Next semester I am likely to teach a unit on geography skills. In this unit students students review geography basics about place and location in the United States. Students identify geographical regions in the U.S., and analyze how life is shaped by geographical differences. Students practice reading and using different kinds of maps. This unit is very heavy with vocabulary words so I will plan for my English Language Learners by creating opportunities for them to learn and practice vocabulary. In my class, I will differentiate instruction for four students at different stages of English language acquisition- Speech Emergent, Beginning Fluency, Intermediate Fluency, and Advanced Fluency. I will use specific strategies and steps with each of the students in order to include them and support their active participation in learning activities and their acquisition of the unit's learning objectives.
In the Speech Emergent Stage, speech becomes more frequent, words and sentences are longer, but students still rely heavily on context clues and familiar topics. Vocabulary continues to increase and errors begin to decrease, especially in common or repeated interactions. Taking this information into consideration, I will introduce more academic vocabulary with these students with activities that allow them to produce simple language. I will meet with them in small groups to review the specific vocabulary for the unit by using visuals aids of the vocabulary and academic words. For example, students will be introduced to words such as locate, identify. geographic regions, Northeast, Southeast, and Southwest ,physical features, landforms, bodies of water, regions, landform regions. I will also make connections with student's background knowledge as much as possible because as fifth graders, it is very likely that they have already had prior exposure to this vocabulary in their native language. I will model how to use the vocabulary and academic words in sentences and have the students also use the words in sentences. In writing activities, I will provide the students with fill-in-the blank versions of the assignments with the necessary vocabulary listed on the page. Students will also be supported with using a map. Students will point to places on the map and say the location, region, state, and the physical features of the area.
Students in the beginning fluency stage have speech that is fairly fluent in social situations with minimal errors. However, new contexts and academic language are challenging and students will struggle to express themselves due to gaps in vocabulary and appropriate phrases. Taking this into consideration, I will design activities for these students by giving them visual supports, in addition to having them work in pairs and groups to discuss content and the vocabulary. I will model more advanced language structures to these students and have them use the structures in their discussions. Some of these phrases include - This (fill in name of landform) is located in ( fill in name of region.) The physical features of (fill in name of state) are (fill in features) These students will also be asked questions that require a full response with explanation. If I do not understand the student's explanation, I ask for clarification by paraphrasing. Students will write response to questions where they have to incorporate the academic and vocabulary words. Students will be supported with using a map by identifying the region and describing some of the physical features of the region.
Students in the Intermediate Fluency Stage communicate in the second language with fluency, especially in social language situations. These students are able to speak almost fluently in new situations or in academic areas, but there will be gaps in vocabulary knowledge and some unknown expressions. There are very few errors, and the students are able to demonstrate higher order thinking skills in the second language such as offering an opinion or analyzing a problem. Taking this information into consideration, I will do a pre-assessment to check for prior knowledge and understanding by asking students to identify the vocabulary by symbols that show whether the student "knows it really well, kind of knows it, or doesn't know it at all." Then I will help student to get the meaning of new words by reading about the words in context in books on the students’ reading levels. These students will be asked to complete graphic organizers and thinking maps and filling them with details on the geographic regions of study. Then students will extend their skills in the language by using the information from their graphic organizers to write a paragraph to compare and contrast geographic regions. Students will be asked to use phrases such as “When you compare.” Students will be supported in using a map by identifying the regions, its physical features, and explaining the differences between the regions. Since students in this stage are able to demonstrate higher order thinking skills in the language, they will be asked to offer their opinion on which regions they would prefer to live in and explain why by using some of the information they’ve learned about the regions. Students will be asked to use phrases such as “I think,” and "In my opinion”
Students in the Advanced Fluency Stage communicate fluently in all contexts and can maneuver successfully in new contexts and when exposed to new academic information. At this stage, the students may still have an accent and use idiomatic expressions incorrectly at times, but the students are essentially fluent and comfortable communicating in the second language. Taking this information into consideration, I will pre-teach vocabulary when necessary, continue to build on background knowledge, and make connections between content areas that the students are studying. These students will fine-tuning their oral language skills by engaging in think pair share discussions about the regions, their locations, physical features, and other aspects. These students will also create questions based on texts they read about the regions, or the maps they’ve read and answer these questions. These students will fine tune their written language skills by choosing two or more regions and writing a blog or an infographic that describes the regions, and that compares and contrast the features of the regions.
Work Cited.
Ford, K. & Robertson, K. (n.d.) Language Acquisition: An Overview. Retrieved 26, June 2016 from: http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/language-acquisition-overview
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