Equitable Access for English Learners, Grades K-6. Mary Soto
a Formative Assessment
We have suggested several ways teachers can use assessment to inform instruction. Get together with others who are teaching the same materials as you are and develop a simple formative assessment you could use with your students. Some of these can be effectively used by the students themselves as a self-assessment, as explained above.
Using a Gradual Release of Responsibility Model
One way to support reading and writing development for English learners at different levels of language proficiency is to use a gradual release of responsibility model. In this way, students who are less proficient receive more support either from the teacher or a more capable peer as they acquire more proficiency in reading and writing English. In the model below, beginning ELs receive lots of support from their teacher or a more capable peer, and then, little by little, they move toward independence. This model is also recommended for use with students whose home language is English.
The gradual release of responsibility model of reading and writing (Pearson and Gallagher 1983) involves several steps. Effective instruction involves gradually releasing responsibility from the teacher to the student. At first, the teacher performs the task and the student observes and begins to engage with it. Next, the teacher helps the student perform the task. Gradually, the teacher removes the support and releases the responsibility so that the student can complete the task independently. Figure 1.11 shows how the gradual release model is applied to literacy instruction.
Instruction moves from teacher support (the area below the diagonal line) to student independence (the area above the line). As the figure shows, responsibility for reading and writing rests at first entirely with the teacher. The teacher models reading by reading books aloud or telling stories. Read alouds and storytelling model for students how texts are structured and introduce the academic vocabulary and syntax of written language. A teacher models writing by engaging students in language experience as students dictate stories or information. The students can see their oral language being written down, and then the students and the teacher read the writing together.
Figure 1.11 Gradual Release of Responsibility Model
During the next stage, the teacher and students take joint responsibility for reading and writing. In shared reading, teachers often use big books so all the students can see the text. Teachers track the text as they read, and students chime in on predictable repeated sections. Interactive reading and writing may be done with the teacher or with peers. For example, teachers may read a text and have students echo what they read. The teacher may stop at certain sections so a student can continue the reading, and then the teacher may come back in. Interactive reading is often done in bilingual pairs, with one student assisting the other during the reading. During interactive writing, the teacher may sit with the student and help as needed as the student writes, or two students may work together on developing a piece of writing.
For guided reading and writing, the teacher may begin by presenting a mini-lesson to illustrate a particular skill or strategy. In guided reading, the teacher sits with small groups of students who all have a copy of the text. Students take turns reading to practice certain skills, such as predicting or using context to infer the meaning of unfamiliar words. In guided writing, the teacher works with a small group to help with specific writing skills, such as writing a good lead or deciding where to break a text into paragraphs. During guided reading and writing, the students take responsibility to read and write, focusing on certain skills under the teacher’s guidance. The final step is for students to read and write independently. Teachers should allow time for independent reading and writing each day.
Wonderfilled Way of Learning
Choose a reading from your basal program and try out the gradual release model for that selection with a group of students. After you do this, answer the following questions based on the “Wonderfilled Way of Learning,” developed by Don Howard (Freeman & Freeman, 1992).
1 What do I know about my students’ reading abilities?
2 What do I wonder about which level of support I should offer to my English learners?
3 How can I find out about how they respond to the support?
4 Plan of Action: How will I proceed to apply the gradual release model effectively for my English learners?Standards based skills: draw on background knowledge, infer/predict, createClassroom activities for the “Wonderfilled Way of Learning”:1. This activity can be used to have students explore any topic using the four question starters listed above.
Drawing on Students’ Backgrounds and Cultures
It is important to draw on what students already know about topics they will be studying. Marzano (2004) has conducted research showing that drawing on or building background is one of the most important practices teachers can use. If students already have knowledge on a topic that they developed in their home language, they may be able to access the knowledge more effectively if they are encouraged to draw on their home language resources.
Different introductory activities are excellent for helping to activate students’ previous knowledge and to share with their peers knowledge they already have. Below we list a sampling of preview activities, activities students can use before reading that activate students’ background knowledge.
1. Graffiti Wall
Have students write or draw anything they know about a topic on a large piece of butcher paper or a section of the classroom whiteboard. They can add relevant words in their home language. Read and discuss the entries together as a class.
Standards based skills: draw on background knowledge, create, ask probing questions
2. Gallery Walk
Put pictures related to the unit to be studied around the room. For example, if the unit is on life cycles, put up pictures or charts of the life cycles of different animals, insects, plants, and humans. Have students walk around the room and write comments on a sheet of paper under each of the pictures. Students can add what they know about the picture or write questions they have. They may also use their home languages to do this.
Standards based skills: draw on background knowledge, ask probing questions
3. Four Corners
Put a different picture related to the unit readings in each corner of the classroom. If studying oceans, for example, pictures could show animals that live in the sea, a beach, a coral reef, and garbage floating in the ocean. Students go to the picture that most interests them. Next, each group talks about their pictures. After a certain amount of time, each group reports back to the class what they know about the subject of the picture and any questions they have about it.
Standards based skills: analyze, evaluate, formulate opinions, support ideas with evidence
4. Inquiry Charts
Ask students what they know about a topic and what they want to learn. Record students’ ideas and put their names after their responses. Revisit the chart throughout the unit. Students can add things they have learned and additional questions they have.
Standards based skills: draw on background knowledge, explain
Drawing on Students’ Home Languages—Translanguaging
The common-sense practice that has been widely used in both ESL and bilingual classrooms