The secondary classroom is an exciting place, characterized by rich content and young minds eager to learn and explore together. Our students who are learning English are excited about participating in the classroom environment and need support so that they can engage meaningfully. The good news is that there are a variety of instructional strategies that support not only our English learners but all learners in the instructional environment. The goal of this professional development experience is for content teachers to learn methods for supporting English Learners, allowing them to engage in content through all four language modes (reading, writing, listening and speaking)
The professional experience will take place over the course of three virtual sessions:
Session 1: Reading and Listening (receptive modes) with English Learners
This initial session will address the role of working memory in reading as well as reading strategies such as multiple reads and annotating text. Additionally, participants will learn how to use building background and the pre-teaching of vocabulary to enhance students’ understanding of what they hear in the content classroom.
Session 2: Writing and Speaking (productive modes) with English Learners
This session will acquaint participants with a structured academic discussion protocol. Participants will also gain an understanding of how common strategies such as jigsaw and fishbowl provide essential supports to students who are learning English. The session will familiarize participants with chunking writing tasks, using editing marks,and pairing language modes to support the written production of English Learners.
Session 3: Assessing English Learners
This final session will address the importance of using a variety of assessment techniques to capture the knowledge acquisition of students learning English. Participants will also have an opportunity to explore the WIDA language expectations for their content area and how classroom assessment can address language as well as content.
