Scaffolding: Some students have a really hard time with questioning strategies. So, initially I give sentence stems. At first this was really hard for me. I thought that students would naturally ask questions and grow through accessing prior knowledge. I quickly realized that language acquisition had often been a barrier in asking better questions. So, sentence stems and sample questions became a way that ELL students could modify questions and access the language.
Simone Brown on 04 Oct 11This article emphasizes that ELLs benefit when literature teachers include techniques that make the learning more accessible. I like the idea of connecting the literature to a real project. I do this same activity with my adult ELLs every semester. For example, this semester they are reading "Breaking Through", a true story about a boy whose parents are undocumented agricultural workers. It is a great story of perseverance and "grit" that shows how immigrants make this country stronger. I am going to pair the reading with a group project called "The Immigrant Experience in Houston". My students will research an immigrant group and chronicle the melting pot that is Houston. They will create a Power Point Presentation and share their research with the class. Food samples always get 5 extra points!
