After reading the "Executive Summary of the National Literacy Report on Language Minority Children", I have a few main takeaways about how to help Multilingual Students learn best. I found it very interesting that the report found that "language-minority students rarely approach the same levels of proficiency in text-level skills achieved by native English speakers". This points to the idea that it is extremely important to focus on vocabulary and other aspects of comprehension. I specifically pulled this out because I notice that my students who are Multilingual Learners often perform lower on reading comprehension assessments, and very often that is because of a lower vocabulary score. We always continue to target vocabulary with those students, and I think that is validated based on these findings because the report states that "vocabulary and background knowledge, should be targeted intensively throughout the entire sequence". The second takeaway I found interesting was that the report discussed using students' first languages to support literacy development in English. I had not thought of this previously, but it makes perfect sense. As someone who has taken a TON of Spanish classes in my lifetime, I would have been very overwhelmed if I never used English to help with learning the meanings of words or comprehension skills with Spanish literature. I loved this point of view as a way to use the first language as an additional support for these students and an asset. I think this could also be a challenge for teachers, as most of the time classroom teachers do not speak a native student's language so it can be difficult to figure out how to use that to best support that student.
Another major challenge that teachers face with engaging multilingual learners, I think, is figuring out what that student's Zone of Proximal Development is and what prior knowledge that student specifically has and needs to acquire. This can be more difficult depending on the severity of the language barrier. I think that we do a great job of addressing this challenge at LTE with our approach to personalized learning for all students, so we are constantly collecting data about our students to assess and reassess how we can best support them in all subject areas. One of the visual learning strategies that I already employ that helps multilingual learners while also supporting personalized learning is my integration of writing exemplars in the classroom. When students have a constant visual of writing expectations with examples from their classmates, it is easier to understand the expectations and simpler to set personalized goals. Another visible learning strategy in my classroom that supports multilingual learners is the mindmaps that we create together, encompassing our areas of study for science and social studies. Mindmaps help students to connect ideas together, which can help multilingual learners make meaning from more complex topics. This is also a very low-stakes activity that includes everyone, because the goal is not to evaluate our ideas right away, but just to put as many connections as we can down on paper and to work as a class to think about what we have learned. I am looking forward to reading this book. Conversations are so important in the classroom, not just for multilingual learners, but also for other students. Giving students opportunities to work together and discuss their learning helps to broaden their understanding and to see things from a different perspective. These skills are essential to building critical thinking and problem solving for all areas of life. Specifically for multilingual learners, conversations in the classroom allow students to practice oral language patterns, auditory comprehension and conversational skills, and using academic vocabulary. All of these things were discussed in the report (mentioned above) as being essential to supporting multilingual learners. I look forward to reading about different ways to integrate these conversations into my classroom.
1 Comment
Kay Tucker
4/19/2021 09:37:22 am
As we read research-based articles, there are so many key points that allow us to reflect on our current instructional strategies and the challenges we face as teachers. I agree with your thoughtful analysis of the key points that will impact our multi-lingual learners, especially the one about using their native language to help learn a second language. I wish I spoke multiple languages myself to be able to help others learn, but how hard it is to learn myself! I can't wait to see how you take the ideas from Academic Conversations and apply to your practice so that oral conversation can help all students. Nice start!!
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AuthorCourtney Hayes is currently a teacher at Lone Tree Elementary Magnet School in Colorado. She has teaching experience in both primary and intermediate grades, and is passionate about personalizing her instruction to meet the needs of all students. Archives
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