Posts Tagged ‘English Language Learners’

Academic Vocabulary Acquisition for English Learners: So Many Words, So Little Time!

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January 4, 2012 |  by Jennifer Boyle  |  Differentiated Instruction, English Learners (ELs)  |  No Comments  |  Share

It would be difficult to overstate the importance of academic vocabulary to our students’ success in reading, the content areas, and beyond.

In Reading, Writing and Learning in ESL (2005), Suzanne Peregoy and Owen Boyle frame it this way: What we know in any content area is distilled in the vocabulary we own in that subject. In other words, our academic vocabulary, the words we control, manipulate, and communicate with, reflect the content we know at the conceptual level.

For all of our ELs, but most especially those who enter the country in middle or high school, academic vocabulary acquisition is a ticking time-bomb: How can we possibly assist our students in acquiring the academic vocabulary to keep pace with what they need for academic success?

Consider the following statistics:

Nagy and Anderson (1984) estimated that school texts from Grades 3 through 9 contain approximately 88,500 distinct word families.

To provide direct instruction in even 3,000 words a year would be 17 words each school day. However, some research suggests that, in general, no more than 8–10 words can be taught effectively each week (PREL, 2004; www.prel.org) .

Where does this leave us? A portion of the answer is direct instruction. Taking into account the language level of our students, the texts they need to interact with, precise selection of Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III words are all valid approaches to academic vocabulary acquisition. Valid, but not the whole picture.

Becoming Word Detectives

While our secondary ELs wrestle with the time challenge, our instruction can (and should) be at the strategy level so that our students have the tools they need to become word detectives. Carlo, August, and Snow (2005) put it this way:

“…it is unlikely that interventions that only teach word meanings will close the vocabulary gap between ELLs and their English-speaking peers. Rather, ELLs require interventions that strengthen their ability to apply strategies for independent vocabulary learning as well as provide direct instruction in word meanings.”

The strategies that help students see connections to words they already know in their native language (cognates) or among words they learn in English build networks of meaning and increase their academic vocabulary recognition exponentially. By using these strategies and developing this word awareness, we enable our students to become “word detectives” (Core Literacy Library: Vocabulary Handbook, 2006).

Connect It!: The Cognate “Story,” Told by Rocks

volcán, magma, igneo, lava, metamórfico, sedimento, minerals, cristales, erosion, glaciares (www.ColorinColorado.org)

We can learn a lot from a rock! Even if (especially if) you are not a Spanish speaker, the message comes through loud and clear: Leverage our students’ home languages by making cognate connections.

Collect It!: The Vocabulary Notebook

Another aspect of academic vocabulary acquisition is the action of collecting it. Our students benefit not only from working with those words we select, but also from the “Collect It!” action they take as they self-select words for their student notebook.

As students “Collect!” they are engaged with their own learning process, as well as with the words they select. For us as teachers, benefits include having a record of our students’ work, which assists with progress monitoring and making progress evident. Progress is important for us to see, but even more important for students, as they become aware of their continuing success. Finally, the notebook serves as a focal point for reward—recognizing effort and achievement. When students complete their charts, moving words from the unknown column to the known column, they see their progress. And that spells motivation!

Once students identify a word to add to their vocabulary notebook, there are many ways to interact with them.

The link to the following template, an adaptation from Robert Marzano, “Building Academic Vocabulary: Teacher’s Manual” ASCD: 2005, is one effective way.

Using the Academic Vocabulary Notebook Template

Teacher’s Lounge Vignette

Social Studies teacher: “I ask a simple question and I get deer in headlights—you know the look— from these seventh graders. They just don’t want to participate, have nothing to contribute.” (This is a paraphrase of an actual conversation in a school where I formerly taught and yes, the teacher was describing a few of my ESL students.)

With the academic vocabulary strategies and opportunities to connect to, collect, and practice them, our students will have the tools they need—academic vocabulary—and our colleagues won’t use these words to describe them!

More ESL topics:

 

Newcomer Schools: Addressing the Needs of English Learners

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November 30, 2011 |  by Barbara Andrews  |  Differentiated Instruction, English Learners (ELs)  |  No Comments  |  Share

As the number of English learners in the United States continues to grow, we are constantly in search of the most effective ways to meet the needs of these ELs. Many “newcomer schools,” places where students spend their first year of education in the United States, are springing up across the country. These schools consist of dedicated educators who strive to learn the newest and best practices to meet the cultural, linguistic, social, and educational needs of these culturally diverse students. I have had the privilege of visiting many of these schools, and I have been able to observe firsthand many success stories. I spent the day at one of these schools in September, and I was inspired by this school, by these students, and by this group of teachers.

The school contained multiple nationalities and multiple ethnic groups, as well as excellent teachers. The doors had been open for only four weeks, and the classes were already bursting at the seams. Most of the students were from refugee families from a huge variety of countries. About half of the students had little or no formal education prior to this year, but others were well-educated in their native countries. Funding was scarce, but there was an abundance of compassion and outstanding instruction, and I observed teaching that was making a real difference in the lives of many students.

The teachers at this school were very dedicated to helping all of their students, and they made home visits before the beginning of school. During one home visit, they discovered a single mother of eight children from Somalia. Although some of her children were scheduled to attend the school, the teachers encountered an 18-year-old boy lying on the floor. The mother said that he had been shot in Somalia and was paralyzed. She had carried him when he was younger and weighed less, but now it was necessary for him to remain there on the floor. He had never attended school, and his mother knew that there was no way for him to attend school now with his brothers and sisters. The teachers mobilized community resources to procure a wheelchair for the boy and to get him the clothes that he needed for school. The week I was there was the end of his third week at the school, and he was beginning to speak English and recognized some letters and sounds in English. The boy was thrilled to be there and, with his head nodding and a jubilant look on his face, he told me, “Learn English.”

Many newcomer schools have received criticism because students return to their neighborhood schools after a year at a newcomer school, and they are not reading and functioning on, or even close to, grade level. Researchers agree that it takes non-English speakers at least 7-10 years to become as fluent as their native-English-speaking peers. It is helpful for us to realize that, with superior instruction, many ELs could achieve as much as 2-3 grade levels of literacy growth during one school year. Will a 15-year-old be reading at the high school level in one year? No, but with quality newcomer programs followed by targeted instruction at neighborhood schools, ELs will continue to make great gains.

Supporting English Learners

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October 19, 2011 |  by Barbara Andrews  |  Balanced Literacy, Differentiated Instruction, English Learners (ELs)  |  No Comments  |  Share

When I was an elementary school student in Texas, there was a policy in place stating that students were to speak only English at school. Due to this policy, many students who spoke other languages at home (usually Spanish in Texas) were silent in the classroom and on the playground. Sometimes it was years before they felt confident enough to take the risk of speaking English. Even then, I wondered about the fairness of this rule. I continued to wonder about this through my teenage years when I noticed that many Spanish-speaking students began to drop out of school as they turned sixteen.

When I became a classroom teacher, there were still no accommodations being made in most school districts for students who spoke languages other than English. Teachers were just told to remediate and to deliver the instruction more slowly, and the students who didn’t speak English would eventually catch on.  In addition, English learners and special needs students were considered to have very similar educational needs. In recent years, I have enjoyed observing and participating in the awareness of the necessity for education to target and to support the needs of the English learner. It has been a pleasure to see appropriate instruction being delivered and appropriate materials being developed for our English learners. Is there room for improvement? Absolutely! But we are heading in the right direction.

Here are a few resources to help support your English learners:

Groundbreaking Study: Benchmark Education’s Literacy Program Highly Successful in E. Hartford, CT

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April 26, 2011 |  by Benchmark  |  Uncategorized  |  No Comments  |  Share

 

We developed this blog to examine the latest in educational innovation, to hear from experts in the field about what works (and what doesn’t), and to discuss the personal stories and the public policies that have shaped our world.

However, today we’d like to deviate slightly from our usual topics.  Ever since we released the results of a groundbreaking study conducted in 2009, we have had so much wonderful feedback from educators that we felt compelled to share the results once again.

During that year, Main Street Academix, a university-based independent research firm, conducted a study among 3rd graders in East Hartford (CT) Public Schools.  Some of the schools used Benchmark Education’s Literacy Program with on-site professional development, and some did not.

 

 

The results were astounding.  Some key findings included:

  • The 3rd graders who used the Benchmark Education program achieved 44% higher reading score growth than their peers within the school district who did not use the program.
  • Economically disadvantaged (Title I) students using the program achieved 82% higher reading score growth than their peers not using the program.
  • The Title I students in the program saw test gains that matched or beat the gains seen by more affluent students also in the program.
  • English Learners who used the Benchmark Education program saw average Lexile reading gains of 148 points, compared to 112 points by ELs in schools using other literacy programs.

We here at Benchmark Education have always felt confident in the impact that our programs can have on student achievement, but it’s certainly great to have the data to back it up!

Click here to see the full results.