I'll be teaching a unit on Colonial Williamsburg, particularly Attitudes and Behaviors Regarding Slavery During the Colonial Period.
Kaspars is a sophomore who has moved back from Croatia to live in the states. Although his parents are American, they were missionaries so he was basically raised Croatian and has several English barriers because of his community immersion in the Croatian language. Kaspars is in the intermediate fluency stage. He sometimes has troubles with youthful expressions and terms. His English is fluent, yet stilted. And he sometimes reverts back to Croatian words in certain situations.
Dolly is my next ELL and she has moved from the Philippines. Dolly would seem to be in the Speech Emergent stage as her use of English has become more and more fluent. She tends to rely on context clues and familiar topics when she's with a teacher or a student/peer to feel more comfortable in conversation, but seems to do not need as many clues on a written assignment. Her errors in English are decreasing and she's becoming more fluent everyday.
Manuel has moved from Mexico with his family. He is living in a predominantly Mexican neighborhood and community where Spanish is spoken as the primary language. Even though he has been in the states for a few years and has been attending American schools, he is still in the beginning fluency stage as he is surrounded at home with Spanish-speaking parents, uncles and aunts. His speech is fairly fluent in English, especially in social situations at school as he has made friends with other Mexican boys who are ELLs. New contexts and academic language can be challenging, but he uses the back ELL corner to puzzle out problems and ask questions.
Natasha, a student who grew up in New York City, but had Ukrainian immigrant parents, speaks dual languages (American and Ukrainian) with an accent. Although her home life is surrounded by Ukranian speaking adults (her parents opened a Ukranian restaurant after leaving New York City), Natasha grew up in the streets of NYC playing with English-speaking children and is basically fluent in English. Natasha is considered the advanced fluency stage. She may sometimes use expressions incorrectly, but for the most part has assimilated into the American school system very well.
My best strategies for working with these four students on our Williamsburg unit, with their different phases of English Learning will be different for each child: For Kaspars who is in the intermediate fluency stage, I will first tell the entire class the story of the Williamsburg colonists and the issue of slavery in historical times. Then, for Kaspars, I would reiterate concepts from the unit and ask him questions: What is his opinion or feeling on the unit? I would introduce him to another student I feel is on the same level of learning and have them brainstorm, compare and contrast the way a settler lived back in the 1640s-1660s so I can evaluate his critical thinking skills.
Dolly, being in the Speech Emergent phase of ELL, will listen to the unit as the rest of the class. I will additionally introduce new vocabulary to her colonial terms in addition to current terms) and have her use them in sentences or short stories. I will give her a chance to show me what she's learned with new vocabulary and how she's used it in sentences. I will continually check in with Dolly throughout the unit and see how she's feeling about her vocabulary terms.
Manuel is my student in the beginning fluency stage. I will pair him with other students who are academically at his language level and have them come up with visual aids that assist the telling of the stories in the unit. I also believe his struggles with expression or gaps in vocabulary can be assisted by one-on-one sessions with either myself or his circle of student friends as they "brainstorm" together on the unit.
Natasha, my advanced fluency stage of student, I will challenge more as I work with her on the history and meaning of the unit, and work with her on a basis for a short story or a "letter" written from either the perspective of a slave or perspective a colonial slave owner (after doing additional research). I believe giving her this autonomy, additional responsibility, etc...will hit the mark in improving and progressing her English Language Learning. If she feels ready, she can present the short story or "letter" to the class.
