Lesson Study

As a lesson study group, we wanted to dive into the topic of  implementing a way for our EML (Emergent Multilingual Learners) students to be able to access grade level content without being isolated from the group. We thought this was an important topic to highlight because EML students are constantly being pulled away from the group for support. Although this may be helpful to the students, as a group we wanted to find a way to curate our lesson to be accessible across the entire class. 

This lesson took place in Ms. Cat's 1st grade classroom at High Tech Elementary Chula Vista. The lesson we designed was that of introducing story sequencing. As a lesson study group we hoped to spark curiosity, get students actively engaged right away and help students understand the purpose and process of what they will be doing during the lesson. We also hoped that all students would be able to access grade appropriate content and feel supported while doing so. 

Lesson Planning/Research

Research Theme: We will support EML students without isolating them. By providing visual scaffolding in lessons, we will improve our EML student’s ability to engage with the lesson material and advocate for their learning needs. 

Students will be able to grasp grade level content without being pulled from the classroom. 

Lesson Goals: By the end of the unit, students will be able to identify what parts of a story happened first, in the middle, and last. Students will be able to make meaning of texts by reading, and answer literal questions about a text.

Task: Students will identify something they can’t do yet, and what they can do to work towards it.

1. Students will read a narrative and ask speific questions about the anrrative. Then, stduents will read a brief informational piece related to their sciene unit. After this, students answered specific questions about the text. This lesson was repeated every other day for 2 weeks. 

2. Students were given explicit instruction on sequencing in stories. Students were to read a narrative, or read the narrative themselves, then cut out and past pictures that match the sequence of events in the story. The hand out for this lesson already has a location for "first", "then" and "last". This lesson was repeated with an informational text. 

3. Students will be given a narrative text. Students will be reading the narrative text aloud, and be given a hard copy of the text. Students will be asked to complete a handout in which a spot for "first", "then" and "last" are already written. Students will be asked to write or draw and annotate each part of the story in sequence. Then, students will repeat the lesson with an informational text. 

Theory of Action:  If we employ visual scaffolding for instructions (change idea) while students are making sense of story sequencing (content understanding goal), then EML students will engage with the lesson with greater confidence (equity-based research theme). We’ll see if it’s working by looking at scores on a story sequencing task (data collection).

Your Problem of Practice: [How] Can we best serve the unique needs of EML students as they work towards English language fluency, Grade-level standards mastery, and social cohesion/acceptance into our learning community simultaneously; in ways that do not separate them from their peers during critical learning moments?

Reflection:

Students have been working with understanding informational texts and stories. Students have previously received short texts, read them closely, and pulled specific facts from the text. Students annotate their reading while answering these questions. Students will eventually be able to give summaries for these texts, including events and processes in their natural order. To work towards giving summaries of a text that fit the order of events or process, students will engage in a story sequencing lesson and an associated task. This will allow them to bridge the skill of pulling specific facts into putting facts in order to create a summary. 

Overall, as a group we felt that it was exciting to see students engaged with the lesson by asking insightful questions and for more stories. Ms. Cat pushed students to further think by asking the students thoughtful questions like “Why wouldn’t Liam and his dad put shells into a bucket before going to the beach?” This helped students explain their reasoning behind the sequence of events in the story. Students showed mastery in the skills needed to show understanding of the content. 

Research