Great Tool For Virtual Projects--PADLET!!!

Here is a free new exciting instructional tool which will permit more originality on the part of both teachers and students than power points currently do.  This is not to say that power points are not viable instructional supports for teaching anymore, but rather that there are newer, more creative, more engaging ones on the market.

PADLET offers a new way for students to demonstrate understanding of a topic.  Further, it is very user friendly so even novices can create almost immediately with minimal assistance from teacher or fellow students.  Think of this tool as being a huge wall on which students lay out their ideas, visuals, videos, etc. for everyone to see on a class website.  Team projects become more animated when students plan out their boards with partners.  Changes or adjustments can easily be accomplished with just a few clicks so students are not wasting time worrying about the revision or editing process since everything is virtual and easy to reorder or rearrange or redo with minimal physical effort.  Here is one example of a gallery project.  Any subject teacher could use this feature with students.  Some teacher uses are also addressed here and kids love the interaction they develop.

For a very detailed view of the features of this tool, go to Mr. Byrne's video on using PADLET.

Have fun with it!

Denise
ELL TEACHER PROS
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HOW TO EFFECTIVELY GUIDE STUDENTS IN THE USE OF PINTEREST FOR THE CLASSROOM

With students of varying levels of English proficiency in most classrooms of the US, teachers are regularly looking for alternate ways for students to demonstrate understanding of subject matter.  Often times, traditional routes are taken such as posters, projects, writing, etc. which don't always fully reveal what ELLs especially know and how well.  Since group work is the usual venue for such activities, teachers are not often completely sure on how much the ELL actually knows since he is working within a more proficient group in English.  In such class settings, group "leaders" assign a simpler task to the ELL such as "artist."  Though talking does occur, the ELL does not often get much practice in developing academic skills in  reading, writing, and conducting research.  So, what is another option available for such students to provide proof positive to the teacher that they do fully grasp the key concepts of the lesson?

PINTEREST IN EDUCATION is a very creative and thoughtful tool to meet the bill.  The home site-PINTEREST-provides hundreds of visuals in over 30 categories, but this full version might overwhelm students.  In addition, materials may be added to boards ("pinned" or "repinned" if taken from another's board).  In the first  link, Tina Wahlert (an educational consultant), has compiled some helpful hints on how to properly work within the site (including how to spot spam).   Teachers may wish to spend some time studying the site on their own first.  With this approach, they will be able to see the ease how BOARDS are created and how to sort images (pictures, text, charts, articles, etc.) according topic. With each of the boards Ma. Wahlert has posted  links to the subject matter of the visual.  As with anything being tried for the first time, teachers must spend some time exploring the site and going through the same process they might eventually put their students through.

Teachers could then try building a board as a class (modeling).  The next step would be to have ELLs work with partners to create another one on a topic of interest to them (sports, books, movies, etc.).  Once teacher confidence in student ability to create a board is established, a teacher could have students (ELLs and others) develop subject boards as formal assessments on assigned subject matter.  So if a student is studying the water cycle, s/he could demonstrate his knowledge of the topic through pictures in the correct sequence along with URLs that add additional insight.  Though this would not be a lengthy report,  it would nonetheless confirm for the teacher that the ELL understands key concepts and content vocabulary.   ELLs would then have the grades for their work based on content and not on knowledge of English grammar (though important, it should not be the sole basis of the grade).

This is just one of many non-traditional assessment ideas available for teachers.  Students will definitely enjoy it since it taps creativity in a fun way.

Denise

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SOLID STRATEGIES TO DEVELOP ACADEMIC VOCABULARY FOR LONG-TERM ELLS AND STRUGGLING ENGLISH ONLY STUDENTS

Students will start back to school shortly and among them will be many academically struggling students.  With Common Core Standards being rolled out this year in many parts of the country, students will be undertaking tasks far more academically challenging than those in the past.  The need to do more independent work will be new to many of them.  Teamwork will also be a focus.  Here the group is confronted with a problem that they must solve as a team.  Each member of the group contributes possible solutions to the problem along with evidence to back up their ideas.  This is the goal of CCSS--- to prepare our students to succeed in life beyond high school be it in the global workforce or in college. 

In doing research or following academic lectures in content classes, students will encounter academic vocabulary that will be totally unfamiliar to them.  Of course, developing techniques to share with students to overcome this obstacle will fall on their teachers:)  There are specific strategies which address this issue with relative ease.  In fact, most teachers are familiar with some if not most of them. 

Based on the article STRATEGIES FOR VOCABULARY DEVELOPMENT FOR ELLS AND STRUGGLING STUDENTS and my own experience in teaching such students, the following approaches DO NOT WORK:

1.  Use the dictionary to find the meaning.  Copying down the definition is pointless.  No connection is  being made between the word and the student's background knowledge.
2.  Write a sentence using the word in it.  If this is done before the meaning of the word (within context) is made clear, it is not effective.
3.  Take note of the context in which the word is found.  This approach only really works when a student brings background knowledge to the reading passage in which the word is found.  Since the context is totally unfamiliar, such an activity would serve little benefit to the student.
4.  Memorize the definitions.  Students are highly unlikely to remember word lists and definitions.  Think back to the vocabulary tests you took in school.  The isolated words had no connection to anything studied.  You memorized them for the test and that was all.

What DOES work?
1.  Tie new vocabulary to what students already know.  Activate prior knowledge and help students make connections to it.
2.  Use the new words repeatedly in different formats so that students can eventually internalize the definitions. 
3.  Provide many opportunities for the students to use the new words in reading, writing, and academic discussions.  By taking this approach, teachers are broadening their academic vocabulary bases.  As this base grows,  it leads to better writing and easier access to demanding reading assignments.
4.  Bring in word parts in context.  The more word parts (affixes) students know, the broader their vocabulary becomes.
5.  Use dictionaries aimed at second language learners.  Longman, Cengage Learning, and Oxford have excellent dictionaries for ELLs (beginning through advanced).  These dictionaries have clear examples, CDs, and workbooks.  Struggling native speakers would benefit from them also.
6.  Identify the MUST-KNOW words and teach those.  If teaching a science class, narrow down the vocabulary to 7-10 absolutes a week.  The other vocabulary can be talked through by the teacher when they are encountered.
7.  Point out antonyms, synonyms, examples and non-examples when teaching vocabulary.  In doing so, students will be able to establish more connections between known and new.

This article has even more on this topic.  The ones above I have used and with success:)

Denise


ELL TEACHER PROS