As an ESL teacher, how do you decide what to teach? We are a WIDA state and follow their standards. In my district, we don't have a particular ESL curriculum. My students come to ESL for an hour pull out group. Due to scheduling, a lot of my students miss their science and social studies instruction time with their class. Therefore, I am always looking for ways to mesh grade level content standards with our language acquisition standards so that students can get the most of their time out in ESL. I know I can get a whole lot of reading and language taught with science and social studies text so that is where I start.
Today I wanted to share with you how I accomplish this. For example, I know that my third and fourth graders both have standards related to how energy moves in food chains. I pair that content up with language skills of sequencing, interpreting graphs, and writing to describe processes.
I start my units by seeing what students already know about a topic and building background knowledge. This could be with graphic organizers where students show what they know, labeling a picture with vocabulary they already know, or a quick preassessment.
I select important words that students need to understand concepts as well as key science vocabulary and make unlabeled picture cards for each word. We spend a few minutes each day reviewing words and playing vocabulary games.
Then, we read as much as we can on food chains, food webs, energy pyramids, etc. We watch video clips, make our own flowcharts using manipulatives, act out the parts, think pair share with a partner or group, etc. I am consistently monitoring for understanding during activities as well as with quick writes and exit tickets.
At the end of the unit, I want to assess student learning. I have recently started creating some ESL packs that allow me to assess their understanding of content standards as well as practice the four domains of language. I am very excited about these because they are an efficient way to monitor learning and practice for our annual ESL test.
Here is what is included in each practice pack:
*Speaking: background text, model examples, questions for the students to respond to, and a rubric.
*Listening: teacher script, student questions, and an answer key.
*Reading: text, student questions, and an answer key.
*Writing: background information, writing prompt, writer's checklist, and a rubric.
**Special Note- I use these activities with ESL students who are in grades 3-5 and are at the intermediate to high levels of language acquisition.**
Click on the link to see some sample pages in my store.
Food Chains: ESL Practice Packets
I am finishing up my plants practice packet and have so many ideas for other content themes!
Happy Adventuring,
Heidi
Here is what is included in each practice pack:
*Speaking: background text, model examples, questions for the students to respond to, and a rubric.
*Listening: teacher script, student questions, and an answer key.
*Reading: text, student questions, and an answer key.
*Writing: background information, writing prompt, writer's checklist, and a rubric.
**Special Note- I use these activities with ESL students who are in grades 3-5 and are at the intermediate to high levels of language acquisition.**
Click on the link to see some sample pages in my store.
Food Chains: ESL Practice Packets
I am finishing up my plants practice packet and have so many ideas for other content themes!
Happy Adventuring,
Heidi
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