English Language Learners        IT Class Project: Thinglink

1. Xinrui - BeginningFluency

1.1. Following introductory information as indicated for Francis and Jeanne, Xinrui will work with 1 more fluent speaker, and with 1 less fluent than her,  to discuss the project and how to do.

1.2. During instruction, have students do a "Think, pair, share" to give the student an opportunity to process the new language and concept.

1.3. For the Summer Vacation part of this assignment, Xinrui will have a more open ended set of questions that require a full response with explanations. If you do not understand the student's explanation, ask for clarification by paraphrasing and asking the student if you heard them correctly.

1.4. Ask questions that require inference and justification of the answer.

1.5. Ask students if they agree or disagree with a statement and why.

1.6. In the Summer Vacation text of this project, we will model more advanced academic language structures such as, "I think," "In my opinion," and "When you compare." about aspects of her experience in the summer. During te presentations, these phrases should be repeated as part of the presentation content.

1.7. Re-phrase incorrect statements in correct English, or ask the student if they know another way to say it.

1.8. Introduce nuances of language such as when to use more formal English and how to interact in conversations.

1.9. Once Thinglinks are completed, students will make short presentations. Xinrui and the class will be provided with the key phrases and language used in presentations ("Today I will be talking about"). They will have time to practice the presentation with partners before getting in front of the class.

1.10. Continue to provide visual support and vocabulary development.

1.11. Correct errors that interfere with meaning, and pre-identify errors that will be corrected in student writing, such as verb-tense agreement. Only correct the errors agreed upon.

1.12. You may want to assist in improving pronunciation by asking a student to repeat key vocabulary and discussing how different languages have different sounds.

2. Francis - Early Production

2.1. Training videos will be made available to introduce the technology to the students. They will have access to the video and the opportunity to play it back at their leisure.

2.2. A model of the finished project will be presented to the class. A slide show with step by step visuals that show how it was created will be available to students in our class blog.  Students will act out each step along the way, working together in pairs. SURVIVAL language will be highlighted by each slide.

2.3. I will speak slowly and use shorter words, but always using the correct English phrasing. For the Summer Vacation text, he will be required to write only 3 to 5 key word phrases that match images of his activities.

2.4. "Survival" language for this assignment are LOGIN to Thinglink, Create a TAG, SAVE an IMAGE and UPLOAD the Image. These are the key activities required in order to participate in this project. I will model as I say the terms so that he can become familiar with them.

2.5. Use the interactive whiteboard to POINT to the steps involved in setting up the Thinglink.

2.6. Group Francis with other classmates who are at more advanced stages so they can help him. Because he is good with the technology, he can help them in return.

3. Lydia - Speech Emergent

3.1. Training videos will be made available to introduce the technology to the students. They will have access to the video and the opportunity to play it back at their leisure. At Lydia's level captioning can be turned on, and she can listen for more academic language and skills. She will beginning to use more academic vocabulary.

3.2. Students will spend time  in small groups  telling the stories or experiences that they have had during the summer. Another student write them down. The ELL student can bring these narratives home to read and reinforce learning.

3.3. For the Summer Vacation text, a fill-in-the blank version of the assignment will be provided, with the necessary vocabulary listed on the page. Lydia may use the notes provided in class discussion to help her. The text will annotate images selected that represent the activities.

3.4. Provide visuals and make connections with student's background knowledge as much as possible.

3.5. Introduce new academic vocabulary and model how to use it in a sentence.

3.6. Ask questions that require a short answer and are fairly literal.

3.7. Provide minimal error correction. Focus only on correction that directly interferes with meaning. Reinforce learning by modeling the correct usage.

3.8. SOURCE: K., Robertson, & Ford, K. (n.d.). Language Acquisition: An Overview. Retrieved June 21, 2016, from http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/language-acquisition-overview

4. David - Intermediate Fluency

4.1. Identify key academic vocabulary and phrases and model them. Ask students to produce the language in class activities.

4.2. Use graphic organizers and thinking maps and check to make sure the student is filling them in with details. Challenge the student to add more.

4.3. Help the student make connections with new vocabulary by instructing him or her in the etymology of words or word families such as, "important, importance, importantly."

4.4. Create assessments that give students an opportunity to present in English after they have an opportunity to practice in pairs or small groups.

4.5. Introduce more academic skills, such as brainstorming, prioritizing, categorization, summarizing and compare and contrast.

4.6. Ask students to identify vocabulary by symbols that show whether the student "knows it really well, kind of knows it, or doesn't know it at all." Help students focus on strategies to get the meaning of new words.

4.7. Have a "guessing time" during silent reading where they circle words they don't know and write down their guess of the meaning. Check the results as a class.

4.8. Introduce idioms and give examples of how to use them appropriately. For example, "Let's wind up our work." What's another way you could use the phrase "wind up?"

4.9. Starting at this level, students need more correction/feedback, even on errors that do not directly affect meaning. They should be developing a more advanced command of syntax, pragmatics, pronunciation, and other elements that do not necessarily affect meaning but do contribute to oral fluency.

4.10. It may also be helpful to discuss language goals with the student so you can assist in providing modeling and correction in specified areas.

4.11. SOURCE: K., Robertson, & Ford, K. (n.d.). Language Acquisition: An Overview. Retrieved June 21, 2016, from http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/language-acquisition-overview