Teaching ELL Students in the Classroom

1. Teaching ELL Students in the Classroom Susan Harris ELT 545 Spring 2011

2. Schedule • Day 1: Learning about different cultures • Day 2: Communication Strategies • Day 3: Strategic Teaching Methods • Day 4: The First Few Days of School • Day 5: Lesson Plans and Activities

3. Different Cultures • It is important to be knowledgeable about different cultures when teaching ELL students • What we perceive as the norm in our culture may be different in another culture • Some cultures do not give eye contact • Some cultures believe the head is sacred and not to be touched • Some cultures think for every ‘good’ there must be a ‘bad’

4. Different Cultures • There are so many different cultures in the world that we may never learn about them all • We will learn about 4 different cultures that you may experience in your classroom • Cambodian Culture • Laos Culture • German Culture • Chinese Culture

5. Cambodia Water Festival Cambodian School

6. Cambodian Culture • It is considered disrespectful to touch or pat a person’s head • The Head is sacred, it is where the intelligence and spiritual substance reside • Marriage is traditionally arranged by the parents • The bride and groom are not forced into marriage, but the parents do have a strong influence into the decision • Age is more important than sex. Common terms for siblings: older/younger; this recognizes the importance of birth order • Younger people must show respect to the elders • Legally, the husband is the head of the family but, wife has authority

7. Cambodian Culture • Half a million Cambodian children of primary school age remain out of school • Most of them poor and living in remote rural areas • Grade repetition rates are very high • Less than 50% of the population reaches grade five • Cambodia is still recovering from the Pol Pot Regime • Pol Pot and his regime are known for the Cambodian genocide of 1975-1979 • Approximately 1.7 million people lost their lives (21% of the country's population) • The regime headed by Pol Pot combined extremist ideology with ethnic animosity and a diabolical disregard for human life to produce repression, misery, and murder on a massive scale

8. Cambodian Culture Video of Cambodian Culture would be on this page

9. Laos Laos Family Laos School

10. Laos Culture • Primary religion is Theravada Buddhist • Laos has government run primary schools • Most higher education is pursued abroad • Lao people avoid conflict or situations that may cause emotional discomfort • A public display of body contact between men and women is avoided • Greeting of superiors is through clasping of hands in a prayerful motion along with a slight bow • Laos is predominately a peasant society due to the lack of industry and manufacturing in the cities • Beyond gender there is no elaborate form of division of labor

11. Laos Culture Video of Laos Culture would be on this page

12. Germany Oktober Fest German School

13. German Culture • Not all Germans speak English and even if they do, they might be not comfortable for fear of making mistakes • Germans can be considered the masters of planning • Education is compulsory until age eighteen • Most Germans are Evangelical Christians, Roman Catholics, Muslims • Big festival in Germany is Oktober fest. Celebrated in October • Germans are very interested in your academic credentials and they display great deference to people in authority • A handshake is the most common form of greeting. A man must wait for a woman to extend her hand before shaking it, and in mixed company he must shake a woman’s hand before a man’s

14. German Culture Video of German Culture would be on this page

15. China Chinese Culture Chinese School

16. Chinese Culture • Mandarin Chinese is the official language • Education is mandatory for nine years • Ninety-six percent of children attend kindergarten and elementary school, and about two-thirds continue on to secondary school • China does not allow dual citizenship: immigrants seeking US citizenship must give up their Chinese citizenship • China has a Collectivist Culture, its focus is on the whole (society, family, mass) and NOT on individual rights and privileges

17. Chinese Culture • People touch often, and same-sex hand holding is common. However, physical contact between men and women in public is limited • Smiling is not necessarily a sign of happiness; it can be a display of worry or embarrassment • Deference and obedience to elders is considered extremely important • Chinese people are non-confrontational. Saving face is of primary importance

18. Chinese Culture Video of Chinese Culture would be on this page

19. What did you learn…. • Which culture thinks that the head is sacred? • Which culture generally pursues higher education abroad? • Smiling does not necessarily mean happiness in which culture? • A handshake is a common form of greeting in what culture? • What culture is still recovering from the Pol Pot Regime?

20. End of day 1

21. Communication Strategies

22. Communication Strategies • It is very important to have good communication strategies when teaching ELL students • Less than 10% of what we say comes from words • Communication comes in many forms from: • Verbal Language • Language we speak • Tone of our voice • Non-verbal Language • Body language • Facial expressions • Sign language

23. Communication Strategies • Many fears arise through communication, such as: • Fear of offending • Fear of revealing ignorance • Fear of being misunderstood • Fear of conflict

24. Communication Strategies • Ways to over come the fears and communication barriers: • Smile, its reassuring • Try to learn a little about the culture • Use handouts with pictures, if possible • Use visual aids whenever possible, such as picking up/pointing to the phone when saying “phone” • Speak slower, not louder • Give ample time write things down

25. Communication Strategies • Activity 1: • Get in to groups of 2 or 3 • Without verbally saying. Try to explain what is on the piece of paper that has just been handed to you • How many people successfully got that the other person was trying to say: • “On Friday, you will have a test on Chapter 13-3, The Reagan Era.” • That is about how much your ELL students understand

26. Communication Strategies • Activity 2: • Complete the form that was given to you

27. Communication Strategies • Activity 2 – cont: • How successful were you. • That is what a test feels like for ELL students • This is what we sawwhen we gave it toyou. Simple right, So Whydid you find it so hard?

28. End of day 2

29. Strategic Teaching Methods

30. Strategic Teaching Methods • Get to know your ELL students • Get to know your ELL students learning level • Make your classroom ELL friendly • Have pictures with your word wall such as a picture of a computer next to the word “computer” • Clearly display the alphabet and other poster that will enhance learning for an ELL student • Learn a few key phrases/words in the students native language such as: hello, welcome, and good morning • Give eye contact but, don’t get upset when it’s not given back. • Not all cultures give eye contact

31. Strategic Teaching Methods • Visual Aids  • Visual aids give ELL students visual cues that may help clarify meaning and solidify learning • Visual aids should be clear and reproduced for ELL students, whenever possible • Hands-On Activities • Hands-on activities help ELL students connect with classroom content • Processes that can be experienced or observed make learning more concrete • Sufficient Wait Time • ELL students need additional time to formulate their answers in English. • Some may still be translating their first language into English • Some may need time to find the appropriate words Information provided by: http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/english-language-learner-teaching-strategies-that-work

32. Strategic Teaching Methods • Modeled Spoken Language • Refrain from correcting your students spoken language. Instead, model the proper usage in a restatement. For example, if a student says "No understand." You might reply, "You don't understand?” • Lesson Outlines  • Teacher-prepared outlines or notes can help ELL students follow along in class • Ask another student to share his or her notes with the ELL student • Respect the Silent Phase  • Most second language learners go through a silent phase • Forcing a student to speak may make them embarrassed and overly self-conscious Information provided by: http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/english-language-learner-teaching-strategies-that-work

33. Communication Strategies • Activity : Prepare a lesson plan/packet for your ELL students and regular students to complete the first week of school • The lesson plan should included activities such as: • Creating a map of the school • An “Who am I?” activity • A “Where is my classroom?” activity • Who is/are my teacher(s)? Activity • Who are my classmates?Activity • What do we have in common? Activity • Any other activity that you can think of that would make the first days of school easier.

34. End of day 3

35. The First Few Days of School

36. The First Few Days of School • The first days in a new environment are confusing for all students • Be flexible, tolerant and patient to understand the addition needs of international students • International students might not know what title to call you or if it is appropriate to use first names. Be explicit with how they should refer to you • Ask about them; their name, where they are from, and their travel experiences to arrive here • Use simple language. Avoid idioms, jargon and slang. Listen actively Information provided by: Michigan State University, PowerPoint: Communicating Across Cultures in the Classroom Contexts

37. The First Few Days of School • Try to withhold judgment about behaviors that appear unfamiliar to you • Try not to misinterpret non-verbal cues such as gestures, eye contact, and greeting rituals • Remember that they might be feeling a lot of stress and unsure about their new environment • No one likes to feel like a stranger and feel unable to communicate or fit into an environment • Be careful about your use of humor. It is often difficult to understand jokes outside your own culture Information provided by: Michigan State University, PowerPoint: Communicating Across Cultures in the Classroom Contexts

38. Communication Strategies • Activity: • Get in to groups of 2 or 3 • Share a story about a time when you felt left out, different, or didn’t understand what was going on • Reflect on how you felt. What could have been done so that you would have felt included and made it easier for you? • Discuss how you can make you classroom more inviting and less scary and intimidating to an ELL student • Share 1-2 thoughts with the whole class

39. End of day 4

40. Lesson Plans and Activities

41. Lesson Plans and Activities What Am I? (Icebreaker) • Objectives • Students use their power of hearing to determine animal sounds. • Procedures • Say, "I went to the zoo and I heard this sound _____." (For example, growl like a lion or squawk like a parrot.) • Then say, "I turned around and saw a _____." • Ask students to guess what animal you saw. • Continue playing, making new animal sounds. • After a few rounds, ask student volunteers to lead the game. • A variation of this game is to change the location (try sounds in the country; in the city; in the forest; at school). Activity provided by: Teachervision.com

42. Lesson Plans and Activities What are they doing? • Objectives • Students use understand what someone is doing by looking at the picture. • Procedures • Give student the worksheet “What are they doing?” • Ask student to say what they thing they are doing in the picture. • Explain to student what they are doing in the picture. • Have student repeat what the are doing in the picture.

43. Lesson Plans and Activities Reading Comprehension Activity • Show the students the title and cover of a book you are going to read (the title should be of the kind that would help the students to guess what the text will be about) • Request that the students give you words that they book might be about • Write all the words on the blackboard • Ask the students to split the words into two groups, according to their connotation • funny or sad, kindness or violence etc • Have the student compose their own stories based on the title given by the teacher and the vocabulary list from the blackboard, offered by the classmates • Finally, Read the story to the students Activity provided by: http://www.tefl.net

44. Lesson Plans and Activities Parts of Speech • Objectives • Students will be able to correctly use different parts of speech such as verbs, nouns, adverbs, and adjectives. • Procedures • Give student the worksheet “Parts of Speech?” • Ask student to say what they thing they are doing in the picture. • Have student to write the correct verb, noun, adverb, or adjective with each picture. • Review worksheet with student and discuss any errors.

45. Lesson Plans and Activities • Here is a list of helpful websites that offer great lesson plans and activities for ELL students. • http://www.tefl.net/esl-lesson-plans/index.htm • http://www.usingenglish.com/teachers/lesson-plans/ • http://www.eslflow.com/ • http://www.eslkidslab.com/ • http://www.rong-chang.com/lsnplan.htm

46. Communication Strategies • Activity: • Create one or two activities that you think will help a new student in your classroom • Use the websites on the previous page, or • Come up with you own activity • Share you activity with the class

47. References: • Culture information found at: • http://www.everyculture.com • China • Cambodia • Germany • Laos • Pictures found at google images: • http://www.google.com/imghp?hl=en&tab=ii • First days of school information provided by: • Michigan State University, PowerPoint: Communicating Across Cultures in the Classroom Contexts • Teaching strategies Information provided by: • http://teachingtoday.glencoe.com/howtoarticles/english-language-learner-teaching-strategies-that-work