Portfolio Project
Jigsaw Activity - Jigsaw is a teaching strategy introduced in the Levin and McCloskey text. The authors define it as “a cooperative learning technique in which a text or content information is divided among a small group of learners. Each learner becomes an “expert” in one part of the learning experience and then teaches that part to other learners in the group” (319). For example, I can refer back to my French class in high school, as my teacher used this tactic often. We would be split into groups of 4 to look at a given section or chapter in the book. From there, my teacher would split the text into 4’s as well, and each of us would be assigned a section to read and learn. After we finished reading, we would share our findings with the group. Since we would all learn the section after the small group discussion, we would then get assigned numbers to go to different groups where we could teach classmates who had different sections about our entire reading, and vice versa.
I really enjoy this strategy for multiple reasons. One reason is the fact that it draws out the main ideas for students within a text. Trying to remember every word of the material is not only impossible, but impractical, so having the students break down the reading into summarizing points allows them to acknowledge the most important ideas the text is trying to convey. If students are missing a key point, then the teacher can alert them that they need to pick up on that certain idea as well. Another benefit to Jigsaw is it is an equal division of work that mandates student involvement. Especially when considering ELLs, this is helpful to them because they feel like they can contribute just as much to the group and will not feel left out of the activity. This is also a highly student-centered activity as the kids are the ones who are recalling and teaching the subject. When they have to recite the main ideas to each other, it helps them better practice the content and therefore better absorb and understand it.
Narrative/Creative Writing - In middle school, we would have quarterly writing assignments that could be about the topic of our choosing. These were district wide assessments, however, as a teacher, I want to employ creative writing on a regular basis in my language arts classroom. Students can write in any format they desire, though I would probably require a designated number of various writing styles just so they get the necessary practice. They would have a personal journal to jot down their thoughts and perform these tasks. Sometimes I would also allow them to write without my reading over it. This is something I have done even in college that has honestly proven therapeutic for me.
There are several positive factors that come along with creative writing. Students of various cultures and backgrounds are given the opportunity to discuss their lives in a comfortable, safe space. When kids feel like they are heard and able to talk about their own lives, they thus feel more welcomed in the classroom and inclined to participate. It’s also important that we as teachers learn about our students’ individual identities because it makes us more sensitive and conscious of our teachings. ELLs are able to both practice English when writing, which improves language development, as well as discuss their bilingual upbringing and their foreign culture (if applicable). Additionally, with the different writing styles comes new academic vocabulary, which also benefits ELL language development. This is ultimately a great way to encourage participation among all students in a way that is personal to them.
Story Map - Graphic organizers in general are great scaffolding tools to use with your students, as it helps them organize their thoughts and summarize the text in a structured fashion. These types of maps can be used during or after the students read a literature work as a note-taking guide, thus enhancing their comprehension of the story. The scaffolding aspect comes into play when students are asked to summarize or recall parts of the story, whether that be on paper, in groups, or to the class. They can use this guide to capture the most important aspects and events of the work. ELLs benefit from these scaffolds because it helps them break down the text in terms of the main ideas and they are able to practice both their reading skills and oral/written language skills simultaneously. The straightforward layout of the map is also helpful.
Read, Retell, Summarize - This is an activity that promotes attainment of vocabulary among both English speaking students and ELLs. The students use this vocabulary to “apply their comprehension of text and process what they have read,” as described by Levin and McCloskey (160). To commence the exercise, the teacher must choose a short text and select key words for students to take note of as they read. The teacher then reads the passage aloud to the kids and points out and explains the meaning of the vocabulary terms so students can write them down. After the teacher reads aloud, then it is the students’ turn. While they read, they are encouraged to annotate the text to help them better understand the content and terms. Finally, they are directed to discuss the excerpt with partners, summarizing the main ideas using only the words on their list. The teacher walks around during this part of the activity to make sure students are on track and to see if there are any terms that need further explanation.
There are several aspects of this activity that make me want to utilize it when I become a teacher. One of these is how it incorporates all members of the classroom; for instance, the teacher introduces the exercise by reading it themselves, and then the students are able to take charge themselves to master the vocabulary. The collaboration aspect is also an important part because I want my classroom to be a social environment for my students and to promote team-building, which is always achieved through partner activities, etc. This activity also improves students’ summarizing skills, so when they dissect texts going forward they are able to grasp the main ideas rather than be caught up on the “fluff.” In terms of ELL development, they benefit from all these aforementioned factors, as well as the most obvious: vocabulary improvement. Adding more words to their mental dictionary drives them closer and closer to their goal of learning English. Employing an activity where they can both buffer their reading skills as well as gain vocabulary is necessary for ELLs.
Think Aloud - Think alouds are when the teacher reads aloud a text to the students while demonstrating their thinking throughout the reading. This typically begins with the teacher asking questions prior to reading (i.e. questions about the title, the general topic, the author). Additionally, this is where students can draw on prior knowledge and establish purpose for reading. Once the reading begins, the teacher displays their thinking by asking questions about vocabulary, making predictions, wondering about what is yet to learn, building connections, etc. If there are misunderstandings about a portion of the text, the teacher will go back and reread. After the reading is complete, the teacher and students are encouraged to summarize the main message or ideas. This activity is done as a class.
Comprehension skills are greatly improved with think alouds. It may seem like a simple task, but it succeeds in engaging students by providing them with purpose and interacting with the text in a way that better focuses and teaches them. When I had to record my own think aloud for another course, I was surprised about how many thoughts I could express while reading my text that would make for good discussion among my students. This also models for students what they could do when reading independently to improve their retainment. For ELLs, I can see this being useful because it allows them to break down the text and dissect it at their own pace. I picture one-on-one think alouds with ELLs being a good strategy to improve their literacy without having to necessarily demonstrate this in front of the whole class.
Fish Bowl Discussion - A couple of the virtual clinicals I viewed on ATLAS utilized this technique, which I had not previously heard of. These are typically seen in ELA classrooms, wherein the students discuss a work of literature and respond to questions mustered up by students or sometimes the teacher. Students involved in the conversation sit in the inner circle, while those on the outside listen and take note of the discussion. When a student from the outside wants to join the discussion, they tap on the shoulder of someone sitting in the inner circle when they are done participating.
Watching these videos made me reminisce on middle and high school book discussions we would have in class; these were always my favorite activity. I always felt that I had a better understanding of the text afterwards and was fascinated to hear the perspectives of my peers. This is why I want to put this particular strategy into practice in my middle level classroom so students can discuss their own point of views and opinions on a given text, as well as hear out those of their classmates. To encourage ELL participation, teachers could pose “less complex” questions for them to answer, depending on their stage of language development. It also gives them practice to pose their own questions, which is essential for building on language structures,
Writing Poetry with ELLs - In my language arts class, I will need to expose my students to all different kinds of writing. One of which will be poetry. This is a necessary writing style that both English speaking students and ELLs need to know. As the article by Kristina Robertson writes, “Writing poetry is a great exercise for English language learners. It gives them a chance to experiment with language and vocabulary, and to freely share their ideas without the confinement of perfect grammar or firm structures” (2009). I would introduce this specific unit by providing various types of poetry styles, so then students can determine what style best suits them and what they want to accomplish for the activity. This introduction would also act as modeling for students, which is again beneficial for both ELLs and native English speaking students alike. I would probably attach a brief activity to each style so students can try them out for themselves to help decide, depending on the amount of time in the class period. I estimate this unit lasting for around a week or two, with the final project being their choice of poetry. However, poetry would not only be utilized in the class during this unit, but rather as an ongoing part of the curriculum.
One notable benefit of poetry writing among ELLs is that this gives them the opportunity to express themselves, their culture, whatever they so choose. As it is with the narrative assessment, poetry writing allows them to do this, but without the restraints of traditional writing assignments. Poetry typically brings out more emotionally-driven pieces, so as a teacher I would need to consider this as well when presenting the unit.
Source: https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/writing-poetry-english-language-learners
Small Reading Groups - A great strategy to avoid all your students reading the same book and still allow discussion is through small reading groups. Students could choose from a list of books for a given unit and be split into groups based upon their choices. This would cause excitement for reading because they feel they have control over their reading. Students tend to have a natural aversion to assigned readings they have no part in choosing (speaking from personal experience). On top of this benefit, book discussions also always lead to students learning information about the story they hadn’t previously noticed and it’s beneficial for them to hear different perspectives. It would also give them an opportunity to bond with their peers and form connections. Kids love to discuss books, TV shows, etc, whether it be praising or complaining about the media. ELLs would be able to form these connections and have these conversations that would utilize both academic and informal languages, making an enjoyable experience that improves their language development.
“Who Are You” Exercise - I was exposed to this particular activity upon reading a course textbook for another class, Cultivating Genius by Gholdy Muhammad. This exercise entails students getting into pairs and asking each other “who are you” back and forth, prompting different answers from the other every time. This goes on for about a minute, gradually revealing more complex information about the person (depending on comfort level). Muhammad cites that students usually begin with describing phenotypical aspects of themselves and then start to discuss less observable traits.
This is a very simple exercise that could be utilized in any content area. However, I believe it is a significant activity to perform, especially in a literature classroom. The importance of this exercise lies in how it prompts students to feel comfortable discussing aspects of themselves and finding commonalities among their peers. Despite the fact segregation is illegal, schools are still undeniably segregated. Keeping this in mind, activities like this are again important for student bonding specifically when it comes to diversifying with whom they interact. Another great benefit to this activity is how it can improve and personalize student writing. As a language arts teacher, I want my students to be confident in expressing themselves through their writing. I want to learn about my students as much as possible so I can not only cater my teaching to their needs, but also simply get to know them as people. While middle schoolers can sometimes be closed off, generally, they are more than willing to talk about themselves, and I want to take advantage of this fact. This will also make them more inclined to participate because they know they are valued as people and encouraged to make connections to their own lives.
Colorism Activity - This activity was also introduced to me in Gholdy Muhammad’s Cultivating Genius, which provides great insight for diverse groups of students and how to teach them in a literature classroom. She cites this activity being suited for 8th graders, wherein they “will think about their physical appearance, specifically their skin tone, and discuss how they navigate society through perception of their skin tone” (163). The resources they will use to enhance this experience include reading a snippet of Toni Morrison’s God Help the Child as well as various videos and photos that convey ideas about colorism. After viewing these resources, students write their own journal entries to display their understanding for the teacher; the teacher will analyze their knowledge about the institutions oppressing people for the color of their skin and how this exists within one’s own race/ethnicity (163).
Exercises that reflect important issues and allow our middle school students to think critically are extremely important in a language arts classroom. Students learn about issues they face on a daily basis while also improving their literacy. This will cause them to consider their own biases and interactions with peers of varying skin tones and try to prevent these prejudiced attitudes going forward. Diverse students will feel more comfortable in a classroom where their struggles are heard and understood rather than being swept under the rug.
Reflection
One of the most important parts of being a teacher is curating lesson plans and activities for your students. This portfolio assignment gave me the push I needed to start brainstorming my own ideas and finding inspiration in the resources with which I’ve been presented in my various courses. With the Teaching English Language and Content in Mainstream Classes textbook for this class, there are an influx of ideas for activities in virtually every chapter, making it somewhat difficult to narrow them down for my portfolio. However, the exercises I chose were ones I favored both in terms of my own and my students’ enjoyment, but also taking into account how it impacts ELL development and participation. I can’t honestly say if I would’ve always been this considerate when picking activities for my students without this class or this assignment because it’s easy for many teachers to stick with their own routines or strictly conduct the ones they enjoy. There were several activities I have experienced myself as a student, but I had never realized the implications for students who are non-native English speakers.
Given that one of my endorsements is for ELA, I picked activities that would be specifically applied to this content area. My approach when picking activities was wanting to find a balance between both analyzing a text as well as giving students the opportunity to write about themselves and their own experiences; these both enhance multiple skills within students. The most important thing as a teacher is making your students feel comfortable and valued as an individual in your classroom, whether they are an ELL or a native speaker. Without this foundation, they will more than likely be unwilling to participate and not receptive to your practices. They also need to feel that they connect with their peers and aren’t seen as an outlier, but someone who is seen and heard. Allowing students to talk about themselves and their interests with their classmates as well as in their writing fosters this sense of comfort and validation. This is again what I considered when piecing together my portfolio. I am thankful I receive an education that helps me promote inclusive and culturally responsive practices.