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Welcome to Module 1 of Working with English Language Learners.
In this module you will reflect on your own prior knowledge and experiences to help you think about ways to support learners more effectively.
Watch this clip and consider how your own schooling experiences might impact how you carry out your learning assistant role.
After you have viewed the video, have a shared discussion to reflect on your own experience of schooling and your role as a learning assistant:
Esha Lata – The motivation from my parents and teachers that learning is the way for a brighter future and a successful life. And also the help and support that I got from my teachers helped me a lot in understanding what I was learning about at school.
Mariana Kaitai – Teachers that make learning fun. They always made the class feel welcome, so I always felt like I was always a part of the class, not just in the class. They always saw the potential that I could give in the areas that I was strong in, so they would push me, support me, motivate me into all those areas that were available in school.
Kelly O’Rourke – I was one of those kids that the teacher had to show me how to do it, and I had to see things up on the board. I had a male teacher and his name was Mr Holmes, and I remember him because he was just, “Hi, how are you?” in the mornings. He was friendly, he was fun, and he made learning fun. Having a teacher that was fun, that knew us, that understood.
And in the classroom just having things around on the walls so we could see what we were supposed to be doing and how we were supposed to be doing it properly.
Ryan Seong – Sometimes when teachers gave a task, we made small groups and we sat together, and we had a discussion, and finally we found the solution. And it is through those things I learned – collaboration and the strategies.
Esha – Similar in the way thatI used to learn and recall the same topics that we did at school. And different I would say, I used to learn for long hours at home compared to at school, because back in the Islands, we used to get a lot of assignments. Plus my parents used to always motivate me that learning hard every day will make me successful, so that’s why we have to study hard at home.
Mariana – It was quite similar, the learning at school and the learning at home, everything had structure. So getting home was like doing my homework, you know, doing my chores, so it was kind of like the same.
Kelly – I was a product of parents that didn’t finish work until about half past five. So myself and my brother would come home from school and we would get our own afternoon tea, and then we would watch TV, and then when Mum and Dad were coming home we would pull out the homework books. So it was pretty similar to school life.
Ryan – I mean, my parents were quite interested in education and a successful life, even though they didn’t have enough education. In fact they, my parents, they just finished they just finished primary school, that’s all. So they just know how to write the Korean language. Maybe that’s why they focused on the education more. Mostly it was not that different. My parents focused on reading and writing, and also at school, also focused on reading and writing.
Esha – Also use my language. If I see that there’s an Indo-Fijian then sometimes I try to use my own language so they find it comfortable studying with me. And here I have noticed we have smaller groups like ESOL group or groups with teacher. So I have noticed that students are more confident here in speaking, so they all get a chance to contribute in a group. I try to build on their confidence more, through my experience.
Mariana – Having young children, as myself, learning that learning starts with motivation, compassion, drive, fun, also support, comfort and love with the tamariki. And I feel that the relationship starts first with the child before the learning, and once you build that confidence with the child the learning just thrives.
Kelly – I had a fun experience at school. So I would love our kids to have that experience when they are learning because to me, if they are learning like that, then they will remember and they will go through life as school was good for them, it was fun.
Ryan – Sometimes I see the kids like me, they remind me of my young age, to be honest. So I try to encourage them to have a wider point of view. Education is the most important in a country, so also those students will be important people.
Module 2: Valuing and utilising learners’ language and cultural resources
Think about a learner you work with, the languages they understand or speak, their level of English, their education background, and whether they are from a New Zealand born, migrant or former refugee background.
Welcome to Module 2 of Working with English Language Learners.
In this module you will think about what you already know about the learners you work with and the importance of developing trusting relationships and effective teaching practices.
Watch this clip to see a teacher and learners share their knowledge of their language backgrounds.
After you have viewed the video, have a shared discussion to reflect on:
I have about four children who are bilingual, they speak their home language at home and also English. And approximately seven students who only speak their home language and are learning English.
Student - My name is Ali. I am from Iran. I’ve been in New Zealand for eight years. I speak two languages and they are Persian and English.
Student - My name is Andrew. I am from New Zealand. I speak three languages; English, Mandarin and Cantonese. Working with my buddy Jack is easier to do because we both speak the same language.
Student - My name is Vivienne. I am from Germany. I have been in New Zealand for some time and this time it is the four time I’m being in New Zealand. I speak two languages; German and English. Some words are for me a little difficult.
Student - My name is Sok Jan. I’m from Korea. I’ve been in New Zealand for six month. I speak two languages; one Korean language and last one English language.
The children who are bringing their first language into the classroom felt like they were the expert of that knowledge and when they shared it with others, it made it work really well.
Module 3: Understanding additional language acquisition
Module 3 is about how people learn an additional language. Think about how a bilingual brain works. If you are bilingual, think about how you learn new content and what helps you to make sense of your new learning.
Welcome to Module 3 of Working with English Language Learners.
In this module you will learn about the topic of second language acquisition (or learning a new language) and the key factors that can encourage and promote successful language learning.
Watch this clip to see how learners use BICs and CALP as they work together to complete a graphic organiser about lantern making in a technology class.
Students - It must have a holder for a candle but it shouldn’t be close to the outside of the lantern. Does it have a handle? Holder, handle?
Yeah!
Ok, is it close to the outside frame?
No!
Teacher - Now, you’re going to have the opportunity, first of all to think about the sort of lantern that you’re already planning in your head that you’re going to make. You’re going to talk to a partner about it and then you’re going to have the opportunity, on your planning sheet, to do a sketch. And also, to think about the equipment and the material you’ll need to successfully make that lantern.
Students - We can use some colours that we didn’t use like.
Black!!
Yip, black, white.
No, because it won’t stand out that much.
So like something like a yellow.
But you got to remember that the candle light is very dim.
Students - Fish on one side and a fish on the other side just like the monkey they showed and in the middle I’m going to have the candle light.
What materials would you use to make yours?
Don’t really know.
Well, I’m going to probably use like cardboard or coloured paper.
Module 4: Utilising effective teaching and learning – Scaffolding
Module 4 is about effective teaching practice. Discuss the term ‘Scaffolding’ with your classroom teacher. What does it mean? How does your classroom teacher plan for this? What are some ways you scaffold learning before, during, or after a lesson?
Welcome to Module 4 of Working with English Language Learners.
In this module you will explore effective teaching practices that demonstrate scaffolding of language and content learning.
Watch this clip to see a teacher demonstrating scaffolding by using a speaking frame to support learners with writing and presenting about their family treasures.
Teacher - To do that I’m going to share with you my family treasure. Now yesterday somebody guessed that it had to do with clothing.
Student - Uhm, is it like a really special piece of clothing from your mum or dad?
Teacher - It is a special piece of clothing and this special piece of clothing is from my grandmother. It’s just got a little bit broken and old really. Yes?
Student - How old is it?
Teacher - It is about, about 60 years old now, this costume. And on the board I think you’ve covered most of what it would be that I would talk to you about. My treasure is... who could tell me? Alex?
Student - A ballet costume.
Teacher - Thank you, that’s correct.
Student - It has lots of sequins on it.
Teacher - Good, and can you tell me some colours?
Student - Uhm, gold, black.
Teacher - I like the way you’ve used adjectives there; black, silver so they’re describing my costume, my grandmother’s costume.
Module 5: Supporting oral language and vocabulary development
Ask your classroom teacher about how they support learners to engage in meaningful talk and to learn new vocabulary.
Welcome to Module 5 of Working with English Language Learners.
In this module you will learn about ways to support learners’ oral language and vocabulary development.
Watch this clip to see learners negotiating the correct order of a picture sequence and retell the process of creating a paper lantern.
Students - This is the staple and the last one, roll and handles.
Ahh roll!
Roll, yeah. Roll!
What about this?
Teacher - Now you’re on to it.
Student - When I did the sequencing, they just, it’s easy because I’d seen pictures and it’s like doing something that’s same with the words.
Students - Nice work.
High five!
Student - You fold the paper, you crease the paper, you cut the paper, you roll the paper, you glue the paper together, so it sticks. You press the paper together, yeah so the glue dries.
You cut a handle and then you staple the handle on to it.
Module 6: Understanding the importance of questioning
Module 6 is about different types of questions that require different levels of thinking by learners. Think about ways you promote questioning with your learners and the types of questions that you focus on. Consider who asks the most questions and who gets the most practice at asking questions.
Welcome to Module 8 of Working with English Language Learners.
In this module you will learn about ways to support learners who are at different stages of learning to write in English.
Watch the clips below to see teachers using collaborative tasks, including a Venn Diagram and a dictation task, to scaffold writing.
After you have viewed the videos, have a shared discussion to reflect on:
Teacher – After you have shared the different symbols that have been used, what you are going to do is, you are going to work with your buddy to complete a Venn diagram.
In this Venn diagram you are going to write down, or you might draw, the symbols that just Fatu Feu'u uses. You are going to draw or write the symbols that just Michel Tuffery uses. Then you are going to draw or write down what symbols do both artists use.
Student – Now looking at the both of them, what did they do the same?
Oh, that R... petal flower.
Student – See it looks like a... lizard...
Teacher – I’m going to read you a group of sentences. I don’t expect you to write everything down because I’ll be reading too fast for that. “Lantern frame, must be joined”.
When it came to having to reconstruct the text with the Dictogloss some of my ESOL learners actually had sentence starters as opposed to having to write the whole sentence themselves. So each activity, during the planning stage, thinking about what needs to be scaffolded for a particular group or even an individual.
Students – The lantern must be strong.
Should or must?
Must!!!
Yeah, it was should.
Why didn’t you write should?
Yeah, it is should be strong but not too heavy.
Should be strong.
Oh yeah, that part.
The lantern. The lantern...
Module 9: Supporting learning to learn
Module 9 is about supporting learners with ‘thinking about thinking’ and ‘learning to learn’. Think about what helps you to learn more effectively.
Students work through a refresher course in poetry. This should include the language of poetry, types of poems, poetry analysis and rhyme/rhythm. A text to work through that makes poetry fun is "Enjoying More Poetry" (Sadler and Hayllar 1988). The work should be provided as a refresher and some background teaching in understanding poetry. Such features need to be taught in the context of the poems in the unit.
Students should be given a background to World War One and the War poets of that time (see Poetry of the First World War). Look particularly at Wilfred Owen's poetry as a comparison to the patriotic poets of the time.
A selection of poems is needed, and the level of difficulty should be varied.
Students will present a poster based on a quote from a poem they particularly like. They must have an understanding of verbal and visual techniques such as colour, contrast, line, texture, graphology, layout, symbol and illustration. This should include pre-teaching or revising of static image techniques. Students should first plan and create a rough draft of the static image and have it by a partner prior to creating the final produce. This image can also be used to visually display a war poem that the students have written themselves.
Exemplars
Presenting Level 4-5 See the pain (JPG 58KB) Commentary:
This poster shows the image of a soldier indeed in 'pain'. His head is drooped and a tear is shown thus relating the title of the poem to the illustration. The poem is not a great one but you do get a sense of atmosphere in reading the poem and looking at the poster visually. The phrase "as a tear runs down my cheek" shows a combination. The actual poem could have been placed better with regards to the illustration. Graphology could have been used to shape the writing - rather than simply writing the poem on.
The effect of the pencil is excellent. It is gloomy, dreary and combined with the picture of the soldier creates the overall effect. With more thought given to the layout of the writing, this could have been great. High level four or low level five
Presenting Level 5 See the trenches (JPG 56KB) Commentary:
The colour used in the title of this poem is combined with the overall colour of the poster. It also relates to the idea of the muddy trenches written about in the poem. The centre illustration is a trench that leads up the title, and the poem is well positioned in this trench. Thus layout has been thought of carefully. The illustrations around the trench are not as well balanced, but do relate to the "mess" described in the poem and the "debris". The colours are used to create an atmosphere that is dull and harsh.
The words of the poem link in with the atmosphere created with the visuals, and there is a definite message to the viewer. This is most obvious in the last lines of the poem "they stop to think who sent them/there and then they click./Their mother, their family, their country". This sends the message to patriotic sections of society willing to send their children to war.
Level 5 - the bottom range of this level.
Presenting Level 6 See the bullet (JPG 40KB) Commentary
The use of brown and black provide a certain atmosphere of death and pain. The way the 'soldier' has his hands placed are as if they have fallen to the ground. The spread fingers emphasise this for the viewer.
The poem is well placed on the page. It is written around the picture. When on the wall in the classroom, this poster is very effective. You cannot see the poem until you are up close, and this draws the attention of many people who want to read what has up until then been 'hidden'. Overall an effective piece that combines visual and verbal features well. The original has a specific texture - this was painted.
See the U.S. National Archives: War Posters or Propaganda Posters.
Students are divided into groups of four. These should be mixed ability groups. Each group is assigned a different war. They look at the poems of the time and perform a group report back on what they found in their . The research process should be followed: * Brainstorming topic * Deciding * Key words * Key questions * Finding * Note taking/sorting * Presenting * Bibliography * Evaluating
The Jigsaw approach would be an effective way of reporting this information.
Reliable/ useable source?
Yes/no/maybe
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Big Idea - Sound energy is transferred to the substance it travels through, producing vibration.
The students will explore through three different activities about the way sound travels and can be felt as vibrations.
Using the Sound word bank initiated previously and recording what they saw, felt, heard for each of the activities on a Y Chart (PDF 71KB) . They will look for similarities and differences for each of the activities and then write a statement defining sound (PDF 131KB) .
The students will then share with groups their findings and definition of sound.
Sound Exploration Activities
(1) Vibrating Balloon
What You Need
What You Do
Play some music on the stereo. Inflate a balloon and sit near the speaker holding the inflated balloon in your hands near the speaker.
Get someone to turn the speakers up and hold the balloon near the speakers.
Opportunities to explore –
What To Look For
That the children realise that the vibrations generated by the speaker diaphragm are causing the sound waves to travel from the speakers to the balloon in waves and therefore causing the balloon to vibrate.
(2) Musical Straws
Flatten one end of a straw.
Cut the flattened end by making a cut on each side of the straw. You need to have two long pointed bits like a reed.
Put the pointed end into your mouth and blow. You need to blow hard to get the air in the straw to vibrate.
Once you are able to get a sound out of your straw try cutting a piece off the straw. What happens to the sound?
The children can discuss other musical instruments that use pipes and those that need a reed to make them work.
The children realise that it is the air vibrating in the straw that creates the sound and that shortening the straw makes a different sound (pitch).
(3) Speakers and Vibrations
What you need
Play some music through the speaker to allow the children to see the diaphragm vibrating at different levels of loudness.
That the children realise that the sound is created by vibrations. The faster the vibrations, the louder the sound.
Want to know how a speaker works? Playlist | Sound Waves Videos
Applications to the real world
The students think of examples of this in ‘the real world’ and justify their reasoning orally:
Where vibrations could be used for technological use. Other uses for a diaphragm other than a speaker. Identify examples of items around used that require fast diaphragm vibrations.Objects around them that can vary their pitch and what is done for the pitch to change.
As a result of viewing the clips students are posed with the question: ‘Any more ideas or possibilities for using sound waves?’
Assessment opportunities by the teacher using the teaching as inquiry framework
Observation of students’ conversations and working in groups
Students’ opportunity to assess their learning
Students can define how sound travels as a wave producing vibration and cite several examples of this in their everyday world.
Learning Intentions
We are learning to:
Key vocabulary / structures
Origin
My name is…
My name means …
‘Here’s My History’ (Name Tag)
The teaching and learning sequence begins with 2 tasks that are an adaptation of ‘ Here’s My History’.
Resources
Students are being asked to think about the question:
What’s the meaning behind our names?
Teacher: creates a model ‘name tag’ (as big as a book mark) that has their full name and the origin and meaning of her/his name. It may also include something they know about why they were given that name.
We are learning to ask questions that elicit information from others.
Teacher: discuss open and closed questions. Model writing closed questions that elicit small amounts of specific information. What information do we want from our family / whanau?
Home Learning links
Students write questions to ask their family / whanau about the origin and meaning of each of their names (including given/middle/family names etc.). Encourage students to ask their family to write their name using their own language script.
In class, make name tags to display on the class wall.
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