“Use it or lose it” By Susan Moore SPED582 Teaching Students with Linguistic Differences Student Interaction versus Teacher Dominated lessons are key to ELLs success

Teacher dominated lessons, create fewer opportunities for ELLs to interact All teachers are teachers of English Use academic language, not just social-use language Quantity of exposure to language is important along with quality ELLs speaking the language helps them learn it Role of conversation is vital

Interaction helps: Brain stimulation: engagement activates pleasure structures Increased interaction: increases motivation and comprehension Reduced risk: students talk more with each other instead of being “called on” or put on the spot More processing time: students need time to process, direct instruction should be limited and should be followed by group discussions Increased attention: pairs or teams helps attention levels

Concrete ways to increase participation and develop language proficiency: Balance teacher-to-student talk, scaffold answers by encouraging thinking/processing first, then prompting responses Elaborate on responses, rather than accept yes or no answers Relationship between oral proficiency and reading and writing helps students succeed

Elaboration Provide longer wait time before responses Let students restate their correct answer more fully: “Tell me more about that…” “What do you mean by…” “What else?” “How do you know?” “Why is that important?” “What does that remind you of?”

Student interactions include: Ask and answer questions Practice speaking and being understood Negotiate meaning Clarify ideas Justify opinions

Interactive grouping: Vary grouping configurations; whole to small groups, whole group to partners, small group to individual assignments *Together students can use groups to critique, analyze material, create graphics to summarize* Through modeling reading and writing* Use of technology-plan for pen pal s across the world* Song lyrics, games, sharing expertise* Literature circles* Think-pair-share* Jigsaw readings* Debates *Experiments

ELLs do better in varied group configurations rather than together in one group with other ELLs (Though there are times this group can work together for specific language learning) Homogenous groups have serious academic and social effects for students who are not in the top group It often differentiates across socio-economic and ethnic lines and can promote differentiated expectations Movement makes students’ brains active, which can provide oxygen-rich blood needed for highest performance!

In the U.S. typical wait time for answers is not sufficient. Especially when we consider that ELLs who have to process information in 2 languages! For those who are impatient, you can have them write the answer down while allowing a longer wait time for others Clarification of key concepts can be done in L1 with an ELL peer or ELL aide. But answer should be always given in English. “Phone a friend” is useful for ELLs or others who may need help answering a question more fully

Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) for assessing Teacher lessons, Rubric #4: Teacher provided “frequent opportunities for interaction and discussion between teacher/student and among students, which encourages elaborated responses about lesson concept.” Teacher created “grouping configurations that support language and content objectives of the lesson” Teacher provided “sufficient wait time for student responses consistently” Teacher gave “ample opportunities for students to clarify key concepts in L1 as needed with support of aide, peer or L1 text”