Study Guide

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Project EXCEL, University of Florida
Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students
page 2 Preface and Acknowledgments In recent years, the Florida Department of Education has seen the development of two major sets of teacher education materials for teachers of students who are learning English as a new language. The first set of materials, Empowering ESOL Teachers: An Overview, was developed by the Florida Atlantic University Multifunctional Resource Center to prepare K-12 content teaches to include ESOL students in their classrooms, and also to serve as the foundation course for more extensive training for teachers who have primary responsibility for ESOL students language development. The second set of materials, TEACH (Teaching Excellence and Cultural Harmony) Sessions 1-4 and related videos and study guides, was designed to provide the more extensive training. TEACH Sessions 1 and 2 and the videos and study guides were developed by Jostens Learning Corporation, and TEACH Sessions 3 and 4 were developed by the Center for Applied Linguistics Sunbelt Office. Empowering ESOL Teachers: An Overview is widely used throughout Florida for K-12 teacher inservice education. Many middle and high school teachers have expressed concern that Empowering met the needs of elementary teachers better than it met their needs. Secondary teachers require methods and strategies that are more content-specific, appropriate for older students, and can be used in classrooms where language proficiency and content knowledge is extremely variable among students. This set of materials, Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students, was developed to meet these needs of secondary content teachers whose classes include students who are learning English as a new language. Since a great deal of valuable training material has already been developed and is in use in Florida, several sections of Enriching draw from these existing materials, modifying or adding to them when necessary to make them appropriate for secondary content teachers. The principle materials used or adapted in Enriching from other Florida teacher education materials are: TEACH Session 3, Section 4: Integrating Language and Content TEACH Session 4, Section 2: Culture Study Groups The developers of Enriching wish to thank Project EXCEL, a Title VII teacher training program at the University of Florida, and the Duval County Public Schools (Jacksonville, FL) Division of Professional Development, for field testing an earlier version of the materials in an inservice training program for secondary content teachers in the summer and fall of 1996. The comments of the trainers and participants were invaluable in improving the materials. These individuals include: Dr. Candace Harper, Coordinator of Project EXCEL and director of the field test Katherine Dunlop, Ginny Flickinger, Ann Summers, Brenda Trimble, Haydee Bidot, all Duval County ESOL trainers In 2003, Enriching was converted to an online course in order to provide teachers and districts with an alternative to the face-to-face training curriculum. Project EXCEL sponsored the conversion of Enriching to an online course under the supervision of Dr. Cindy Naranjo, Project Director. Project EXCEL wishes to thank the following individuals for their invaluable contribution to this project:
page 3 Sandra Ricardo-Wilcox, Educational Consultant Sandra Hancock, Doctoral Candidate, University of Florida Jacqueline Thomas, Program Assistant, University of Florida Dr. Aixa Perez-Prado, Assistant Professor, Florida International University Dr. Gail Ring, Education Technology, University of Florida Keith and Berna Dungan, Infinite Imagery Interactive Inc. Further thanks are due to all the authors and publishers whose work adds immeasurably to these materials. Special thanks are extended to the following: The Journal of Educational Issues of Language Minority Students for permission to reprint three articles: Achieving Multicultural Goals Through Childrens Nonfiction by Marsha K. Savage and Tom V. Savage Making Mathematics Multicultural Through Meaning and Empowerment by Lena Lican Khisty Accessible Science by Andrea M. Guillaume, Ruth Helen Yopp, and Hallie Kay Yopp TESOL Journal for permission to reprint the article by Gloria Tang, Teaching Content Knowledge and ESOL in Multicultural Classrooms. Deborah J. Short for Integrating Language and Content Instruction: Strategies and Techniques, The National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education Deborah Menkart for Multicultural Education: Strategies for Linguistically Diverse Schools and Classrooms, The National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education Center for Applied Linguistics and the Media Group for permission to use video footage of secondary classrooms from Communicative Math and Science Teaching. Center for Applied Linguistics for permission to adapt the activity on language bias from Enhancing English Language Learning in Elementary Classrooms. Florida Department of Education for permission to use portions of videotaped interviews with Stephen Krashen and Jim Cummins, and for permission to use the segment on culture from Managing Multicultural Learning Environments Resource Tape, Volume II. Montgomery County (Maryland) Public Schools for permission to use video footage from their training materials for bilingual immersion teachers to demonstrate language acquisition principles. Prentice-Hall for permission to reprint the Directed Reading Thinking Activity (DRTA) transcript from Meaning Making: Directed Reading & Thinking Activities for Second Language Students. Finally, very special thanks are due to Jane Granger of the Office of Professional Training, Florida Department of Education, for listening and responding to the concerns of secondary teachers throughEnriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students
page 4 out the state and for making these materials possible, and to NEFEC (NorthEast Florida Educational Consortium) which acted as the original projects fiscal agent. The Center for Applied Linguistics Sunbelt Office is responsible for the development of these materials. The developer/writer is Judith Jameson. She was greatly supported, encouraged, and assisted by Allene Grognet, Director of the Sunbelt Office, and Charlotte Kelso, administrative assistant and desktop publishing specialist.
page 5 Table of Contents Section I: Academic Competence, Part A ........................................................................ Overview of Florida Consent Decree ................................................................................... Summary of Florida Consent Decree ................................................................................... Demographics Anticipation Guide ....................................................................................... Six Types of Pair/Group Work ............................................................................................. Video Observation Form ...................................................................................................... Science Lesson on Echolocation .......................................................................................... Section II: Language Learning ........................................................................................ Pretest on Second Language Development .......................................................................... Foreign Language Demonstration, Part A ............................................................................ Foreign Language Demonstration, Part B ............................................................................. Similarities and Differences Between First & Second Language Acquisition ...................... Krashens Theory of Second Language Acquisition ............................................................ Quiz on Krashens Hypotheses ............................................................................................ Stages of Language Development ........................................................................................ Language Development Stages: Sample Behaviors in the Classroom ................................. The Life Cycle of an Amphibian .......................................................................................... Social vs. Academic Language ............................................................................................. Discussion Questions: Social vs. Academic Language ........................................................ Posttest on Second Language Development ........................................................................ Case Studies ......................................................................................................................... Program Models for Second Language Learners ................................................................. Language Minority Student Achievement and Program Effectiveness ............................... Discussion Questions: Bilingual Support and Program Models ......................................... Section III: Culture, Part A .............................................................................................. Cultural Diversity Profile ..................................................................................................... Introduction .......................................................................................................................... Values Orientation Approach ............................................................................................... Cultural Assimilation, Acculturation, Pluralism .................................................................. Discussion Questions: Cultural Assimilation, Acculturation, Pluralism ............................. Valuing Cultural Diversity ................................................................................................... Accessible Science ............................................................................................................... Making Mathematics Multicultural Through Meaning and Empowerment ........................ Achieving Multicultural Goals through Childrens Nonfiction ........................................... Culture in the Content Areas: Science ................................................................................ Culture in the Content Areas: Mathematics ........................................................................ Culture in the Content Areas: Social Studies/Literature ..................................................... Elements of Surface and Deep Culture ................................................................................ Cultural Vignettes Activity ................................................................................................... 7 8 9 15 17 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 27 30 31 32 33 34 38 39 41 42 43 46 47 48 49 50 51 53 54 56 67 76 83 84 85 86 88
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Section IV: Academic Competence, Part B ..................................................................... Easy as Pie PLUS Lesson Plan Checklist ............................................................................ Sample Lesson ..................................................................................................................... Directed Reading Thinking Activities ................................................................................. Reading a Folk Tale ............................................................................................................. Informational Texts and Organizational Patterns ................................................................. From Text to Graphics and Back Again ............................................................................... Textbook Organizational Patterns and Signal Words ........................................................... Teaching Content Knowledge and ESOL in Multicultural Classrooms .............................. Graphic Organizers .............................................................................................................. Integrating Language and Content Instruction: Strategies and Techniques ........................
89 90 91 95 96 102 103 110 112 117 125
Section V: Literacy Development and Study Skills ........................................................ 139 Reading Strategies for the Content Areas ............................................................................ 140 Suggestions for Working with Low-Literacy Students ........................................................ 149 Section VI: Assessment ..................................................................................................... What Are Teachers Being Asked To Do? ............................................................................. Teacher-Made Checklist ....................................................................................................... Test-Taking Strategies .......................................................................................................... Teaching Test-Taking Strategies Activity ............................................................................ Practical Alternative Assessments for Content Areas .......................................................... Alternative Assessment Worksheet ...................................................................................... Section VII: Culture, Part B ............................................................................................ Discussion Questions: Multicultural Education ................................................................... Multicultural Education: Strategies for Linguistically Diverse Schools and Classrooms ... Strategies for Linguistically Diverse Schools and Classrooms Assignment ........................ Sample Methods and Lessons ............................................................................................. Lesson One: Pictures, Pictures, Pictures .............................................................................. Lesson Two: Hold fast to Dreams ....................................................................................... Lesson Three: My Life is History ....................................................................................... Lesson Four: Reading the Media ......................................................................................... Appendix ............................................................................................................................. Timelines for Completion of the ESOL Training Requirements ......................................... Course Syllabus ................................................................................................................... Activity/Assignment Checklist ............................................................................................ Integrated Unit Project ......................................................................................................... 150 151 155 156 161 162 165 166 167 168 176 177 178 180 181 184 191 192 193 196 197
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SECTION I Academic Competence, Part A
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Overview of the Florida Consent Decree

I. IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT A. Home language survey, English language and program assessment, LEP Student Plan B. Classification, reclassification and monitoring C. LEP Committee at each school II. EQUAL ACCESS TO APPROPRIATE PROGRAMMING A. Instruction in Intensive English/ESOL B. Basic Subject Areas (Math, Science, Social Studies, Computer Literacy) using ESOL strategies taught by appropriate personnel C. District Plan to be submitted to DOE for approval and includes: 1. criteria for identification, entry/exit, assessment instruments 2. individual student plan (in each students cum folder) 3. personnel trained and qualified (documented) 4. creation of Parent Leadership council to be part of plan formation III. EQUAL ACCESS TO APPROPRIATE CATEGORICAL AND OTHER PROGRAMS FOR LEP STUDENTS (e.g., ESE, gifted, dropout prevention, Title 1, home-school communications) IV. PERSONNEL * A. Grandfather Clause, English/Language Arts teachers 60 inservice points or 3 credit hours, survey course B. Basic Subject Area teachers 60 inservice points or 3 credit hours, survey course C. English/Language Arts teachers not eligible for grandfathering who have LEP students 300 inservice points or 15 credit hours to be comprised of Applied Linguistics, Cross-Cultural Awareness, Methodology, Curriculum Development, and Testing D. Other Subject Area Teachers (Media, P.E., Art, Music, etc.) 18 inservice points V. MONITORING ISSUES A. Identification and assessment B. Modified curriculum and appropriate materials C. Appropriate and qualified personnel D. Parent involvement VI. OUTCOME MEASURES A. Program effectiveness B. Comparison of LEP / non-LEP student criteria
* Note: As of September 10, 2003, all administrators and guidance counselors are required to complete 60 hours of ESOL training within 3 years from date of hire for those new to these positions or by September 10, 2006, for existing employees.
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Summary of the Florida Consent Decree

BACKGROUND In August, 1990, a judge of the United States District Court, Southern District of Florida, signed a Consent Decree giving the court power to enforce an agreement between the Florida State Board of Education and a coalition of eight groups represented by Multicultural Education, Training, and Advocacy, Inc. (META) and Florida legal services attorneys regarding the identification and provision of services to students whose native language is other than English. The plaintiff organizations involved in the case represent a broad spectrum of the civil rights / educational community. They are: * League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) * ASPIRA of Florida * The Farmworkers Association of Central Florida * Haitian Refugee Center * Spanish American League Against Discrimination (SALAD) * American Hispanic Educators Association of Dade (AHEAD) * Haitian Educators Association The Consent Decree settlement terms focus on the following six issues: I. Identification and assessment II. Equal access to appropriate programming III. Equal access to appropriate categorical and other programming for Limited English Proficient (LEP) students IV. Personnel V. Monitoring VI. Outcome measures Section I, Identification and assessment Addresses six requirements: 1. home language survey, 2. formation of LEP Committees, 3. LEP student plan, 4. English language assessment, 5. classification and reclassification, 6. post-reclassification monitoring. 1. Home language survey. The home language survey and national origin data of all students must be collected and retained in the school district. The home language survey may be included on the registration form or on a separate survey and must be administered to all students. The survey includes the following questions: a. Is a language other than English used in the home? b. Did the student have a first language other than English? c. Does the student most frequently speak a language other than English? 2. LEP Committee. The LEP Committee is a team composed of ESOL teacher(s), a home language teacher (if any), administrator (or designee), parent(s), plus guidance counselor, social worker, school psychologist, or other educator(s) and is responsible for determining the eligibility of a student for an ESOL program.
page 10 3. LEP Student Plan. The LEP student plan is a written document which identifies a student name, instruction by program, including programs other than ESOL, amount of instructional time or schedule, date of LEP identification, and assessment data used to classify or reclassify as LEP, etc. Each student must have an individual copy of the plan in his/ her file. 4. English language assessment. Language assessment is required in the areas of listening comprehension, speaking, reading, and writing. Each student will also be assessed in the basic subject areas (i.e., computer literacy, math, science, and social studies). 5. Classification and reclassification. Students classified as LEP continue to receive appropriate instruction until such time as the student is reclassified as English proficient, or otherwise exited from the ESOL program by the LEP committee. 6. Post-reclassification monitoring. The performance of students who have been exited from the ESOL program must be reviewed to identify any pattern of continuing underperformance on appropriate tests and/or grades. Such review occurs at the time of the students first report card, semi-annually during the first year after exiting, and at the end of the second year. Exemptions provided to LEP students: Students in grades 4 and 7, who have been in the program for two or fewer years may be exempted from participation in statewide assessment. School districts shall offer alternatives for the measurement of minimum standards in these grades. Secondary students who failed to meet the 10th grade standards as measured by the SSAT-I and II, shall be provided compensatory education for a thirteenth year of high school. Section II, Equal access to appropriate programming The primary goal of all such programming is to develop as effectively and efficiently as possible each childs English language proficiency and academic potential. Such programs should also provide positive reinforcement of the self-image and esteem of participating students, promote cross-cultural understanding, and provide equal education opportunities. Equal access to appropriate programming must include both access to intensive English instruction and instruction in basic subject matter areas of math, science, social studies, computer literacy which is 1. understandable to the LEP student given his/her level of English language proficiency, and 2. equal and comparable in amount, scope, sequence, and quality to that provided to English proficient students. Recommendations for such programming shall be documented in the form of a LEP student plan, which shall be in conformity with this agreement. Equal access to appropriate programming includes five requirements: 1. submission of a district plan, 2. provision of basic ESOL instruction 3. provision of ESOL instruction and/or home language instructional strategies in basic subject areas, 4. identification of interim staffing and inservice measures, and 5. procedure/procedures for parental involvement. 1. District LEP Plan. School districts are required to submit a multi-year LEP plan, to be updated and resubmitted every three years. Interim changes are submitted for approval as amendments. The
page 11 district LEP plan includes: * * * * Standards for entry, exit, and post-classification monitoring, Instructional, categorical, and student services Provisions for and plans to employ qualified staff, and Evidence of consultation with parent council or advisory body
2. Basic ESOL instruction. Basic ESOL includes instruction in speaking, listening, reading, writing English in an instructional program appropriate to the proficiency level and academic potential of the students. 3. ESOL Instruction and home language instructional strategies in basic subject areas. Districts are required to provide appropriate home language instruction (Curriculum content in the home language/bilingual curriculum content) or ESOL content instruction (Curriculum in English using ESOL strategies), or a combination of the two, in science, social studies, mathematics, and computer literacy. 4. Identification of interim staffing and inservice measures. In recognition that districts may not have appropriately trained personnel to deliver basic ESOL instruction and understandable instruction in basic subject areas, the District LEP plan must include interim measures which report the number of students not appropriately served, documentation of recruitment and training, and a time-line for meeting staffing needs, and a plan for interim measures which must include inservice training, utilization of native language aides and materials to assure that the students are learning. 5. Parental Involvement. Parental involvement and participation on LEP students educational programming and academic achievement is required by formation of parent groups consisting of a majority of parents of LEP students. Such groups must be consulted prior to submission of the District LEP Plan to the state. Parents must be provided appropriate training by the school district. Section III, Equal access to appropriate categorical and other programs for LEP students. Provides overall equal access requirements, such as prohibition of denial of service because of a students level of English proficiency, and a students right to access whether the program is offered before, during or after the regular school day. Section III also includes special requirements with respect to ten categoricals and other programs/services for LEP students: 1. compensatory education, 2. exceptional student education, 3. dropout prevention, 4. student services, 5. pre-kindergarten, 6. immigrant students, 7. Title 1, 8. pre-first grade classes, 9. home-school communications, and 10. discipline. 1. Compensatory Education. Requirements under this section include both Title 1 basic and/or migrant education, as well as compensatory programming. Equal access is required for LEP students, as well as understandable instruction in a manner appropriate to the students level of English proficiency. For Title 1 and state compensatory programming, an annual report is required providing the number of students served, and the services by race, national origin, and limited English proficiency. 2. Exceptional student education. Requirements under this section apply both to handicapped and gifted students, and repeat equal access requirements previously given for regular education of LEP
page 12 students. Data are reported annually on the number of exceptional students served by race, national origin, limited English proficiency, and type of exceptional program. All requirements under Sections I and II are applicable to exceptional student education. 3. Dropout prevention. Three requirements are given for dropout prevention programs and services: (a) equal access for LEP students, (b) annual report of the number of students served by dropout prevention programs by race, national origin, limited English proficiency, and type of service, and (c) LEP parent participation in the development of the districts comprehensive plan is a new dimension to this program. 4. Student services. Equal access to student services (e.g. counseling) is required for LEP students, pursuant to F.S. (Florida Statue Section 230.2313). 5. Pre-kindergarten programs. Equal access to pre-kindergarten programs is required for LEP students, including programs such as Head Start, Migrant Pre-Kindergarten, Pre-Kindergarten Early Intervention, and related programs. Required also is annual reporting of the number of LEP, racial and national minority children eligible for and served by pre-kindergarten programs, indicating which programs they are served by. In order to meet these requirements it is necessary to test all pre-K participants for English proficiency and pre-K LEP students must be provided the services required by the Consent Decree. 6. Equal access for immigrant students. Free, equal, and unhindered access to appropriate schooling is required for all immigrant students in compliance with a 1982 U.S. Supreme Court ruling (Plyer vs. Doe). A number of prohibitions are itemized, such as not inquiring into students/parents immigration status for any educational purpose unless specifically authorized by law, not compiling or maintaining lists of students with alien registration numbers and those without, not reporting students to the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Services, and not requiring students to obtain a federal social security number. 7. Title 1. Equal access is required for limited English proficient students who are within the targeted program, school, and/or area where the funds are expended. The district must report annually the number of students served by federal Title 1 programs and services by race, national origin, and limited English proficiency as provided for state student data base plan. 8. Pre-first grade classes. All pre-first grade classes must comply with applicable requirements of federal and state law, including (a) individualized assessment and appropriate provision for specific educational needs in the least restrictive environment, (b) the use of multiple valid and reliable criteria, and (c) appropriate parental participation and informed notice in the parents primary language. 9. Home-school communications. All written and oral communications between school personnel and parents of current or former LEP students are to be in the parents primary language or other mode of communication used by the parents, unless clearly not feasible. 10. Discipline. No national origin minority or limited English proficient student will be subjected to any disciplinary action because of his/her use of a language other than English.
page 13 Section IV, Personnel Includes requirements in six areas: 1. certification and inservice, 2. certification required as appropriate coverage, 3. exemptions, 4. supply of personnel, 5. inservice evaluation, and 6. implementation schedule for Section IV. Breakdown of inservice requirements as follows: a. For teachers of basic ESOL or the primary English and Language Arts who need the ESOL Endorsement with the appropriate coverage specified in the Course Code Directory, (teachers with no prior teaching experience and who teach English as a primary responsibility), the ESOL Endorsement may only be shown on a valid full-time certificate with another coverage. The specialization requirements to add the ESOL Endorsement may be completed by either 300 master plan points (MPP) or 15 college semester hours: * * * * * Methods of Teaching of ESOL ESOL Curriculum and Materials Development Cross-Cultural Communication and Understanding Applied Linguistics Testing and Evaluation of ESOL
b. For teachers who qualified for the ESOL Endorsement by the grandfather provision specified in the Consent Decree Agreement (Teachers with at least 2 years ESL or home language strategies teaching experience prior to the 1990-91 school year): * ESOL Issues and Strategies c. For content area teachers teaching LEP students: mathematics, science, social studies, and computer literacy to LEP students using home language strategies (elementary* and secondary**) * Home Language Strategies (elementary/secondary) * includes teachers of curriculum content in the home language arts and Spanish for Speakers of Spanish ** includes teachers of basic content curriculum, bilingual curriculum content d. For content area teachers teaching LEP students: mathematics, science, social studies, and computer literacy using ESOL strategies (elementary and secondary). Includes elementary classroom teachers whose LEP students receive ESOL services from another teacher. * ESOL Issues and Strategies e. For other subject areas, i.e., art teachers, music teachers, physical education teachers, media specialists, guidance counselors, occupational specialists, exceptional education teachers***, teachers
page 14 of foreign languages, vocational education teachers, speech/language pathologists, pre-kindergarten teachers. * Issues/Strategies for Teaching LEP Students *** The teaching responsibilities of the exceptional education teacher determine the number of inservice hours needed.
A LEP student is an: * individual who was not born in the U.S. and whose native language is not English; or * individual who comes from home environments where a language other than English is spoken; or * individual who is an American Indian or an Alaskan native and who comes from environments where a language other than English has a significant impact on their level of English language proficiency; * and who, for the above reasons has difficulty listening, speaking, reading, or writing in English, to the extent that he/she is unable to learn successfully in classrooms where English is the language of instruction.
Section V, Monitoring Issues, and Section VI, Outcome Measures Identify procedures to be followed by the Florida Department of Education in determining the extent to which a school district complies with the requirements of the agreement and the extent to which student achievement is improved as a result of application of the implementation guidelines. Source: Empowering ESOL Teachers, Vol. II, Section II.
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Demographics Anticipation Guide

Directions: Complete the following items to the best of your ability, then listen to the presentation and make any necessary corrections. 1. The number of immigrants to the US was the highest in which decade? a. 1880s b. 1900s c. 1920s d. 1980s 2. In 2000, ____% of the US population was foreign-born, compared to 14.7% in 1910. 3. Among adults who speak another language at home, about ____% also speak English well or very well. 4. In the year 2000, immigrants made up ____% of the new entrants to the workforce. 5. Three-fourths of those who speak another language at home live in six states. The states are:
1. 4.
2. 5.
3. 6.
6. Nationwide, approximately how many households speak a language other than English according to 2000 census data? a. 12 million b. 500,000 c. 5 million d. 47 million 7. What Limited English Proficient in the 2000-01 7. What percentage percentage of of K-12 K-12 students students nationwide was Limited English Proficient (LEP) (LEP) in the 2000-2001 school year? a. 21% b. 9.6% c. 15.2% d. 5.4%
page 16 8. LEP students in Florida average _____years in ESOL programs. 9. According to 2000 census data, what is the approximate percentage of the population in Florida that reported being Hispanic? a. 5% b. 24% c. 17% d. 52%
10. LEP LEP students students comprise comprised ____% of the K-12 population in Florida in 2000-01. 10. ____% of the K-12 population in Florida in 2000-01.
11. What percentage of K-12 public schools in Florida had ESOL students in 2000-01? a. 39% b. 45% c. 67% d. 91% 12. How many languages were spoken by Florida K-12 students in 2000-01? 13. As of the 2000-01 school year, the majority of LEP students in Florida was from which country? a. Cuba b. USA c. Mexico d. Puerto Rico 14. How many LEP students were in Florida in 2000-01? a. 219,449 b. 129,098 c. 990,954 d. 523,001
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Six Types of Pair/Group Work for Content Classrooms with ESOL Students
1. Think-(Write)-Pair-Share * * * * * Teacher chooses a topic or question Students individually think, then may write a few notes to record their thoughts. Pairs of students discuss their ideas and may agree on a response to share with the whole class. The whole class shares ideas. Advantages for ESOL students: Gives students time to think in their new language and then to try out communicating their ideas with a partner before sharing with the whole class; recycles language and content at least three times.
2. Numbered Heads Together * * * * * * Teacher divides students into groups with equal numbers Students in each group number off. Teacher asks a question. Students in each group put their heads together to decide on an answer. All students are responsible for knowing the answer. Teacher chooses a number at random. Students with that number raise their hands. Teacher calls on one or more to answer. Especially good for reviewing materials and checking comprehension.
3. Jigsaw * * * * Teacher selects a task that can be accomplished by dividing it into parts and then putting the parts together to accomplish the whole; e.g., reading a long chapter by dividing it into parts and then sharing the information. Teacher divides students into home groups and explains the overall task. Students number off. All students with the same number are assigned the same part of the task. These students may move into expert groups to complete their task and become experts on it. Students then return to their home groups to share their parts of the task and to accomplish their task as a whole.
4. Peer Tutoring * * * Assign a more proficient English-speaker to help an ESOL student. Give the pair a task to accomplish so that there is a need to communicate. For example: the more proficient student might read to a peer, highlight key passages in the text, and/or paraphrase difficult material; or the more proficient student might take dictation for a journal from a student who is unable to write independently.
5. Pair Assignments * Assign two students to a common task. The students may confer with one another, contributing what they can.
page 18 * For example: in a science lab project, the more proficient student reads the instructions and notes the observations while the ESOL student follows the directions and orally describes the observations.
6. Cooperative Projects * Teacher divides students into groups of four to six to produce a product together; e.g., creating a skit, book, or mural. The project should include opportunities for cooperative planning, use of manipulative materials, synthesizing ideas, and reaching group consensus. Students may need to be taught the necessary cooperative skills. Begin with a project that entails bringing individual pieces or work together (such as individual pictures and dictated or written poems edited and combined into a group-made book). Later on, assign group projects that require more sophisticated collaborative effort. Rotating leadership and roles can give students a chance to learn valuable skills.
Things To Remember When Using Pair/Group Work 1. Vary grouping strategies 2. Plan for positive interdependence and individual accountability 3. Teach and model activities before asking students to do them 4. Recognize and reward effective group work Sources include McCloskey (1990), and Long and Porter in Winget (1988), both adapted in Empowering ESOL Teachers, Volume 1, Section II.
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VIDEO OBSERVATION FORM

Three Principles Which Help ESOL Students in Content Classrooms
Increase Comprehensibility
Increase Interaction
Increase Thinking Skills
page 20
Critique the Following Science Lesson on Echolocation

Topic: Dolphin Echolocation Purpose: To explain how dolphins communicate and locate prey Content Objective: Students will be able to simulate the process of echolocation utilized by dolphins Language Objectives: Students will listen to a story that describes the process of echolocation Students will discuss the purpose of the echolocation game and what they learned about the process of echolocation Instructions: 1. Introduce todays topic by writing the word ECHOLOCATION on the board in big letters. Announce to the class that they will be learning about echolocation today. 2. Show students the cover of the book Dolphins (1997) by Judith Hodge. 3. Read the book out loud and ask the students to listen for the meaning of echolocation. 4. After reading the text to the students, explain the process of echolocation. Explain that dolphins have a unique tool for hunting and communicating. This tool is known as echolocation. Echolocation is the location of objects by their echoes. By listening to the echoes of the sounds they produce, dolphins can locate objects and fish. When a sound (a click produced by a dolphin) hits an object, an echo comes back. Dolphins can learn about their surroundings by measuring how long the echoes take to come back. Dolphins can even tell the difference between different species of fish from the echoes that are produced. Scientists would like to know more about the process of echolocation so that they can help blind people detect objects with sound. 5. Introduce the echolocation game to be played outside. Select one child to be the dolphin and blindfold him or her. The other students in class play the part of tiny fish. 6. Instruct the fish to form a circle around the dolphin. The fish are to move around the dolphin while maintaining a circle. The dolphin is to callout click, click, while the fish respond, gulp, gulp. The dolphin attempts to tag a fish by listening to the sound of its gulp. Once tagged, a fish must sit back on shore (a previously designated area) until the next round. The last fish tagged becomes the new dolphin and the game continues. 7. After playing two or three rounds of the echolocation game, return to class and discuss the purpose of the game and what they learned about echolocation.
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SECTION II Language Learning
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Pretest on Second Language Development

Directions: Read each statement and write an A if you agree with it and a D if you disagree. Please do not discuss your responses with other participants at this time. ____ 1. Children acquire a second language primarily through imitation and repetition. ____ 2. Maintaining the first language in the home will facilitate and enhance the acquisition of English. ____ 3. Oral fluency is a sufficient indication that an ESOL student has mastered the new language. ____ 4. An initial silent period can benefit a second language student because it allows the student an opportunity to process and decode the new language. ____ 5. Placing a limited English proficient student in a mainstream English-speaking classroom will ensure that the student acquires English quickly. ____ 6. Correction of students language errors is an effective strategy to enhance the acquisition of the correct structure. ____ 7. It may take some ESOL students five to seven or more years to develop academic language. ____ 8. The only real difference between academic language and social language is the academic or technical vocabulary.
____ 9. Students in the preproduction phase of language development should not be asked questions that require a verbal response.
____ 10. Bilingual aides can be very helpful to beginning ESOL students by providing concurrent translations for them.
page 23 Foreign Language Demonstration Part A. 1. What did you understand and why?
2. How did you feel?
3. How would you react if you were the language minority student in a class where you could not understand the instruction?
page 24 Part B. 1. What did you understand? If it was more than you understood after Part A, why did you understand more this time?
2. What was the topic of the lesson?
3. How did you feel?
4. How would you react if you were the language minority student?
page 25 Part I: Similarities and Differences Between First & Second Language Acquisition Children acquire their first language by building a language system starting with sounds, words, and then phrases and then adding to that base by acquiring more language through listening to others and trying out the language themselves. Thus, the child is not imitating or repeating adult words or phrases. When the child produces understandable language, those interacting with him encourage him. When he is not understood, others often try to guess the meaning and provide language for him (e.g., the childs see a goo-goo go by is paraphrased by the mother as yes, see the choo-choo go by). Grammatical errors (such as saying goed for went) indicate that children are developing a rule-based system; they just havent learned the exceptions, yet. They have probably never heard goed, so they are not imitating or memorizing; they are unconsciously acting like little scientists: they listen to language, notice patterns and try them out. The patterns that are not reinforced eventually drop away. A child may have the basics of language by age five or six, but is still developing vocabulary and complex sentence structures such as clauses and verb tenses. Even as an adolescent, children are still developing their first language. The processes of first and second language acquisition are more similar than they are different , but there are some distinct differences. Second languages are often learned in different settings and for different purposes. That is, second languages are often learned in school settings for school purposes. This has advantages and disadvantages. One disadvantage is the time pressure to learn both language and content. One advantage is that older learners have prior knowledge that they can build on and transfer to their new language (e.g., how to read in their first language, study skills, and academic content). Children learning their first language must learn developmental concepts while they are learning language. In terms of acquisition and learning, children acquire language largely through an unconscious process whereas older learners partly acquire a new language and partly consciously learn a new language. Research seems to indicate that older learners make faster progress in learning a second language, but younger learners acquire higher levels of proficiency in a second language over the long run, especially with respect to pronunciation. There appears to be a critical period for acquiring language, thus, after this period, most individuals learning a second language tend to fossilize, particularly in the phonology or sound system of the second language. This is why older, proficient speakers of English often speak with what is commonly referred to as an accent. (source:
Teach Session III, Section 1, Learner Variables 1: Age, Motivation,/Attitude, Aptitude, page 27)
Caregiver Speech The language that individuals use when interacting with young children is referred to as caregiver speech or motherese. The principles of caregiver speech listed below are good principles to use when interacting with second language learners as well, and they tend to come naturally to us if we do not censor or resist them. These principles include: * * * Slower and simpler (not louder) speech. Speech is natural with plenty of time given for the child to respond. Focus on the here and now. The topic of the conversation is dense with clues to meaning. Focus on meaning over form. When the child makes a mistake but the message is understood, the
page 26 * caregiver models the correct way to say it without overt correction or attention to the error. Extension and elaboration: the caregiver takes one or two words of the childs and extends and elaborates on it: Who wears a crown? Yes, a king wears a crown.
Assisting with Comprehension and Oral Language Development Listed below are ways in which teachers can adjust the way they speak to ESOL students in order to be more comprehensible, and suggestions for encouraging ESOL students to converse. These techniques are referred to as scaffolding techniques. Scaffolding is a term used by linguists to describe the support and assistance given to second language learners to assist with second language development. All of these suggestions assist ESOL students to operate within what the Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky calls their zone of proximal development. Vygotsky believes that students need to be challenged with support and assistance so that they can exercise their next level of development and, therefore, progress in both learning and development. What the learner can do with assistance today, he/she can do independently tomorrow. Therefore, teaching should aim at tomorrows development, and focus on the students zone of proximal development (Peregoy & Boyle, 2001). When speaking to ESOL students, teachers can facilitate comprehension in various ways. Below are some suggested ways in which teachers can adjust their language to be more comprehensible to ESOL students: * * * * * * * * Pause frequently Clearly indicate the most important ideas & vocabulary through intonation or writing Avoid asides Clarify pronouns Use shorter sentences (subject-verb-object word order) Increase wait time Focus on students meaning, not grammar Avoid interpreting on a regular basis (This does not mean that there is not a time and a place for using the first language; it means that if a pattern of concurrent interpreting is established, it teaches the student not to try to understand English, but to wait until the concept is repeated in his stronger language thus preventing him from acquiring English.)
As ESOL students acquire English, teachers can facilitate this process in many ways. The techniques listed below are ones that scaffold or support ESOL students in their process of learning English: * * * * * * * Ask questions in simplified language while establishing a pattern in the questions Ask for elaboration, tell me more about. Be a good listener (eye-contact, non-verbal support, plenty of time) Provide encouragement to continue, uh-huh. Really? What happened then? Provide difficult words Ask for clarification, Im not sure I understand. Can you say it again? Paraphrase what the student said.
Note: These suggestions could be taught to peer tutors who might help ESOL students with their schoolwork.
page 27 We begin this part with a brief history of the most commonly used methods of teaching language in the past century: Part II: Krashens Theory of Second Language Acquisition Grammar-Translation was used for hundreds of years; some of you may remember this method from high school language classes that focused on learning grammar (verb tenses, gender of nouns, agreement between nouns and adjectives, conjugating sentences). This method often included translating from English to the target language and vice versa. When taught in this manner, many of us could pass the class tests, but could not effectively speak the language. This methodology is so ingrained that, even now, most adult ESOL classes and university modern language classes start with a grammatical structure, practice it, and assume that the learner will be able to use it outside of class in real life. The Audio-Lingual Method was introduced about the time of the Second World War when Americans realized that to fight and gather intelligence in Europe, they would need to speak European languages. With the Audio-Lingual Method, language is learned through habit and a lot of oral, repetitive, pattern drills: e.g., I go to the store, you go to the store, he/she goes to the store. Though ALM recognizes the importance of oral language, it is still based on memorizing and practicing grammatical structures. The Communicative Approaches shift the emphasis away from grammar to communication, i.e., what meaning can be communicated through language. Krashens theory of second language acquisition provides the basis for a method called the Natural Approach developed by Krashen and Terrell. Integrating Language and Content is a current method that uses many of Krashens concepts and focuses on learning language through content. In language classes, this means that the topics of the class are subject matter, not grammatical topics, e.g. in adult classes, how to get a job, or find a doctor, or read to your children; in school, math, science and social studies classes are used as the mediums for students to learn both language and content. Thus, subject area teachers should include attention to language development as well as content knowledge. Krashens Hypothesis Perhaps the strongest influence on second language teaching and learning in the past 15 to 20 years has stemmed from Stephen Krashens theory of second language acquisition. Krashens theory was developed on the assumption that first and second language acquisition are similar in important ways. This was a new idea as recently as twenty-years-ago. As mentioned previously, prior to Krashen, people often learned second languages through grammar study or through memorization of dialogs. Krashens theory contains five hypotheses: the Acquisition vs. Learning Hypothesis, the Input Hypothesis, the Affective Filter Hypothesis, the Natural Order Hypothesis, and the Monitor Hypothesis. The Acquisition vs. Learning Hypothesis: Krashen believes that there are two distinct ways of developing ability in a second language: acquisition and learning. Acquisition is a natural subconscious process of soaking up a language similar to that of children developing their first language. Language learning is a formal, conscious process often involving the learning of grammar, vocabulary, and rules. Krashen believes that acquisition is overwhelmingly the most important process in developing second language ability. As such, the classroom should provide rich, natural, hands-on language acquisition experiences.
page 28 The Input Hypothesis: This hypothesis postulates that a language learner acquires language by understanding language input that is just slightly beyond his current level of competence. Sometimes this concept is written as i + 1. If the input is either too easy or too difficult, it does not promote improvement as effectively; slightly stretching to understand is what promotes improvement. Further, the language learner must understand the message of the input in order for it to help him acquire the related language, but several learners at different levels can each acquire benefit at his own level from a rich, interesting, and comprehensible lesson. In other words, teachers need not worry about pinpoint targeting of i + 1 for each language learner if they create a positive language acquisition environment and lots of comprehensible input. The Affective Filter Hypothesis: Affect as a noun is a psychological term meaning feeling or emotion. The Affective Filter Hypothesis states that emotions and feelings affect how well language is acquired. Emotional states such as anxiety or feelings such as low motivation or self-confidence will raise the filter providing a barrier to effective language acquisition. Optimal language acquisition occurs in states of low anxiety and high motivation and self-confidence. (Think about the mother and child in a relaxed setting reading a picture book.) Teachers should look at their classrooms through the eyes of an ESOL student. Does the classroom provide low anxiety and high motivation and student confidence for ESOL students? The Natural Order Hypothesis: This hypothesis states that one acquires, not learns, the grammatical structures of a language in a predictable order. This means that certain grammatical structures tend to be acquired early, while others are acquired late. For example, in English, the -ing ending and plural s markers are among the earliest acquired grammatical structures. The third person singular ending s is acquired much later. The order of acquisition for first and second language is similar but not exactly the same. One of the implications of this hypothesis is to discourage error correction because errors tend to fall away when the learner reaches a certain stage of development, assuming that the learner is in a good environment for language acquisition. Note that Krashen would NOT encourage teaching a second language based on this order because he believes that formal learning is not a good way to develop language ability; he would encourage placing the learner in a rich language acquisition environment which means the learners would hear and be exposed to lots of rich, natural, complex language from which the learner would begin to unconsciously internalize patterns. By controlling or adjusting the input to contain only certain grammatical structures, the learners natural acquisition process is undermined. Classrooms should provide good language acquisition experiences with little error correction. When error correction is used, focus on errors of meaning, and use modeling and encourage student self-correction whenever possible. The Monitor Hypothesis: This hypothesis states that conscious learning can be used to edit or monitor our language output, e.g., to make corrections as we speak or write or after we speak or write. In order to use conscious learning to make corrections, we must have time, be consciously thinking about correctness, and know the rule for correctness. One place the monitor can be used appropriately is in the editing phase of process writing. When students are speaking or writing to get their ideas down, they cannot be worrying about correctness.
(Source: Krashen S.D. & Terrell, T.D. (1983) The Natural Aproach: Language acquisition in the classroom. San Francisco, The Alemany Press) Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students
page 29 Synopsis of Krashens Hypotheses Think of an ESOL student. He is presented with comprehensible input (Input Hypothesis) and if the affective filter is low, he can take it in and use the input to aid in acquiring new language. Some parts of the language will naturally be acquired before others (the natural order hypothesis). When the student produces language, it may contain errors because his language is in a state of development. In a few circumstances, when he is focusing on correctness, the student can monitor himself to make some self-corrections, but this focus will conflict with a focus on fluency and the content of the message. Although Krashens theory is generally accepted, his insistence that comprehensible input is the ONLY causative variable is contested by other researchers. Some researchers contend that there is not a clear distinction between acquisition and learning; and learning may enhance acquisition. They contend that intake is more significant than input and is influenced by factors such as motivation, interest, and the social and cultural environment in which the learning is taking place. Comprehensible output significantly aids language acquisition, some contend, and the interaction involved in group work is essential for language acquisition.
page 30 True/False Quiz on Krashens Five Hypotheses ____1. Lowering the affective filter prevents language learning.
____2. Rules that are acquired late can be drilled for longer periods to promote earlier acquisition.
____3. Excessive error correction is done in classrooms where the focus is on acquiring a second language.
____4. The degree of anxiety, motivation, and self-confidence that a second language learner experiences affects the rate of second language acquisition.
____5. The best way for a child to learn English in school is to control the sequence of grammatical structures that the child is exposed to.
____6. A great many listening activities occur in classrooms where the focus is on acquiring a second language.
____7. Writing is more conducive to monitor use than speaking.
____8. The teaching of foreign languages in U.S. high schools is largely an example of learning another language.
____9. It is helpful to speak to children using gestures and visual aids even if they cant answer you.
____10. If children dont begin speaking a second language within a few months, it means that they are having difficulty understanding it.
page 31 Part III: Stages of Language Development Next we will consider the stages that a student goes through in acquiring a new language. These four stages describe the initial stages of language development that reflect the process of language acquisition. At the intermediate fluency stage and beyond, many different levels of language proficiency can be measured using standardized language proficiency tests, teacher observations, samples of student work, etc. It should be noted that learner variables such as motivation and attitude can affect the extent of time a second language learner spends in any one stage of language development. There are four initial stages of second language acquisition: The Preproduction Stage: This stage applies to students who are totally new to English. Students at this level are taking in the new language and are trying to make sense of it to meet their basic needs. Language skills are being developed at the receptive level. Since learners in natural settings do not speak at this stage (or speak very little), it is sometimes called the silent period. Students at this level are able to comprehend more complex messages than they can produce. This stage generally lasts one to three months. Learners should not be forced to speak, but should be involved in communicative activities through listening, pointing, matching, drawing, choosing, and acting. The Early Production Stage: Students are low-beginners. This stage generally lasts several weeks. At this stage students begin to respond with one or two word answers or short utterances. In order for students to begin to speak, they must have a need to express themselves and be given a chance to produce language in a low-anxiety environment. Errors in grammar and pronunciation are to be expected. Direct error correction for students at this phase is inappropriate. Teachers need to model or demonstrate the correct response in context. Learners should be involved in communicative activities with tasks that ask them to name, label, list, categorize, and provide short answers. The Speech Emergence Stage: Students are beginners. This stage may last several weeks or months. This is the stage when speech emerges and learners can produce short phrases and simple sentences. Students will begin to use the new language to communicate more freely among themselves. Learners at this stage can be successful in subject matter classes when instructional strategies that facilitate comprehension are used. Appropriate tasks include role play, describe, compare/contrast, etc. The Intermediate Fluency Stage: Students are high beginners, intermediate or advanced. This is a very long stage-it characterizes learners who can get along in the language, but still have a great deal to learn before their proficiency approximates that of native speakers. Often their speaking ability, especially in social situations, appears very fluent, but they may experience difficulties in abstract, cognitively demanding subjects at school, especially when a high level of literacy is required. Teachers can assist these students in developing their academic language by teaching thinking skills and related language, by involving ESOL students in higher-order thinking tasks such as analyzing, creating, defending, evaluating, justifying and by teaching language learning strategies. It is crucial for teachers to understand these stages and the current stage of their ESOL students in order to plan appropriate activities, lessons, and tests for them. Students should not be held accountable for tasks that are so far beyond their current level of language development that they are frustrated at attempting the task at hand.
page 32
Language Development Stages: Sample Behaviors in the Classroom

Stage
Pre-production
Sample Student Behaviors

* Points to or provides other non-verbal responses * Actively listens * Responds to commands
Sample Teacher Behaviors

* Gestures * Language focuses on conveying meanings and vocabulary development * Repetition
Questioning Techniques
* Point to * Find the * Put the __ next to the __. * Do you have the __? * Is this a __? * Who wants the __? * Who has the __? * Yes/no (Is the trouble light on?) * Either/or (Is this a screwdriver or a hammer? *One word response (What utensil am I holding in my hand?) * General questions which encourage lists of words (What do you see on the tool board?) * Two-word response (Where did he go? To work.) * Why? * How? * How is this like that? * Tell me about Talk about * Describe * How would you change this part?
Early Production
* One-word utterances * Short utterances
* Asks questions that can be answered by yes/no and either/or responses * Models correct responses
Speech Emergence
* Participates in small group activities * Demonstrates comprehension in a variety of ways
* Focuses content on key concepts * Provides frequent comprehension checks * Uses performance-based assessment * Uses expanded vocabulary * Asks open-ended questions that stimulate language production * Fosters conceptual development and expanded literacy through content
Intermediate Fluency
* Participates in reading and writing activities to acquire new information
* What would you recommend/suggest? * How do you think this story will end? * What is the story mainly about? * What is your opinion on this matter? * Describe/compare * How are these similar/different? * What would happen if? * Which do you prefer? Why? * Create.
page 33
1. The female frog lays her eggs in water, and the male frog fertilizes them.
2. Tadpoles hatch from the eggs in one or two weeks. These tadpoles eat tiny plants or algae.
3. At about two weeks, the legs of a tadpole start to develop, and lungs begin to develop at about four weeks.
4. By late summer, the tadpoles transform into tiny froglets and they begin to leave the water. As adults, frogs obtain their primary nutrition from insects and other invertebrates.
page 34 Part IV: Social vs. Academic Language Basic Interpersonal Communication or everyday conversational language differs in a number of ways from Cognitive Academic Language, or the kind of language used in classrooms, academic texts, and literary works. Everyday conversational skills are developed naturally by all speakers of any language from infancy on. In contrast, the development of academic language proficiency in any language occurs through education in that language and is a cumulative life-long process. Awareness of the differences between these two types of language is important for those who work with second language learners since there is general agreement among educators and researchers that variables associated with academic language often hinder the academic achievement of ESOL students. Students who are schooled in a second language must develop proficiency in that language in both interpersonal communication and academic language. Second language interpersonal communication skills are the easier of the two to learn and are picked up through interaction with peers and adults, both in and out of school. Within two years of exposure to a second language, most second language learners are fairly proficient at interpersonal communication about everyday topics. Becoming a proficient user of academic second language is a different story. Acquiring Academic Second Language Mastering academic second language is much more difficult than mastering conversational language and takes much longer. In fact, research indicates that it may take four to ten years to develop academic second language proficiency to a level where one can achieve scores on standardized tests that equal those of school peers who are native speakers of the language (Collier, 1995; Cummins, 1980, 1989; Thomas & Collier, 1995). This time span of four to ten years holds regardless of the particular languages that comprise the first and second language, the country of origin, socioeconomic status, or other background variables (Collier, 1995). Part of the reason it takes so long for learners of academic second language to catch up with native speakers is that the native speakers are not sitting around waiting for non-native speakers to catch up. The fact that second language learners do catch up to those who had a head start is most impressive indeed. The length of time necessary to compete successfully depends on both the amount of prior schooling the student has had in his/her first language and the nature of instruction the student encounters in school (Thomas & Collier, 1995). The better schooled a student is in the first language, the easier it will be to develop academic second language. The characteristics of instruction and school programs to which a second language learner is exposed have a definite influence on whether or not the second language learner eventually catches up. Thomas and Collier (1995) found that most of these students, regardless of program type, made impressive gains from first to fourth grade. However, only those who had been exposed to well-designed programs continued to make gains beyond fourth and fifth grade. These students not only caught up, but maintained equality and frequently surpassed their native English peers over the course of high school. Second language learners who had been in less effective programs began to lose ground after fourth grade in comparison to peers and never did catch up. The students in Collier and Thomas study who caught up or surpassed their English-speaking peers shared two very important characteristics. First, in the early grades they had studied in two-way
page 35 bilingual programs and or in programs characterized by the principles found throughout this course. Second, they had received continued native language development or support and were taught through cognitively complex content, problem-solving and discovery learning in highly interactive classroom activities. There was a conscious focus on teaching learning strategies to develop thinking skills and problem-solving, and there was continuous support for staff development that emphasized activation of students prior knowledge, and respect for the home language and culture. Planning Instruction to Facilitate Academic Language Development In order to plan effective instruction for second language learners, educators must be cognizant of the characteristics that distinguish academic language from the language of interpersonal communication and must base planning on this knowledge. Because interpersonal communication proficiency develops rapidly and is very apparent, students may appear to be totally proficient in a second language when they have limited proficiency in academic language. Teachers may mistakenly assume that because a student can carry on an adequate conversation, the student can handle academic work with little or no further assistance. This misconception may actually create academic problems for the student. It may result in premature exiting of the student from ESOL where English learning is assisted or from bilingual education where, in addition to English-language instruction, conceptual and academic language development in the first language is cultivated. Differentiating Interpersonal Conversational Language From Academic Language Academic language differs from ordinary conversational language in many ways. Some researchers have focused on linguistic structures such as syntactic features, use of comparatives, logical connectors, heavy reliance on the passive voice and specific uses of prepositions. Chamot and OMalley (1994) have focused on academic language functions. They discuss a number of key functions of academic language and how these must be learned. Academic language functions that they consider to be most important include: seeking information, informing, comparing, ordering, classifying, analyzing, inferring, justifying, persuading, problem-solving, synthesizing, and evaluating. Cummins (1979) focuses on two particular dimensions of language that differentiate academic language from everyday conversation: level of contextual support and degree of cognitive demand. Language Dimensions Addressed by Cummins To conceptualize the differences between academic language skills and skills in everyday conversation, Cummins used the terms Cognitive Academic Language proficiency (CALP) and Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS). Academic language has a cognitive component in that it must be used for thought as well as for speech, and academic language proficiency is facilitated by background knowledge of the topic under consideration. The term CALP should not be confused with cognitive ability. All instructional planning and programming for ESOL students should include consideration of the two dimensions described by Cummins: level of contextual support and degree of cognitive demand.
page 36 Level of Contextual Support Level of contextual support refers to the number and nature of clues available to a speaker or listener that assist in conveying the meaning of the language. A high degree of contextual support, such as facial expressions, gestures, and other forms of non-verbal communication can make language comprehensible, even when the words are unknown to the listener. Pointing to objects and using manipulatives that relate to the language as it is being spoken, giving opportunities to ask questions and to clarify meaning, or using language with regard to situations and patterns of events that are familiar to the listener also facilitate comprehension. Conversing with a friend in a cafeteria line, where the conversation is about food preferences, is an example of conversation with a high level of contextual support. Similarly, teaching addition with the aid of objects that can be touched, grouped, and counted, or teaching science concepts with a variety of manipulatives, are situations that provide a high degree of contextual support. Thus, the more the contextual support, the easier it is to understand the language. Level of Cognitive Demand Level of cognitive demand refers to how easy or hard the topic or content of a discussion is for the language learner. For example, talking about what to eat for lunch in the cafeteria line is an easy topic that places little cognitive demand on the discussant. Discussing how to calculate the square root of a number might be a very difficult topic for someone who does not have the prerequisite math background. Such a conversation would place a high degree of cognitive demand on that individual. Someone who has already mastered the math involved in calculating square root would find the topic easier and experience less cognitive demand when discussing that topic. The degree of cognitive demand for any given activity will differ for each individual, depending on the individuals prior knowledge of the topic. Academic language which is difficult for students to master is usually supported by very few contextual clues to meaning (low contextual support) and, at the same time, is often about difficult topics that require abstract thought (high cognitive demand). In contrast, everyday conversation is characterized by high contextual support and low cognitive demand. Cummins Quadrants Jim Cummins combined the continuums representing the degree of contextual support and the degree of cognitive demand and arranged them to form 4 quadrants characterizing language and learning activities. The resulting quadrants are illustrated below:
Quadrant I: High context and Low cognitive demand (easiest) Quadrant II: Low context, and Low cognitive demand
Quadrant III: High context, and High cognitive demand
Quadrant IV: Low context and High cognitive demand (most difficult)
page 37 Quadrant I represents language that is easiest to master. It is characterized by a high degree of contextual support meaning lots of visual clues and manipulatives to aid understanding and a low degree of cognitive demand (i.e., topics are familiar, and do not require concentrated thought in and of themselves). Quadrant IV characterizes the most difficult situation where not only are the contextual clues greatly reduced (as in lectures and textbooks), but the topics addressed by the language are unfamiliar to the students and pose a greater cognitive challenge. Quadrants II and III are intermediary areas on the continuum. A language program that progresses from Quadrant I to II promotes language learning that is not overwhelming. Gradual progression to Quadrant III reinforces language learning and promotes comprehension of academic content. A major problem arising from the failure of educators to understand the implications of these continuums is that second language learners are frequently moved from ESOL classes and activities represented by Quadrant I to classes represented by Quadrant IV with little opportunity for transitional language experiences characterized by Quadrants II and III. Such a move may well set the stage for school failure. By attending to both language dimensions and planning accordingly, schools and teachers can provide more effective instruction and sounder assistance to ESOL students.
The above information on Social and Academic Language was excerpted from Empowering ESOL Teachers, Volume 2: Section VIII, Integrating Language, Literacy, Culture, and Content Instruction. Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students
page 38 Discussion Questions 1. Why is it important for teachers to understand these concepts of social and academic language and the time it takes to acquire them?
2. What are some factors that may affect an individual students pattern of social and academic language acquisition?
page 39 Posttest on Second Language Development Directions: Read each statement and write A if you agree with it and D if you disagree. Provide a rationale for each of your answers. ____1. Children acquire a second language primarily through imitation and repetition.
____2. Maintaining the first language in the home will facilitate and enhance the acquisition of English.
____3. Oral fluency is a sufficient indication that an ESOL student has mastered the new language.
____4. An initial silent period can benefit a second language student because it allows the student an opportunity to process and decode the new language.
____5. Placing a limited proficient English proficient student in a mainstream classroom will ensure that the student acquires English quickly.
____6. Correction of students language errors is an effective strategy to enhance the acquisition of the correct structure.
page 40 ____7. It may take some ESOL students five to seven or more years to develop academic language.
____8. The only real difference between academic language and social language is the academic or technical vocabulary.
____ 9. Students in the preproduction phase of language development should not be asked questions that require a verbal response.
___10. Bilingual aides can be very helpful to beginning ESOL students by providing concurrent translations for them.
page 41 Case Studies Directions: Review the six online case studies and identify the program model that each case study represents. Provide a rationale for your answers. 1. Program Model 1 is:
2. Program Model 2 is:
5. Program Models 5 is:
page 42 Part V. Program Models for Second Language Learners In the state of Florida, the Consent Decree mandates ESOL, not bilingual education. However, some Florida school districts have received federal funds to implement various types of bilingual programs. The most common ESOL models in Florida are for language arts instruction and are: pull-out (usually at the elementary level), self-contained or sheltered English classes (usually at the secondary level), and inclusion (for both elementary and secondary). For other subject area classes (math, science, social studies) the most common model is inclusion. A few Florida districts offer sheltered content classes. One of the greatest challenges for schools is with older students who have little or no English and little or no prior schooling or literacy in their primary language. These students need a special program (or special individual assistance) for at least a year to teach literacy, basic academics, school skills, and beginning English. In some districts in Florida, such students participate in a program called New Beginnings. In other districts, these students are helped through dropout prevention programs. It is important that each student be assessed academically before placement in such a program to ensure that he/she is not placed in this program on the basis of lack of English proficiency alone. Thomas & Colliers Research Virginia Collier developed the conceptual model depicted online to illustrate the interaction of four main factors that affect a student when acquiring a second language for school. We have discussed the factors of language, cognitive, and academic development. The fourth and central factor is all of the surrounding social and cultural processes occurring through everyday life within the students past, present and future, in all contexts--home, school, community, and the broader society. For example, sociocultural processes at work in second language acquisition may include individual student variables such as self-esteem, anxiety, or other affective factors. At school the instructional environment in a classroom or program structure may create social and psychological distance between groups. Community or regional social patterns such as prejudice and discrimination expressed towards groups of individuals in personal and professional contexts can influence students achievement in school, as well as societal patterns such as subordinate status of a minority group or acculturation vs. assimilation forces at work. These factors can strongly influence the students response to the new language, affecting the process positively only when the student is in a socioculturally supportive environment (Collier, 1995, pp.2-3). The following article from the Center for Applied Linguistics is a synopsis of Collier and Thomass research.
page 43 Language Minority Student Achievement and Program Effectiveness Teachers often have two basic questions about serving ESOL students in school: 1. How long does it take an ESOL student to learn English for school purposes and what factors affect this process? 2. What kinds of programs are effective in helping ESOL students succeed in school? Needless to say, the answers to these questions are complex. Virginia Collier (1995) reminds us that acquisition of either a first (native) or second language is a complex, long-term process. Think of a five-year-old, English-speaking child entering a U. S. kindergarten: his language is not fully developed by any means. As he grows older, he will develop language to express more complex and subtle meanings, he will learn to read and write, he will learn enormous amounts of vocabulary both in and out of school, he will learn how to use language differently in different situations and for varying purposes, and many other things. A student learning English as a new language must learn all these things as well, but he must learn under very different conditions: in an academic setting, often with peers who are native English speakers, and under severe time pressure. Students learning English in school also bring very different backgrounds to their task: age, prior education, socioeconomic levels, cultural differences, and others. Virginia Collier and Wayne Thomas have studied the question of how long for many years. In brief, they found that in U.S. schools where all instruction is provided through English, the most significant student background variable is the amount of formal schooling students have received in their first language. Older students who have not had any schooling in their first language generally require 7-10 years to perform at the average level (50th percentile) of native English speakers on academic tests in English. Students with 2-3 years of L1 schooling, generally require 5-7 years to perform at this level. This finding holds true regardless of other student background variables such as socioeconomic status or country of origin. Note that these researchers have used a very demanding standard: the 50th percentile on academic tests in English--half the English speakers perform under this percentile. Further, this standard measures both content knowledge and use of English, and is higher every year as grade-level expectations increase. However, this is the standard at which ESOL students can be said to be performing (as a group) at a level equivalent to native English speakers. It is important to understand that Collier and Thomas are not implying that ESOL students cannot succeed in school for several years; they are documenting the sizable challenge that these students must meet; often in an environment that does not understand their needs well. The crucial role of schooling in the students first language might be clearer if we think of two 16-yearold high school students. A native English speaker has been learning English for 16 years and U.S. school subjects for 10 years or more. An ESOL student must achieve comparable levels of language and content knowledge in much less time and the stronger his base of academic language and content is (even in L1), the more he will have to build on. Collier summarizes the role of first language as follows: The key to understanding the role of first language in the academic development of the second language is to understand the function of
page 44 uninterrupted cognitive development. When students switch to second language use at school and teachers encourage parents to speak in the second language at home, both students and parents are functioning at a level far below their age (pp. 6-7). Teachers, however, have no control over the backgrounds their students bring and many schools cannot provide bilingual education to support their language minority students. What can teachers do? First, teachers can recognize the important role that first language plays in student success in school and can look for ways to support ESOL students through L1 tutors (perhaps older students or members of community organizations), bilingual aides, books and websites in L1, and the appropriate use of L1 in the classroom (perhaps brainstorming, researching a new topic, or helping others). Second, classrooms can be highly interactive and emphasize student problem-solving and discovery learning. These classrooms offer opportunities to develop both cognitive and communication skills in English, not to mention a high degree of motivation to learn. Third, the school must offer an explicitly welcoming climate to its language minority students: perceptions of hostility, subordinate status, or remedial learning lead to isolation, self-doubt, and dropout. In addition, academic achievement of ESOL students, especially at the secondary level, will be improved if the second language (English) is taught through academic content; teachers consciously focus on teaching learning strategies, thinking skills, and problem-solving; and teachers participate in ongoing staff development focusing on strategies appropriate for ESOL students as well as for other learners. These strategies include: activation of students prior knowledge, respect for students home language and culture, cooperative learning, interactive and discovery learning, intense and meaningful cognitive/academic development, and ongoing assessment using multiple measures (p. 9).
Reference: Collier, V. P. (1995). Acquiring a second language for school (Directions in Language and Education, Vol. 1, No. 4). Washington DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. This summary is reprinted with permission from Enriching content classes for secondary ESOL students (National Edition), Study Guide, pp. 48-49. (1998). Washington DC and McHenry IL: Center for Applied Linguistics and Delta Systems, Co., Inc.
Final Comments on Thomas and Colliers Research Thomas & Colliers research found that cognitive, academic, and linguistic development in the students first language is very strongly associated with long-term academic success in the second language. This development could take place in a bilingual program in the U.S., in school in the students home country, or through bilingual support provided by bilingual paraprofessionals or others. Regardless of the desirability of bilingual education, in certain circumstances, there are many schools and districts that will not be able to implement it. Sheltered classes can help ESOL students learn English and academic content at the same time. Language arts and social studies are especially good classes to shelter since they are language and culturally intensive. Teachers and schools can also look for ways to obtain some of the advantages of using the students first language even in sheltered or inclusion classes as mentioned in Module 2 (online). At appropriate times, students may be encouraged to use their native language to identify prior knowledge, to brainstorm ideas, and to understand difficult concepts, but NOT for concurrent translation. Bilingual
page 45 paraprofessionals may be trained to preview lessons in the students native languages. This requires training of the paraprofessional as well as obtaining materials relevant to the topics being studied in the different languages. Teachers should encourage parents to use the native language at home (especially when reading, explaining, discussing what they learned in school, and when using other complex language functions). Teachers often feel that parents should speak English at home, but if the parents English is limited, they are not good language models. Further, when speaking English, the parents role as parents is undermined by their limited language. Parents and children need to express complex emotions, discipline children, and conduct family life in general. In addition, if children lose their first language, they may not be able to communicate well with parents, grandparents, and other community members. When the only program model available to ESOL students is inclusion, factors such as common planning time, teacher collaboration, and comprehensive staff development for teachers and administrators can make the difference between a sink or swim program and an effective program. Common planning time and collaboration between the ESOL or language arts teacher and content teachers provides the opportunity to have an integrated curriculum where concepts presented in one class are reinforced in another. This is especially important in schools where ESOL students are pulled from the mainstream class for their language arts instruction. A comprehensive staff development program after ESOL students are scheduled into specific classes assists teachers in solving specific problems and modifying the curriculum and instruction to meet individual student needs. An approach whereby teachers are presented with lessons and/or demonstrations of successful strategies and then are given the opportunity to apply the strategies in their classrooms can be extremely effective and rewarding for both teachers and students.
page 46 Discussion Questions 1. How does your school provide bilingual support for your ESOL students and what additional native language support could the school provide?
2. What program model do you think is most appropriate for students in your school? Provide a rationale.
page 47
SECTION III Culture, Part A
page 48
Cultural Diversity Profile

Directions: For each item, choose the value that comes closest to describing your own personal values. Record 'a' or 'b' in the box to the left of the item.
1a. Hard work will accomplish any objective. 1b. Wisdom, luck, and fate are basic to success. 2a. Communication should be frank and direct. 2b. Communication should be polite and indirect. 3a. Commitments should be honored. 3b. Commitments signify intention, and may be superseded by a conflicting request or need. 4a. Time should be effectively and efficiently used. 4b. Schedules should be viewed in relationship to other priorities . 5a. An individual's work tells a lot about him/her . 5b. Individual identity isn't defined by work or accomplishment. 6a. Success is earned by ability, experience, and hard work. 6b. Family ties and friendships determine mobility. 7a. Teachers should consult with parents, who can contribute successful information. 7b. Decisions should be made by those in authority and others need not be consulte d. 8a. Competition stimulates high performance. 8b. Competition leads to disharmony. 9a. One should do whatever is necessary to get the job done. 9b. Some work may be below one's dignity or rank. 10a. Change is healthy. 10b. Traditions should be preserved by observing rituals and customs from the past. 11a. Both persons and systems should be evaluated. 11b. Personal evaluations should never be negative because they might cause a "loss of face." 12a. Helping a fellow student on a test is cheating. 12b. One should help friends with schoolwork,even tests. 13a. Present success and satisfaction are important. 13b. Materialism isn't important; spirituality is. 14a. Students should be self-directed and take initiative in their studies. 14b. Students should wait for directions from the teacher. 15a. An individual should do everything possible to achieve his/her goals and aspirations. 15b. The group is more important than the individual.
Total number of "a's" Total number of "b's"
Source: Center for Applied Linguistics. Adapted from TEACH: Session 4, Section1.
page 49 Introduction One farm winter in the high plains of Colorado where I was born and raised, my father pointed to an rbola cottonwood tree as I recallnear our home. He asked simply, Por qu puede vivir ese rbol en el frio del invierno y en el calor del verano? (How can that tree survive the bitter cold of the winter and the harsh heat of the summer?) My father was not a man of many words-he was often characterized by relatives as quiet and shy-but a person who, when he spoke, all listened carefully. I remember struggling to find an answer. I remember rambling on for some time about how big and strong the tree was and how its limbs and trunk were like the strong arms and bodies of my elder brothersThen my father kindly provided a different perspective by referring to a common Spanish dicho (proverb): El rbol fuerte tiene races maduras (A strong tree has mature strong roots). In articulating this significant analysis that was absent from my youthful ramblings, he made very clear that without strong roots, strong trees are impossible, even though we dont see the roots. What became clear to me at that time was that if you have no roots, how can you withstand the tests of the environment that surely will come? For me as an individual with a set of cultural and linguistic roots, if my roots were to die and I was to be stripped of the integrity that lies in those roots, then I would also disappear along with all that is important to me. For many limited English proficient students in this nation, their roots have been either ignored or stripped away in the name of growing strong. Many have been directed to stop speaking the languages of their homes, to perceive their culture as one less than what it should be, and to assimilate as quickly as possible, so they can succeed in American society. And, unfortunately, many have suffered the fate of the rootless tree-they have fallen socially, economically, academically, and culturally. Eugene Garcia The reading for Section 3 on Culture begins with a quote by Eugene Garcia, the former director of The Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Languages Affairs, to highlight the main goals of studying culture in any ESOL class: to better understand what ESOL students are going through in their adjustment to a new country, new language, and new school environment; to better understand how this adjustment affects their learning; and to better understand how teachers can help them make this a successful transition. The initial activity in this section deals with an examination of U.S. culture as a way of making us aware of our own personal cultures and as a springboard to studying about other cultures. In this process we should keep in mind that there are as many or more variations within a culture as there are among different cultures. We also begin by examining U.S. culture because most of us operate (consciously or unconsciously) assuming that our way of doing things is the only way until we are confronted with another culture that does it differently. Culture includes rules for behavior that are so ingrained and unconscious that we feel that they are the normal and right way of doing things, and we are uncomfortable and confused when these rules are not followed. Contrary to public opinion, most cross-cultural miscommunication is not due to a lack of goodwill or to some peculiar insensitivity on the part of the individuals involvedThe problem is that meaning is not contained in the actions or words alone. The actions or words constitute the message (sent), which still must be interpreted by the receiver (Gorden, 1974, p.41).
page 50 The Values Orientation Approach Social scientists take various approaches to studying cultures. One such approach is the Values Orientation approach in which cultures are described by the relative value that they place on the concepts of time (past, present, or future), on external achievements vs. spiritual goals, and on the individual as opposed to the group. This approach indicates that U.S. culture takes extreme positions on each of the continuums. This approach assumes the following: A. There are a limited number of human problems to which all cultures must find solutions B. The limited number of solutions may be charted along a range or continuum of variations. C. Certain solutions are favored by members in any given culture group, but all potential solutions are present in every culture. These assumptions themselves are interesting because they point out what all cultures have in common (all cultures seek solutions to the same problems). These assumptions also reflect both the patterns that make a culture unique and the variation from the pattern that is found in each culture. No particular value orientation is intrinsically better or worse than another; it is simply that cultures predominant orientation that guides its members activities and beliefs. Cultures and individuals are further complicated by value conflicts and paradoxes. Values may conflict with each other. For example, harmony with nature may conflict with ones sense of individualism. Or ones sense of self-reliance may conflict with ones desire to accept help from a friend in order to obtain a job. Some social scientists use the terms deep and surface culture to distinguish core values or value orientations from easier-to-identify, more superficial manifestations of culture, such as the different foods or holidays that are characteristic of particular cultures. Sometimes surface culture is called the 3Fs: food, fiestas, and famous people. Incorporating surface culture into the curriculum is fun and worth doing, but it is the deep differences in core values that often cause difficulty for ESOL students in schools.
page 51 Cultural Assimilation, Acculturation, and Pluralism Sills defines assimilation as a one way process through which members of an ethnic group give up their original culture and are absorbed into the core culture, which predominates in the host society (Bennett, 1999). Cultural assimilation is sometimes referred to as the effect of the melting pot and is often wrongly equated with multicultural education. Cultural assimilation has been a strong theme throughout the history of the United States, according to Bennett (1999), as newly arrived ethnic groups were expected to give up their unique cultural attributes and accept the Anglo-American way. Bennett contends that the melting pot theory is still widely accepted by teachers who see part of their roles as purveyors of the American way. The underlying axiom here is that cultural differences are consciously or unconsciously viewed as deficits and disadvantages to both the ethnic minority student and to the society at large. A case in point is the historical overrepresentation of linguistic-minority students in programs for mentally retarded students or for students with specific learning disabilities but relatively few of these students participate in gifted programs. Acculturation is the process by which people of different cultures come into intensive firsthand contact, resulting in changes in the original cultural patterns of one or both cultures but without a complete loss of the original culture. This process involves adaptation to a mainstream culture without giving up ones original culture. This adaptation presumes an individuals right to participate in ones own heritage. The effect of acculturation on second language learning has been emphasized by many researchers who contend that the greater the level of acculturation the greater the second language learning will be for an individual (Schumann, 1978). Cultural Pluralism can be defined as a process of compromise between two or more cultures in which both groups adopt certain core cultural traits seen as crucial to cultural survival while maintaining unique cultural characteristics. In this scenario, members of different groups are able to retain attributes of their unique culture, such as language, religion, and food preferences so long as they conform to those practices deemed necessary for social harmony and the survival of the society as a whole (Bennett, 1999, p. 52). This concept complements the U.S.s democratic principles of majority rule with minority rights and E. Pluribus Unum and gained popularity after the civil rights movement of the 1960s and 70s. The concept of cultural pluralism is more analogous to the salad bowl metaphor than it is to the melting pot metaphor. In a pluralistic society, members of diverse groups have equal opportunities for success, similarities and differences are valued, and students cultures are respected as inherently equal and valuable to the society at large. What is the teachers role in this process? Historically, teachers were seen as the purveyors of American culture and, as such, were the front-line workers in the struggle to enculturate newcomers (Diaz-Rico and Weed, 2002). In The Cross Cultural, Language, and Academic Development Handbook, Diaz-Rico and Weed (2002) describe two discreet roles of teachers as assimilators and accommodators. They state, Teachers who see themselves as agents of assimilation tend to promote the melting pot as a model for their students. This entails the belief that non-mainstream students should change their cultural patterns to match those of the society at large and should seek success in mainstream terms. Students whose beliefs and behaviors do not mirror those of successful mainstream students may be seen as lacking in ability, motivation, prior knowledge, or comEnriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students
page 52 munication skills. In applying a single frame of reference to denote success, such teachers may not realize that standard measures of achievement and aptitude have traditionally been most appropriate for European American, middle class groups, as have instructional content and strategies. Teachers as accommodators can modify instruction to facilitate learning for nonmainstream students and thus help to widen the doors of opportunity for classroom learning and academic success. When students feel respected by teachers for who they are, regardless of their cultural, ethnic, or socioeconomic background, they can maintain throughout their school years the natural excitement and love of learning that is characteristic of children just entering school. Whatever the background, prior knowledge, motivation, or communication skills each student brings, the teacher who has a variety of teaching techniques, activities, and themes can inspire positive learning within all students. Teachers may need to spend additional time with non-mainstream students to teach those responses, behaviors, and language skills that are often assumed to be present in students from homes that represent mainstream, middle-class European America. Ramirez (1991) contends that flexibility and the ability and desire to innovate, if necessary, to meet the learning needs of culturally diverse students is characteristic of accommodating teachers. (p. 204). To quote Dr. Sylvia Boynton, an anthropologist and a linguist, ESOL students are often poised at the intersection of two cultures, that of their families and that of the United States. They are looking for an accommodation which will bring them a degree of comfort and ease. This process of accommodation is highly individual and each persons adjustment will be unique. One of the tasks of teachers of ESOL students is to help students adjust to the new culture by reinforcing pride in their original culture. (Boynton, 1996) Next you will read an article by Dr. Boynton in which she elaborates on this process of accommodation and the role of teachers.
page 53 Discussion Questions 1. Why do some ESOL students act ashamed of their original culture and claim they cannot speak their native language?
2. What kinds of school experiences may encourage ESOL students to reject their original culture?
3. What are some potential problems for ESOL students who completely assimilate to the dominant U.S. culture in terms of language, dress, diet, etc.?
page 54
Valuing Cultural Diversity
Culture is the set of common beliefs and values that are shared by a group of people and that binds them together into a society. All people are members of at least one culture. The norms of a culture provide a framework that makes peoples behavior understandable to one another. Culture allows the individual to predict how other people will behave. All cultures define certain roles, e.g., gender roles-men behave one way and women anotherand age roles-children act in ways that adults do not. US culture also defines roles in relation to status and profession. A waitress, a flight attendant, a school principal, or a physician all have a range of behavior that is appropriate to their positions. Adults transmit their culture to their children in both conscious and unconscious ways. Parents consciously teach their children things like language, appropriate manners, religious beliefs, and family history. They emphasize positive behaviors such as valuing and behaving respectfully to older people or learning who is included in their kinship or family network. Children also gain unconscious knowledge of their culture-ideas of personal beauty and ways of communicating nonverbally are examples of things children assimilate without conscious awareness. Through the transmission of culture, children define themselves and their identities. Their beliefs derive from their ethnic and family backgrounds, but they are also shaped by the experiences they have in school and in the larger society. For example, if a culture values the well-being of the group over that of the individual, children in that culture will usually be more comfortable in cooperative rather than in competitive settings. And if those children are placed in competitive situations, as they often are in US schools, they will likely not understand why they feel uneasy. The students will either adjust to and accommodate the competitive situations or fail to perform in a way satisfactory to the teacher. Most people take culture for granted-it seems natural to them. They do not consciously analyze cultural roles until someone violates them. For example-most teachers in the US assume that a respectful and honest child will look them in the eye during any interaction. Indeed, failure to make eye contact is usually interpreted as a sign of dishonesty or shiftiness. But in many cultures, children are taught that they should look down when being spoken to by an adult. Looking away is a gesture of respect. These children must then master one system of showing respect to use at home and another one to use at school. Language minority students are caught at the intersection of two cultures and they must find a personal accommodation. This process of accommodation is highly individual, and each persons adjustment will be unique. Students who do not find this comfortable accommodation may become alienated from both their native culture and US culture. These language minority children start school with positive attitudes about the culture represented at home. When the culture of school conflicts with what they learned at home they will sometimes reject their original culture in an effort to find comfort in school. On some level they feel that accepting the culture represented by the school will ensure that the school culture will accept them. However, they are usually still seen as different from the norm; they are still seen as those ESL kids. Often, then, these students reject the culture represented by the school. They join with other language minority students who are similarly alienated and have little satisfaction from either their original culture or the new culture. This is the typical picture of a student who does not finish high school and who gets involved in antisocial behavior both in and out of school.
page 55
Students who take pride in and feel satisfaction with their first culture are more likely to find a comfortable adjustment to a new culture. One of the tasks of teachers of ESOL students is to help students adjust to the new culture by reinforcing their pride in their original culture. Students must first learn to understand their own cultures and then they can begin to understand and to accept the cultures of others. Some educators feel that promoting pride in students home culture can foster a sense of alienation from mainstream culture. These educators believe that language minority students will be better adjusted to life in the US if they give up most of their cultural practices and become more like other members of the dominant culture. However, social scientists generally contend that the dominant culture itself is the result of the multiple acculturations of the groups who were here originally (Native Americans) and subsequent groups of immigrants. This national culture and identity is shared by all the groups here and minority group membership is an integral part of the larger culture. To say that there is a US culture does not mean that all Americans are alike but rather that there is a genuine sense of national community with its own principles of unity, history, and sense of belonging. The national culture consists of components which are shared by virtually all people in the US. Some of these values include: * The importance of personal independence which includes the notion of individual rights. In fact, it is so fundamental to US culture that many people assume it to be a universal human value. * Another basic and widely shared value in US culture is the sense of competition and fair play. * Egalitarianism-that all humans are intrinsically equal in worth-is a widespread belief in the US. * Action orientation characterizes the thinking of most people in this country. Doing something is more important than being something. * There is a widespread belief in self help in the US. Many, if not all of our problems, can be solved by our own efforts if we just work hard enough to find the right solution. Although many of the values listed above are also characteristic of other cultures, they are by no means universal. Language minority students may have learned conflicting values from various cultures. Educators face a complex challenge in working with students from various cultures. They want the students to maintain their sense of personal identity and self esteem that is derived from the home culture. But they also want students to function in US schools which require students to adjust to or even accept the strongest values of the dominant culture. A good teacher demonstrates clearly that all students have the same self-worth and that no one student is the model for US culture. Good teachers encourage positive interaction and respect among students of different cultures and racial backgrounds. Good teachers not only tolerate cultural differences but also celebrate them. Sylvia Boynton (1996)
page 56 Andrea M. Guillaume Ruth Helen Yopp Haillie Kay Hopp
Accessible Science
One of the primary goals of bilingual education is to make curriculum assessible to all students. Offering instruction in the content areas in the language of the children and with consideration of their culture is a desirable means of meeting this goal. Unfortunately, however, in many schools in the United States, linguistically and culturally diverse student populations are taught by mainstream, monolingual teachers who are provided with little support to make the best advantage of the opportunities that diverse student populations provide. Second language learners are often provided English as a second language (ESL) instruction and then mainstreamed into all-English classrooms for instruction in the content areas. Mason and Barba (1993) report that second language learners rarely receive science instruction at their appropriate grade level or in their primary instructional language. It is no surprise, then, that these students show a pattern of lower academic achievement than their native-English-speaking classmates, particularly in science. Indeed recent achievement data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress Report reveal that Hispanic high school students scored 24 points lower than their White peers in reading, 24 points lower in mathematics, and 38 points lower in science (as cited in Lara, 1994). Thus, it appears second language learners do not have access to the science education recommended at the state and national levels (e.g., American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1990; Bilingual Education Handbook, 1990; Science Framework, 1990). The purpose of this article is to provide classroom teachers with a model to use in science education that will increase all students access to the curriculum by drawing upon the diversity represented in the classroom. We provide a framework of good science education and an instructional planning format with specific strategies for teaching science to students of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Good Science Education Good science focuses on three critical elements: growth in content, process, and attitude. Science instruction should encourage the development of content that is conceptually oriented and centered on a selective number of big ideas with explanatory power. Additionally, science content development should help students come to see that science is based upon evidence and thus is tentative in nature. Children should also understand that science is fundamentally related to the social, cultural, and historical contexts that surround it. By mastering the processes of science-processes like observation, classification, inference, communication, measurement, and experimentation-children should come to understand science as a field characterized by modes of inquiry as a way of understanding the world. Science instruction also must develop appropriate attitudes that reflect scientific habits of mind like persistence, skepticism, openness, and curiosity that will fuel future endeavors with the natural world and with personal issues. Further, science instruction should encourage positive attitudes toward science so children find beauty in the natural world. Through good science instruction, children should come to see science as an enjoyable endeavor that can lead to a variety of careers and to the enrichment of life (Bilingual Education Handbook, 1990). By encouraging the development of content knowledge, process skills, and attitude formation, teachers help bring their students toward the ultimate goal of science education: scientific literacy. Scientifically literate learners can use fundamental theories and principles to find order in the world, can analyze social and personal issues critically, and can act in ways that reflect the effects of science upon humans lives.
page 57 Appropriate Instruction In his book, Empowering Minority Students, Cummings (1989) discusses the value of an interactive/experiential (or constructivist) model of teaching and contrasts it with a transmission model. In the former model, students are encouraged to be active generators of their own knowledge (p. 63); in the latter the teachers task is one of imparting knowledge to relatively passive students who absorb the knowledge. Interactive, experiential teaching places the teacher in the role of a guide, one who encourages student-student talk in collaborative learning settings and who consciously integrates language use and development with all curricular content. In short, says Cummins, pedagogical approaches that empower students encourage them to assume greater control over setting their own learning goals and to collaborate actively with each other in achieving these goals. The instruction is automatically culture-fair in that all students are actively involved in expressing, sharing, and amplifying their experience within the classroom (p.64). Building on students background knowledge and experiences, involving them in activities that help them raise their own questions, and providing many opportunities for them to interact with one another to build shared experiences are fruitful means for creating an environment that supports both language development and knowledge construction. The constructivist approach that Cummins advocates for all students and subject areas is particularly appropriate for science because good science education needs to help children build coherent understandings of the world through active processes in social settings. Scientific experiences within the context of a constructivist approach can aid in content and language development and cultural understanding by cutting across cultures and allowing for maximum student involvement in the learning process (Sutman, Allen & Shoemaker, 1986). This is echoed in the recommendation of the national reform of science education, Project 2061 (American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1990), which urges teachers to address the needs and interests of all students with a common core of knowledge and experience, to use instructional approaches that capitalize on the questions and interest of children, and to engage children in active learning with hands-on materials and relevant problems. All these needs are met by the learning cycle approach.
Figure 1. The Learning Cycle
Engage
* Builds interest and draws learners into the topic through a real world problem or question. * Allows teachers to discover and activate learners prior knowledge.
Extend
* Students apply what they have learned to the real world or to a novel problem. * Connections to careers or sciencetechnology-society can be made. * Should be student-centered and encourage cooperation.
Explore
* Allows learners to manipulate concrete materials to explore the content. * Students begin to answer questions raised in Engage and to generate new concepts and questions.
Develop
* Furthers the development of concepts and leads to mental accommodation. * Vocabulary is attached to experience: conclusions are drawn.
page 58 The Learning Cycle The learning cycle strategy, widely and successfully used in science education (Martin, Sexton, Wagner & Gerlovich, 1994), is an inductive planning and instructional format that provides a structure for teachers to meet the needs of diverse students in providing good science education. First, its cyclic nature begins and ends with interesting, real-life problems that engage the minds of the learners and allow them to connect science to their own lives and to the world around them. Second, it provides opportunities for students to build a common base of experience and to work with data in order to search for patterns, form generalizations, and interact with text; this allows for the use and development of language in purposeful contexts. Third, the components of the learning cycle provide opportunities for peer interaction and cooperative learning which can foster content learning, positive social interaction, and language development (Kagan, 1986). Finally, the learning cycle can be used to recognize the contributions of diverse cultures to our current understanding of science, medicine, and technology. Although many forms of the learning cycle exist, one helpful form follows the four phases of Engage, Explore, Develop, and Extend. Figure I briefly describes each phase, and the text that follows gives more information and specific examples for teachers wishing to address diverse students needs through the implementation of the learning cycle in their science instruction. Engage The Engage phase draws children into the topic by encouraging their thinking through some real world activity or question; it sparks questions in the minds of the learners. It also allows the teacher to determine which prior conceptions and values children bring with them to the current lesson. Research reveals that a learners prior knowledge plays a significant role in the construction of new knowledge. Schema theory offers an explanation of research findings that have consistently shown that individuals background experiences and knowledge are directly related to their ability to understand new, related concepts. Because schemata are constructed through individuals experience, an effective teacher promotes knowledge construction in students by providing experiences that encourage students to attain relevant knowledge prior to encountering a new experience. Examples of activities useful during the Engage phase are the KWL chart, semantic maps, and peer interviews. The Know, Want to Know, Learned (KWL) chart provides a vehicle for the activation of background knowledge on a given subject and for eliciting students questions about the topic (Ogle, 1986). The KWL chart is intended to be used during the initial phase in the learning cycle as well as in subsequent phases. As a means of engagement, students brainstorm and record all they know about a given concept on a chart in the first column labeled, What I (or We) Know (see Figure 2). For instance, if students are going to be studying owls, they generate lists of what they know about the animal. Their contributions may include their first-hand experiences with owls or information gleaned through readings, viewing movies, home life, or conversations with others. Students may work in groups of three to four children to generate a list of what they know about owls, or they may be asked to contribute to a large class chart. Learners may generate inaccurate information in the What We Know column.
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Figure 2. KWL Chart
What We Know
Owls sleep during the day. Owls are wise. There are lots of kinds of owls. Owls fly. Owls have sharp claws. Owls hunt mice.
What We Want to Know

Do their heads really turn all the way around? Can they pick up large pets and carry them away? Do they bring bad luck? What do they eat?
What We Learned
This phase of the KWL chart is followed by the student generating a list of questions that they have about owls: Do their heads really turn all the way around? Can they pick up large pets and carry them away? Students questions are written in a second column labeled, What I (We) Want to Know. Thus, the students bring themselves to the experience by drawing on their previous knowledge and by identifying questions they have about the topic. The content, then, becomes personally meaningful, and all students have the opportunity to contribute regardless of language proficiency or previous exposure to the subject matter. All students can profit from this strategy, but it is particularly valuable for second language learners, according to Cooper (1993), because it immerses them into a natural discussion and offers a strong scaffold provided by teacher support and student interaction (p. 133). A second activity that is appropriate during the Engage phase of the learning cycle is semantic mapping. Semantic mapping provides a means for visually organizing related ideas and connecting the known with the new (Farnan, Flood, & Lapp, 1994; Heimlich & Pittleman, 1986). For instance, before students begin the study of insects, the teacher writes the word Insects in the center of the chalkboard and solicits students comments about insects. To support and focus students thinking, the teacher provides categories for students to consider as they contribute to the map. Categories for this example may include: Feelings we have about insects, Kinds of insects, How they are helpful, How they are harmful, and Legends About Insects (see Figure 3). The advantages of this activity are that it draws on prior knowledge (allowing students to bring themselves to the content), develops vocabulary, and meaningfully organizes information. Teachers can help lower the affective filter for second language learners in this oral activity by allowing think time, partner discussions, or cooperative group discussions. Often contributions students make to semantic maps induce disequilibrium in others because some students have misconceptions or more developed knowledge about the content. As students listen to one another and watch the map expand, questions arise and interest in piqued. A third activity appropriate for the Engage phase of the learning cycle is peer interviews. Kagan (1994) offers several structures for engaging students who then rate themselves along a scale of, perhaps, one to five in terms of the level of agreement with the statement, Snakes are bad. Older children may be asked to rate their agreement with the statement, Science has dramatically improved the quality of life. Students think about their reactions to the statement, assign themselves a number with one being strong disagreement and five representing strong agreement, and they then line up in order from one to five. After the line is formed, it doubles back on itself, so students stand face to face, with ones facing fives and so on. Students are given the opportunity to interview their partners on their reasons for their position. Partners listen to each other and repeat what they have heard before telling their own opinions. The line may then advance, wrapping around once more, so that children have the opportunity to hear diverse viewpoints. This activity
page 60 is appropriate for students at the intermediate level of English fluency who feel comfortable with oral expression through peer discussion. It aids language development because it requires partners to listen actively, to paraphrase what they have heard, and to repair possible breaks in communication.
Legends about insects.

"Why mosquitoes buzz." Crickets are lucky. A beetle rolled the sun across the sky in Egypt.
Kinds of insects. Beetles Flies Cockroaches Mosquitoes
Figure 3. Semantic Map.
How they are helpful. They spread seeds. They can be food.
Feelings we have about insects. They are yucky. They are annoying. Some are beautiful.
INSECTS
How they are harmful. They bite. They spread disease.
More appropriate for students at preproduction or early production levels of language acquisition is a modified version of this strategy in which students are asked to arrange picture cards in some order (e.g., Arrange these animals in order of those you like the most to those you like the least, or from the most useful to the least useful) and then compare their rankings with those of others. Peer interview strategies allow students to tap their own feelings, knowledge, or experiences regarding a topic, and then to talk with a peer. Background knowledge is activated, communication is enhanced in the one-on-one setting, and students understandings may be challenged as they hear the perspectives and experiences of others. In order to ascertain students prior understandings and experiences with the content, the teacher can circulate and take anecdotal notes of the interviews as they occur. These notes will prove useful as the teacher plans future phases of the learning cycle to address students interests and conceptions of the content. Explore The Explore phase of the learning cycle allows children to manipulate concrete materials in order to investigate the topic under study. They begin to answer questions they raised in the Engage phase and to generate concepts and new questions. This phase provides many opportunities for students to use science process skills like observation, measurement, experimentation, inference, and communication. Scientific attitudes, such as curiosity and persistence, also are encouraged in the Explore phase and later. In the Explore phase, students participate in hands-on activities together. They have the opportunity to interact with materials and with one another. Students are full participants in the teaching/learning process rather than spectators as they engage in activities. Language is purposeful and spontaneous.
page 61 Activities that children find interesting, surprising, or even mildly distasteful are particularly useful in this phase because they may evoke strong reactions; anxiety about communication is lowered and language is spontaneous. An Explore activity that may follow students discussions about owls (described in the Engage phase) involves the pairing of students to examine owl pellets. Students are given the pellets to examine; then they are encouraged to separate the fur from the bones and to reconstruct skeletons of animals ingested and then regurgitated by the owl (Project WILD, 1992). Another example of an activity at this phase of the learning cycle is the exploration of a variety of materials that are attracted by magnets. Does a pencil stick to a magnet? Does an eraser? Do lunch bags? Paper clips? In addition to evoking strong responses and spontaneous language from children, these activities encourage the development of scientific attitudes; curiosity, persistence, skepticism. They prompt children to ask their own questions, which is the key to the pursuit of science and to the integration of content and language. The activities that students participate in during the Engage and Explore phases of the learning cycle provide a shared base of experience among class members. Language is in a natural context that allows for different levels and kinds of peer-peer communication so new speakers of a language and more experienced ones can succeed in a lower-risk setting. At the same time, the teacher circulates among the students to draw out childrens language and to build upon it. Develop In the Develop phase, the teacher assists students in developing concepts and understandings that they were beginning to construct in the previous phase. Vocabulary is attached to experiences, conclusions are reached, and knowledge is systematized. It is in this phase-after students have activated prior knowledge and had experiences with concrete materials-that reading text becomes meaningful. Thus, during the Develop phase, teacher and students together generate explanations for the phenomena under study. Two strategies that are appropriate during this phase are KWL and journal writing. Both strategies encourage children to organize their thoughts and to use language to convey and extend understanding. The KWL strategy, described earlier as an Engage activity, is an excellent strategy for prompting children to think about and record what they have learned. After identifying what they already know about a topic, listing what they want to find out, and having a hands on experience, the children write in the What We Learned column of the class KWL chart what they have learned and modify any earlier misconceptions. Students think about their explorations, use language to explain what they have learned, and listen to the comments of their peers, all in the meaningful context of their experiences. With the experiences and discussions serving as a foundation to their understanding of a concept, children may now be guided through a reading selection about the topic. The knowledge they activated in the Engage phase and the experience they had in the Explore phase allow them to more fully comprehend the selection. Because they have thought about the topic, they are ready to understand what they read. The reading selection may be a single text that the entire class reads, or students may read about the topic from a variety of texts, including a science text, informational books, encyclopedias, or resources the teacher has available. Teachers may wish to capitalize on technological resources; CD-ROM materials, for instance, frequently present visual and auditory cues simultaneously and are often available in multiple languages. (See Sultman, Allen, Shoemaker (1986), for additional suggestions for preparing second language learners to read science materials.) After reading, students return to the What We Learned column to record further insights and understandings.
page 62 Journal writing also provides students with the opportunity to think about their experiences and to develop their vocabularies through the use of the formal language of science, thus promoting a deeper understanding of concepts under study. Several journal formats are appropriate for recording science experiences. In one format, the reading log, the teacher provides the questions in order to guide students thinking about the text, a passage, or an experience, and to help them make generalizations or draw conclusions. For example, the teacher might ask students to record their observations: What happened when we turned off the switch? What did you notice about the clam shell? Draw what you saw when you looked through the microscope and use words to describe it. Or, the teacher might ask students to offer explanations of phenomena: Explain why the soil erodes more in the box that has no plants growing in it. A second kind of journal is the learning log. At the end of a class period, students jot down in their learning logs any thoughts they have about what they learned, what they did not understand or were unsure of, and something else they would like to know about what they studied. This kind of log leads students to put ideas together in new ways (Langer, 1991, p.19) because students are encouraged to think about and question the new learning. The teacher reads the logs and responds to the students in any one of a number of ways, such as individual written responses, individual conferences, and class discussions. Double-entry journals allow the students to record observations or experiences in one column, and to respond to them in a second column. The students can fold a piece of notebook paper in half lengthwise. In one column, they record something they learned or experienced. This can be something that happened during the Explore phase of the lesson, or it can be something they read or discussed during the Develop phase. Directly across from this information, in the second column, the students react to what they wrote. For example, a student might write in the Information column that a squid moves by spitting water out of its siphon. In the Response column, the student might note that that is what happens with an inflated but untied balloon if you let it go. Although journal writing is typically an independent activity, students can work with partners or in small groups to describe a phenomenon or to develop a generalization. What they compose together can be transferred into individual journals. This peer support is especially important for second language learners. Journals provide excellent opportunities for students to build new knowledge and to use the language of science. Barba (1995) states that journals prompt students to assume ownership over new knowledge and to construct labels for what they have just learned. Further, writing requires analysis and presentation of data in an organized manner. Journals also provide teachers with insight into the ways students have constructed knowledge. (See Yopp & Yopp, 1992,1996, for a discussion of several different journal types along with multiple examples.) Extend The Extend phase completes the cycle by allowing students to apply their new knowledge to other contexts or to other related issues or problems that surface in the real world. Because learning is carried beyond the bounds of the classroom, the Extend phase helps learners to see that their knowledge connects to other contexts. This phase can be used to provide a final evaluation of learning through performance-based means or hypothetical reasoning. The Extend phase serves a number of general purposes. It can be used to encourage students to solve related problems within science or to use the new concept in a different setting, which is important because multiple representations of the concept or learning can help ensure that students develop full understanding of the critical attributes of the phenomenon. This phase can also be used to explore science-technology-society connections so students see new information issues. It can allow
page 63 students to find interrelations among the science concepts at hand and ideas from other subject areas. Finally, the Extend phase can be used to explore careers related to the content under study. In addition to these general purposes, the Extend phase can also serve to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse groups. First, the Extend phase can provide an opportunity to build home-school connections by including parents (or other family members) in the students growing scientific literacy. For instance, after studying insects at school, students may extend their learning by interviewing a grandparent about the role of insects as food sources, as agents of plant reproduction, or as nuisances within the home culture either now or long ago. Oral or written traditions also may show the role of the content within the home culture. In the example of insects, for instance, many cultures folktales and songs include insects as significant characters. Second, the Extend phase can be used to support school-community connections by relating school learning to the community and using it where appropriate in ways that benefit the local community. In this way, the Extend phase can serve as a vehicle for social action that empowers children to use knowledge in shaping their community. Lewis (1991), for instance, provides powerful examples of children effectively tackling local problems like a hazardous waste site, and she provides useful strategies for helping children select and solve social problems. Some sample strategies include interviews, letter writing campaigns, speeches, surveys, petitions, and fundraising. Conversely, life in the community may serve as a powerful source for suggesting relevant content for future learning cycles. Third, if the contributions of diverse groups were not explored in earlier phases, the Extend phase can be used to acknowledge and examine the contributions of diverse groups to discoveries related to the content at hand. Students studying astronomy would benefit by learning that Native American (the Anasazi) used their knowledge of astronomy to position their dwellings to make maximum use of the suns energy, or that long ago Muslim scientists constructed sophisticated astrolabes in order to chart the movement of the starts (Selin, 1993a; 1993b). In studying geology and the forces that shape the earth, children can learn that every culture has been involved in observing and controlling the environment so that people from all over the world have contributed to what we know today. Fourth, based upon childrens learning preferences, the Extend phase can allow learners to display their knowledge in ways they themselves select. Providing a variety of response strategies can not only address different learning styles, it can also help to ameliorate difficulties that may result if students acquiring English are expected to communicate their knowledge only through written language. For instance, learners may display their understandings through drawings, enactments, or models-all of which allow for students to respond to content in meaningful ways and in ways that are respectful of the fact that children are simultaneously acquiring language and content knowledge. Works such as Tolleys (1993) guidebook for integrating science and art and Tippins and Danas (1993) article on culturally relevant alternative assessment suggest strategies for teachers who wish to expand the range of opportunities they present to students to convey their knowledge and commitments. Finally, the content can be explored in terms of its cultural import during the Extend phase. Because science is a social enterprise, the issues that become labeled as significant or as problems for solution are highly culturally constrained. The meaning attached to natural phenomena by humans provides a fertile ground of cultural values and their relations to scientific study. For instance, because the ancient Chinese were not constrained, as were Europeans, by a God who would allow for no irregularities in the heavens, they were able to see comets long before Western scientists did. Thus, the final phase of the learning cycle can encourage not only the application of new science learnings, but through their ties to the wider world, should serve as the basis for future learning cycles that help children to see science as a relevant, human enterprise.
page 64 Putting it all together: A Sample Learning Cycle Picture a culturally diverse group of sixth-graders with a range of English language proficiency about to have their first lesson on current electricity. Their teacher is interested in developing two concepts for the day: the necessary components of a complete circuit and the idea that some materials conduct electricity and others do not. In the Engage phase, Ms. G.s motive is to hook the students with an intriguing problem and to discover what they already know about electricity, particularly because many students bring misconceptions about electricity to the science classroom. Ms. G. displays a toy chick that chirps when she holds it in her palm. (The children do not know that the chick has two metal pads on its feet that, when touched simultaneously by certain materials, allow for the completion of a circuit.) She challenges the children, Please ask me yes/no questions to determine what makes my chick chirp. She models examples of this question format for the students. When individuals questions become sparse, Ms. G. asks students to discuss their thinking in the cooperative groups and then phrase a group question. Thus, children at early levels of speech production have the support of more fluent peers to phrase questions. Many notable lines of thought emerge. One group asks, Does it chirp because there is energy in you? They pursue their reasoning by having Ms. G. test the chick on the (metal) arm of the overhead projector. The chick chirps! To explain that the overhead projector allows the chick to chirp even though the projector is not alive, students in another group protest because the overhead is plugged in: It is receiving energy from the wall socket. Groups around the room shout, Unplug it! Still the chick chirps. Although many students have concluded that certain materials allow electricity to flow through the chick, Ms. G. does not worry about reaching a single conclusion at this point. What is important is that the Engage phase has allowed Ms. G. to explore the childrens reasoning and has induced a bit of disequilibrium for students as they challenge their own notions about electricity. Further, she has allowed students to think about electricity with an example relevant to their lives: a toy. Ms. G. encourages students to Explore current electricity by passing out foil, masking tape, strings of small Christmas lights cut into sections, and D-cell batteries. She uses some questions to encourage students to investigate the properties of a complete circuit: How many ways can you make the bulb light? How many bulbs can you light with one battery? Can you use something other than the wire? What else can you try with these materials? As the children work in their groups, Ms. G. circulates, listening to the language children are using (Put it on the bumpy end of the battery!), watches to see what concepts children are pursuing (One group suggests, Lets use all of our batteries together.), and makes mental notes for future lessons. She also invites students to examine the work of other groups in order to fuel their thinking. When groups fail to use foil and masking tape, Ms. G. suggests it, knowing they will want to use the properties of those materials later. After students have had plenty of time to explore, Ms. G. guides them into the Develop phase. First, Ms. G. reviews a few of the phrases she heard children use and supplies a term to represent those informal phrases. I noticed you saying the bumpy end of the battery. Point to that end now. We call that the positive terminal. Try repeating it after me if you like: positive terminal. Ill write it on the board in case you need it later. By supplying vocabulary after students have had concrete experiences, Ms. G. hopes to encourage richer and more useful mental representations of the terms than would be allowed if she started the lesson with a copy the definitions exercise. Students lab sheets have several simple diagrams of a bulb connected to a battery in various ways. Students set their materials aside and work alone using what they have just discovered to indicate whether the bulb in each diagram will light: yes or no. This gives the students the opportunity to test their developing knowledge about the necessary components of a complete circuit. By using unison response, Ms. G. determines that students are forming correct notions about circuitry and asks the students to formalize their thinking: In your groups, now, compose one sentence that tells what a
page 65 complete circuit is. Groups work for 10 minutes, then post their sentences on sentence strips at the front of the room. As the class reads each, the students decide whether the sentences-although worded differently-precisely communicate the necessary components of a complete circuit. To develop the concept of some materials conducting electricity and others that do not, students during the Explore phase tested materials around the room to determine whether the materials would allow the bulb to light: Lets try Rogelios braces! Try my necklace! Does the desk work? Because they recorded materials on a chart [Yes (Conductors) or NO (Insulators)], it is easy for students during the Develop phase to reach a tentative generalization about materials that conduct in the classroom setting: Metals are the best. Satisfied that the students are developing appropriate notions about complete circuits and conductors and insulators, Ms. G. moves the class to the Extend phase. She provides and models a task that asks students to use what they have discovered today: Take a look at my circuit board here. Its like a game. If I touch this end of the wire to the picture of the bird, and this end to the picture of the nest, the bulb lights up. Notice, though, that if I touch this end to the picture of the bird, and this end to the picture of the aquarium, the bulb does not light up. Your job now is to make your own circuit board so that only the correct pairing will make the bulb light. Choose your own topic and items to match. Youll need to use what you know about complete circuits, conductors and insulators. Work with your partner right now to understand the problem and to devise a plan. Ill check back with you in a few minutes. As they talk, Ms. G. passes out manila file folders with holes punched in two columns. She also reminds the students about available materials: foil, paper, and masking tape.
Figure 4. Sample Circuit Board
3x3
50
5 x1
8x4
32
10 x 5
Applying their newly constructed knowledge presents a challenge for the students, and they spend the rest of the morning building circuit boards that meet the criteria. (See Figure 4 for an example.) Children who finish early ask to make another. Many students check out batteries and bulbs, and because these materials are so inexpensive, Ms. G. provides folders and foil for the students to take home so they can impress or stump their parents. Children are encouraged to bring toys or other objects from home that are battery powered to show to the class over the next few days. Future lessons will focus on building more sophisticated notions of circuits and upon
page 66 the social and environmental issues related to electrical energy use around the world, but thats enough for today. Conclusion The learning cycle offers a planning format for science instruction that: (a) provides access to the content and to process and attitude formation, (b) supports second language learners language development, (c) values diverse backgrounds, (d) promotes peer-peer interactions, (e) allows for exploration of multiple contributions to scientific knowledge, and (f) suggests multiple representations of student learning. Diversity in the classroom can serve to enrich the learning that occurs through participation in activities in each phase of the cycle. Diversity is an asset as students learn about the background experiences of one another, engage in hands-on exploration in a social setting, develop their understanding of content, enlarge their vocabularies, and extend their knowledge as they consider the relevance of their learning to their own lives and to the larger communities-past, present and future. Through this model, scientific literacy is an accessible goal for students of all linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Source: Guillaume, A.M., R.H. Yopp, H.K. Yopp. (1996). Assessible Science. The Journal of Educational Issues of Language Minority Students. Special Issue. Volume 17. Boise State University, Boise, Idaho. Note: See source for complete article references and bibliography.
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Making Mathematics Multicultural Through Meaning and Empowerment

Lena Licon Khisty The demographics of the country have undergone such enormous changes that teachers, school administrators, and policy makers everywhere seek ways to reorient classrooms to function more effectively with cultural diversity. Multicultural education has been one approach by which to accomplish this. However, multicultural education has taken many forms including lessons about group differences, group relations, and diverse groups contributions to society and roles in history. This latter form constitutes attempts to add or to change the school curriculum and is one of the most common strategies used in schools. In some subject areas such as language arts, history, or social studies, it has been relatively easy to see how to make the curriculum more multicultural. The aims of multicultural education could be achieved by adding books written by the representatives of various racial and/or ethnic groups and women, by changing the content of history to include diverse perspectives or by changing the curriculum to include studies of social issues. On the other hand, the relationship between multicultural education and mathematics has not fared even this well. Too often, multiculturalism in mathematics has been superficial as, for example, when names used in mathematical problems have been changed to seem more ethnic (Jose, Ahmed, or Yen), when pictures of ethnic faces have been added to textbooks, or when brief biographies of mathematicians or scientists representing diverse groups or women have been included in textbooks as historical notes. However, Banks (1994) has noted that curriculum addition or adaptation is only one of three approaches to multicultural education. Another conceptualization, one Banks (1994) calls achievement approaches, consists of a set of goals, theories, and strategies designed to increase the academic achievement of low-income students, students of color, women, and students with disabilities (p.8). The purpose of this discussion is to set forth an alternative to the common add-on approach to multicultural education in mathematics and science and to describe how a different conceptualization, one which focuses on academic achievement, can be more substantive and more effective in meeting the goals of pluralism. The discussion draws on three working-class bilingual classrooms as examples to demonstrate this alternative perspective which is intertwined with the teachers implementation of radically new instruction in mathematics with language minority students (LMS) from Spanish dominant homes. The concepts presented here apply equally well to other language minority and diverse groups and women. Also, while the focus in this discussion is on mathematics, the teaching of science is undergoing very similar reform as has occurred with mathematics, and therefore, there is opportunity to make multiculturalism in science more substantive in the same way. I will begin by presenting what I believe to be the issues in the current and prevailing conceptualization of multicultural education in mathematics which suggest why a different conceptualization is more appropriate. Next, I will describe how current reforms in mathematics education present a window of opportunity for meaningful diversity. This will be followed by examples from three classrooms where a different conceptualization of multiculturalism, one of empowerment, coincides with mathematics achievement. Last, I offer some thoughts regarding issues which still need to be considered. The Dilemma of Current Multicultural Mathematics Until recently, mathematics commonly has been defined as a subject area whose objective was to develop students abilities to do computations. Emphasis was placed on memorization of number facts, on learning predetermined procedures or algorithms as in carrying or borrowing in multidigit
page 68 addition or long division, and on solutions to decontextualized number problems on worksheets. Many believe the myth that suggests numbers have constant meaning across a wide variety of peoples: the number, for example, can be understood by anyone, anywhere. While there has been a major shift in how we define what it means to do mathematics (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, 1989), which will be discussed more fully in a later section, most people still find it hard to imagine a mathematics that does not involve only numbers and all the characteristics described above. Consequently, it has been difficult for teachers and others affiliated with schools to bridge multicultural education with mathematics in ways that go beyond the add-on approach with its too frequent superficial results. Teachers have attempted to make multiculturalism more substantial in mathematics, but again, as part of adding on to the curriculum. Some of these attempts have included such things as having the Aztec calendar present in the classroom, and perhaps discussing its historical significance. However, mathematically, there might not be much more than the mention that the Aztecs had developed a mathematical system advanced enough for them to calculate dates thousand of years into the future or past. Certainly, it can be exciting for student to know that their ancestors were so mathematically capable. Similarly, African tribal games have been used in classes to demonstrate positive contributions and capabilities of a people. But in spite of the good intentions of these attempts, multiculturalism in mathematics ends up being trivial (Khisty, 1988; Secada, in press). As Secada (in press) points out, the African Ishango bone, with its mathematical patterns too often remains an interesting but mathematically obscure and ambiguous object because it is not explored by students or teachers in terms that connect it to a mathematical concept and to doing mathematics. In essence, no one (teachers or textbooks) guides students to explore relevant mathematical questions about the Ishango bone such as: What mathematical patterns can be found on the bone? How does the bone represent the relationship between prime and composite numbers? (Secada, in press). As a result, such artifacts (games, calendars, etc.) remain static curiosities and lose whatever real mathematical relevance they might have to students; the mathematics remain unexplored, meaningless, and outside the student. More importantly, students abilities in mathematics are not advanced through them. Multicultural Education Redefined as Achievement and Empowerment While there are many conceptions of multicultural education, its core remains rooted in the ideas borne out of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s, ideas centering around equity and equality particularly for groups that present diverse perspectives and whose language issues emanate from their minority status in one or more of the social categories of language, ethnicity, race, class, or gender. The multiplicity of conceptions about multicultural education is due partly to the various strategies that could be used to address these ideas and issues. Given this, we can think of multicultural education in terms very different from simply adding on to or adapting curriculum. We, instead, can conceptualize multicultural education as education for freedom, and as such, one which embodies the concepts of empowerment and social change (Sleeter, 1991). These dynamic concepts point us toward actions which define the characteristics of working class language minority students as strengths as opposed to deficiencies (Cummins, 1986), actions which build on students informal knowledge and experiences instead of replacing or ignoring them, and actions which capitalize on students communities as rich sources of knowledge instead of rejecting them as intellectually limited (Moll & Greenberg, 1990). Furthermore, empowerment does not involve the giving of power by one person to another; rather, empowerment emerges as one comes to believe in ones own capabilities, in the capability to think critically, and in the capability to self-determine and to take action (e.g., Ashcroft 1987; Sleeter, 1991).
page 69 In schools, to empower studentswe must change the ways in which they acquire, view, and evaluate knowledge. We must engage students in a process of attaining knowledge in which they are required to critically analyze conflicting paradigms and explanationsStudents must also be given opportunities to construct knowledge themselves (Banks, 1991, p. 126). Embedded in this pedagogy is the critical role of student voice. In traditional instruction, even one which is child-centered, the teacher is more often in charge of what is said about a subject, who says it, and when. But when instruction opens for a students voice, we begin to see the students identity and as the voice assumes ownership of concepts and knowledge, we see the strengthening of identity. With ownership comes the confidence and ability to think critically and to take action. Ruiz (1991) makes the further distinction that voice is not simply a matter of cultural language (e.g., Spanish, Vietnamese, etc.) or talk. Rather, to have a voice implies not just that people can say things, but that they are heard (that is, that their words have status, influence) (p.220). Voice is connected to the students sense of validity in a class and rests upon the assumption that what one says, does, or thinks makes a valuable contribution to the general experience for everyone. If students never or seldom have the opportunity to share their own reasoning or explanation, then there is little opportunity to feel they have made a contribution. Consequently, classrooms that are inclusionary and that promote diversity will have as a goal that each student has voice and uses it productively. Empowerment in the Reformed Mathematics Context The question now becomes how do we transform instruction in mathematics so students develop and enhance their skills and knowledge in the subject and at the same time have opportunities to develop voice, especially as mathematicians? If we adhere to a conception of mathematics that is oriented toward only learning algorithms and number facts, indeed, it is difficult to envision how to make the transformation as Banks would have us do, one that promotes and develops student voice. However, recently, there has been a radical shift in what constitutes effective mathematics curriculum and instruction. The shift is toward emphases on problem solving, reasoning, communication, and connections particularly with other subjects and out-of-school experiences (NCTM, 1989). The essence of reformed mathematics rests on in-depth understanding of a limited number of concepts. This suggests that a great deal of time be devoted to experiences and processes which develops students understanding. However, it is also based on the assumption that children come to school with well-developed informal understandings and skills (Carpenter & Fenema, 1992). The task, then, becomes one of using, refining, and enhancing this informal knowledge. This clearly involves having students actively doing mathematics such as collecting and analyzing data, constructing strategies to solve a problem, representing mathematical relationships, and most importantly discussing, describing, and justifying their ideas and practice in these same activities. If effect, the goal of instruction is the development of meaning. It follows that instruction cannot be overly structured. Instead, instruction must be nondidactic and flexible as students discuss and demonstrate their own unique and varied problem solving approaches. Likewise, students need experiences that show mathematics as a practical and useful subject that arises from everyday situations. In essence, we can imagine students solving richly contextualized problems related to their own world with as many different strategies presented as there are students, and in the process, students gathering an extensive repertoire of thinking and abilities. With this framework, it is obvious that working class language minority students could have opportunities to have and to strengthen their own voice. Examples From Working Class Classrooms In this section, I will describe how three teachers implemented a theory of multicultural education through the context of reformed mathematics curriculum and instruction and how their teaching
page 70 affected students voice. The teachers are all certified in Bilingual Education and are employed in bilingual programs in different K-8 schools in low-income neighborhoods populated predominantly with Mexican families. Two teach in the upper grades and one in the lower grades. In all three classrooms, the students represent varying levels of academic skills and include some who have come from special education. My purpose is not to present findings from a staff development project. Nevertheless, it is relevant to know something about the experiences the teachers have shared and to give some context to their current practice. The teachers have been participants in a federally funded project to improve the teaching of mathematics and science with Latino students and have participated in weekly collaborative and laboratory-type activities with other teachers for a year and a half. The projects goal was to empower teachers and to enhance their decision making skills for complex instruction based on the integration of three relatively new knowledge bases (constructivist pedagogy, reformed mathematics and science curriculum, and enhanced bilingual strategies including contentbased English as a second language (ESL). Therefore, teachers were not taught to implement a designated mathematics or science curriculum, but were strengthened in their understandings and skills so they could better design their own curriculum and evaluate existing materials. Also, all three teachers had the usual preservice professional development program that included the typical course in mathematics methods, and they began the project with the same fear of and disinclination toward mathematics. As part of the project, teachers were asked to video tape themselves during mathematics and/or science instruction or to allow one of the project members to do the taping over an extended length of time during the school year. Project participants were also asked to frequently submit examples of their lessons and students work and to make in-depth presentations to others about their practice. These video tapes, teaching artifacts, and recorded presentations make up the basis for the descriptions of these teachers instruction. The three teachers were selected for this discussion simply because they present the best examples of radical change, thoroughness, and effectiveness. However, these teachers are not unique in their abilities or changes. Other teachers in this project and similar projects have also reformed their instruction. The teachers in this discussion have been given fictitious names. Mrs. Flores Mrs. Flores teaches fifth grade with students at all levels of Spanish and English proficiency. She has a self-contained classroom and teaches mathematics every day for an hour and sometimes an hour and a half. However, she does not hesitate to extend the designated mathematics period if students are highly engaged in the problem at hand. She does not use one textbook but draws on various sources for problems. The problems that were recorded on video tape over six months generally fell into themes such as data analysis, circles and rectangles, and patterns; however, students were also given problems that did not fit into any one of these categories. The problems always were highly contextualized either with language or drawings, and it was in this context that students refined and strengthened their computational skills as a tool to accomplish a more interesting and challenging task. Even in the case of patterns, the problems might have been just numbers on the board, but the solutions involved much more than simple computation. Some problems presented to students included finding the area of the remaining portion of a rectangle after excluding sections of different sizes and shapes, deciding if a game of chance was fair or not (probability), and determining how many ways two different cars can be put in a line behind a third car. On more than one occasion, Mrs. Flores, to her surprise, discovered afterwards that the problem the students had solved was the same that one of her colleagues had found in a college level text.
page 71 No problem had a straightforward solution, and each lent itself nicely to students creating their own solution strategy. If fact, Mrs. Flores had a habit of asking the class for as many possible strategies as they could develop. At times, she reinforced problem solving and mental flexibility by providing the answer along with the problem in order to concentrate students attention on the process and the strategy. Each student also had a calculator to use at all times. While the problems were nonroutine, the mathematics lessons clearly were just the opposite. Mrs. Flores made the routine part of the content of the mathematics lesson and developed it with her students from the beginning of the school year. Every day students were given a problem of the day; however, sometimes the problem took more than one day to solve in which case she postponed the next problem. The problem was always written on the board before students came into class in the morning and included words which provoked student interest and eagerness such as data, quantitative, and inverse. Students were required to copy each problem in their own specified mathematics notebook along with the date. The lesson began with the students reading the problem by themselves and discussing those points that needed clarification. Then the class broke into pairs to work out the problem. During this time the students talked, asked questions of one another, and used whatever objects they needed for figuring it out as the teacher walked around observing students work, asking questions, and monitoring students progress. When it was clear that the students had solved the problem, the class came back together to discuss solution strategies. The purpose of this final whole class discussion was not to check for correct answers or for how many students got the right answer. Answers, in fact, seldom surfaced in the discussion except in the context of whether the strategy used made sense. The purpose at this point was to have students discuss, describe, and justify their solution strategies. Also, Mrs. Flores already knew from close observations of students at work what understandings they had, what strengths could be shared with the rest of the class, and what weaknesses needed to be addressed. Mrs. Flores always selected a pair of students to put their solution on the board and explain it. She did this to ensure that all the students had a turn at presenting their work. All of the students, through either direct instruction or through modeling, had acquired the skills necessary for asking each other questions (which also seemed routine such as Why did you do it that way? or What would have happened if? or How do you know that works?) and discussing responses respectfully. At the end of the lesson, each student had to write a solution to the problem that included a drawing showing how the problem was solved, a written explanation of the thinking process, and a justification for why the strategy worked and why the solution was correct. Even though a solution strategy had already been discussed by the entire class, no one assumed that what was put in the notebook had to be the same as what was on the board. Students could still record their own strategy as long as it made sense, and if they changed their strategy after hearing someone elses description, they had to write why the new strategy was better for them. Mrs. Flores regularly read the students notebooks and wrote comments in them about the strengths and weaknesses of the students explanations, but not about their answers in terms of being correct or incorrect. Writing up the problem also included recording each calculator key stroke that was used. Often, the mathematics notebook served as the source of lessons on writing in both Spanish and English since students were encouraged to use either language. An example of one problem Mrs. Flores posed to the class was: Is the tarpaulin-15 by 20 feet-I have here in my hand large enough to cover all the desks in the room, if they were all pushed together? Figure it out first by doing a drawing and some measurements. Then well check it. The students, in teams, had to measure the desks and make estimates as to the total area of the rearranged desks. Once students had completed their calculations and decided whether the tarpaulin would or would not cover
page 72 the desks, Mrs. Flores posed another question: How can we check?; with this students developed various strategies for moving desks together with as little disturbance as possible. Two things happened in this lesson which make it particularly interesting. First, a student gave the estimate of the area of the combined desks as 2,000 square feet. This number (2,000) was written on the board and remained there, seemingly accepted as correct, even by Mrs. Flores, for the entire time students discussed other aspects of the problem. Finally, one girl raised the question as to whether it made sense that the area of the desks could be that much since the area of the room was already known to be much less than that. The discussion was then turned to the nature of reasonableness in an answer, and the number was corrected. Then the students puzzled over what constituted a desk. Was Mrs. Flores desk a desk as well as the tables some students sat at, and were they to be included in the problem? The obvious mathematical aspects of the problem were postponed while the students negotiated what was meant and while Mrs. Flores led the class in a discussion of the nature of clarifying meanings in everyday situations. While there was a de-emphasis in this context on getting the correct answer, students nevertheless developed skills and understandings to find correct solutions. The correct answer was embedded as part of the students discussion about their strategies. For example, a student might say, I dont know what I did, but it didnt come out the same {answer}. With this, the discussion would focus on how the strategy was carried out. However, the answer obviously was necessary as a reference point for checking the process. Furthermore, Mrs. Flores instructional talk clearly was not didactic. Much of what she said during the lessons was in the form of questions which caused students to reflect out loud or to redirect their thinking. If a student asked Mrs. Flores, Is this the right way? she responded with Why dont you tell me how you did it and if it makes sense? She guided students with statements to ensure they understood a concept, but she did not tell students how to do the problem. By asking questions and giving students opportunities to express their own thinking and to contribute to the general understanding of the class, Mrs. Flores created situations that empowered her students. However, empowerment also was developed through different aspects of their lessons: (a) the class norms had been set that all answers are worthy, that there is no one right way to do a problem, and that every strategy must stand up to others scrutiny, and mistakes are just as valid and interesting as non-mistakes; (b) the types of problems that students were given were not remedial but are much like those for any advanced level class, and they were engaging by their challenge; and (c) the entire ambiance of the class, including the accessibility of calculators, conveyed a sense that it was not business as usual. Mrs. Garcia Mrs. Garcia developed mathematical concepts in the context of science. She, like Mrs. Flores, teaches fifth grade and has students with a wide range of academic skills and Spanish (L1) and English (L2) language proficiencies. During her participation in the project, Mrs. Garcia seized the opportunity to apply for a small grant her district offered to teachers. Her proposal was for funds to establish within her classroom a pet lending library for the rest of the school. The pet library was to serve much like a book library; classes could check out a pet to keep and study in their own classrooms for a period of time. With the funds, she bought animals and reptiles such as hamsters, lizards, snakes, guinea pigs, and turtles along with equipment and supplies. Her students were to be responsible for the care of the pets and would monitor their well being when other classes had checked one out. The objective of the pet lending library was to provide Mrs. Garcias students with a meaningful purpose for studying biology, for becoming experts in the care of the particular pets, and for communicating in both Spanish and English. In order for Mrs. Garcias students to be able to understand
page 73 the health of a pet and to be able to determine if it was being properly cared for by another class, the students had to do research on the pet, study its habits and characteristics, and gather baseline data on these factors in order to identify changes that might indicate poor health. Mrs. Garcia engineered the learning experiences so that students could begin to direct the curriculum as part of the process of doing research on the pets. Students discussed and decided what information they should have about a pet, how they would find out this information, and how they would present to others. They had to discuss what information would be pertinent in a pet care manual and what form the manual should have. The activities soon became coordinated with the schools technology lab teacher when students decided that the manuals would best be done using the computer. The care and understanding of the live pets in this context presented many unpredicted opportunities to develop mathematical and scientific concepts. In one instance, the students had to resolve the dilemma of weighing one of the hamsters known for its tendency to bite and run away. Could it be weighed while still in a cage, and how would the weight of the pet be isolated? In another instance, one guinea pig seemed to be gaining weight more quickly than others. To check this, students learned to make graphs and quickly learned their functions as they tested various forms and argued about the strengths and weaknesses of each one for this particular situation. School breaks required students to take the pets home and care for them. This required calculating how much food and other consumable supplies needed to be taken for a pet given the number of days away from school. The students also had to be able to communicate to others how to care for the pet. They individually and in teams wrote manuals that accompanied the pet when it was checked out. This provided opportunities for students to develop and refine their ability to write about mathematical and scientific concepts in their first and second languages and to write in a context where the emphasis was on the process of making sure what was written (especially the technical content) was comprehensible to someone else. Suddenly, editing and revising drafts became necessary and meaningful activities. The manuals were wonderful examples of teamwork; some students wrote parts in Spanish, others wrote in English, others did the drawings that went with the texts, and still others served as managing editors. Furthermore, the students felt pride that manuals were produced in two languages and that everyone in the school, including the native English speakers would have to read the bilingual text if they were going to borrow a pet. In this classroom, empowerment particularly rested with the responsibility students were given not only to care for the pets and make sure others cared for them but also to determine the curriculum. From the beginning, Mrs. Garcia involved the students in determining what needed to be done and in setting priorities for the various tasks. The unpredictability of the pets and the uniqueness of the task took the class in many directions which opened unforeseen opportunities for students to make their own hypotheses, to determine experiments for testing them, to gather data, and to present theories regarding the pets and even themselves. In essence, students came to own their study of mathematics and science, and moreover came to do science as scientists do it (Rosebery, Warren & Conant, 1992). Mrs. Adame One of Mrs. Adames grade level objectives is for her second grade students to learn about themselves in the context of community. She chose to use this concept as a way of connecting mathematics to the childrens world. Her teaching log demonstrates that much of her school year centered on creating learning experiences revolving around the theme of studying the community and describing it in mathematical terms. As she noted in one of her presentations to the projects group, she had always wanted to develop lessons based on anthropological constructs (Little Soldier, 1989) but had no idea how to study a community using mathematical concepts except for the obvious counting. As an aid, she asked herself and others the following question: What mathematical question could one ask
page 74 about this thing or that? This same question became instilled in her students who by the end of the year repeated this same question much like a mantra. The nearly year-long study began with Mrs. Adame asking her students to interview a family member to learn how that person solved a given problem. Family members were asked to send a written explanation and a copy of all the computational steps used for the problem to the teacher. The results yielded examples of individualistic or cultural algorithms that became the basis for various social and mathematical discussions which clearly demonstrated that mathematics is socially constructed. After this, Mrs. Adame directed her lessons toward describing the school, neighborhood, or community in terms of her students. Concepts and skills related to mapping, distances, and even the shortest paths were introduced and developed as students plotted their homes on a map, drew their own maps, gave directions on how to get to their homes, and solved problems which naturally arose in this context. Sometimes a lesson consisted of students generating as many different mathematical questions as possible related to the map of the neighborhood (for example, How many more blocks does Blanca live from school than Sonia?), some of which they solved. Mrs. Adame, like Mrs. Flores, quickly made this a routine part of the overall unit. Mrs. Adame would begin by asking students questions that she had thought of but then would shift responsibility to her students for generating further questions. All of these student questions were recorded on butcher paper. The problems were displayed in the classroom as a way of reminding students of the nature of mathematical questions. Since the questions were always what might be called word problems, Mrs. Adame also used them for language arts lessons. The lessons on mapping evolved into other questions related to describing the neighborhood in mathematical terms such as demographics: the number of houses and families on a block, the number and types of businesses, the number of families from certain parts of Mexico, the average number of pets per family, etc. The data were used to pursue many different mathematical skills including understanding the concepts of average and graphing. Students learned about measuring and soon began to measure objects around the neighborhood such as the width of a sidewalk, the circumference of trees, and the distance from their home to the nearest fire hydrant. In some instances, homework consisted of family members being measured for height, weight, length of hands or feet, or any other measurement of which students could think. Toward the middle of the year, the class decided to find out how others in the neighborhood used mathematics in their daily lives. Together, the class generated a set of questions (for example: How did you learn mathematics? How do you use mathematics in your daily life?) to ask an adult in their neighborhood. As a writing exercise, students copied the questions and then took them along with a handout the teacher had prepared as an explanation of the project and directions for the adult. This project had many positive results, but it particularly served to demonstrate to the students that mathematics was an integral part of everyday life. At the end of the school year, after many instances of teacher and students mutually posing the question of how mathematics could be used to describe the home, family, neighborhood, and daily life, Mrs. Adame and her class turned to how mathematics could be used to solve a social issue in the community. The impetus for this question came from students frequent off-hand remarks about how long it took and how dangerous it was to walk across a certain street because of the heavy traffic (the need for a traffic light) or how often someone got hurt playing on a vacant lot covered with broken glass and other debris (the need to reallocate space for better public use). As such issues came up, the class began to explore them for related mathematics such as documenting the need for a traffic light by counting how many minutes someone waited and how many cars passed in that time. Unfortunately, the school year ended before Mrs. Adame could take her class much beyond the initial exploration
page 75 of how the mathematics they had learned could be used for social change. Imagine the confidence these students would have gained if they could have applied their skills to effect social action in their own lives. Some Closing Thoughts The purpose of this discussion has been to demonstrate that multiculturalism in mathematics can and should be much more substantial than what it commonly has been. Schooling which is inclusive, particularly in the areas of mathematics and science, is fundamentally linked to reversing the persistent pattern of underachievement and underrepresentation of diverse groups. Therefore, multiculturalism must be strongly rooted in the process of empowerment and action. The teachers described here offer examples of how mathematics teaching can be reformed not only to confrom to curriculum and pedagogical advances but also-simultaneously-to multicultural goals of empowerment. Did the students in these classes achieve? Did they improve in mathematics? In all three classes, as crowded and as lacking in resources as working class schools typically are, the overwhelming majorirty of students gained two to three grade levels on standardized tests of achievement. Some students entered the fifth grade performing at a third grade level but left scoring at the sixth grade in all areas of mathematics including problem-solving. This is particularly significant since this is the area where Hispanic students show the lowest gain nationally (Matthews, Carpenter, Lindquist, & Silver, 1984). Moreover, the students in these classes were engaged, they made connections between subject matter and the home, and they demonstrated a sense of control, self-determination, and self-confidence. Such results are consistent with findings of other work (e.g., Knapp, 1995) regarding the positive effects of reforming instruction to emphasize understanding. Unfortunately, a small proportion of teachers know about and understand how to teach for meaning especially in the context of mathematics and science (Knapp, 1995). The deepest and most common concern among the three teachers in this discussion was the lack of continuity of reformed mathematics curriculum and instruction from their respective grade level to the next. Their students would leave their classes and return to instruction which emphasized memorization and drill. Whatever gains, especially in ownership, students had made likely would not be sustained. Furthermore, multiculturalism in mathematics and science achievement and empowerment is not simply a matter of using the students home language (L1) in instruction. Teachers could use the L1 and disempower students just as much through their control of students voice and their emphasis on algorithms (Khisty, 1995). Consquently, lasting and substantial reform for diverse students needs to take into account a multicultural perspective that integrates and coordinates key elements of home language, reformed instructional processes that empower, and achievement.
Source: Khisty, L. L. Making Mathematics Multicultural through Meaning and Empowerment. The Journal of Educational Issues of Language Minority Students. Special Issue. Volume 17. Boise State University, Boise, Idaho. Note: See sources for complete article and bibliography.
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Achieving Multicultural Goals through Childrens Nonfiction

Marsha K. Savage Tom V. Savage Introduction The advantages of using childrens literature to achieve important educational goal have long been recognized. Well-written childrens books can capture student interest and motivation much better than textbooks (Norton, 1994). In addition, childrens books are often written in a narrative format appealing to students who come from cultural backgrounds where narration and storytelling are common . Typically, the type of literature recommended for this purpose is fiction. While a number of excellent fiction books can be used in the classroom, nonfiction is often overlooked because of the perception that it tends to be less interesting and motivating than fiction. In fact, since the inception in 1922 of the Newbery Award for the most distinguished contribution to childrens literature, only four awards have been presented to authors of nonfiction. The same pattern seems to hold true for other awards such as the Boston-Globe Horn Book Award or the National Book Award (Meltzer, 1994b). Why? Fisher (1972) contends that part of the problem is that writers of nonfiction for children are not viewed in the same light as authors of junior novels, and their works are considered as more information books than creative works. A childrens book editor of the New York Times dismissed nonfiction works as non-books (Meltzer, 1994b). It appears that many judges of book awards for children do not believe that nonfiction books can have any literary merit (Meltzer, 1994b, p. 28). Meltzer (1994a) reacts to the charge that a nonfiction book is simply an information book by asking the question, Information about what? He points out that young readers need to be informed not only about how trucks run and how weather is formed, but on how character is shaped, how handicaps are overcome, and how the whole world works (p. 19). He also points out that imagination, invention, selection, language, form...are just as important to the making of a good book of biography, history, or science as to the making of a piece of fiction (Meltzer, 1994b, p. 25). Well written nonfiction books can be as captivating and engaging as fiction books and have some important advantages. Nonfiction has the capacity to raise questions in the minds of young readers. Teach them not so much facts and dates or formulas but the art and necessity of asking questions (Meltzer, 1994a p. 22). Whether it is a story of the Civil War or a moving biography of someone who met with critical acclaim, quality nonfiction encourages young people to think-and to inquire. Consequently, students begin to relate to the accounts and the people in a personal way. These are not contrived stories, they really happened. This focus on reality helps establish a record of the experiences of a particular group (Pugh & Garcia, 1990). Reading stories of real people helps students develop an understanding of the values, the perspectives, and the frames of references of individuals from a variety of cultures. Reading about real people and events can help students develop a sense of pride and provide them with some parameters for thinking about their values and sense of purpose. Another advantage is that nonfiction books provide a sense of identity or rootedness for readers by recounting the ethnic histories and accomplishments of African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Americans as well as other cultural groups. Several categories of nonfiction books should be considered for classroom use. One category is biographies and autobiographies which celebrate the lives of people who have overcome barriers and made important contributions. While some of these might be about famous individuals who are generally well known, such as Cesar Chavez or Martin Luther King, Jr., at least as valuable are the
page 77 stories of those common or less known individuals who have not been considered important enough to be mentioned in mainstream textbooks. Many of these stories provide examples that are closer to the lives of the students in our classrooms and provide valuable insight into the culture of which they are a part. For example, Elsie Kreischers Maria Montoya Martinez: Master Potter (1995), published by Pelican Publishing Company, is an engaging account of the struggles of a sick little girl, born on an Indian reservation, who grew to become an award winning potter. Similarly, William Loren Datzs Black Women of the Old West (1995), published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, tells the often ignored stories of African American women who challenged bigotry and prejudice and helped transform the West as school teachers, poets, nurses, cowgirls and business owners. Another category of nonfiction literature is those books that provide glimpses and insight into other cultures. Examples include George Anconas Fiesta U.S.A. (1995) published by Lodestar Books and Peggy Thompsons Katie Henio: Navajo Sheepherder (1995) published by Cobblehill Books. Anconas book contains beautiful photographs and stories of the celebrations of Spanish-speaking people in the United States. Thompsons engaging book includes photographs and accounts of people and their lives on the Navajo Reservation. A third type of nonfiction book that can be especially valuable in the classroom is one that portrays children living in different cultural settings. These books help children relate their lives to the main character in the book. They can also help students develop a sense of identity and self-esteem, achieve academic success, and develop proficiency in English (Savage, 1990). Examples of these books include the beautifully illustrated Konnichiwa: I am a Japanese-American Girl (1995) by Tricia Brown, published by Henry Holt; Monty Roessels Songs From the Loom: A Navajo Girl Learns to Weave (1995), published by Lerner Publications; and Kathleen Krulls The Other Side: How Kids Live in a California Latino Neighborhood (1994), published by Lodestar Books. These books illustrate the great potential of nonfiction books as powerful tools in accomplishing important multicultural education goals. As noted earlier, the lack of recognition accorded to nonfiction childrens books can make the identification of quality nonfiction books problematic. There is, however, one award given annually to multicultural nonfiction childrens literature: The Carter G. Woodson Award, sponsored by the National Council for the Social Studies, honors Carter G. Woodson, a prominent African American educator and historian. In addition to his own writing and publishing, Woodson originated Negro History Week in 1926. Each year the committee solicits participation from over 150 publishing houses for nonfiction books that deal with minority, ethnic, and multicultural themes. These books are systematically reviewed, and those books that treat minority and ethnic groups accurately and sensitively are recognized. A secondary and an elementary book are selected to receive the annual award. Other especially worthwhile books receive merit awards (Savage, 1995). Selecting Nonfiction Books Just selecting nonfiction books that discuss a variety of multicultural topics is not enough. Teachers must plan carefully to make sure that powerful ideas are developed and misconceptions avoided. Simply reading a book is not enough, either. For example, stu-dents who read about people different from themselves may develop the perception that the people about whom they are reading are strange or funny. Careful guidance from a knowledgeable teacher can assist them in understanding the concepts and the people (Savage & Savage, 1994). Initially, the teacher must consider how the book relates to important multicultural goals. Some literature might focus on what Banks (1994) calls the contributions approach, where the focus is heroes, heroines, holidays, and discrete cultural elements, or the additive approach which does not change the curriculum in depth. The additive approach might extend a unit or add concepts without
page 78 changing structure. Ultimately, however, teachers should include books that deal with what Banks calls the transformation approach. This approach is much more time-consuming and requires significant reflection because it changes the structure of the curriculum to enable students the opportunity to view concepts, issues, events, and themes from the perspectives of diverse ethnic and cultural groups (p.25). Another important step when using literature is to identify the important concepts that might be useful for studying the experiences of people from different cultures. Identifying these concepts provides a foundation for selecting books that will then allow the students to develop more than a superficial understanding of a cultural group (Banks, 1994). Some concepts that can be used include: shared culture, values, and symbols; ethnic identity and a sense of peoplehood; perspectives, world views, and frames of reference, ethnic institutions and self-determination; assimilation and acculturation. One way that these concepts can be used in the classroom is by providing questions as advance organizers for students when they read a book. These questions might include: * What is most important to the people in the book? * How do people in this book relate to each other? * How do the people help each other? * What makes the people in the book proud ? * How do the people in the book view the world around them? * How do they relate to other people who are from different groups? * What can you find in the book to indicate that the people have changed to be more like other cultures who live near them? * What can you find that indicates that the people in the book are trying to keep some parts of their traditional way of living? When students have addressed some of these questions, they can then compare what they found with classmates observations and compare the characters in the books with themselves. As they read additional books dealing with a particular cultural group, they can continue to refine and expand their understandings of the concepts. In addition, they can compare cultural groups. They can compare the values and the symbols of different cultures, consider how they are trying to preserve a sense of ethnic identity, and how they are adapting to the world around them (Savage & Savage, 1993). Examples of Nonfiction Books The following are reviews of some of the past winners and merit books that have received the Carter G. Woodson Award. Each review includes suggestions for including some of the concepts suggested by Banks. Many of the award-winning books are now translated into several languages providing the bilingual teacher with a variety of options for using them with all students. Levine, Ellen. (1995). A Fence Away From Freedom. New York: G. Putnams Sons. Level: Secondary. This book which won the 1995 Woodson Award in the secondary category, tells the story of the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. It helps the reader view an event from a variety of perspectives as it tells the stories of the internment through the voices of young children. Each chapter of the book is composed of a series of short stories told by young people who were sent to the internment camps. The chapters include: The Years before Pearl Harbor, Life in the Camps, Homeless Children, Japanese Peruvians in the U.S. Camps, and Life Outside the Camp. The voices
page 79 speak with humor as well as with pain and tell of hateful discrimination as well as courage. Because these are the voices of young people, the book is accessible to the young people in our classrooms. Comparing the different accounts of these participants can help readers learn that there are multiple perspectives to any event. Viewing an event from those perspectives is important in arriving at a more complete understanding. Lyons, Mary. (1993). Starting Home: The Story of Horace Pippin, Painter. New York: Charles Scribners Sons. Level: Upper Elementary This award-winning book in the elementary category is one of a series of books written by Mary Lyons dealing with the topic of African American artists and artisans. It fits into the category of a biography about a generally unknown person who has not been mentioned in textbooks. This book presents the fascinating story of Horace Pippin, a self-taught painter. Pippin was born in 1888 and exhibited a talent for drawing relatively early in his life. A fascinating aspect of the book tells of Pippins experiences as a soldier in World War I. He was shot in his right shoulder and lost the ability to use his right arm. For 11 years Pippin was unable to draw or paint. How he overcame this handicap and was finally recognized as a painter is a captivating story that holds readers interest. The book includes a number of color photographs of his paintings. In addition to learning about Pippin and his life, readers gain insight into issues of prejudice, African American culture, and American history. The element of Pippins injury adds an additional opportunity to examine how courage and persistence can assist individuals in overcoming a disability. Several of the concepts identified by Banks can be explored using the story of Horace Pippin. Ethnic identity is easily explored through the themes of many of the pictures that Horace painted. They include paintings of African American families in their homes, men harmonizing on the street corner, and other scenes depicting aspects of African American life. The concepts of prejudice and racism are prominent in the story. Horace was placed in an all-Black regiment for his service in World War I. The training of the regiment was cut short because of tension created in South Carolina where the regiment trained. One of the paintings displayed in the book, entitled Mr. Prejudice, provides an excellent opportunity for discussion of issues of racism and prejudice. Haskins, James. (1993). The March on Washington. New York: Harper Collins. Level: Secondary. James Haskins has painted a vivid picture of the most significant events in the history of our nation-the March on Washington of August 28, 1963. Although the March on Washington is mentioned in most history books, Haskins provides a glimpse of this event through a perspective different from that normally found in textbooks. He presents it with passion and a dramatic flair that makes readers feel as if they are there. His story begins in the early days of the civil rights movement with people like Philip Randolph, who had the dream for this march many years before it actually commenced. As the dream unfolds, Haskins introduces each of the major characters who contributed to the success of the event. As August 28 approaches, Haskins takes us inside the minds of those traveling to Washington, and we learn why the trip was so important to them. The climax of this drama is the final speech by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Surprising to many readers is that much of his speech was extemporaneous. Haskins book offers a chance to experience vicariously a signal event in the history of the civil rights
page 80 movement. In this book which reads more like fiction than nonfiction, readers can trace not only the events but the lives of individuals who were instrumental in shaping American history. This book is an excellent source for exploring a number of the concepts identified by Banks. Racism, prejudice, ethnic identity, and ethnic institutions play a prominent role. The topic of intraethnic diversity can also be explored by identifying the differences between key groups and leaders in the March on Washington. This book offers a good opportunity to deal with the concepts of knowledge construction and revolution since The March on Washington was a major revolutionary event in the history of civil rights in America. Students can look at the March on Washington from different perspectives and can be challenged to construct their own interpretation of this momentous event. Echo-Hawk, Roger and Walter Echo-Hawk (1994). Battlefield and Burial Grounds: The Indian Struggle to Protect Ancestral Graves in the United States. Minneapolis: Lerner Publications Company. Level: Secondary. This book, a Woodson Merit book in 1995, helps students learn to view events from multiple perspectives. One perspective is that of the Native Americans and their rights, and the other is the research perspective of anthropologists and museums. This book deals with the efforts of the Pawnee Tribe to reclaim the remains of their ancestors. This book is especially useful for dealing with the relationships between different groups and how there is often a double standard applied to minority groups. The book also provides insight into another culture as it discusses the culture of the Pawnee and their burial practices. Concepts of racism and prejudice are apparent in this book as it includes the work of earlier anthropologists who used skull measurements to provide evidence of the inferiority of Native Americans and Blacks. These earlier scientific findings can be compared to more contemporary efforts aimed at providing the superiority of one group over others. Klausner, Janet. (1993). Sequoyahs Gift. New York: Harper Collins. Level: Secondary. This 1994 merit award winner of the Woodson award is a well-written biography of the great Cherokee leader. Although Sequoyah is a name frequently mentioned in American history textbooks, this account provides great insight into his life. Several dimensions of his life provide a basis for classroom discussion. One deals with his devotion to reading and writing. Sequoyah exhorted everyone to learn to read and to teach another in return. Another theme that can be discussed is how Sequoyah overcame hardship, deprivation, and physical handicap to make an important contribution. The issues of racism and injustice are easily discussed in the context of the removal of the Cherokees from their eastern lands on the infamous Trail of Tears. Codye, Corinn. (1990). Vilma Martinez. Milwaukee: Raintree Publishers. Level: Elementary. This merit-award winner is the inspirational story of an Hispanic woman who was schooled in Texas in an environment that typically trained Hispanics for low-paying jobs. She overcame the prejudice, completed college in two and one-half years, and earned a law degree from Columbia Law School. This degree allowed her the opportunity to fight those who have discriminated against minorities. This book, written in both English and Spanish, chronicles the life of a woman who eventually became the lawyer for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. It is more than just her story, however. Vilma Martinez is inspirational for anyone who has faced prejudice and adversity. In addition to being a powerful resource for discussing the concepts of prejudice and racism,
page 81 this book is useful for exploring the concepts of political and economic status. Readers can see how the economic status of a group is often reinforced by the majority culture. This story provides readers with insight into how political power can be used to change the economic and educational status of groups. Hoyt-Goldsmith, Diane. (1992). Hoang Anh: A Vietnamese-American Boy. Holiday House. Level: Elementary. This merit book uses excellent photography by Lawrence Migdale and well-written text to tell the story of Hoang Anh who immigrated to the United States about twelve years ago. This story of a young Vietnamese refugee is an excellent tool to help children and adults understand the experiences encountered by young children as they leave their home country to start fresh in a new country. Concepts that can be discussed after reading this book include those of acculturation and assimilation. Readers can see how individuals from other cultures face pressures to adopt the language and the values of the dominant culture. This leads to cultural conflicts as the children grow up torn between two sets of cultural expectations. This book is also useful in helping individuals understand the frames of references and the perspectives of different cultural groups. Jenness, Aylette and Alice Rivers. (1989). In Two Worlds: A Yup ik Eskimo Family. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Level: Elementary. As technology forces itself into Scammon Bay, Alaska, Alice Rivers is torn between the family structure to which she is accustomed and the lure of an easier life. Jenness, an ethnographer, has provided a poignant glimpse inside a culture often overlooked-the American Eskimo. As teachers and students research and study the various cultural groups within the United States, they should not omit this excellent resource. This is an especially powerful book for dealing with the issues of acculturation and assimilation. Too often, groups of individuals lose their culture and sense of identity as they interact with the dominant culture. Readers are challenged to consider how the ethnic identity of a culture can be preserved. Summary Nonfiction is often overlooked when using childrens literature to explore important multicultural concepts. However, it is a powerful tool because real people and real events often stimulate students to question and to think in a way fictitious characters cannot. Fortunately, quality nonfiction literature is increasingly more available for students at both the elementary and secondary levels. Teachers are encouraged to search for books that will be appropriate for their classrooms.
Source: Savage, M. K., T. V. Savage. Achieving Multicultural Goals Through Childrens Nonfiction. Journal of Educational Issues of Language Minority Students. Boise State University, Boise Idaho. Note: See source for complete article references and bibliography.
page 82 Appendix I-Carter G. Woodson Award Winners 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 Rosa Parks by Eloise Greenfield (Crowell) Make a Joyful Noise Unto the Lord.- The Life of Mahalia Jackson, Queen of the Gospel Singers by Jesse Jackson (Crowell) Dragonwings by Lawrence Yep (Crowell) -fiction The Trouble They Seen by Dorothy Sterling The Biography of Daniel Inouye by Jan Goodsell (Crowell) Native American Testimony: An Anthology of Indian and White Relations edited by Peter Nabokov (Crowell) War Cry on a Prayer Feather: Prose and Poetry of the Ute by Nancy Wood (Doubleday) The Chinese Americans by Milton Meltzer (Crowell) Coming to North America from Mexico, Cuba and Puerto Rico by Susan Carver and Paula McGuire (Delacorte Press) Morning Star, Black Sun by Brent Ashabranner (Dodd, Mead) Mexico and the United States by E.B. Fincher (Crowell) To Live in Two Worlds -American Indian Youth Today by Brent Ashabranner (Dodd, Mead and Company) Dark Harvest: Migrant Fannworkers in America by Brent Ashabranner (Dodd, Mead) Happy May I Walk by Arlene Hirschfelder (Charles Scribners Sons) Black Music in America: A History Through Its People by James Haskins (Harper and Row) ELEMENTARY: Walking the Road to Freedom by Jeri Ferris (Carolrhoda Books, Inc.) SECONDARY: Marian Anderson by Charles Patterson (Franklin Watts) ELEMENTARY: In Two Worlds: A Yupik Eskimo Family by Aylette Jenness and Alice Rivers (Houghton Mifflin Co.) SECONDARY: Paul Robeson by Rebecca Larson (Franklin Watts) ELEMENTARY: Shirley Chisolm by Catherine Schaeder (Enslow Publishing) SECONDARY: Sorrows Kitchen: The Life and Folklore of Zora Neale Hurston by Mary Lyons (Scribners Books for Young Readers/Macmillan Publishing Co.) ELEMENTARY: The Last Princess: The Story of Princess Kaiolani of Hawaii by Fay Stanley, illustrations by Diane Stanley (Macmillan Publishing Company) 1993 ELEMENTARY: Madam C.J. Walker by Patricia and Frederick Mckissack (Enslow Publishers) SECONDARY: Mississippi Challenge by Mildred Pitts Walter (Bradbury Press) ELEMENTARY: Starting Home: The Story of Horace Pippin, Painter by Mary Lyons (Charles Scribners Sons) SECONDARY: The March on Washington by James Haskins (HarperCollins Publishers) ELEMENTARY: What I Had Was Singing: The Story of Marian Anderson by Jeri Ferris (CaroIrhoda Books) SECONDARY: Till Victory is Won: Black Soldiers in the Civil War by Zak Mettger (Lodestar Books) ELEMENTARY: Songs from the Loom: A Navajo Girl Learns to Weave by Monty Roessel (Lerner Publications Company) SECONDARY: A Fence Away From Freedom: Japanese Americans and World War II by Ellen Levine (G.P. Putnams Sons)
1994
1995
1996
page 83 Culture in the Content Areas Science: Accessible Science 1. What led the author to write this article?
2. What is the main goal/purpose of the article?
3. Describe a lesson appropriate to your students using the Learning Cycle. Be sure to answer the following in your description: What science concepts are the students learning? What are your primary objectives? Describe each phase of the Learning Cycle for your particular lesson. Can/will you use this lesson? Explain why or why not.
page 84 Culture in the Content Areas Mathematics: Making Math Multicultural Through Meaning & Empowerment 1. What led the author to write this article?
2. What does the author mean by student voice?
3. Describe a lesson appropriate to your students using the achievement approach. Be sure to answer the following in your description: What mathematical concept(s) are the students learning? How are the students going to express voice (how were they empowered)? Can/will you use this lesson? Explain why or why not.
page 85 Culture in the Content Areas Social Studies/Literature: Achieving Multicultural Goals Through Childrens Non-Fiction 1. Why has non-fiction often been overlooked in a teachers goal of capturing students interests and motivation?
2. What is the authors purpose in writing this article?
3. Describe a lesson appropriate to your students using an excerpt from a multicultural literature selection. Describe the objective of the lesson as well as the pre, during, and post reading strategies that you will utilize. Cite the source of the excerpt including author, title, year, and publisher and tell whether it is fiction or non-fiction. Can/will you use this lesson? Explain why or why not.
page 86 ELEMENTS OF SURFACE AND DEEP CULTURE Surface Culture Elements of surface culture include the tangible things related to a group of people. When we speak of a group of people as a whole, the possibility exists of stereotyping everyone within the group. This often leads to overgeneralizations about a particular ethnic group and ultimately provides erroneous information rather that clarifying the situation. Every cultural group has undergone, and is undergoing, processes of acculturation and assimilation. However, every cultural group maintains certain customs that are unique to that group. These customs and practices become associated with the group until it is difficult to think of one without the other. Surface culture includes: 1 Food 2 Holidays 3 Arts 4 Folklore 5 History 6 Personalities Deep Culture Elements of deep culture deal with the feelings and attitudes that we learn by being members of particular groups. Each culture stipulated certain behaviors that are to be followed in particular situations and promotes particular attitudes. The following are examples: 1 Ceremony 2 Courtship & Marriage 3 Esthetics 4 Ethics 5 Family ties 6 Health & Medicine (what a person is to say and do on particular occasions) (attitudes toward dating, marriage, and raising a family) (the beautiful things of culture: literature, music, dance, art, architecture, and how they are enjoyed) (how a person learns and practices honesty, fair play principles, moral thought, etc.) (how a person feels toward his or her family, friends, classmates, room mates, and others) (how a person reacts to sickness, death, soundness of mind and body, medicine, etc.)
(food and culinary contributions) (patriotic holidays, religious observations, and personal rites and celebrations) (traditional and contemporary music, visual and performing arts, and drama) (folk tales, legends, and oral history) (historical and humanitarian contributions, and social and political movements) (historical, contemporary, and local figures)
page 87 7 Folk Myths 8 Gestures & Kinesics 9 Grooming & Presence 10 Ownership 11 Precedence 12 Rewards & Privileges 13 Rights & Duties 14 Religion 15 Sex roles 16 Space & Proxemics 17 Subsistence 18 Taboos 19 Concepts of Time 20 Values (attitudes toward heroes, traditional stories, legendary characters, super stitions, etc.) (forms of nonverbal communication or reinforced speech, such as the use of the eyes, the hands, and the body) (the cultural differences in personal behavior and appearance, such as laughter, smile, voice quality, gait, poise, hair style, cosmetics, dress, etc.) (attitudes toward ownership of property, individual rights, loyalties, beliefs, etc.) (accepted manners toward older persons, peers, and younger persons) (attitudes toward motivation, merit, achievement, service, social position, etc.) (attitudes toward personal obligations, voting, taxes, military service, legal rights, personal demands, etc.) (attitude toward the divine and the supernatural and how they affect a persons thoughts and actions) (how a person views, understands, and relates to a member of the opposite sex and what deviations are allowed and expected) (attitudes toward self and land; the accepted distances between individuals within a culture) (attitudes about providing for oneself, the young, the old, and who protects whom) (attitudes and beliefs about doing things against culturally accepted patterns) (attitudes toward being early, on time, or late) (attitudes toward freedom, education, cleanliness, cruelty, crime, etc.)
Source: Gonzales, F. (1978). Mexican American Culture in the Bilingual Education Classroom. Austin, TX: University of Texas at Austin/Unpublished doctoral dissertation.
Taken from: Empowering ESOL Students: An Overview, Volume I Section III, Developing Cultural Awareness Cultural Vignettes Activity
page 88 Cultural Vignette Activity Directions: You and your partner will simulate a teacher and student conducting an interactive journal writing activity. Each of you will be assigned one of the vignettes below. First, each participant will write a journal entry from the students perspective. Second, you will exchange journals with your partner, and then respond as a teacher to the student entry. Remember that each student is unique and that the purpose of the activity is not necessarily to solve a problem, but rather to help the student feel some degree of comfort with two cultures. 1. The student is a twelve-year-old girl from a Mexican family. The mother, who speaks no English, is extremely modest. The mother has to go to a physician for an embarrassing problem. The daughter has to accompany her mother into the examining room and translate the ensuing discussion with the physician. The experience is upsetting to the girl and she writes about it in her interactive journal. 2. The student is a fifteen-year-old Korean immigrant girl. At school she appears to have lots of friends especially among the girls. However she is not invited to any of the parties the students have. At school dances no boy ever asks her to dance. She feels physically unattractive and rejected and writes about this in her interactive journal. 3. A thirteen-year-old Miccosukee Indian boy has been invited to a special summer program for gifted students. However, if he goes he will miss the Green Corn Dance, which is one of the most important events in his traditional religious calendar. His family does not want him to go but the school guidance counselor (Anglo American) sees this as a marvelous opportunity. The student has tremendous respect for his family and an excellent relationship with the guidance counselor. The student does not know what to do and writes about the problem in his interactive journal. 4. A seventeen-year-old Puerto Rican boy is confused about finding a social group in which he feels accepted. Physically, the boy has beige skin and dark brown, slightly curly hair. His mother has very dark skin and her hair is black and curly. His father has light brown, straight hair and fair skin. In Puerto Rico, his was not an unusual family. However, in the United States, people seem to consider him and his mother black and his father white. People seem to be disapproving of what they consider an interracial marriage. This boy does not have a sense of himself as black or as white, nor does he feel as though he belongs to a different racial group from his dad. At school the white kids tell him he is black and the black kids say that he thinks he is white. The boy writes about this in his interactive journal. 5. Annette is a fourteen-year-old Haitian girl who has recently arrived in the United States. In Haiti, she attended school and was educated in French. However, upon coming to the United States, she was placed in a bilingual Haitian Creole class. She speaks Haitian Creole, but does not know how to read and write it. She speaks, reads, and writes French fluently, but neither speaks nor understands English. The students in her school often tease the children who are Haitian, so Annette wants to be in an English class so that no one will know she is Haitian. She says it is a waste of time for her to be in the bilingual class since she cannot read or write Haitian Creole. She is very upset about the situation and writes about it in her interactive journal.
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SECTION IV Academic Competence, Part B
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Easy as Pie PLUS Lesson Plan Checklist

1. Increase Comprehensibility a. Use a Lesson Sequence which proceeds (1) from prior knowledge to new knowledge (2) from the concrete to the abstract (3) from oral language to texts (4) from more contextual support to less contextual support (5) for example, Teach the Text Backwards (a) Do Application(s): relevance, prior knowledge (b) Discuss Main Points: use oral language, visuals, hands on (c) Examine Study Questions: overview, identify key concepts (d) Read Text: make manageable for ESOL students b. Use Contextual Support (visuals, hands on, non-verbal clues) to the communicate the overall message, then correlate the message with the language 2. Increase Interaction 3. Increase Thinking Skills 4. Make Connections a. To Other Content Areas b. To Students Interests c. To Other Cultures
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Sample Lesson
This model lesson plan was created for ESOL students, but may be adapted for mainstream grades 6-12. If presented in full detail, the lesson may require one to two weeks. KEY THEME: Environmental Pollution TOPIC: OBJECTIVES: Content: Recognize environmental problems Identify litter and patterns of littering Identify human influences on the environment Littering (Solid Waste)
Language: Listening/Speaking: Recite/listen to a dialogue with meaningful content Discuss environmental issues as a whole class and in small groups Conduct interviews and report orally Reading/Writing: Design a questionnaire, writing questions Complete a list or chart Write in a journal Structure: Thinking Skills: Question Formation Analyze Problems Generate Solutions Infer reasons for human actions Litter, garbage, dump, mess, environment, trash, cause, solution, solid waste, pollution, survey Teacher-made dialogue, poster, items of trash (empty soda cans, paper wrappers, broken glass, etc.)
Key Vocabulary:
Materials:
page 92 Motivation: (Before lesson is presented) This activity whets the students interests and visually represents some background information about the topics.
Two weeks before introducing this topic, hang a scenic poster on the wall. Some students may comment on the lovely view or ask vocabulary questions about objects in the scene. Every other day, attach an item that might be considered trash (candy wrappers, an empty box, an aluminum can) to the poster, thus creating a trash collage. The students may be curious, but do not reveal the purpose. (To introduce the lesson) Turn to the Trash Collage and ask students what they think it represents. Write student ideas on the board. Finally, through guided questioning, if necessary, lead the students to recognize that the lovely place is being ruined by litter. Changing the focus, turn from the poster scene to the local environment, and add some additional vocabulary to the list. Then ask some of the more advanced students to explain why this happens and write comments on the board. Some students may venture consequences of the littering problem. Presentation: Ask two of the more advanced students to volunteer to come to the front of the class and role play the following dialogue: LITTERING AT SCHOOL Student 1: Dont throw that on the ground. Student 2: Why not? Whats the big deal? Student 1: Our school looks like a garbage dump. Student 2: So what? Tell one of the younger kids to clean it up. Student 1: But you littered. Student 2: Everyone does it. Teachers do it too. Student 1: Youre impossible. Do you know what our school will look like if everyone continues to litter?
All students can participate. Teacher helps them make speechprint connections by writing their comments on the board.
This dialogue introduces, in an interactive way, some key vocabulary and causes associated with littering.
page 93 Having begun with concrete examples (poster, dialogue), students can now expand and organize their information. This activity incorporporates some language practice for the students. On the board, write the headings: PROBLEMS, CAUSES, SOLUTIONS, in chart form. Categorize and expand the vocabulary list with student input. Show students a written form of the dialogue. In order to check on comprehension and practice writing questions, have the students take dictation. Dictate the following questions: Where are they? Who is talking? What happened? Why is one student upset? Does this happen at our school? Have pairs compare their work and ask volunteers to write their dictations on the board. Encourage students to peer edit. Discuss relevant grammar points (e.g., question words, verb-noun positions. Ask students to think of additional questions about the dialogue. Write the student-dictated questions on the board. Work as a class to edit errors. If desired, add questions, such as Why is there a problem? (cause) or What can you do? (solution). This paired activity allows for oral language practice in the context of the lesson topic. Students work individually at first, then with peers. This task applies the topic directly to their lives. Application 1: Have pairs role play the dialogue Littering at School and discuss the vocabulary and issues together. Then have pairs ask each other the class-generated questions (more advanced students should answer first). Review: After this structured conversation, ask students to write ten questions and answers about the topic (littering). Before they hand it in, encourage students to peer edit. Home task: For homework, have students write in their journal about the trash they see as they go to and from school for several days. As this task continues expand the vocabulary list under PROBLEMS and put it on a poster, one with CAUSES, and the other with SOLUTIONS as well. Application 2: In small groups, have students discuss the causes of littering, then share ideas with the class. Write them on the CAUSES poster. Then ask groups to consider solutions. Share their suggestions and write on the SOLUTIONS poster.
This group work offers all students a chance to participate.
page 94 This activity reinforces the lanNext have small groups design a questionnaire to interview classguage structure objective. mates, teachers, neighbors, family, and friends. The questionnarie should be limited to five questions. If needed, help groups plan their questions, but do not provide them with a full list. Possibilities include: Does litter bother you? Do you litter? What do throw away as litter? Why do people litter? Who is responsible for solving this problem? What can be done about this problem? Home task: Have students conduct a survey for three days, each interviewing 10 people. (If they interview non-English speakers, they may ask questions in the native language but should write responses in English.) Follow-up and Extension: Have students share this information in their groups. Have recorders in the group organize the results of the survey and a representative of the group reports to the whole class. Help the whole class find ways of organizing and presenting the results of the survey. (Some students may list the results on posters, others may do a chart and quantify the responses. Some may prepare an oral report or a debate between individuals who litter and those who dont. Other students may create a role play or drama. Some may design a visual display or collage, highlighting before and after scenes. Have students write a composition. Display the papers and, if appropriate, encourage some students to submit their work for publication in a school/class newspaper. This task encourages interaction with non-classmates on the topic and may provide clarification practice, as students explain their task to others. Each group contributes to the whole class. Optional presentations allow each group to choose the one best suited to their learning styles and academic skills.
Long-term Projects: Expand this introduction to individual genThese projects further students eration of and influence on solid waste pollution to heighten the problem-solving and study skill awareness of students to other sources of solid waste (industrial, development. agricultural, municipal) and methods of disposal. Design additional lessons to help students research sources of solid waste in their communities and learn about local disposal methods, such as dumping, burying, burning, recycling, etc. Students may want to form action groups to decrease solid waste pollution in their towns.
page 95 Directed Reading Thinking Activities Some students, including many ESOL students, need explicit guidance from the teacher in order to comprehend their texts. Directed Reading Thinking Activities (DRTA) provide this kind of explicit guidance. DRTAs are not typically conducted with an entire class of students. Rather, DRTAs are usually conducted with a small group of students who need more explicit instruction from the teacher in order to comprehend their reading. This small group of students may include only ESOL students, or it may include some native speakers of English who also need explicit instruction from the teacher. The following information highlights the steps involved in a DRTA. Ask students to:
* PREVIEW the reading: Look at the title, headings, summary, and

pictures; discuss prior knowledge and experiences; identify key vocabulary.
* PREDICT the content: Make questions from the headings to help identify what you want to
learn from reading; identify what you already know; ask What is this chapter about?, What seems important in this chapter?, What seems interesting?
* READ in sections: Instead of assigning the entire chapter, assign a section or chunk of the
chapter to be read silently by the students.
* CHECK the predictions: lead a discussion to review the reading by focusing on answers
and evidence students have found related to their initial questions and predictions; ask students to show the part of the reading that answered a question; use higher order thinking questions and strategies. (After students check their predictions, the cycle begins again with students forming new predictions/questions before reading the next predetermined section of text.)
* SUMMARIZE the main points: Ask students to summarize and state the main points of what
they learned in their own words either orally or in short written form.
page 96 Reading a Folk Tale This DRTA was conducted in an upper-grade elementary classroom. The group included eight students. Some were ESL students; others were native speakers of English. This was one of three groups that met regularly for reading activities. While the teacher met with this group, other students in the room were engaged in a variety of independent activities. Some were reading at the classroom library table; others were writing first drafts of stories. Because this group had participated in DRTAs before, the teacher did not need to give any special directions. He had segmented the story into sections, one section per page. He began the lesson by handing out the first page and saying, Here is the first page of the story for today. Read this and decide what you think will happen next. Talk over your ideas with a partner if you want to. As students read, they sometimes asked each other for help with words, and as they finished reading each section they whispered among themselves about what they had found out and what they thought would happen next. Being able to talk things over briefly with a partner helped the ESL students follow the story line and formulate their responses. Here is the story and a sampling of the students responses at each stopping point. The teacher decided to withhold the title so students could discuss possible titles after they finished the story. As you follow the groups reading and discussing, you may wish to make your own predictions at each stopping point. Once there were two brothers. One was rich, and one was poor. One day the poor man had no food at all, and he went to his brother to ask for help. It was not the first time he had asked, and so the rich brother was angry. He said, All right, all right. I will give you a pound of bacon, but only if you do as I say. The poor brother gave his word, and the rich brother handed over the bacon. Then he said, There! Now go to the devil! I must keep my promise to my brother, said the poor man as he walked away down the road. He walked for three days and three nights, and at last he came to a cave that shone with a fierce yellow light. In front of the cave sat an old man. Good evening, said the old man. Where are you going? Im going to the devil, said the poor man, but I dont know where to find him. Teacher: Josie: Mickie: Teacher: Mickie: Ariel: Teacher: Ariel: Teacher: Sam: Manuel: Paula: What do you think will happen next? The man go in the cave. Devil in there. You think maybe the devil is in the cave, Mickie. Why do you think so? The yellow light. Is something weird in there. Maybe devil. I think that old man is this devil. Why do you think the old man is the devil, Ariel? He sitting in front, so its his cave maybe. What do the rest of you think? I think hell go in the cave. I think the devil is in there. Not the old man. Hell go in the cave and get in trouble cause its the devil in there. I agree with Ariel. I think the old man is the devil, and hell take the man into the cave. Maybe hell take the mans bacon, too. Maybe hes hungry.
page 97 [The debate continues. Some students side with Ariel and Paula; others think the devil is inside the cave.] Teacher: [handing out the next page] Lets find out.
You will find him and his servants in there, said the old man, pointing to the cave. They will be most happy to see that bacon you carry. They do not have meat very often, and they will want to buy yours. Take care not to sell it unless they give you the quern which sits on the great table. When you come out, Ill teach you a thing or two about that quern. The poor brother thanked the old man and went into the cave. From the glowing yellow walls came ugly monsters with flashing eyes, and from a roaring fire came the devil himself. Licking their horrible lips, they all clustered around the poor man. They offered him gold and silver and jewels for the bacon. Ill have none of that, said the poor man bravely, but if you give me that quern on the table, you may have the bacon. The devil gave a great roar, and the monsters hissed fire, but the poor man held fast, and at last they agreed. He handed over the bacon, grabbed the quern, and ran out of the cave as fast as he could. The old man laughed when he saw the quern and said, Ah, my friend, now you have a real prize. That quern will grind out anything your heard desires. The old man told the poor brother how the quern worked, and he explained the magic words that would make the quern start grinding and stop grinding. The poor brother thanked the old man and began to walk back to his home. Teacher: Paula: Ariel: Teacher: Teacher: Ariel: Teacher: Manuel: Teacher: Manuel: Maria: Teacher: Manuel: Teacher: quern? Mickie: Juanita: What do you want to say about your predictions? We were right about some things. He did go in the cave, and the devil got his bacon. But old man is not devil. Do the rest of you agree with Paula and Ariel? [There are nods of agreement from the group.] What evidence did you find that made you decide the old man was not the devil? It say here, from a roaring fire came devil himself. Do the rest of you agree that that confirms that prediction? [The group vigorously choruses their agreement.] What do you think will happen next? I still think hell get in trouble with the devil. Why do you think so, Manuel? Cause now hes got that thing, and hell get in trouble. Yeah. The monsters will come out and get it back. What thing, Manuel? That thing-Kern? Yes, the quern. What do the rest of you think? Will the monsters come and get the Maybe. They dont want to sell it. No. I think the old man will stop them because hes helping the poor man. And the poor man will go back home, and hell keep the quern.
[Manuel, Maria, and Mickie insist that the monsters will come after the poor brother. The others think the poor man will get away with the quern.]
page 98 Teacher: Paula: Teacher: Paula: Ariel: Teacher: Sam: Teacher: Maria: Sam: Ariel: Josie: What do you think hell do with the quern? I think he will use it to get more bacon. Why do you think so, Paula? It says [reading aloud], that quern will grind out anything your heard desires. And the old man told him how to make it work. And hes still hungry, because he didnt eat the bacon, so hell use the quern to make some bacon. Yes. He make bacon, Paula and Ariel think the poor brother will use the quern to make bacon. What do the rest of you think? Oh, I get it. That thing can make stuff. [Sam looks back through the text.] What else can you learn about the quern? It say its magic. Yeah. Now I get it. [reading aloud] He explained the magic words that would make the quern start grinding and stop grinding. So its magic, and he can make anything he wants. He make bacon! Maybe he makes money, too.
[The discussion continues. Some hold that the monsters will pursue the quern. Everyone thinks that the poor brother will use the quern to make either bacon or money.] Teacher: [handing out the next page] Lets read on.
When he got to his house, the poor brother put the quern on the table. He said the magic words and asked for bread and meat and ale. The food came pouring out of the quern. Then he said more magic words, and the quern stopped. The poor mans wife was very surprised, and she asked where the quern had come from. The poor man told his wife about the old man, but he didnt say a word about the devil. How lucky we are! said the poor mans wife. And they ate and ate until they were full. For the next few days, the poor man used the quern to grind out food and drink until there was enough to feed many people. Then he hid the quern and invited all his neighbors, and his rich brother, to a feast. The rich brother was angry when he saw all the food at the feast-plates full of food and barrels full of ale. How did the poor brother get so much food when just a few days ago he had been begging for bacon? The rich brother asked him, but the poor brother just smiled. Later in the evening, the poor brother could keep the secret no longer, and he got out the quern and showed his rich brother how it worked. The rich brother was very excited, and he said he wanted to buy the wonderful quern. Ill give you five hundred dollars for the quern, he said. All right, said the poor man. The rich man gave his brother five hundred dollars. The poor man took the money and started to explain the magic words. But the rich brother was so excited that he didnt listen carefully to all the magic words. He took the quern and ran off. Teacher: Ariel: Paula: What do you have to say about your predictions? We was right. He make food. It doesnt say bacon. It says [reading aloud], He said the magic words and asked for bread and meat and ale. But bacon is meat, so maybe he made bacon.
page 99 Mickie: Teacher: Sam: Teacher: of Josie: Sam: What is ale? Does anyone know? Its like a drink. Like beer, isnt it? Yes, thats right. [Seeing several other students nod in agreement with Sams idea, the teacher simply confirmed its accuracy. On other occasions the teacher might ask one the group to check the meaning in a dictionary or glossary and share it with the group.] He didnt make money. But maybe rich man make money. The monsters didnt come back. But they might still come. Maybe theyll go after the rich man now.
[Several others agree with Sam, and there is some speculation as to what the monsters might do to the rich brother.] Teacher: Maria: Sam: Teacher: Sam: Josie thinks that the rich brother will use the quern to make money. What do the rest of you think? Maybe he make money. Get more rich. I think hell get in trouble because he didnt listen to the magic words. What kind of trouble, Sam? Maybe hell use it wrong, and then the monsters will come and theyll get it back cause they know how to work it.
[The discussion continues. Several think that the monsters will return. Others think that the new owner will simply make more money. Everyone agrees with Sam: The rich brother will get into some kind of trouble. But there is disagreement as to just what that trouble might be.] Teacher: [handing out the next page] Lets find out.
The next day, the rich brother told his wife that he would make their dinner. He had a taste for herrings and cream, so he put the quern on the table over a large bowl and said the magic words. The quern began to grind out herrings and cream, and soon the bowl was full. The rich brother told it to stop, but he didnt use the right words. Soon the table was filled with herrings and cream, and the quern kept on grinding. The rich brother tried all the words he could think of, but he couldnt remember the right words. Soon the floor was covered with herrings and cream. The rich brother opened the door, and he and his wife ran toward the town, followed by a river of herrings and cream. They ran and ran until they came to the poor brothers house. Help! cried the rich brother. It wont stop! Take it back! Take it back! So you want me to take it back, do you? said the poor brother, laughing. Will you pay me five hundred dollars? Yes! Yes! cried the rich brother. And so the poor brother got back the quern and also got another five hundred dollars. And he put both to good use. With the money, he brought some land by the sea, and he built a fine new house on a hill overlooking the water. Then he told the quern to grind out gold and silver until he had enough to last him and his wife for the rest of their lives. All who sailed the sea saw the fine new house on the hill, and many people all over the world heard the story of the magic quern and the man who used to be poor. One day a ships captain from far away came to the great house to see the quern. Can it grind salt? he asked. Indeed it can, said the man who used to be poor.
page 100 Teacher: Sam: Maria: Josie: Paula: Manuel: Sam: Maria: Teacher: Ariel: Teacher: Josie: Mickie: Teacher: Mickie: Manuel: Paula: Teacher: Paula: Mickie: Josie: Paula: Sam: Teacher: Sam: Ariel: What do you have to say about your predictions? We were right. He did get into trouble because he didnt remember the right words. He make food, not money. What is herher her-rings and cream? Herrings are fish, Josie. Its fish and cream. Fish and Cream?! Oh, gross! Yeah, Ive had that. Is good to eat? Ill bring in some herrings and cream so we can all have a taste. [That idea received a mixed reception of giggles and groans from the group.] What else do you have to say about your predictions? No monsters. Ariel says that the monsters didnt come back. Do you agree with her about that? Yes. The monsters didnt come back. I dont think monsters come back now. You dont think the monsters will come back, Mickie? Well, what do you think will happen next? Dont know. I think the captain gets the quern. I agree. The man will sell it. Why do you think so, Paula? Did you read anything that gave you that idea? It says [reading aloud], Then he told the quern to grind out gold and silver until he thinks that he had enough to last him and his wife for the rest of their lives. So he doesnt need the quern any more, because he has everything he wants. Captain get into trouble. Like the man with fish. Make salt. Too much, like too much fish. Hell forget the magic words too. Yeah. He wants to make salt, and maybe hell forget the words and make too much. But why does he want to make salt? Why do you think he does, Sam? I dont know. Who wants to make salt? Make money, maybe?
[The discussion continues. Everyone thinks the captain will get the quern, agreeing with Paula that the once-poor brother will sell it. No one has any idea why the captain wants to make salt, and most think that he will probably decide to make money instead. All are sure that he will get into trouble because he will forget the magic words. Teacher: [handing out the last page] Lets read the end and see what happens.
The captain had asked about salt because he was in the salt business. He loaded salt onto his ship, sailed across the ocean, and unloaded it to sell. He was growing tired of this hard work, and he thought the quern would make his life a lot easier. He offered a fortune for the quern, and at last the man who used to be poor agreed to sell. The captain put many large bags of gold on the mans table and took the quern. The man explained how to make the quern work, but the captain was so excited that he didnt listen carefully.
page 101 When the captain was on his ship again, he gave orders to sail across the ocean for home. He planned to arrive with a full load of salt-the easiest salt he had ever brought home to sell. First he decided to try out the quern before he filled the hold of the ship with salt. He put the quern on the table in his cabin and told it to grind salt. The quern ground away, and when the table was full of salt, the captain told it to stop. But he did not remember the right words. The quern kept on grinding. Soon the captains cabin was full of salt. Then the ships deck was full of salt. Then the ships hold was full of salt. No matter what the captain did or said, the quern would not stop. The heaps of salt grew larger and larger. Salt was everywhere. At last, the ship broke apart under the weight of all the salt, and it sank slowly to the bottom of the ocean. And to this day, the quern lies at the bottom of the sea grinding away, and that is why the sea is salt. Teacher: Josie: Sam: Paula: Josie: Teacher: Manuel: How did you make out with your last predictions? Paula was right. It say here, the man who used to be poor agree to sell. We were right. That captain, he sure got into trouble. Yes. He was just like the brother. He forgot the magic words Too much salt. Did you find out why he wanted to make salt? He was selling salt. Wanted to make salt to sell.
[The students continue commenting on the story. Some point out that the monsters never did come back. Others wonder if the captain and the other sailors escaped or if they went down with the ship. Some say that when the once-poor man hears about the ship, he will probably be sorry he sold the quern.] Teacher: Paula: Josie: Sam: Manuel: What do you think would be a good title for this story? The Magic Quern. Fish and Salt. The Poor Man and The Quern. The Devil Quern.
[After students discuss the appropriateness of different titles, the teacher shows them the actual title: Why the Sea Is Salt.1 All agree that it is a good title but some maintain that their titles are better.] The story as it is given here is our retelling of an old Scandinavian folk tale. For the version on which this retelling is based, see Why the Sea Is Salt in World Folk Tales, edited by Milton Rugoff (New York: Viking, 1949; Viking Compass Edition, 1968).
Source: Dixon, C.N. & Nessel D.D. (1992). Meaning making: Directed reading & thinking activities for second language students. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc. pp. 18-25. Used by permission. Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students
page 102
Most Information Texts are Organized in these Four Organizational Patterns

Chronology 1 Compare & Contrast
A
2
How are they similar?
a a&b b
How are they different?
Simple Listing
Cause and Effect
What are the attributes of this object/person?
What are the causes & effects of this event?
Source: Linda New Levine, Univ. of FL at Gainesville, Nov. 2000. Used with permission. Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students
page 103
From Text to Graphics and Back Again

Integrating Language and Content
Teacher Input
Student Tasks
Planning
Graphic organizers to show major concepts and organization
Explicit attention to language and organization of textbook
Construct graphic from text
Construct text from graphic
Based on: Gloria M. Tang, "Teaching content knowledge and ESOL in multicultural classroom." TESOL Journal 2 (2), Winter 1992/1993. Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students
page 104
Social Studies Chapter from Other Places, Other Times

This chapter compares four types of Early Man: Homo Habilis Homo Erectus Neanderthal Man Cro-Magnon - Discusses their defining characteristics - Includes information about where and how they lived - Includes information about the time periods in which they lived
page 105
Early People
Homo Habilis
Homo Erectus
Neanderthal Today
2 million
1 million (years ago)
Cro-Magnon
Source: Tang, G. (Winter 1992/1993). Teaching content knowledge and ESOL in multicultural classrooms. (TESOL Journal 2(2). Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students
page 106
Graphic Representation of Homo Habilis to Accompany Other Places, Other Times
Where Eastern Africa and Southern Asia
When From 1.75 million to 800,000 years ago
Tools Used sharp stones for tools and weapons-no fire
Art No art
Homo Habilis (Handy Man)

Clothing No clothes
Food Berries, birdss eggs, wild pigs Shelter Built shelters of branches
Source: Tang, G. (Winter 1992/1993). Teaching content knowledge and ESOL in multicultural classrooms. TESOL Journal 2(2).
page 107
Chapter Review: Other Places,Other Times
When
Homo Habilis From 1.75 million to 800.000 years ago
Where
Eastern Africa and Southern Asia
Tools
Food
Shelter
Built shelters of branches
Clothes
No clothes
Art
No art
Berries, birds Used sharp stones for tools eggs, wild pigs and weaponsno fire
Homo Erectus
Africa, Asia, From 1.5 milllion to 250,000 and Europe years ago
Wild animals Fire, flint blades, pointed *elephant wooden spears *cooked meat
Probably built shelters of branches
No clothes
No art
Neanderthal
From 130,000 years ago to 30.000 years ago
Europe, Middle Knives, borers,spear East sharpeners made from stone
Wild animals *bear *cooked meat
Lived in caves
Animal hides for clothes
No art
Cro-Magnon Man
Europe, Asia, From 30,000 to 10,000 years Africa, North and South ago America, Australia
Chisels, knives, Hunted animals Lived in caves and gathered spearpoints, wild plants needles, fish hooks, harpoon heads, lamps
Probably made Painting on cave walls, necklaces coats from from shells and animal skins
animal teeth, flutes and whistles, from animal bones
Source: Tang, G. (Winter 1992/1993). Teaching content knowledge and ESOL in multicultural classrooms. TESOL Journal 2(2). Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students
page 108
A Cause-Effect Table for Other Places, Other Times
Events Leading to the End of the Roman Republic Cause

The Roman Empire expanded rapidly.
Effect
Romans had to spend a lot of time and energy defending their empire from invaders.
Angry Italians wanted the advantages of Roman citizenship. They threatened to rebel and attack Rome.
The Romans granted citizenship to the Italians.
Many internal problems existed * Poor people were starving * Government officials became corrupt * Consuls were assasinated * Slaves rebelled against rough treatment from masters.
The republican system was weakened.
Source: Tang, G. (Winter 1992/1993). Teaching content knowledge and ESOL in multicultural classrooms. TESOL Journal 2(2). Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students
page 109
Student-Generated Text
Source: Tang, G. (Winter 1992/1993). Teaching content knowledge and ESOL in multicultural classrooms. TESOL Journal 2(2).
page 110 TEXTBOOK ORGANIZATIONAL PATTERNS AND SIGNAL WORDS

o
Simple Listing
such as include others for example some a few
Chronology
first last later at last eventually since next soon finally in the end in the meantime in 1776
Compare/Contrast
similarly both as...as even though on the other hand rather in contrast
Similarity and...too also in the same way Difference however but yet although
Cause/Effect
as a result cause due to lead to result in effect of
Source: Linda New Levine (2000). Used by permission.
page 111
Graphic Organizers Using Less Language
New York
New Pennsylvania
Jersey
Delaware Maryland
apples blueberries corn grains mushrooms tomatoes
page 112
Gloria M. Tang
Teaching Content Knowledge and ESOL in Multicultural Classrooms
ESOL students in the United States and, possibly, development of thinking level at which they can read exposand Canada who study in multicultural skills. The alternative approach involves itory text in content textbooks, or settings take approximately 2 to 3 years to modifying the text, and , perhaps, using those which bring the language in reach proficiency in basic communication adjunct materials to bring the language in content textbooks to the level of the skills in English (Cummins, 1984). Howclassroom texts to students. This process students. ever, they take more than 5 years to reach commonly results in watering down the Traditionally, the former has native-speaker levels in academic content course content and exposing students to involved removing students from the language (Collier, 1987; Cummins, 1984). language that is not usually found in real regular stream and giving them intenBy implication, unless ESOL students textbooks. A more effective solution is to sive courses to develop their written learn language and content simultaneemploy a model which combines the two, and oral English skills until they have a model which systematically integrates ously, they will be denied the full benefits acquired adequate proficiency for of education. However, school-age stulanguage and content. The proposed classenrollment in content-area classes. dents, particularly those at the upper room model enables ESL students to However, marginalized or segregated intermediate and secondary levels (ages access the language of textbooks and, at programs mean denying students the 12-18), have difficulty understanding conthe same time, helps them reach a level at tent knowledge written and presented which they can read the language of confull benefits of education, that is, full orally in English, and they have difficulty tent classroom texts independently as well access to content-area subject matter expressing concepts in English, even as write academic a discourse in Engwhen they have learned them in lish. It takes into consideration their first language. systematic development of stuHow can we help students dents thinking skills. It conlearn new content knowlsists of five components Figure 1 edge written or spoken in (see Figure 1) which can A Classroom Model English? How can we be sequenced in a variety enable them to demof ways: onstrate their content 1. Explicit teaching of Language + Content knowledge in English? text/ knowledge strucHow can we assist tures of text organizathem in using and tion expressing their 2. Explicit teaching background knowlof graphic repreTeacher Input Student Task edge in English and sentation of text/ linking it to new knowledge strucknowledge? Methtures. ods which endea3. Explicit vour to answer teaching of linthese questions guistic and coheKnowledge Linguistic & Construct Construct Structure Cohesion Graphic from Text from can be divided sion devices of Devices Text Graphic into two categotext/knowledge ries: those which structures bring the 4. Setting stustudents English dent tasks which proficiency to a involve conGraphic Representation of Knowledge Structure
Tang, G.M. (Winter 1992/1993). Teaching content knowledge and ESOL in multicultural classrooms. TESOL JournaI, 2(2). Used by permission.
page 113 Figure 2 Knowledge Structures of Chapter 1: Other Places, Other Times
CLASSIFICATION/CONCEPTS
Homo Habilis - early tool - using ancestors of modern man Homo Erectus - first human to walk upright Neanderthal - more sophisticated tools and social structure Cro-Magnon - most technically advanced of early people
PRINCIPLES
Homo Erectus * use of fire allowed migration to colder climates * development of stronger tools and weapons allowed Homo Erectus to kill larger animals Cro-Magnon Man * sophistication allowed them to survive the ice age * development of farming provided food for long periods of time. Homo Habilis * 1.75 million to 800,000 years ago Homo Erectus * 1.25 million to 250,000 years ago Neanderthal Man * 130,000 to 30,000 years ago Cro-Magnon Man * 30,000 to 10,000 years ago
EVALUATION
DESCRIPTION
structing graphics from expository prose, and 5. Setting tasks which provide opportunities for students to practice constructing expository prose from a graphic. The rest of this paper shows how the Model can be successfully implemented in Seventh-grade social studies classes by describing the work of one teacher. Implementation A teacher from the Burnaby School District (in British Columbia, Canada)
SEQUENCE
intoduced some of the components of this model into her seventh-grade social studies class and found the strategies successful. The textbook she used was Other Places, Other Times (Neering & Grant, 1986), a social Studies textbook widely used in public schools in the Vancouver and Burnaby school districts. The teacher planned her lesson according to Mohans (1986) knowledge framework. She read each chapter to determine the top-level structure of the text, to organize the content according to
CHOICE
the knowledge structures in the knowledge framework (see Figure 2. above), and to prepare a structured overview, or graphic organizer, which best summarizes the content of the chapter. Chapter 1, entitled Early People, (Neering & Grant 1986, pp. 1-27) looks at the Earth from 1.75 million years ago until the time of the first civilizations. It concentrates on the development of the four major classifications of early humankind: Homo Habilis, Homo Erectus, Neanderthal Man, and Cro-Magnon Man. The top-level
Figure 3 Time Line of Early People to Accompany Chapter 1: Other Places, Other Times
Early People
Homo Habilis Homo Erectus Neanderthal Today 2 million 1 million
(years ago)
Cro-Magnon
page 114
Figure 4 Graphic Representation of Homo Habilis to Accompany Other Places, Other Times
Where
Eastern Africa and Southern Asia
When
From 1.75 million to 800,000 years ago
Tools
Used sharp stones for tools and weapons-no-fire
Art
No art
Homo Habilis (Handy Man)

Clothing
No clothes
Food
Berries, birdss eggs, wild pigs
Shelter
structure of the chapter is a temporal sequence of descriptions, so she decided that the structured overview that would best represent it was a time line (see Figure 3). The graphic helped her plan the content she was going to present, that is, early people, as well as linguistic devices associated with the timeline. For example, lived fromto, began in and ended in, inhabited the earth for years, during that period. In presenting the chapter overview, she explicitly introduced the knowledge structure sequence and the language used in chronologically ordered texts. Having identified the knowledge structure of each section, she decided that the chapter could be divided into four sections according to the four major groups of early people. Each section describes one group of early people, their way of life, the change and development they experienced, and the impact the environment had on them. She put the information in each section in a graphic and because similar information can be extracted from each of the sections, she organized the information in the same weblike graphic form for all the sections (see Figure 4 above). The purpose of recycling the same graphic form was to provide a schema students could access again and again. It also allowed her to use the same linguistic devices repeatedly to reinforce learning. She decided on a web because this graphic was familiar to her students. The teacher presented the first of these completed graphic organizers. Figure 4, on the overhead projector (OHP). She
used the language of description consistently to answer the questions when?, where?, and what? After the graphic presentation, she referred students to the text, explicity drawing their attention to the knowledge structure, description, and the linguistic devices specific to that knowledge structure. In presenting the next two major groups of early people, she varied her strategies. She built up one of the graphics on the OHP while presenting the section, and she built up the other cooperatively with the students by assigning the paragraphs to be read
and by again asking the question when?, where? and what? The linguistic points she focused on were verbs in the past form, for example, were, was, lived, ate, bunted; adjectives and adverbial phrases of comparison, for example longer than, short, erect, sharp, pointed, different from, the same as, similar to, and as large as. By building the graphic together with students, she was helping them to make the link between the graphic and the text and to see that the two are giving the same information but in different forms. She was also exposing students to the real language of description found in textbooks, a step towards managing school knowledge independently. After sufficient exposure to the structure and the language in two similar graphics on Homo Erectus and Neanderthal Man, the students were able to complete the section on CroMagnon Man (see Figure5) on their own. To bring the whole chapter together, she prepared a table (see Figure 6) and required students to complete it using the information in the webs. Using such a graphic serves several purposes: It summarrizes the chapter; it reinforces the content knowledge students have learned : and it enables the students to see the relations of the knowledge in the slots, that is, the development of the early peoples. The teacher was moving them from managing information in isolation to managing the relations of information, which is a step forward in their cognitive development. The table also provides further opportunities for students to
Where
Europe, Asia, Africa North and South America, Australia
When
From 30.000 to 10.000 years ago
Tools
Chisels, knives, spearpoints, needles, fish hooks, harpoon heads, lamps
Art
Painting on cave walls, necklaces from shells and animal teeth, flutes and whistles from animal bones
Cro-Magnon
Food
Hunted animals and gathered wild plants
Clothing
Probably made coats from animal skins Lived in caves
Shelter
Figure 5 Graphic Representation of Cro-Magnon Man to Accompany Other Places, Other Times
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Figure 6 Chapter Review: Other Places, Other Times
When
Homo Habilis From 1.75 million to 800.000 years ago
Where
Easter Africa and Southern Asia
Tools
Food
Shelter
Clothes
No clothes
Art
No art
Berries, birds Used sharp stones for tools eggs, wild pigs and weaponsno fire
Homo Erectus
Africa, Asia, From 1.5 milllion to 250.000 and Europe years ago
Wild animals Fire, flint blades, pointed *elephant wooden spears *cooked meat
Probably built shelters of branches
No clothes
No art
Neanderthal
From 130.000 years ago to 30.000 years ago
Europe, Middle Knives, borers,spear East sharpeners made from stone
Wild animals *bear *cooked meat
Lived in caves
Animal hides for clothes
No art
Cro-Magnon Man
Europe, Asia, From 30.000 to 10.000 years Africa, North and South ago America, Australia
Chisels, knives, Hunted aninals and gathered spearpoints, wild plants needles, fish hooks, harpoon heads, lamps
Lived in caves
Probably made Painting on cave walls, necklaces coats from from shells and animal skins
animal teeth, flutes and whistles, from animal bones
use language to compare and classify. Note that while the vocabulary inside the cells are terms which show the content schemata of the information, the shape of the web, and the lines which join them, the headings such as Where, When, and Tools represent the formal schemata or the linguistic devices specific to that knowledge structure or genre. These are terms which can be used again and again across topics and curricula. The students were gradually trained to build similar graphics on their own after working cooperatively with the teacher a number of times. The teacher pointed out linguistic devices and provided opportunities for them to practice constructing graphics from similarly structured text. The teacher introduced the time line in chapter 1, and she was delighted when all her ESL students would build up a time line on their own when they came to chapter 5 (see Figure 7). To give students practice
in writing a coherent passage from a graphic, the teacher provided familiar graphic representations of familiar knowledge structures and asked students to write an essay based on the graphic. She found that she had to provide linguistic devices and ensure that students knew how to link sentences together and how to present and focus information (Mohan, 1986, p.94). Only by requiring students to interact with the graphic after
Figure 7 Student-Generated Time Line
explicit teaching can they truly learn to read and write graphics and to recognize text structure. Constructing a prose passage from a graphic is also a step towards writing expository text. The graphic and the text are semantically comparable (see Mohan, 1989): They convey the same information and they have the same knowledge structure. But in order to convert the graphic into expository prose, students have to translate the lines, arrows, and spatial arrangement, which are graphic representations of linguistic and cohesion devices into linguistic and cohesion devices in text form. Figure 8 is a cause effect graphic. The title and the headings give the signal that it is a table showing a series of causes and effects and spatial arrangement, the lines or arrows connecting the slots, signify caused brought about, resulted in, leading to, so because the effect of ...was ...or as a result of. The teacher had taught the knowledge structure of causeeffect and exposed the students to cause-effect tables. She had also pointed out the linguistic
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devices many times content project. In J. and given the students H. Esling (Ed.), Multipractice in constructcultural education and ing text passages from policy: ESL in the Effect Cause graphics. Figure 9 1990s (pp. 107-122), shows that students Toronto: The Ontario The Roman Empire expanded rapidly. Romans had to spend a lot of time and could write a coherent Institute for Studies in energy defending their empire from passage on the events Education. invaders. leading to the end of Mohan, B. A. the Roman Republic (1986). Language and Angry Italians wanted the advantages of The Romans granted citizenship to the and that they could content. Reading, MA: Roman citizenship. They threatened to Italians. produce expository Addison-Wesley. rebel and attack Rome. prose using devices Mohan. B. of cause-effect (e.g., A. (1989). Language The republican system was weakened. Many internal problems existed cause, the reason was, socialization. Word, 4. * Poor people were starving so, -and because). I 100-114. * Government officials became corrupt should, perhaps, reiterNeering. R. & * Consuls were assasinated ate that the process is Grant. P. (1986). Other * Slaves rebelled against rough slow. Students cannot places other times. treatment from masters. be expected to be able Toronto: Gage Educato understand a social tional. studies text or to write expository prose using of acquisition of second lanlinguistic devices of description, classification, Acknowledgment guage for academic puror cause-effect after simply having gone through I wish to thank Cathy Humphries of the Burnaby poses. TESOL Quarterly, 21, the five components once. They need explicit School District, Burnaby, British Columbia for 617-641. teaching and practice to acquire the skill of permission to use her graphic supplements to Cummins.J.(1984). Bilinunderstanding and expressing content, knowlOther People, Other Times (Neering & Grant, gualism and special educaedge and academic language. 1986). Conclusion Results of research (Early, Mohan, & Hooper, 1989) carried out in schools in Vancouver point to the fact that adopting the proposed model in classroom teaching that is explicit teaching of text/knowledge structure and graphic representation of knowledge structures; and providing practice in graphics from text and text from graphics in intermediate and secondary ESL social studies classes can help to increase students ability to read and write academic discourse. In other words, this classroom model appears to have the potential for bringing clasroom texts to a level students can comprehend, and at the same time, bringing students to the English proficiency level where they can read and write classroom texts. References Collier. V. P. (1987). Age and rate
Figure 8 A Cause-Effect Table for Other Places, Other Times Events Leading to the End of the Roman Republic
tion: Issues in assessment and pedagogy. Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters. Early, M., Mohan, B. A., & Hooper, H R. (1989). The Vancouver School Board language and
Figure 9 Student-generated Text
Author Gloria M. Tang is Assistant Professor of ESL in the Department of Language Education at the University of British Columbia,Vancouver, Canada. Previously, she was head of the Educational Technology Department at Northcote and Grantham Colleges of Education in Hong Kong. Her research interests include studying the relationship between academic discourse and graphic literacy across languages and cultures and devising tasks and graphics for enhancing ESL student learning in multicultural classrooms.
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Venn Diagram
Different
Alike
Different
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Cycle
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Process
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Tree
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Prediction
Event
What I Think Will Happen What Happened
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Main Idea
Main Idea:
Detail:
Detail:
Detail:
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Gathering Details
Who or What? Sources:
Did What?
Sources:
When?
Sources:
Where?
Sources:
Why?
Sources:
How?
Sources:
Result?
Sources:
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Cause and Effect

Cause: Effect:
Cause:
Effect:
Cause:
Effect:
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Integrating Language and Content Instruction: Strategies and Techniques

by Deborah J. Short Introduction The number of limited English proficient (LEP) students in American schools for school year 1989-90 was estimated at approximately 1,927,828 which represented around 5.2 percent of all students in school (U.S. Department of Education, 1991). The previous school year (1988-89), the percentage of LEP students in U .5. schools was estimated at about 4.6 percent (U.S. Department of Education, 1991). The increase in LEP students has been dramatic in many areas of the country. This rapid growth implies that many teachers are finding an increasing number of students in their classrooms who have to master content matter in a language that is still in the process of being learned. Research indicates that the academic language utilized in content areas acts as a barrier to the success in school of many LEP students (Cummins, 1981). Postponing content instruction until these LEP students master English sufficiently to keep pace with their English-speaking peers often results in underachievement and eventual school leaving. Current research in second language acquisition indicates that a critical element in effective English as a second language instruction is access to comprehensible input in English (Krashen & Biber, 1988). One way to provide comprehensible input directly to the LEP student is by teaching content in English using strategies and techniques that make the content comprehensible to the second language learner. Research confirms that students in classes where such strategies and techniques are employed acquire impressive amounts of English and learn content matter as well (Krashen & Biber, 1988). It has long been known that a second language can be effectively learned when it is the medium of instruction, not the object (Lambert & Tucker, 1972; Campbell, Gray, Rhodes & Snow, 1985). The philosophical basis underlying language and content integration is that a childs whole education is a shared responsibility distributed among all teachers. The integration of language and content involves the incorporation of content material into language classes as well as the modification of language and materials in order to provide for comprehensible input to LEP students in content classes. The former is often referred to as content-based language instruction; the latter can be referred to as language-sensitive content instruction. An integrated approach bridges the gap that often separates the language and content classrooms. By utilizing an integrated approach, LEP students can begin academic studies earlier. Such an approach increases the understanding of subject matter by LEP students, which facilitates their academic success. At the same time, the LEP students are able to increase their proficiency levels in the English language. An Integrated Language and Content Approach The approach presented here focuses on three principal factors which apply equally to the language and the content teachers: * the use of multiple media * the enhancement of the students thinking skills * student-centered organization of instruction
Excerpted from Integrating Language and Content Instruction: Strategies and Techniques by Deborah J. Short. Published in 1991 by the National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students
page 126 In order to make English language input as comprehensible as possible, the teachers should present information through diverse media: realia, graphs, demonstrations, pre-reading, and pre-writing strategies. The focus of the instruction should be motivated by the content to be learned, which will help identify the language skills required to learn that content and the reasoning abilities needed to manipulate it ( analyzing, synthesizing, and evaluating). Instruction should be student-centered where the teacher has the role of facilitator with the goal of increasing student-to-student interaction. Content and language instruction can be integrated at any level. The focus here will be on middle and high schools (grades 6-12). Strategies and Techniques The following guidelines, strategies and techniques are for middle and high school teachers who wish to use an integrated approach in their classes. Many of these are things that good teachers do naturally; however, it is worth enumerating them here so that their relationship to integrated instruction is explicit. The list is not exhaustive; rather it reflects activities teachers can incorporate as they begin to integrate language and content instruction. Teachers may find that adaptations of techniques they currently use will be appropriate to an integrated approach as well. Several of the strategies and techniques described below are used in the model lesson plans that follow. These lesson plans describe language and content objectives, the thinking/study skills that may be addressed, the general theme and vocabulary, the necessary materials, the basic procedure, and extension activities for enrichment and other uses. Preparing for the Integrated Approach The following sequential steps are recommended during the planning of integrated instruction. Observe classrooms The language teacher should see what academic language and instructional methods and materials the content teacher is using, while the content teacher can see which strategies the language teacher uses with LEP students. Collaborate with colleagues Working together, language and content teachers should identify the language and/ or academic difficulties and demands that particular subjects or courses may present for LEP students. Some examples of those demands are * reading textbooks * completing worksheets * writing reports * doing library research * solving mathematical and scientific word problems * using rhetorical styles in essays (e.g., cause and effect, compare and contrast, argue and persuade) Examine the content materials The teachers should identify specific problems LEP students may have with material in advance. Such problems do not result solely from the complexity of the passages, but from factors like the skills needed to complete accompanying exercises. Select a theme
page 127 The teachers can develop several lessons around a theme. The theme should be addressed in the language and content classes. For example, an environmental theme, such as deforestation, might be the focus of ESL and science lessons. (The model lessons that follow are designed around themes. ) Identify objectives of the unit While developing the curriculum and syllabus for a course, teachers should keep in mind the specific objectives and adjust the material accordingly in order to eliminate extraneous detail that may confuse a LEP student. Identify key terms and words Key terms can be pulled out and introduced in advance. The teachers should reinforce the new vocabulary throughout the lesson. Of particular interest are words that can clue students in to what is expected of them, such as the terms altogether, more, and less in math word problems, and contrast in expository writing. Look for appropriate text materials The language teacher can choose content passages that illustrate the language structures or functions being taught. The content teacher can look for alternate versions of general textbooks that present the subject matter more clearly for LEP students or can adapt materials to suit the language proficiency level of the students. Adapt written materials If a lesson objective is to present new content information to LEP students, it is important to make materials more comprehensible to the LEP students. (How to do this is discussed below.) Helping the LEP Student Adjust to the Classroom LEP students are still learning English and the style of the American education system, so teachers should take this into consideration when presenting information. Announce the lessons objectives and activities It is important to write the objectives on the board and review them orally before class begins. It is also helpful to place the lesson in the context of its broader theme and preview upcoming lessons. Write legibly Teachers need to remember that some students have low levels of literacy or are unaccustomed to the Roman alphabet. Develop and maintain routines Routines will help LEP students anticipate what will happen (e.g., types of assignments, ways of giving instructions) without relying solely on language clues. List and review instructions step by step Before students begin an activity, teachers should familiarize them with the entire list of instructions. Then, teachers should have students work on each step individually before moving on to the next step. This procedure is ideal for teaching students to solve math and science word problems.
page 128 Present information in varied ways By using multiple media in the classroom, teachers reduce the reliance on language and place the information in a context that is more comprehensible to the students. Provide frequent summations of the salient points of the lesson * try to use visual reviews with lists and charts * paraphrase the salient points where appropriate * have students provide oral summaries themselves Adjusting Teaching Style It is important to provide LEP students with ample opportunities for interaction and participation in the classroom. Teachers should not rely on a lecture approach. They should be more conscious of their own speech patterns and tolerant of their students mistakes. Develop a student-centered approach to teaching and learning Teachers need to become facilitators and let students assume more responsibility for their learning. When activities are planned that actively involve students in each lesson, the students can better process the material presented and acquire the language as well. Reduce and adjust teacher talk Increasing the amount of student communication about the subject matter is important. * Allow students more time to speak. * Concentrate on talking about the subject material rather than about classroom discipline. * Be prepared to rephrase questions and information if the students do not understand the first time. Increase the percentage of inferential and higher-order thinking questions asked These questions encourage students reasoning ability, such as hypothesizing, inferencing, analyzing, justifying, and predicting. The language used by the teacher or students need not be complex for thinking skills to be exercised. For example, to help students predict, a teacher might read the title of a story and ask, What will this story tell us? Teachers need to model critical thinking skills in a step-by-step approach to reasoning. Recognize that students will make language mistakes During the second language acquisition process, students make mistakes; this is natural in the process of learning a language. Make sure that the students have understood the information, but do not emphasize the grammatical aspect of their responses. When possible, though, model the correct grammar form. Teaching Multilevel Classes Frequently, teachers have classes with students of mixed abilities/proficiency levels. There are several strategies that can help when these situations arise. Use cooperative learning This strategy provides for diversity and individuality in learning styles and aids students in the socialization process. Pair and group activities promote student interaction and decrease the anxiety many students feel when they must perform alone for the teacher in front of the class. It is important for each student in the group to have a task that he or she may accomplish and thus contribute to
page 129 the activity (e.g., by being recorder, final copy scribe, illustrator, materials collector, reporter). The ideal size for these groups ranges from two to five students. (See Cochran, 1989, for additional suggestions.) Special considerations should be given to students whose home culture may make them feel uncomfortable participating in cooperative learning activities. While all students should be invited to participate, the teacher should respect the wishes of any student who prefers not to participate. Incorporate peer tutoring The students learn and share among themselves with the teacher as a facilitator who checks on the students understanding and progress. The tutors learn to explain and clarify concepts while the tutored students have the benefit of one-on-one interaction in a nonthreatening manner. Some supplemental textbooks, such as English SkilIs for Algebra (Crandall, et. al., 1989), are specifically designed as peer instruction materials. Incorporate process writing Process writing, though initially implemented in language arts classes, is easily extended into contentarea classes. As with process writing exercises, students begin with pre-writing activities such as viewing a film or sharing the reading of an article that sets the stage for the content area topic. The class may also review key concepts and vocabulary to incorporate into the writing. During the process the students learn about language-specific to the content topic selected-in a meaningful and motivating manner. Word processing programs are particularly useful with process writing and should be used if available. They facilitate the draft and edit stages of the process and also allow students to concentrate on their writing style and organization, not on their handwriting. Design lessons for discovery learning These activities allow students to discover new information on their own with guidance from the teacher. Teachers help organize the data and sometimes set out the procedures for students to follow. Students, individually or in groups, discover the results. Problem-solving activities (math) and openended experiments (science) are examples of discovery learning. Use inquiry learning In these activities, students investigate a topic of their own choosing and teachers act as facilitators. They identify a problem, hypothesize causes, design procedures or experiments, and conduct research to try to solve the problem. These activities work well in science and social studies classes. Include information gap activities These activities, which include jigsaws, problem solving, and simulations, are set up so each student (in a class, or more generally, in a group) has one or two pieces of information needed to solve the puzzle but not all the necessary information. Students must work together, sharing information while practicing their language, negotiating, and critical thinking skills. Plan lessons around questionnaires/interviews Designing questionnaires and interviewing respondents are excellent activities for heterogeneous groups. In the design phase, all students can contribute and evaluate questions for inclusion. In the interview phase, the number of people each student may be expected to interview can be adjusted to the students ability. Also interviews may be conducted in students first languages, though responses must be reported in English. A report and analysis of the interview responses may be conducted orally or in writing.
page 130 Motivating Students and Providing Background Knowledge Many LEP students are at a disadvantage in content classes because they lack necessary background knowledge and/ or experiential familiarity with the topic at hand. Teachers must plan activities in their instruction to provide some background schema for these students. Motivate students with semantic webbing Often used as a pre-writing activity, semantic webbing is also an excellent task for students before they read or discuss a new topic. This more sophisticated version of brainstorming allows students to organize their thoughts and categorize information. Students (with or without the teachers assistance) may list items first and web later or they may web as they list, creating new strands as categories occur to them. The web is then used by the students as they write on the topic (in the example below, the War of 1812), using the categories to organize their thoughts into paragraph form. In the following example, students start with the War of 1812 and add on more information about the historical event (The numbers represent the order of students ideas in building the web.)
3. Fort McHenr y
8. James Madison
2. Francis Scott Ke y
7. White House burning
1. Star Spangled Banner
6. Land battles
War of 1812
5. Sea battles
4. British soldier s
Use realia, illustrations, maps, photos Although the use of realia and other visual materials is a common activity for language classes, it is less frequently found in content classes. These items provide a quick, often non-language-dependent means of introducing students to the lesson topic. Organize students into small groups and then share with whole class The teacher may announce the lesson topic for the day and ask small groups of students to list what they already know about it. After a few minutes, the teacher has the groups share their ideas with the class as a whole.
page 131 Include theme listening activities Sometimes it is helpful to get students in the mood for a topic. The stage may be set by asking students just to listen to a song, a poem, or even a short story and having a brief discussion about it afterward. Include discussion of student experience While introducing new topics in class, encourage students to share knowledge they may already have about the topic, along with any relevant real-life experiences they may have had. Begin units with the K- W-L technique Using a standard from (see sample below), teachers distribute the Know-Want-Learned sheet to students individually at the start of each unit. Students complete the first two categories at this point. The learned category is completed at the close of the unit. UNIT THEME: Food Groups What I know about Food Groups: What I want to learn about Food Groups: What I learned about Food Groups: Adapting Traditional ESL Techniques to the Content Classrooms Language teachers providing content-based instruction and content teachers teaching LEP students can modify the following ESL techniques for their lessons. Bring realia into the lessons Teachers should use visual displays (e.g., graphs, charts, photos), objects, and authentic materials, like newspaper and magazine clippings, in the lessons and assignments. These help provide nonverbal information and also help match various learning styles. Do demonstrations When teachers use actions, they can show the meaning of new words (especially verbs), explain a science experiment, model language functions in the context of a dialogue, etc. Use filmstrips, videotapes, and audiocassettes with books Borrowing films and other audiovisual materials from school/ district media centers can help improve a content lesson. It is useful to preview the audiovisual materials before showing them to the class, both for possible language difficulties and misleading cultural information. Have the students do hands-on activities Content teachers should plan for students to manipulate new material through hands-on activities, such as role plays and simulations, TPR (total physical response), laboratory experiments, drawing pictures and story sequences, and writing their own math word problems.
page 132 Design lessons with music and jazz chant activities Language teachers frequently use music and chants in their classes. These activities are motivating for students and also help teach English pronunciation and intonation patterns. Songs and chants on subject area topics would work well, too. Although some high school students may be reticent to sing aloud in class, all students should be able to do listening activities with music and chants. Schedule sustained silent reading ( SSR) sessions As educators try to promote more student reading both in and out of school, many teachers (often reading, language arts, and ESL) have incorporated sustained silent reading in their classes. SSR adapts easily to content classes and is particularly effective in middle schools. Once a week, for example, students choose a book or magazine and read silently for 20-30 minutes. The teacher reads, too. Teachers with LEP students can stock their classrooms with magazines, picture books, reference books, and trade books on topics they are studying. There need not be any discussion about the reading selections, but some teachers may ask students to fill out reading logs (described below). Meeting the Students Cognitive Academic Needs In many instances, LEP students need coaching and practice to improve their cognitive processing and production of content material. In order to do so, it is important for teachers to build upon the skills and knowledge students have already mastered. Each lesson should include critical thinking and/ or study skills. Some of these skills may have been initially developed in the students first language and will transfer to English. Examine the topic through the students listening and speaking skills first; then expand the topic through reading and writing activities. Since the students oral language skills usually develop more rapidly than their written skills, teachers can check the students comprehension orally and clarify any trouble spots before introducing any reading or writing activities. Be conscious of different learning styles Teachers can help meet the different learning styles of their students by varying the presentation and reinforcement of information. * Alternate activities to address the visual, aural, tactile, and kinesthetic modes of learning. * Find out if your students prefer to learn from listening to theory or from applying information through hands-on activities. * When reteaching information, choose a different mode of instruction. (For more information, see Hainer, et al., 1990.) Incorporate thinking skill activities When planning each lesson, teachers must create opportunities to focus on thinking skills. Thinking skills can be developed through teacher-student questioning or through scheduled activities like problem solving and decision making. * Predicting, categorizing, and inferencing are easily addressed in the warm-up and motivation phases of a lesson. * Observing, reporting, and classifying, which can be done orally, in writing, or pictorially, fit nicely into the presentation and application phases. * Sequencing, summarizing, and justifying are skills that suit lesson reviews.
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Teach study skills LEP students frequently need assistance in learning how to study. This is especially true of students in middle schools. By teaching them study skills, teachers will give the students an important tool that they can use throughout their academic careers. Show students how to develop and use graphic organizers: * outlines for summarizing, for making predictions * time lines for organizing and sequencing events chronologically, for comparing events in different settings (e.g., states, countries) * flow charts for showing progression and influences on an outcome, for showing cause and effect * mapping for examining movement and spatial relations * graphs and charts for organizing and comparing data * Venn diagrams for comparing and contrasting The following is a sample Venn diagram to use to examine Christopher Columbus and Neil Armstrong. Where the two circles intersect, students write some similarities. Where the circles do not intersect, students write some differences. (Some students may only write a few words; others, several sentences.) This structure can become the draft for an essay comparing and contrasting the two explorers.
traveled in 15th century
explored unknown worlds
traveled in 20th century
Christopher Columbus
Neil Armstrong
Develop the students ability to use texts and other written materials Since the acquisition of details within a particular content topic is not the primary objective of the language course, teachers have more time to develop the students skills in analyzing. * Text as a whole- Teachers demonstrate how to use (a) the parts of a book (table of contents, index) to find information and (b) headings, subheadings, and illustrations in chapters to organize and enhance the information. * Passages -- Teachers help students learn to draw inferences, synthesize information, make judgements, and provide justifications. However, because these skills are demanded of the students once they are mainstreamed, content teachers need to incorporate activities to review student knowledge in their areas, too.
page 134 Plan activities to train the students in attacking academic tasks, such as research projects, problem solving, and essay writing Carefully planned academic activities help students make the transition from language class to mainstream content class. Teachers may plan a library project, for example, and walk the students through it step by step, preferably with peer tutors. They may also use process writing methods to help students write essays and research reports. Present models for writing assignments Assignments required by mainstream content classes, like research papers and laboratory reports, are of particular interest to LEP students and their teachers. It is beneficial to discuss the model clearly so that the students know how each section is structured and why each section is important. Students should then be given practice using the model before doing a required assignment with it. Checking Student Comprehension of the Content Use strip stories, sentence strips Teachers write a summary of a lesson or reading passage or write out the steps for solving a math problem or for doing a science experiment on individual strips-either one sentence per strip or several sentences. These strips are distributed, out of sequence, to the students, in groups or as a whole class. The students then organize the strips into the proper sequence. Sample strips for math: 2 1/2 + 3 1/4 = 5/2 + 13/4 = 10/4 + 13/4 = 23/4= 53/4 = Set up dialouge journals Many school systems are adopting writing across the curriculum approaches to encourage and improve student writing. Often teachers will use journal writing in their classes. Dialogue journals go one step further by having teachers respond to student writing in positive and supportive ways. Dialogue journals are not vehicles for editing student work; they are opportunities for students to express themselves. (For further discussion, see Peyton & Reed, 1990) Teachers decide how often they want students to write (e.g., daily, twice a week) and how often they will read and comment on the journals. Some teachers will respond to every piece of writing; others will respond once a week or less. The teacher comments may vary in length and depth also. Also, teachers may ask less proficient students to start with illustrations in their journals and slowly move into writing. In this way all students in a heterogeneous class can participate. Some teachers choose to let writing be entirely student-derived; others provide the topics, at least some of the time. Some teachers use dialogue journals for lesson closure or motivation by having students summarize what they learned in the lesson (that day or the day before). Although dialogue journals are not designed for correcting student work, they can guide teacher instruction. Teachers who see consistent problems in student writing or in student comprehension of the lesson topics can develop new lessons to address those issues.
page 135 Plan activities using drama and role play Another language teaching technique that works well in the content classroom is using drama. Teachers can ask groups of students to act out an event or a topic studied, from the sprouting of a plant to a mock legislative debate in the state government. Teachers may assign roles impromptu or may have groups research and write dialogues before performing. Mime also works well with students from beginning to advanced levels of English proficiency. Have students complete reading logs These logs can be used in any content class to reflect on reading done from a textbook, a supplemental reader, a trade book or magazine, and newspaper articles. Three categories may be set up on a standard form (see below):
Reading title: What I understood: What I didnt understand:
What I learned:
Check comprehension with cloze exercises Cloze exercises, popular for assessing reading comprehension, may also be applied to different subject areas. For many clozes, teachers write a summary or take an excerpt (of a reading passage or lesson or class activity) and then delete every xth word. Students then fill in the blank with teachers deciding if they will score by an exact word or an acceptable word method. The following is an example of a cloze passage derived from a passage in a civics textbook: The First Amendment says we have ________ of religion, speech, the press, and _________. We can follow any religion, say _____ write our thoughts, and meet in ____. Have students do story summaries As the graphic below shows, this activity has both a written and pictorial component. Students summarize a lesson, reading, or experience (individually or in groups) by drawing illustrations and
page 136 describing them. A format may look like this:
Encourage students to write headlines Students can practice their summarizing skills and, as they get more proficient, their descriptive language skills, by writing news headlines for lessons and topics discussed in class. For example, teachers may ask students to write a headline describing the results of a science experiment or to create a title of an imaginary book review of a book they had read. Let students perform experiments Teachers may plan performance-based activities to determine student comprehension of the subject matter. A traditional example is the lab practicum for science classes. This idea can be easily adapted to math classes, especially those that use manipulatives. Incorporate the LEA (Language Experience Approach) method This method has grown out of the movement to teach adults literacy skills, namely to read and write. After students have an experience (e.g., going on a field trip), they dictate to the teacher a summary of what happened. (Teachers usually record on the board exactly what the students say.) Students then work together to organize the written ideas and if desired make corrections. Teachers may copy the dictation to use another day for review, motivation, or even a lesson on editing. In a class with mixed proficiency levels of students, this activity can work well in small groups. The most proficient student in the group can be the scribe while the others contribute, organize, and edit their work. Have students write character diaries Frequently in social studies and from time to time in other subjects, the lives of important individuals in the field are studied. Students may read biographies and trade books or watch films and videos and then write a character diary, chronicling a week or two in the life of a particular individual. Students place special emphasis on the setting of the diary as well as the path toward accomplishment that the individual underwent during the week(s). Developing Lesson Plans In integrated lessons teachers and students work toward content and language objectives. When developing lesson plans for integrated instruction, it is important to identify both types of objectives
page 137 and plan activities accordingly. It is often useful to specify critical thinking or study skills to target as well. A teachers or school districts preferred lesson format can then be used to develop the lesson. The lesson format presented below includes four phases: (1) warm up or motivation; (2) presentation of new material, in whole group or small group work; (3) practice and application of new material; and (4) review or informal assessment to check student understanding. Most lessons also contain extension activities to reinforce or extend the concepts covered. A series of lessons thematically linked into units provides for sustained student interest as well as the opportunity to build systematically on prior activities. The model lesson plans in this section deliberately offer an extensive range of techniques and strategies. They demonstrate the possibilities available to teachers for making integrated language and content more comprehensible. It is important to note that teachers may not have time to incorporate all these suggestions into their lesson plans every day but should try to vary the activities they plan. Certain procedures are more critical than others. These are 1. selecting principle vocabulary terms to teach as a pre-activity 2. providing the opportunity for students to discuss the information and material orally, preferably before any written work is assigned 3. designing class activities for student-to-student interaction 4. deciding to use real literature or adapted materials The following model lesson outline may be used for integrated language and content lessons. While all lessons should include some language and some content objectives, an individual lesson need not address all the subcategories within. Some lessons may reach content objectives from different subject areas, such as math (use division) and science (calculate average rainfall). Some may have literature; some may not. Some may focus on reading skills without listening practice. Following the model are two sample lessons illustrating the use of this outline and some of the strategies discussed earlier. [ Ed. note: Only one lesson has been excerpted here and it is found on page 91 of the Study Guide.] Lesson Plan Format: Integrated Instruction THEME LESSON TOPIC OBJECTIVES Language Skills Speaking/Listening Reading/Writing Structures Content Skills Thinking/Study skills Key Vocabulary LITERATURE MATERIALS MOTIVATION PRESENTATION PRACTICE APPLICATION REVIEW/EVALUATION EXTENSION
page 138 References Campbell, R., Gray, T., Rhodes, N., and Snow, M. (1985). Foreign language learning in the elementary schools: A comparison of three language programs. The Modern Language Journal. Vo1 69, Issue 1, pp.44-54. Cochran, C. (1989). Strategies for Involving LEP Students in the All-English-Medium C1assroom: A Cooperative Learning Approach. Washington, DC.: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. Crandall, J. , Dale, T., Rhodes, N., and Spanow, G. (1989) English Skills for Algebra. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Center for Applied Linguistics/Prentice Hall Regents. Cummins, J.. The role of primary language development in promoting success for language minority students. In California State Department of Education (Ed.), Schooling and Language Minority Students: A Theoretical Framework. Los Angeles, CA: California State University; Evaluation, Dissemination, and Assessment Center. Hainer, E., Pagan, B., Bratt, T., Baker, L., and Arnold, N. (1990). Integrating Language Styles and Skills in the ESL Classroom: An Approach to Lesson Planning. Washington DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. Krashen, S., and Biber, D. (1988). On Course: Bilingual Educations Success in California. Sacramento, CA: California Association for Bilingual Education. Lambert, W. and Tucker, G.R. (1972). Bilingual Education of Children. Rowley, MA: Newbury House. United States Department of Education. (1991). The Condition of Bilingual Education in the Nation: A Report to the Congress and the President. Washington DC: Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Education.
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SECTION V Literacy Development and Study Skills
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Reading Strategies for the Content Areas

Pre-Reading Strategies WORDSPLASH SEMANTIC WEBS/MAPPING During Reading Strategies QAR-QUESTION-ANSWER RELATIONSHIP SEMANTIC FEATURE ANALYSIS Post-Reading Strategies STORY OR CHAPTER MAPPING RAGS---READ AROUND GROUPS READING RESPONSE GROUPS /JOURNALS
Comprehensive Reading Strategies SQ3R DIRECTED READING/THINKING ACTIVITY
Pre-Reading Strategies: WORDSPLASH: A wordsplash is a pre-reading activity made up of key terms extracted from a reading, video, speech, or other material that students are preparing to encounter. Procedure: 1. Selected key words are written on a transparency or poster, randomly splashed around the title/ topic to be studied. 2. Students create complete statements about each term; write the statements on the transparency. These statements should illustrate the predicted relationship of the term to the topic about to be studied. For example, a topic is South America and a term is paca; two possible statements are: A paca is a South American animal similar to a llama or I wear my nice, warm paca on cold days. 3. After generating their statements, students complete the reading or other activity. 4. Finally, students verify or revise the original statements they made based on the material covered.
page 141 SEMANTlC WEBS/MAPPING: Semantic mapping is a visual tool for expanding and extending vocabulary development. Students work together to learn new words, use known words in a new manner, and recognize the relationships among words. Procedure: 1. A concept, topic, or word central to a particular unit of study or a reading is selected and written in the middle of a large piece of chart paper (chalkboard, overhead). 2.Spokes are drawn outward from the word. 3. Students brainstorm words that are related to the central topic in different categories and fill in the web/map. This may be done in small groups, pairs, or individually. For example, a topic is the circulatory system; students suggest the categories of heart and blood; further terms for heart are generated such as beating, love, heart attack, chambers. 4. The web/map is used to focus a whole-group discussion on categories, meanings, and questions about the contents of the web/map. 5. After learning, the web is reviewed, corrected, and added to. During Reading Strategies: QAR-QUESTION-ANSWER RELATIONSHIP (Raphael, 1984): This is a strategy which teachers can use in developing comprehension questions, helping students to identify different question types, and teaching text organization. The QAR classification system is divided into four question types in two categories: A. In the Book 1. Right There The answer is in the text, usually easy to find. The words used to make up the question and words used to answer the question are Right There in the same sentence. 2. Think and Search (Putting It Together) The answer is in the text, but you need to put together different text parts to find it. Words for the question and words for the answer are not found in the same sentence. They come from different parts of the text. B. In Your Head 1. Author and You The answer is not in the text. You need to think about what you already know, what the author tells you in the text, and how it fits together. 2. On Your Own The answer is not in the text. You can answer the question without even reading the text. You need to use your own experience.
page 142 Example: Stereotypes A stereotype is an idea about people that is usually partly right and partly wrong. Before I traveled in the United States and Canada, I used to believe a lot of stereotypes about North Americans. For example, I used to think that most Americans were rich workaholics who lived in the suburbs and commuted to the cities every day. I was sure that all American families drove their big cars to baseball games every weekend where they drank beer and ate hot dogs. I was positive that almost nobody knew anything about my country or world politics.
(Adapted from Kim, E., & Hartman, P. (1985). Interactions II: A reading ski11s book. New York: Random House.)
A. In the Book 1. Right There: What is a stereotype? 2. Think and Search: What stereotypes about North Americans did the writer believe? B. In Your Head 1. Author and You: Is this writer knowledgeable about politics? 2. On Your Own: What are some other stereotypical beliefs about North Americans? Procedure: 1. Teacher introduces students to QAR system of question classification via examples. Students practice until they are able to correctly identify the question types. 2. Teacher and student use the system to aid in reading comprehension and test-taking. 3. Teacher uses the system to make sure higher order questions are often asked.
page 143 SEMANTIC FEATURE ANALYSIS: SFA is a visual tool in the form of a matrix designed to identify similarities of related words, story characters, or information.
Examples: (Source: Pittelman, S.D. et al. Semantic Feature Analysis: Classroom Applications. Newark, Delaware: International Reading Association.)
SFA: Example 1: Planets in Earth's Solar System

Closer to the sun than earth Earth Jupiter Mars Mercury Neptune Pluto Saturn Uranus Venus Larger than earth Has moon Has rings Orbits the sun Inner planet
+ +
+ + + + -
+ + +
+ -
+ + +
+ + + -
From P. Cunnigham & J. Cunnigham, Content area reading-writing lessons. The Reading Teacher, February 1987, p. 509
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r pl an es e fig st ur ra e ig ht si 4 de si de s s, 4 4 si de ver tic s, e cl os 4 rig s ed ht an fi al gl l s gur es e id es 2 ha pa ve irs eq o 2 ua pa f op ll en po irs gt s o ite 3 f h o si si de pp d os es s & ite 5 ha 3 si s ve de ve id e s rti eq & ce s a 8 ua 5 re s si ve de pa l len r s tic ra gt & 6 lle es h 8 si l de ve s rti & ce 6 ve s rti ce s
Fe
at
triangle rectangle quadrilateral square hexagon octagon pentagon parallelogram A = always
A A A A A A A A
A A A A A A A A
N A A A N N N A
N A S A N N N S
A A A A A A A A
S S S A S S S S
N A S A S S S A
N A S A S S S A
A N N N N N N N
N N N N N N A N
N N N N N A N N
N N N N A N N N
N = never
S = sometimes
Procedure: 1. Teacher selects a category that has relevance to class instruction. 2. Some words or concepts within that category are listed in a column down the left hand side of a piece of paper, transparency, or otherwise. 3. Features shared by some of the words are listed in the top row of the page.
4. Students fill in the matrix by putting plusses or minuses in the cells of the matrix. A plus indicates that the feature exists, whereas a minus indicates that the feature is not present.
5. Additional words and features may be added, expanding the matrix. 6. Students may work in small groups or a large group. When the matrix is finished, it is reviewed and discussed for clarification and expansion. Although the suggestion here is to use the matrix as a during-reading strategy to focus the reading, it could also be used as a pre-reading strategy (predict) and as a post-reading strategy (summarize) as well.
page 145 Post-Reading Strategies: STORY OR CHAPTER MAPPING: Story Mapping is a visual outline to help students understand, recall, and connect key terms and ideas from a text. Story maps may be made individually or by the class as a whole. Example: ( see following page) Procedure: 1. After reading, teacher and students work together to complete a map such as the example, referring to the story as needed. 2. Different maps are used depending on the type of text being read (e.g., story, textbook chapter, newspaper). This helps students learn the types of organization found in various text types. RAGS-READ AROUND GROUPS: This is an activity designed to give students an opportunity to think, discuss, and write about topics related to what they have read. A modification of this strategy can be used to help students recognize good written work (lab reports, math problems, explanations, essays, statements of hypothesis or conclusion, etc.) and the criteria that make it good. Procedure: 1. After reading, teacher and students select a purpose and topic(s) for a short writing activity. Students participate in a pre-writing activity such as brainstorming, develop criteria for the written work, then freewrite for about ten minutes on a topic related to the reading. If this strategy is modified to focus on the criteria for good written work, existing student work (lab reports, math problems, explanations, essays, statements of hypothesis or conclusion, etc.) can be used. The remainder of the procedure is the same. 2. Students code their written work with numbers instead of using their own names. 3. Papers are collected by the teacher and students are divided into groups of four or five and given the same number of coded papers. 4. Everyone in each group reads all the papers assigned to their group. This is done by reading for a short timed interval and then passing the papers around the circle and repeating the process until all papers are read. 5. Each group votes on the one or two papers that meet the criteria best and explains their choice. 6. The teacher tallies the results of the papers voted best on the chalkboard and students share their ideas about how and why these papers are most effective in achieving the given purpose, e.g., organization of information, use of descriptive terms persuasiveness, * Note: As of September 10, 2003, making its point.
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Sample Story Map

Name: Time of Story:
CHARACTERS
TIME AND PLACE
PROBLEM
EVENTS
PROBLEM SOLUTION:
MORAL:
page 147 READING RESPONSE GROUPS/JOURNALS: This activity allows students to explore each others interpretations of text and to share their own opinions, feelings, and confusions after reading selected material. Procedure: 1. Students in small groups silently read a selected segment of text, a story, or other written material. 2. After reading, the small groups discuss the text, dealing with possible confusion, clarifying vocabulary, and giving their first reactions. 3. Students may freewrite in a journal for a few minutes on their individual reactions to the text. Students may share journal entries or keep them to themselves. 4. Small groups discuss the text further by answering questions about the text together. These questions are developed by the teacher and may include questions about student feelings toward the text characters, suggestions for changing the reading, favorite or least favorite parts, and relevance of the reading to their own lives, etc. Comprehensive Reading Strategies: SQ3R: This strategy begins as a pre-reading activity but continues during and post-reading. It helps students focus on their topic, develop questions about that topic, and answer those questions based on the reading. It is similar to the strategy Directed Reading/Thinking Activity (DRTA). Procedure: 1. S---Survey-Students preview the reading by examining the title, paragraph headings, illustrations, etc. Based on this information, they hypothesize about the main idea of the reading. 2. Q-Question-Students turn paragraph headings into questions for the paragraph. These questions should begin with Wh- words, such as, why, who, what, etc. 3.3R Rl--Read--Students read the first segment. They revise or answer their questions. They may also ask more questions. R2--Recite--Students cover up the reading and ask themselves questions out the reading. They answer what they can and reread if necessary. R3--Review--Students go over their notes about reading, recalling main points and important details.
page 148 DRTA-DIRECTED READING/THINKING ACTIVITY: Like SQ3R, this strategy begins with preparation for reading, continues during reading, and reinforces post-reading. It provides students the opportunity to access their background knowledge, acquire new vocabulary in context, and discuss their reading through follow-up activities. Procedure: 1. PREVIEW the reading: The teacher directs the students in activities to check their prior knowledge of the subject and introduce new vocabulary and concepts. Look at the title, headings, summary, and pictures; discuss prior knowledge and experiences; identify key vocabulary. 2. PREDICT the content. Make questions from the headings to help identify what you want to learn from reading; identify what you already know; ask What is this chapter about?, What seems important in this chapter?, What seems interesting? Set a purpose for reading. 3. READ in sections: Read the summary first; usually students read silently or for homework; assign shorter sections to ESOL students or use a jigsaw. Remind students to keep their predictions and purposes in mind while reading. 4. CHECK the predictions: Lead a discussion to review the reading by focusing on answers and evidence students have found related to their initial questions and predictions; ask students to show the part of the reading that answered a question; use higher order thinking questions and strategies. 5. SUMMARIZE the main points: Ask students to summarize and state the main points or what they learned in their own words either orally or in short written form.
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Suggestions for Working with Low-Literacy Students

1. Make classroom posters which list important things to remember: classroom rules, learning strategies, rules for group work. Label work materials on shelves and in closets. 2. Have students create their own books using pictures, translations, and simplified English summaries of important concepts. Buy or make audio or videotaped read along books and student study guides. 3. Use lower grade-level texts and native language materials when available. Explore other resources. 4. Keep new vocabulary to a minimum. Have students make flash cards or a picture dictionary for content vocabulary. 5. Simplify language used in an explanation. Limit sentence length. Ask questions to see if s/he understands. Initially, have students point to items to identify or locate instead of requiring student production of language. Later, allow for short, controlled responses progressing from Yes/No to single word answers. 6. Use drama. Create, present, and write short role plays on content topics. 7. Pair a low-literacy student with an English-speaking partner. Vary partners from time to time. 8. In a group situation, such as cooperative learning or a science lab, give the student responsibility for a non-reading activity. Place the student in an average or above average group (NOT a low performing group) to provide good models. 9. Establish a routine. Start each lesson with a statement of what students will do that day and close with a simple summary of the most important points. 10. Share ideas and report progress and successful strategies with the students other teachers. Take advantage of information and support available from the ESOL office. 11. Be optimistic and enjoy the students presence. 12. Other.
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SECTION VI Assessment
page 151 What Are Teachers Being Asked To Do? In this era of high stakes testing, classroom teachers are being asked to do a myriad of tasks related to assessment. For example, they are asked to: * Reduce language and cultural difficulties on classroom tests * Use alternative or additional ways of measuring students understanding of content * Grade ESOL students fairly, taking into consideration their lack of English proficiency * Develop assessments that provide feedback to both students and teachers on what was learned and how it was learned in order to enhance student capacity for future learning Attributes of effective assessment include: * the assessment used informs teaching and improves learning * the assessment uses multiple sources of information to determine what was learned * the assessment used is reliable (results are dependable and consistent) * the assessment is fair (all students have an equal chance to show what they know and can do) * the assessment instrument is valid (the assessment measures what it was intended to measure) Standardized vs. Classroom Assessment Standardized and classroom assessments have distinct differences as well as similarities. Standardized tests are tests that are given under standard (the same, controlled) conditions. While many standardized tests are multiple choice and norm-referenced, some are not. For example, the FCAT Writing test is standardized (given under standard conditions), but it is not multiple choice and it is not normreferenced. It is criterion-referenced: a students essay which meets the criteria for a score of 3 gets a 3 without reference to the performance of students in a norm group. Some standardized assessment instruments include CTBS, Stanford 9, FCAT, and ACT. Unlike standardized or norm-referenced tests, classroom assessment is more flexible and varied in format. Classroom assessment can be integrated with instruction, can be a learning experience, and can provide valuable feedback to both the teacher and the student. Examples of classroom assessments are: teacher-made tests, portfolios, teacher observations, and journals. Whereas the ultimate purpose of any type of assessment should be to inform instruction, there are differing purposes for classroom and standardized tests. Study the Venn Diagram below for some comparisons of standardized and classroom assessments.
CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT
STANDARDIZED ASSESSMENT
Some Purposes: To measure student achievement of course content; to determine effectiveness of teaching
to measure student progress; to pass to the next grade
Some Purposes: to compare groups of students; to compare students & schools for accountability; to measure growth in general knowledge & skills
page 152 Classroom tests are designed to measure student achievement of specific content objectives and should be used diagnostically to provide feedback to both the teacher and the student about what the student needs to focus on and what/who the teacher needs to reteach. Standardized tests measure student knowledge or skills in general. Both classroom and standardized tests measure student progress, but standardized tests compare groups of students or schools to identify needs and to hold schools accountable (as in Floridas current education policy). Although both standardized and classroom assessment can be utilized for promotion or retention decisions, no single measure of performance should be utilized to make final decisions about promotion or retention. In addition to test scores, a compilation of information such as current grades, anecdotal information, feedback from teachers, parents and the student should all be analyzed when making these important decisions. The list of pros and cons for both types of assessment are lengthy, varied, and debatable. Some possible pros and cons are listed below: Classroom Assessment Pros: Can be a review & learning experience Related to teaching methods Gives student & teachers good feedback & for continued learning Cons: Teacher may not be a good test writer Students just learn for the test Outsiders feel the results are less valuable and more subjective Standardized Assessment Pros: results are useful to identify progress in improving education results are useful to compare programs and schools Cons: may not be closely related to the curriculum often do not provide useful feedback to teacher emphasize discrete skills & factoids & encourage teachers to teach-to-the-test norm-referenced group may NOT represent tested group are very difficult for ESOL students because they rely heavily on reading and writing to assess content knowledge
In summary, standardized testing brought science and research to educational assessment. However, there are some drawbacks such as: * seeing students as the objects of assessment * seeing tests as the most important method of assessment * seeing teacher assessments as less valid * not providing helpful results to teachers Alternative Assessments and other classroom assessments allow the focus to return to teaching and learning, not just measuring. * They help improve the effectiveness of instuction * They better accommodate varying student interests, learning styles, backgrounds, and abilities * They encourage student responsibility
page 153 The question is not which is best, standardized or alternative assessment, but what is your purpose. Validity The most important criterion for any test, classroom or standardized, is validity. The key question for determining validity asks: Is the test really measuring what it is supposed to measure? A test may be valid for a particular purpose; no test is valid for all purposes. For example, a common criticism of using a generic standardized achievement test as a measure of school performance is that the test does not closely correspond with what the school is teaching. That is, the standardized test is not really measuring the schools ability to teach its curriculum. Thus, the test may not be valid. The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) was designed to measure the Sunshine State Standards and thus, could be seen as a valid measure of how well students are learning the curriculum. However, it is debatable if the FCAT is valid for the purpose of measuring English language proficiency. Validity is a concern for classroom assessments as well. To determine if students learned what was taught, the classroom assessment should mirror the manner in which the material was taught. In other words, if students learn concepts primarily through demonstration or experimentation but are tested utilizing an essay, then part of what is being assessed is not the content but the ability to write an essay. Thus, if assessment methods are radically different from teaching methods, then part of what is being assessed is the ability to perform on that particular type of assessment. An essay test would put an ESOL student at a significant disadvantage. For ESOL students, assessments should determine their content knowledge with as little interference from their lack of English proficiency as possible. Language and Cultural Bias As indicated previously, there are many factors that can affect a tests validity for measuring student learning. Threats to validity that are particularly important for ESOL students are language and cultural bias and unfamiliarity with the types of tests given in the U.S. Cultural bias is prevalent in both classroom and standardized tests and interferes with an accurate measure of what a student has learned by also requiring background knowledge of the culture. An investigation of three commonly used standardized reading tests in Canada found 7 to 16 percent of items were culturally biased. Language bias is when the language of the test is difficult or unfamiliar and it interferes with an accurate measure of what the test is measuring, i.e., content knowledge. Test items should contain language that is clear and somewhat easier in terms of readability than the language of instruction or should mirror the language of instruction. While teaching, teachers usually ask questions and solicit answers to determine comprehension of the material he/she is presenting. Thus, test questions should be asked using the same question/answer format that was used during the lesson. Trick questions or questions that rely on nuances of the language would interfere with the students understanding of the question. Multiple choice and true/false items should be relatively short and straightforward.
page 154 Alternative Assessment Alternative assessments are called alternatives because they are alternatives to traditional tests. Related terms are performance assessment and authentic assessment. As instruction becomes more thematic and more geared to higher-order thinking skills, assessment should move in the same direction. One problem with traditional tests is that they tend to assess lower order thinking skills, even when teachers claim to value and teach complex thinking. Some advantages to using alternative assessments are: * It helps students integrate and use their learning * It shows students what they can do, not what they cant * It better accommodates varying student interests, learning styles, backgrounds, and language levels * It encourages student responsibility In an alternative assessment situation, time is more flexible, the setting is relaxed and cooperative, and it sets the tone so that all students can experience a measure of success.
TEACHER-MADE CHECKLIST
Name ___________________Content area ____________ Grade Level _________
Directions: Look at the test "through the eyes of an ESOL student" and complete the check list.
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Checklist
1. Items are clearly written. 2. Directions are clearly written and easily understood. 3. Examples of how to respond to items are provided. 4. Readability level of items and directions is lower than actual grade/age level of students. 5. Test moves from easy to more difficult items, with the majority of items being average in difficulty. 6. Test has logical groupings, (e.g., in a history test, items related to colonial history are grouped separately from items related to the civil war). 7. Test has 3-5 items for each curricular objective in order to yield a better picture of mastery. 8. Items which require higher order thinking skills are included. 9. There is a match between what is being tested and the method used for testing (e.g., a multiple choice test of spelling would be inappropriate). 10. Test stresses important concepts, not trivia. 11. Items do not require cultural knowledge. 12. Test results will help students learn and teachers plan instruction. 13. Test is criterion-referenced. 14. Teacher scores short answers and narrative responses based on students meaning not grammatical errors. 15. Test is not too long for the time allowed. 16. Other:
Good
Could Be Improved
Dont Know
Comments/Examples
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Test-Taking Strategies
In order to perform well on tests, it is important that students learn about and apply test-taking strategies. Both general test-taking strategies and strategies related to taking specific types of tests are included in this reading. They are intended to serve as the basis for study and class discussion both before and after students take classroom or standardized tests.
(Source: Lopez-Valdez, J., and Reed, T. (June 1989). Building competencies to serve LEP vocational students: An inservice manual. Des Plaines, IL: Northwest Educational Cooperative.)
General Strategies A. Preparing for Tests

1. Try to find out what kind of test will be given. If you know what kind of test to expect, you can practice by asking yourself similar types of questions. 2. Begin preparing for the test as soon as possible. Remember that studying often for short periods is more effective than studying for long hours at one time. 3. When you prepare for a test, think of the task positively! It is the best opportunity to really learn the material for future application. 4. Ask the instructor which concepts and topics are most important to study. Instructors will usually give you this information, although they will not tell you the exact questions on the test. 5. Look at all your notes and readings and organize the information into logical units, such as main topics. 6. Make a study plan by writing down the main topics and adding the most important points to concentrate on. 7. Read all lecture notes and notes from readings, and review important exercises you have done. 8. Make a new set of study notes which contains the most important information. 9. Practice writing difficult words and their definitions. 10. Review your notes on several different days. 11. Test your memory of important facts by looking away from your notes and asking yourself questions. 12. If it s difficult for you to study alone, form a study group. Discussing the subject matter with other students helps the memory. However, you should know the basic facts before you study with other people. This is important for two reasons: 1) so that you can contribute your knowledge to the study session, and 2) so that you can recognize incorrect statements when your study partners make them.
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B. Before the Test

1. Get a good nights sleep before the test. Being well rested makes it easier to remember what you have learned and studied. 2. Relax. Being too nervous makes it difficult to recall information you know. 3. Dont study anything new the day of the test-this will only make you nervous. 4. Eat a light meal a few hours before the test. Do not take a test on either an empty stomach or a full stomach; this will negatively affect your ability to concentrate. 5. Arrive in the test room a little early so you can make yourself comfortable. 6. Keep an optimistic attitude; dont let negative comments from other students make you nervous.
C. Taking the Test

1. Listen carefully to the teachers instructions before and after the test is passed out. 2. When you receive the test, look at all of the different parts and pages to see what types of questions and how many questions there are. 3. Budget your time. If it is a long test you may have to decide how long to spend on each part. 4. Read all directions carefully; they may be different from what you expected. 5. Study all examples carefully. 6. If you dont understand what you are supposed to do, ask the instructor. 7. When you begin to write, skip questions which are very difficult and return to them after you have finished the other questions. Often you will find clues to the answer in another part of the test. 8. If you dont know the answer to a question, make a guess ( unless it is the type of test on which you lose points for incorrect answers). The concept of educated guessing is crucial to test-taking. Guessing is the underlying strategy to improving test scores beyond what knowledge of the content area alone would allow. Guessing involves applying knowledge of specific test format and identifying clues in the test items. 9. Your first response is usually correct. Dont change an answer unless you are sure you made a mistake or misunderstood the question. 10. When you have finished answering all the questions, spend as much time as you have left to go back and check your answers. 11. Make sure your name is on the test or answer sheet before you turn it in.
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D. After the Test

1. When you get the test back, go over the results carefully. 2. Pay equal attention to the items you got right and those you missed. 3. Add any new information to the ones you got right and make corrections to the items you missed directly on the test form. 4. For the items you missed, try to determine the reason why. Was your study plan a good one? 5. Use the test results to help you improve your plan for studying for the next test. Specific Strategies Multiple Choice Test Strategies 1. Try to figure out the answer before you look at the choices. 2. Read all the choices before you pick one. If they do not seem 100% correct, take the closest one. 3. If you are recording your answers on a separate answer sheet (especially machine-graded answer sheets), make sure that you mark your answers accurately. 4. Choices with absolute expressions such as always, all, never and none are usually incorrect. 5. Choices with expressions which are more flexible, such as usually, often, and generally are often correct. 6. If two choices are similar, usually one of them is correct. 7. If two answers are direct opposites, usually one of them is correct. 8. Make sure the choice agrees grammatically with the stem. 9. If two quantities (numbers) are almost the same, one is usually correct. 10. If the quantities (numbers) cover a wide range, usually one in the middle is correct. True-False Test Strategies 1. Read each word carefully, If one word is false, the whole statement is false. 2. Dont spend too much time analyzing the statements; true-false questions test your knowledge of facts and usually dont require interpretation. 3. Statements with absolute expressions such as all, always, never, and only are usually false.
page 159 4. Statements with flexible expressions such as usually are usually true. 5. There are usually more trues on a test than falses. Fill-in-the-Blank Test Strategies 1. These questions usually test how well you have memorized certain words or facts. Your answers should be short and clear. Do not give interpretations. 2. Look ahead to the other questions to make sure you dont give the answer to a question which is coming up. 3. Often you must define a word. When giving a definition of a concept or an object, remember to consider: WHAT WHERE WHEN HOW ----What category it is in; what it looks like; what its characteristics are Where it is found or used When it is used or takes place How it works, how it is used
Examples: Define solid Answer: A form of matter which has a definite shape. Define coping saw Answer: A wood saw thats used to saw curved lines in wood. Define piston Answer: A part in an internal combustion engine which moves up and down in a cylinder. Open-Book and Take-Home Test Strategies 1. Prepare well for the test. This is the most important strategy because these tests are often the most difficult kind. 2. Know where to find the information in your book(s). This type of exam doesnt test what you know as much as it tests your ability to find important information quickly. 3. Use the table of contents and the index to help you find the information you need. 4. When you find an answer to a test question, try to write the answer using your own words. 5. If you copy more than a few words directly from the book, put the words in quotation marks and give
page 160 the name of the book and the page number. Pop-Quiz Strategies 1. The only way to prepare for these is to do your homework! Complete all study and reading assignments on time and keep up with the course syllabus.
page 161 Teaching Test Taking Strategies 1. Identify five general test-taking strategies and one specific test-taking strategy that would be most helpful to ESOL students in your classes.
2. Explain how you will teach students to use these (or other) strategies.
page 162
Practical Alternative Assessments for the Content Areas

1. Learning Logs and Journals Each student keeps a journal which summarizes his learning in the class in his own words. A good way to start journals is for each student to write a one sentence summary of what he has learned at the end of each class (or unit). The summaries in the journal create a personal record of learning over time. Teachers may need to teach students to write good summary statements and may wish to discuss sample summary statements occasionally to help students edit and improve their own. Teachers can vary the contents of the students learning journals by varying the prompts or sentence starters. Good sentence starters (for the students to complete) include: I learned ... I had reinforced ... I was reminded of ... I want to learn more about ... I think ... This topic made me wonder about What I really enjoyed was ... I didnt like ... Journals can also be used for content-based dialogue between students and teachers. Themes or topics are selected from the curriculum and the student can ask questions, provide reflections on information learned, integrate concepts, synthesize material and more. The teacher responds to the student in writing and asks questions that will elicit more information. These journals provide an opportunity for students to combine their personal reflections with the information learned. The teacher can use these student contributions to assess the students overall comprehension of content (Empowering). In learning journals or logs, teachers should focus on the meaning of the student communication and its indication of content understanding, not the mechanics of writing. 2. Role Play Students role play characters from literature, social studies, or other relevant content areas. This provides an opportunity for the teacher to assess students mastery of specific content, and an opportunity for students to use different skills, talents, and varieties of language in an interactive and meaningful context (Empowering). Role plays need not simply enact known events, but can create responses to hypothetical situations that are consistent with known facts, such as a conversation between King George and Thomas Jefferson. 3. Student Self-Ratings Students rate their. own performance using either a teacher-developed checklist or one they compose cooperatively based on curricular objectives. This provides an indication for the teacher of how the student assesses his own abilities (Empowering). In addition to rating their performance or knowledge, student self-ratings can address learning styles and preferences. For example, ask students:
page 163 Which activities helped you learn best? Why? Do you prefer to work in groups or alone? Why? How do you feel about your ability to learn in this class? Why? What can I, the teacher, do to help you learn better? What can you, the student, do to learn better? 4. Venn Diagrams and Other Graphic Organizers Students compare two concepts-ideas, books, or other concepts in any content area-using a Venn diagram format (two overlapping circles). This type of assessment provides the student with an opportunity to utilize higher-order thinking skills individually or in pairs (Empowering). The graphic organizer focuses student attention on ideas and reduces concern with language (e.g., putting the ideas into complete sentences). Matrices, webs, and timelines can be used for assessment as well. 5. Projects and Other Performance Assessments To assess learning goals that transcend mere recall, educators are turning to performance assessments such as projects, exhibitions, investigations, and portfolios (see below). Todays teachers dont want to just dispense knowledge; besides teaching about history, literature, math, and science, teachers also want to give students opportunities to be historians, literary critics, mathematicians, and scientists. Performance assessment tasks call on students to write, debate, create products, conduct experiments, and so on. Using such performance assessments sends a new message to students: that teachers value in-depth understanding, the ability to apply knowledge in new situations, and high-quality work (ASCD). For example, Larry Lewin, a middle school teacher in Eugene, Oregon, asked himself: How should a present-day teacher assess his students understanding of 1492? Lewin wanted to assess his students understanding of the relationships among Columbus, the Spanish, and the Native American Tainos, but he didnt want to give a traditional short-answer test, which would put a ceiling on how much learning his students could demonstrate. So Lewin asked his students to write a persuasive letter to the monarchs Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. In their letters, students were expected to define the encounter between Europeans and Native Americans by a key word of their choice-discovery, visit, invasion-and then argue why that word fit. Students had to call upon their newly acquired knowledge of history to defend their points of view. When finished, the letters were assessed against criteria that the class had helped generate. The letter-writing task revealed more about the students learning than a traditional test would have, Lewin says, because it required students to do something with their knowledge--not just regurgitate it. For the same reason, the task was definitely more inherently motivating, he believes. Kids are more motivated to write to dead monarchs than to take a test (ASCD). Examples of other performance assessments are: a teacher teaching/ evaluating research methods asked her class to research how their town got its name, she evaluated their choice and appropriate use of multiple research methods to obtain the answer; a math teacher asked students to read and critique the use of statistical methods in news articles on current events such as the Florida net ban and its effects on fish and people; a social studies teacher asked her class to prepare an exhibit on their family histories and roots as a project to accompany a unit on immigration.
page 164 6. Portfolios A portfolio is a purposeful and systematic collection of student work to reflect growth and the achievement of curriculum objectives over time. The portfolio itself may be bound like a book, in a folder or binder, in a box, or on audio- or videotape. Usually, the teacher is responsible for choosing the purpose of the portfolio and the contents (categories of work to be included); setting the timetable for the work; and determining who evaluates the portfolio. Usually, the student selects the individual items to be included, explains why each item is included (e.g., this is my best essay; this one shows that I learned ...), updates the table of contents, sets personal goals for learning, and assess his personal goals. Teachers and students jointly develop criteria for assessment and determine how the portfolios will be shared with others. Portfolios need not be restricted to language arts. For example, in a math class, a portfolio might include: a way I used math in real life, an article I read that used statistics, the hardest problem I learned to solve this month, etc.
References: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD). On the cutting edge of assessment. Testing what students can do with knowledge. Education Update. Volume 38, Number 4, June 1996. Empowering ESOL Teachers: An Overview. Menu of alternative assessment instruments. Section IX.3, Handout 7, 1996 Revised Edition. Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students
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Alternative Assessment Worksheet

Directions: Read the handout Practical Alternative Assessments for the Content Areas. Choose one of these assessments to use as a complement to or substitute for the material tested by your classroom test that was evaluated earlier. Then, think through the steps to implement this alternative assessment in the classroom and complete the Worksheet items below. Content Area Topic: ________________________________________________ 1. What do you want the students to know and be able to do at the end of the unit?
2. Which alternative assessment have you chosen to demonstrate this?
3. What is acceptable performance?
4. How will you provide students ongoing support and ongoing feedback during this work? What additional support can you provide to ESOL students?
5. Does the activity require students to learn new knowledge and skills (not just do nifty things)? What new knowledge and skills?
6. How are students made aware of what they have learned and how they have learned it?
7. What are the pros of this assessment for ESOL students?
8. What are the cons of this assessment for ESOL students?
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SECTION VII Culture, Part B
page 167 Discussion Questions 1. Of Banks four approaches, which one does your school take?
2. What would students learn from this specific example of the Transformation Approach?
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Multicultural Education: Strategies for Linguistically Diverse Schools and Classrooms

By Deborah Menkart With lesson plans by Andrea Vincent Debbie Wei Ellen Wolpert Introduction We were reading three books and they all dealt with houses. We were reading Vladimir Nabokovs Speak Memory, Isak Dinesens Out of Africa, and Gaston Bachelards Poetics of Space. When we got to the third book I was terribly confused and I couldnt make sense of what they were talking about. So I thought, it must be because I am not smart enough. So Ill just go to class and I wont say anything. Maybe no one will notice that I am not as smart as they are. But then it suddenly occurred to me when they started talking about the attic they werent talking about my house. We didnt have an attic in our house. You dont usually have an attic when you live in a third floor front. Then I thought about the basement. I thought nobody went there but the landlord, and only if he had to. There were wild things that grew and prowled in the basement. Nobody wanted to go there. And then I realized-Nabokovs house wasnt mine. Isak Dinesens house wasnt mine. Then I thought about all the books I ever had, all the way back to Dick and Jane and Sally and Spot. We never talked about my house. It was a horrific moment. My temperature changed. I remember going home and getting so frightened that at that moment I think I could have given up my education. I felt I dont belong here.
Sandra Cisneros (April 17, 1993, excerpt from speech at TESOL Convention, Atlanta , Georgia), author of House on Mango Street, Woman Hollering Creek, and My Wicked, Wicked Ways
Luckily, Sandra Cisneros did not give up her education. Instead, she decided to write a book that had been missing all through her school life: a book about her home and her family. A book that would feel like home to many students who did not live with Dick and Jane. A book about a house on Mango Street. But for every Sandra Cisneros, thousands of other potential poets and leaders drop out each yearthousands of students who, because they see nothing familiar in the curriculum or school environment, begin to believe that they are not smart. They feel, I dont belong here. This sense of alienation from school is reflected in the higher dropout rates and lower test scores for language minority students. Schools are failing their students. Multicultural education seeks to reverse that trend. The aim of multicultural education is to ensure equity in education for all students and to help empower young people to make the world a better place both individually and collectively (Bigelow, 1993). As leading multicultural theorist James Banks explains, Multicultural education, as its major architects have conceived it during the last decade, is not an ethnic- or gender- specific movement. It is a movement designed to empower all students to become knowledgeable, caring, and active citizens in a deeply troubled and ethnically polarized nation and world (Banks, 1993).
Source: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education. Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students
page 169 This program guide will share strategies that teachers in linguistically diverse schools and classrooms can use to create a successful environment for all students.
The Origins of Multicultural Education
Many popular journals cite Americas new and growing multicultural population as the impetus for the move toward multicultural education. But, of course, the population of the United States has always been multicultural. Think of all the peoples from Senegal, Ghana, the Congo, China, Japan, England, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Germany, Mexico, and the Caribbean, as well as Iroquois, Apache, Hopi, Cherokee, and more who make up the population of this country. What is new is the national commitment to seek equity for all people within this pluralistic society. The Civil Rights and womens movements of the 1950s and 60s pushed the country in this new direction. In addition to political and economic equity, the demand was raised for the right to cultural integrity. The image of the melting pot, all cultures blending into the image of the dominant culture, was replaced by the societal salad or mosaic. Education became a central focus of the Civil Rights movement. If blacks and Latinos were to have an equal opportunity in politics and employment, then they had to be afforded an equal education. But schools were literally failing Latino and African American students. Prior to the Civil Rights movement, the lower test scores and higher dropout rates among certain races, ethnic groups, and women were attributed to racial or cultural differences. For example, in the early 1900s, persons of eastern and southern European origins and blacks were considered to have lower IQs (Suzuki, 1984; Fairtest, 1991). Women were considered to have lower aptitudes in math. Black and Latino families were said to place a low value on education. The Civil Rights movement shifted the blame from the students to the system of schooling. If women or blacks had lower test scores, then schools were failing, not students. As a public institution central to our democracy, schools needed to change. First came the admission that separate was not equal and that there was a need for integration. Other aspects of schools came under scrutiny and are still in the process of revision. There was the recognition, for example that: * The school curriculum needs to reflect our full history, including the contributions and experi ences of people of color and women. Thereby, all students can see themselves in history and students of all races can develop a greater respect and appreciation for each other. * Testing and assessment need to be culturally and linguistically sensitive. * Sorting or tracking systems should not segregate students within schools based on race or native language. * School policy and pedagogy should promote cooperation among students of all races to prepare them for life in a pluralistic, multicultural, and global society. * The native languages of nonnative English speakers and their parents should be treated as an asset, not a weakness. The combination of these reforms came to be known as multicultural education. Just as there was much debate about the Civil Rights and womens movements, so there is much debate about multicultural education today. And just as there were many interpretations of the Civil Rights movement, so there are many interpretations of multicultural education.
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Focus on curriculum
Curriculum and classroom literature are the areas over which teachers have the most direct control. James Banks (Banks and McGee,1989) outlines four levels of integration of ethnic content into the curriculum. This provides a helpful framework for teachers to use in their classrooms. Examine the four levels below and determine which most closely reflects your current practice: Then you can plan how to move specific lessons up to the next level. Level 1-Contributions: Focus on heroes, holidays, food, and other discrete cultural elements. During special commemorative days (e.g., Cinco de Mayo, Martin Luther Kings birthday, the Chinese New Year), teachers involve students in lessons and experiences related to the ethnic group being studied. Level 2-Additive: Add a unit or course on a particular ethnic group without any change to the basic curriculum. For example, the teacher may add a unit on Native Americans or Haitians to the traditional social studies course. Leve1 3-Transformation: Infuse various perspectives, frames of reference, and content material from various groups that extend students understanding of the nature, development, and complexity of American society. The basic curriculum is changed. For example, the conquest of American territory is viewed from multiple perspectives, including those of Native Americans, African Americans, wealthy European settlers, and indentured servants from Europe. Level 4-Decision Making and Social Action: This includes all of the elements of the Transformation approach (Level 3) but also encourages students to make decisions and to take action related to the concept, issue, or problem they have studied in the unit. The goal at this level is to help students develop a vision of a better society and to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to bring about constructive social change. At this level, students do more than identify social problems; they move to the higher-level thinking skill of analysis. As high school social studies teacher and curriculum developer Bill Bigelow explains, Multicultural education should be based on a problemsolving approach, using inequity in this society as the core problem. The curriculum should pose the big why questions: Why is there racism? Why is there sexism? What are the roots of social conflicts?(Bigelow,1993). In practice there is often overlap between Banks four levels of integration. The emphasis in this publication is on strategies for facilitating multicultural integration at the transformation and decisionmaking and social action levels (Levels 3 and 4). For example, when studying the economy in the United States, students might examine the plight of unemployed factory workers or homeless people today. For their final project, they could be asked to take individual or small-group actions to address the problems. Students should be asked to evaluate the relative effectiveness of the proposed actions. Action for the sake of action is not enough. Letter writing is probably one of the most common forms of student action. There are times when letter writing is very effective, but there are also times when the letters will not make a difference. They are simply an assignment. Students should begin with an analysis of the root cause of the problems. How can their actions get to these roots? What can they learn from historical movements for social change?
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Questions and Answers about Implementing Multiculturalism
Teachers are always looking for ways to reach their students more effectively, especially when their classes include students with diverse backgrounds. However, they are also wary of techniques that create more work for them without producing clear benefits for their students. This section addresses some of the most common questions teachers have before they implement multicultural strategies in their classrooms. 1. Why do we have to add something else to the curriculum? I am already trying to do too much! Teaching about culture is not the addition of something new. We already teach about culture every day by what we include or exclude from our curriculum. The goal is to make this aspect of the curriculum more complete, more accurate, and more sensitive. Stop and look at any classroom. Lessons about cultures fill the room (Lee, 1993). Here are some examples: Classroom Example #1: The childrens books feature light-skinned children with rosy cheeks. A few books include an African American or Asian child. There is one book on the Mexican holiday, Cinco de Mayo. One wall is filled with portraits of famous people. All the famous people on this wall are white men who have made advances in science, the military, and politics. There is one poster of a woman. What are the children in this classroom learning about culture? They are learning that EuropeanAmerican culture is the norm, that people from countries outside the United States only celebrate holidays, and that people make scientific or political advances all by themselves. Classroom Example #2: A teacher reads The Three Little Pigs to the class. Through dramatic story reading, all the children huff and puff as they blow down the straw and the wood houses. Only the brick house stands firm. With this lesson, the children learn that brick (urban) houses are best, and straw and wood houses are pretty worthless. Of course, in certain contexts, a brick house is preferable. In other climates, though, a straw or wood house is more appropriate. The story needs to be placed in context rather than giving the impression that brick houses are universally the ideal home (Wolpert, 1993). Classroom Example #3: A sixth grade textbook describes the high level of adult illiteracy in Latin America. It describes a U.S. -supported literacy program to help Latin American governments address the problem. The text does not mention that before the conquest, the Mayans in Latin America had vast libraries with volumes of advanced historical and scientific documents; nor does it discuss the profound worldwide influence of contemporary Latin American literature. In addition, the book does not mention the current high levels of adult illiteracy in the United States or the fact that certain groups in the United States, such as women and African Americans, have historically been denied the right to literacy. Here children learn that people in other countries are behind the United States in their development. They are not learning about the richness of the regions literary history. They do not learn that illiteracy is the result of social or governmental policies, not the ignorance or backwardness of a countrys population.
page 172 2. How long will it take to implement a multicultural curriculum? Substantive change will probably take one to five years, but it is worth the effort! (Suzuki, 1984; York, 1991). Investing a little time-giving priority to human relations over activities covered-is important for a successful multicultural education program. As we move toward a fully enriched curriculum (using Banks Level 4 as a goal), we can make incremental changes in cultural awareness and sensitivity. For example, we can learn to pronounce our students full names correctly instead of relying on shorter, simpler American nicknames, affirming who students are rather than who we may want them to become (Nieto, 1992). This also demonstrates our respect for their families, who gave them these names. 3. Wont multicultural education simply divide the school along racial and ethnic lines? As Banks (1993) points out, Multicultural education is designed to help unify a deeply divided nation rather than to divide a highly cohesive one. Multicultural education may bring problems to the surface, giving the appearance of creating conflict. But if a schools entire staff and faculty are committed to working through that conflict, then unity based on new, more equitable relationships can be achieved. See Freedoms Plow (Perry and Frazer, 1993) for teachers descriptions of their schools conflicts in the process of transformation. In Roots and Wings (York, 1993) and White Teacher (Paley, 1993), the authors describe the importance of talking openly about differences rather than ignoring them. York points out that phrases such as We are all the same and You are just like me deny the differences between people...they very subtly use European American values as the norm-the point of reference (York,1993). Conflicting descriptions of history can become a valuable part of the learning process. A junior high history teacher in San Diego begins one lesson by discussing Pancho Villa, who is a hero of her Mexican American students. She tells them that, in her school, Villa was depicted as a bad guy, a bandit (Willis,1993). The history lesson becomes richer as students examine these different perspectives. 4. How can I know about all cultures? You need not become an expert on all cultures represented in your school, but there are many ways you can learn about them. Talk to the students, their families, and other teachers. Explain that you want to learn more about their culture(s) so that you can have the best possible communication with them. Visit community centers and houses of worship. Read fiction and poetry from these cultures. When approaching students and their families, keep two points in mind: 1. Culture is not uniform; within a country it varies by region, class, religion, and many other variables. Just imagine if someone asked you to teach them all about the culture of the United States. You could tell them about your own familys traditions, which would shed some light on U.S. culture. 2. Some students, especially adolescents, may not want to be singled out as the in-house experts on their cultures and nationalities.
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Multicultural Education in the School Environment
Multicultural education encompasses all aspects of school life. The values of multicultural education must be modeled throughout the school environment. In a school, there may be posters in the hallway that celebrate diverse cultures, but a disproportionate number of language minority children are suspended each week. There may be welcome signs in multiple languages, but school policy does not encourage children to maintain their native language(s). We must look below the surface to see how the whole school environment impacts students. We need to consider the role that schools and society in general have in creating low selfesteem in children. That is, students do not simply develop poor self-concepts out of the blue. Rather, they are the result of policies and practices of schools and society that respect and affirm some groups while devaluing and rejecting others (Nieto, 1992). The following categories can be reviewed as your school focuses on developing its multi-cultural curriculum. Although all aspects are integral to a successful program, it is often more manageable for a school to concentrate on one or two areas at a time. Each category includes only a few indicators. Rather than provide a fully prescribed list, we encourage you to brainstorm with fellow staff members to decide which additional factors should be considered.
Language
* What is the official policy regarding native language use and development? * What is the prevailing attitude toward students native languages? (This includes nonstandard English.) * Are students provided native language instruction in the core subjects so that they learn the same grade-appropriate concepts as their native English speaking peers and develop their native language proficiency while they become proficient in English?
Discipline
* Is a higher percentage of language minority students suspended or kept after school as compared to the overall school population?
Community
* How does the community perceive the school? What kind of outreach programs are there to help determine these perceptions? * Does the curriculum connect to issues in the local community?
Assessment and Testing

* Are the assessment tools culturally and linguistically sensitive and unbiased? * Are various methods of assessment used, such as performance-based and portfolio evaluation?
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Staffing (Administrative, Instructional, Counseling, and Support)

* Does the school staff reflect the cultural diversity of the student population? * Are there staff members who can speak the native languages of the students and their families?
Families
* How much does the staff know about the childrens lives outside of school? Do they ever visit the families homes? * When do families receive a call from school staff? Only when there is a problem? Are there programs to involve families in school activities?
Curriculum
* Does cultural pluralism permeate the curriculum or is it the same old curriculum with a sprinkling of ethnic holidays and heroes? * Is the curriculum rigorous and challenging to all students? Are there high academic expecta tions for all students? * Does the curriculum portray culture not as a static identity but as a dynamic characteristic that is shaped by social, political, and economic conditions? * Does the curriculum include people of various cultural and class backgrounds through out-not just as a side bar, separate bulletin board, or special afternoon activity? * Does the curriculum help students learn to understand experiences and perspectives other than their own (e.g., through role play, pen pals, interior monologues, dialogue poems, autobiogra phies, or other activities)?
Instructional Materials and School Library

* * * * Do the textbooks and literature reflect the cultures of the students in the school? How are women portrayed in the textbooks? How are the students native countries portrayed in the textbooks and literature? Does the library have contemporary music available from various parts of the Unite States and the world? * Who selects the textbooks?
Classroom Practice
* Are cooperative learning and whole language methods used? * Is there equitable participation in classroom discussions? * Does the question-and -answer practice encourage or discourage participation by female and minority students? * Does the classroom model a democratic and equitable environment as closely as possible? Is it collective or hierarchical?
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Tracking or Sorting
* Are students separated within a grade level based on supposed differences in ability? For example, are students separated into different reading groups at the elementary level? Are students pulled out for talented and gifted classes? Are there different levels of secondary English or history? * Is a disproportionate number of minority students placed in vocational or technical classes? * What percentage of young women is in the higher-level math and science classes in relation to the percentage of young men?
Conclusion
In summary, multicultural education strives for equity regardless of race, gender, culture, or national origin. Students lives are shaped by both school and society. So, in order to be successful, multicultural education encompasses both the effort to create more equitable schools and the involment of teachers and students in the creation of a more equitable society. As educator Bill Bigelow (1993) states, [Students] are given the opportunity to flex their utopian imaginations, and further the opportunity to try to make their dreams real.
page 176 Strategies for Linguistically Diverse Schools and Classrooms 1. Briefly summarize the essence of the lesson in your own words.
2. Tell how the lesson helps linguistically diverse students learn language, academic content, and US school culture.
3. Determine which of Banks approaches to multicultural education the lesson represents and justify your decision.
4. Explain how this lesson could be adapted or expanded to be more appropriate for secondary students in the content areas. If the lesson can be adapted to different content areas, list a few ideas. (This step should result in ideas, not full-blown lesson plans.)
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Sample Methods and Lessons

What is a multicultural classroom? First and foremost it is a classroom characterized by an ethos of caring and equity. The pedagogy supports active participation through role plays, simulations, and hands-on activities. Students learn, through their own experiences, that peoples actions make a difference. (Bigelow,1993). A multicultural curriculum should help children discover their connection to a broader humanity-breaking down the invisibility of working people, women, and people of color. It should help students identify with a much more profound sense of we. The traditional European-American-centered curriculum excludes not only people of color but also the majority of white people. The stories feature white (male) leaders--usually military, political, or economic. Students learn that isolated, independent individuals make history. A multicultural curriculum seeks not only to include other cultures but also to tell the more complete story of our social history. It acknowledges the value of the lives of common people (Bigelow, 1993). The following are examples of techniques that teachers have used in their classrooms to make their lessons multicultural.
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Lesson One Pictures, Pictures, Pictures (Grades K-3, can be adapted to any grade)
Ellen Wolpert, director of Washington-Beech Community Preschool in Boston, MA, has developed an extensive picture collection that helps to integrate a multicultural approach across the curriculum. The pictures show culturally diverse people throughout the United States and the world. Teachers can use these images throughout the week for math, social studies, and language arts. These diverse images of people--a woman carrying groceries on her head in Brooklyn, a man vacuuming the house, a factory worker reading a book during his lunch break, or parent testifying with a translator at a school board hearing--represent a significant shift from the norm as it is defined by the mass media. They are not only more inclusive but also more accurate in their representation of our multicultural country. The following is a brief description of how to develop and use your own picture collection. 1. Collect pictures that challenge the biases and stereotypes that children are subjected to. Categories may include the following: * Economic standing * Physical ability * Family * Gender * Nationality * Culture * Race * Age
Within each of these categories, consider the stereotypes children are most typically exposed to and look for images that emphasize all cultures humanity. For example, children are currently exposed to stereotypical images of Arabs which impact their attitudes about the Middle East and toward Arab Americans. To address this, include pictures in your collection of Arabs participating in different aspects of life-with family members, shopping, worshipping, and at work. The elderly is the fastest-growing population in this country, yet our stereotypes of people in their senior years have not changed. Counter our limited assumptions about old age with images of elderly people of all nationalities actively engaged with life. Most literature refers to Native Americans in the past tense. Counter this with images of contemporary Native Americans from the United States and Latin America. Within any of these categories, include people engaged in daily routines such as work (inside and outside of the home), at play, and learning. Show their transportation, housing, art, and health care. Include people from various parts of the United States--rural and urban, south and north, small towns and big cities. Include in every collection images of your own students, their families, and the school staff. This tells children that they and their families are an integral part of the schools instructional base. It also keeps childrens attention. Most importantly, it demonstrates that students and teachers are part of the diversity, not outside of it (Wolpert, 1993).
page 179 2. Mount the images on mat board and laminate. Use them in games based on familiar formats, including matching games, sorting games, classifying games, counting games, dominoes, puzzles and so on. Here are some ideas for using these pictures in exercises across the curriculum. Math: Have students create addition, multiplication, division, or subtraction problems using the number of people in the pictures. For example, select two pictures, one with three people and another with six people, for a total of nine people. Students must find cards with the correct number of people to create their own math problems and solutions. Problem solving: One of the goals of multicultural education is to show that culture is not a collection of quaint customs but actually a system of strategies for living. To teach this, have students look to the images for solutions to challenges in their own lives. For example, when students study transportation, have them look at pictures of how people from many parts of the world carry children, food, firewood, and other things. Then give them a problem to solve, such as how to carry a baby doll and some groceries from the class store to the class house. Ask them to study the pictures of people from other countries and other parts of the United States for ideas. Some children may choose to strap the baby doll around their backs with a scarf. Others may try to balance the groceries on their heads so that their hands will be free to carry the baby, while others may put everything into a basket on wheels. Through this lesson, students learn skills of observation, analysis, and problem solving while also gaining a respect for other cultures as sources for information and strategies for their own lives. Language and Communication: Select a group of pictures that can be paired by themes (e.g., pictures of painted Ukrainian eggs, Navajo rugs, paintings from the Harlem Renaissance, or Sunday Easter hats). Tape the pictures onto students backs, so that they cannot see their own pictures. Then have them walk around the room and describe the images they see to each other until each student has found his or her match. Through this exercise, students learn keen observation, descriptive language, and communication skills and have opportunities to dialogue with students in the class with whom they may not normally interact. The examples provided were of artwork, but this works equally with houses, families, or any other theme your students are studying. This is a successful activity for K-12 or even for staff development ice breakers. Match: Spread dozens of cards on the table. Leave a replacement pile in the middle and one card in the match pile. Students must place cards from the pile in front of them onto the match pile. They must be able to find a common feature (e.g., both have vehicles, both have people who look worried, both have people cooking), although these may be in very different conditions.
(Lessons provided by Ellen Wolpert, Director, Washington-Beech Community Preschool, Boston, MA.)
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Lesson Two Hold Fast to Dreams (Grades 3-12)

Linguistically diverse students often face special difficulties in their daily lives. This can easily lead to frustration. Teachers need to find ways to keep students hopeful. The poem Dreams by African American poet Langston Hughes (1960) can be used as a catalyst for a writing exercise that encourages students to explore their hopes and aspirations. Dreams Hold fast to dreams For if dreams die Life is a broken-winged bird That cannot fly Hold fast to dreams For when dreams go Life is a barren field Frozen with snow
From The Dream Keeper and Other Poems by Langston Hughes. Copyright 1932 by Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. and renewed 1960 by Langston Hughes. Reprinted by permission of the publisher.
Read the poem aloud to students. Ask them to draw or write about their own dreams and how they can hold on to them. Share their work. By sharing their dreams, students who are feeling less optimistic can be inspired by the dreams of others. By talking about how they hold on to them, students learn strategies to hold on to their own dreams.
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Lesson Three My Life is History (Grades 6-12)

Traditional textbooks can make students (and teachers) feel pretty small compared to the heroes who made history. As teachers and as linguistically diverse students, we are pushed to the margins of the textbooks. Multicultural education seeks to present a larger and more social history of this country. Multicultural texts bring out the stories of women, working people, and people of color, who have traditionally been ignored. (The resources listed later in this monograph provide good sources for multicultural histories of the United States.) The ideal place to start writing these new histories is with ourselves. The goal of this lesson is to assert the connections that we all have to history. It allows us to examine the roles that we play in history and to see how history can help us gain insight into our lives today and ideas for the future. 1. Read aloud an excerpt from Childtimes: A Three Generation Memoir by childrens authors Eloise Greenfield and L.J. Little. People...are affected...by big things and small things. A war, an invention such as radio or television, a birthday party, a kiss. All of these experiences help to shape people, and they in turn, help to shape the present and the future... Share stories of how events in history have dramatically impacted your own life. A teacher in Washington, DC, shared the following examples with her English as a second language (ESL) class: a. During the 1968 racial riots in Detroit, she and her family were among the few non-African Americans she knew who stayed. Her old friends moved to the suburbs while she made new friends and learned among a community from which she had been previously isolated. b. The invention of word processors has opened up a world of writing she would never have pursued by hand. c. The economic crisis in Latin America forced her husband to leave Colombia. Because of this, she met him in Washington, DC, got married and had a child. Have students think of ways in which historic events or developments have impacted their lives. After a few have shared their stories, ask the whole class to write (draft without concern for spelling or grammar) on the topic. In the class mentioned above, one student wrote about how her family had to stay in the house for weeks during the U.S. invasion of Panama; a number of students from Ethiopia wrote about how the war affected their lives; and one student wrote about how her role as a woman has shifted now that she lives in the new cultural environment of the United States. 2. Time lines: By creating personal time lines, students can see how their own lives and the lives of their classmates are tied to history. Begin by having students phrase in their own words the quote An unexamined life is not worth living. Explain that the class will study the history of the community and the country we live in-beginning with the lives of the students in the class.
page 182 The teacher should prepare in advance a time line of his or her own life to share with the students. Highlight dates that you know will trigger ideas for students (e.g., when you met your best friend, your first day of school, your first day at work, times you have traveled, the gain or loss [birth or death] of a family member, when you learned a second language, and so on). Have students begin to develop their own time lines. Students can expand the time lines by interviewing family members to collect dates that go back a couple of generations. When did their parents or grandparents get married or come to the United States? What are other highlights in their lives? Again, model first with your own time line so that students can get ideas about the kind of information they might solicit from their relatives. Combine the student and teacher time lines into a collective class time line. This can be illustrated with drawings or bar graphs. Add key historical events to the personal time lines of the collective time line so that students can see the relationship between their lives and history. 3. Questions for History Discuss the following statement by noted historian Howard Zinn: I started studying history with one view in mind: to look for answers to the issues and problems I saw in the world about me. By the time I went to college I had worked in a shipyard, had been in the Air Force, had been in a war. I came to history asking questions about war and peace, about wealth and poverty, about racial division. Sure, theres a certain interest in inspecting the past and it can be fun, sort of like a detective story. I can make an argument for knowledge for its own sake as something that can add to your life. But while thats good, it is small in relation to the very large objective of trying to understand and do something about the issues that face us in the world today (Zinn, 1991). Teachers can share some of their own questions about history based on their own life experiences. For example, a teacher shared how she and her husband both work, but when they go home in the evening, it is expected that she should take care of their baby. So her question is Why do women have to do more work than men? Ask students to look at their own lives-what problems do they have? Ask history-where does this problem come from? Be prepared for some pretty profound questions. Use these to shape your teaching of history. For example, the following are a few of the questions asked in a class with students from Ethiopia, El Salvador, the Philippines, and Vietnam: * Why is there so much discrimination? * Why do we have fights between different countries and why do we fight our own people? * Why do women still get raped? (A boy asked this question.) * Why are so many people poor? Why do some people have more money than others? * Why do people make so many bad comments about Africa? So many people tell me, If you come from Africa...did you live like an animal in the jungle?
page 183 * Why did racism start? When did it start? )We found this to be a burning question and concern for ESL students. Studies of the 1600s and 1700s when racism was institutionalized [Zinn,1981; Bennet,1992] help to address many questions on this topic. This personal connection should be made not just at the beginning but also throughout your study of history. This helps students understand the themes and concepts in terms of their own experiences. Students also learn about each others strengths and cultures. Prior to their study of the Civil Rights movement, a teacher asked students to write about a time they had stood up for what they knew was right. In school I was punished once. I was made to stand in a corner on one foot, wrote a student from Laos. After a while I put my other foot down and told the teacher that it was enough. The student will be able to connect her experience to those of the students who participated in Freedom Summer in Mississippi, and the other students have learned about one students experience of life in Laos. The same student might have been uncomfortable making a class presentation about life in Laos, but within the context of the history curriculum, this student shared a profound experience.
(Lesson provided by Andrea Vincent, ESL teacher, Washington, D.C.)
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Lesson Four Reading the Media (Grades 6-12)

An important skill in multicultural education is the ability to read critically for biases in textbooks and the media. The local paper often provides ample material for students to hone their critical reading skills. For example, an ESL teacher in Philadelphia brought an advertisement from the Philadelphia Inquirer for her students to critique. The ad read, Come to Philadelphia and Celebrate New Years Every Month of the Year. It portrayed the cultural activities of Philadelphias many ethnic groups as a tourist attraction, and listed the Chinese New Year, the Cambodian New Year, and so on. The teacher posted the ad on the chalkboard and asked her students for comments. The Cambodian students noticed that the Cambodian New Year was listed in the wrong month. The teacher asked them to probe deeper-what else did this ad make them think about? One student commented that if the newspaper had Cambodians on its staff, the incorrect date might have been avoided. Others noted that the paper rarely included news about the political situation in their home countries that they, as readers and residents of Philadelphia, would find important Why, they asked, was the paper using our culture as an advertisement when the staff obviously does not even know anything about us? As a class project, the students wrote letters to the paper complaining about the trivialization of their cultures. In addition to learning to read the media for bias, students learned about each others cultures.
(Lesson provided by Debbie Wei, ESL Teacher, Philadelphia Public Schools, PA.)
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Acknowledgments
My appreciation to Bill Bigelow, Enid Lee, Denise McKeon, Linda Mauro, Christine Sleeter, Lynda Tredway, Andrea Vinent, Ellen Wolpert, Debbie Wei, and the entire NECA staff and board for their invaluable feedback on this publication.
References
Banks, J. (1993). Multicultural education: Development, dimensions, and challenges. Phi Delta Kappan Vol. 75(1), pp.22-28. Banks, J. and McGee, C.A. (Eds.). (1989) Multicultural Education: Issues and Perspectives. Bigelow, W. (1993). Limits of the new multiculturalism: The good childrens literature and the quincentenary. Unpublished manuscript. Available from NECA. Fairtest (1990). Standardized Tests and Our Children: A Guide to Testing Reform. Cambridge, MA: National Center for Fair and Open Testing. Greenfield, E. and Little, L.J. (1979). Childtimes: A Three Generation Memoir. New York: HarperCollins. Hughes, L. (1960). The Dreamkeeper and Other Poems. New York: Alfred Knopf. Lee, E. (1993, May 8). Strategies for building a multicultural, anti-racist curriculum. Presented at the Books Project Seminar, Washington, DC. Sleeter, C.E. and Grant, C.A. (1988). Making Choices for Multicultural Education. Columbus, OH: Charles E. Merrill. Sleeter, C.E. and Grant, C.A. (1987). An analysis of multicultural education in the United States. Harvard Educational Review. Vol. 57, pp. 421-444. Sleeter, C.E. (Ed.). (1991). Empowering through Multicultural Education. Albany: State University of New York Press. Suzuki, B.H. (1984, May). Curriculum transformation for multicultural education. Education and Urban Society Vol. 16, p.3. Willis, S. (1993, September). Multicultural teaching: Meeting the challenges that arise in practice. ASCD Curriculum Update p. 2. Wolpert, E. (1993, August). Presentation at the National Coalition of Education Activists Building Bridges Conference, Washington, DC. York, S. (1991). Roots and Wings: Affirming Culture in Early Childhood Programs. St Paul, MN: Redleaf Press.
page 186 Zinn, H. (1992-93, Winter). Why students should study history: An interview with Howard Zinn. Rethinking Schools. Vol 7, p.2.
Curriculum Guides
Banks, J, Cortes, C., Gay, G., Garcia, R, and Ochoa, A. (1991). Curriculum Guidelines for Multicultural Education. Washington, DC: National Council for the Social Studies. Curriculum guidelines and a multicultural education program checklist * Belli, G. et al. (1992). Rediscovering America. Washington, DC: NECA. Excellent readings and lessons for providing a multicultural history of the Americas. Includes two dialogue poems that can be used to teach about multiple perspectives on many issues. Caduto, M.J. and Bruchac, J. (1988). Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children. Golden, CO: Fulcrum. Native American stories are linked to classroom lessons on science and the environment * Peterson, B. et al. (1992). Rethinking Columbus. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools. Lessons, essays, short stories, interviews, and poetry critique the traditional versions of the encounter and offer teachers creative approaches for engaging young people in an evaluation of the hidden assumptions within the discovery myth. * Schniedewind, N. and Davidson, E. (1983). Cooperative Learning/Cooperative Lives. Dubuque, IA: Brown. More than 75 excellent interdisciplinary activities that are easily integrated into the upper elementary and middle school curriculum for language arts, math, social studies, art, and science. * Schniedewind, N. and Davidson, E. (1983). Open Minds to Equality: A Sourcebook of Learning Activities to Promote Race, Sex, Class, and Age Equality. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall. Lessons address building trust, communication, and cooperation; stereotypes; the impact of discrimination; and creating change. York, S. (1991). Roots and Wings: Affirming Culture in Early Childhood Programs. St Paul, MN: Redleaf Press. A wonderful collection of hands-on activities for children that shape respectful attitudes toward cultural differences. Also includes recommendations for staff training and parent involvement.
page 187 * The starred items in the resource section are among the many resources and publications listed in the NECA catalogue. Write or call for a free copy. (See Sources, below).
Literature Reviews
Harris, V. (Ed.). (1992). Teaching Multicultural Literature in Grades K-8. An opening chapter on the politics of childrens literature is followed by critical reviews of childrens literature featuring Native Americans, Puerto Ricans, African Americans, Mexican Americans, people of the Caribbean, and Asian Pacific Americans.
Reflections of Teaching and School Reform

California State Department of Education. (1986). Beyond Language: Social and Cultural Factors in Schooling Language Minority Students. Los Angeles: California State University Evaluation, Dissemination, and Assistance Center. Cummins, J. (1986). Empowering Minority Students: A Framework for Intervention. Harvard Educational Review Vol. 56, pp. 18-36. Gould, s. et al. (1991). Strategic Planning for Multicultural Education. Chicago: The Joyce Foundation. Guidelines for schools trying to develop their own model for multicultural education. Includes internal assessments for schools with linguistically diverse populations. Langer, J .A. (Ed.). (1987). Language, Literacy and Culture: Issues of Society and Schooling . Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Murray, D. (Ed.). (1992). Diversity as a Resource: Redefining Cultural Literacy. Alexandria, VA: TESOL. Examines specific literacies and uses of language among specific groups such as Mexican Americans, Khmer, and African Americans. Offers classroom strategies to realize the potential of linguistically and culturally diverse learners. Nieto, S. (1992). Affirming Diversity: The Sociopolitical Context of Multicultural Education. New York: Longman. Explores the meaning, necessity, and benefits of multicultural education for students from all backgrounds. Nieto explains in clear, accessible language how personal, social, political, cultural, and educational factors interact to affect the success or failure of students in our schools and offers a research-based rationale for multicultural education.
page 188 Olsen, L. and Mullen, N.A. (1990). Embracing Diversity: Teachers Voices from Californias Classrooms. San Francisco: California Tomorrow. San Francisco: California Tomorrow. Teachers talk about how they are creating classrooms that allow them and their students to transcend barriers of language, cultural differences, and national background. Focus on curriculum, pedagogy, and teacher education. Paley, V.G. (1989). White Teacher .Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. A review in the Phi Delta Kappan says, A wonderful useful book-short, warm and to the point. Using entertaining, well-chosen incidents from her own teaching experience, Paley examines a question that concerns teachers at all levels: How do I use my own behavior as a teacher to help my students learn to deal constructively with racial and social differences? * Perry, T. and Fraser, J. W. (Eds.). (1993). Freedoms Plow: Teaching in the Multicultural Classroom. New York: Routledge. The voices and experiences of first grade to college level teachers who are actively engaged in multicultural teaching efforts. * Sleeter, C. (Ed.). (1991). Empowerment through Multicultural Education. Albany: State University of New York Press. The strategies section includes a chapter on the empowerment of language minority students. Walsh, C. (Ed.). (1991). Literacy as Praxis: Culture, Language, and Pedagogy. Norwood, NJ: Ablex. Examines the relationship between literacy and empowerment for language minority students. Includes an excellent chapter on a fifth grade bilingual classroom and two chapters on family literacy programs.
Background Reading
Amott, T.L. and Matthaei, I. (1991). Race, Gender and Work: A Multicultural Economic History of Women in the United States. Boston: South End Press. Bennet, L. (1992). The Shaping of Black America: The Struggles and Triumphs of African Americans, 1619 to the 1990s. New York: Penguin Books. What forces transformed Africans into African Americans? How did they sustain themselves during centuries of captivity and oppression? In what way did their presence shape the attitudesand fortunes-of white America? How did black people become a nation within a nation? And what are the prospects for that nation in the 1990s? Takaki, R. (1993). A Different Mirror: A History of Multicultural America. Boston: Little, Brown and Co.
page 189 A lively account filled with the stories and voices of people previously left out of the historical canon. * Zinn, H. (1980). A Peoples History of the United States. New York: HarperCollins. The lives and facts that are rarely included in textbooks. An indispensable teacher resource.
Journals
Multicultural Education Published quarterly by the National Association of Multicultural Education ($40/year). Contact Caddo Gap Press, 3145 Geary Blvd. Suite 275, San Francisco, CA 94118; 415/750-9978. * Rethinking Schools 1001 E. Keefe Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53212. ($12.50/year individuals, $25 organizations) The Spring 1993 issue on parent involvement programs also featured a bibliography of childrens literature about the elderly-a group often ignored in discussions of multicultural education. The bibliography includes titles in Spanish. Teaching Tolerance 400 Washington Ave., Montgomery AL 36104. (Fee subscription for teachers.) This is a 64 page, full color magazine published by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Free for educators. The Fall 1992 issue had an excellent article titled The Peacekeepers: Students Use Mediation Skills to Resolve Conflicts, which described programs nationwide and provided a detailed resource list.
Sources
California Tomorrow Fort Mason Center Building B San Francisco, CA 94123 Research, advocacy, and technical support for California schools on education in a multicultural and multiracial society. Write for a list of their excellent publications, including Embracing Diversity: Teachers Voices from California Classrooms (see Reflections on Teaching and School Reform section).
page 190 Multicultural Publishers Exchange Highsmith Co. W5527Highway 106 P.O. Box 800 Fort Atkinson, WI 53538-0800 800/558-2110 Catalogue of books by and about people of color. Teaching for Change Catalogue c/ o NECA 1118 22nd Street, NW Washington, DC 20037 202/429-0137 NECA Catalogue containing items in this list
About the Author
Deborah Menkart is the director of the Network of Educators on the Americas (NECA) and the Books Project. NECA, a nonprofit organization, produces and distributes materials on critical teaching and multicultural education. NECA copublished the popular publication Rethinking Columbus and sponsored the Rethinking Columbus /Rethinking Our Classrooms workshops. The Books Project is a federally funded teacher training project on the teaching of reading and writing to linguistically diverse students. Menkart is co-editor of the curriculum series Caribbean Connections, which includes titles on Haiti, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. She is currently co-editing a guide for elementary and secondary schools titled Beyond Multiculturalism: Roots of Racism/Stories of Resistance.
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APPENDIX
page 192
Note: As of September 10, 2003, all administrators and guidance counselors are required to complete 60 hours of ESOL training within 3 years from date of hire for those new to these positions or by September 10, 2006, for existing employees.
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Enriching Classes for ESOL Students Course Syllabus

Module 1 Academic Competence, Part A Section 1.1 In-class meeting (4 hours) Course Overview Florida Consent Decree ESOL Demographics Three Principles for Designing Effective Lessons Section 1.2 Assignment 1: Design and Implement a Lesson Applying the Three Principles Assignment 2: Participate in a discussion about how the lesson went Assignment 3: Critique Bat lesson (p. 20 Study Guide) Module 2 Language Learning Section 2.1 Activities: Pretest on Second Language Development Farsi Video Clips Quiz on Krashens Five Hypotheses Reading: Section 2, Study Guide, pages 25-33 First and Second Language Acquisition, Similarities & Differences Krashens Theory of Second Language Acquisition Stages of Language Development Assignment: Stages of Language Development Section 2.2 Activities: Discussion Question - Social vs. Academic Language Post Test on Second Language Development Case Studies Activity Discussion Questions Bilingual Support and Program Models Reading: Section 2, Study Guide, pages 34-46 Social vs. Academic Language Program Models for Second Language Learners
page 194 Module 3 Culture, Part A Section 3.1 Activities: Complete Cultural Diversity Profile Discussion Question Cultural Assimilation, Acculturation, and Pluralism Reading: Section 3, Study Guide pages 49-85 Introduction Two Ways of Studying Cultures Cultural Assimilation, Acculturation, and Pluralism Valuing Cultural Diversity Culture in the Content Areas Assignment: Culture in the Content Areas Section 3.2 In Class Meeting (4 hours) Surface and Deep Culture Cultural Vignettes Activity Review of Key Concepts Quiz on Key Concepts Module 4 Academic Competence, Part B Section 4.1 In Class Meeting (3 hours) Introduce Lesson Plan Sequence for Enhancing Comprehensibility Introduce Directed Reading-Thinking Activities Introduce From Text to Graphics and Back Again Section 4.2 Assignment 1: Apply From Text to Graphics and Back Again to a Content Chapter Assignment 2: Participate in a discussion about the implementation of From Text to Graphics and Back Again Assignment 3: Begin work on Integrated Unit Assignment due last week of class Module 5 Literacy Activities: Discussion Question Reading Difficulties in the Content Areas Reading: Section 6, Study Guide, pages 140-149 Reading Strategies for the Content Areas Suggestions for Working with Low Literacy Students Assignment : Reading Strategy Demonstration
page 195 Module 6 Assessment Activities: Evaluation of a Classroom Test Test-Taking Strategies Activity Reading: Section 6, Study Guide, pages 151-165 What Are Teachers Being Asked To Do? Standardized vs. Classroom Assessment Validity Alternative Assessment Assignment: Practical Alternative Assessment Module 7 Culture, Part B Activities: Discussion Question Multicultural Education Reading: Section 7, Study Guide, pages 168-190 Multicultural Education: Strategies for Linguistically Diverse Schools and Classrooms Sample Methods and Lessons Assignment: Strategies for Linguistically Diverse Schools & Classrooms Module 8 Putting It All Together In Class Meeting (3 hours) Review of Key Concepts Quiz #2 on Key Concepts Poster Session Feedback on Integrated Units
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Enriching Content Classes for ESOL Students Activity/Assignment Checklist

Module 1: Academic Competence, Part A Three Principles Lesson Discussion about Lesson Echolocation Lesson Module 2: Language Learning Pretest on Second Language Development Farsi Video Clip Response True/False Quiz (Krashen s Hypotheses) Stages of Language Development Assignment Discussion Questions: Social vs. Academic Language Posttest on Second Language Development with Rationale Case Studies Activity Discussion Questions: Bilingual Support and Program Models Module 3: Culture, Part A Cultural Diversity Profile Discussion Questions: Cultural Assimilation, Acculturation, & Pluralism Culture in the Content Areas Assignment Quiz #1 Module 4: Academic Competence, Part B From Text to Graphics and Back Again Lesson Discussion about Lesson Integrated Unit Topic Module 5: Literacy Development Discussion Question: Reading Difficulties in the Content Areas Reading Strategy Demonstration Assignment Module 6: Assessment Evaluation of Classroom Test Activity Test-Taking Strategies Activity Practical Alternative Assessment Assignment Module 7: Culture, Part B Discussion Questions: Multicultural Education Yes No
Strategies for Linguistically Diverse Schools and Classrooms Assignment

Module 8: Putting It All Together Quiz #2 Integrated Unit and Poster Session
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Develop an Integrated Unit

Purpose: To give participants the opportunity to integrate their learning from this course in a content area unit that they can use in their teaching Instructions: Develop a one-week curriculum unit that integrates both language and content instruction. The lessons in your unit should account for the needs of ESOL students at the pre-production and early production stages of second language development, as well as for the needs of ESOL students with more advanced proficiency in English. Your unit should include the following:
Part A: Required Components

1. Activities that address each of the Three Principles: Increase Comprehensibility, Increase Interaction, and Increase Higher Order Thinking Skills. (See the last page of this assignment for a partial list of suggested activities for addressing the Three Principles.) 2. Activities that address ESOL students' cultural needs. For example, are there cultural assumptions/background knowledge he/she may need? Can the ESOL students make a unique contribution to the unit? 3. Correlations of objectives to Sunshine State Standards. 4. An alternative assessment method for the unit which focuses on showing the students they have learned the key concepts.
Part B. Select One of the Following Strategies:

1. Making connections across the content areas 2. Strategies for the Culture in the Content Areas readings 3. Banks approaches to multicultural education 4. Your personal priorities for teaching diverse students
Part C. Presenting the Integrated Unit

1. Prepare a visual display (poster) showing how your unit meets the assignment criteria. Think of having a large bulletin board that you can use to show these items. You may use pictures, drawings, outlines, graphic organizers, etc. Your display should be self-explanatory. Be prepared to post your display during the last class meeting. 2. You will receive written feedback on your display from other participants. In addition, participants will select the display that they feel best exemplifies the criteria listed below.
page 198 Assignment Criteria: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. How well does the unit address Principle 1? How well does the unit address Principle 2? How well does the unit address Principle 3? How well does the unit address ESOL students cultural needs? Does the unit include one additional strategy/activity of the authors choice (i.e. making connections across the curriculum)? 6. Does the unit include an alternative assessment method and correlations to the Standards? Background Information about the Unit The number of lessons in the one-week unit is up to you the curriculum designer. One lesson may span three days, while another lesson may span thirty minutes. Instead of counting lessons, make sure lessons span a minimum of one week. Be sure to specify language and content objectives for each lesson, as well as the material needed to implement each lesson. (Information about language objectives is printed near the end of the Integrated Unit Assignment.) When designing and creating your integrated unit, use the instructional sequence (motivation, presentation, practice/application, review/evaluation, and extension) highlighted in the Deborah Short article found on page 118 of the Study Guide (see sample lessons also provided in the D. Short article). However, please note that every lesson does not need to utilize each phase of the instructional sequence and some lessons may include one or two phases of the instructional sequence more than once. For example, your unit may culminate with one extensive extension activity rather than include several extension activities at the end of each lesson. Introduce your unit by specifying grade level, content area, and topic or theme. A Word About Language Objectives While content objectives identify what students should know and be able to do as a result of a lesson, language objectives should support a students language development. A wide variety of language objectives can be addressed in the mainstream classroom. For example, some language objectives may focus on vocabulary building, while other language objectives may focus on enhancing reading comprehension skills or writing development skills. Language objectives may also address the functional uses of language (i.e., using language to request information, justify opinions or make comparisons), and some language objectives may focus on specific grammar points. When thinking about language objectives for a particular lesson, examine the goals and content objectives of the lesson and determine what language objectives are compatible with these goals and objectives in terms of reading, writing, speaking, and listening. For example, if the content objective of a social studies lesson is to learn about the way of life of the pioneers traveling westward, a few compatible language objectives may be as follows: *Develop vocabulary related to the Westward Movement *Read and listen to information about events and ways of life of the early pioneers
page 199 *Write summaries of information read or listened to. *Use language (written and oral) to compare and contrast the roles of pioneer men and women Partial List of Suggested Activities: Activities that Address Principle 1 (Increase Comprehension) Teach the Text Backwards Directed Reading-Thinking Activities From Text to Graphics and Back Again Pre, During, and Post-Reading Activities Activities that activate background knowledge Activities that contextualize concepts (i.e., hands-on activities) The lesson sequence reviewed in Module 4 also enhances comprehensibility. Use a lesson sequence that proceeds: From prior knowledge to new knowledge From the concrete to the abstract From oral language to written language From more contextual support to less contextual support Activities that Address Principle 2 (Increase Interaction) Think-Pair-Share Numbered Heads Together Jigsaw Peer Tutoring Pair Assignments Cooperative Projects Mix and Match Walking Review Activities that Address Principle 3 (Increase Higher Order Thinking Skills) Follow-up (probing) questions (i.e., How do you know that? Why?) Activities/questions that require students to go beyond the simple recall of facts. For example, activities that require analysis, synthesis, or evaluation.

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Project EXCEL, University of Florida

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

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Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

SECTION I Academic Competence, Part A

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Overview of the Florida Consent Decree

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Summary of the Florida Consent Decree

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Demographics Anticipation Guide

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

VIDEO OBSERVATION FORM

Increase Thinking Skills

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Critique the Following Science Lesson on Echolocation

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

SECTION II Language Learning

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Pretest on Second Language Development

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

2. How did you feel?

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

2. What was the topic of the lesson?

3. How did you feel?

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

____7. Writing is more conducive to monitor use than speaking.

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Language Development Stages: Sample Behaviors in the Classroom

Sample Student Behaviors

Sample Teacher Behaviors

* One-word utterances * Short utterances

* Participates in small group activities * Demonstrates comprehension in a variety of ways

* Participates in reading and writing activities to acquire new information

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Quadrant III: High context, and High cognitive demand

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

2. Program Model 2 is:

3. Program Model 3 is:

4. Program Model 4 is:

5. Program Models 5 is:

6. Program Model 6 is:

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

SECTION III Culture, Part A

Enriching Content Classes for Secondary ESOL Students

Cultural Diversity Profile

Wild animals bear cooked meat