Only a few years ago, schools clamored to have access to the computer lab a few times a month. Then came the laptop carts which contained 35 or so relatively new computers. If teachers were fortunate, they could access them 3 or 4 times a month at most.
Now, computers weigh barely more than a pound-iPads, tablets, Chrome books, and Kindles. Others fit in a student's pocket-smartphone! How powerful are these tools? They can do everything a heavy desktop can do and more. Even more important, they are portable! So how does a teacher create an organized focused learning environment with these devices? Quite easy with some careful planning:)
First of all, the vast majority of students probably feel more comfortable using these tools than their teachers...and that is OK. This should be quite normal since these students have been using many of these tools for ages. They are digital citizens. So when glitches arise, should teachers consider turning to the "experts" to solve the problem? Yes, they should. Students love to share what they know. In my situation, I often turn to students to find shortcuts, or fix a software problem. They usually take care of the issue in a few seconds.
Second, teachers must have a plan for using the equipment. Project BASED LEARNING fits in here with ease. Collaboration and team work goals are easily met here through mobile learning. Communication is addressed in the team's effort to creatively solve a problem with teacher facilitating as needed. After all, the work force of the future will require intense global communication to develop new products, send humans to outer space, repair the ecosystem, etc.
Third, what tools could these devices be used for? SKYPE is one which could be used if they needed to talk to students in other countries. EMAIL and INSTANT MESSAGES are two means of communication in every place of business anywhere in the world. Students could use them in contacting key subjects in their projects. TWITTER is an online quick feed often used by businesses to quickly share opinions on company related topics. To keep track of what they are doing within their groups, they could TWEET about each one's progress. Students need to know about it and how to use it. The use of DIGITAL VIDEOS can also be addressed since many business people send video clips back and forth in studying possible products to be sold or advertise.
Yes, these new light devices open up a world of potential in pursuing project based learning assignments AND students will enjoy every part of the process.
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
PINTEREST dmcyberteacher or denise@ellteacherpros
Showing posts with label project based learning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label project based learning. Show all posts
Monday, February 24, 2014
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Make English Language Learners Full Partners in Learning Process With Their Peers
In this day and age of education, our first and foremost
goal as educators is to motivate students to be innovative in their approach to
problem solving. Students must take on
more responsibility for their own learning if they are to be fully prepared to
enter the rapidly emerging global workforce.
For this major leap to occur, our roles as teachers will shift more to
one of instructional coaches or facilitators where we inspire students to
discover within the power to solve real world problems with limited feedback
from us.
Where will the major instructional shift occur? It will move from projects to Project
Based Learning. It will shift from
group activities to team ones. There
will be little in the way of random groupings of students anymore. Instead, student teams will incorporate students
of varying academic and language abilities and their sole purpose will be to pool
their skills to think-outside-the-box to solve real world problems in any of
their subjects-mathematics, science, English, etc. Every team member will be involved in solving
the problem.
So, how will this transformation in learning appear in a
classroom? Below are some possibilities,
but by no means are the only approaches.
We teachers are very creative individuals so feel free to weave in
personal classroom success stories.
1. Teach concepts and
not memorization-if students don't fully understand the "big idea",
they can't apply it to studies. The
inability to make those vital connections will limit their career options in
life.
2. Apply equal
importance to acquisition of key skills and to knowledge building. Teach big
ideas and how to apply outside the classroom.
Common core focuses heavily in this area as well. Teaching ideas and not test items is not
longer the focus.
3. Make reflection
part of any lesson. Learning logs or
journals here are especially helpful to English language learners. With detailed notes written in ways they
understand, they will continue to build not only a deeper understanding of
content, but a richer knowledge of English.
4. Find approaches
you have used in class that accomplished the same. Continue to fine-tune them. Improve on them every time you use them. Share with colleagues and collect feedback.
Build student self-confidence through out-of-the-box approaches:)
Denise
Twitter @ell_teacherpros.
Pinterest denise@ellteacherpros (denise stewart).
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Bring Writing Activities Into the 21st Century With EDUBLOG!
Often times, when teachers start their classes on writing assignments, students are only "politely" enthused. Though the traditional approach does have merit and is a good place to start, teachers should consider using it only as a jump-off point to publishing on the internet. When students discover their essays will be published to the worldwide web, they become genuinely excited at the prospect. For them, people beyond the teacher will have the opportunity to see their creativity and possibly provide feedback (if the teacher allows comments to be entered).
How can this safely be done? Though there are many blogging sites on the internet, here is one that is geared to teachers and their students---EDUBLOGS. A simple blog is free, but if a teacher wishes to have the entire class interacting with it, there is a small fee, but many teachers don't go that far.
There are other blogging sites with GOOGLE BLOGSPOT being the most popular. However, Edublogs has the option of uploading PDFs while BLOGSPOT does not. BLOGSPOT is also used in classrooms but with the understanding that the submissions are strictly for class use. Again, teachers use it as a blog and as a "website." Both are easy to use for teacher and student.
How can blogs be used to motivate students to write and enjoy the process? What about students completing class projects on their blogs instead of with power points? Students can upload videos (their own files or ones from the net), incredible photos to support their project, audio if it supports their writing, etc. All these tools would be used to add grab the attention of the reader of their written work. Every add-on would serve only one purpose-to make the student's writing more engaging and informative for the reader. In the global workforce, this is done regularly so why not give students the opportunity (actually multiple opportunities from multiple disciplines) to use it in the classroom?
Anyone can write and blogging will support that statement with ease:)
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
Twitter @ell_teacherpros (1,814 followers and growing)
PINTEREST dmcyberteacher.
How can this safely be done? Though there are many blogging sites on the internet, here is one that is geared to teachers and their students---EDUBLOGS. A simple blog is free, but if a teacher wishes to have the entire class interacting with it, there is a small fee, but many teachers don't go that far.
There are other blogging sites with GOOGLE BLOGSPOT being the most popular. However, Edublogs has the option of uploading PDFs while BLOGSPOT does not. BLOGSPOT is also used in classrooms but with the understanding that the submissions are strictly for class use. Again, teachers use it as a blog and as a "website." Both are easy to use for teacher and student.
How can blogs be used to motivate students to write and enjoy the process? What about students completing class projects on their blogs instead of with power points? Students can upload videos (their own files or ones from the net), incredible photos to support their project, audio if it supports their writing, etc. All these tools would be used to add grab the attention of the reader of their written work. Every add-on would serve only one purpose-to make the student's writing more engaging and informative for the reader. In the global workforce, this is done regularly so why not give students the opportunity (actually multiple opportunities from multiple disciplines) to use it in the classroom?
Anyone can write and blogging will support that statement with ease:)
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
Twitter @ell_teacherpros (1,814 followers and growing)
PINTEREST dmcyberteacher.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Bring Business World into Math Class and See Student Engagement Skyrocket:)
With Common Core math lessons, the textbook will no longer control the layout of the course or the pacing. It will be far more engaging since the letters and numbers will now have a direct connection to life beyond high school.
Here is a clip of class of academically low performing math students who entered Build San Francisco Institute where math in the real world in architecture was the focus. Classes are small and students spend part of their non-traditional school day as interns at architectural firms in the city of San Francisco. Their assignments at the firm are to create living quarters, for example, which meet strict city specs while also turning a profit. Architects support them along the way, but do not take over traditional roles of teachers. As students pursue their projects, they encounter roadblocks, but no adult gives the answer. Students, with guidance, solve the problems as they proceed along. This approach proves that with perseverance, any issue can be successfully dealt with. What is in place within this set-up is common core in action. Project based learning is the process.
Here is background on project. The success of this approach has led to higher graduation rates and test scores. More importantly, these students now see real life applications to subject matter and that connection could lead to a career that they might not have previously considered.
So how can lessons be created with the common core in this area? Welcome to core lesson planner,
where teachers can have access to all the standards and places to store any lessons created. It is free to join. Build lessons with common core standards contained within the site and then save them in the cloud! Never again will a teacher have to worry about losing lessons:)
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
Please friend us on FACEBOOK as ELL TEACHER PROS and follow us on Twitter @ell_teacherpros.
Here is a clip of class of academically low performing math students who entered Build San Francisco Institute where math in the real world in architecture was the focus. Classes are small and students spend part of their non-traditional school day as interns at architectural firms in the city of San Francisco. Their assignments at the firm are to create living quarters, for example, which meet strict city specs while also turning a profit. Architects support them along the way, but do not take over traditional roles of teachers. As students pursue their projects, they encounter roadblocks, but no adult gives the answer. Students, with guidance, solve the problems as they proceed along. This approach proves that with perseverance, any issue can be successfully dealt with. What is in place within this set-up is common core in action. Project based learning is the process.
Here is background on project. The success of this approach has led to higher graduation rates and test scores. More importantly, these students now see real life applications to subject matter and that connection could lead to a career that they might not have previously considered.
So how can lessons be created with the common core in this area? Welcome to core lesson planner,
where teachers can have access to all the standards and places to store any lessons created. It is free to join. Build lessons with common core standards contained within the site and then save them in the cloud! Never again will a teacher have to worry about losing lessons:)
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
Please friend us on FACEBOOK as ELL TEACHER PROS and follow us on Twitter @ell_teacherpros.
Monday, April 22, 2013
Project Based Learning in Biology---Gardens With Healthy Foods Grown by Students:)
Imagine biology classes creating project based learning activities that would motivate students to build gardens which would provide them with more nutritious eating choices than many are used to eating.
This is a chapter of biology which until recently didn't receive much attention in the biology class due to the pressure to address all the biology standards before the state standardized test was administered. With this SEED TO TABLE learning project, students develop an understanding of the joys of gardening that they never would have experienced within the confines of a classroom. Here, students build their own gardens from scratch and nurture them right up to the point of harvesting. Many have never had this opportunity to explore the benefits of gardening in their own homes so there is a look of awe as they see their small seedlings develop into edible plants.
Other great features of gardening is the development of teamwork. Students work together to accomplish a shared task. This opens up talking opportunities for English language learners, shy students, students with special needs, etc. With the teacher there, academic language is everywhere within reach of every student. Another plus is the connection to math. This connection is a real world one. For example, planning a meal from this produce involves measurements. Cooking involves proportions of vegetables and condiments. Students must also determine how to provide food for a given number of guests.
Last, but not least, is the fun element:)
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
Please follow us on FACEBOOK at ELL TEACHER PROS and Twitter @ell_teacherpros
This is a chapter of biology which until recently didn't receive much attention in the biology class due to the pressure to address all the biology standards before the state standardized test was administered. With this SEED TO TABLE learning project, students develop an understanding of the joys of gardening that they never would have experienced within the confines of a classroom. Here, students build their own gardens from scratch and nurture them right up to the point of harvesting. Many have never had this opportunity to explore the benefits of gardening in their own homes so there is a look of awe as they see their small seedlings develop into edible plants.
Other great features of gardening is the development of teamwork. Students work together to accomplish a shared task. This opens up talking opportunities for English language learners, shy students, students with special needs, etc. With the teacher there, academic language is everywhere within reach of every student. Another plus is the connection to math. This connection is a real world one. For example, planning a meal from this produce involves measurements. Cooking involves proportions of vegetables and condiments. Students must also determine how to provide food for a given number of guests.
Last, but not least, is the fun element:)
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
Please follow us on FACEBOOK at ELL TEACHER PROS and Twitter @ell_teacherpros
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Project Based Learning in FIRST GRADE Lays the Foundation for University Success Down the Road:)
Anyone who still doubts the effectiveness of implementing Common Core Standards in classrooms across the nation has not really paid much attention to how it has revolutionized instructional delivery in all grades. CCSS attaches meaning to any lesson since it opens the door to real world application at every turn, in every subject area, and at every grade level.
An example of this revolutionary thinking is quite apparent in this video clip of first graders exploring topics of interest to them through the guidance of the teacher. As the children present her with various animals they would like to study in depth in their classroom, she gently guides them to more practical choices without outright dismissal of their ideas. This approach is one of validation of their thoughts and recognition of their efforts. PROJECT BASED LEARNING IN FIRST GRADE
After the worm project, the door opens up to other interests of the students. One of them relates to an illness a fellow student in their class suffers from-multiple sclerosis. As they do the research on the disease, they explore avenues of discovery that would never have been approached in the traditional textbook. It is incredible to see students so young taking on topics far beyond their typical first grade curriculum.
Further their use of technology is incredible. This is what teachers at all grade levels are trying to implement. Students of the 21st century are already familiar with many forms of technology, but often times, schools don't have many tech tools due to budget constraints. This must change if American students are to be prepared to enter the global workforce as equals.
I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did. Wow! If they keep this up, they will all the major universities knocking on their door to admit them by the time they are in their junior year of high school:)
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
P.S. Be sure to sign up for our November Newsletter at ELL TEACHER PROS. It will cover politics:)
Acer A200 Iconia Tablet, 16 GB, Titanium Gray XE.H8QPN.001 (Google Affiliate Ad)
An example of this revolutionary thinking is quite apparent in this video clip of first graders exploring topics of interest to them through the guidance of the teacher. As the children present her with various animals they would like to study in depth in their classroom, she gently guides them to more practical choices without outright dismissal of their ideas. This approach is one of validation of their thoughts and recognition of their efforts. PROJECT BASED LEARNING IN FIRST GRADE
After the worm project, the door opens up to other interests of the students. One of them relates to an illness a fellow student in their class suffers from-multiple sclerosis. As they do the research on the disease, they explore avenues of discovery that would never have been approached in the traditional textbook. It is incredible to see students so young taking on topics far beyond their typical first grade curriculum.
Further their use of technology is incredible. This is what teachers at all grade levels are trying to implement. Students of the 21st century are already familiar with many forms of technology, but often times, schools don't have many tech tools due to budget constraints. This must change if American students are to be prepared to enter the global workforce as equals.
I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did. Wow! If they keep this up, they will all the major universities knocking on their door to admit them by the time they are in their junior year of high school:)
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
P.S. Be sure to sign up for our November Newsletter at ELL TEACHER PROS. It will cover politics:)
Acer A200 Iconia Tablet, 16 GB, Titanium Gray XE.H8QPN.001 (Google Affiliate Ad)
Saturday, September 15, 2012
Collaborative Student Digital Presentations--Perfect Fit for Common Core Assessments
In this day and age, the vast majority of students from elementary school and up are very comfortable with technology. In fact, it is not too unusual for some students to feel more comfortable with using it than their teachers.
So how can this knowledge on the student's part be used in the classroom to enhance learning? Students might create movies on a specific project assignment. If they are studying the American Civil War, they might make a "documentary" where they "interview" soldiers from both sides, runaway slaves, abolitionists, etc. If they are studying English literature, they might develop a "movie trailer" for movie based on the assigned novel. If studying ecology, they might create a presentation packed with facts and documents to deliver a winning sales pitch for a company to buy their "product." If studying mathematics, they could use math to design a new type of shopping mall or energy efficient home in 2050. In any discipline, have students teach a section of a lesson. I have done this in reviewing for tests and found students quite thorough in preparing their fellow classmates for the formal assessment. The list is endless.
Activities such as these have the potential to involve all students. This means that ELLs will be able to become full participants in the learning process and, in doing so, continue to develop their use of English as well as their understanding of the content. Classwork of this nature uses the text as foundation or jump-off point from which imagination and application take over with ease. Once the concepts of the lesson are tied to the real world for students, all students, they will always remember them---every teacher's hope and dream.
COLLABORATIVE LEARNING IN THE TECH CLASSROOM In this classroom video set in Hayward, California, educator Kate Summers has her students teach each other chemistry concepts using Google features such as Google docs (single documents can have multiple contributors at any time of the day or night), Google excel, Google power point, etc. Along with the tech side of the assignment, students had to also create various note-taking worksheets for their peers to use in watching and listening to presentations.
Bring into your class the tech tools your students already know how to use and you will be amazed at what they do to demonstrate their grasp of the lesson:)
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
Acer A200 Iconia Tablet, 16 GB, Titanium Gray XE.H8QPN.001 (Google Affiliate Ad)
Apple MacBook Air 1.7GHz Intel Core i5 Notebook Computer - MD223LL/A (Google Affiliate Ad)
So how can this knowledge on the student's part be used in the classroom to enhance learning? Students might create movies on a specific project assignment. If they are studying the American Civil War, they might make a "documentary" where they "interview" soldiers from both sides, runaway slaves, abolitionists, etc. If they are studying English literature, they might develop a "movie trailer" for movie based on the assigned novel. If studying ecology, they might create a presentation packed with facts and documents to deliver a winning sales pitch for a company to buy their "product." If studying mathematics, they could use math to design a new type of shopping mall or energy efficient home in 2050. In any discipline, have students teach a section of a lesson. I have done this in reviewing for tests and found students quite thorough in preparing their fellow classmates for the formal assessment. The list is endless.
Activities such as these have the potential to involve all students. This means that ELLs will be able to become full participants in the learning process and, in doing so, continue to develop their use of English as well as their understanding of the content. Classwork of this nature uses the text as foundation or jump-off point from which imagination and application take over with ease. Once the concepts of the lesson are tied to the real world for students, all students, they will always remember them---every teacher's hope and dream.
COLLABORATIVE LEARNING IN THE TECH CLASSROOM In this classroom video set in Hayward, California, educator Kate Summers has her students teach each other chemistry concepts using Google features such as Google docs (single documents can have multiple contributors at any time of the day or night), Google excel, Google power point, etc. Along with the tech side of the assignment, students had to also create various note-taking worksheets for their peers to use in watching and listening to presentations.
Bring into your class the tech tools your students already know how to use and you will be amazed at what they do to demonstrate their grasp of the lesson:)
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
Acer A200 Iconia Tablet, 16 GB, Titanium Gray XE.H8QPN.001 (Google Affiliate Ad)
Apple MacBook Air 1.7GHz Intel Core i5 Notebook Computer - MD223LL/A (Google Affiliate Ad)
Monday, September 3, 2012
DEMYSTIFY MATH PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESSES FOR STUDENTS
For many students, math classes consist of textbook activities and regular assessments. Due to the pressures of state assessments, high school exit exams, PSAT, SAT, etc., teachers are under a great deal of pressure to stick with the text. This type of instructional delivery will be changing over the next two years in that now students will be able to SEE how, for example, quadratic equations are used in the real world outside of the math class. Relevance will be a major component of the new math class. Teachers might be able to share with kids what they really love about math, what inspired them to pursue studies here and not in another discipline, etc. Hopefully their love of the subject will catch fire in their classrooms:)
So, how does a teacher bring in project based learning projects into a math class? Here are some good examples to start with: statistics, geometry, algebra, and trigonometry. PROJECT-students are to design a shopping mall. Notice that for each activity, students are going from known (ex. the structure of a shopping mall) to the unknown (how to use prior knowledge with newly acquired math tools to construct a totally new version of a mall). They will be taking on roles of architects who must design different store sizes to accommodate the needs of prospective merchants, restrooms that allow for minimal care, landscaping within the mall for customers to sit and relax in, an original layout that will draw shoppers, etc. Math is naturally woven throughout the project. Since this would be a team effort, each member in the small group could focus on one component of the mall with the understanding that individuals must report out to the group and reach a consensus on the final design. Students should keep detailed notes on their results and how they arrived at their project contributions. (ELLs especially would benefit from this since they would be actively acquiring academic vocabulary within context.) Such skills would easily transfer to the global workforce these students will be a part of when they finish their formal studies. See the link for some additional ideas.PROJECT BASED LEARNING ACTIVITIES IN MATH CLASSROOMS
One suggestion I would offer is that if this approach is new, start out small. Make notes on what worked and what didn't. Move on to next project and keep a little journal on how it worked out. Hang in there. I guarantee that students will never forget the experience. Who knows? There may be some future astronauts, astronomers, architects, engineers, etc. in the class.
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
Lenovo G570 Notebook 4334DBU (Google Affiliate Ad)
Acer A200 Iconia Tablet, 16 GB, Titanium Gray XE.H8QPN.001 (Google Affiliate Ad)
So, how does a teacher bring in project based learning projects into a math class? Here are some good examples to start with: statistics, geometry, algebra, and trigonometry. PROJECT-students are to design a shopping mall. Notice that for each activity, students are going from known (ex. the structure of a shopping mall) to the unknown (how to use prior knowledge with newly acquired math tools to construct a totally new version of a mall). They will be taking on roles of architects who must design different store sizes to accommodate the needs of prospective merchants, restrooms that allow for minimal care, landscaping within the mall for customers to sit and relax in, an original layout that will draw shoppers, etc. Math is naturally woven throughout the project. Since this would be a team effort, each member in the small group could focus on one component of the mall with the understanding that individuals must report out to the group and reach a consensus on the final design. Students should keep detailed notes on their results and how they arrived at their project contributions. (ELLs especially would benefit from this since they would be actively acquiring academic vocabulary within context.) Such skills would easily transfer to the global workforce these students will be a part of when they finish their formal studies. See the link for some additional ideas.PROJECT BASED LEARNING ACTIVITIES IN MATH CLASSROOMS
One suggestion I would offer is that if this approach is new, start out small. Make notes on what worked and what didn't. Move on to next project and keep a little journal on how it worked out. Hang in there. I guarantee that students will never forget the experience. Who knows? There may be some future astronauts, astronomers, architects, engineers, etc. in the class.
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
Lenovo G570 Notebook 4334DBU (Google Affiliate Ad)
Acer A200 Iconia Tablet, 16 GB, Titanium Gray XE.H8QPN.001 (Google Affiliate Ad)
Friday, August 31, 2012
Powerful Uses of Cooperative Learning in ANY Classroom With ANY Student
As Common Core standards begin to surface in classrooms across the country, students will be faced with more demanding assignments covering much more technical readings. Project based learning (PBL) will be a focus in many classrooms at all grade levels.
How will PBL be handled in the classroom? PBL will employ many of the approaches of cooperative learning. In PBL, cooperative learning groups will be very focused on accomplishing an assigned task. ELLs will be in all mainstream classes so teachers will need to make sure that support is built into groups with these students. What face could this support take? Visual notes, students with same personality types working as a team, some bilingual academically successful student team members, charts and posters in every corner of the room for the ELLs to reference as needed in completing their tasks within the group, regular monitoring/facilitating of the teacher to support as needed, video clips, graphic organizers, mind maps, etc.
How long should PBL segments last? Typically, no more that 10-12 minutes on average. When students know that there is a time limit, they tend to stay focused longer. This determination is evident in how the group, as a team, makes decisions based on feedback from each member of the group. Further, since students know that each one is accountable for being able to share with the class what their group accomplished, every student works on being able to share their group's results.
UNC COOPERATIVE LEARNING Here is an excellent description of cooperative learning activities. With accessible language all around the ELL, s/he will be able to actively participate in an PBL activity successfully.
BEST PRACTICES This site offers some suggestions to prepare ELLs to do well in cooperative group activities. The videos are very effective.
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
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How will PBL be handled in the classroom? PBL will employ many of the approaches of cooperative learning. In PBL, cooperative learning groups will be very focused on accomplishing an assigned task. ELLs will be in all mainstream classes so teachers will need to make sure that support is built into groups with these students. What face could this support take? Visual notes, students with same personality types working as a team, some bilingual academically successful student team members, charts and posters in every corner of the room for the ELLs to reference as needed in completing their tasks within the group, regular monitoring/facilitating of the teacher to support as needed, video clips, graphic organizers, mind maps, etc.
How long should PBL segments last? Typically, no more that 10-12 minutes on average. When students know that there is a time limit, they tend to stay focused longer. This determination is evident in how the group, as a team, makes decisions based on feedback from each member of the group. Further, since students know that each one is accountable for being able to share with the class what their group accomplished, every student works on being able to share their group's results.
UNC COOPERATIVE LEARNING Here is an excellent description of cooperative learning activities. With accessible language all around the ELL, s/he will be able to actively participate in an PBL activity successfully.
BEST PRACTICES This site offers some suggestions to prepare ELLs to do well in cooperative group activities. The videos are very effective.
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
Boardwalk Butcher Paper, 15 x 900', White (Google Affiliate Ad)
Crayola Washable Pip-Squeaks Markers, 64-Count (Google Affiliate Ad)
Thursday, July 26, 2012
PROJECT BASED LEARNING-Crystal Clear Explanation AND Great Classroom Application:)
Project based learning dovetails easily with the goals of the common core standards. PBL presents a real world situation/problem in a given subject area to students to solve as a team. This type of scenario is one that offers an ELL multiple opportunities to develop English as s/he takes on her/his assigned roles to complete her/his specific assignment within the group. ELLs will need to negotiate meaning so that they can be fully productive participants. This will entail developing a working grasp of the academic vocabulary needed to be able to address the problem, find the solution, or solve the problem as a member of the team.
PROJECT BASED LEARNING This link provides students with a quick overview of what PBL is and how it applies to the real world. The contrasts drawn between it and traditional education do have some kernels of truth in them. Students will definitely be amused and teachers will have reason to pause and wonder how they could weave in more PBL with the common core. ELLs will have word walls, concept maps, model activities to refer to, group partners, and notes so they will have solid insight to add to their group's discussion. When the activity is done correctly, no child is left out of the process. Teachers are then free to navigate from group to group to assist when or if needed. Think of it as a win-win for both teacher and students:) Done over time, ELLs will see their mastery of academic English grow and with it the chances of attending college or pursuing a business career grow.
JET SETTER PACK PBL MATH LESSON-- Students use all sorts of math as they promote their city to tourists in this video. The assignment is clearly explained. Though not shown here, it is evident by the students' performance that the teacher has modeled what it is that the students must do. The "I DO" phase of preparing students to do the task is a must especially for the ELLs. During this stage, the students observe and ask questions as needed. Then there must have been an activity where the class worked as a team to "try out the assignment." Call it the "WE DO" phase. Here the ELL can follow along with her/his elbow partner to make sure that s/he follows the assignment. Last, there is what you will see in the video--the "YOU DO" phase. At this phase, the teams start on the task (with teacher monitoring regularly). As you can well imagine, the ELL is poised to do well since the teacher spent time setting the students up to be successful with the project!
Common core will enable all content teachers to include regular productive PBL assignments throughout the school year. This type of classwork will most definitely prepare them to enter college or the world of business with ease:)
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
P.S. Don't forget to sign up for our back to school August 1st newsletter by July 31st. We will have lots of great free sites for teachers to use in their lessons including a great facebook-like app that is safe for schools to use with students and parents!
PROJECT BASED LEARNING This link provides students with a quick overview of what PBL is and how it applies to the real world. The contrasts drawn between it and traditional education do have some kernels of truth in them. Students will definitely be amused and teachers will have reason to pause and wonder how they could weave in more PBL with the common core. ELLs will have word walls, concept maps, model activities to refer to, group partners, and notes so they will have solid insight to add to their group's discussion. When the activity is done correctly, no child is left out of the process. Teachers are then free to navigate from group to group to assist when or if needed. Think of it as a win-win for both teacher and students:) Done over time, ELLs will see their mastery of academic English grow and with it the chances of attending college or pursuing a business career grow.
JET SETTER PACK PBL MATH LESSON-- Students use all sorts of math as they promote their city to tourists in this video. The assignment is clearly explained. Though not shown here, it is evident by the students' performance that the teacher has modeled what it is that the students must do. The "I DO" phase of preparing students to do the task is a must especially for the ELLs. During this stage, the students observe and ask questions as needed. Then there must have been an activity where the class worked as a team to "try out the assignment." Call it the "WE DO" phase. Here the ELL can follow along with her/his elbow partner to make sure that s/he follows the assignment. Last, there is what you will see in the video--the "YOU DO" phase. At this phase, the teams start on the task (with teacher monitoring regularly). As you can well imagine, the ELL is poised to do well since the teacher spent time setting the students up to be successful with the project!
Common core will enable all content teachers to include regular productive PBL assignments throughout the school year. This type of classwork will most definitely prepare them to enter college or the world of business with ease:)
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
P.S. Don't forget to sign up for our back to school August 1st newsletter by July 31st. We will have lots of great free sites for teachers to use in their lessons including a great facebook-like app that is safe for schools to use with students and parents!
Friday, July 20, 2012
Project Based Learning-Integral Part of Common Core Standards!
With ELLs soon to be fully integrated into mainstream content classes, teachers will be searching for creative productive strategies to engage all students in ways that not only provide access to all for content, but also develop English language skills for ELLs.
So how is a teacher to meet demanding needs on the part of the students? Often times, cooperative learning has been one vehicle to do this. In cooperative learning, small teams of learners work together to complete a task with each child being held accountable for the responsibilities of that role. For example, the "recorder" would keep a record of all key notes generated by the group in doing their assignment. For ELLs, this is a non-threatening learning environment. Teachers facilitate in the instruction to clarify points or concepts as needed. (For more on cooperative learning, see TOP TEN posts of all time in the blog).
With common core standards, teachers will be challenging students to do more independently. Cooperative learning activities can start students off in the instruction cycle, but project based learning inspires students of all ages to do more and enjoy the process along the way. In PBL teams, students solve problems of interest to them. Think about second graders working on the pros and cons of the stock market, high school students designing a high school of 2050, some students design their own projects on topics that interest them, etc.
In PBL settings, ELLs would need support with the academic language and project goals. Word walls or concept maps (for WORD WALLS and CONCEPT MAPS search within this blog for posts on them both) could be designed by students so that anyone who needed a quick review of the concept could just go up to the wall and find the answer needed. ELLs would also need the academic language structure to talk to their peers. Academic sentence frames could help (even EOs would benefit from them). In solving the problem students decide to address, the ELL would be actively involved in sharing his/her thoughts with scaffolding devices such as graphic organizers, sentence starters, visuals, notes, etc. As with cooperative learning, the teacher would facilitate as needed as well as monitor ELL progress in language. PROJECT BASED LEARNING
PBL will prepare students to enter the 21st century work force. The global community needs team players to solve world problems. Our ELLs might even have an advantage here in that they will be proficient in more than one language:)
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
Boardwalk BWK BUTCH3640900 Butcher Paper Roll 36 in. x 900' - White
Crayola Original Markers - Broad Line, Classic Colors, 10 ct.
So how is a teacher to meet demanding needs on the part of the students? Often times, cooperative learning has been one vehicle to do this. In cooperative learning, small teams of learners work together to complete a task with each child being held accountable for the responsibilities of that role. For example, the "recorder" would keep a record of all key notes generated by the group in doing their assignment. For ELLs, this is a non-threatening learning environment. Teachers facilitate in the instruction to clarify points or concepts as needed. (For more on cooperative learning, see TOP TEN posts of all time in the blog).
With common core standards, teachers will be challenging students to do more independently. Cooperative learning activities can start students off in the instruction cycle, but project based learning inspires students of all ages to do more and enjoy the process along the way. In PBL teams, students solve problems of interest to them. Think about second graders working on the pros and cons of the stock market, high school students designing a high school of 2050, some students design their own projects on topics that interest them, etc.
In PBL settings, ELLs would need support with the academic language and project goals. Word walls or concept maps (for WORD WALLS and CONCEPT MAPS search within this blog for posts on them both) could be designed by students so that anyone who needed a quick review of the concept could just go up to the wall and find the answer needed. ELLs would also need the academic language structure to talk to their peers. Academic sentence frames could help (even EOs would benefit from them). In solving the problem students decide to address, the ELL would be actively involved in sharing his/her thoughts with scaffolding devices such as graphic organizers, sentence starters, visuals, notes, etc. As with cooperative learning, the teacher would facilitate as needed as well as monitor ELL progress in language. PROJECT BASED LEARNING
PBL will prepare students to enter the 21st century work force. The global community needs team players to solve world problems. Our ELLs might even have an advantage here in that they will be proficient in more than one language:)
Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
Boardwalk BWK BUTCH3640900 Butcher Paper Roll 36 in. x 900' - White
Crayola Original Markers - Broad Line, Classic Colors, 10 ct.
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