Discussion 1: Comprehensible Input, Scaffolding, and the Affective Filter
Pretend you are a new student at a school. You have been in the United States for a very short amount of time, and no one at your new school speaks your language.
After reading Chapter 5 and watching the required video presentation, Teaching Foreign Languages: Make Your Students Feel at Ease , use what you have learned from those resources to answer the following questions:
• What would you need from the teacher to make input comprehensible?
• What could the teacher do to scaffold lessons for you?
• How can the teacher effectively lower the affective filter for you while still creating positive anxiety?
Discussion 2 : Community Connections
Consider where you live and the cultural diversity that is present in that community. Who could you invite to your campus to provide positive cultural role models for your students?
If your community is not culturally diverse, do you feel the need to "bring in" culturally diverse people and opinions? Why/why not? Do you feel it is necessary to involve different community entities in your school so that cultural diversity is appreciated?
Discussion 3 : A 3rd Grade Social Studies Lesson
Chapter 7 of your text describes how Mrs. Whitcomb adapts a 3rd grade social studies lesson to accommodate an ELL student, Carmella, in "A Teacher's Story: Preparing Carmella to Learn" on page 20. Read the lesson in Chapter 7 and Chapter 8 about differentiated instruction, and answer the following questions:
• What aspects of this lesson did Mrs. Whitcomb think would be more difficult for Carmella than for her English proficient classmates and why?
• How did Mrs. Whitcomb provide differentiated instruction for Carmella? What strategies did she use to make the language of the lesson more comprehensible for Carmella?
• Do you think that the strategies that Mrs. Whitcomb used would be effective for scaffolding Carmella's language development and understanding of the content? Why or why not?
• What suggestions do you have for Mrs. Whitcomb about other strategies that she might use in this lesson?
Discussion 4 : Quiz Your Classmates
Chapters 6 and 7 discuss three important concepts related to teaching ELLs to read, (phonemic awareness in Chapter 6 and phonics in Chapter 7) and strategies for helping ELLs understand and practice language and content information (scaffolding in Chapter 6).
In this discussion post, first read Chapters 6 and 7, do some additional research on the term that you chose, and then complete each of the tasks below.
a. In your own words, summarize one of the following main ideas from the readings:
o Phonemic awareness
o Phonics
o Scaffolding
Be sure to include descriptions, definitions, comparisons or any other information that will help a first-time reader have a working understanding of the topic you choose to summarize an include a reference list for any scholarly sources that you use for definition and questions.
b. Create five questions about the topic you chose. Summarize and list the questions in an organized fashion so that your classmates can answer them.
Discussion 5 : Identifying ELLs with Special Needs
Chapter 9 provides a discussion of the challenges of identifying ELLs' as having a learning disability or being gifted with their lower than grade-level proficiency in English. After reading Chapter 9, write a post that addresses the following questions:
• What kinds of disabilities might an ELL have?
• What are the challenges of determining whether an ELL has a learning ability or is gifted?
• What kinds of interventions are used once an ELL has been identified as having a learning disability?
• What kinds of interventions are used once an ELL is determined to be gifted?
• If you were teaching a class with some ELLs in it, what signals would you look for in the behavior or they ELLs to determine whether they might need to be tested for learning disabilities or being gifted?
• How might you adapt your curriculum for an ELL student with a learning disability or who is gifted?
Discussion 6 : Cross-Cultural Communication
In any social setting, people of different cultures need to communicate respectfully. For teachers, this challenge may be even greater as we confront our own biases and prejudices while helping students understand and manage their own.
After reading the Miskito Mission Network article, Cross Cultural Communications Challenges , discuss three of the six points that you think would help teachers communicate effectively with English language learners.
Give examples of how you would implement them in a social setting. Reflect on areas you may need to challenge yourself or expand your thinking.