ESL Internet Sites

The ubiquity of ESL internet sites can be seen with just a simple Yahoo search . The sheer volume of responses you will receive is testament to how the internet is impacting pedagogy in general, ESL learning specifically. There are many great benefits to this for the teacher. Lesson planning has never been easier, nor has researching a subject. If you need a lesson on passive voice for a level six student it is as simple as doing a quick search, and there you have it! Lessons lessons lessons galore! Like magical manna from heaven!

There is of course a dark side to this. There is an old computing axiom that that goes “Garbage In, Garbage Out”. The sad fact is that many of these web sites are in fact garbage. The difficulty for the teacher is to figure out which of these sites are useful, and which af these sites are junk. The ready made lesson plans can be ineffective, or worse, designed in such a way that is contrary to your teaching style. It could be like trying to fit into another person’s shoes. Not always the most comfortable thing to do, What is worse is that it could be a lesson that is not properly targeted to the learning needs of your student or students. The lesson could be too hard, too easy, or just generally dull and uninspiring, having no connection to the world of the students. This is not the way to teach.

Even very good, well thought out web sites can have drawbacks. Teachers can become too reliant on having the students use the web sites, and thus have no way of properly assessing the learning of the students. Plunking a learner down in front of a computer, no matter how great the site is, is not a replacement for a proper lesson. Unless the student understands how the site is connected to real world learning, there is no use for it.

The biggest drawback is finding inaccurate information, and replicating it. English grammar can be a tricky business, and there are many pre-designed worksheets an lessons that do not accurately convey the nuances of the grammar accurately, and can in fact be just plain wrong. Believe me, there is nothing worse than having a student point out errors on a worksheet that a teacher has taken from the internet. Not very good.

So, while there are of course many different ways to incorporate the internet and into your teaching, the texts and lessons you use must be carefully chosen and vetted to ensure that you are presenting an effective lesson to the students.

Introduction to Poetry Through Song – Extended

Language Arts Lesson Plan #1 & 2

Title of the Lesson: Introduction to Poetry Through Song

Curriculum Area: Language Arts Unit of Study: Writing, Grammar

Background Information: Where does this lesson fit into your overall unit planning — introductory, middle, culminating?
Introductory lesson on the unit or poetry as a method of social change.

Learning Expectations: What skills, knowledge, attitudes/values do you expect your students to learn?

Knowledge and Understanding:
• Read a variety of fiction and no-fiction materials (poems)
• Explain their interpretation of a written work, supporting it with evidence from the work and from their won knowledge and experience
• Analyze Media works

Assessment Strategies: How will you assess the learning expectations?

Observation
Anecdotal notes
Work Samples.

Indicators: How will you know that your students have achieved the expectations? What will achievement look like?

In class participation during discussion.
Able to understand rhyme and rhythm
Quality of poem produced/worksheet created

Modifications: How will you change the lesson to meet the needs of individual students?

Mark poems at appropriate grade level for their I.E.P.
Extend time for working on poems.
Individual help for those that need it.

Materials/Resources: What will you need to prepare in advance?

Teacher Resources
CD of mixed music (variety of songs, genres, rhythms etc…), worksheet #1, Portfolios to distribute, Table of Contents mock-up, glue, overhead sheets

Student Materials
Notebook, utensils, ears

Equipment
CD Player, overhead projector

Teaching Strategies:

Reading and Listening for meaning
Reflective Discussion
Creation of creative work

DELIVERING THE LESSON

15-20 minutes Mental Set:

Play the CD of mixed music. Pause between tracks to give a brief explanation of the clips. Place lyric sheets on overhead.
1. Gil Scott-Heron –“The Revolution Will Not be Televised”
2. Grandmaster Flash – “The Message”
3. Public Enemy – “Bring Tha Noise”
4. Bob Dylan – “Hurricane”

Ask students what this diverse group of songs have in common. Move the discussion to the subject of poetry. Materials/Resources

3-5 minutes Sharing the Purpose/Objectives:

Explain that we will be doing a unit on poetry. Get feedback on what students think of poetry, what they like, what they don’t like, what they know, what the don’t know. Ask if they think that poetry is important or interesting to them. N/A

Body:

1. Read the Tupac Shakur poem “The Rose That Grew From Concrete”. Ask them how they feel about the poem. Read other works from the Tupac Shakur book. Brainstorm ideas about the author of the book. Reveal that it is in fact 2Pac.
2. Listen to tracks from the Rose CD. Discuss the themes of the work. Explain how we are going to discuss the concept of poetry and music as a source of change and social justice.
3. Brainstorm ideas about problems in Canada, in their lives, in their neighbourhoods. What makes them angry and upset.
4. Distribute the portfolios. Tell them that the cover is theirs to decorate, and point out the table of contents on the back cover. Explain that they should fill it out daily.
5. Distribute Worksheet #1 – have them think about what makes them upset, emotions, and possible rhymes they can use. This will be homework, if necessary.

Closure:
The worksheets will be considered homework, and added to the homework board, and their planners. Their planners will be checked upon dismissal as they leave the class at the end of the day.

*Grouping: W = Whole class; S = Small group; I = Independent

ESL and the Ontario Ministry of Education

When reviewing the ESL/ELD resource guide created by the Ontario Ministry of Education, it is readily apparent that there is a serious and sustained effort, at least at the theoretical level, to utilize current second language acquisition theories and research findings related to English as a Second language education. The document is replete with advice and recommendations that would resonate with anyone who has studied language acquisition theory at all. The list of factors influencing second language acquisition has many references to concepts that are directly connected to theoretical approaches, for example:

• the age of the student on arrival;
• the length of time the student has lived in Canada;
• the student’s level of first-language literacy;
• the student’s previous exposure to English;
• the language or languages spoken in the student’s home;
• the presence of learning exceptionalities.

This list has obviously been written by someone who is well informed with theoretical foundations of ESL/ELD, and has several excellent ideas of possible difficulties for students.

The large variety of different support structures, from Reading Recovery, Booster programs, in class teaching, ESL-only classrooms also point to theoretical foundations. Different students are going to going to react to different learning environments, depending on the stage they are at. Some students are going to need a dramatic intervention, while others will just need a small amount of occasional, targeted, support. This clearly shows connections to a variety of different theories.

The guide also includes a section on the stages of the acculturation process, which can be an invaluable guide for helping students. For anyone who has ever gone through culture shock, well, it can be a terrible thing. I can only imagine ho horrible it could be for a school aged child dealing with unfamiliar expectations and an unsupportive teacher. This can be a key period for a student, one of the most difficult transitions in their lives, and if it does not go well for them, they can end up even more resistant to English, and their new environment.

The list of strategies to support ESL/ELD students is, if not exhaustive, at least very comprehensive, and based on existing research. From adaptations, to integrating the student, to even small things like finding a specific role for the student to help with socialization.

In theory, this document is a wonderful, well informed guide to help students adapt to Canada, filled with good ideas to help them. The reality, with under funded ESL/ELD programs, I do not believe the classroom experience is everything it could be for our newly arriving students.

The Role of Parents in Education

Recently while keeping some students late for detention, my host teacher and I were surprised by a visit from a student’s mother. This student is a regular at detention. His homework is never completed, and if miraculously he finishes it, it is an unreadable mess. He spends his time in class doing almost anything possible but working. His planner is filled with complaints from all of his teachers about unfinished work, poor attitude, and generally, not being a model student. Really, not being a student at all. I had wondered previously “Do his parents not care? Why don’t they see that he never does any work?” Well, a visit from his mother sure set me straight.

While serving detention with three other students, this student was supposed to be copying six questions from the black board. He had missed the last social studies class, so Mr. Walcott (the host teacher) wrote them again for Abdul’s benefit. He had a full period (50 minutes) to write them out, plus about 15 minutes of his detention time. In the hour, he had managed to write down only four questions.

When his mother came in, I was at first concerned. I was afraid that she might initially be upset that we were keeping Abdul late after class. She spoke briefly with my co-teacher, and then had an extended, angry conversation with her son. Although they were speaking Somali, I was pretty sure I could translate the conversation almost word for word, and it was not going well for this student. His mother was furious at his progress in school so far. When she was shown his unfinished work, she promised to come to school every day and work with him until everything was finished. I was shocked at how much Abdul tried to lie to make the situation seem like it was not his fault, but when presented with page after page of unfinished work, his mother just silenced him, siding with the teachers at every turn. At one point she got me involved, stating “Here you have TWO teachers, and still you cannot get the work done!” They left that day, his mother promising to keep Abdul on task and focused. Never again, she said, would he not finish his homework.

Reaction

This situation made me consider strongly several notions of Critical Pedagogy. I was interested in the dialectic that was presented in this situation, the pull between the student and the parent, and the student and the teacher. This situation was based on the struggle between power (teacher and parent) and weakness (the student). The student had a belief, that he was in the right, that the teacher was wrong. The power base of teacher and parent had the opposite belief, and worked in harmony to silence the child. Although it is true that he is disruptive, and not a focused student, it is possible that there are mitigating factors that were not listened to, not heard, as the yin of the powerful silenced the yang of the weak. I was also aware of the idea of Cultural Capital, as applied to this situation. I wondered how this woman’s culture and experience made her immediately defer to the teachers’ opinion. Would the situation have been different had it been his father? What if, instead of being lower income newcomers to Canada they had been rich 4th generation Canadians? How would these differences affect this situation, and who would have the Cultural Capital as these situations changed?

The most important part of this situation, for me, was the fact that initially I wondered why his parents did not seem to care about their child’r progress in school. Now I wonder why I thought that. It is apparent to me that this mother wants nothing but success for her son, and she is willing to work hard to help him achieve that. This situation made me ask questions about knowledge, cultural differences and similarities, and my role as the teacher of a diverse classroom.