English Websites Post #3

Internet4Classrooms is a website that provides a variety of resources for teachers and students of all ages. The site is broken down into clearly defined different sections.  The Grade Level help section is geared at students from Pre-K to 8th grade and provides skill builder assistance.  The links for Pre-K to 12 provides links for teachers and students to activities for classroom use and extra practice.  This section can be broken down into certain content areas and grades.  By searching the content area and school level, one can find links on different topics, often labeled  by activity such as quiz, interactive activity, printable, etc.  There are also sections that offer technology tutorials for teachers and assessment assistance to help teachers prepare for various assessments, including standardized tests.
I will use this site in the classroom in a variety of ways.  The links to interactive activities could be used directly in the classroom.  I would also use the links to grammar activities for warm-ups and practice questions.  I have seen some of the sentence combining activities used in the classroom at my school and they have proven to be effective.  I would have the class take group quizzes or class quizzes.  I would also encourage students to use the site on their own for additional practice.  I enjoy that the website will offer multiple links geared to a specific topic, like bibliographies.  I think this will help students find a link that is helpful to them when they need out of class assistance.  I would also encourage their exploration of the SAT/ACT prep program.  Even our younger high schoolers could benefit from more practice in preparation for future standardized assessments.

 Genocide Watch is a website aimed at learning from past genocides and preventing and intervening in present genocides and mass murders.  The site offers definitions for genocide and different aspects of it, including stages of genocide and denials of genocide.  It provides a plethora of articles on genocides that have occurred or are occurring around the world.  It also focuses on areas at risk of genocide, allows one to search by region or issue, and offers ways to get involved in ending genocide.

The students in my class will explore genocides that have occurred since the Holocaust as we read Night.  I would use this site to help the students find further information on the topic they choose.  The project will be completed in groups so I believe the students will be able to use the site effectively together even though it may be written above their reading level.  I will also provide guidance on which sections of the site or particular articles each group should read to ensure reliable and appropriate research is occurring.  though this site will not be our primary source of information, i believe providing a second website will challenge the students and provide a deeper understanding of how to conduct proper research.  Ninth grade students need to practice research, so that they are able to effectively conduct it throughout the rest of their years in high school and into college.

Inquiry Project Post #2

 

How does a child’s cultural background affect ELL literacy?   

Cultural background is a very important topic to consider when teaching ELL students.  Many people may think ELL students are typically immigrants to America, but that is certainly not the case.  According to Batalova, Fix, and Murray, 57 percent of ELL students in American schools were born inside the United States(2005).  When we look further into these students’ home lives, we find that many are third generation Americans.  These students face difficulty in school because their families do not speak English as their primary language at home.  They may also have challenges with becoming literate due to the circumstances in which they are raised.  Some students live in migrant families who travel several times a year in search of work (Short, et al, 2007).  Others may live in transient housing within a region, but still suffer from interruptions in schooling (Rooney, 2009).  

Immigrant ELL students face varying challenges based on native culture differences with US culture, immigration status, expectation of remaining in the US, and economic status of their family.  Immigrants whose culture is very different from America have a much harder time adjusting to expectations in school.  Also, students who have moved to America following a traumatic experience, such as fleeing a war torn country, have many stresses to overcome besides a literacy barrier.  If students do not anticipate remaining in our country, they, and their families, may be less concerned with educational success and assimilation.  The economic status of many immigrant ELL students is very poor.  59% of immigrant ELL students live in homes with incomes 185% below the poverty line (Batalova, et al, 2005). 

Many ELL students, whether they are native born Americans or immigrants, also face the overwhelming challenge that they are the primary English speakers in their families.  As any child development class would tell you, oral proficiency and literacy is a result of proper education in school that relies heavily on home instruction and reinforcement.  If students do not have such support outside of school, they are going to pick up the language more slowly.  The adolescent ELL student is at a severe disadvantage as they have a shorter amount of time to master the language and are still expected to learn the content course material.  In the case of many ELL students, this content material is not only challenging due to the language barrier but also due to their lack of context for the subject matter.

It is clear that ELL students are a very diverse population within our schools.  As the number of ELLs in US schools climbs past the 5 million students, we must learn to take cultural differences into account when we plan ELL instruction so we may provide the best education possible to these children. 

Batalova, J., Fix, M., & Murray, J. (2005). English language learner adolescents: Demographics and literacy achievements. Report to the Center for Applied Linguistics.Washington, DC: Migration Policy Institute.

Short, D. J., and Fitzsimmons, S. (2007) Double the Work. Carnegie Corporation of New York: New York. Alliance for Excellent Education. Retrieved from www.all4ed.org/files/DoubleWork.pdf. 

Rance-Rooney, J. (2009). Who are adolescent ells?. Supporting English Language Learners, 66(7), 32-37.

English Websites Post # 2

Great Source iwrite

Great Source iwrite is a website that focuses on the writing process. It is broken in to three sections:  educators, students and their parents.  In each section, the audience is provided with resources to facilitate effective writing skills, primarily in five specific forms of writing, narrative, persuasive, expository, research and response to literature.  iwrite provides templates, tutorials, graphic organizers, videos and a grammar handbook to illustrate how to write effectively in each form.  There is also a section on the writing process that provides a walk through of each of the four steps, prewriting, writing, revising and editing.  The six traits of effective writing are also a main focus of iwrite.  This website is a great source for writing instruction and it is simple enough that once introduced, students could explore it on their own to assist their writing out of class.

I would first introduce this website in class.  As my students will be exploring a personal narrative in my unit, I will use the website to review the characteristics of narrative writing and later introduce different graphic organizers to assist them in completing their own narrative writing piece. If possible, I will utilize the website to cover the writing progress as they progress through the assignment.  I would also use the website to cover grammar. After I have introduced the website to the students, I would encourage them to review the site at home for assistance with their writing assignments. If all students had easy access to the Internet on a daily basis, I would consider assigning reviews of certain aspects of writing as homework to prepare them for the next day's activity.

Grammar Bytes!

Grammar Bytes is a website that focuses on grammar. It provides definitions, examples, videos, presentations, handouts and exercises for grammar rules and terms.  It is very informative and user friendly.  I can see using this site in my classroom frequently.  The presentations explain each topic very well and provide great examples. I would introduce the site to the students in class and demonstrate how the exercise section works. The ninth graders I have encountered so far in my career have been fairly weak in grammar and I believe providing them with a website to use at home, in conjunction with our classwork, will help them develop these skills.  The exercise section in particular will be helpful as they can quiz themselves on what we have covered in class. I would periodically assign quizzes to complete and strongly advise students to practice on their own before any grammar assessments we have in class.

Inquiry Project Group Assignments

English Language Learners and Literacy

Vocabulary development in the secondary content area classroom - Jimmy Chrismer
Written comprehension in the secondary content area classroom - Dorothy Hughes
Influence of educational and cultural background on literacy - Tiffany Cheyne