Analyzing Students’ Development of English Language Proficiency through Content-Based Instruction

Respond to the prompts below (no more than 6 single-spaced pages, including prompts) by typing your responses within the
brackets following each prompt. Do not delete or alter the prompts. Commentary pages exceeding the maximum will not be
scored. You may insert no more than 2 additional pages of supporting documentation at the end of this file. These pages
may include graphics, texts, or images that are not clearly visible in the video or a transcript for occasionally inaudible portions.
These pages do not count toward your page total.–––––––———————– – – – – – – – – – – – — – – – — – – – – – -––––––––––––––
1. Which lesson or lessons are shown in the video clips? Identify the lesson(s) by lesson plan
number.
[Video clip 1 is from Lesson 2. Video clip 2 is from Lesson 4.] 2. Promoting a Positive Learning Environment
Refer to scenes in the video clips where you provided a positive learning environment.
a. How did you demonstrate mutual respect for, rapport with, and responsiveness to
students with varied needs and backgrounds, and challenge students to engage in
learning?
[In this learning segment it is clear that I respect each of the students and that the students
respect me as well as one another. Students collaborate with one another and frequently
engage in respectful interactions. My classroom management style is not rigid, and allows for
students to interact freely. In my instruction, my energy is spent primarily on supporting
learning, with very little time spent on maintaining student behavior. One quick re-direction in
Lesson 2 shows that students have been taught classroom routines. At 5:06, the student in the
front of the video shrugged when another student gave a response she had wanted to share.
Another student reminded her that she can just use our hand symbol for agreeing. Moreover,
when students can be seen disagreeing with each other, it is through respectful interaction, not
criticism.
Part of building a positive environment with my group is being responsive to students with varied
need, including IEP needs. In order to build a positive and inclusive environment, I used
strategies to help ensure that all student voices are heard. For example, in Lesson 4 at 5:40,
when a few students immediately raised their hands to respond to questioning, I suggested that
everyone take a moment to think and put up a thumb when ready. I did this so that the waving
hands would not take away think time from students with IEPs, who benefit from additional time.
I then also rephrased the question. After a moment, a girl who had not initially raised her hand
indicated that she wanted to participate. None of the other students responded in any negative
way to not having been called on, which shows the respect they have for the learning
community. While some students benefit from extra time, no students in the group are reluctant
to participate in the learning.
Another example of students showing respect for each other is in Lesson 4 at 7:39. A student
who is developing skills to participate in class and communicate with peers (she receives
counseling) was reading aloud from a text at a quiet volume. The student seated farthest from
her used an agreed upon hand gesture to signal “I can’t hear you.” As soon as the reader saw
her, she did make an effort to read more loudly. While this interaction may seem insignificant, it
shows that the students do not criticize each other, but instead show responsiveness to varied
needs themselves, too.] 3. Engaging Students in Developing English Language Proficiency
Refer to examples from the video clips in your responses to the prompts.
a. Explain how your instruction engaged students in developing English language
proficiency within content-based instruction with a focus on two or more modalities
(speaking, listening, reading, writing) and one or more competencies (grammatical,
discourse, pragmatic, metalinguistic).
[The video clip from Lesson 2 shows how my instruction integrates English language
development with content-based instruction, in more than one modality. First, to build students’
discourse competency, I explain why journalists need to get to the point quickly. Then, when I
introduce the inverted pyramid organizational structure, I give students the opportunity to first
use the visual (see Instructional Materials – Lesson 2) to construct meaning of the inverted
pyramid by speaking to a partner about what they notice. The video clip shows students
engaged in the turn and talk. (1:10-1:55) Next, we read a model article to learn how a journalist
was able to write the key information in the lede of their article. Students are engaged in
identifying the 5Ws in the model article. (4:04-5:27). Finally, I introduce a sentence frame, and
students engage in constructing a sentence using the frame from the information in the article.
(5:27-6:09) In a short period of time, students were engaged in reading and speaking in order to
develop their content knowledge and develop the discourse and grammatical competency.
4. Deepening Students’ English Language Proficiency during Instruction
Refer to examples from the video clips in your explanations.
a. Explain how you elicited and built on student responses to promote thinking and
develop students’ English language proficiency in relation to one or more language
competencies and modalities, within content-based instruction.
[I ask students to say more or explain their thinking. For example, In Lesson 4, at 6:09, a
student responded “third person.” I immediately asked, “Can you explain how you know?”
She said, “because it says ‘the students’ but it doesn’t say “I.”
In Lesson 2, when asked “What information has that journalist already given us in that one
sentence?” a student responded, “the time and what happened.” It made sense that she
responded with “what happened” because we were trying to identify the 5Ws in the
sentence. I wanted her to elaborate on her idea, so I asked, “What did happen?” and she
was able to respond that the girl choked on a fidget spinner. I also asked her which W-word
corresponds with the time, and she was able to match it to “when.” (Lesson 2 4:04- 4:34) ] b. Explain how your instruction promotes comparisons and connections between the
content being taught and the students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds, experiences,
and prior academic knowledge.
[I explicitly connect this learning to students’ prior academic knowledge. At the beginning of
lesson 4 on third-person perspective, I explain that the learning objective is challenging because
in our last writing unit on personal narratives, we wrote in first person. (Lesson 4- 0:13) I went
on to refer back to two students’ specific writing from the personal narrative unit, to draw the
comparison to a time they wrote in first-person perspective. (Lesson 4 – 0:42) I then explain to
students that I am teaching them about third-person perspective because in the pre assessment,
many students wrote in first-person. (Lesson 4 – 1:02)] 5. Analyzing Teaching
Refer to examples from the video clips in your responses to the prompts.
a. What changes would you make to your instruction—for the whole class and/or for
students who need greater support or challenge—to better support student development
of English language proficiency (e.g., missed opportunities)?
Consider the variety of English language learners in your class who may require different
strategies/support (e.g., students with IEPs or 504 plans, Students with Limited or
Interrupted Formal Education [SLIFE], readers who struggle in their first language,
students at varying levels of language proficiency, long-term ELLs, underperforming
students or those with gaps in academic knowledge, and/or gifted students).
[In Lesson 4, I would change my instruction to 1) include turn and talks and 2) provide more
opportunities to practice changing from first to third person perspective. I posed questions to the
entire group for individuals to respond to during the teaching and guided practice portions of the
lesson. While I did implement strategies to make sure all voices were heard, I missed the
opportunity to give students more opportunity to orally explain their thinking and for me to
informally assess student understanding during turn and talk. Specifically, in the guided practice
portion of the lesson, when I elicited student responses on how to revise the sentence, it was
clear from the immediate hands up that all students recognized the sentence was written in first
person. All students quickly and enthusiastically used the agree hand gesture to indicate they
agreed with one students’ response that “my class” indicates first person. However, when I
asked how to revise it, students were less forthcoming. I should have provided more opportunity
for students to co-construct understanding by saying “Turn and talk to your partner – how
should we revise ‘my class’ so this sentence is in the third person perspective.” Besides
supporting all students’ learning, these changes would also benefit my students with IEPs – one
student requires extra time and another benefits from strategic partnerships. Given the disparity
between how quickly students identified the first person and how quickly they could revise, I
should have also provided more opportunities to practice revising writing from the first to third
person perspective. I could have provided one more example for students to revise.]b. Why do you think these changes would improve student development of English
language proficiency? Support your explanation with evidence of student learning
AND principles from theory and/or research relevant to ELL education.
[Research supports the notion that when students are given opportunities to co-construct and
negotiate meaning through conversations about content, such as through turn and talks, they
have higher academic outcomes. This is especially relevant to ELL education, because ELL
students benefit from multiple opportunities to communicate in academic contexts. Turn and
talks provide a low-risk context for doing so.
Moreover, I think this change would improve my students’ development of English language
proficiency, because it is an instructional strategy that I use frequently with these students. In
other lessons, it has helped me to quickly scaffold conversations to relevant students’ language
and understanding. It is also a quick informal assessment that gives me information on what to
teach when conferring with students during independent work time.]