566+Agenda+-+5.28.13

9:00 - 9:10 - Welcome & Good News
 * Notetaker: Christine


 * Objectives: **
 * ** I can describe the basic process of SLA. **
 * ** I can describe an interactive model for reading (Top-down/Bottom-up). **
 * ** I can use a wordless story to build literacy skills for beginning level ELLs. **

9:10 - 9:30 - Finish SLA presentation/Top-Down Bottom Up
 * Presentation found here: [|Crash Course in Second Language Acquisition]
 * Two most important terms of the Alphabet Soup: L1 (mother language) & L2 (learning language)
 * 1. We have the potential and capacity to learn a new language under the proper circumstances; Two crucial concepts/conditions for language learning:
 * **comprehensible input**--have to have enough knowledge of the English language to grasp onto some of what is said; what goes in must be somewhat understood
 * **negotiated interaction**--opportunities to play and use the language; allow the student to express what they know and what they are learning; this requires patience, help, and strategic feedback
 * Complete and sudden immersion into an English classroom will not work because the child may not comprehend what is being said and there may not be many opportunities to interact with other students. It is better to determine where the student is in their language learning and place them with other students where they have the ability to express themselves **and** the teacher must create a classroom environment that is conducive to learning the language and give the students the ability to express the language.
 * 2. Learning a language is not a straight line & types of proficiency vary
 * There will be peaks and valleys to learning, so if there is a time when learning is slow or backtracking a little bit, we (the teachers) should not worry too much.
 * Students will pick up on different domains of learning than others. For example, a student may have a high reading level, but their speaking abilities may not be as developed. These areas can include: r eading, writing, listening, speaking, academic (5-12 years), social language (2-3 years).
 * **Academic language**--when fully developed, the student is no longer at a disadvantage because of their language; proficiency in academic language is taught more than absorbed
 * **Social language**--develops much more quickly; largely absorbed through social interaction
 * 3. Prior knowledge matters **a lot**--prior schooling and first language literacy often predict school success as much more than English proficiency; if the student already knows about a topic, it is much easier for them to just relabel it in English, than if they have to learn the content for the first time in a new language; Fish bowl idea: it is easier to transfer a fish from one bowl to another than to grow a fish from nothing
 * 4. Being bilingual makes you twice as smart and it is your legal and moral obligation to support the academic and linguistic progress of ELLs; when a student is committed and supported in learning and being proficient in both languages, they will eventually be more successful in school than their monolingual peers

Knowledge of the World Content Knowledge Gained from Prior Schooling Experiences Life Experiences || (Knowledge of Text Structure) Knowledge of Phrase and Sentence Structure Knowledge of Words and Word Structure Prior Literacy Experiences in Other Languages in English || from the Home Language and from English
 * ===**Top Down**===
 * Knowledge of How the English Language Works
 * Knowledge of How the English Language Works
 * Knowledge of Sounds, Letters, and Symbols
 * Knowledge of Sounds, Letters, and Symbols

**Bottom Up**
||

9:30 - 10:10 - Text Discussions
 * Chapter 2--the process of second language learning
 * Concentrates on the beginning/immersion stage
 * Starts with introducing the language in the home--oral language first and supporting L1 language first
 * There are special circumstances that make it ok to introduce English first to a student--must check with the student and the parents; respect and support home language; When you are evaluating a student, how do you know when it is a good idea to introduce English first?
 * If their parents really want them to learn English first
 * If the student does not know how to read at all--however, if they do not speak any English it does not make sense to teach them how to read in English
 * If the parents are not literate in their home language, the teacher might need to get creative--find resources for the student to try to learn in their home language, but also teach English language and reading in the classroom (use picture/bilingual books and words that they know in their home language)
 * The time you spend with ELLs makes a huge difference; Our job is to **support**!; //You must do nothing that is meaningless// (everything must be comprehensible); pancake model--use things that they know to teach them a new language
 * Scaffolding activities that help ELLs get from one level of comprehension to another; putting students together who are at the same level of proficiency
 * Chapter 6--assessment
 * What are the problems of high stakes tests when administered to ELLs and how do we remedy this?
 * The tests are cookie cutter and do not take into account proficiency in English at all; if a student does not do well, we might blame the teacher or the student, rather than the test even though the test may be an invalid measure of a student's learning; the teacher is able to monitor how a student is picking up on ideas, but a test cannot do this with the same level of nuance
 * Administrators can use both the test and a teacher report to evaluate how well a student is doing with the transition; teachers must frame the test to make sure that the student does not feel like a failure
 * Classroom assessment--a cycle: assess-->plan-->assess-->plan...etc.
 * Purposes (chart 6.1): (a) to devise an initial individualized literacy plan for a student based on what he or she already knows and can do relative to your literacy development goals, (b) to monitor student progress following reading and writing instruction in order to plan follow-up instruction, (c) to plan reading and writing instruction that reflects students' individual learning styles; their preferred learning strategies, interests, attitudes, and motivations; and background factors that might influence their acquisition of reading and writing skills, (d) to engage students in self-assessment so that they can take an active role in planning their own literacy development, (e) to demonstrate to parents and other educators what students can do and that they are on track in learning to read and write
 * assessment for ELLs can be different (table p. 195):
 * 1. Assessment of ELLs must distinguish between students' proficiency in language and literacy and their achievement in the content areas
 * 2. Assessment of ELLs must monitor students' proficiency in language and literacy for both academic and social purposes since ELLs may need support learning language and literacy for both whereas native English-speaking students have acquired language and literacy skills for social purposes
 * 3. Assessment of ELLs must also assess students' sociocultural competence with respect to both language and literacy
 * 4. Assessment must be culturally appropriate for individual ELLs
 * get to know different culture's grading system
 * If a student is shy or their culture demands differently, they may not speak--this does not mean that they aren't engaged in the learning
 * Case studies: What did you pick up on/found interesting about the case studies?
 * Each situation was unique and, therefore, was handled in a different way;

10:10 - 10:55 - Working with Wordless Picture Books
 * Repetition is key to making sense of and internalizing words
 * Create a 5-page story (5 wordless pages, 5 pages with the words) on Storybird

Skill - Using Wordless Picture Books to Build Literacy in Emergent/Beginning Learners
 * Create a short story using images. [Tech options: [|haiku deck] (tablets) or [|storybird] (tablets or computers)]
 * Show & tell the story to the students using expression, gestures, pointing to communicate the meaning
 * Show and tell the story again. This time, specifically teach a few key words. (Write the words)
 * Show the story again. Invite the children to re-tell the story.
 * Show and tell the story again. This time, show and read the text.
 * Work with vocabulary and decoding as appropriate.
 * Help the children create their own story using the same or similar pictures. Write down the text.

[]

Your task: Create a story using five images (high tech or low tech). Share the story with a partner following the procedure above.

media type="youtube" key="YJGcst4Dfok" width="420" height="315" //Another example of a process for working with a wordless book.//

10:55 - Closing

> Be sure you've completed everything that was due for today! > Create a [|storybird] account and make a five-page story. On Thursday, we'll practice telling wordless stories.
 * Upcoming Assignments:**
 * Case Study Assignment - Due 5/30


 * Virtual Option**
 * 1) Read the notes from this page. View the presentation and video.
 * 2) Discuss chapter 2 and chapter 6 on the Discussion Board above. (Login. Click on the conversation bubbles next to the "edit" button. There are two threads to participate in.)
 * 3) Complete upcoming assignments above.