Grade 2 and 3 In Class Support

During this week I was supporting my G3 ELLs in creating their stories. Our students had to choose a fairytale and change the characters, setting or even the plot.  My classroom colleagues chose the "easy reader" books for our full support EAL students.  I read it with my students checking their comprehension along the way.

We briefly revised the story structure, talking about what makes the beginning, middle and end of a story.

After the draft was ready we began to write.  The EAL students used their editing cards and iPads to check their spelling.  When the draft was ready we reread it to make sure all parts were there and everything made sense. 

Finally the EAL students were ready to begin the publishing process.

Yubin was proud of her story about the 3 little pigs and the tiger.

I suggested to my G2 colleagues to practice a visible thinking routine called the Explanation Game. Several artifacts were placed on the tables and all the children had to work in groups discussing the objects, sharing their thinking about what they were and what they were used for. All the students had an opportunity to talk to their peers. It was a great learning experience for ELLs as they had a chance to participate in meaningful discussions with their peers of various language ability and knowledge. It was interesting to observe the exchanges of knowledge between the kids during this activity. All students benefited from it as it was yet another practice of the academic language of the unit.

Jennifer and Sak shared their thinking about an ancient necklace.

Alicia and others listened enthusiastically to George as he was explaining why he thought his artifact was from Mexico.

EFL Time

After a brief idea exchange with the Grade 2 teachers I decided to work more on the concepts of the unit to provide more time for my students to construct their understanding of the new vocabulary and to have an opportunity to apply it.

The story about Maria Martinez (Maria Montoya Martinez was a Native American artist who created internationally known pottery. She examined traditional Pueblo pottery styles.)

triggered my students’ interest, and watching a video allowed the children to see Maria making pottery. After learning about pueblo artifacts and ancient traditions we talked about who taught Maria to make pottery. The students had to think about what they learned from their families.