Tuesday, November 21, 2017

Scaffolding language: Scaffolding learning - Chapter 3 and 4

Chapter 3


1.     Why do children tend to work at higher cognitive and language levels when working collaboratively?  Please review example on page 51.

2.     List several numbers of principles for effective group work.  

3.     How do well-designed and well-run groups of ELs working together provide opportunities for language development?

4.     How can the ideas provided for beginning ELs be integrated in subject topics?  Consider ways in which you may be of support to content area teachers in planning to integrate subject specific topics into lessons and activities.


Chapter 4

1.     How does Pauline Gibbons explain the connection between speaking and writing for ELs?


2.     On page 86, the author presents introduction of key vocabulary.  Let’s discuss ways in which you have had success in introducing new vocabulary to ELs.


3.     How does teacher-guided reporting encourage ELs to “stretch” language use and production?



4.     What does the author mean by literate talk?

24 comments:

  1. Michelle Kotwica

    Chapter 3
    1.
    When working in smaller groups, it is less stressful for students and lowers their affective filter allowing for them to feel more comfortable to join in, share, speak up, and try using their language more.

    2.
    Message abundancy (give directions..repeat back..), repeat and rephrase directions (maybe use visuals or even write them down), model/demonstrate/slow down/be explicit, amplify language (not simplify), teach/model how to talk and ask questions effectively (sentence stems/group communication skills), give clear outcomes, scaffold for certain groups or students if needed, and incorporate structure or Kagan to insure all students participate and feel valued.

    3.
    If effectively run, ALL students will have time to share, engage, and participate using and building upon their language. And again, students will also feel less stressed and more comfortable in smaller groups allowing them to take more risks and speak up utilizing language skills.

    4.
    Making sure the activities include authentic spoken communication is key. This helps students really begin to understand and make connections within and across the content, topics, and all academic areas.
    Especially when co planning with teachers, we can offer these types of suggestions to not only help our ELLs but ALL students. Hopefully, by us helping incorporate some of these strategies in our co taught subjects, the teachers will also find themselves able to branch it to other subject areas as well making it all more fluid learning.


    Chapter 4

    1.
    We write how we speak. As Piedad said last year, “talk is rehearsal for writing.” The more oral/academic language taught, used, and practiced in all subject areas, will improve student oral language which in turn will show in their writing.
    By having students use language first, the teacher can then begin to introduce and apply more formal language as a bridge from the students language and what they know to the new language in context making it more authentic and easier for students to learn and use in the future. For example, the conversation on page 85, the students were saying “stick/push away” because they did not know “repel/attract” yet. The teacher then can begin to use those words along with the students to bridge them within learning. They need exposure first in general, then the new language can be incorporated or introduced as the scientist/scientific words..etc. for students to begin using.

    2.
    I have had a word on the board and asked students to tell me what they know about it. Then we watched a video, did an experiment/activity that related to the word, and I hoped they would make the connection and if not, I would go back and reiterate the word and ask for connections after a reminder or help make the connection to introduce the word.
    Depending on the topic… I have done the conceptual previews showing 2 groups of pictures for the students to begin discussing and try to guess the topic names. Again, we would usually watch a video, read a short text, do an activity/experiment etc and reference back to the preview to see if the students can make the connection (IE.. living/nonliving, needs/wants..)

    3.
    Teacher guided reporting encourages ELs to stretch their language by talking and allowing students to first use their language and build upon it to gain new or academic language. It also stresses more wait time giving students time to really think about their language and how they want to phrase things or what words to actually use. Sometimes, they may have the more academic word or phrase, but need a few more seconds to think and access that language to process and use correctly.

    4.
    Literate talk is more of a bridge between activity talk/discussions to the more formal language as when writing. Students must be more explicit with their language here. It is a way for students to gradually learn and use more content/academically appropriate language.

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    Replies
    1. When we talk about message abundancy, we should explain to teachers that they are never being redundant when providing explanations in different formats. We can sometimes observe ELs searching for cues as to what to do. It is great when that anxiety is relieved by different communication supports.

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  2. Chapter 3:

    Why do children tend to work at higher cognitive and language levels when working collaboratively? Please review example on page 51.
    Well designed group work offers a language-rich context that cannot be duplicated with whole class work. Learners can ask questions and seek new information when working with only one or two other classmates. In the example, the students were able to talk about science and participate jointly in constructing the discourse around the what happening. It was collective peer scaffolding. No student could construct the sentences alone, but jointly were able to reach appropriate wording.
    2. List several numbers of principles for effective group work.

    Some principles for effective group work are requiring the group to talk - to build oracy, there is a clear outcome for the group work, the task is cognitively appropriate for all learners, the task is integrated with the broader curriculum, all children in the group are involved, students have sufficient time to complete the tasks and students know the rules, directions and expectations.

    3. How do well-designed and well-run groups of ELs working together provide opportunities for language development?
    An example of a well-designed and well-run group is one is which there is paired problem-solving. The students report on what they did using sequential language. They report on what happened, then they ask questions of each other such as, “what happened, why did it happen, what could we do better next time?” This provides opportunities for oral language development three aspects of language are developed, reporting, questions and making suggestions. There is a real need to talk because there is an authentic purpose for it, it has built-in information gap, all children are involved, it is cognitively demanding and can be embedded in a curriculum topic.

    4. How can the ideas provided for beginning ELs be integrated in subject topics? Consider ways in which you may be of support to content area teachers in planning to integrate subject specific topics into lessons and activities.

    Great activities for beginners are ones that are rich in oracy that have modeled language and is supplemented with visuals or TPR. Ways in which ESL teachers can support content area teachers are by practicing question forms that helps develop logical thinking. The ESL teachers can work with content teachers to develop higher order thinking, yet doable questions for beginning EL students. There can be practice with describing things, functions and their sentence structures. There can also be practice with giving instructions and describing objects. As long as teachers are practicing vocabulary and modeling oracy for the students, it can be embedded in almost every content area.

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  3. 1. How does Pauline Gibbons explain the connection between speaking and writing for ELs?
    She explains the connection between speaking and writing for ELs like texting or emailing a friend. ELs write how they speak. Many written activities require ELs to use more explicit spoken language. There are more linguistic demands with spoken-like text because shared understandings that are evident in a face-to-face conversations are not implicit in writing. A way to employ this in the classroom is to conduct an experiment. Students can work in small groups and support each other’s learning and produce shared knowledge. Then the teacher can introduce the key vocabulary, after students expressed it in familiar everyday language. Then, the teacher can guide the reporting of said experiment. The role of the teacher is to help children make sense of learning activities through talking with them and in the process introduce new language. The goal is to extend the children’s linguistic resources and focus on aspects of the specific discourse of science. From there the teacher can employ shared journal writing. Students can respond to the question, “what have you learned?” In the example in the book, the student journal responses indicated that the teacher-guided reporting sessions influenced the way the students wrote. Their writing reflected wordings that they had used in their interactions with the teacher or that had been a part of the teacher’s recasting of information. This was particularly evident when students reformulated their own talk.


    2. On page 86, the author presents introduction of key vocabulary. Let’s discuss ways in which you have had success in introducing new vocabulary to ELs.
    A way in which I have been successful in introducing new vocabulary to my EL learners is by having a picture or a physical object present to show the meaning of the word. For example, in a lesson last year, the word “needle” came up in science when studying different biomes. Though I did not think it at first, the word needle has many different meaning. It can mean like a needle for a shot, but students came up with the definition, “Something pointy that hurts if it touches your skin.” At first, I didn’t think that was sufficient, but then I realized there are needles on a cactus, needs of different trees, sewing needles and so much more. When students had that working definition, they were not only able to apply it to our reading, but it meant something to them because they had visual realia and a definition that was in their own words.

    3. How does teacher-guided reporting encourage ELs to “stretch” language use and production?

    Teacher-guided reporting encourages ELs to “stretch” language use and production because it provides an example of how the teacher’s interactions with individual students provides scaffolding for the student attempts which allows communication to proceed while giving the learners access to new ways of expressing the meaning they wanted to make. The teacher begins the exchange by inviting the student to relate what they have learned, rather than an exact answer. The teacher sets up the context that allows students to initiate the specific topic of exchange. When learners initiate what they wish to talk about, language learning is facilitated because they enter the discourse on their own terms, rather than just responding to what the questions the teacher asked.

    4. What does the author mean by literate talk?
    Literate talk is more like is “written-like spoken language.” It is a useful term because it shows the important distinction between different types of spoken language. Literate talk serves as a bridge between activity-related talk with more formal written registers that are subject specific.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Love your statement regarding visual representations for ELs. These immediately make the vocabulary relevant.
      I think the comment you made about providing students the scaffolds to express themselves as they attempt new communication is how we can have ELs take risks and grow.

      Delete
  4. Chapter 3
    1. The children can build upon their classmates’ language. As shown in the example, not all students have all the vocabulary necessary to discuss a task, but through a collective effort, a group may be able to describe what they did. This allows for a natural acquisition of vocabulary and language as nothing is learned in isolation.
    2. List several numbers of principles for effective group work.
    Clear, explicit instructions: Thinking back to when Andrea came to work with us, providing us with clear, modeled, scaffolded instructions allowed us to complete the task.
    TALK, TALK, TALK: If the students are not required to talk during the group work, it is not effective for all those in the group. Kagan strategies are very helpful for encouraging this.
    Purposeful and appropriate: The group work must have a purpose that requires students’ interdependence but it should also be at an appropriate level that all students can tackle the work.
    Scaffolded: Both the task itself as well as the process for working in a group should be scaffolded. Students don’t automatically know how to work with others, so there needs to be modeling of effective group work.
    3. I think the Kagan training this summer brought to light the importance of well-designed group work for increasing student engagement. When we use just “group work” instead of cooperative learning activities, we don’t necessarily do anything that can help improve the language of all students because all students are not required to participate. Using strategies like those we learned at Kagan require ALL students to participate, meaning everyone has the opportunity to either be a language model for another student or hear language being modeled.
    4. The first idea that comes to mind is “Hedbanz,” a game that is similar to the Inquiry and Elimination idea on page 71. We have printed out pictures of vocabulary words or even seasonal words. Each child takes a turn putting a picture on his forehead so he can’t see it. Other students have to give clues and/or the child asks questions to try to guess the vocabulary word. The students love it and it is a fun way to review not only vocabulary, but also questioning skills.


    Chapter 4
    1. She explains that speaking and writing are on a continuum of communication. Students are better able to write about something that they have experienced and spoken about previously, but there is no clear distinction that once you can speak well, you can write well. The context in which a person is speaking or writing matters and affects their ability to communicate in one or both modes.
    2. One way I found my bilingual students grasped new vocabulary well was through the use of Text Talk. The new vocabulary was introduced within the context of a highly engaging picture book and activities throughout the course of the week (TPR, pictures, sentences, etc.) further developed students’ understanding of the words. We continued to display the words throughout the year and students tracked when they heard or saw some of the new words.
    3. Teacher-guided reporting builds from exactly where the students are because it’s taking the language the students are already capable of producing and stretching it to content-based vocabulary. It’s non-threatening because it is JUST above what they are able to do independently and the teacher is there to support and scaffold.
    4. Literate talk is talk you need to use in order to explain something when your audience does not necessarily have the benefit of a visual. It requires the use of more specific language and is the kind of talking that should happen before students are expected to write about something.

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    Replies
    1. I completely agree that Kagan strategies support student interaction and dialogue. It's the structure that becomes familiar when students work together that helps take away the anxiety of group work because the steps can become a routine. Have you seen teachers using Kagan strategies more regularly?

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  5. Mary Alice
    Chapter 3

    Children work at higher cognitive/language levels when working collaboratively because there are multiple processes being used in collaborative situations. Children are not only listening or speaking or writing. They are also using pragmatic skills and problem solving skills as well. Children listen to peer comments and determine the validity of those comments, decide on their own understanding of those comments, design responses, interpret nonverbal language, assign importance, question as needed, and so on. Children hear more authentic language and can build upon peer comments at a variety of levels. Some children use peer comments to support/expand their own and some analyze and correct peer comments to validate their own understanding and model for others. The opportunities for increased understanding and use of content language are many, as are the opportunities for increased understanding and use of social language.

    Principles for effective group work include 1)talking is essential, 2)expectations must be clearly understood by all involved, 3)activities must be at appropriate levels for all involved, and 4)that students have a chance to practice group work often enough where they are good at it and don't spend each activity relearning how to work together.

    Well-run group work allows or even requires for each student's verbal participation at some level. Well-designed group work can incorporate content language goals into scaffolded language practice so students learn targeted concepts while developing language structure and use.

    Beginning ELs need social language practice incorporated into content area concepts. They also benefit from visuals. Describing activities help build new content vocabulary understanding along with language structure expression. Use of questioning again works on that type of expressive language and helps build comprehension of target content concepts or vocabulary.

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  6. Chapter 4

    Gibbons explains how there is a sequential move from speaking to writing. I often see monolingual students who are language impaired and expected to write about topics which they cannot even verbally express. For ELs the chance to first speak and practice that expressive structure about concepts is helpful. Having that verbal "loop" in one's mind supports a better written product. Much like teachers should say and then write so students are not trying to decode and understand. However, the quality of the written product will also depend on the student's overall understanding of the topic and their understanding of the mechanics and structure of written language. While speaking and writing are related, accurate speaking does not guarantee accurate writing. I do find that for most circumstances, poor speaking does equate with poor writing.

    Honestly I find teaching key vocabulary to be the most challenging of tasks with ELs and monolingual students. The amount of "key vocabulary" in one content area alone is daunting. For example, in SS, key vocabulary is not always easily defined words but can include names, places, and dates. Beginning ELs who are still learning to define by observable attributes can have much difficulty finding the language to explain a concept such as slavery or revolution, even though they may understand it. I find it best to start by saying, "tell me what you are thinking about," or "tell me what words are in your head," when learning a new key word. That way I can immediately reinforce correct associations and extinguish incorrect ones. From there I will restate the correct associations and other students build on those as their own connections begin. I find that eventually every student makes some connection to the new term and we can then move into a more specific explanation which would include visuals, examples and non-examples, definitions, practice... I work in 5th grade SS and Science and am surprised that I have to point out cognates to students. But once I do and they begin talking amongst themselves you see the understanding building. I try to empower them and remind them to use that other language. I think they sometimes forget it is there because they are working so hard to understand the English. I also think teachers need to be conscious of the essential key words and those which are worthy of exposure but not necessary for overall understanding in these content areas. This is where new standards are on track. In SS the teacher and I often model how we can "find out" what words or concepts are from reliable sources since even we cannot remember it all. We also model "fun with language" where we make logical guesses at how words came to be or if they are related to words we know. The students have started doing it also and even if they are way off it is exciting to see them having "fun with language."

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    1. How can we explain to teachers that children cannot write it if they can't verbally express their thinking?

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  7. Teacher-guided reporting is a great example of scaffolding. The teacher lets the student start the exchange on his/her language terms and then the teacher uses contextual vocabulary to "stretch" their language. As above I talked about asking what "words" a child is thinking of related to a specific term or concept and then building on that and allowing them to add as we go. It is the same idea. If you start with the student's language instead of the teacher's, you know exactly what level to go to next. You are building upward instead of asking on your own terms and having to keep taking the level down until the child is frustrated with failure and you, as the teacher, have lost sight of the original goal. Haven't we all done that where we finally get a student to respond correctly on the most basic level and both teacher and student felt no sense of success and no real learning occurred.

    Literate talk is the spoken language which is most like what will be written. It is important to move students into that more formal type of speaking as that is what their writing will be based on. Students who have difficulty with literate talk will have difficulty writing specifically. We often see students who use generalizations and repetitive phrases in their writing. These students also have difficulty speaking with literate talk. They need to bridge from the more social type of speaking where the listener gives them nonverbal cues of understanding and may finish their thoughts for them to the formal register of writing where there are no nonverbal cues and your ideas must be complete and concise.

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    1. I know what you mean when you shared the experience of supporting a student so that they respond correctly and yet there is no sense of success or learning. So frustrating for both teacher & student.

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  8. Chapter 3
    Working at higher cognitive and language levels when working collaboratively:
    When children work with their peers, rather than in a whole class setting, they feel more comfortable and confident to use a second language. The example showed that through their conversation the students all contributed to help complete each other’s sentences and encouraged each other to continue their thoughts. They were able to rework and modify their explanation and understanding of what happened. Ultimately, they participated in collective peer scaffolding. The students together were able to reach the appropriate wording for the oral report.

    Principles for effective group work:
    -Clear and explicit instructions are provided. Use message abundancy for instructions with multiple steps. -Group work should REQUIRE talk not just encourage it, students should know the outcome for the group, and everyone should be involved. -The task should be appropriate for the learner and language ask should be integrated into the curriculum. -Students know how to work in group effectively and are given enough time to complete the tasks.

    Opportunities for language development:
    A well-designed group collaboration provides language rich opportunities to EL learners . The students will have more opportunities to talk with others which will increase the amount of language they use. Without the teacher there to the students will take more turns and need to be responsible to clarify what their own meaning. Their comprehension also increases because they will need to ask questions, exchange information and solve problems with their peers. This provides opportunity for repetition of words and ideas, and asking questions.

    Ideas provided for beginning ELs:
    All of the activities for provided for beginning ELs help build oracy in subject topics. The students are practicing logical thinking, sentence structure, describing and vocabulary. ALl of the activities also provide visuals and modeled language for the students.

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    1. I completely agree that group work should require talk! It is essential!

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  9. 1. Why do children tend to work at higher cognitive and language levels when working collaboratively? Please review example on page 51.
    Students are more engaged when working collaboratively. They can also build on each others' ideas. The book states that "Peer scaffolding is at times as useful as that provided by the teacher."

    2. List several numbers of principles for effective group work.
    -Clear and explicit instructions are provided
    -Allowing and encouraging student talk
    -There is a clear goal for the group work
    -The task is at the students' level
    -The task is part of a larger concept/unit
    -All students are involved
    -Students have enough time
    -Students know how to work in groups

    3. How do well-designed and well-run groups of ELs working together provide opportunities for language development?
    The students have peer scaffolding of language to help them build on their own language skills. There are also more opportunities to practice in small groups than if the conversation was whole class.

    4. How can the ideas provided for beginning ELs be integrated in subject topics? Consider ways in which you may be of support to content area teachers in planning to integrate subject specific topics into lessons and activities.
    Describe and draw can be used with 3D shapes in math. Hot Seat can be used in ELA or guided reading. Talking Points can be used in math to have students practice explaining the correct math processes.


    Chapter 4

    1. How does Pauline Gibbons explain the connection between speaking and writing for ELs?
    Pauline Gibbons states that literate talk is a bridge between speaking and writing and is a precursor to academic writing.


    2. On page 86, the author presents introduction of key vocabulary. Let’s discuss ways in which you have had success in introducing new vocabulary to ELs.
    Connecting to new vocabulary with something the students already know is helpful. Using cognates is a great way to build on students' knowledge and a good way to raise the status of the students' native language. I also find having the students make Frayer models on their own for each word helps with a definition, examples, non-examples, and a picture.


    3. How does teacher-guided reporting encourage ELs to “stretch” language use and production?
    The teacher can tell the students another word that could be used for a word the student provides. The teacher can also provide scaffolds for the students to produce more language.


    4. What does the author mean by literate talk?
    Literate talk is spoken language that makes explicit the ideas of the speaker in ways that take account of the needs of listeners, who may not have the same experiences.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When discussing peer scaffolding of language, how can teachers learn to capitalize on that and help ELs build more academic language? Let's discuss ideas.

      Delete
  10. Chapter 4

    Connection between speaking and writing for ELs:
    Speaking and writing are a continuum of language. Face-to-face language evolves into academic written language. A speaker can refer to things in the environment but when writing you need to construct language that describes what you are talking about, provide context, and use nominalizations. Text can be described as “more spoken -like” or “more written-like”.

    Key vocabulary:
    I like the use of visuals in the form videos or pictures. Student can digital create books that incorporate text and visuals. I also like TPR practice for the kinesthetic learners. When I was a classroom teacher, we used Text Talk and the students responded very well to it.

    Encourage ELs to “stretch” language use and production:
    Teachers give students access to new ways of expressing through scaffolding. Rather than asking students to respond with a known answer, they ask them to relate what they know. Students will enter discourse on their own terms and take the role of the expert. This can be described as “leading from behind” and leading students to stretch their language.

    Literate talk:
    Literal talk is a kind of spoken language. It is reporting orally to others without support through visuals. This type of language is used to reconstruct an experience so it must be explicit and descriptive.

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    Replies
    1. Could you share how we can digitally create books that incorporate text and visuals? Thanks!

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  11. Chapter3.

    1.Collaborative work allows opportunities to build language skills. Students tend to feel less stressed, and use more language with their peers. They the opportunity to ask each other questions and clarify new information as they work on their tasks.

    2. Effective group wok is formally structured, and each person in the group is assigned a certain role. Teacher should model group work by choosing one group of children, to demonstrate the strategy while the rest of the class observes. Also providing visual cues such as charts, diagram and sentence starters will assist ELL students to express themselves with peers. It is extremely important for students to have opportunities to talk throughout the group work to develop oracy. Students need to feel comfortable asking and answering questions. Extra time to use oral language in group work is necessary.

    3. Group work provides student with experience to both hear others speak and use their oral language skills to conference with peers. It is an advantage to have students that are at the early stage of learning English to interact with advanced speaking students. These opportunities help students to hear new vocabulary, build idea, and increase comprehension as they work together with peers.

    4. Providing support to content are teachers with planning varied ways to teach key words and concepts to ELL students is important so that students will be able comprehend text and content. Possible suggestions: visual with key words, sorting words into categories, match words to definitions, write sentences using target words and TPR. All these strategies can be applied to any content area. Providing students opportunities to share what they know and build upon new information through interactions and discussions will help strengthen, and build students’ receptive and express language skills.



















    Chapter 4.

    Pauline Gibbons says that you should think of spoken language and written language as a continuum, not as two separate ways to communicate. This allows you to think that teaching ELS should be a sequence of everyday language that occurs in the classroom to academic written language that they need in order to succeed in school. This sequence needs to be carefully planned by teachers.

    2. When presenting key vocabulary, it is important to draw on students’ experiences. It is also important to talk with the students, to guide them through their talk, and to key in on their own experiences. When I have vocabulary that my students need to know, words are taught through direct instruction of word meaning as well as through discussions about words (including prefixes, suffixes, roots).


    3. Teacher-guided reporting allows students to express themselves while the teacher provides scaffolding as they speak. The teacher provides positive feedback when students’ attempts are going well, alternative ways to say things, and vocabulary that they may not yet know or able to use. All of these things make it easier for students to “stretch” their language experiment with moving toward more academic language.


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    Replies
    1. I like the point you made about spoken & written language being a continuum and not two separate ways to communicate.

      Delete
  12. Chapter 3
    1. Children tend to work at higher cognitive and language levels when working collaboratively because what they learn is contextualized, there is an increase in information exchange and problem solving, and learners may be more comfortable taking chances when talking with peers.

    2. For group work to be effective, the teacher should provide clear, explicit instructions in multiple formats, a clear outcome, and guidelines for how to work in a group. The task must be cognitively appropriate to the learners, integrated within the curriculum, and should require conversation in order to complete the task.

    3. Well-run and well-designed groups offer opportunities for ELLs to practice language structures or conversations within a safe atmosphere. They can practice questions, descriptions, and vocabulary.

    4. I am a fan of visual representations, so I can imagine using Describe and Draw. I’m sure there are many variations that would allow students to practice listening and sharing ideas verbally while also drawing what they are hearing / saying.

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  13. Eric, can you take a few minutes tomorrow to show us how Describe and Draw works?

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  14. Chapter 3
    1. Why do children tend to work at higher cognitive and language levels when working collaboratively? Please review example on page 51.
    Children tend to work at a higher cognitive and language level when working collaboratively because they have more chances to interact with other speakers and use more language. They are literally doing the language-learning work. Language is used meaningfully.

    2. List several numbers of principles for effective group work.
    Some important things to remember for effective group work includes: To set clear and explicit instructions, Ensuring that talk is required for all, The intended outcome is clear, The task is cognitively appropriate to the learners, The task is integrated within the curriculum, all children are involved, There is enough time to complete the task, and Students know exactly how to work in a group, especially with appropriate volumes.

    3. How do well-designed and well-run groups of ELs working together provide opportunities for language development?
    Well-designed and well-run groups of ELs working together provide opportunities for language development because students are more confident to try expanding their English. There are also more opportunities for them to speak and use their language vs. in a whole group setting.

    4. How can the ideas provided for beginning ELs be integrated in subject topics? Consider ways in which you may be of support to content area teachers in planning to integrate subject specific topics into lessons and activities.
    Some of the ideas provided in the chapter can be used in many different subject topics. For example, Donut Circles can be used during ELA to dig into background knowledge of a unit or even book. I really like Picture Sequencing too. I think the required oral language to sequence the pictures is wonderful for students.

    Chapter 4
    1. How does Pauline Gibbons explain the connection between speaking and writing for ELs?
    She explained the connection between speaking and writing to be a continuum, rather than two separate entities. Instruction should be planned to move from spoken to written. This immediately made me think of Thinking Maps and the amazing oral language and writing that can come from them!

    2. On page 86, the author presents introduction of key vocabulary. Let’s discuss ways in which you have had success in introducing new vocabulary to ELs.
    I have had success introducing vocabulary using visuals with the words and also by using TPR for certain words. Students enjoy the visuals/movements and it helps them truly understand the word.

    3. How does teacher-guided reporting encourage ELs to “stretch” language use and production?
    Teacher-guided reporting encourages ELs to “stretch” language use and production because it gives the students a scaffold for their attempts, allowing the learners to access new ways of expressing the meanings they wanted to make. Interactions may seem more informal and comfortable to students. The teacher and student roles have more equality.

    4. What does the author mean by literate talk?
    The author explains literate talk as more written-like talk. It is the spoken language that will probably most likely match what will be written. It is described as a language “bridge” between the talk associated with experimental activities and the more formal registers of subject learning.

    Anel

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  15. Moving from speaking to writing should happen continually and in all content areas. I agree with your point about specificity in tasks and activities. Students must know their role in the group and what is expected of them. Great point!

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