reccomendations+Julia

A recurring theme in the NLP research examined in Chapter 16 is that English learners benefit from the same type of effective instruction that is given to non-language minorities. Effective instruction characteristics include: implicit and explicit challenging of students, active involvement of all students, providing activities that students can complete successfully, scaffolding instruction through visual organizers, teacher feedback, and collaborative learning. I had 13 English language learners and 7 native English speakers in my classroom this year. Lessons were aimed at meeting all of their needs regardless of their English proficiency level. I was able to scaffold instruction through interactive writing, independent writing, read aloud, shared reading, guided reading and literacy centers. These strategies allow for student participation and interactions with the teacher, their peers and lead to independent practice. Each month we teach a new theme. This allows us to support student learning by implementing the curriculum through different activities that build upon each other and provide different levels of support. **Example of Instruction =** Plant Unit Read Aloud-I seek quality books that relate to the unit such as __The Tiny Seed__ by Eric Carle or __From Seed to Plant__ by Gail Gibbons. I read the books to the students and stop to discuss the story with students. We check for vocabulary that may be unclear and model how to clarify unknown words. I actively involve students through questions and discussions which are scaffolded to allow them to participate whether it’s through one word responses or a series of ideas. Books from Gail Gibbons also have materials that you can use to sequence the life cycle of a plant to help with retelling that can be used during reading, writing, ELD, and literacy centers. Interactive Writing-I use this time to support every writer in my room. It allows me to teach phonics in context, grammar and also allows for students to build on their prior knowledge to construct ideas that are put in writing. During our plant unit we wrote the parts of a plant and their functions as we learned about them. I then displayed it in the room so that students were able to use it as a resource for reading and writing. Independent Writing-During this time students take what they have learned about plants and use it to label their own plant, write about it, to describe in a journal what stages the seed that they planted is at, and to work collaboratively with their peers.   Literacy Centers-During literacy centers students work independent/ or with their peers to complete activities on their own that relate to the unit such as art projects, labeling of plants, sequencing stories such as __The Carrot Seed__ by Ruth Krauss and reinforce other academic subjects as well. Guided Reading-This time allows me to meet with students in small heterogeneous groups. I try to use books that students can relate to at this time such as outings to the park, planting a seed, or playing at school. It also allows me to focus on their reading needs which may differ from those of their classmates and also provides time for more student-teacher interaction to occur. Students are able to experience success because they are given the support they need to move on to higher level reading groups.
 * Recommendation **
 * Implementation **
 * Interactive/Independent Writing Interactive Writing **
 * Interactive Writing/Collaborative Group Work **