Sheltered Literacy Lesson Blog #8

            In the video clip that we watched there were many examples of the essential components needed in a sheltered lesson.  We were able to watch several different types of lessons being taught where the students knew and understood what the content of the lessons were.  There was also evidence of language objectives that were being taught. One example of a language objective was seen when a student used an incorrect preposition when answering a question.  The teacher quickly grabbed a sheet that had an oral preposition activity the students recited to practice the proper use of prepositions.

            This teacher effectively builds background knowledge and ensures that her students have the necessary vocabulary not only for the lessons she is teaching but for the purpose of communicating as well.  At one point in a lesson the students were listening to a story on tape as they followed along with their own copy.  The teacher stopped the tape to ask a couple of questions to check for students understanding.  One of her students raised his hand and asked, “Can I make a connection?”  After the student made his connection, the teacher commented on it being a connection to self, and later a student made a connection to a movie he had seen, so she made sure to point out that a different type of connection was being made.  We were able to watch several different activities where the teacher was making sure key vocabulary was understood.  She had the actual objects (use of realia) the students were learning about.  In another example one of her students spoke in his native language to explain how a plant was used in his country, the teacher then translated what the student had said, and the group came up with the word “squeezed” to help the student.

            In Classroom Instruction that Works with English Language Learners (Hill and Flynn 2006) we learn that meaning can not conveyed to ELLs through words alone.  To make understanding and comprehension complete for our ELL students teachers must do more than just talk to them.  In the video we watched we saw several examples of how this teacher used other methods to help her students make meaning. There were several times when she used realia in her lessons, with vocabulary and when they were talking about a specific kind of plant, she had several of them in the classroom for the students.  During an interactive History lesson, pairs of students were using maps of their neighborhood looking for the Spanish street names as she was trying to help them understand the connections between Spain, Mexico and California.  It did seem to me that this teacher talked very quickly all the time.  She did have movements and gestures to go along with a lot of what she was communicating to the students.

            I think because we did not see an entire lesson from the beginning all the way through to the end, we did not see many examples of strategies being used in the classroom.  The students might have been learning about the desert, and then with the aloe vera plant they were looking at later they might have been talking about plants that grow in the desert.  The teacher might want to use a graphic organizer to get an understanding of what her students all ready know about a desert and what questions or misunderstandings they have.  Based on what they all ready know the teacher might use that opportunity to ask questions that would promote higher level thinking. We did see her stop lessons and readings and ask students questions to check for understanding and help them to make necessary connections for comprehension.

            There were many examples of interaction between students and between the teacher and her students.  Students were provided with tasks they needed to complete in small groups that required them to interact with each other to finish the activity.  The teacher explained that the students in her class were ‘obsessed’ with these paper spinners that everyone was making.  She mentioned that they were distracting, but she decided to use them as part of a vocabulary lesson.  As the students were making their spinners she was making one also and was having the students teach her how to make it.  They were very excited about this activity and did not even seem to mind that they had to write their vocabulary words on them after they were made. Another example of interaction, which I mentioned earlier, was when the teacher had one of her students explain something in his native language so he could understand a key concept that was being discussed.  My favorite example was at the end of the video when she let the students play math games together in small groups.  Not only was this a great activity for the students to interact, but also for them to practice and apply what they knew about reading and math.  The students had to read the directions “rules” of the game, (which gave them a purpose for reading) and figure out together through conversation how to play the game.  The last part of the video showed all of the students interacting and involved in learning, and when it was time to stop playing and clean up there was a collective sigh of disappointment that the time was over.   One of the key points in our text, and in the sheltered lesson plan is to make sure to give our ELLs wait time after a question is asked.  It is recommended to wait at least three seconds after asking a question to allow students time to think not only about what they are going to say, but how they are going to say it.  Wait time also allows for students to increase the depth of their answers.  I did not see much evidence of this while watching the video, as the pace of the lessons we watched moved rapidly. 

            In the lesson delivery to support language objectives this teacher mentioned that a lot of her students do not use ‘names’ on items when taking about them, often saying ‘thing’ in place of the actual name.  One of the goals this teacher has is to make sure her students are using proper names for objects when they are communicating with each other.  In all of the clips we saw all of the students were engaged and the pace of the lessons seemed fast, but appropriate as all of the students were participating.  We did not see this teacher do any formal assessment, although at one point the students were finishing up a math test. 

            This was a great video to watch it is clear that this is a teacher who is passionate about her students developing socially, emotionally and academically.  In the clips watched there were many examples of how she sheltered her lessons to meet her students needs.