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Title: Collaborative Writing for English Learners
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Greg Kessler writes, "Writers who have difficulty coming up with ideas or maintaining a steady flow can benefit from ... simultaneous, collaborative writing experience. They can follow the writing of others in the group or class to gain additional insights into the topic. This can help them think of potential contributions that they might offer. They can also offer suggestions to their partners for adjustments to their own writing. This kind of activity can help to raise awareness of numerous aspects of the writing process (such as drafting, revising, and incorporating feedback).
"Collaborative writing practice can also help learners understand important concepts, such as identifying purpose and understandings audience awareness. These activities can also promote more extensive writing practice, which is often recognized as important for improving writing fluency, accuracy, and complexity."
Read his recent blog post for an overview of some collaborative writing tools and techniques: http://blog.tesol.org/collaborative-writing-for-ells/
Source: TESOL Blog
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Title: Charlala: Elementary-Friendly Platform for Oral Work
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The teacher-created Charlala website allows teachers to create oral assessment prompts that students respond to online. Teachers can also create oral assignments, assign them to classes, and build rubrics for the assignments. Finally, the site also includes a tool that young students can use to draw their responses to in-class oral prompts.
Explore Charlala at https://app.charlala.com/myaccount/1559323564854x876254630656998900?resume=1559327869467x335
Read a review of this resource and get some ideas for using it at http://palmyraspanish1.blogspot.com/2019/05/use-of-charlalacom-to-engage-students.html
Source: Charlala
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Title: Study: Right Brain Crucial to Language Success
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From https://www.languagemagazine.com/2019/05/26/right-brain-crucial-to-language-success/
Right Brain Crucial to Language Success
May 26, 2019
A new study, “Speech processing and plasticity in the right hemisphere predict variation in adult foreign language learning,” published in NeuroImage, focuses on the roles played by the brain’s left and right hemispheres in language acquisition. The findings could lead to instructional methods that potentially improve students’ success in learning a new language.
The brains of 24 students of were scanned before and after a month-long intensive Mandarin program. University of Delaware cognitive neuroscientist Zhenghan Qi was surprised by the results: “The left hemisphere is known as the language-learning part of the brain, but we found that it was the right hemisphere that determined the eventual success” in learning Mandarin.
Read the full summary at https://www.languagemagazine.com/2019/05/26/right-brain-crucial-to-language-success/
The study is available at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1053811919301752
Source: Language Magazine
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Title: Ideas for Using Smartphones in the Classroom
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From https://www.brightclassroomideas.com
Nikos Prokopiou shares ideas for using different capabilities of smartphones in language classrooms, using smartphones as an asset rather than viewing them as an annoying distraction from learning: https://www.brightclassroomideas.com/using-smartphones-in-the-classroom/
Source: Bright Classroom Ideas
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Title: June 20 Is World Refugee Day
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June 20 is World Refugee Day. Larry Ferlazzo has curated some relevant online resources at http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/2009/06/18/the-best-sites-for-learning-about-world-refugee-day/
Source: Larry Ferlazzo's Websites of the Day
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Title: Collaborative Coloring as a Brain Break
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From https://lamaestralocablog.com
Annabelle Williamson shares a love for brain breaks with your InterCom editor. While many brain breaks are noisy and high-energy, this one is more relaxing and calming: hang large pictures to color around the room, and when your students need a brain break, they can take one or two colored pencils or crayons and color parts of the picture.
Read the full description and find where you can find giant coloring pages at https://lamaestralocablog.com/2019/05/12/brain-breaks-part-15-color/
Source: La Maestra Loca
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Title: Positive Feedback with Sticky Notes
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From http://misssenoritatpt.blogspot.com
Jessica from the Miss Señorita blog reminds us to give students feedback on their positive behavior, "[e]specially the students who do not always display positive behavior in your class and seek out any attention - including negative attention." She uses post-it notes on students' desks to let them know she noticed something positive that they're doing. Read her short blog post here: http://misssenoritatpt.blogspot.com/2019/05/sticky-notes-remarkably-easy-behavior.html
Source: Miss Señorita
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Title: Tech Tools, ESL, and ASL: Recent Podcasts
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Your InterCom is a big fan of the We Teach Languages podcast series. Here are some of the most recent podcasts:
First, in Episode 103, French teacher and SCOLT Teacher of the Year Heidi Trude talks about tech tools for the language classroom. Learn about Gimkit, Quizlet, Flipgrid, Google Cardboard, and more: https://weteachlang.com/2019/05/10/ep-103-with-heidi-trude/
In Episodes 104 and 105, 2018 National Teacher of the Year Mandy Manning and 2018 National Teacher of the Year finalist Amy Andersen introduce their work as ESL and ASL teachers and talk about how culture is integral to their work. Then they tell stories that illustrate how advocacy and policy intersect with their work as language teachers. Listen to Episode 104 at https://weteachlang.com/2019/05/17/ep-104-with-mandy-manning-and-amy-anderson-part-i/ and Episode 105 at https://weteachlang.com/2019/05/24/ep-105-with-mandy-manning-and-amy-andersen-part-ii/
Source: We Teach Languages
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Title: Using Visual Strategies to Deepen Students' Comprehension of Authentic Resources
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From https://passion4theprofession.com
In this first of a three-part series, the author of the passion4theprofession blog writes, "According to Robert Marzano (2001), learners use dual coding to store information in their brains: a linguistic form and an imagery form." Read her recent blog post to learn more about visual imagery and for a collection of ideas using visuals to maximize student comprehension in the target language: https://passion4theprofession.com/2019/05/14/deepening-students-comprehension-of-authentic-resources-visual-strategies/
Source: passion4theprofession
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Title: Why Translanguaging Matters to Me
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By Juan Carlos Gonzalez, CASLS Fellow
The language learning landscape is full of promise with an increasing number of immersion programs being created each year. However, simultaneously, monolingual sentiment is on the rise with language course enrollment dropping, leaving some to question why it is important to learn a second language. There are many different outcomes one wishes to attain when learning to speak another language. For me, I have found many advantages to speaking more than one language. I speak three languages: American Sign Language, which I studied for two years and use occasionally; Spanish, my first language that I speak with my family; and English, a language I started learning in elementary school in Mexico. However, since I moved to the United States, I took classes as English as Second Language in Oregon. That has been delightful with more and more knowledge and experiences being added to my repertoire. I have learned different cultures, ways of living, and customs; and I have met many people around me throughout the journey.
At first, the benefits of learning my second language never crossed my mind. I just thought that it would be because I was passionate about speaking another language, about learning new things, and most of all, my desire to explore new cultures.
Passion and motivation were essential for my journey of learning these languages, but what we can do to support and inspire those who are in that process? For example, how do we support students that already speak two or more languages in classrooms, but are still afraid to speak those languages? It is interesting to think that knowing multiple languages can influence the way you identify, your way of doing things, and, especially, your way of thinking. What is especially interesting, and useful for me, is when the languages I speak collide and work together.
Translanguaging, defined as the process by which multilingual speakers utilize their languages as an integrated communication system, is a recent framework within which we can consider this multilingual approach. Wei (2018) notes, “Over the years, Translanguaging has proven to be an effective pedagogical practice in a variety of educational contexts where the school language or the language-of-instruction is different from the languages of the learners" (p. 15). Three elements of translanguaging really resonate with my experience and are something I would like to see more of:
- The use of multiple languages around me and the resources to be able to learn about different cultures in the same classroom.
- Additional focus on the way I think and the implementation of an approach to learning a language from top to bottom, rather than bottom to top learning.
- A focus on the ways language changes people’s perceptions and ways of seeing things, helping them become more open to exploring new challenges.
Translanguaging is an essential strategy for bilingual classrooms. It can also be used very successfully in multilingual classrooms. Translanguaging pedagogy is different with young and older learners, but it is beneficial for all ages. Implementing an approach to support translanguaging practice requires an openness to innovative practice as well as control over professional development. We must clearly understand the significant benefits for learners in terms of their own language and English development, their content learning, and their social development.
References
Creese, A., & Blackledge, A. (2015). Translanguaging and Identity in Educational Settings. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 20-35. doi:10.1017/S0267190514000233
Li, W (2018). Translanguaging as a Practical Theory of Language. Applied Linguistics, 39:1, 9-30. https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amx039
Source: CASLS Topic of the Week
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