Writing can be one of the most difficult areas for students to develop native-like fluency, regardless of their linguistic backgrounds. It is also one of the most difficult areas to teach for students who have not had exposure to the vocabulary and sentence structures needed to be successful in writing for academic purposes.
This week, as I was coaching a native English-speaker on her informative writing, I suggested she try to vary the types of sentences she uses to help her to "sound like an expert" in her writing. Specifically, I thought that adding a few appositives would really help to move her piece to the next level. When she said she had heard of that before, but she didn't really know HOW to add appositives, I found it incredibly difficult to articulate the process to her. I could tell her where to add one, and what to say but as far as equipping her with tools to be able to do it herself...there was much left to be desired. The native English speaker in me is able to create appositives without much thought because I have read them in higher-level books, and have been writing for academic purposes for many years. Since it is something that I just do, it was incredibly difficult to explain. I found myself scanning my brain for the rules-written and unwritten that would lend itself to an appositive "tool belt" for her with minimal success. For those kiddos lacking academic language input, directly teaching the skill may be the only way they will ever learn it. In hopes that I would never be left without words again, I created an activity to help introduce the idea of appositives at the classroom level that is now available under writing resources. While you are there, check out the other resources that I have used to help my students move forward as writers this year. Happy writing!
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Welcome! I am so excited to have a format to collaborate with you. In all honesty, sometimes it's difficult for me to quiet my mind until I share my ideas...so I guess I'm not that different from my 1st graders after all...
Currently I am teaching ESL at two schools. My students fall into grades K-6 and represent 16 languages. Their language levels and needs are just as varied as the cultures they represent. I know there are many people who still believe I must be able to speak all of those languages to be able to teach my kiddos, (I still feel bad when I have to answer that question with "no")...but lucky for us, ESL is very different. ESL is a mindset. It is looking at the grade level expectations and having the vision-or savviness- to see the map to be able to get all of your kiddos to the finish line. It might be with an instructional support such as a graphic organizer, using sentence stems, or adding manipulatives, or maybe it is with a shift in your teaching strategies by using oral rehearsal or reciprocal teaching. Being an effective language teacher-with or without ESL certification-requires a keen awareness of where your students are, where they need to go, and what tools you have available to get them there. It is my hope that the strategies we share here in this blog will help to ensure that what we aspire to do becomes our new reality. Wherever your map leads you, the process of differentiating for the unique needs of your students is incredibly rewarding. If you are new to this process, don't get overwhelmed. I want to encourage you to start with one. One language level. One need. One kiddo who needs to feel successful, if only in one area. Doing something feels better than doing nothing...but doing the right thing for even just one feels amazing! As always, let me know what works for you and what you'd like to see on the site! Amber |
AuthorI am an ESL Teacher that firmly believes that the more we learn about the cultures around us, the more we discover about our own. Archives
May 2018
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