Next quarter I am teaching a social studies unit on
Argentina. Students will be guided by a rubric and the standards for social
sciences to research and create a poster about Argentina. The students in my
class are at the following stages of language acquisition:
Pre- production- Aichatou has a buddy who helps her to
translate the necessary information she needs. She takes visual cues from her
peers.
Early- Production- Donald is new to English. He comes from a
French speaking country, and only speaks in one word phrases and answers.
Speech emergence- Nousra has been emerged in an English
classroom for about a year. She is able to ask questions for clarification. She
still needs help with grammar, but is able to go through a typical school day
mostly being independent.
Intermediate fluency- Ange- Is able to work in grade- level
math and science, with an increased level of comprehension in social studies
and science.
Advanced fluency- Jonathan- near native fluency in all
subject area, only needs support in social studies and writing.
The Plan:
For this unit I have developed a rubric that outlines the
necessary components of this project. Students are asked to research and show
information about Argentina, including the flag, population, languages spoken,
and geographic location. When designing this rubric I kept in mind the needs of
all my language learners. Often visual cues, or photos are the best way for
them to retain information. This allows them to make the connection in their
head using their own language, while learning ways to use English as well.
Students must turn in an individual piece of work, but may work with peers to
assist and support. This is built in with intention, for those that still rely
on cues from their peers, and sometimes translations in their mother language
for clarification. This step was placed with Aichatou in mind, however it may
be beneficial to other students who are in the Early Production stage as well,
like Donald. Spelling, grammar, creativity and neatness are major components of
the project. The reason for this is to ensure that students are judged on their
efforts, and not their language ability. Words can be learned, looked up,
spelled accurately and practiced with enough support and effort. Many of the components
of this project, such as researching and creating the flag, will be done in
class as a whole group activity. Nousra, Ange and Donald will likely benefit
from this criteria. They will be given confidence that they are capable of
doing this project, and that they are receiving the necessary support. The
visual element, along with the visual and effort based components, allow for
all the language learners in my classroom to be set up for success. Scaffolding
the final project during the creation of the rubric is a key element to
ensuring the project is appropriate for all your ELL’s.
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