building community and access to english literacy in...
TRANSCRIPT
STRATEGIES & METHODS IN LEARNING ENGLISH
For Adult ESOL Professionals
Volume V, Issue 2 Miami-Dade County Public Schools October, 2009
Tell me and I’ll forget. Show me and I may not remember. Involve me, and I’ll understand. Native American Saying
Building Community and Access to English Literacy in Multilevel Classes
Your mission as a teacher in the multilevel class should be “helping individuals and groups to
make changes and engage in actions to improve the quality of life for themselves and the commu-
nity as a whole." NCSALL Learning to work collaboratively across their differences in class helps
students to work more effectively with all kinds of people in their day-to-day lives, including
neighbors, fellow workers, and public officials. Knowledge is socially constructed through the in-
teraction of people and texts. People become increasingly literate and knowledgeable about the
world not only by working on activities and reading and writing on their own, but also by actively
engaging with others, talking, discussing and creating text as it relates to their own experiences and perspectives.
When planning instruction for a multilevel class, teachers must first consider the varied proficiency levels of their students:
Students may also be at different levels in specific skills, above level in reading comprehension and below level in
listening. The key to a successful multi-level class is differentiated instruction. http://www.cal.org/caela/
esl_resources/briefs/multilevel.html Need training? Call Ileana Masud at (305) 579-0342
The multilevel teacher should:
Observe what each learner can do in order to plan for learning and teaching. Take notes while observing so
you can plan accurately
Provide a variety of learning tasks representing the multiple levels and allow for student
choice. Monitor performance and redirect students if necessary
Plan open-ended tasks that can offer different challenges for a range of students. Use the advanced students to
lead, assist, and provide feedback
Allow for flexibility in student’s output and also in teacher’s evaluation
Teach goal setting skills for establishing achievable expetations for all students
Monitor achievement on an on-going basis
Below Level Students
struggle to keep up with in-
struction
need extra time to complete
activities
often depend on peer support
for success
These students are at risk be-
cause they often become frus-
trated, blame themselves for their
inability to learn and drop out of
class.
At Level Students
do well with current level of
instruction
progress as they should
actively participate and col-
laborate without peer support
These students need to be chal-
lenged in order to keep their inter-
est and sustain learning.
Above Level Students
“get it” more quickly than
their classmates
may become bored when the
teacher does not provide
more challenging lessons and
opportunities to learn
may become disruptive while
waiting for other students to
catch up
Should be used as peer tu-
tors, class leaders, etc.
These students need to be pro-
vided enriched opportunities to
learn.
SPOTLIGHT ON YOU!
Dr. Beatriz Diaz,
Supervisor
Adult ESOL Program
M-DCPS
Division of Bilingual Education and World Languages/Adult ESOL Program
Ms. Karen A. Johnson
Curriculum Support Specialist
Adult ESOL Program
(305) 579—0341 Dr. Joanne H. Urrutia
(305) 579– 0345
[email protected] Administrative Director
A Suggested Plan to Follow Begin the class with the whole group together for reflection, review, and /or a mini lesson on a concept, theme or strategy. The goal for this part of the class time is to explore student’s prior knowledge and give direct instruction in a concept or strategies that support the planned lesson and expected outcomes in reading, listening, writing or speaking . The next step will involve some movement; students should move into pairs, groups, and/or teams. During this time, students may engage in silent or oral reading circles, revision, editing or conferencing with the teacher. Students can also be grouped with others who need more practice with a concept or may want to move ahead to work with open ended frames such as concept maps, charts, problem solving tasks, projects or text book activity for practice. During this time the teacher should move around the room making sure students understand and engage in their task and/or proceed with a mini lesson or strategic lesson with one of the groups. Observe and take notes of the process, the products and individual student engagement. Finally the students should return to the whole class grouping for closure and celebration. The teacher may facilitate student re-flection through questions such as; What did you learn today?, What strategy worked well for you?, Was the activity easy/hard?, What do we/you need /want to do next? Use this activity to evaluate the learning and plan your next lesson. Successful multilevel classrooms are a result of differentiated instruction that meets the needs of diverse learners within a learn-ing community. A good resource for ideas is; www. Englishclub.com Check out Teaching Multilevel Classes at: http://www.englishclub.com/teaching-tips/teaching-multi-level-classes.htm. Also look at: Warm ups and Time Fillers, This Week in His-tory, Activities and Games, Authentic Cooking Experience, Ring a Word, Typical Day, Vocabulary Cards, English Reading. Another good resource for multilevel crossword puzzles and cloze paragraphs and ideas is: Hands on English at: http://www.handsonenglish.com/
New Faces at M-DCPS Adult ESOL Program Claudia Muina Claudia was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She studied International Commerce at
the University there. She came to the U.S. in 2001 and studied ESOL at Miami Beach
Adult Center and Miami Dade college. With the help of a friend she got a job working
at Little River Elementary as a Data Input Specialist. She worked at Nautilus Middle
School before coming to the Adult ESOL program. She lives with her husband and new
baby, Mateo. Claudia is our support staff member and may be reached at (305) 579-0340 or
Alexis Gonzalez Alexis has been working with M-DCPS as a Microsystems Technician for over 3 years. He has now been pro-
moted to Computer Specialist with the Adult ESOL program. Alexis has been working with computers since
he was 15 years old. When he is not working he enjoys spending time with his wife Christie. He loves to ride
and race motorcycles. Alexis will be supporting adult centers with CASASe, ESOL software and other
“techy” challenges. Alexis can be reached at (305) 579-0314 or [email protected]
Lourdes Falcon This is Lourdes Falcon’s 18th year with M-DCPS . She taught special education for four years. Then worked
with the Bilingual/SPED Program for 13 years. She worked with students that had academic difficulties that
were both ESOL and Special Education in order to determine if their difficulties were due to the process of
second language acquisition. She currently works with Project RYSE as a Coach/Mentor at G. Holmes Brad-
dock Senior and as the Project RYSE Program Coordinator. Lourdes enjoy spending time with her family and
friends and shopping. Lourdes can be reached at (305) 579-0344 or [email protected]