Component 3: Comprehensible Input

Feature 10: Use Speech Appropriate for Students’ Proficiency Level

I will use a healthy mix of basic academic language and Tier 2 and Tier 3 language in order to get students familiarized with all of them. When used interchangeably, students will begin to notice that they are synonyms. 

Feature 11: Explain Academic Tasks Clearly

Break down your lesson into clearly defined academic tasks.

1. Students will enter the classroom and sit at their stations. The objective of the lesson will be written on the board for them to read as they sit down.

2. I will begin the lesson by getting the student’s attention. I will ask them to recall what we had learned in the previous lessons. I may choose specific vocabulary that students must explain in context of the event that we are studying.

3. I will ask the students to read the board while I overview the directions for the day’s assignment. Students will listen to the instructions.

4. I will ask the students to talk to their peers and reiterate the expectations for the day. Students are expected to talk to each other and explain what I had said in their own words.

5. I will begin my PowerPoint on the Civil War, making a point of highlighting key information relevant to my student’s political cartoons.

6. I will have an example cartoon that I will then project onto the board and go over with my students. We will discuss point of view, the author’s intentions, and whether or not the cartoon is effective. 

7. I will hand out political cartoons.

8. I will split students into their station groups. Sergei will sit with his friend and buddy Neera. Students will be instructed to talk and analyze them together.

9. I will walk around and make sure that every student is engaged and talking.

10. Ask certain students what they’re thinking the cartoon means. I will especially do this with Sergei at different points in the lesson, but not to put a spotlight on him.

11. After students finish analyzing their cartoon, they may switch their cartoon with one at another table. Students will switch cartoons until they have seen all of them. 

12. I will call a group at random and then pull a cartoon at random for them to stand up in front of the class to explain. We will do this for every group and every cartoon. Students will be able to agree or disagree with their peers who are presenting by raising their hands after I ask them questions.

13. Students will be informally assessed based on their effectiveness and thought process when viewing the cartoons. Every student must say something in their presentation. If Sergei cannot, or feels uncomfortable doing so, which I will ask before class, he may write down his thoughts or tell me privately if he so chooses. 

14. Students will be required to write an Exit Ticket on their way out of class with three takeaways from that day.*

Write down how you would introduce these tasks. What would you say, etc.

“We have been talking a lot about tension recently. It seems as though at this point in our unit, the North and the South just cannot seem to get along. Have you noticed how everything that the U.S. has done has been a temporary solution? Well today is the day that we learn how the U.S. reached its limit. Today we are going to talk about some of the causes of the Civil War, and read some political cartoons to determine what people thought about the U.S. government at that time.”

*See figure 1

Write a justification for how that would address your EL. I would like you to reread the chapter on your ELs language level in Honigsfeld. Make the connection to the chapter when you justify your choices. Reference Honigsfeld. (See Mr. Lew's lesson on buoyancy, p. 114-115, in Echevarria)

Justification:

Sergei is a L3 learner. He is not quite fluent yet, but he has made significant progress in learning some more advanced academic vocabulary. He might not remember every vocab word from the previous lesson, but what student does? Based on Honigsfeld’s description on what L3 learners can do, Sergei should be able to follow a series of simple instructions in multiple steps, as well as identify main ideas from oral presentations (Honigsfeld, 78). These aspects convince me that Sergei could learn and understand my PowerPoint lecture.

Just like Mr. Lew, I would speak in vocabulary that Sergei can understand. I would avoid the use of idioms and speak in simple language without diminishing the academic vocabulary required to teach a comprehensive lesson. I would write my instructions on the board very explicitly, like Mr. Lew did. Also like Mr. Lew, I am going to give a word dictionary to students, and am going to do an example of what I want students to do first before I let them go off to do it themselves. Then, they can look and see if what I did is what they should be doing too (Echevarría, 114-115). Additionally, slowing my rate of speech and enunciating clearly helps too!

Feature 12: Use a Variety of Techniques Used to Make Content Concepts Clear

Introduce your techniques you will use:  Graphic organizers, manipulative, language support etc. 

Write a justification for how these would address the specific need of your EL. I would like you to reread the chapter on your ELs language level in Honigsfeld. Make the connection to the chapter when you justify your choices. Reference Honigsfeld.

Justification:

The PowerPoint I will be using for my presentation has many visuals that illustrate my point. There are election maps, visuals of people that students need to know, and representations of ideas that further the message I am trying to communicate.** My gestures will be exaggerated in order to emphasize what I am trying to convey to my students. Echevarría notes that previewing helps communicate what students should be paying attention to in the lesson, and my handed out dictionaries will help students identify important information (Echevarría  109). Sergei speaks Ukrainian as his L1, so on my cartoons I have options for an L1 translation or simplified language for that lesson portion, which will mix the academic language into their home language.*** Students also are expected to speak in the oral speech component in English, which would help boost knowledge in Sergei’s L2. The lesson is designed to both strengthen BICS as well as CALPS through informal and formal speaking. Honigsfeld recommends adding visual support and hands-on activities, which students will do through the political cartoon activity, in order to bolster learning (Honigsfeld, 89). 

**See example 2

***See example 3

References

Echevarría, J., Vogt., M., & Short, D. J. (2017). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP model. Pearson. 

Honigsfeld, A. (2019). Growing language & literacy: Strategies for English learners. Heinemann.