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ELL Module
Description
Setting - My ELL field experience took place in my 6th grade classroom. Student
were selected at random from the ELL roster for 6 th grade and asked to come to my
classroom during their connections in order to work on their skills in identifying
various map features throughout the 6th grade curriculum in preparation for a map
unit test.
The students I worked with a total of 5 students (3 boys, 2 girls) for this field
experience. All students involved in this field experience are between the ages of
11-12 and were currently enrolled in our schools ELL program (no monitored
students were included). I teach four of the five students in my social studies class,
with one student coming from the other social studies class. Many of the students
have the exact same schedule due to requiring ELL services. Three of the students
are serviced in ELA/Reading class for ELL as well as resource class for mathematics.
Meetings I met with the students on Friday (3/28) to discuss with the students
and inform them of why they had been chosen. I informed the students that on
Monday (3/31) we would begin review sessions during their first connections class in
addition to the review they received in class on a regular basis. I met with the
students from Monday (3/31) to Thursday (4/3) for approximately 45-50 minutes
each meeting. During our meetings, we would discuss appropriate vocabulary
(mountains instead of triangles, rivers instead of blue lines, etc.) as well as
allowing students the ability to practice map labeling (via SMARTboard).
Strategies - The meetings took various formats including small group instruction,
round table discussions, individual instruction, and student led review. Additionally,
mnemonics were employed for the various geographic regions. Students were also
had the opportunity to partake in hands on, kinesthetic instruction via the use of the
SMART board
Objectives and Assessments:
Objective
Assessment
(Content)
(Formative)
(Content)
(Content)
Students will identify the
following physical features on a
physical map of Europe: Pyrenees
Mtns, Alps, Rhine River, Danube
River, North European Plain,
Ural Mtn., Mediterranean Sea,
English Channel, Scandinavian
Peninsula, Iberian Peninsula
(Content)
Students will correctly identify
the following physical features on
a physical map of Latin American
and Canada: Andes Mtns., Rocky
Mtns., St. Lawrence River,
Amazon River, Amazon Basin,
Canadian Shield, Great Lakes,
Atacama Desert, Caribbean Sea,
Gulf of Mexico, Hudson Bay,
Atlantic Ocean, Pacific Ocean
(Content)
Students will correctly identify
the following physical features on
a physical map of Australia: The
Outback region, Ayers Rock, the
Great Victoria Desert, the Great
Barrier Reef, the Indian Ocean,
the Coral Sea
(Language)
(Formative)
content appropriate
terminology.
Reflections
After conducting my field experience, I feel that all teachers should honestly be required to take
a serious ELL course. While there is some course work required, ELL education should be an
integral part of teacher education. I learned a tremendous amount by just sitting down with our
ELL instructor and a majority of what I learned would apply to most learners, especially young
learners. Teachers also need to be aware of the fact that technology is not a magical tool that
erases culturally and linguistic difference. Even though we were moving and using technology,
there will still some issues related to language particularly in my instruction and what I used for
examples. Simply using technology without solid teaching pedagogy and a true understanding
of ones audience is just as egregious as employing poor pedagogy.
Technology did allow me to incorporate some kinesthetic and sensory activities by
allowing students to physically manipulate maps and labels in order to correctly identify the
required elements within our standards. The visual element provided to be extremely useful in
teaching content appropriate vocabulary. A small group setting really worked well with these
students as I was able to more closely monitor and focus on not only the map skills, but the
usage and context of vocabulary that may escape someone dealing with thirty or more students.
Furthermore, teachers should include visuals in their assessment of those who have difficulty
with language. While standardized test include few visual cues on most questions, that does not
mean that one cannot teach the material this way. Remember, these students are not only
learning your content, but the finer points of the most complex language on Earth at the same
time.
If I had this to do all over again, I would extend the time period and focus a little more on
general subject vocabulary. While the ultimate purpose of this field experience was to review the
location of countries and features within the 6th grade Social Studies curriculum, I did notice a
real difference in the way the students used the vocabulary. I also noticed that simply being in a
small group and allowing students to converse freely without some of the normal classroom
constraints that students were more open to dialogue and were often eager to help each other
and provide their own analogies. I am going to experiment again with this small group setting
and see if it applies to less visual material as well (i.e; government vocabulary, economics
vocabulary, etc.).