I always enjoy reading about multicultural instruction and multilingual instruction because I can easily relate it to my French classes. “If young children’s new language writing develops in ways similar to that of native language speakers, then instructional contexts known to benefit early writing for native English speakers might also benefit children who are learning to write in English” (p 293). To me, this is common sense. If the student can write in their native language, the capability to write in the new language clearly exists. The student needs the instruction and guidance along the way. We all didn’t just “know” how to write, we were helped by our parents and teachers. ELL students need the same instruction.
Teachers must also have some basic knowledge of how a new language is learned. I can relate to this because I learned French as my second language. I understand how time consuming and difficult it is to do so. I tend to teach my students the same way I learned- a way I know worked for me. For example, I am very visual and always try to introduce vocabulary in a consistent way. For example, I want to try to incorporate reading, writing, listening and speaking as often as I can.
I really liked the different activities explained in Chapter 14. The activity “Daily News” is a great way to incorporate current events in the classroom and because it benefits all students, not just ELLs. Dialogue Journals are also a good idea to include because students get to choose any topic they want to write about. I believe some students express their ideas and emotions better in writing because they are not face to face with the teacher. ELL students also get to practice the days and dates of the week. Conversation between the teacher and student is extremely important. I also think teachers should make a point to ask/show interest about student’s lives outside of school. Lastly, the TREE Persuasive Essay was explained. I’ve never heard of this, but I really liked the acronym because it explains what should be included in the essay.
At the end of the chapter, Fitzgerald states that seeing through the student’s eyes is very important. Understanding your student’s culture and home life helps you get a better idea of who your students are as a whole. If something isn’t working with the instruction, the teacher must ask themselves, “How can I change my instruction, what can I do better?” not, “What is my student doing wrong?”. Language and culture effects each of us and all cultures must be acknowledged and respected.
Since I have yet to have my own classroom, I have had the opportunity to sub in dozens of different classrooms this year. In one of the elementary schools, students had created a wall with expressions of their identities. Each student created a coat of arms and drew what makes them who they are today. Each drawing included ideas such as family, friends, culture, language, interests and hobbies. I asked the students about the wall and they were very proud to show me and talk about their different characteristics of who they are.
Lauren, I completely agree! Learning a second language can be very difficult, but with your experience in learning something "foreign" to you, you give your students that are learning the language a better opportunity to learn it more easily since you knew what worked for you.
ReplyDelete"I am very visual and always try to introduce vocabulary in a consistent way. For example, I want to try to incorporate reading, writing, listening and speaking as often as I can." I completely agree that reading, writing, listening, and speaking are all important aspects that need to be incorporated when learning a new language, especially visuals! Visuals helped me learn Spanish because you relate to the picture, you know it in your language, but when the word is said or written in the other language, you can better identify with it!
The same goes for learning English. With your experiences with learning French it will go the same way for an English Language Learner. You know what worked for you learning the "foreign" language and the same can be said for our language (although one of the hardest) :).
I really enjoyed reading this post because you can relate with students learning another language!