Description of Project: Hello and welcome to the
presentation by Lauren Bloemke, Jennifer Nye, and Chelsea Rademaker of Student
M’s case study for ESOL 2. We have
designed a project for Student M to improve his reading comprehension, writing
fluency, and oral language acquisition.
Introduction: Student M is in need of extra practice in
areas of comprehension where he falls behind grade level and fails to
understand basic reading passages when read orally. He also needs to improve in the area of
writing fluency because he fails to create organized writing structures and
struggles to consistently write in complete sentences. Student M also can improve his oral language proficiency
because he often uses incorrect verb tenses and has to repeat himself in different
ways to clearly express himself. This is
because Student M gets little exposure to English outside of the classroom and
does not practice his reading and writing skills outside of school either. Student M needs additional support and a
literacy plan in the classroom to enhance his learning experiences or he may continue
to fall behind his classmates.
We have three main teaching strategies to help our student
reach his objectives:
- Student M will use a Think Aloud to learn comprehension skills when reading. The think aloud will teach how to process main ideas, process details, and to think critically about the passage.
- Student M will improve writing fluency through a journal writing routine which helps the student organize writing structures and eliminate run-on sentences.
- Student M will use correct verb tenses when speaking by completing a Total Response activity that pairs actions with words to convey meaning and correct verb tenses.
Think Alouds:
Think Alouds are great learning tools to teach students how
to think about a text and the process involved with comprehending what they
read. The teacher reads out loud and
then models exactly the thought process used to comprehend or think about what
is being read. In a think aloud, reading
skills such as inferencing, attention to detail, metacognition, and processing
of main ideas are all addressed. We
thought this would benefit our student because he scored low on the
comprehension despite having higher scores in the oral reading. This means he is reading, but not
understanding what is being read. A
think aloud would teach him how to engage with the text.
There are several steps to take when completing a think aloud.
First you would model the correct way to complete a think
aloud. When modeling a think aloud, it is important to be explicit in your
description of exactly how you are processing the information. Speak slowly and give examples for each
sentence of the passage. During the
think aloud modeling, provide your student with a script of exactly what you
are saying so they can read along as you model.
After modeling for the students, have them break up into
groups and give another passage. Student
M would receive additional support for a classmate to work together on a think
aloud. After each sentence of the
passage, the student will write down how he thought about the information. Then, each member of the group will take
turns reading aloud their think aloud as the teacher modeled previously.
One way to help English Language learners is to Provide scaffolding
with a template to write their thoughts next to each sentence to help guide
them through the think aloud.
Journal Writing:
The next strategy to use with student M is writing in a
journal. Journal writing has shown to
have positive effects on not just students who are learning a second language,
but all students in the classroom. .
Journals are a great way to connect with your students, and for them to
feel connected. Students can write about
their interests or opinions on readings in the classroom.
The steps to using the strategy of journal writing are as
follows:
First we would have students read a specific passage or
text. Then we would encourage students
to think critically using inferencing and metacognition skills by prompting
them with questions such as “What do you think will happen next?” “Why do you think the passage discussed
this?” “What was your favorite part of
the passage?” “How would you respond
if…” and much more. We would encourage
students to write in complete sentences and model for them how to correctly use
a journal. We would provide feedback to
our students through writing back to them in their journals. Also, We would have students share their
journal entries in small groups to practice speaking and so other students can
feel connected. Journal entries are a
great routine to get into with the class that helps students feel more
comfortable writing and speaking about topics where they can share how they
feel. Also, the use of a journal
provides a portfolio of work for students to refer to and see their progress
over time. With a journal routine, you
can also take home journals and allow for parents to see their child’s thoughts
and work to keep them involved.
Total Physical
Response:
The last strategy that would be effective for our student to
use is Action Routines or Total Physical
Response—TPR. This strategy requires
students to act out and say the appropriate words at the same time. Students are given the opportunity to act out
certain actions such as “walk to the door” or “Touch your nose” and then are to
use the correct verb tense to describe what they are doing.
The steps involved in a Total Physical Response are as
follows:
First, they will be given a list of actions to complete. As students are completing each action, they will
discuss what is happening such as “I am holding my pencil, I held my pencil,
She is holding her pencil.” Students
will place emphasis on the changing verb tenses and are prompted to write and
act out as many different tenses of the action as possible. This strategy is effective for giving meaning
to verb tenses while students act them out and pair actions with words to help
convey meaning to the words.
Overall:
All of these strategies will be effective in helping our
student achieve the objectives of improving his comprehension, writing and oral
proficiency. In addition, if our student needs we can provide scaffolding such
as extra time to read passages or classmate support.
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