Saturday 28 October 2017

Using Whiteboard tables to help children visualize

Whilst preparing my Communication Skills inquiry, I stumbled across this brilliant video of a teacher who using 'whiteboard tables' in the classroom to help ELL's visualize both for themselves and for each other.  These are homemade boards covered in whiteboard paint.  I've never heard of these (or even whiteboard paint) but I cannot wait to try them. 
I could see that this visualizing has the potential to instantly help an ELL. I know when I'm often stuck for relaying information to a student  with litttle English knowledge, I often pull out a piece of paper or try to act it out with hand gestures. This would be a readily available tool not only for the teacher, but also for the rest of the classmates.
Whiteboard tables in the classroom

Tuesday 24 October 2017

Participation Protocol

I had to include this into my archive.  Below is a screen shot from a video whereby a teacher gives structure to her students on how to participate in disccussion. 
It's taken from the following video:  Participation Protocol

I think this would be a valuable tool for not only ELL's but for native speakers as well. With more and more technology being brought into our lives, the skill of successfully taking part in a discussion is often not refined in many of our children.

Planning for Academic English in the ELL classroom

Important tips for helping an ELL use academic English orally:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/improve-conversation-skills-ells-ousd

I added this to my archive because I found this particular video to be quite inspirational. The final thing one of the educators said was: "Children want to learn, so when we design the learning activities for them to learn, they're with us all the way."

Wednesday 18 October 2017

STEP: Observable Language Behaviours and Oral Profiles

This is an important document to have referenced for the future in terms of
STEP: Observable Language Behaviours and Oral Profiles.
I think it's important to keep an archive of this document so that I can later reference it with ELLs in my class.  "The Observable Language Behaviours continua describe ELLs' English proficiency development in three broad strands-oral, reading, and writing. Each strand is guided by the Ontario language curriculum."

Tuesday 10 October 2017

Fostering Literacy Success for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Students

This article is an invaluable resource.
I needed to make sure I could find it because it included so many great tips to helping foster Literacy for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Students.
https://oere.oise.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/WW_Fostering_Literacy.pdf

The experience of youths in moving to Canada

This perspective of youth moving to Canada and their experience in the school systems is a must to watch.  What struck me most was the fact that some youth came without their parents.  They had to adapt and settle without parental support.  This fact alone is astonishing and it really puts light on our job as educators for ELLs.  It isn't always the academice side that we must focus on with youth; there are sometimes more basic concerns like whether or not a child has enough food to eat.  This is why I felt it was important to include this video clip in my artifacts.

Tuesday 3 October 2017

Stages of Acculturation

These Stages of  Acculturation are important to keep in our mind when ELLs enter our school and classrooms:



Monday 2 October 2017

Dual-Language Books

As soon as I saw this idea, I had to archive it.
Whilst reading the Many Roots, Many Voices Document, I came across the idea of creating 'Dual- Language Books.  The strategy encourages the use of the child's first language because it is seen to enrich the language-learning process. An added advantage is that it helps parents become more involved in their child's learning. It is definitely a strategy to try in the future and an exemplar for it is the  Dual Language Showcase.  This website was inspirational in how using a child's first language in order to learn English could be done.



Student Identity and Engagement


I had to include this point and video clip in my archive for future reference. It was made by another course candidate and I think it was a great example illustrating HOW we can include the identity of an ELL and make it positive experience.

Your points about including all aspects of a student's identity reminded me of this commercial I recently saw. Sama, a 9 year old Syrian refugee has shared parts of her story with her classmates, and in an effort to make connections with peers, her family and teacher coordinated a day for Sama to share cultural food. Give it a watch if you can! It's only 2 minutes and demonstrates a supportive and welcoming environment!