School Development Day Welcome teachers and staff of Epping Public School! Today’s focus: Literacy issues faced by kindergarten students, particularly ESL students. Mulitiliteracies Effective teaching strategies in multicultural classrooms.

Epping Public School 800 students 80% of those are ESL students 3 Kindergarten classes with 25 students in each class

Literacy “Literacy is the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate and compute using printed and written materials associated with varying contexts. Literacy involves a continuum of learning to enable an individual to achieve his or her goals, to develop his or her knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in the wider society.” United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)

Challenges ESL students -Increasing number of students from both culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds due to the growing rate of multiculturalism. -at different stages of understanding and ability (Hobgood & Ormsby, 2011). Low SES students

Multiliteracies Moved from basic print skills “as a result of globalisation, technological innovation and other social change, society has moved away from a reliance on print toward digital technology, including sound, music, words and still and moving images.”(Anstey & Bull, 2007)

ESL Students ESL students are those students that speak English as a second language, each student is an individual and rank differently on the ESL scale ranging from speaking no English to speaking fluent English. Characteristics of ESL students: self-conscious, seeking out other students of the same language, having poor understanding of the way things are in a different environment, unable to speak or write in English, have a limited understanding. Will vary depending on the individual and the stage and level they are at in terms of understanding the English language as well as their age and origin. Does the child and/or family speak any English at home. These students have a vast amount of needs that must be catered for in the classroom; for example when teaching ESL students differentiation is a must, it is important that the students understand what is going on and that activities are designed for their understanding (Heacox, 2002). This is why the notion of DI is such a fundamental part of creating and maintaining a successful classroom where all students are offered opportunities to thrive and achieve their full potential. It has now become apparent to educators over the last decade of school reform initiatives that indeed one size does not fit all and adjustments need to be made in order to cater for individual needs and learning styles (Welch, 2007).

NSW Government, Education and Communities (2011) 38% of students within this are ESL.

Differentiation Provide specific ways for each ESL student to learn as deeply and as quickly as possible. Why? - Students don’t learn in the same way, therefore different resources and learning different environments may be needed. - Students are not all at the same point of learning. How? - Variations in tasks resources, time, level of support and outcomes expected.

Teaching in a Multicultural School An effective multicultural classroom is one where the teacher aims to develop specific teaching approaches and learning settings in order to cater for the needs of all students. Teachers must realize that no student begins as a blank slate and that they all have their own experiences and values that have shaped them. Teachers must use their knowledge on individual students to differentiate for their learning requirements. An effectively diverse classroom is one where students are engaged and aware of diverse cultures and their similarities and differences. Teachers should be able to create such an inclusive environment using the knowledge and understanding of different cultures to impart literacy skills and link learning to real life situations. These successful teachers use a variety of teaching strategies such as oral, visual, practical, written and hands on learning in order to enable distinct cultural responses resulting in notable improvement no matter the level of literacy (Katz et al. 2009).

Literacy Issues Today we are particularly looking at Early Stage 1- Kindergarten. It is of vital importance that teachers are aware from day one how to deal with a variety of multi and bi-lingual students as well as strategies and resources they can implement in order to encourage and provide fair opportunities for each individual depending on their level of ability. Research has shown that there are many aspects of children's lives that influence their preparation for formal school learning including cognitive, social, emotional and motor development and most importantly early home, parental and preschool experiences

Family Environment Family environment is very important in shaping children’s early development. Some family factors that can influence school readiness include: – Low family economic risk: Poor readiness for school is often associated with poverty. – Stable family structure: Children from stable two- parent homes tend to have stronger school readiness than children from one- parent homes and from homes where caregivers change frequently. – Enriched home environment: Children from homes where parents talk with their children, engage them in conversation, read to them, and engage in forms of discipline such as time-out that encourage self- discipline have stronger readiness skills. Rafoth, M. A (2004)

Family Environment Cont. Because of inequities in children's experiences and differences in their backgrounds, schools and and communities must pay attention to the factors that influence how families support readiness and the transition to school. Low maternal education, minority-language status, low family income, and family structure are important predictors of children's developmental accomplishments and difficulties. Low family socioeconomic status can limit the experiences, resources, health care, and the quality of child care available to children. Untraditional family structures or situations--such as foster care, single-parent families, or families who are migrant workers--also have an impact on children's early experiences. In addition, linguistic and cultural influences can affect a child's assimilation of the school culture.

Technology: Overcoming Literacy Issues Differentiation perceived as a daunting notion as mastery of this strategy takes a significant amount of time and practice yet many obstacles can be overcome with the effective use of technology (Schumm & Vaughn, 1991). Teachers who feel ill equipped when dealing with their diverse students need to understand that there is such a vast amount of information and assistance out there, as well as ready access to more options than ever before due to the wide range of software and hardware tools available (Richardson, 2007; Tomlinson, 2003). Technology is the key to overcoming the obstacles faced by educators all around the world when it comes to the effective implementation of differentiated instruction. Technology allows teachers to become better prepared when addressing individual students needs in a vast amount of ways; for example through content input, learning activities and opportunities to demonstrate comprehension (Corley, 2005; Tomlinson, 2001).

Strategies for teaching reading and writing in the early years of school include: 1: Shared book reading, paired reading and tapes for hearing language. 2: Recognising words, text direction and making sentences 3: Explicit teaching of spelling and forming letters 4: Sentence writing 5: Writing new stories (Rose, 2008)

5: Spelling and forming letters ABC Match - Learning to recognize letters is integral to early literacy - Practice until they become fluent -Match initial letters with pictures while using their memory skills to remember which cards are where - Print version available to play game offline, in the classroom or at home.

Wordle Counts incidence of words in the text and shows the highest incidence in larger text. Teach new vocabulary and used to activate prior knowledge and make predictions before reading the text. Print out to use as word bank for activities and tasks to check vocabulary and spelling.

5: Writing new stories Littlebirdtales.com -Practises sentence writing -Model by collaboratively creating a short story on the IWB. -Guide use of Little Bird Tales to start their story. -Give ESL students a word bank -Take iPads home to complete with their family to encourage family support. - Allow class time for students to play their tales to the class - ENE-11D responds to and composes simple texts about familiar aspects of the world and their own experiences -use visual, mulitimodal and digital processes to represent aspects of home and community - understand that different languages and dialects may be spoken by family, classmates and community.

Differentiation Product: Teacher using culturally relevant pedagogy as the task shows explicit recognition and affirmation of students’ cultural identity (Hudspith, Ladson-Billings, 2001). The teacher uses each students background as the basis of learning, reflecting cultural and linguisitic diversity (CALD) used a resource. Support: Teacher scaffolds and models the ICT tool. ESL students are provided with The Family Book wordle and an order sequence for the story. Outcome: Teachers expectations vary according to individuals’ ability level.

Reference List Corley, M. (2005). Differentiated instruction: Adjusting to the needs of all learners. Focus on Basics: Connecting Research and Practice, 7(C), Crawford, J. (2004) Educating English learners: Language diversity in the classroom. 5 th ed. Los Angeles: Bilingual Education Services Diaz, C., & Harvey, N (2007) Other words, other worlds: Bilingual identities and literacy. In Makin L., Diaz, C.J., Mc Lachlin C. Literacies in Childhood changing views, changing practice. Marrickville, NSW: Elsevier Dooley, K. (2008). Multiliteracies and pedagogies of New Learning for Students of English as an additional language. In Healy, A., Multiliteracies and diversity in education. Oxford: Oxford University Press (Chap 5) Heacox, D. (2002). Differentiating instruction in the regular classroom: How to reach and teach all learners, grades Minneapolis, MN: Free Spirit Publishing. Hobgood B. & Ormsby L., (2011) Inclusion in the 21st-century classroom: Differentiating with technology, retrieved 5/10/13, > Tomlinson, C. (2003). Fulfilling the promise of the differentiated classroom: Strategies and tools for responsive teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Hall T., Strangman N. & Meyer A., (2011) Differentiated Instruction and Implications for UDL Implementation, National Center on Accessible Instructional Materials Hall T., (2002) Differentiated Instruction. Teaching Tolerance (2013) Differentiated Instruction, retrieved 8/10/13, > L. D. Soto, J. L. Smrekar, D. L. Nekcovei (1999) Preserving Home Languages and Cultures in the Classroom: Challenges and Opportunities. Directions in Language & Education National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education

Reference list ctd. Markose, S., Symes C., & Hellsten, M. (in press) ‘In this country education happens at the home’: two familes in search of the instruments of apporopriation for school success. Language and Intercultural Communication (11), 3, August 2011, Mishra, Punya and Koehler, Matthew (2006) Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A new framework for teacher knowledge. Teachers College Record. 108(6), 1017–1054 Richardson, D. K. (2007). Differentiated instruction: A study of implementation. Doctoral dissertation, Capella University. Dissertation Abstracts, UMI: Rose, D. (2008). Teaching Readign and Writing to Aborignial Children. In N. Harrison (2008_. Teaching and Learning in Indigenous Edcation. Sydney: Oxford University press (Chapter 4). Schumm, J. & Vaughn, S., (1991)"Making adaptations for mainstreamed students: General classroom teachers’ perspectives," in Remedial and Special Education 12: Welch, A. (2007) Cultural differene and diversity. In R. Connell, C. Campbell, M. Vickers, A, Welch, D. Foley, & N. Bagnall (eds) Education change and society (pp ) Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press