Jayne Bognar An Artistic Approach To Teaching Writing To El Ls

An Artistic Approach to Teaching Writing to ELL’s

By Jayne Bognar, Master of Special EducationIn fulfillment of final project for PBS TeacherLine Online Course: RDLA 383: Supporting ELLs: Writing in Grades PreK-3

Strategies to be Discussed

Use of Culture

Use of Poetry

Use of Mentor Texts

Use of Music

Essential Questions:

Supporting ELL’s: Writing in Grades

PreK-3:

“What classroom practices best promote ELL’s writing development>

My essential questions:

1. Can the use of mentor texts benefit the writing development of ELL students?

2. Can the “universal” language of music be used to develop writing skills in ELL students?

Description of Student Population

Grade 33 studentsNative Language:

Spanish2 can write in

native language.“I have come to a frightening

conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous.” –Dr. Haim G. Ginott

Use of Culture“The good teacher is able to look at diverse learners and see their areas of need, but the teacher who is culturally responsive also sees their areas of strength.” –Jane Yedlin

Rationale: Children who come from homes whose customs and cultures do not reflect those of the school community often feel isloated and alienated at school. (Educating English Language Learners: Implementing Instructional Practices, 2007)

Strategy:Dialogue Journals:Authentic opportunity to write.Write about what is being learned.Teacher encourages student to discuss his/her culture and how it relates to the learning.Student becomes comfortable with sharing in writing.Teacher models proper grammatics in response, rather than in student’s writing.

Use of Culture

Assessment and how it informs instruction:

Although the primary goal of dialogue journals is communication, the teacher can assess the student’s progress and challenges.

Standard:

NCTE/IRA Standards:

Standard 5: Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

Use of Poetry

Rationale:Use of poetry can ease students into writing by providing a model and template. “Writing poetry is a great exercise for English Language Learners. It gives them a chance to experiment with language and vocabulary, and to freely share their ideas without the confines of perfect grammar and structure.” (Writing Poetry with English Language Learners by Kristina Robertson, 2009)

Use of Cinquain A cinquain offers great

flexibility in working with ELL students of a variety of language levels.

Basic formula is:One NounTwo AdjectivesThree Gerunds (words ending in –ing.)A short sentence.A one word summary.

Teacher can modify as needed.

Use of Poetry

Assessment and how it informs instruction:

Student demonstrates understanding of nouns, adjectives, gerunds (words +ing).

Standards:

-NCTE/IRA Standards

Standard 9: Students develop an understanding of and respect for diversity in language use, patterns, and dialects across cultures, ethnic groups, geographic regions, and social roles.

Use of Mentor Texts

Rationale:

Students can utilize a published piece of writing whose idea, structure, or writing craft can be used to help inspire students to write their own pieces.

Strategy:

Based on type of convention, genre, etc. that is being taught, teacher utilizes a mentor text to guide students in their writing.

Web Resource:http://writingfix.com/about_us/books.htm#going_deep

-Includes a wide variety of mentor texts as well as links to lesson plan ideas.

Use of Mentor Texts

Assessment and how it informs instruction.

These pieces of writing can be added to a student’s portfolio, thus giving the teacher and student the opportunity to assess the student’s learning over time.

Standard:-NCTE/IRA Standards:

Standard 5: Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write, such as conventions and details through the use of mentored texts.

Use of Music

Rationale:Music can be used as a tool for memorization and learning new information.“The introduction of music provides a light-hearted and fun way to interact with another language and culture.” (Music and Language Learning by Kristina Robertson, 2006)

Strategy:3 Ways to utilize music:-Playing classical music to calm students while they write.-To expand vocabulary, such as using adjectives to describe a song.-Using music to teach a concept.

Website where one can purchase music for teaching:

http:songsforteaching.com

Use of Music

Assessment:

Teacher uses the Cloze Procedure for student to fill in every 7th or 8th word of a paragraph from lyrics of a song used to teach a process.

Use of Technology

For students who struggle with fine motor piece of writing/illegible handwriting:

-Small electronic keyboard such as an Alphasmart, speech recognition software, word prediction software such as Kidspiration.

Standard:-NET’s Standard:

Standard 3: Model Digital-Age

in work and learning.

THANK YOU for your time.

“Every child deserves someone who is irrationally crazy about them…” –author unknown