Language Arts

To find sample lesson plans : Florida Department of Education's TeachIn Florida.com web site has teamed up with Gateway to Educational MateralsSM (GEM) in order to meet common goals, to improve the way teachers find materials and resources they need to be the most effective in the classroom. Check out the sites below to find a sample lesson plan to modify. You may also use a lesson plan that you have already developed. The format of the lesson plan does not matter, so you can use any format that you have been given or taught.

http://www.teachinflorida.com/TeacherToolKit/LessonPlans.asp

http://www.geminfo.org/

http://www.thegateway.org/

1. Review the stages of second language acquisition (the Natural Approach) handouts. Use the four stages and their descriptions to modify for the four levels of English proficiency.
2. Review the Cummins' Quadrants handouts. Use this tool to analyze the materials, instruction, and activities/assignments/assessments in terms of their degree of context and cognitive complexity and make adjustments as necessary.
3. Remember your two goals for English language learners: 1) Comprehensible instruction; 2) English language development. The modifications you add to the lesson plan will address both areas.
4. Carefully read the lesson plan.
5. Write your analysis of the lesson according to Cummins' quadrants above the Standards section.
6. Examine the Sunshine State Standards & Florida Process Standards--can ESOL students at all 4 levels meet the standards if appropriate modifications are made?   If yes, leave as is. If no, indicate which part cannot be met and suggest an alternative. This lesson's standards can be met by ELL students at the top three levels, but making inferences based on text is not possible for preproduction students. Therefore, a modification is necessary not only in how they learn and demonstrate the objectives but also in the objective itself. For language arts standards, the Language Arts through ESOL (1999) guide from the Florida Department of Education can provide ideas.
7. Evaluate the list of materials. Are there additional materials that would help an ELL comprehend the topic (e.g., picture dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, Inspiration concept map, clip art, software, etc.)?   Revisit this list again after modifying for all levels.
8. Consider the preparation--does the teacher need to prepare additional support for ELL students?   Revisit this again after modifying for all levels.
9. For each step of the procedure, analyze whether a pre-production student can comprehend the presentation/activity and how the student can be actively involved.

•  Procedure 1--Yes, the visuals will help, but a picture of a cheerleader and a sports team might help the student understand better.

•  Procedure 2--The pre-production student can follow the cheer chorally.

•  Procedure 3--The pre-production student can watch and pay attention to the words written on the chart paper.

•  Procedure 4--The pre-production student can point to pictures and answer simple yes/no answers (e.g., point to the penguins, is the penguin happy?--teacher smiles and gestures to get the point across).  

•  Procedure 5--When reading the book, use visuals, props, gestures, etc. to help the pre-production students assign meaning to new words in English (think of the Farsi penguin story).  

•  Procedure 6--Pre-production student can watch and listen.

•  Procedures 7 & 8--Ask the pre-production student to point and act out simple commands. Show a picture of the judge and show his expression when the class answers the How question.

•  Procedure 9--Depict predictions graphically on the board.

•  Procedure 10--List the words on the board and ask students to demonstrate them and/or act them out.

•  Procedure 11--Pre-production student can write new words in her/his journal and look them up in a bilingual dictionary as necessary, The pre-production student can fill in a diagram with pictures and words to indicate the sequence of events.

•  Procedure 12--The assessment must be completely modified for the pre-production student. See next item for details.

•  For the assessment, consider how the pre-production student can demonstrate what s/he learned from the lesson (i.e., new vocabulary, sequence of a story, etc.) and how s/he can demonstrate alternate ways of meeting the standards (e.g., non-verbally). A pre-production student cannot write a paragraph in English, so a different form of assessment must be provided. A matching form with new words and pictures would be appropriate. The teacher could also create a story map with blanks left for pictures and vocabulary highlighted in the lesson. In addition, the map could require students to draw a picture for a word or vice versa, and it could be left open-ended for the student to make a different ending to the story. Inspiration works well for creating these types of activities.

1. For the extension activity, careful follow-up with a bilingual aide (if available) can reinforce the concept of predictions/future events in the native language (at the pre-production stage, most of the language used focuses on the here and now to allow comprehensibility, so the future needs to be depicted through diagrams and can be reinforced through native language support when possible).
2. Repeat steps 6 through 11 for the remaining three levels of proficiency. Look at the chart with the teacher behaviors, student behaviors, and student modifications for each level and apply it to each step. Be sure to add tasks that have adequate contextual support, pair and small group interaction, and the appropriate types of questions for each stage. Increasing the context (for all stages) and the interactivity (especially for students at early production stage and higher) helps comprehensibility as well as language development.
3. Consider whether students from different cultures would have adequate background knowledge of the topic or if additional context and explanations are necessary. If additional explanation is necessary, write a cultural objective. Also, if a cultural topic is mentioned that your ELL could provide information about (e.g., if it is a story about Mexican children and your ELL is from Mexico), write an objective to involve the ELL student and her/his family in explaining the cultural aspect.
4. Considering the topic and objectives of the lesson and the four levels of English proficiency, write a vocabulary objective followed by a list of vocabulary of focus for ESOL students as well as a linguistic objective for English language learners.