Preparing an Engaging Social Studies Lesson for English Language Learners
By: Kristina Robertson and Colorín Colorado (2010)
Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from the learner; put yourself in his place so that you may understand…what he learns and the way he understands it.
— Soren Kierkegaard
Consider the following scenario:
A fifth-grade teacher was preparing her class to learn about the American Revolution. She enlisted the students' help in acting out the events that led to the Revolution with elaborate props and exercises. When the class ended, the students were told they would read more about the Revolution the following day. As they left the room, an ESL student stopped and asked urgently, "But who won?"
This situation highlights some of the challenges that teachers face when helping English language learners, or ELLs, master social studies content:
Background knowledge
ELLs may not have the same background knowledge that their peers have or that textbook authors take for granted, as explained in this video clip with ELL teacher Amber Prentice.
Different perspectives
ELLs bring their own valuable and important experiences to the classroom. Often those experiences can be connected to the content in meaningful ways; however, if different points of view or ideas aren't expressed or identified, students may miss key concepts and ideas in the lesson.
Academic language and vocabulary
ELLs must learn the academic language and vocabulary needed to comprehend and produce new content — all while learning the new content and concepts at the same time!
For content-area teachers with limited experience working with ELLs, planning a lesson that engages them and helps them learn new material may seem daunting. The good news is that there are a number of ways to engage ELLs with social studies content and draw on their own unique background knowledge and perspectives. This article will describe some strategies for planning social studies lessons with ELLs in mind.
In addition, I recommend taking a look at the following resources:
Social Studies Websites: Recommended Resources
Teaching Content Areas to ELLs
Language Acquisition: An Overview
Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas by Judie Haynes and Dr. Debbie Zacarian (ASCD, 2010), which I will refer to throughout the article.
Preparing an Engaging Social Studies Lesson for English Language Learners
By: Kristina Robertson and Colorín Colorado (2010)
Instruction begins when you, the teacher, learn from the learner; put yourself in his place so that you may understand…what he learns and the way he understands it.
— Soren Kierkegaard
Consider the following scenario:
A fifth-grade teacher was preparing her class to learn about the American Revolution. She enlisted the students' help in acting out the events that led to the Revolution with elaborate props and exercises. When the class ended, the students were told they would read more about the Revolution the following day. As they left the room, an ESL student stopped and asked urgently, "But who won?"
This situation highlights some of the challenges that teachers face when helping English language learners, or ELLs, master social studies content:
Background knowledge
ELLs may not have the same background knowledge that their peers have or that textbook authors take for granted, as explained in this video clip with ELL teacher Amber Prentice.
Different perspectives
ELLs bring their own valuable and important experiences to the classroom. Often those experiences can be connected to the content in meaningful ways; however, if different points of view or ideas aren't expressed or identified, students may miss key concepts and ideas in the lesson.
Academic language and vocabulary
ELLs must learn the academic language and vocabulary needed to comprehend and produce new content — all while learning the new content and concepts at the same time!
For content-area teachers with limited experience working with ELLs, planning a lesson that engages them and helps them learn new material may seem daunting. The good news is that there are a number of ways to engage ELLs with social studies content and draw on their own unique background knowledge and perspectives. This article will describe some strategies for planning social studies lessons with ELLs in mind.
In addition, I recommend taking a look at the following resources:
Social Studies Websites: Recommended Resources
Teaching Content Areas to ELLs
Language Acquisition: An Overview
Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas by Judie Haynes and Dr. Debbie Zacarian (ASCD, 2010), which I will refer to throughout the article.
การแปล กรุณารอสักครู่..
