Homework:It is important that students hear the assignment described by their teacher. The students should also have the option to draw a picture next to their response. This will lower the stress that some students may have because they might struggle to express their thoughts through writing in English.
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Lesson Rationale: |
I felt that it was important to provide multiple sources for understanding throughout my lesson because the students I am targeting are ELLs. For example, when learning the vocabulary words, the students will visually see them written on the board, hear them spoken out loud, and manipulate them through the activity of organizing a story I tell. Using multiple sources of input provides more opportunities for students to understand the true meanings of the keywords. I also gave students several opportunities to work with their peers in order to gain confidence as they all reach towards a common goal, learning to speak English. While teaching the lesson, I would track their individual progress and understanding of the material by stopping at each group to check for comprehension. Their homework will also assess what they have retained. The objective focuses on the ultimate goal of students being able to write narratives using the language of First, Then/Next, and Last or Lastly. I will also provide students with the outlet to draw a picture next to their writing in both the hamburger assignment and the homework. This may lower the stress that some will experience, due to difficulties organizing their thoughts in English.
Due to the fact that many ELL students need repetition to retain information, there are several times throughout the lesson they will hear and use the keywords repeatedly. Lee and Vanpatten (2003) discuss comprehensible input in their chapter, “Working with Input.” One of the types discussed in the article was meaning-bearing input. This type of input is specifically important in conversation skills, something that has meaning in ELL students' lives. Many of the activities in the lesson also provide avenues for comprehensible input, by providing visuals and opportunities to discuss with their partners. By the end of the lesson, they will be able to construct their own narrative, a story about their morning routine, using the keywords learned. Typically, the overall goal of learning English is to successfully function in an English speaking society. The many tasks of students working with partners and in groups, meets their needs of advancing their communication skills. Learning to describe events and noting the order in which they occur, is a meaningful skill that students will use in daily life to describe or retell a story, in order, to peers or other professionals. The lesson is solely based off of the SIOP model. Although I considered all aspects of the model, I gave particular attention to "strategies" while I was creating this lesson. I asked myself, “How am I going to get this skill and information to stick in the minds of children that do not posses English as their first language?” I think repetition and using various directions to present information is the best way to help students internalize vocabulary and other aspects from the lesson. Zimmerman (2014) states in his article, “Teaching and Learning Vocabulary for Second Language Learners,” that there are four strands of meaning and form when learning vocabulary. One of them is “focusing on fluency development,” which is the foundation of the objectives listed for this lesson. Having students say these words out loud, using them to transition through events of a story, and then asking them to discuss and write it down, will encourage fluency. For the most part, developing fluency has to do with the organization of thoughts, which is more simply done using the words First, Then/Next, and Last/Lastly. Also, Morley (2001) offers in his article, “Aural Comprehension Instruction: Principles and Practice,” two different way to produce language. These ways are transactional language and interactional language. I aimed to emphasize interactional language, or social language, throughout the lesson in hopes to improve students’ communication skills. Specifically in the warm up activity, students have to retell the story that I previously told. They take turns, each telling an element of the story, requiring them to listen to each other and then respond. My lesson is intended to teach a content standard, but also to teach students skills that they will use in their daily lives. |