I'm researching strategies for working with English language learners (ELL's) in the science classroom. The article specifically interested me related to my research because the article points out that when students are making observations, we should encourage them to not only use language but also graphs, pictures, charts, models, etc. The authors of the article (science teacher, science professor, and special education professor) note that when they specifically prompted ELL's to make observations through the use of multiple tools and mediums, that learning seemed to be less daunting because the language load had been lessened.I think the aforementioned thought links to what we've been learning in class. First, encouraging students to make observations through multiple representations helps them to work toward goals of problem-solving and having a robust understanding of the content. To get to these goals, students make use of developmental learning theory, representing observations concretely through pictures and moving to more abstract representations such as words.
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I found this link to be VERY interesting and beneficial for any type of teacher (not only ELL or special education professionals). I couldn't agree more with how you said that teachers need to stop assuming students know how to do things! If they haven't been taught or have any background knowledge, we cant expect them to reach goals we have set for them- its unrealistic. I am working toward another endorsement in special education and I really liked in your post how you mentioned the idea or using more graphics, pictures, and other manipulatives with ELL students. This can be used for ALL students to help better their comprehension. Specifically ELL and special education students can benefit more from these (just an opinion) because no matter the language, pictures are able to get across what a lot of words cannot. Great post and link :) thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis is a very good point that is often overlooked by teachers. We, as teachers, often get caught up in teaching content without teaching the skills to help students master the content. I also like how you tied this to ELL's. Pictures and diagrams are a great way to help ELL's feel comfortable in a content area that has so much scientific vocabulary.
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