Discussion Post #3: Writing-to-learn and the reading-writing connection

"Writing to learn" is the next stage after learning to write. When a student writes to learn, they are taking responsibility for their learning and making autonomous choices. It is important because "learning to write and writing to learn...are intertwined...Collecting and organizing thoughts to communicate ideas and feelings lead to understanding and learning."(Richardson, Morgan, & Fleener, 2012, pp. 214,215) When students are writing to respond to a content area, they must consider: reliable sources, evidence, and sometimes various points of view on the topic. If the student is writing a story, they must adhere to the structure of a good story: setting, characters, problem, solution, and engaging plot/details. As an ESOL teacher, I teach all four domains of languages as synchronously as possible. So, I am conscientious that reading (input) and writing (output) go hand in hand. Each domain supports and strengthens the other. According to the text, teachers should move away from "on-demand writing," which is responding to prompts and preparing for tests - on to "authentic writing," which can start as soon as a student learns how to write and continue into adulthood. Authentic writing has personal purpose. It can be personal expression or serve to solve a problem, for example, a letter to the country executive about a real problem. As an ESOL teacher, I also try to stay aware of the cognition (thinking) and metacognition (thinking about what you are thinking)in the writing process. Metacognitive skills can be practiced and strengthened especially in the pre-writing stage and during collaboration or reciprocal teaching/learning. As ESOL Newcomers, working with a partner and/or small group is effective with generating ideas, vocabulary, and expressions - as long as students are guided to help constructively. This part was very challenging for me because, it is more difficult for me to facilitate and guide while students are translanguaging. Ultimately, (after teacher modeling, explaining, facilitating, and encouraging) the responsibility to write to learn lies with the student according to their motivation. One area in which I disagree with the emphasis on writing content is the downplaying of writing conventions. As an ESOL teacher, spelling and grammar are as much part of the content as the meaning and concepts. I understand that we want students to take risks in expressing their ideas without being inhibited or slowed down by perfection. However, I think the trend of content first has made both students and teachers a little lazy about adhering to standard language conventions. Overall, there has to be a balance of encouraging self-motivation and expressing without ignoring conventions of writing. I think some of that carefulness can be addressed along the way in the writing process, starting with teacher modeling, discussions, graphic organizers/prewriting, drafts, editing, final publishing, and self-assessments - and this with rubrics to keep both content and conventions of English in mind along with way.

 One topic that I teach is vocabulary for body parts/health. In the textbook, there is a dialogue/story of a group of friends talking about an accident one student had and the the parts of his body that were hurt (leg, knee, wrist). For preparation, students copy the vocabulary into a Frayer model-based graphic organizer. Because it takes practice repetition of about 10-15 times to internalize a new word, we will also play a number of games throughout the unit, and not just for pre-writing. "Reinforcement may be particularly important for ELLs because may ELLs will have less exposure to English words outside of the school environment than their native English-speaking peers." (Graves, August, & Mancilla-Martinez, 2013, p. 39 For their first draft, I like to have students draw, comic-book style) in panels, labeling pictures and showing dialogue with speech bubbles. Students drew and wrote about their own personal experiences with accidents, labeling parts of the body and using accident-related vocabulary. As students orally shared their own experience, they practiced the vocabulary while also expressing their authentic voices by relating details about their home country/culture. Assistance is provided by me (as I model and facilitate), by materials (anchor charts, content picture dictionaries, bilingual dictionaries, rubrics, etc) and by their peers as they work together. Reflection is done throughout. Students self-assess both with the rubric as well as providing constructive feedback for a partner. As the facilitator, I try to walk the delicate balance of encouraging and suggesting, while helping students make corrections to writing conventions.

 References:

 Richardson, J.S., Morgan, R.F., & Fleener, C.E. (2012). Reading to Learn in the Content Areas, Eight Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

 Graves, M.F, August, D., & Mancilla-Martinez, J. (2013). Teaching Vocabulary to English Language Learners. Alexandria, Va: TESOL International Association.

Task #2 - 12 Principles for Effective Content Teachers

There are 12 guiding principles to use as tools for literacy that are based on theory and best practices. 1) Importance of learner's personal experience and background knowledge. This is not only about students' literal prior/background knowledge, but also their experience and attitude towards a concept.  2) Learning through language. Students need communicative skills (listening, reading, writing, speaking), but if all of the language skills are not used integratively, then the teaching will not be effective. 3) 21st century learning goes beyond the communicative arts. Literacy now applies to more than the written word. Some examples are: computer literacy, visual literacy, and technological literacy. Computers have changed the way we communicate and learn. 4) Using language in more than mode. Standard English (SE) should not be the gold standard.. This is especially true for English Language Learners (ELLs) Students should be able to use translanguaging and code switching to help them navigate concepts in English. Practicing literacy skills in two language will strengthen their critical thinking skills. 5) Discourses vary according to content area. With each content area comes not only different vocabulary, but a different sort of culture or way of thinking. In areas such as math and science, SE is required along with specific language structures.
6) Learning as a rewarding experience. Positive feelings will definitive help with motivation and learning. Teachers need to model enthusiasm for the content as well as show patience and flexibility. 7) Critical reading leads to better thinking. Facts are important but higher order thinking skills, such as analyzing and inferring, are more important when it comes to reading comprehension. 8) Students need to always read for meaning. From new readers to adults, we can better comprehend when we are in charge of pursuing our interests. 9) Don't use assumptive teaching. It is impossible to avoid completely, but teachers should try not to assume that students know certain skills and concepts or that they can transfer what they know from their home language to English. 10) Use instructional practices that enable students to learn. Use brain-based learning practices and meet students where they are. 11) The goal for content reading is for students to become independent learners. Instead of "two-finger thinking", students should feel in control of their own learning. 12) Use literacy tools to help students develop learning strategies in learning content material. Teachers have to move far beyond the traditional "lecture" method. Tapping into different forms of literacy as well as using strategic instruction beyond the textbook, will help student learn and set their own trajectory for learning.

All of these guiding principles really apply to me as an ESOL teacher of newcomers, especially because, if I relied on traditional literacy teaching strategies, I'd be dead in the water as far as being effective. Principles #1 and #9 are what I use all the time in assessing what my students already know since they come from a wide variety of English language skills, formal education, abilities, and life experiences that are more varied than that of the average American student. While I can't assume anything, I also have to draw on their other literacies (#3) and make the content appealing and meaningful to them (#8).  Allowing students to use different levels of translanguaging and code switching (#4) depending on when they are working independently, in pairs, in small groups, or in whole class, will help make learning a rewarding experience (#6). Ideally, when ESOL students build confidence in using social English language along with academic English, they become more autonomous learners (#11).  However, teaching academic language is more than just vocabulary and sentence frames. Discourse structures for different content areas must be taught and practiced with their peers (#2, #5, #11, #12). For me, teaching critical thinking (#7) while teaching English as a new language is one of the most challenging principles. Since I can't assume anything about their previous education in their home country, I also can't assume that they practiced critical thinking skills. For example, the skill of inferring is difficult enough to teach native English speakers, but seemingly impossible in a second language. Therefore, I have to do a lot of assessing, differentiated instruction and baby steps. Even if students have critical thinking skills, the anxiety and trauma that some students bring with them makes rote learning more comfortable to them. Therefore, critical thinking skills are essential but have to be eased into in the course of the school year. Students need and deserve instruction that enables them to learn (#10), with emphasis on the word "enable". For example, last year, I was teaching a story-based lesson about accidents and parts of the body. Some of my teenage students had very little formal education. I used a variety of strategies, facilitating in all four language domains  (reading, writing, listening, speaking), as well as variety of literacy skills. Students read the story, watched videos, played games to learn the key vocabulary, drew and labeled pictures of a personal experience when they had an accident, worked in small groups to tell their story and assist each other with language, and finally writing personal narratives.