognate. If someone in the workshop speaks Spanish, ask them to read each Spanish cognate. Compare it to the English word, and rate how alike the two words sound on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 =nothing alike; 5 = exactly alike).

19

Determining Letter Differences

20

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 44)

habilidades abilities

animales animals

habilidades abilities 6

animales animals 1

| ||

|

| | |

Spanish Cognate English Word Number of Letter

Differences

habilidades abilities

animales animals

atléticas athletic

considerados considered

criaturas creatures

dinosaurios dinosaurs

diversos diverse

equivalente equivalent

existen exist

insectos insects

21

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 44)

2

1

1

6

3

4

4

2

3

1

Discussion Questions

1. How did the cognates help you to comprehend the text?

2. Examine the “Number of Letter Differences” column (and the “Sound Difference Rating,” if you did it). What kinds of differences do you notice among the words? What can you do to help students recognize cognates, especially those with a large number of letter or sound differences?

3. Did the false cognates pose any problems for your group? Why or why not? How do false cognates complicate the process of learning to use cognates, and how can you help your students address this challenge?

4. How could you use or adapt this activity in your classroom? Consider how it could be used by Spanish-speaking students, by native English speakers studying Spanish, and by non-Spanish-speaking students.

22

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 44)

Which Words Should We Teach?

23

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 45-46)

Category 1: Key Concepts

Category 2: Repeated Use

Category 3: Flexible Use

Category 4: Context or Cognate Clues

Category 5: Word Study

Category 6: Overload

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 45-46)

Directions: Review the categories and questions in the rubric on page 46 of the Workbook. Enter a score for each question using a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = not relevant; 5 = critical) based on its relevance to your own teaching context.

24

25

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 45-46)

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 45-46)

Directions: Work with a small group to review one of the texts on pages 15-16 of the Workbook. Together, choose 4-5 words that you think would be important to teach. Use the scoring rubric on page 46 to individually evaluate and score each word. Then compare scores with the rest of the group.

26

Discussion Questions

1. How do your scores compare with those of the rest of the group? What accounts for the differences in scores?

2. How could you use this or adapt this rubric in your daily instruction and with English language learners?

3. Which other criteria (if any) would you use in choosing words?

27

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 45-46)

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 47)

Directions: Look at the vocabulary learning strategies on page 47. Underline three that you prefer to use (either in English or when learning another language). Circle three that your students use frequently. Put a star ( ) next to those that you would like to explicitly teach your students to use. Write additional vocabulary learning strategies on the lines at the end, if you wish.

28

Creating sentences Playing word games

Doing glossary or dictionary activities Repeating

Identifying cognates Taking notes

Learning from context Translating

Memorizing Using mnemonics

Participating in interactive activities Using pictures as clues

Peer teaching Using word webs

Vibrant Vocabulary Teaching Strategies

Teacher introduces a vocabulary word by describing, explaining, translating, demonstrating, or giving an example of the new word.

Students demonstrate an understanding of the word by putting it into their own words or translating it into their home language.

Students demonstrate their understanding of a word with an illustration, gestures, role-play activity, craft, song, or other representation.

29

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 48)

Students use strategies and graphic organizers to build on their knowledge of vocabulary words: comparing with Venn diagrams, classifying according to content area knowledge, recording the terms and definitions in a glossary, or developing metaphors and analogies.

Students demonstrate their understanding of vocabulary words by teaching them to each other.

Students recognize the words in context and gather instances of the words that they hear or see on signs, on the radio, in advertisements, in academic text, or at the dinner table (in English or in their first language).

Students participate in games and activities that promote interaction with the vocabulary words.

30

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 48)

Interactive Vocabulary Activity: Mix and Match:

1.Read your card

− Organ name (English)

− Organ name (Spanish)

− Definition

− Sample sentence

− Illustration

2.Mix: Move around. Switch cards with one or more people, reading

your card to your partner before each exchange.

3.Match: Find everyone whose card is related to your card and sit at

a table together.

4.Work as a group to form a sentence that describes the function of

this organ in the digestive system.

31

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 49)

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 49)

The Sentence Machine

Watch as one “organ” group demonstrates how to make a sentence machine.

How can the sentence machine be modified to adapt to academic structures?

Discussion Questions

1. Name some topics that you regularly teach that would work well with this strategy.

2. How might English language learners benefit from this strategy?

3. What types of adaptations would you make to this strategy for English language learners?

33

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 49)

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 50-51)

Directions: Look at the student passages on pages 50-51 of the Workbook. The passages use the four digestive vocabulary terms in the word banks, one for the lower elementary grades and one for the upper grades. Select the text that is most appropriate to the grade level you teach and write the correct vocabulary words on the lines, noting that each term can be used more than once. Then discuss how the oral activity on the preceding page would contribute to the students’ understanding of this written text. What language structures would students need to understand in order to complete this written activity?

34

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 50)

35

Word Bank

esophagus mouth

intestines stomach

mouth

esophagus

stomach

intestines

mouth

esophagus

stomach

intestines

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 50)

36

Word Bank

esophagus mouth

intestines stomach

mouth esophagus

stomach intestines

mouth

esophagus mouth

stomach stomach

stomach intestines

intestines

Discussion Questions

1. How do these activities incorporate the student learning strategies for vocabulary development? Refer to the learning strategies on page 47.

2. How do these activities incorporate the vibrant vocabulary teaching strategies? Refer to teaching strategies on page 48.

3. How do these activities benefit English language learners at the Emerging and Developing proficiency levels?

37

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 51)

Starting Emerging Developing Expanding Bridging

38

Make connections to what students already know − Students may or may not have studied science previously.

− Students need a knowledge base to learn new ideas. If teachers can determine their current knowledge, they can build on it.

Model science terminology and grammar while scaffolding the language with visual assists − Science terminology is specific and necessary for learning content.

Engage learners in hands-on experimentation and joint problem solving in small groups with learning partners − Students involved in hands-on learning are more likely to be

engaged in learning the content

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 52)

39

Visuals such as pictures, diagrams, charts, and graphs require little language to communicate.

Visuals and graphics are useful in helping learners understand science concepts through a nonlinguistic representation.

Visuals and graphics increase student motivation while also increasing comprehension.

Visuals and Graphics

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 53)

Look at the diagram on page 54 of the Workbook.

What would a student learn about the amphibian life cycle by looking at the pictures?

For students at lower English proficiency levels, how would you simplify the language of some of these descriptions (e.g., frog eggs), while retaining the content?

In other words, what else could you do to explain the information?

40

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 54)

41

42

Teacher demonstrations capture student attention and visually support the language of scientific explanation.

Through demonstrations, teachers model for students the correct method of handling scientific apparatus, observing outcomes, completing lab sheets, and other science tasks.

Demonstrations

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 55)

Directions: Read the case study on page 55 and tell your learning partner how the demonstration helps ELLs understand the experiment.

43

Manipulatives, models, and realia enhance comprehension in much the same way as visuals and graphics.

Science models, in contrast to visuals and graphics, often display information in three dimensions to enhance learning.

Physical objects and realia allow students to touch and play with the objects prior to using them in the lesson.

Manipulatives, Models, and Realia

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 56)

44

Directions: In your group, create a list of pros and cons for using

manipulatives, models, and realia (as opposed to visuals and

graphics). Keep ELLs and practical considerations in mind.

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 56)

Using Manipulatives, Models, and Realia

PROS CONS

• Increasing student

engagement

• Ability to show three

dimensional concepts (e.g.,

model of the human brain)

• Ability to show relationships

and movement (e.g., joint

motion)

• Can be used by ELLs to

demonstrate understanding

of concepts

• Expensive or hard to find

• Not appropriate for all

concepts (e.g., water cycle)

• Distraction for some

students

• Extra time required for all

students to handle or

experience

45

Group work eases the comprehension load in the science classroom as students work together to complete tasks such as conducting experiments, solving problems, completing projects, and observing phenomena. Group members can scaffold the language and the conceptual content of the science classroom.

It can be helpful to group students with low English proficiency with students who speak the same first language and have higher English proficiency. Use of the native language in group work can increase student comprehension of the scientific concepts.

Small-Group Work

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 57)

46

Directions: With a learning partner, brainstorm two to three

strategies to structure group work in science. How can you

ensure that all students participate? Think both about

groups of English language learners and groups that have

both English language learners and proficient English

speakers. Write your ideas in the space on page 57.

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 57)

Jigsaw

Directions: Read the organizer assigned to your Expert group:

As a group, write a sentence below your assigned organizer using

the information in the organizer. Respond to these questions: − What types of language structures are represented in the organizer?

− How can each advance organizer be modified for students at lower

English proficiency levels (e.g., Starting, Emerging, or Developing)?

Go back to your Home group to share what you find. Compare and contrast the teaching and learning opportunities of each organizer.

47

Group 1 Group 2

Semantic Feature Analysis Concept Maps

Group 3 Group 4

Cycles and Flow Charts Venn Diagram

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 58-62)

Semantic Feature Analysis

48

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 59)

Concept Maps

49

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 60)

Cycles and Flow Charts

50

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 61)

Venn Diagrams

51

Making Science Comprehensible (p. 62)

This video features a fourth grade science class at Randolph Elementary School in Arlington, VA. The teacher is Ms. Judith Kendall. The students are working in pairs and groups.

As you watch, write examples of interaction among the students or between the teacher and students in the left column of the chart on page 63. In the right column, write examples of how the students use key vocabulary (academic and content words) and academic language structures in these interactions.

52

Video: Adapted Science Lesson

Making Math and Science Instruction Interactive

(p. 63)

53

Making Math and Science Instruction Interactive

(p. 63)

• Turn and talk to discuss vocabulary

meanings

• Individual students share group

predictions with the whole class

• Table talk about meaning of

directions and observations

• petroleum jelly

• compare

• observe

• moisture/moisturized

• What do you think moisture is?

• I think that moisture is...

• I agree. I also think that moisture is...

• After two days, the leaf will be...

because...

• I observe that the leaf with the

petroleum jelly...

• I disagree, because...

How did the interactions support oral language and vocabulary development?

Cooperative Learning--Characteristics

54

simultaneous

interaction

All students are involved in the learning

process at the same time, thus maximizing

active learning involvement and time on task.

positive

interdependence

The contributions and gains of one group

member are seen as contributing to all group

members.

individual

accountability

Each member of the group is responsible for

making contributions to the learning task.

equal

participation

All members of the group participate as

equally as possible.

Making Math and Science Instruction Interactive

(p. 64)

55

Directions: Review the cooperative

structures on page 65 of your Workbook

with your table group. Complete the chart

to describe how Positive Interdependence

and Individual Accountability occur within

these structures.

Making Math and Science Instruction Interactive

(p. 65)

56

Strategy Positive Interdependence Individual Accountability

Paired Verbal

Fluency

students cannot have the discussion

without a participating partner

students are accountable to their partner to

contribute; sometimes students are held

accountable by sharing with the large group

what has been said

Think-Pair-

Share

Numbered

Heads Together

Stir the Class

Mix and

Match

Inside/Outside

Circle

Making Math and Science Instruction Interactive

(p. 65)

students need to have a partner to

share their thoughts with

students are accountable to their

partner to contribute

students arrive at an answer together

as a group

students must be prepared to share

their group’s response with the whole

class

students arrive at an answer together

as a group

students are accountable to each new

group to contribute

students require other group members

to make the “match”

each student makes an individual

contribution to the group’s outcome

students need to have a circle partner

to exchange questions and responses

with

each student is responsible for

knowing the answer to the question on

their notecard

Discussion Questions

1. How are these strategies particularly valuable for English language learners?

2. What modifications are necessary (if any) to use them with students who are at low levels of English proficiency (e.g., Emerging)?

57

Making Math and Science Instruction Interactive

(p. 65)

Everyday thinking, like ordinary walking, is a natural performance we all pick up. But good thinking, like running the 100-yard dash, is a technical performance… Sprinters have to be taught how to run the 100-yard dash; good thinking is the result of good teaching, which includes much practice.

David Perkins, Harvard University, 2003

58

Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Math

and Science (p. 66)

59

Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Math

and Science (p. 66)

Develop a culture of thinking. − Model the language of thinking.

Be a model of reflection and good thinking. − Ask questions such as What if?” and “How else could this

be done?”

− Use wait time: Allow enough time for students to process a question and formulate a response.

Use thinking routines. − Ask questions such as “What’s going on here?” and “What

do you see that makes you say so?”

60

Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Math

and Science (p. 66)

Teacher: What’s going on here?

Student: That’s a storm over Florida.

Teacher: What do you see that makes you say so?

The student points out the Florida peninsula visible through the clouds.

Second student: It’s a hurricane.

Teacher: What do you see that makes you think it’s a hurricane?

The students contribute what they know about hurricanes: An eye is

visible in the center of a swirling mass of clouds, etc.

61

Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Math

and Science (p. 67)

Analysis • break down a concept into its

parts

• identify the parts and analyze

the relationships among them

• produce outcomes that exhibit

understanding of both the

content and the structure of the

material

Synthesis

• form something new from the

information that they have

• produce a unique composition,

plan, proposal, or idea

Evaluation

• judge the value of a statement or

materials (e.g., a piece of writing

or music)

• base the judgment on criteria

• justify the judgment

Directions: Give a learning partner an example (from a content lesson) for analysis, synthesis, and evaluation. Use the action verbs on page 68 to frame your example.

62

Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Math

and Science (p. 68)

63

Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Math

and Science (p. 69-71)

Four Steps to Solving Word Problems

1. Try to understand the problem.

2. Determine how to solve the problem.

3. Solve the problem.

4. Check the work.

Directions: Read the strategies listed under each step in the

problem solving process on pages 69-71 of the Workbook.

Try out each strategy with the example word problem listed.

Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Math

and Science (p. 69-71)

1. Try to understand the problem.

Draw a picture.

Identify the question.

Role play the problem using volunteers or realia.

Explain the problem in your own words.

Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in

Math and Science (pp. 69 - 71)

2. Determine how to solve the problem.

Look for a pattern between this problem and others you have solved.

Look for words that signal addition, subtraction, multiplication, or division.

Guess and check.

Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in

Math and Science (pp. 69 - 71)

3. Solve the problem.

Write a math sentence.

4. Check the work.

Do the calculations again.

Work the problem backwards.

67

Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Math

and Science (p. 72-73)

The Scientific Method

1. Ask a question.

2. Do background research.

3. Construct a hypothesis.

4. Test your hypothesis by doing an experiment.

5. Analyze your data and draw a conclusion.

6. Communicate your results.

68

Directions: Read the unit plan on plants on

pages 74-79 of the Workbook. As you

read, consider how you could teach this

unit using the scientific method as a

framework (expand on the provided

material as needed). When you have

finished reading, follow the directions to

complete the graphic organizer: The

Scientific Method on page 80.

Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Math

and Science (p. 74-80)

69

Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Math

and Science (p. 80)

Step 1. Ask a Question

Student task:

Language structures:

Step 2. Do Background Research

Student task:

Language structures:

Step 3. Construct a Hypothesis

Student task:

Language structures:

Students will ask a question about plants: “How do plants breathe?”

How do plants [verb] (i.e. 3rd person plural agreement) vs. How does a

leaf [verb] (i.e. 3rd person singular agreement)

Perform a computer search about plant breathing.

Key word determination: plant, breathe

State a hypothesis about what part of the plant breathes and how.

“My hypothesis is that plants breathe with [noun] by [verb + ing].

70

Developing Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Math

and Science (p. 80)

Step 4. Test Your Hypothesis by Doing an Experiment.

Student task:

Language structures:

Step 5. Analyze Your Data and Draw a Conclusion

Student task:

Language structures:

Step 6. Communicate Your Results

Student task:

Language structures:

Students coat a plant leaf with petroleum jelly and observe after two days.

Describe process: “First I [p. t. verb] + [noun phrase]. Next, I [p. t. verb] +

[noun phrase]. Finally, I [p. t. verb] + [noun phrase].

Students compare leaves, determining that petroleum jelly prevents breathing.

Observations using description and because: “My observation is that .... I

believe this resulted because...”

Write a letter to family members explaining how plants breathe.

Informal letter structure & process language: “Dear ..., Today I learned how

plants breathe. First, ... Next, ... Then... We observed this process by...”

From One Teacher’s Perspective (p. 81-85)

This section provides an example of one teacher’s planning for helping ELLs access grade-level content in a science class.

The teacher featured here is Ms. Shelly Sanders. She co-teaches with Ms. Patty Langer, a Special Education Teacher.

As you read the science lesson on plant and animal cells on pages 81-85, underline evidence of scaffolding of academic vocabulary and using strategies to make the science concepts comprehensible for ELLs.

71

Discussion Questions

1. How is the language of the science lesson scaffolded, particularly for the students at lower English proficiency levels?

2. What specific strategies do Shelly and Parry use to help students learn the science concepts?

3. In what way does grouping contribute to the success of the lesson?

4. What other strategies could Shelly and Patty have used to scaffold this lesson?

72

From One Teacher’s Perspective (p. 85)

This video features Ms. Cathy Godean and Ms. Rachna Fraccaro as they co-teach a third grade math class at Oakridge Elementary in Arlington Public Schools, VA. Cathy is the ESL teacher, and Rachna is the classroom teacher.

As you watch, use the video observation guide on page 86 to take notes about both teachers’ contributions to instruction, and their shared instructional goals and strategies.

73

Video: Co-Teaching Model

From One Teacher’s Perspective (p. 86)

From One Teacher’s Perspective (p. 86)

74

Cathy’s Contributions

to Instruction

Rachna’s Contributions

to Instruction

Shared Instructional

Goals and Strategies

• Content teaching to

whole class

• Work with small

groups

• Provide example of

student’s work to

reinforce Rachna’s

explanation

• Concrete/visual

examples

• Reinforce key

language structure

introduced by Cathy

• Provide vocabulary to

describe process

introduced by Cathy

• Abstract or higher

order thinking

• Development of

common vocabulary

• Accountable Talk

• Use of visuals to

increase

comprehension

• Word wall

• Meet needs of all

students

1. What are your previous experiences with co-teaching or collaborative

work with another educator?

2. How can co-teaching experiences become a form of professional

development?

Summary (p. 87)

Read key points on p. 87. Are there any other important points you would add?

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Summary (p. 88)

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Think about the three most important concepts from the institute that you can apply to your own teaching. What strategies do you plan to use to increase students’ oral language skills, promote academic language, and integrate language development with the teaching of math and science? Write your responses on page 88 of the Workbook. Next, share your thinking with a learning partner or with your table group.

Beyond the Workshop

Resources (p. 89)

Instructional Materials for Use with Students (p. 90)

Children’s Literature (p. 90-91)

Activities − Outside Reading (p. 92)

− Application in the Classroom (p. 92)

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Thank-you!

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Mahalo