Differentiating for EAL/D learners – from practice to theory to practice

1. ETAQ SeminarMay 14, 2016. KGSCDr Jennifer Alford, Dr Margaret Kettle (QUT) and Ms Gae Nastasi (MacGregor High) Differentiating for EAL/D learners – from practice to theory to practice

2. Workshop overview 9-10.30am – • Intro • 1. What makes a difference to my learning?: students’ perspectives. 2. Working these perspectives into our classroom practice – real world examples from experienced and beginning teachers; • 3. Drawing out principles from this practice – differentiating content, process and product; 10.30-11am – Morning Tea and networking 11-12pm - • 4. Key EAL/D differentiation strategies to build into your planning; • 5. In smlgrps: Applying these ideas to your own lessons/units; • 6. Sharing ideas as a whole group; summary and forward planning.

3. What is effective for the EAL/D student in the mainstream classroom?

4. Explain terminology and use ‘correct’ examples.

5. It helps when teachers in mainstream classes write notes or use PowerPoint on the whiteboard; it helps me improve my knowledge. Clear explanations help too.

6. Deconstruct text to help students to get a better understanding.

7. Speak clearly

8. be patient to answer questions

9. After asking whether the class has any questions for a topic, but no-one replies, ask a similar question so that students are too shy to ask for help can get help this way.

10. While the class is doing exercise questions, the teacher should walk around the classroom and look at students’ work and see if they are having difficulty to solve certain questions (not just asking the whole class if there are any questions).

11. Using real-life examples to explain a topic.

12. Explain more about the grammar and the vocabulary

13. Remember that English is not our first language

14. My favourite: • speak clear • easy English • big sound • slow speed • kind (smile) :D

15. In this presentation • look at effective strategies and how they can be adapted/used in the mainstream class. • look at how these strategies are integrated into a unit of work.

16. First of all .... KNOW YOUR STUDENTS writing? diagnostic test for reading? A fluent confident English speaker is not always a good reader or writer!

17. CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT DON’TS ... DO ... use group work to create a ‘comfort zone’; walk around and ask if students need help; deal with silliness/giggling. • Don’t single out the students (remember they’re teenagers too!). • Don’t put them ‘on the spot’. create a ‘safe’ non-threatening classroom atmosphere to reinforce confidence and self-esteem

18. What the students say … • Please don’t isolate the EAL students from the others saying “Some people in our class don’t speak English …. Blah blah”. • Please don’t be impatient when I don’t understand or when I ask questions. Try to understand me. • Please don’t refuse to communicate with us because we are non-native speakers.

19. Lesson Organisation 70 minutes of teacher talk • ‘chunk’ your lesson • present information in different ways • allow opportunities to revise/review/consolidate

20. We want to avoid this! WORKING WITH TEXTS

21. At planning stage: ASK YOURSELF – can the students connect with this? are the themes relevant? is the context something that may connect in some way with the student? • choice of relatable texts • not necessarily ‘migrant’ themes or adolescence • ‘universal’ themes are often better received

22. Language level • real/authentic rather than ‘modified’ (need to model authentic language); • avoid overly idiomatic and slang (e.gLockie Leonard); • + 1 – slightly more difficult than they can deal with but not so difficult that it is beyond them; • EAL students usually comprehend more than they can produce.

23. Unpack the context key vocabulary • build the field The Kite Runner definitions.docx oppression Wordmap(1).doc H:\etaq\Frayer model Migrants.docx key concepts background (where/when)

24. Vocabulary • vocabulary lists not enough • context and usage IMPORTANT • provide multiple opportunities to practise/recycle • in teaching, say the word, paraphrase and write on board – connect word and sound FORM + MEANING + USE

25. Use visuals

26. Use graphic organisers • create/reinforce meaning • allow relationships between ideas to be understood • give students a focus for task • support writing

27. Verbal Irony paragraph practice.doc Writing Headword/ topic? Process?

28. Explain and show, rather than tell. At writing stage ... Don’t just ... Do ... The topic sentence = topic + controlling idea/focus http://www.slideshare.net/GEMalone/methods-for-writing-topic-sentences-presentation -The Topic Sentence gives the main idea of the paragraph

29. At feedback stage • ‘find a better word’ • ‘Fix this’ • teach the structure/vocabulary

30. PLANNING A UNIT • We have considered what strategies benefit EAL/D students in the classroom • Let’s look at how I plan a unit to incorporate these strategies and develop skills • Unit from Year 11 • Based on Bowling for Columbine

31. BACKGROUND • Students have already viewed the documentary and considered how the documentary maker uses documentary techniques to position the viewer; • Issue now used as the basis for a persuasive piece of writing, namely an editorial.

32. First step • 1st step = backward map – what do they need to know in order to be successful in this task? • Consider vocabulary, concepts, particular grammatical and rhetorical structures, generic structure.

33. Essential to task • Concepts of gun control/guns (covered in BFC doco); • Vocabulary relevant to guns/morality & ethics/law/government; • Language of formal persuasion/ rhetorical devices; • Cohesion – (synonyms, linkers); • Noun groups, reduced clauses, nominalisation; • Modality to express opinions.

34. Developing concepts and vocabulary • PRO AND ANTI GUN STATEMENTS.docx • GUN CONTROL STIMULUS MATERIALS1.pdf • gun control TEXT ONEThree Level Guide.docx

35. Modelling, Deconstructing, Planning • EDITORIALS GENRE ANALYSIS.guns doc.doc Any questions so far??

36. Another real world example:Finding the language learning opportunities in regular units of work (Brochure genre) By Stephanie Arthur Year 8 English unit

37. Adapted Activity 1 Addition: Subject-specific vocab….. Benefits for EAL/D students • Create Word Wall with important terms (e.g. population, weather, capital etc) • Read countries list- pinpoint on wall map – can use L1 ref. dictionaries etc. • Teams of 3- watch clip (1 x normal, 1 x half speed). Highlight countries as mentioned. • Take turns- teams say country name & label on map • Highlight Japan & Australia on wall map • Model 2-3 comparative sentences around ‘size’: • Australia is larger than Japan. Japan is small, however Australia is large. Japan is small, but Australia is large. • Brainstorm comparative table (big-small, more-less etc). Review conjunctions (and, but, however) • Ss in pairs- use word wall, wall map & comparative table to make 3 comparative sentences. • Become familiar with vocabulary/key terms; • Utilise L1 to aid comprehension; • Small teams = lower stakes (affective filter); • Map wall= visual aid + vocab wall; • Ss given time to jointly construct sentences before being asked to share with whole class- processing/output time; • Using familiar vocab (from word-wall & map) in newly-modelled sentence structure. Addition: Comparative language – explicit instruction

38. The usual suspects - Generic structure Graphic organiser

39. Declarative verb moods; Modal verbs…. and with a distinct language focus as well…. Reading strategies… adverbs of frequency – sometimes, usually, often….

41. Venn diagram • Conjunctions/linking words but still isolated words….

42. Sentence prompts in a paragraph

43. Differentiation involves adapting curriculum and instruction on six dimensions. It includes how the teacher approaches the… (1) content (the what/input of the lesson), (2) process (the how of the lesson – how learners will make sense of it), (3) product (the expected learner-produced result), and takes into consideration the learners’ (4) interests (likes/dislikes), (5) profiles (their learning strengths, weaknesses and gaps), and (6) readiness (students don’t all learn at the same rate). These adaptations can be planned to happen simultaneously, in sequence, or as needed depending on the circumstance and goals of instruction. . Tomlinson, C. (2001). How to differentiate instruction in mixed-ability classrooms (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.Tomlinson, C. (2003). Fulfilling the promise of the differentiated classroom: Strategies and tools for responsive teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

44. Differentiated instruction for English language learners in high school Prompts The poet uses… to convey… The effect of using…creates a…for the reader. Angelou’s ’s mastery of...emphasizes the…impact of the poem. Baecher, L. (2011). Differentiated Instruction for English Language Learners: Strategies for the Secondary English Teacher. Wisconsin English Journal 53 (2) 64-73

45. Morning Tea 10.30-11am

46. EAL/D strategies to build into your planning http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/studentdiversity/eal-d-teacher-resource

47. Teachers can support EAL/D students by: • identifying a student’s level of language proficiency using the ACARA EAL/D Learning Progressionor the Qld EAL/D Bandscales; And then… 1. utilisingstudents’ cultural and linguistic resources; 2. building shared knowledge; 3. making the procedures and expectations of the learning environment explicit. Yes but HOW do I do thismoment by moment in teaching?

48. Utilisingstudents’ cultural and linguistic resources: • do a class language audit – who speaks what language? • invite EAL/D students (and all students) to share their cultural and linguistic knowledge and experiences - creates an inclusive space for EAL/D students in the school environment, as well as providing opportunities for deep learning and intercultural understanding for the entire class; • allow students to make use of their first language to make sense of English and to facilitate the learning of new concepts. • use a bilingual teaching assistant or more able student from the same language background to explain concepts in the students’ home language; • allow EAL/D students to undertake part or all of the research in their home language. • i.e., ….try some translanguaging!

49. Building shared knowledge: • Explain assumed or ‘common knowledge’ the ‘everyday’ is determined by our social and cultural contexts. Check whether EAL/D students possess ‘everyday’ and ‘real-life’ knowledge assumed by many curriculum tasks; • Excursions, incursions, hands-on experiences, visuals, gestures, videos, real-life objects – reduces the cognitive load; contextualises learning; provides multi modal input; ‘builds the field’ using jointly constructed knowledge not just transmitting knowledge; .

50. Make the procedures and expectations of the learning environment explicit: Refer to pages 25 – 28 of the EAL/D Advice document. This document presents five short sections naming key instructional ideas: • 1. Explicit teaching – p. 25 • 2. Teaching in context – p. 26 • 3. Scaffolding and support strategies – p. 26 • 4. Modified assessments and tasks – p. 27 • 5. Practice, preparation and revision – p. 28 http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/studentdiversity/eal-d-teacher-resource All ideas here relate to differentiating content,process and product in some way.