ELLs Need to Learn HOW to Use Context Clues for Word Meanings in Informational Text

With class sizes of 30+, teachers sometimes have students go to dictionaries to locate meanings of unfamiliar vocabulary.  Though a dictionary does serve a purpose from time to time in developing vocabulary, it should never really be the first place a student turns to when s/he doesn't know what a word means.  Why?  Frequently, students are presented with several definitions for one word.  Not all the definitions equally fit the bill so to speak.  In fact, many English speakers are confused on which choice is correct and why so imagine what an English language learner must feel trying to process all this information in foreign language.

Good readers in any language use context to arrive at a workable definition of unknown words.  Will such results be a detailed as those found in the dictionary?  Probably not, but they will be close enough to continue reading with understanding.  After all, proficient readers build their vocabulary base this way all the time, and by doing so, they maintain their focus in doing their reading.  Such readers turn to a dictionary when they can't follow the context (not a frequent occurrence however). 

What about having students memorize random vocabulary words with the belief that such a practice leads to a richer deeper vocabulary base?  This process is the least successful.  Memorizing words outside of context is rarely, if ever, retained because this is not how good readers develop word knowledge.  Instead, teachers need to model how to use context clues to arrive at a working definition.  This is skill that will travel with them to university or to the workforce.  It is effective and efficient.

Below are three videos on how to teach this skill. 

TEACHING CONTEXT CLUES  This one seems to be aimed at students at the elementary school level.

HOW TO BE A WORD DETECTIVE  Here, nonsense words are the ones students work with in trying to following a story.  Dictionaries won't help here since the "words" are not real.  This is great because students can't run to the dictionary.  This may be aimed at middle school learners.

USING CONTEXT CLUES TO ARRIVE AT WORD CHOICE  Here, an older student audience is the target.  The techniques provided are ones that assist students in high stakes testing, reading informational text, reading newspapers, reading anything.

Such skills will support students in tackling the new common core standards:)

Denise

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Practical Approaches to Teaching the Reading Skill of Making Inferences

With Common Core, students will need to learn how to make inferences in reading informational texts.  This key academic skill is one that is a must in achieving academic success in school at all grade levels.  It is one of the most important reading skills that determines success or failure in the university, and institutions of higher learning expect that all students come prepared to use that skill (among others) to interact independently with informational text. 

Common Core Standards in all content areas lay the groundwork in transforming students into independent life long learners--learners who will have the skills to find resources and use them to solve real world problems.  To develop this major skill, students must learn how to pull meaning from text on their own.  This takes time and lots of practice.  Here the teacher is the guide who through modeling, using lots of meaningful checks for understanding, including multiple project based learning activities, etc. sets students up to carefully nurture and hone that skill up to that point where teacher guidance is needed less and less.

MAKING INFERENCES offers an insightful look at some approaches to aid students in reading between the lines.  With regular practice where the teacher gradually releases control to students to practice this skill with partners, small groups, and eventually on their own, students perfect the skill and therefore experience increased success in making sense of informational text material with less and less teacher support.  This sight offers a look at activities that demonstrate how to hone this skill.  Tie the skill to what they already know and do--make inferences all the time.  One example from the link is that if a student enters a class with a wet umbrella, other students can safely assume that it is raining outside.  Relate the new to the known.  With this background, proceed to applying this art to text material using the graphic organizer in the clip, one of your own, or ONE FROM FREEOLOGY.

If you have other approaches to teaching this skill, please share it with me and I will post it.  After all, teachers have a reputation for working together to support students:)

Denise

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Happy New Year! How About a Quick Look at 2012 Via Google?

What is the most common writing or conversation topic teachers pose to students after their winter break?  "What did you do over the break?"  With few exceptions, students say that they just stayed home and played games/watched movies.  It is a rare occasion where a student relishes the opportunity to fully elaborate on an exciting fun-filled winter break to his fellow classmates and the teacher. So what about a different approach to getting students back into school mode?  :)

How about looking at having the class review the big events of 2012 and then picking one event to elaborate on with partners or in small groups?  No writing would be used here.  Students would be discussing what they remember of the event and then sharing their memories with the class.  One way to approach this might be through YOUTUBE.  GOOGLE LOOKS BACK OVER 2012 offers some clips of major events of the past year but certainly not all of them.  The Google clip could be a jump off point that could open the "door" to quite a lively discussion.  In fact, it can be done in any subject area:  physics (free fall to earth at the speed of sound), world history or current events (toppling governments-Arab spring), physical education (Olympics--London), etc.  When students can connect to the topic-any topic, they are more than willing to fully participate in class activities.

How does this approach-regardless of the content-set ELLs up to experience success in school?  It builds background knowledge.  This "preview" sets them up to follow the upcoming lesson.  Also, if the student has no background knowledge to pull from, body language will be a glaring signal to the teacher to assist him/her in creating that crucial understanding before the lesson is entered into.

I wish you all a very happy healthy New Year!  May 2013 live up to your hopes and dreams:)

Denise

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Start of New Year Is Perfect Time To Offer Hope To Struggling Students

With the start of any new year comes the hope of many students that they will do better academically this time around.  Hope without some new ideas on what constitutes quality "homework" and what doesn't generally leads to repeated failure. 

What about tying student interest to the types of assignments teachers assign?  This might lead to students actually not only completing the homework, but also enjoying the experience.  An even more exciting approach on the teacher's part might be to allow students to devise their own ideas of homework with the understanding that it must demonstrate to the teacher that they understood the classwork.

How might this approach actually appear in a classroom?  EFFECTIVE HOMEWORK PRACTICES offers some very practical and easy to implement ideas on boosting self-confidence of academically struggling students (especially English language learners) in doing homework. 

For example, using differentiation in assignments would motivate more students to actually do homework.  The theme of the assignment would be the same (aka grade level content), but the ways the students can demonstrate their understanding of it will vary.  Take for example a biology class with long term English language learners.  Though students are free to answer questions from the text, all students would be encouraged to think of other ways to show that they grasp the content. 

If studying plant cells, students could draw and label all key parts and then write a paragraph on how all the parts work together.  For others, what about a comic strip that takes the reader through the life of a plant cell?  For ELLs, they would only need to add key content vocabulary to explain how the plant survives. 

Another option?  How about students videotaping an "interview" with a scientist (a student) lecturing on plant cells?  A group of 4 or so students would create the set, dialogue, questions, slides/charts, and closed captioning using the language of the ELL.

What about having students create test questions on the subject with answers?  The questions could be used in a jeopardy game where small groups (4) compete for prizes.

In each of the above scenarios, students are taking the knowledge acquired in class and demonstrating their understanding of it ways that work for them.  Students may even have ideas of their own to show teachers that they grasp the concepts and teachers should allow them to follow through on their ideas as homework.  Students with poor track records in grades might actually re-evaluate their chances for passing the class since they will be able to produce their own idea of homework which clearly shows understanding. 

Involve students in designing homework assignments and teachers should see a big increase in the number of students who complete them:)

Denise

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Teacher Advice On How To Devise Quality Homework Assignments

Here is a follow up on the last post on creating relevant homework assignments.  With another week or two of vacation time to go, there is time to reflect on ways to motivate students to want to do homework with the start of the new year:)

If teachers find practical applications of their lessons outside the classroom, they demonstrate to students that what they are learning does serve a purpose in their lives.  Further, such assignments need only take no more than 15 or so minutes.  If they go beyond that time frame, they will be overwhelming.  Imagine 6 separate homework assignments for 6 classes.  Now imagine 1 hour more or less for each.  This will cause students to "prioritize" in selecting those 1 or 2 assignments that they think they can manage in that time frame and not attempt any of the remaining ones. 

So after more realistic time frames, what else should be implemented to excite (not a typo here) students to truly want to complete their assigned tasks?  Tie homework to their lives.  As a personal example with my own two children when they were young, I would tie percentages to shopping.  They had their allowance and wanted to stretch it so they tied percentages to discounts.  Twenty-five percent discount on the dollar meant more money in their pockets.  In such a simple activity, they became more consumer savvy shoppers and honed their math skills.  As a classroom English/ELD teacher, I made every effort to tie all classwork from the day's lessons to areas of interest for them (a huge motivator).  When we were studying To Kill a Mockingbird, we looked at how discrimination is still an issue in their lives and how to fight it.  When studying Brave New World, they wanted to explore cloning so we looked at how human cloning might be received by different segments of society (religions, military, scientists, clones themselves, and people who couldn't have children on their own).  This lead to student-generated research based presentations on their chosen group's viewpoints on cloning.  The list goes on and on when teachers involve students in the assignments.  This is the buy-in for them and inspires them to do the assignments that they generated.  Time frames were determined by both the students and myself with ongoing monitoring by me (regular checks for progress).

TEACHER RESOURCES ON QUALITY HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS --supplies more information on how to tweak assignments to generate student buy-in.  Tie homework to their interests and it will be completed.  Just assign more questions from the text and the work will most likely not be done by the majority (especially if they are ELLs). 

MORE SAMPLES OF QUALITY HOMEWORK ASSIGNMENTS---offers more examples of original homework ideas for students.

Denise

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