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Learning Outcomes By the end of this chapter you will be able to accomplish the following objectives:

• Argue, providing supporting evidence, for the need for differentiated instruction with ELLs.

• Evaluate the importance of finding and using high-impact strategies with ELLs.

• Assess the usefulness and possible applications of three categories of research based high-impact strategies for ELLs.

• Define action research and propose ways in which teachers can use it to identify highly effective strategies for use with ELLs.

8Differentiating for Diversity

Mikanaka/iStock/Thinkstock

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Introduction

Introduction In previous chapters we discussed the characteristics of learners, how to assess them, and the content and language they need to learn. We have looked at curricula, at objectives, at materials, and the kinds of lessons that align with all these. Now that we have learned some- thing about the who, the what, and the why of teaching, it is time to take a closer look at the how. We do this with caution. The most effective teacher is not the one with the biggest bag of teaching tricks, even if those tricks are comprised of well-established techniques; the most effective teachers are those who have many techniques upon which to draw, but who know the importance of using them within a thoughtful, well-organized plan for learning and for monitoring learning. ELL teachers are constantly seeking strategies that will help LTELLs, and indeed, all ELLs, to progress linguistically and academically. The purpose of this chapter is to examine some of the strategies that research has shown to be effective and how they can be adapted for a variety of learners and circumstances.

Experienced teachers know that there is no such thing as a truly homogenous class, and that they will need to take into account the differences among the children they teach. But when the class represents such a wide range of abilities as Candace Marin’s fourth graders, (see A Teacher’s Story: Overwhelmed!), developing a plan and mapping onto it the best methods or strategies for each of them requires even more planning and forethought. Fortunately, as we will see in this chapter, there are many sources and resources to which teachers can turn, based in research, based in practice, and based in experience.

A Teacher’s Story: Overwhelmed!

At the end of my first month of full time teaching, I went home and told my husband that I felt like I had to do everything for everybody when none of those “bodies” needed the same “things”. I had been so excited to get this assignment, a fourth grade class in a well-resourced school in an affluent suburb. As a student intern, I had been in classes as large as 31 in badly maintained schools with few resources in the inner city. So when I found out that I had only 18 children in my class, I was thrilled.

Just four weeks later, I was overwhelmed.

I had six ELLs, one with special needs, and the other five with different levels of language pro- ficiency and different skills. One had amazing spoken English, but he was reading at first-grade level, barely. Another girl had good reading and writing skills, but she wouldn’t read aloud and barely spoke. The native speakers were almost as varied as the ELLs—one appeared to be gifted and another appeared to be dyslexic, although neither had been formally assessed. Still another had attention and behavior problems.

Because I had a relatively small class, I did not have another adult in the room to assist, and the only additional support for the ELLs was an itinerant ESL teacher who came twice a week for 45 minutes.

And then there was the Common Core. Before the start of the school year, the district had held a series of professional development workshops to prepare us, but after a month, I felt less prepared than I had on my first day as an intern.

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Section 8.1 Differentiation for ELLs

8.1 Differentiation for ELLs Today’s pluralistic, inclusive classrooms demand a sharp lens of understand- ing and awareness from our teachers to reach and teach all students. This lens must serve as a microscope to magnify teachers’ understanding of individual student’s talents and skills as well as a stethoscope to listen deeply to their students’ daily experiences, unique interests, and individual dreams. (Oberg, 2010, p. 2)

We know that ELLs learn at different speeds and in different ways, but what do we do with that information? Teaching diverse students is not a “one size fits all” endeavor. On the other hand, no teacher has the time to teach each student individually. Finding an optimal zone between the two extremes that allows us to maximize instructional impact is a daunting task. This sec- tion describes tested strategies that have worked for other teachers coping with classrooms of diverse learners, concentrating on literacy “power standards” (Gregory & Burkman, 2012).

Knowing the Learners In previous chapters we learned a great deal about English language learners. Knowing about our learners, however, is not the same as knowing our learners. We can get some indication of what learners know by using performance assessment tools such as those described in Chapter 4. We can speculate about how learners might learn by revisiting what we discovered about differences in learning styles in Chapter 2. We can further study the research described in Chapter 3 on how the brain learns to refine our ideas about teaching bilingual learners, but ultimately, teach- ers will have to discover how all these factors—and many others such as differences in maturity—interact and help to shape each individual learner. Getting to know a learner takes time and it takes continuous effort. It also takes deliberate actions.

Teachers Need to Be Observant There are tests and exercises that can be administered to learners to find out their preferred learning styles, but the best indicator may well come from observation. To differentiate instruction meaningfully, teachers need a clear understanding of how learning progresses. Observing where learners appear to fall along different dimensions and recording those observations helps teachers to find effective strategies and also to assess progress.

Teachers Need to Know how Learning Progresses Remembering that ELLs learn best when the material is just beyond their current level of competence and comfort, the goal of differentiated instruction is to find the “propellers” for

Monkeybusinessimages/iStock/Thinkstock

This teacher knows that getting to know her learners will make it easier to plan for their individual needs.

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Section 8.1 Differentiation for ELLs

each learner—what moves them to the next stage in which the new material is no longer new and they are ready for the next challenge. According to Tomlinson (2001), learning is a pro- gression of development along eight dimensions that can be thought of as the tracks on which breakthroughs may occur:

1. Foundational to transformational. This dimension refers to information, ideas, mate- rials, and applications. At the foundational end of the continuum, learners are able to relate to key ideas contained in text or to classify animals or objects on the basis of visible physical similarities and differences, for example. Those who are nearer the transformational stage can handle ideas that are removed from the text or immedi- ate experience and can generalize ideas or skills to different materials or settings.

2. Concrete to abstract. This dimension refers to representations, ideas, issues, prob- lems, skills, and goals. At the concrete stage, learners fare best with tangible objects, hands-on activities, and literal rather than analogic or metaphorical examples. As they progress toward the abstract stage of thinking and learning, they are increas- ingly able to hold images and ideas in their minds, cope with intangible ideas, and with metaphors, analogies, and symbols. They can understand principles indepen- dent of specific events.

3. Simple to complex. Moving along this dimension, learners proceed from a basic vocabulary of common words in texts that are easy to read to a more advanced, academic (and therefore abstract) vocabulary in advanced texts. They progress from being able to work with few if any abstractions to being able to work with multiple abstractions, and from dealing with the idea or skill being taught to the ability to incorporate newly learned ideas and skills into those previously learned.

4. Single facet to multi-facet. Processes or procedures with fewer parts, fewer steps, or stages, characterize the lower end of this dimension, while multiple parts, steps, and stages, characterize the higher end.

5. Small leap to great leap. Early in their learning, learners are able to deal with few unknowns, relate best to familiar elements, and are not likely to be flexible in their thinking. As they progress they are able to tolerate more unknowns and unfamiliar- ity is no longer a barrier. They are capable of more flexible thought and are more revolutionary than evolutionary in their thinking.

6. Structured to open-ended. For learners at the early stages, teachers will need to provide more directions, more precise directions, and more modeling of expected behaviors. As learners grow in their abilities, teachers will need to give fewer direc- tions, do less modeling, and allow learners more choice in how they approach a problem.

7. Dependent to independent. As learners move from dependent to independent learn- ers, they require less guidance and monitoring in order to identify problems, set goals, establish timelines, or to find appropriate resources. They will require more scaffolding in the early stages but will gradually require less as they gain and dem- onstrate their independence as learners.

8. Slow to fast. ELL teachers are admonished always to allow adequate time. In the early stages especially, learners will need more time for almost everything—to read, to practice, to review, to process. As they become more efficient learners, however, they will need less time for all of these; it is as though they gain momentum.

Observant teachers make note of what strengths learners have and what motivates and excites them to participate and to learn. They can do so throughout the day, at the end of the

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Section 8.1 Differentiation for ELLs

day, or whenever they have an opportunity to make a notation of a success, failure, or source of frustration. Observing learners on the playground can also give valuable insights into their social language competency that can be built on in the classroom.

Teachers Need to Build Profiles Over Time These observations should be kept as part of the learner profiles that teachers create to guide them toward providing the best support they can. Teachers who make good notes and collate those notes at regular intervals will find those accounts invaluable as a profile of the learner starts to take shape. For example, a teacher who has observed repeatedly that a learner likes to draw or likes poetry or nursery rhymes will be able to use that knowledge in future work with that learner.

Teachers Can Get Help From ELLs There are two ways of getting help from the learners themselves. Saying something as simple as “Tell me if this seems too hard for you” provides a useful starting place. Asking learners to reflect in writing on tasks, lessons, or assignments, not only provides teachers with useful feedback but also gives learners valuable experience in writing. It is an authentic language experience!

Teachers Can Collect Data From Many Sources Teachers can supplement their own observations with data from a variety of other sources: other teachers, whether previous or concurrent, parents, test scores, the school bus driver, principal, counselor, or even social media sites. There are many sources of information about learners that a teacher can mine to get a better idea of what will work with individual learners.

Setting the Stage for Learning Obviously, teachers do not have time to identify and cater to every learner’s particular mix of experience, skills, abilities, and learning styles for every lesson. Differentiating instruction does not require that. Rather, the starting place is for teachers to:

• Concentrate first on language skills because English, and especially literacy, as we have seen, is the core competency that makes all content learning possible.

• Focus on creating a learning environment in which all ELLs feel comfortable and competent. Finding a way to make each learner feel competent gets to the heart of differentiated instruction.

Gregory & Burkman (2012) offer five suggestions for helping teachers to plan for “multiple modalities in each lesson while incorporating strategies for English language learners” that are based on who, why, what, how, and so what. Letting learners know who they can turn to for information or support tells them that they are not alone and gives them a sense of control over their own learning. Resources might be a bilingual friend, a resource teacher or librarian, or even a website. Letting them know why they are learning a particular skill or why they are engaged in a particular reading or writing task helps them to see relevance. By connecting the lesson or assignment to something they already know or need to know, teachers make the experience more meaningful.

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Section 8.1 Differentiation for ELLs

Giving learners the what by providing them with advance organizers (such as those we saw in earlier chapters) prepares them to focus on what is important and to improve their predic- tion skills. Advance organizers can be tweaked for learners of different skills levels, with more information provided for those who need more help. Telling them the how means giving the learners adequate time for practice and for application—for actually using the literacy skills they are acquiring. Again, making the connection with their existing knowledge helps them to integrate and remember new information and skills. Finally, the so what relates once more to relevance by providing learners with “outlets for creativity and dynamic interaction with the material and skills” (Gregory & Burkman, 2012, Ch. 3), which may involve using their home language or finding their own culturally specific applications. These five general recommen- dations help teachers to set the stage for making adjustments that benefit all learners. To implement any of these recommendations, however, it is useful to have tools. There are three that are particularly versatile.

Three Power Tools for Differentiated Instruction Whether teaching English language or any of the content areas, teachers will find that manipulatives and technology are multi- purpose tools that can be used to adjust instruction for English language learn- ers. Equally important is the power of collaboration.

Manipulatives One of the major benefits of manipula- tives is that the amount and type of lan- guage needed to use them is adjustable; they reduce the significance of language for less advanced learners but can also serve as prompts for more sophisti-

cated language use with intermediate or advanced learners. Objects that can be handled, arranged, and rearranged, can be used to teach colors, shapes, sizes, and also be used to illustrate prepositions such as above, below, around, beside, and so on. Interlocking blocks can be used to build objects around which stories are told and written, and more advanced learners can write or speak directions to less advanced learners on how to build or accom- plish something with objects. Manipulatives also help to make math and science content comprehensible. They give learners a way to test and confirm their mathematical reasoning and help them to solve problems. They also make learning more fun.

Technology Children in school today have never known a world without computers, cell phones, elec- tronic readers, and tablets. Today’s young people are familiar with and like technology, and it can be one of the most valuable tools in a teacher’s kit if it is used wisely. Schools vary greatly in terms of what technology is available, and technology itself changes so rapidly, (hardware

RPedrosa/iStock/Thinkstock

Both the calculator and abacus require less language or language-based thought to use, but the abacus has the advantage over the calculator as an instructional manipulative for ELL teachers. Why?

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Section 8.2 The Importance of High-Impact Strategies

and applications), making it difficult to provide specific recommendations. Nevertheless, there are a few basic directives that apply:

• For math, teach ELLs to use a calculator, if they don’t already know, and have them practice using it.

• Take advantage of the school’s available technology by staying up to date on soft- ware available through the school and at the many online sites for teachers, some of which are listed at the end of this chapter.

• Engage native speakers in recording stories or other passages for ELLs to follow as they read.

• Teach learners to use electronic dictionaries, bilingual if necessary, and to do inter- net research. The CCSS demands high levels of research, analytical, and synthesizing skills in the upper grades, and teaching ELLs to take advantage of all the resources available furthers their content knowledge, language skills, and reasoning abilities.

Collaboration Many program options for ELLs involve more than one teacher for at least part of the day—the classroom teacher and possibly a specialist ESL teacher, or an art, music, or physical education teacher. For example, art can play a very important role in language development (Chapter 7). We have seen that the organization of the CCSS provides incentive and opportunity for teachers to think holistically about the curriculum. The interdisciplinary approach “reflects the crucial role ELA teachers play in developing students’ literacy skills while at the same time acknowledging the impact other subject matter teachers have in students’ literacy development” (Bunch, Kibler, & Pimentel, 2012, p. 1). English language teachers will need to collaborate with other teach- ers and school personnel on teaching ELLs to read and comprehend nonfiction, to use language proficiency standards to support instruction, and to design appropriate assessment instruments to get a fair assessment of ELLs’ knowledge and skills. Just as language proficiency forms the foundation for other learning, so does language arts provide the curricular basis for teaching the other core subjects. Perhaps most importantly, teachers who work together, pooling their obser- vations as well as their skills and knowledge, reach a better understanding of their students and increase the likelihood of finding high-impact strategies that work for every learner.

In the next sections we will see opportunities for applying the five recommendations for diversifying instruction and for applying the three tools described here. Before we turn to our discussion of high-impact strategies that can be adapted for use with English language learn- ers, let’s remind ourselves why it is so important that teachers find highly effective strategies for these learners.

8.2 The Importance of High-Impact Strategies In Chapter 5 we saw the grim statistics for LTELLs: We know that too many ELLs become LTELLs because educational interventions are delayed, ineffective, or even absent. With every year and grade level that passes without ELLs reaching grade-level proficiency in language and content, their chances diminish for ever catching up. The result is an achievement gap between ELLs and non-ELLs. The evidence is abundant that even when other factors are con- trolled for, the ELL population fall behind the mainstream population in achievement, and the gap gets wider throughout the school years unless the ELLs are able to exit developmental English class in a timely manner. The evidence comes in a variety of forms:

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Section 8.2 The Importance of High-Impact Strategies

1. “In 2013, the achievement gap between non-ELL and ELL students [in the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) reading assessment] was 38 points at the 4th-grade level and 45 points at the 8th-grade level.” (Institute of Education Sciences, 2013).

2. Researchers studying the educational trajectories of ELL learners in Texas collected data for the years 1990–2009. Their findings tell a similar story: “Whereas 86% of students who exited an ELL program in three years ‘met the standard’ in math in the 11th grade, only 59% of long-term ELLs ‘met the standard.’” Those ELLs “who had been in the program for seven or more years were even less likely to meet standards (44%)” (Flores, Batalova, & Fix, 2012, p. 13).

3. Analyzing graduation data as well as post-graduation trajectories for Texas students in this same period, the researchers’ results showed “that ELL students who started in first grade and progressed ‘on time’ to grade twelve and who exited ELL programs within three years had much better outcomes than other ELL students as well as their non-ELL counterparts” (Flores, Batalova, & Fix, 2012, p. 20). Also, “the data raise serious doubts about the academic success of students whose parents opt out of English language development classes” (p. 21).

Table 8.1: Achievement levels among ELL students, white students, and Hispanic students

Math Reading

Achievement level Grade four Grade eight Grade four Grade eight

ELL students % % % %

Advanced <1 1 1 0

Proficient 11 5 6 4

Basic 43 23 21 24

Below basic 46 71 73 71

White students

Advanced 7 7 10 3

Proficient 40 30 30 34

Basic 42 42 35 43

Below basic 11 21 25 19

Hispanic students*

Advanced 1 1 2 1

Proficient 18 12 13 13

Basic 48 38 29 41

Below basic 33 50 56 45

*Both ELL and non-ELL students are counted in this category.

Source: NAEP, 2005 data

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Below Basic Basic Proficient/Advances

Grade 12 - NAEP Reading (2013) 100%

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Section 8.2 The Importance of High-Impact Strategies

4. Data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress in 2005 rated fourth and eighth graders’ proficiency levels in math and reading as advanced, proficient, basic, or below basic. Table 8.1 shows the percentages of ELLs, Hispanic (ELL and non- ELL), and white non-ELLs in each category.

5. According to the Education Trust, the 2013 assessment of educational progress as measured at grade 12 showed the following:

• One in four public high school seniors demonstrated reading skills below the basic level.

• African American, Latino, and Native American students are about one-third to one-half as likely as white or Asian students to be proficient in reading. See Figure 8.1.

• Over the past two decades there has been little change in overall reading scores. • Since 1992, reading scores have risen for Asian students but remained flat for

other groups. See Figure 8.2. • Only one in four seniors demonstrated proficient or advanced math skills (NSF,

2004). • Approximately one in ten African American, Native American, and Latino students

demonstrate proficient or advanced math skills. • Nationwide, math scores have risen only slightly since 2005. • Math scores for Asian and Latino students have risen more than other groups, but

Latinos still lag far behind. See Figure 8.3.

Below Basic Basic Proficient/Advances

Grade 12 - NAEP Reading (2013) 100%

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Figure 8.1: Reading proficiency rates for diverse 12th graders, 2013

A higher percentage of African American, Latino, and Native American students have below basic levels of reading proficiency.

The Education Trust, (2014, May 7), Statement From The Education Trust on 12th Grade Reading and Mathematics Results From the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Retrieved from http://edtrust.org/press_release/statement-from-the- education-trust-on-12th-grade-reading-and-mathematics-results-from-the-2013-national-assessment-of-educational-progress/

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Grade 12 - NAEP Reading 330

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Section 8.2 The Importance of High-Impact Strategies

Perhaps the most succinct statement of the issue comes from the Texas study in which researchers concluded, based on their data, those ELLs “who had been in the program for seven or more years were even less likely to meet standards (44%)” than other ELLs (Flores, Batalova, & Fix, 2012, p. 13). It seems to come down to time and how we use it.

Throughout our discussions, time has been a recurring theme; ELLs are already at higher risk in the school system because of their more limited English, and the dual demands of language and content-area learning mean that teachers cannot waste time with teaching strategies that don’t work. And yet, there is so much diversity. Every child is different from the one sitting at the next desk; every class is different from the one next door and from the one that sat in the same room the year before. Only the curriculum and the content are constant. Or are they? The goals and objectives are the same for all learners, but the path for attaining them can vary greatly as we have seen in discussing ELLs in previous chapters. The purpose of the right high-impact strategies is to make the path for ELLs straighter and easier to travel. It is cru- cial that education professionals find ways of more effectively serving the ELL population to prevent their becoming LTELLs and putting at risk their opportunities for career and higher education. Hispanic learners are at particular risk, and as we have seen, they make up the majority of ELLs in the public school system. High-yield or high-impact strategies are, thus, especially important.

Grade 12 - NAEP Reading 330

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Figure 8.2: Reading scores for diverse twelfth graders, 1992–2013

Reading scores of Asian/Pacific Islander students improved beginning in 2005, while the scores of other twelfth-grade students remained constant.

The Education Trust, (2014, May 7), Statement From The Education Trust on 12th Grade Reading and Mathematics Results From the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Retrieved from http://edtrust.org/press_release/statement-from- the-education-trust-on-12th-grade-reading-and-mathematics-results-from-the-2013-national-assessment-of-educational- progress/

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WhiteLatino American Indian Alaska Native

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Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

8.3 High-Impact Strategies Learn, achieve, and do it fast! That appears to be the take-away for ELLs. The teacher’s job is to make it happen. The education literature abounds with books and articles on high-impact instructional strategies, many of them based on research conducted by Robert Marzano and his colleagues. Titles such as “Nine High-Impact Strategies that Work” or “High-Yield Strate- gies that Get Results” imply that there are easy fixes for complicated situations. Marzano himself recognizes the fallacies implicit in some of the ways these strategies have been implemented. One of the major problems has been to assume that instructional strategies are the only ones that work, when in fact, strategies for classroom management and assess- ment are also important. Marzano has identified high-impact strategies in all three areas (Marzano, R. J., 2009) that have been widely adopted in this country. His strategies do not specifically address ELLs, but they are well-aligned with the achievement goals that ELLs are expected to reach, and so we examine here the applicability of several of these strate- gies for ELLs.

There is a tendency among educators to apply Marzano’s strategies too literally, to assume they are the only strategies that work, or to attempt to apply one set independent of the oth- ers. For example, some educators will adopt the Marzano instructional strategies without

Figure 8.3: Math scores for diverse twelfth graders, 2005–2013

Math scores for Asian/Pacific Islander and Latino students indicate larger gains between 2005 and 2013.

WhiteLatino American Indian Alaska Native

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Asian/Pacific Islander

Grade 12 - NAEP Math 200

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The Education Trust, (2014, May 7), Statement From The Education Trust on 12th Grade Reading and Mathematics Results From the 2013 National Assessment of Educational Progress. Retrieved from http://edtrust.org/press_release/statement-from- the-education-trust-on-12th-grade-reading-and-mathematics-results-from-the-2013-national-assessment-of-educational- progress/

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Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

reference to the assessment or classroom management strategies. But ELL teachers need to understand how the three areas work together and to have in their arsenal techniques or applications for all three. They interact with and support one another, as we see in Figure 8.4 which is based on the categorization in Marzano (2009) and serves as an advance organizer for this section of the chapter. Given the limitations of time and space, not all the strategies will be discussed in this chapter; while they are all applicable to one degree or another, the only ones to be discussed here are those in which the application may not be obvious, or may differ slightly for ELLs, and those which clearly exemplify the communicative approach to teaching discussed in Chapters 5 and 6. The nine strategies are summarized in Robert Marzano’s Nine High-impact Instructional Strategies.

Content Strategies These are the strategies that help students to understand content. More specifically, for ELLs, they include strategies for dealing with the academic language necessary to further their understanding. Strategies in this general category are useful for introducing new content, for

Marzano’s Nine High-Impact Instructional Strategies 1. Identifying similarities and differences. Breaking down problems by creating charts or

by comparing, classifying, and creating analogies helps students to understand complex problems.

2. Summarizing and note taking. Activities that force students to analyze and state what is important and what is not in their own words promotes comprehension.

3. Reinforcing effort and providing recognition helps learners to see the importance of effort and allows them to make the connection between effort and achievement.

4. Homework and practice. Providing opportunities to extend learning outside the class- room in assignments targeted to help with difficult concepts, and with a purpose that students can identify, maximizes learning.

5. Nonlinguistic representations. Providing learners with images, graphics, objects, move- ment, or realia, that support the material being learned helps to create additional neural pathways that assist both learning and recall. (Carey, 2014).

6. Cooperative learning. Groups that are formed according to interests and experiences and are not too large allow learners to develop social skills and to learn with peers, thus fostering independence.

7. Setting objectives and providing feedback. Students need direction and they need feed- back in order to learn. Teachers can help students to personalize the goals set to maxi- mize their own learning.

8. Generating and testing hypotheses. Higher-order thinking skills can be developed through using deductive reasoning in all subject areas.

9. Cues, questions, and advance organizers. When students can use what they already know in the learning of a new task, they learn and remember better. Different kinds of advance organizers can help, as described in the fifth strategy above.

Source: Marzano, 2009; Carey, 2014

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Content

Spontaneous Behaviors

New

Practice/deeper understanding

Cognitively Complex Tasks

Goals/Progress/Success

Classroom routines/ procedures

Engaging students

Adherence or non- adherence to classroom

rules

Maintaining relationship with students

Communicating high expectations

1–8

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RoutinesStrategy Type

Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

practicing, integrating and deepening understanding of previously learned content, and for helping ELLs to engage in cognitively complex learning activities.

Introducing New Content How we prepare ELLs for new information, whether linguistic or content-based, sets them up either for success or for frustration and possibly failure. Useful strategies include:

1. Identify critical information. ELLs need a head start on content-area learning. They need to know ahead of time which information is most important in what they are about to read or hear. They also need to be prepared for the new words and the kinds of sentence and text structures used in academic texts, not only so that they can understand what they read and hear, but so that they can speak and write appropriately. For them, then, an important application of this strategy is to explicitly teach the academic language needed to understand the content.

Figure 8.4: High-impact strategies and applications

Though not specifically designed for ELLs, Robert Marzano’s high-impact strategies align well with the achievement goals ELLs are expected to reach.

Content

Spontaneous Behaviors

New

Practice/deeper understanding

Cognitively Complex Tasks

Goals/Progress/Success

Classroom routines/ procedures

Engaging students

Adherence or non- adherence to classroom

rules

Maintaining relationship with students

Communicating high expectations

1–8

1–7

1–3

1–2

1–9

RoutinesStrategy Type

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Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

Younger learners will likely have had more exposure to and will understand the structural properties of stories better than they will nonfiction. They will need to have simplified materials while they are being introduced to informational text. For example, a starting point for kindergarten or first grade ELLs would be step-by-step directions for making muffins or constructing a kite, accompanied by illustrations or pictures. Teachers point out the sequencing words, then, next, after, and so on, and help them to write directions for another simple task. Sentence frames with high- lighted signal words are useful for teaching other relationships such as cause-effect or compare-contrast: “The snow is melting because _____________________,” and “The sun is shining, but _____________________.”

Another difficulty with academic language is the vocabulary. If learners don’t under- stand key words, they won’t be able to figure out the main ideas. Depending on the subject matter and the level of difficulty, there may be a large number of unfamiliar words in informational text. While a large number of unfamiliar words in a text can increase the reading difficulty initially, they also represent good teaching opportu- nity, precisely because they are contextualized. ELLs can benefit from vocabulary maps such as the one shown in Figure 8.5 which serve to make connections with known words, to introduce new and specialized meanings for familiar words, and to introduce synonyms, related words, and antonyms.

If ELLs are to become proficient independent readers, it is important to teach them strategies for guessing words from context. Remember that reading has been char- acterized as a psycholinguistic “guessing game,” and as learners begin to read less narrative and more informational text, it will be critical for them to have strategies for figuring out word meanings. While useful, dictionaries (preferably English only) should be used only for highly technical vocabulary or if other strategies fail. Over reliance on dictionaries is counterproductive for learners because they need to develop the ability to determine meaning from context in order to become proficient readers.

2. Organize ELLs to interact with new knowledge. ELLs can benefit from working in small groups or dyads when they are learning new content.

Cooperative learning activities promote peer interaction, which helps the development of language and the learning of concepts and content. It is important to assign ELLs to different teams so that they can benefit from English language role models. ELLs learn to express themselves with greater confidence when working in small teams. In addition to ‘picking up’ vocabu- lary, ELLs benefit from observing how their peers learn and solve problems. (ColorínColorado, 2007)

Recall in Chapter 5 (Figure 5.1) that some seating arrangements are more conducive to language learning than others. No one arrangement works for every situation; sometimes a dyad is effective, and other times a task calls for a larger group; sometimes a homogenous group is desirable, while other times more advanced learners can help less proficient learners while gaining meaningful prac- tice. Many teachers, however, find that groups of four work well for many lessons because they allow learners to break into dyads for some tasks and return to the larger group for others.

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Name:

My Sentences

My brother got lost in the crowd.

My sentences

We tried to crowd too many people

into the car.

Date:

Crowd

Noun: a large group of people

Verb: to pack or fill to capacity

My sentences My sentences

Synonyms

mass, throng, hoarde,

multitude, swarm

Synonyms

pack, fill, jam

Words I need to look up:

capacity, horde

Antonyms small group,

sparse gathering,

few people

Antonyms scatter,

spread out, separate

Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

3. Preview new content. Remember the passage on Olympic curling in Chapter 6? Although the primary objective is to rely on text, some background knowledge is essential to understanding the text. The language used in social studies might not be as difficult for ELLs as the concepts themselves, since they may have little familiar- ity with some of the topics covered—for example, the different levels of government and how they are structured and chosen—or with the U.S. perspective on the world in general, (for example, the notion of the Far East will have a different meaning to Asians than to North or South Americans). Another kind of background that it is helpful to build for ELLs is the structure of academic texts. Language arts curriculum

Figure 8.5: Vocabulary map for the word crowd

A vocabulary map can help ELLs make connections among known words, synonyms, and antonyms.

Name:

My Sentences

My brother got lost in the crowd.

My sentences

We tried to crowd too many people

into the car.

Date:

Crowd

Noun: a large group of people

Verb: to pack or fill to capacity

My sentences My sentences

Synonyms

mass, throng, hoarde,

multitude, swarm

Synonyms

pack, fill, jam

Words I need to look up:

capacity, horde

Antonyms small group,

sparse gathering,

few people

Antonyms scatter,

spread out, separate

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Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

has typically focused on stories, especially in elementary school, and the shift to nonfiction will likely require some advance work with learners on how those texts are structured.

Informational text and literary text have different structures. For younger ELLs who are mostly familiar with story structure, it is helpful to teach the structural differ- ences between literary and informational text. Informational text often involves the development of an argument or line of reasoning. Therefore, teachers need to be able to show how to identify the word cues or signals. (See Signal Words for Five Text Structures.) Although the goal, ultimately, is for ELLs to acquire the ability to extrap- olate meaning from text by learning the structural, linguistic, and mechanical con- ventions, and the vocabulary used in academic writing, the starting place must be with what they already know. By identifying cultural differences that might interfere with comprehension and eliciting what learners already know about a given subject, teachers eliminate some of the barriers and open the doors to understanding infor- mational texts.

4. Chunk content into smaller, manageable “bites.” One of the purposes of advance organizers is to show the major points and the relationships among them. One of the purposes of organizing books into chapters and chapters into sections under mean- ingful headings is to break the content into more easily “digestible” pieces. What is overwhelming in the whole can be made very accessible when reduced to coherent parts.

Signal Words for Five Text Structures Description: above, below, under, beside, down, up, across; color words: blue, green, red, yellow; adjectives: tall, old, short, squat, round, young

Chronological: next, before, then, first, second, third, finally, during

Comparison/contrast: on the one hand, on the other hand, in contrast, similarly, however, but, compared with, different from, similar to

Cause/effect: because, for this reason, since, as a result, therefore, then, in order to, due to, as a consequence

Problem/solution: because, since, consequently, as a result, therefore, solve, solution, resolve, as a consequence

Notice that many of the signal words for cause/effect and problem/solution structures are the same. Although they will have one main organizational structure, many informational texts will also have other logical structures embedded in them. For example, a problem may be stated (“The country of Haiti faces grave economic challenges”), the causes and their effects described (“Its geography makes it vulnerable to major weather events such as hurricanes, its history as a French colony [may involve chronology], its lack of natural resources”), and the solution, or inability to reach one, stated in terms of addressing the causes. Source: Adapted from McLaughlin, & Overturf, 2014.

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Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

5. Process new information as a group. There is great value in “talking through” each “chunk” of information. The teacher helps learners to summarize what they have covered so far. It is also good practice to ask questions in order to gauge ELLs’ under- standing, to identify the source and correct any misunderstandings or fill in any gaps before moving on. Five Ideas for Cooperative Learning lists other ways of using cooperative learning for processing new content information.

6. Elaborate on new information. As we learned in Chapter 6, technical and scientific writing may employ words that look familiar but are used in precise ways. A valu- able way of elaborating and expanding on the new information that is contained in science or other content-area texts is to expand upon the meanings of these special- ized words. Ideally, readers learn to find the meanings of unfamiliar words in the text itself. This is an opportunity to make use of prior knowledge of a subject, where it exists, or if not, to show students how to use textual information to figure out the meanings of technical terms.

Most English words have more than one meaning, some of which are idiomatic. Idioms are words or groups of words used in such a way that the meaning cannot be deduced from the conventional meanings. The English language also abounds with homophones and homographs. As discussed in Chapters 6 and 7, ELL teachers should exploit every opportunity to expand their learners’ receptive and productive

Five Ideas for Cooperative Learning 1. Round robin. Introduce a category such as “state capitols” and have learners take turns

naming the state and its capitol. The category could be birds, mammals, fictional heroes, words that start with “p,” and so on.

2. Writearound. This can be used for summarizing or for creative writing. Begin by pro- viding each learner in each group with the start of a sentence and ask everybody in the group to finish it. They then pass the paper to the right (or left), read the sentence, and add one of their own. Two or three rounds should complete the story or summary. Learners then read each story to the class or “publish” it in other ways.

3. Team puzzle. The teacher divides a text into four sections and gives each person in the group one-quarter of the text. Each learner reads the section and then teaches the others. They collectively put the piece together again and summarize its main ideas and purpose.

4. Literature circle. The teacher makes sets of four books available. Learners choose their own books and groups form on that basis. Learners read the books individually, but the groups are responsible for analyzing and discussing what they read. Learners will need different amounts of guidance, depending on the complexity of the content and their language proficiency levels.

5. Math teams. Pairs of learners can work together on math worksheets. One learner does the first problem while the other acts as “coach”. Roles are reversed for the next prob- lem. After completing the first two (or four) problems, they confer with another group to check their answers and talk through any errors.

Source: Adapted from http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/content/cooperative/

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Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

vocabulary by teaching the full range of possible meanings, so that learners are not surprised or confused when they encounter what they thought was a familiar word which doesn’t make sense in the context. If, for example, they have learned the meaning of clear in the context of “It’s a clear day,” they might not understand “I cleared my calendar” or “There are clear reasons for believing in climate change.”

In general, ELL teachers should make use of any opportunity they can to elaborate on new information in a way that helps ELLs to integrate it into their existing knowl- edge and experience. Asking questions that elicit opinions or judgments or that require them to make and defend inferences is a good way of expanding knowledge.

7. Record and represent knowledge. One of the Common Core standards related to key ideas and details requires that learners from third grade onward be capable of summarizing what they read. Teaching ELLs to take notes on which they can base their summaries helps them to develop better listening skills and to become more adept and efficient readers. One of the ways that teachers can assist is to identify the number of key ideas to listen (or read) for, and list one or two of them, leaving the others blank. Similarly, they can provide one or two support- ing details. It is also helpful to show ELLs that notes need not be in sentence form but can be organized numerically or graphically using arrows or whatever mechanism works, then later they can be written into summary statements in sentence form.

8. Reflect on learning. Once a lesson is completed, it is useful for teachers to reflect with learners on what they have learned. For young learn- ers, the exercise can be as simple as “What new things have we learned about giraffes today?” For older learners, the exercise can be more complex. For example, the teacher might ask each learner before reading a passage to list everything they think they know about a topic—world population growth or the effects of fossil fuels on the planet. After each lesson, the teacher can ask what they have learned, to confirm, raise doubt, or refute each belief. For learners at all ability levels, it is an oppor- tunity for their teachers to do comprehen- sion checks and to probe the source of any misunderstanding.

Practicing and Deepening Understanding of Content Most of the content presented in schools comes from written text, but some of the “standard issue” texts used in school may be too difficult for ELLs. Texts writ- ten for native speakers may need to be supplemented or adapted to make the language easier to understand, while preserving the content. Teachers may look for texts presenting the same material in simpler language

Goodluz/iStock/Thinkstock

This boy is writing a summary based on notes he has taken. Taking notes also involves the ability to summarize ideas, though, because few people can write down every word they hear.

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Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

before introducing the more complex texts, or they may find it useful to provide advance orga- nizers for the more complex texts:

1. Review content. Reviewing previously learned material is always good teaching prac- tice, but for ELLs it helps to solidify the integration of the content and also provides an opportunity to expand vocabulary within familiar content by introducing syn- onyms, antonyms, or other related words and phrases within the review.

2. Organize students to engage in authentic practice. In order to learn to use language, ELLs need ample opportunity to speak it and authentic settings and reasons for using it. Small group work helps ELLs to negotiate meaning with classmates, and they also benefit from the feedback of peers, which may be less formal and more comprehensible than teacher feedback.

3. Practice skills, strategies, and processes. Provide practice by creating text-dependent questions appropriate to grade and language proficiency levels. Learners need prac- tice in finding the answers within the text, and so structuring questions that cannot be answered on the basis of prior knowledge without having read the text provides valuable support. Questions such as “What is the capital of Montana?” or “What is the most populous state in the United States?” require little or no dependence on text. Either the learner already knows the answer or can scan the text quickly for words that match those in the question. On the other hand, questions such as “What are the main factors contributing to poverty in the United States?” require the reader to extrapolate and summarize information from text.

4. Examine similarities and differences. Teaching ELLs to analyze what they read and hear involves the ability to:

• Compare and contrast • Understand and generate metaphors and analogies • Classify and categorize

Very simple exercises such as the one shown in Figure 8.6 begins to teach the obser- vational skills and the language that will be needed later for more complex analysis in academic text.

5. Explore errors in reasoning. Having ELLs retell a story or to outline the argument from something they have heard or read achieves two purposes: It helps to develop their note-taking and summarizing skills, and it helps the teacher to discover any errors in comprehension or reasoning and address the source of those errors. Another dimen- sion of this strategy is to ensure that learners can distinguish fact from opinion. Recall 7 Billion and Counting! from Chapter 7? This is an excellent example of a text that can be used to help ELLs to determine what is fact and what is opinion. Teachers can build this understanding through the use of advance organizers such as the one shown in Figure 8.7 and by incremental questioning such as in the following example:

a. What is the population of the world? b. How many people are born each minute? c. How do we know? Or, who reported it? d. What will the population of the world be in 2030? e. Is the statement “the world is jam-packed” a fact or an opinion? f. How do you know? g. Can you find other opinions in the piece?

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Name: Date:

1. Make a list of all the properties shared by each shape in Set A 2. Make a list of all the properties shared by each shape in Set B. 3. Use the following words in at least one of your lists: a. Monochromatic b. Curve or Curved c. Angle or angular d. Outlined 4. Begin one or more sentences with All of the shapes in Set A 5. Begin one or more sentences with None of the shapes in Set B 6. This shape fits best in Set but could also fit in Set because but it could also fit in Set because

Set A Set B

Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

Some topics that might be used include:

a. Do you think there are too many people on Earth? b. What might cause the population of the Earth to grow faster? Or slower? c. What do people need to live that there might not be enough of if the population

grew too fast?

These techniques can be adapted for use for learners in the upper grades who also need additional content and language support.

6. Use homework productively. Homework is an opportunity for learners to engage with material on their own time and to find its “place” in their own “catalog” of learning. Encourage ELLs not only to complete additional tasks related to what they

Figure 8.6: Categorizing by comparing and contrasting

This type of exercise allows learners to practice observation and language skills that will be required to complete more complex analyses of academic texts.

Name: Date:

Set A Set B

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“big” news

Earth is jam packed

Name: Date:

7 Billion and Counting!

7 billion people on

earth

Population continues to

grow

261 people born each

minute

Population doubled

since 1960

Other? World Population

Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

have learned but to come back with questions about anything they may not have understood or things they would like to know more about. Homework assignments are ideally suited for teachers to provide targeted assistance to individual learners, whether through specific questions or supplemental reading or listening activities.

Homework is a good place in which to take advantage of technology. One of the advantages of the computer for ELLs is that some of the materials intended for

Figure 8.7: Advanced organizer for discriminating between fact and opinion

Teachers can use this type of advanced organizer to help ensure learners comprehend a story by encouraging them to summarize the story, prompting them to distinguish fact from opinion.

“big” news

Earth is jam packed

Name: Date:

7 Billion and Counting!

7 billion people on

earth

Population continues to

grow

261 people born each

minute

Population doubled

since 1960

Other? World Population

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Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

Kerry Kangaroo Hops Kerry Kangaroo was growing up. Mama Kangaroo let him out of her pouch.

“You are getting big,” said Mama. “Big Kangaroo kids need to learn to hop.”

Kerry tried out his strong legs and big feet. He hopped a few times. He hopped and hopped. He hopped away from Mama. He hopped here and there. He even hopped with his eyes closed.

Splash!

(continued)

native speakers are more accessible to ELLs when they can proceed at their own pace, repeat and review as necessary, look up further information, and so on. That they can do all these things away from the judgment and scrutiny of peers and teacher empowers them to become independent learners.

7. Revise and clarify information. Learning is an evolutionary and transformational process. As we learn new things, we figure out how our new knowledge fits into what we already knew. We revise what we previously believed to be true, or we form new opinions. When teachers clarify new information or help ELLs to revise their own understandings, they expand knowledge. Helping ELLs to add to or expand their definitions of words or learn how they are used idiomatically is a very easy but effective way for teachers to build content and language knowledge simultaneously.

Cognitively Complex Tasks The focus of the Common Core standards is for learners to develop abilities to read, under- stand, and undertake progressively more complex academic tasks, and, ultimately, to gener- ate and test hypotheses, especially in science (Chapter 7). For ELLs, the complexity resides both in the language and in the content, and so it is especially important to prepare them in to engage with more complex academic material. Useful strategies for teaching cognitively complex tasks include the following:

1. Organize learners for cognitively complex tasks. Learners may benefit from working in groups to “pool” their knowledge and skills to complete cognitively complex tasks. Students who are linguistically more advanced are often able to help those less pro- ficient, explaining or describing using language that is closer to their comprehension levels. Before group work can be effective, however, teachers may need to analyze texts and ensure that ELLs are knowledgeable about the structure and vocabulary found in complex academic writing.

2. Engage learners in complex tasks. What ELLs find complex may differ from what native speakers find complex because of gaps in language. An activity that works well for young ELLs is to engage them in a discussion of whether a story is true, possibly true, or fantasy, and make them defend their decisions about each. Even first graders can take part in an activity such as the one in Kerry Kangaroo Hops.

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Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

Older and more advanced learners need to engage in problem-solving, decision mak- ing, and experimental inquiry. Math, social studies, and science are all well-suited to these tasks. One math example is shown in Five Ideas for Cooperative Learning, but other subjects also lend themselves to problem-solving and decision making. One effective technique for use in any subject area is to use scenarios. Teachers con- struct in advance scenarios that involve problems to be solved. In A Courtroom in the Classroom (Chapter 7), we can see that this article sets the stage for many problem- solving and decision making activities. It is an ideal vehicle for scenario-based activities that learners could work on cooperatively. Two examples are provided in Classroom Courtroom: Two Scenarios.

Classroom Courtroom: Two Scenarios Chris Crosser has been charged with jay-walking and endangerment of life. His trial begins today.

1. First, be sure that you understand each word in italics and how it is used by explaining what crime has been committed.

2. Define the job of each of the following participants:

• Defendant • Defense attorney • Prosecutor

(continued)

Kerry Kangaroo Hops (continued) Kerry hopped right into a water hole! Mama Kangaroo helped Kerry out.

“That is too much hopping for one day!” cried Kerry.

He hopped back into his cozy pouch. He was tired. He fell fast asleep.

What is true? What could be true? What is not true?

Baby kangaroos sleep in their mothers’ pouches.

The baby Kangaroo might be named Kerry.

Kangaroos do not speak.

Baby Kangaroos grow up. Kerry might hop into the water.

They get big.

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Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

The second scenario requires learners to think inferentially, to posit and test hypoth- eses, to consider the difference between fact and opinion, and to reach a conclusion. What other judgment, problem-solving, decision making, or hypothesis testing will be required in the two scenarios? Using scenarios for problem-solving and decision making encourages independent learning and also allows the teacher to adopt the role of resource provider and guide.

3. Provide resources and guidance. Perhaps the most important aspect of guidance is to provide scaffolding support so that ELLs at different levels of language proficiency can participate in meaningful conversation and writing using complex text.

We learned in the last chapter that instructional scaffolding builds on existing skills and provides support to move learners to the next level of competency. Because the demands of academic language in the content areas are progressively greater through the grade levels, the kinds of support will vary from learner to learner as well as from year to year. Some learners in the lower elementary years will need highly structured questions to guide them through the text, some will require additional vocabulary support, and others may need the background information mentioned above. Scaffolding activities “include modeling the use of academic or technical language; contextualizing academic or technical language through the use of visuals, gestures, graphic organizers, and demonstrations; and using hands-on learning activities that involve the use of academic or technical language” (Arizona Department of Education, 2011, p. 3).

Classroom Courtroom: Two Scenarios (continued) • Judge • Clerk • Police officer (witness) who wrote the ticket.

3. Choose classmates to play each of the roles. Others in the class will be in the jury pool.

You have heard the case against Chris Crosser, a 21-year-old man accused of endangering him- self and others by crossing the street against the light in busy traffic. Both sides have presented their case, and the case has gone to you, the jury. Please select a foreman and then examine the following evidence:

1. The crime was crossing the street against the light in busy traffic. 2. It occurred at 6:30 p.m. on a Friday in November. 3. Two eyewitnesses testified that the defendant was having dinner with them at their

home six miles away at the time of the crime. 4. One of these witnesses is the defendant’s cousin and the other is the cousin’s girlfriend. 5. One eyewitness, a 45-year-old woman, testified that she saw the defendant commit the

crime. 6. This witness was approximately 25 feet away from the defendant at the time. 7. Security cameras at a nearby restaurant caught images of a man who bore strong resem-

blance to the defendant as he stepped onto the sidewalk and entered the restaurant.

How would you proceed? The fate of this defendant is in your hands! (Additional prompts could be provided if needed.)

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Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

Hongqi Zhang/iStock/Thinkstock

A trophy is one way of recognizing achievement, but success can be celebrated in more subtle but equally effective ways every day.

Establishing and Maintaining Routines Routines are not only of the “housekeeping” variety. The routines that ELL teachers need to concern themselves with relate not only to how they establish and maintain a classroom that is conducive to learning but to how they communicate learning goals and track and celebrate learners’ progress.

Communicate Learning Goals, Track Progress, and Celebrate Success It is easier to get somewhere if we know where we’re going. It is also easier to stay motivated if we can see that we are making progress on the route and if we mark milestones along the way. The three strategies in this category are about setting objectives and indicators for meet- ing them.

1. Provide clear learning goals and scales or rubrics to measure those goals. Effective teachers are those who set high expectations for their students, even those who are traditionally “underachievers”. This music teacher explains his frustration in dealing with misconceptions about innate ability and the low expectations they can cause:

As a music educator, this author battled constantly with student and par- ent misconceptions such as “music is a gift” or “either you’ve got it or you don’t”. Music, like so many other human endeavors, is learned, and the expectations that the teacher holds for each and every student are not only important, but perhaps determinant of out- comes. Teachers must develop their own teach- ing skills (also learned!), believe both in their own effectiveness and in a student’s potential to learn, and act to foster the learning they expect. (Miller, 2001)

2. Track learner progress. Design appropriate assessments for ELLs at each grade and language proficiency level. As we saw in Chapter 5, ELLs require some accommodation when it comes to assessing their content-area knowledge. The language arts teacher needs not only to have an accurate indication of learners’ language ability, but also be able to provide advice to content-area teachers about how to assess learners’ con- tent knowledge independent of their language proficiency.

3. Acknowledge and celebrate student success. One of the exciting things about teaching young ELLs is being witness to the progress they make daily. Acknowledging this progress is both motivating and affirming. Some successes will be celebrated by the entire class or even the school, but others

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Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

will be more private—the quiet acknowledgement to the learner of the progress a learner has made in reading or math, or in a note on a returned assignment that can be taken home for parents to see. Learners who receive positive feedback for their accomplishments are more likely to accept constructive criticism or error correc- tion in the helpful spirit in which they are intended.

Establish and Maintain Classroom Rules and Expectations While it is important to motivate learners with interesting and even fun activities and to wel- come some spontaneity, a classroom that is orderly, without being oppressive, and where learners know what to expect, is more conducive to teaching and learning.

1. Establish classroom routines. Elementary students are more free to concentrate on language and learning when classroom routines are familiar. Knowing what to expect in the science curriculum and being able to see in advance how it is orga- nized will help learners make connections between topics, relate to prior knowl- edge, and reinforce the sense of familiarity; it also helps parents or others who may help with homework to understand what broader objectives are being served by a particular lesson.

At the lesson level, outlines or graphic organizers provide an overview or roadmap of the lesson’s objectives and key concepts. Effective lessons are planned and have structure and flow that make them easier to follow. They also make the class more predictable (in a good way!) and comfortable for learners. Lesson flow maps may vary in some details from teacher to teacher, but the one shown in Figure 8.8 has the main elements of a lesson and is adaptable for different teachers and subject areas.

2. Organize the classroom layout for learning. A classroom that is organized for learn- ing is rich in resources, visually engaging, and inviting. Furnishings should be easily moveable to allow different size groups to work on different kinds of proj- ects, and there should be ample space for displaying student work. Traffic patterns should be established for ease in movement without distracting or interfering with work.

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Statement of Title

or Topic

What We Know (active Background

Knowledge)

What We Think We’re Going to Learn

(Prediction)

Presentation (Chunk of Material)

Summarize

What we learned (Review)

Facts Opinions

Follow-up (Practice)

Homework (Individualized

Instruction, authentic practice...)

What we want to find out

Discussion

Comprehension Check

How? (Sources)

Name: Date:

Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

Figure 8.8: Sample lesson flow diagram

This type of flow diagram can be adapted according to the specific subject area and lesson the teacher wants to cover.

Statement of Title

or Topic

What We Know (active Background

Knowledge)

What We Think We’re Going to Learn

(Prediction)

Presentation (Chunk of Material)

Summarize

What we learned (Review)

Facts Opinions

Follow-up (Practice)

Homework (Individualized

Instruction, authentic practice...)

What we want to find out

Discussion

Comprehension Check

How? (Sources)

Name: Date:

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Section 8.3 High-Impact Strategies

Table 8.2: Strategies and applications for dealing with spontaneous behaviors

Engage learners. Deal with learners who adhere and do not adhere to classroom rules.

Maintain relationships with students.

Communicate high expectations.

Monitor attention and participation. Notice and react when learners are inattentive or not participating.

Demonstrate awareness of variations in learner behavior. Marzano calls this “with-it-ness.”

Understand stu- dents’ interests and backgrounds.

Demonstrate value and respect for “low- expectancy” learners. Low expectations can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Respect learners who struggle and set high yet attain- able goals for them.

Use academic “games” to re-engage learners.

Apply consequences. Use behaviors that indicate regard for learners. Respect for ELLs as individuals and for their cultures makes them more comfortable and willing to take linguistic risks.

Ask questions of “low- expectancy” learners. Tiered questions allow these learners to participate actively in lower-level questions and passively in higher- level questions.

Manage response rates. Give ELLs adequate time but do not allow time for attention to wane.

Acknowledge com- pliance with rules and procedures. Positive feedback serves not only to motivate but to rein- force the rules.

Display objectivity and control. Teachers, like parents, have a role other than “friend”.

Probe incorrect answers to determine the source. It is easier for teachers to correct a misunder- standing or fix a prob- lem if they understand why it occurred.

Use physical movement. Having ELLs move to different groups or learning centers or using activities that require some movement helps to maintain interest and focus.

(continued)

Responding Spontaneously Careful planning does not require that every moment of classroom time be scripted; in fact, it would not be possible to have much authentic language use if it were. Students do not always respond in the way that would be ideal for moving the lesson forward; sometimes students are slow to respond or do not respond at all. Other times, students may not follow classroom rules or may even be disruptive. Teachers need to be able to respond to whatever happens in the classroom to maintain focus on the learning outcomes they are trying to achieve. Table 8.2 summarizes the strategies involved in this category.

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Section 8.4 Action Research: Learning from Practice

8.4 Action Research: Learning from Practice The strategies we have examined so far have been research based, relying extensively on the work of Robert Marzano and his colleagues. Their own research was synthesized with the work of countless other researchers who have investigated effective practice for many decades. Adapting and using strategies that research and practice have shown to have a high impact is an excellent starting place for ELL teachers, but ultimately, every teacher needs to adapt those strategies to learners’ particular needs. As much as we rely on the experience of others, we also know that our own practice and experience as teachers is also a valuable resource.

Beginning teachers sometimes despair when a lesson doesn’t work or when learners seem confused; more experienced teachers know that not every strategy works with every learner, that many instructional ideas need just a little tweaking to make them more effective, and that some should just be discarded. Even though they may not document what they have learned in their own classrooms, throughout the years, teachers learn from experience what works and what doesn’t. They adapt, improve, and expand what works, and abandon what doesn’t. They are, in a very real sense, action researchers.

Action research is “a disciplined process of inquiry conducted by and for those taking the action. The primary reason for engaging in action research is to assist the actor in improving or refining his or her actions” (Sagor, 2000, Ch. 1). Why is it important? Much of the literature on action research focuses on school improvement as the ultimate goal, but it is also appli- cable for individual teachers because “no group of people are more emotional and passionate

Engage learners. Deal with learners who adhere and do not adhere to classroom rules.

Maintain relation- ships with students.

Communicate high expectations.

Present unusual infor- mation (or information in an unusual way).

Maintain a lively rhythm. ELLs are less likely to get bored or lose focus when a lively pace is maintained.

Demonstrate enthusi- asm and intensity.

Encourage and use friendly controversy.

Provide opportunities for learners to talk about themselves.

Table 8.2: Strategies and applications for dealing with spontaneous behaviors (continued)

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Section 8.4 Action Research: Learning from Practice

about promoting universal student success than classroom teachers” (Sagor, 2011, Ch. 1). Action research, as its name suggests, leads to strategic actions, but before teachers can engage in research leading to actions, they need to determine a focus, and in order to do that, they need to reflect. Reflection is, thus, a very useful precursor to action research. What sets action research apart from other kinds of research is that it has immediate applicability to the person conducting it.

Sagor suggests using written narratives as a means of reflection and has found that the out- comes teachers usually envision in their narratives fall into three categories: performance tar- gets, process targets, and program targets. Performance targets focus on the learners—what they know, what they can do, what they choose to do, and how they feel about themselves and the situations they are in. Program targets are school-level outcomes (2011, Ch. 1) affected by factors such as the accountability movement. As we have seen in the past seven chapters, the high performance targets for ELLs and the expectations set for school performance put a great deal of pressure on teachers. Process targets focus on the teacher and especially those techniques and strategies that are “keepers” because they have been found to be successful. Succinctly put, every day, the ELL teacher is confronted with the task of figuring out, not only for each class, but for each learner, what the most appropriate strategy is for teaching the content in order to meet the learning objectives.

Action research is conducted by practising language teachers because they themselves are valuable sources of knowledge regarding their own classroom situations, and as a result change can be implemented more credibly because practising teachers will find the results more credible and valid for their needs. (Farrel, 2007, p. 94)

The literature on the use of action research by ELL/ESL teachers indicates the following characteristics:

• it involves collecting information about classroom events (in the classroom), through observation or through collecting information in other ways, such as through inter- views, questionnaires, or recordings of lessons;

• it involves careful and systematic collecting of that information; • the research involves some kind of follow-up action; • this action involves some change in practice, and monitoring the effects of such

change; • the results are owned by teachers, rather than the research community; • the results of the research can be reported at a staff meeting or through a written

report; • it seeks to build up a knowledge base about teaching based on practitioner’s knowl-

edge, rather than expand the knowledge base developed by academics and theoreti- cians outside of the school context;

• it develops research skills useful for classroom inquiry; • it brings about changes in classroom teaching and learning; • it develops a deeper understanding of teaching and learning processes; and • it empowers teachers by giving them the tools which they can use to further impact

changes within the profession in that they work. (Farrel, 2007, p. 95)

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Section 8.4 Action Research: Learning from Practice

Action research is not a teaching approach or method; rather, it is a philosophical and psy- chological mindset that characterizes how teachers reflect upon their work and engage in the building of learning communities. It is empowering for teachers because they are identifying and working on problems that are immediate and relevant and because they are participating in their solutions. It is empowering for learners because it engages them as active partici- pants in their own learning. In contrast to teachers who view research as something done by others, evaluated for its relevance and applicability, and then used in the classroom, teach- ers engaging in action research are always pursuing a relevant question that has immediate applicability and which can be evaluated and modified continuously.

Figuring out what works best with ELLs is usually left to the individual teachers, although there is much to read on the subject. “Although there is no question that teacher instincts and judgment play a significant role in instructional decisions, research has shown that they’re not enough.” (Syrja, 2012). We all know intuitively, and research confirms, that some practices simply work better than others. Teachers who are adapting mainstream strategies for use with ELLs need to be able to evaluate the effect of their adaptations—this is action research. Keeping a record of what has worked, what hasn’t, and what adaptations have been made, is part of the process, but it is also just good practice.

We conclude the chapter with the words of a teacher. In her second year of teaching, Martina Fernandez discovered the power of action research and collaboration.

Why I Teach: Martina Fernandez Very little about my first year of teaching was easy. I had a third grade class in my small Ari- zona town. Although all of my 22 children spoke some English, there were only four or five who were at or near grade level in reading. Every day with every lesson, I struggled to find the middle, that place where I thought most of them would be able to keep up and to learn. By the end of the first quarter, I could see that was working for five or six of them, but I wasn’t reach- ing three-quarters of the class—several were just bored and starting to act out and the others were really struggling. One day in the staff room, the art teacher was talking about a course she had taken on using art to teach other subjects. I asked her, begged her really, to come and work with my kids. She spent a morning in my class, and I learned more from watching her than I had learned in college about dealing with diversity. She spent a few minutes talking with the whole group about what kinds of art they liked to create, and then she divided them into groups. With one group, she used her few words of Spanish to get them to teach her, and I watched fascinated as together they negotiated a drawing of a scene inspired by a story she told them. I worked with her and another group on a project that had one child look at a pic- ture and then use words to direct another child to draw it. Fortunately, I had the presence of mind to make notes of what she did and, at the end of the day, to reflect on why it had worked. The note-taking habit was one that I continued through the year as I built on the half-day les- son I had learned from my colleague. The year improved, and as I began my second year of teaching, I did so with more confidence, having started to build my own tool kit of ideas and techniques that worked for me. That kit and the colleagues who help me add to it are the rea- son I keep teaching.

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Summary & Resources

Summary The key take-away of this chapter is simply this: When it comes to teaching, one size does not fit all. Diversity in a classroom requires differentiation. Differentiation is, by definition, impossible to codify in advance for every teacher, class, or learner. Instead, teachers must find their own way based on knowledge about learners and the multitude of factors that influence how they learn and on knowledge of each individual learner. Fortunately, there are principles to guide teachers and tools for them to use in finding the high-impact strategies that help to move ELLs to succeed academically. We have seen that the strategies that work for mainstream learners can also work for ELLs if we take care to consider and adjust for their particular needs. As important as they are as a starting place for teachers, high-impact strategies have to be tweaked, tuned, and incorporated into teachers’ own repertoire of teaching skills through reflection and action research. Differentiation for diversity and good practice require it.

Key Ideas

1. Teaching diverse students is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. 2. In order to differentiate instruction effectively, teachers need to get to know their

learners through formal assessment, observation of a number of dimensions of learning, and by collecting data from a variety of sources.

3. For differentiating instruction, manipulatives, technology, and collaboration are the three most essential tools in an ELL teacher’s “kit”.

4. For ELL learners, time is of the essence. With every year and grade level that passes without ELLs reaching grade-level proficiency in language and content, their chances diminish for ever catching up.

5. It is essential that teachers use high-impact strategies for teaching ELLs, to keep them from becoming LTELLs, for whom the prognosis for academic success is poor.

6. High-impact strategies address how teachers approach content, classroom routines, and spontaneous behaviors.

7. How we prepare ELLs for new information, whether linguistic or content-based, sets them up either for success or for frustration that might result in failure.

8. Adapting and using strategies that research and practice have shown to have a high impact is an excellent starting place for ELL teachers, but, ultimately, every teacher needs to adapt those strategies to learners’ particular needs.

9. Teachers are empowered when they are identifying and working on problems that are immediate and relevant and when they are participating in their solutions.

Key Terms achievement gap Any significant and persistent disparity in academic performance or edu- cational attainment between different groups of students.

action research “A disciplined process of inquiry conducted by and for those taking the action. The primary reason for engaging in action research is to assist the actor in improving or refining his or her actions” (Sagor, 2000, Ch. 1).

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Summary & Resources

cooperative learning A teaching strategy in which small teams comprised of students with different levels of ability use a variety of learning activities to increase their understanding of a subject.

tiered questions Questions organized in a progression that begins with an easy-to-answer question and in which each subsequent question builds on the answer to the previous one.

Critical Thinking Questions

1. How does the notion of communicative competence relate to the need for differenti- ated instruction?

2. What is the relationship between differentiated instruction and the action research that ELL teachers are encouraged to do?

3. Why is predictability and structure important for ELLs? 4. Why are advance organizers important for ELLs? How might they differ for beginner

and advanced learners? 5. Read Classroom Courtroom: Two Scenarios again and suggest a follow-up lesson

using another scenario. 6. Why is it important for ELLs to be able to summarize what they read (or hear)?

What transferable cognitive skills will they build? 7. What does the label “overachiever” imply about expectations that others may have

of the learner labeled in that way? 8. Why is practice important and how can it be made consistent with authentic lan-

guage use?

Additional Resources For greater detail about teaching in a standards-based environment and about differentiated classrooms, see http://www.nycteachingfellows.org/fellows/June%202004%20Guidebook.pdf

An excellent article on differentiating instruction for middle school ELLs can be found at http://www.amle.org/BrowsebyTopic/WhatsNew/WNDet/TabId/270/ArtMID/888/ ArticleID/350/Differentiating-Instruction-for-ELLs.aspx

For further information on action research, see http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/100047/chapters/What-Is-Action- Research%C2%A2.aspx

An excellent discussion of the importance of teachers having high expectations for learners, supported by research findings, is available at http://www.greaterexpectations.org/briefing_papers/improvestudentlearning.html

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http://www.nycteachingfellows.org/fellows/June 2004 Guidebook.pdf

http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/100047/chapters/What-Is-Action-Research%C2%A2.aspx

http://www.greaterexpectations.org/briefing_papers/improvestudentlearning.html

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