Weeks 1-3 will be spent exploring the Teachscape course site Reading and Writing for English Language Learners.
Last quarter we provided a very directed approach to the on-line portion of the course. During the first three weeks of this quarter you will explore and discuss the Reading and Writing for English Language Learners in order to improve an area of your teaching; reading, writing, or general strategies. All postings should be directed to one of the three topic ViewPoint a in the Community "CLAD Discussions" folder. Read and post first to your topic ViewPoint then participate in other ViewPoints.
As you add your comments and questions to the Teachscape Community keep in mind others will be looking for your input and feedback as well. Explore the site thoroughly and post and check in with your community often. Incorporate Brown, other readings, resources, and reflective stories as much as possible. You will be looking to improve reading, writing, or general strategies that can be shared from the ViewPoint you have chosen.
Tips on other ways to view the site:
- Watch all the videos straight through
- Listen to the videos without watching
- Replay a few seconds of video (using slide bar)
- Read all course activities before watching
- Review "Resources/Lesson Plans"
- Take chapter notes while watching videos
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ViewPoint 1: READING: With either district/school-developed English as a second language assessments and/or your own devised assessments and personal judgment, identify three students in your class -- one with a low level of English skills, one with an average level of English skills, and one with a high level of English skills. Assess where these three students are for reading. Follow these students over the next three weeks while noting your observations in the Teachscape community site. Use pseudonyms to protect privacy.
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ViewPoint 2: WRITING: Similar to the above, assess and observe three of your students with an emphasis on writing.
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ViewPoint 3: GENERAL: Compare your strategies and techniques in teaching reading and writing with one of the four featured teachers (Cheong, DeFazio, Peterson, or Tong -- note lesson plans for all four teachers can be found in the TS Resources section.) What reading strategies do you encourage in your practice? What scaffolding techniques do use in similar way to the TS teacher you have chosen? How do your techniques differ? Why do you chose to teach reading and writing in this way? Try one of the featured teachers techniques and report your efforts and reflections in the Teachscape community site.