Teacher to teacher
Building a collaborative ELL classroom
Sep 17, 2009 12:30 PM
Having worked the majority of my teaching career in districts serving high concentrations of English language learners, I've learned a few things about what works in classrooms serving newcomers and other language learners. Chief among them: creating a collaborative classroom where respect and participation are the norm, where children feel their culture is valued, and where group learning is the backbone of effective instruction.
Saying that is easy, but doing it is hard. It takes careful planning and preparation to cinch the deal, starting with knowing all of my students well — knowing their interests, strengths and needs, their prior knowledge about content areas and about their world.
Planning of this kind also requires being comfortable using a broad variety of strategies to engage students. I know that children learn best when they are able to interact with each other and with a variety of materials. I aim for lessons in which children work in small groups to solve problems and create products together, and when feasible to use their first language to support content learning.
I work to make the physical space of my classroom reflect the cultures of my students. This can begin with something as simple as posting pictures of people, places and things with which students can identify. Students can work with more proficient peers to add labels and captions, thus building initial vocabulary based on what is familiar to them. While it can be difficult to find books representing the many cultures represented in today's classrooms, I find great images on the internet and even in travel brochures. I have also taken advantage of the free travel materials available to me from the Automobile Association of America. I don't know how I ever taught without Google Images, National Geographic's Xpeditions, or iTunes. It doesn't cost too much to bring in music in almost any language, and children’s response to hearing the language in the classroom is worth every cent!
I’ve also had success asking students to create visual timelines of their lives or their family histories. Students can illustrate memorable events, celebrations, and milestones, integrating these onto the timeline. As children share and compare, they are motivated to learn the vocabulary and language structures needed to present timelines to their peers, either orally or in writing.
When planning lessons, I make every attempt to link new learning with students’ prior knowledge or to build background knowledge when necessary. Before beginning an activity or a lesson, I might take children on a virtual field trip, engage them in a “Think-Pair-Share,” or involve them in a word splash game in which key vocabulary words and images are posted prior to a reading or experiment.
I've come to be a devotee of Readers Theater, music and choral poetry. These inclusive activities build vocabulary, sight words and fluency, and also foster community, confidence and engagement. At my school we have collaborated to build a lending library of poems and scripts that we share willingly. For some children, these have been the key to their entry into language and literacy.
In most content areas, we plan lessons that provide opportunities for children to learn from and about each other. The 3rd grade in my school begins their study of world communities by having children interview each other and their families. One 5th-grade class has children create “About Me” PowerPoint presentations. These activities, of course, give us, the teachers, a chance to learn about our students’ interests, feelings and experiences.
No classroom can be successful unless we as teachers have ties with students’ families. We are constantly seeking new ways to get to know parents, guardians and siblings. I want parents to know that they are free to be in touch about any concerns. If I ask parents to support their children, I try to provide practical ideas and materials to help them do so such as flash cards, visuals, books. I know that parents are their children’s first and greatest teachers. When I respect their knowledge and elicit their ideas, they respond with greater involvement.
As teachers we need to understand and believe that building a climate of respect and trust is not just the “politically correct” thing to do. It is only by creating such a climate that we provide the conditions where learning can take place in our classrooms. I hope that the ideas I have suggested will support you as you work to create the inclusive, vibrant, engaging classrooms our children need and deserve.
Laura Daigen-Ayala is a UFT Teacher Center staff member at PS 48, the Police Officer Michael J. Buczek School, located in Manhattan’s Washingtom Heights section (District 6).
