From the April MUSD EL Newsletter

Integrating ELD Standards, Common Core Standards for Literacy  

Mathematics, and Science

Using the STEAM Building Background Knowledge

Lesson Framework

The goal of STEAM is to promote high-quality, integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics instruction in Santa Clara County by supporting teachers and administrators. The STEAM team provides professional development in science, mathematics, literacy, engineering and the arts. On-site assistance is available focusing on program implementation, teaching strategies and support with the integration of STEAM content areas and the infusion of technology to bring context and real-world to the classroom.

Using the Building Background Knowledge lesson framework provides engaging, integrated experiences with any subject. These lessons are content rich and support academic language development for all students, addressing ELD Standards, Science Standards, and Common Core Standards for Literacy and Mathematics. They also provide students with more content knowledge so they can comprehend information written at a high Lexile Level. knowledge in real-world settings and builds 21st Century Skills such as:

o Critical Thinking

o Communication

o Collaboration

o Creativity

     Building Background Knowledge  (BBK)

Instructional Routine

                     

Step 1: Mystery Text or Other Hook

Choose a relevant brief text, poem, political cartoon, mystery graph, photograph, or song. Students look and discuss together. What do they think this is about? What do they notice? Etc. Ask at the end for guesses. Tell students the topic. They share in small groups what they already know. Brief report out to whole group.

Step 2: Silent Gallery
Artfully arrange a variety of artifacts such as photographs, timelines, quotes, titles, brief pieces of text, graphs and  charts, cartoons, etc. for the gallery walk. Students walk and take notes on what they notice and wonder. All silent. Then, back at the group, discuss their notes, ideas and questions.

Step 3: Common Texts
Everyone reads the same text that is provocative or provides important background information at this point in the process. The text may answer questions that have arisen from the previous steps and their small group discussions. Ask students to text code for important information. Remind them of the Guiding Questions and Learning Targets for the BBK.

Step 4: Expert Texts
Present articles or texts (still brief). Each member of the group reads a different text and becomes “expert” on it (Jigsaw). The texts may be a rich narrative that offers multiple perspectives, such as brief biographies, and could also be different formats or media. Again, students should text code and prepare what they are going to report to their group.

Step 5: Carousel/Group Charts/Summarize Learning Each group hangs their chart and everyone carousels around to read. Possible questions to ask: Did groups have similar  or different perspectives or gather different information? Each small group ends by adding any additional information and questions. Individuals then have a chance to record their own learning and questions. Finish with review of Learning Targets or debrief process.

Student Talk Time and Collaborative Work

ELL students can often go the whole day, without being asked or required to speak. The following link is an excerpt from the book Content Area Conversations, by Fisher, Frey, and Rothenberg (2008). In the article, they discuss the effects of student to teacher talk time ratios on student achievement outcomes. It's powerful stuff, especially for those of us with reluctant speakers in class.

ASCD: Why Talk is Important in Classrooms, from Content Area Conversations

Collaborative work spaces give all students (both EL and EO) the opportunity to speak with their peers in a non-threatening environment. These spaces can increase valuable student speaking time, which is necessary in order to advance in language acquisition. Students can be given frames and word banks to help them practice applying academic language. This can also prepare students to speak and share as a whole group, for further discussion, or to prepare them to write about a topic. Read on to discover five features that help support these collaborative work spaces for all learners.

The following five features should be considered in any collaborative task. 
(Fisher & Frey, 2008; Johnson, Johnson, & Smith, 1991) 

1. Positive interdependence 

Members must see how their efforts contribute to the overall success of the group. The task cannot be one that individuals could have completed independently. Rather, the task has to have at least an aspect of interdependence such that students need each other to complete their work successfully.

2. Face-to-face interaction 

As part of the task, group members have to have time to interact live. Although they can also interact in virtual and electronic worlds, our experience suggests that the opportunity to interact on the physical level encourages accountability, feedback, and support.

3. Individual and group accountability 

As we have noted, productive group work is not simply having a group of students complete a task in parallel with peers that they could have done alone. Having said that, we also know that the risk of productive group work lies in participation. In nearly every group, there are likely members who would allow their peers to complete the required tasks. To address this, each member of the group must be accountable for some aspect of the task. Of course, this is a perfect opportunity to differentiate based on students’ needs and strengths. In addition to the individual accountability, the group must be accountable for the overall product. This also ensures that students who are overly involved from monopolizing the conversations during productive group work.

4. Interpersonal and small-group skills 

One of the opportunities presented during productive group work is social skill development. Wise teachers are clear about their expectations related to interpersonal skills and communicate these expectations to students. For example, during a group brainstorming session about ways to represent the concept of slope, Heather reminds her students that “put-downs for ideas are not allowed, especially during a brainstorming session.”

5. Group processing 

As part of the learning associated with productive group work, students need to learn how to think about, and discuss, their experiences. The goal of the discussion is for students to consider ways that they can improve their productivity and working relationships.

Source: Fisher, D., Frey, N., & Anderson, H. (2010). Thinking and comprehending in the mathematics classroom. In K. Ganske & D. Fisher (Eds.), Comprehension across the curriculum: Perspectives and practices K-12 (pp. 146-159). New York: Guilford.

From the December MUSD English Learner Newsletter

Stanford University

 Understanding Language Initiative

 Language, Literacy, and Learning in the Content Areas

Supporting English Learners in

Common Core Math

                  

Understanding Language launches a set of new, open source mathematics materials designed for teachers of ELLs. Designed to illustrate how the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in Mathematics can be used for English learner instruction, each lesson in the Supporting English learners in Mathematics package is written for classroom use with English learners. Stanford drew from and adapted tasks from two publicly accessible curriculum projects, Inside Mathematics and Mathematics Assessment Project.  To view the lessons and read the Guidelines for Math Instructional Materials Development click here.

Breaking News English

Breaking News English
http://www.breakingnewsenglish.com/

This site has over 1750 free lessons on current events for English Language Learners. Many of the lessons would work well for Below Level Learners as well. The lessons are marked as "easier" or "harder" with activities geared for several levels (U.K. EL levels of 0-6, with "easier" being 0-3 and "harder being 4-6). These short articles are a good place to start if you are looking to incorporate more informational text into your lessons. The articles cover a wide variety of topics, from science, to politics, to lifestyle news.