EDU 629 week 1 DQ 1

  

Week 1 - Discussion 1

 

Your initial discussion thread is due on Day 3 (Thursday) and you have until Day 7 (Monday) to respond to your classmates. Your grade will reflect both the quality of your initial post and the depth of your responses. Reference the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric for guidance on how your discussion will be evaluated.
 

     

The   Problem With the Quiet Classroom

 In Chapter 4, Soto (2012) opens with “The Role of Academic Oral Language Development.”  In this section Soto (2012)  reveals the underpinnings of the challenges that teachers and ELLs face in the traditional classroom.

Unfortunately, historically we have believed quiet classrooms are good classrooms. We have thought that rows of students who compliantly listen while the teacher imparts knowledge into empty receptacles are best practice. Instead, what we must develop in a classroom setting is a culture of talking often about academic topics. We must find the language in the curriculum and elicit the voices in our classrooms. Even the best instructional materials or programs may not emphasize the importance of academic oral language development in a classroom setting (p. 23).

Fortunately, Soto provides many strategies that will support academic oral language development.  As you review Chapter 4, devise an activity where two or more strategies from this chapter are used.  Explain why you chose these strategies and why you think your activity will help promote academic oral language learning.   
 

Guided Response:  Soto (2012) clearly advocates for a lively classroom where language is used beyond direct instruction.   Respond to at least two of your classmates’ posts.  How can you help your classmates evolve or expand their activities so that it is not an isolated incident?  Consider added resources or thematic units to help your classmates build something bigger.  Remember the more opportunity an English language learner has to speak English the more comfortable he/she will become using the language.  Continue this conversation. 

  

Respond