Topics for the month of July 2011

Teaching English, How To….
The July 1 topic is at the bottom of the list; the topic for July 29 is at the top of the list.

Story Grammar and ESL Students

Comprehension and ESL Students

Reading, Writing and ESL Students

ESL and Academic Language

Reading Materials for ESL Students

Summary of Working with ESL Students

Assessing ESL Students' Reading

Writing and ESL Students: The Writing Process

Writing and ESL Students

When ESL Students Read Aloud

Teaching Learning Strategies to ESL Students

Reading Aloud to ESL Students

Teachers and ESL Students: Activate Prior Knowldeg...

Teachers and ESL Students: Cognates

ESL: Reading and Comprehension

Language Experience for ESL Students

ESL Communication Activities

ESL Techniques in the Past and Present

Academic Language Skills and ESL Students

Goal of ESL Programs

Topics for Teaching English How To, June 2011.

Learning to Read as a Native Speaker of English vs...

Story Grammar and ESL Students

Question: How help ESL students comprehend stories?

Answer: A Story Grammar Sheet

“This Story is about ______________________________________________________________.
In the story the characters are _________________________________________________________. The main problem is that _____________________________________________________________, and it ends when _______________________________________________________________.”

Title: “Comprehending through Reading and Writing: Six Research-Based Instructional Strategies.” N Farnan, J Flood and D Lapp. Pp. 135-137. In Kids Come in All Languages: Reading Instruction for ESL Students. Eds. K Spangensberg-Urgschat and R Pritchard. Newark, DE: IRA. 1994, 108-131.

Comprehension and ESL Students

Question: Can comprehension be taught?

Answer: “Flood and Lapp (1991) reviewed studies from the 1980s and concluded that ‘one has to be careful to add comprehension of what, by whom, under what conditions, and for what purposes?’ ”

Comment: In preparing any reading lesson, the teacher needs to be cognizant of these questions about what is to be read. I don’t know about my readers, but those questions make me think carefully about any reading assignment I am about to make. RayS.

Title: “Comprehending through Reading and Writing: Six Research-Based Instructional Strategies.” N Farnan, J Flood and D Lapp. Pp. 135-137. In Kids Come in All Languages: Reading Instruction for ESL Students. Eds. K Spangensberg-Urgschat and R Pritchard. Newark, DE: IRA. 1994, 108-131.

Reading, Writing and ESL Students

Question: Why should reading and writing be taught together in working with ESL students?

Answer/Quote: “Most experts agree that although not identical, reading and writing are similar…and mutually supportive…language processes.”

Quote: “In her informative and thorough review of research on reading and writing relationships, Stotsky (1983) concluded that (1) good writers tend to be better readers than are less able writers, (2) good writers tend to read more frequently and widely and to produce more syntactically complex writings, (3) writing itself does not tend to influence reading comprehension, but when writing is taught for the purpose of enhancing reading, there are significant gains in comprehension and retention of information , and (4) reading experiences have as great an effect on writing as direct instruction in grammar and mechanics.”

Comment: My own experiences bear out the effects of reading on writing. In the early 1970s, I conducted a workshop for fifth- and sixth-grade teachers on establishing a writing curriculum for grades 5 and 6. In the course of the workshop, we invited six people for whom writing was an important part of their professions. They included children’s books authors, newspaper writers, and a lawyer. Five of the six writers said that they had never learned to write in school, but they never remembered being without a book as they passed through the grades. I think it’s pretty clear, both from the research and from my personal experiences, that reading influences writing—for native-English speakers and ESL students. RayS.

Title: “Comprehending through Reading and Writing: Six Research-Based Instructional Strategies.” N Farnan, J Flood and D Lapp. Pp. 135-137. In Kids Come in All Languages: Reading Instruction for ESL Students. Eds. K Spangensberg-Urgschat and R Pritchard. Newark, DE: IRA. 1994, 108-131.

ESL and Academic Language

Question: What type of text is a special problem for ESL students?

Answer/Quote: “Unfortunately, the academic language and expository texts characteristic of content areas often act as barriers to the success of ESL students. In order to ensure that ESL students have equal access and keep pace with their native-English-speaking classmates in the mastery of content concepts, teachers must be able to implement instructional strategies that facilitate their ESL students’ understanding of academic language and their comprehension of expository text.” P. 133.

Comment: As I have said before, I’m learning ESL instruction right along with my readers. I’ve noted that two of the essential techniques—language experience and the directed reading assignment—are also appropriate for native speakers of English. We should see in the next couple of chapters whether the same will be true for helping ESL students to become familiar with academic language. RayS.

Title: “Selecting Materials for the Reading Instruction of ESL Children,” VG Allen in Kids Come in All Languages: Reading Instruction for ESL Students. Eds. K Spangensberg-Urgschat and R Pritchard. Newark, DE: IRA. 1994, 108-131.

Reading Materials for ESL Students

Question: What are some criteria for selecting materials to be used by ESL students?

Answer:
. Language Experience. Use language experience as one method for reading lessons. Students individually or in groups dictate information or stories that are recorded by the teacher on chart paper o blackboard, etc., and the children then re-read aloud and silently what was recorded.

. Real-world print materials. Signs, advertising, etc.

. Basal readers in the past have been largely narrative. Content texts are usually expository and organized differently from narrative. Use the directed reading assignment for both types of material. (Find out what the students already know about the topic and/or build background by discussion, pictures, etc. Read the title, sub-title, first paragraph, first sentence of each intermediate paragraph, last paragraph. What have they learned? Raise questions that they want to answer. They read the text to answer their questions. Discuss. And apply the information in some way.)

. Children’s literature and trade books. Use books whose illustrations support and extend meaning.

. Read aloud, with discussion.

. Provide books dealing with the children’s native culture.

Title: “Selecting Materials for the Reading Instruction of ESL Children,” VG Allen in Kids Come in All Languages: Reading Instruction for ESL Students. Eds. K Spangensberg-Urgschat and R Pritchard. Newark, DE: IRA. 1994, 108-131.

Summary of Working with ESL Students

Question: What have we learned about working with ESL (English as a Second Language) students from this article?

Answer:
Don’t assume that ESL students are dumb because they are not familiar with the English language.

Native speakers of English are able to relate the printed word to their oral (listening and speaking) language. ESL students may pronounce the words, but they might not be able to relate the words to their oral language.

Communication Skills and Academic Skills: Recognize that fluency in oral communication skills is not the same thing as the academic skills needed in the classroom.

Cognates: Relate cognates in the native language and in English.

Language Experience: Use language experience. Students dictate information; recorded by teacher on chart paper, blackboard, etc. ; students read back what was recorded.

Directed Reading Assignment: Use the directed reading assignment. Check on students’ prior knowledge of the topic; build up prior knowledge of unfamiliar topics with pictures, etc.; pre-teach unfamiliar vocabulary; survey the chapter; read and discuss the title, sub-titles, the first paragraph, the first sentence of each paragraph, the last paragraph, raise questions to answer from the reading selection, read, discuss, apply the information.

Reading Aloud by Teacher: Read a variety of materials aloud to the students.

Learning Strategies: Teach learning strategies directly.

Oral Reading: Don’t focus on pronunciation when students are reading aloud; note the mistakes and deal with them later. Focus on comprehension.

Daily Writing. Corrected 10-minute essays. 10-minues a day. Write on topic of their choice. Teacher corrects at night. Students re-write corrected 10-minute essay. Students do not write complete essay in ten minutes. Stop in mid-sentence at the end of 10 minutes. [My idea. RayS.]

Writing process for complete essays: Brainstorm; thesis; draft, including topic sentences for paragraphs, last paragraph, introductory paragraph, revision and editing. [My idea. RayS.]

Use multiple assessments like tests of oral reading, levels of comprehension, etc.

Comment: I learned right along with my readers. I feel better equipped than before to deal with ESL students, but it won’t be easy. RayS.

Title: “Instructional Approaches and Teaching Procedures.” AU Chamot and JM O’Malley. Pp. 82-107. In Kids Come in All Languages: Reading Instruction for ESL Students. Eds. K Spangensberg-Urgschat and R Pritchard. Newark, DE: IRA. 1994.