The SEI Strategies

At a Title 1 school, I witnessed a normal one classroom with a variety of student groups. For instance, those who had difficulty understanding concepts in English, those who only had a passing familiarity with the language, and those who spoke and wrote it with ease. Depending on their level of knowledge, these groups of students received varying levels of treatment. The teacher made sure that all of the students were on the same level by having strategies for dealing with every type of student. I saw that the teacher placed the students in groups in a way that promoted conversation and idea sharing. He compared people who had trouble understanding English or were slow learners to those who spoke it well. This ensured that the low learners learned from the fast learners. They discussed ideas and concepts that were taught in class. The content area observed was Social Studies and therefore the teacher gave its objectives at the start of the lesson (Okhremtchouk & Gonzalez, 2014). The objectives contained what the teacher would deliver during the lesson or what the students were expected to know by the end of the class.

To improve understanding, the teacher included some activities in his lesson on “cultural diversities”. He requested every student to narrate a story on their beliefs as a community in front of the whole class and this made them appreciate different cultures in the country. He later told them to write a paragraph in their vernacular and exchange within themselves for reading. The students realized that they could only read but could not understand. By so doing, the teacher gave them an opportunity to discover the different cultures and their importance.

To ensure understanding of the content, the teacher used a number of strategies. The first strategy was the development of vocabulary and language- before he explained new concepts, he first highlighted and discussed the available vocabularies (Jimenez-Silva, et.al., 2016). The second strategy was encouraging the students to sit in groups of three or four for effective interaction and discussion. In the groups, the students explained concepts in any language that they could understand. They used both English and mother tongue to ensure understanding. The teacher also repeated some concepts and words for the students to memorize and understand.

Towards the end of the class, the teacher asked some questions to verify whether the concept was understood (Klingner, 2014). He called students by their names and told them to share what they had learnt and areas were they needed clarification. I observed that the whole class understood the concept of culture and their attitude towards different cultures had changed. The teacher later gave a test and more than half of the total students had excellent performance. In conclusion, teachers should have certain strategies of teaching English Language Learner students for them to understand and be at the same level with other students who are fluent in English.

References

Jimenez-Silva, M., Rillero, P., Merritt, J., & Kelley, M. F. (2016). Working together to prepare teachers of science and language: Examining the value of collaboration among science and language faculty. Electronic Journal of Science Education, 20(3).

Klingner, J. K., Boelé, A., Linan‐Thompson, S., & Rodriguez, D. (2014). Essential components of special education for English language learners with learning disabilities: Position statement of the Division for Learning Disabilities of the Council for Exceptional Children. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 29(3), 93-96.

Okhremtchouk, I., & González, T. (2014). Meeting the needs of English language learners: Perspectives from Arizona’s Latino/a teachers. Association of Mexican American Educators Journal, 8(1).