American Democracy and the Promise of Justice

Strategies

Most of my students are intermediate- to high-level ELs, but they still need reading strategies that will help them comprehend and access unfamiliar vocabulary words, context, and background knowledge. While we will not have enough time to read more than a couple of excerpts from all the books except Refugee, presenting texts in partial “chunks” is a research-proven way to increase comprehension and vocabulary knowledge. Students need to have reading materials separated into smaller segments in order to increase their comprehension, particularly those who are continuously learning language and vocabulary.²¹  For the selections from the texts and website information that we will be reading, I will have students make connections between themselves and the protagonists; build background knowledge so they can understand the excerpts; discuss and highlight new vocabulary words, and have them use the new words in class. These words and associations will help them later in the unit when they are writing.

Students at George Read have ample exposure to technology through various online learning programs and learning management systems, and are accustomed to taking assessments online. However, they still need exposure to visual and audio supports in order to grasp academic content, which they have an increased chance of doing with their own school-assigned Chromebooks. In designing this unit, I wanted to find a way to capitalize on using technology, as it increases English proficiency and leads to increased motivation and confidence.²²  Students will be researching their topics online and will be integrating text and photos into their essays and writing projects, which they will be creating in Google Docs.

I may also give students the option of using audio commentary in their projects, as they do not like speaking assignments and are not taught speaking skills in school. Additionally, I am hoping that recording themselves and embedding an audio file into their projects will help them practice for the Speaking portion of the annual WIDA ACCESS test, which requires students to wear a headset with a microphone and verbally respond to a series of questions and prompts.²³ Students’ answers are recorded and digitally evaluated by national WIDA test experts. My students detest this aspect of the ACCESS test, and are understandably concerned about speaking into a headset. Vocaroo²⁴ is a simple voice recorder that is an excellent resource for students on which to practice recording and listening to themselves, and I think this could be useful for them in preparation for their ACCESS test.

Separate from the testing environment is the fact that students do not practice speaking skills because of smartphone use and the popularity of social media and texting, and are becoming more verbally and socially isolated. They are starting to lack the ability to detect social cues because they are not spending enough time on actual verbal communication.²⁵ Students need to practice good speaking skills, and need implicit instruction to speak effectively.²⁶ This is particularly true for ELs, who may have struggled to learn and speak English for several years.