Part I: Preparing the Lesson Plan
Holding ELLs to high expectations
I think some of the challenges for ELLs is going to be make sure that, is going to make sure that we, that they have accessibility to really high standards, to the standards themselves.
I don't think that ELL students are being held to that standard across the nation today. I think a decodable text is given to those students and once they master a decodable text, it's deemed that they've reached success in reading when in actuality I think that we kind of need to up the ante on what kind of curriculum we're providing them with.
So one example I can share with you is one project, a performance assessment that I did with my first graders is we looked at natural disasters and we compared the tsunami in Japan last year with the drought that we have here in New Mexico.
And I think really providing them with higher level, higher thinking, Bloom's Taxonomy, those tasks are what are developed around that ideology, they really have the performance to shine and to demonstrate proficiency in a variety of ways.
Vertical alignment between the grades
I think the types of professional development that teachers are going to need are most importantly for them to familiarize themselves with the standards. I would say that would be the most — the first thing that they should do. Really look at the scope of what the standards are for their grade are going to look like. And more importantly I think vertical articulation among different grades. So for example I teach first grade. I think it would be a really good idea for me to look at those standards that are going to be required of kindergarten students as well as second grade students so I can see where they're coming in and where they're going to go.
My fear was that a lot of the scripts that we had to write out for this lesson that we've worked on would be insulting to teachers. My understanding was this was a lesson to be developed for certified teachers. If you're a certified teacher, I feel that, you know, you should have some level of creativity to decide how and which direction the lesson is going to go. So I guess my initial understanding was that we were going to provide a really good frame as opposed to an in-depth step-by-step lesson to really guide teachers.
I think that we're in a good place. I'm in a good place because I've learned so much. You know, maybe teachers don't have the resources that some of us have here. Maybe they don't have the technology that we have. And I think that one really fundamental important thing about this lesson is that teachers are going to be able across the country to pick it up and reference it as how they choose. But they will get an actual scripted out, step-by-step guide as to what a model lesson, or an exemplary lesson, looks like.
How reading lessons will change
This is my sixth year teaching and I feel that, you know, I can develop a pretty decent lesson at the drop of a hat. And now with our work within the cadre and with help from Dr. August, I have found that, you know, I probably won't pick up a book the same way again. You know, picture walks are really essential. Really going over that vocabulary. Really having those physical responses tied to the vocabulary.
And I feel that that's important for all kids, not just ELL students, especially for first grade. So I think really kind of that self-reflection, that reflection of, "Okay. This is what I'm going to do. This is how I'm going to do it. And this is why it's going to be best for kids."
It's going to look a lot different. You really got to put some time and effort and really think about what you're providing those kids with in terms of vocabulary, what they're getting out of the story, retelling. That's a huge standard that we had in first grade. And, you know, one thing is I look at the Common Core Standards and I think that's the minimum.
That's sort of what we're required to do and I think that within my cadre and a lot of the discussion that we've had and me as a teacher, I feel that it's really important to kind of look at it as the minimum and take your kids beyond that, especially ELL learners, ELL students.
Early exposure to non-fiction
I think early exposure to non-fiction types of books are really, really crucial for students. One activity that we did recently is we're studying the properties of matter so we read a short book on solids, liquids, and gasses. And then that day I told the kids they were going to eat lunch with me in the classroom. So they were kind of freaked out like, "Okay. What's this about?" And so the kids went to the cafeteria, got their lunches. Some of them brought their lunches. And we opened up their lunches and I posed an essential question.
And that essential question was, "Does my lunch matter?" And so they were able to take apart their food and their drinks and decide which property that food item went into. And I really think the reason I did that is because I think the more exposure they get to meaningful real-life kind of learning and making those connections really helps those kids. Really helps — I'm sorry — all kids. Really helps all kids. So I think that exposure to non-fiction allows all students to make that connection with their real life and basing any sort of project or writing on real-life experiences.
I really try to hook my kids using non-fiction with famous people. And that is one thing that they truly love is they love learning about people in the past and so I know one book that we read recently was on Neil Armstrong. And that really resonated with the kids because here in New Mexico we have the New Mexico Space Port and Richard Branson has piloted that and that's here in New Mexico. So we read the life, the autobiography of Neil Armstrong.
And so the kids really were engaged with that and again could tie that into New Mexico because the Space Port is here. So that's one example. We've had Earth Day recently so we talk about the importance of recycling. One book that we're looking at now within our small reading groups is a book called Save Paper, Save Trees. And that talks about the importance of recycling at school and at home.
Writing in first grade
First off, the climate of my class, the kids that I have, they are writers. They love to write. So one of the things that we do is we have a daily warm up and what that has been for the month of April is NASA's picture of the day. So we talk about that. They write about some thoughts on whatever the picture of the day is. One really important project or assignment that we do every day is we have gratitude journals. So the kids write about something that they're thankful for every day.
And it can be something really simple like, you know, "My mom made tacos and I had a great dinner." It could be something like that. And before, the first couple months of school, I would model the prompt for them, but now they're really independent with those and some of the ideas that they come up with are just I mean one kid came up with, you know, "I'm thankful for trash cans," or, "I'm thankful for banks." And really random things, but it really gets the juices flowing with that. So that's one way.
I believe that writing truly can be integrated into all areas. So any time we do science, we do a science project, we write. We're doing a class one today on which is hotter — this week on which is hotter, red or green chili? 'Cause chili's like the number one crop in our state. So, you know, we talk about it, then they got to write the hypothesis. So we really integrate writing into all areas. Even read-to-self time and that's when they get that opportunity to look at books that they want to look at. Sometimes they'll ask, you know, can I write about what the story was about? And I say, "Absolutely." So really, truly trying to integrate writing into all academic areas.
They can do anything. They can write. You know what? My kids could write a thesis statement. And I think again, setting those high expectations. We hear that all the time, "Well, I set high expectations for my students." Well, what does that mean? It truly means engaging them and teaching them and adapting any sort of concept. Whether it's a concept that may be taught in sixth grade. Whether, you know, it can be adapted for first grade and those kids, my kids can accomplish any one of those goals. My kids recently had the opportunity to pick a topic of their choice to research. Some of them picked, one of them did the book Hugo. I mean one of them did the chapter book Hugo. Some kids did butterflies. One kid did Vikings 'cause he has a fascination for medieval and Vikings and knights and that kind of — those types of things.
So one really important tool that I think works for all kids, especially ELL students are rubrics. And we have a rubric for any project that we do and we talk about the rubric. Oftentimes it's a student-made rubric so we'll discuss what kind of learning criteria should be on that rubric. And I think it serves... One of my kids said, you know, I had asked them, "Why do we do rubrics?" And she had said, "Rubrics are like a really good roadmap." And that's exactly right. If that criteria's explicitly outlined beforehand, then I think that those ELL kids can really, truly perform and meet proficiency if they are given a clear-cut visual as to what's expected of them.
Isiah: A Student Success Story
I would say the biggest success story that I have had, I've taught six years, and that's happened this year. This is a little boy and his name is Isaiah. And he came to first grade reading at a pre-primer level. So on the DRA that's a preschool level. And, you know, it's been just this productive journey that we've done together. And, you know, his mom is very supportive. I'm not so sure she knew exactly how to tutor him and what he needed in terms of that home support. So I came, she came in. We met once a week and I taught her how to tutor him at home.
Another great milestone for him was that I just decided as a teacher that I was going to do whatever it took to get him to where he needs to be. And I know part of the problem that he had when he started first grade is immediately he was able to recognize that he was below his peers. And as a teacher, when you see that, it's truly heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking to see that because he acknowledged that he was underperforming in comparison to everybody else.
So some of the things that we did together is we had individual reading and writing conferences at least twice a day. So I made sure that him and I had that special designated time twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. And, you know, it got to the point after these conferences that he would say, you know, if I ever forgot, he'd say, "Miss Nava, you forgot to conference with me." So I mean he got into this habit of really making sure that we had that time.
And one other positive change that I noticed was that he was really blossoming in his confidence. And I knew at the beginning that's initially what it was, a confidence issue. But this little boy had a hard time even composing a complete sentence. He had a really hard time with his reading. And so I feel that, you know, that conference time that we had each other in combination with his mom supporting him at home has really helped. And I can say now that it's the end of April and he's reading at a Level 18.
And for people that don't know what that means, that's already second grade. So here's somebody that started over one full grade level behind and now he's going to already go into second grade being prepared. And, you know, one thing is that we have a non-fiction writing test that we have to give three times a year. And I a month ago gave the prompt and it was that kids had to write about somebody that they admire. And he wrote, "I admire Miss Nava because she taught me how to read."
So he's by far the biggest success story that I've had as a teacher. And as a teacher, you can't buy that. You can't buy that.
Part II: After the Lesson
This lesson is designed around a book called Burro's Tortillas by Terri Fields. And the group within my cadre decided to use this book because all of our students were familiar with the story The Little Red Hen. And so our group decided to make the story more culturally relevant and use this Southwest version, living here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to incorporate this cultural meaning to our students.
They love this book. They love this book. They love The Little Red Hen. They love folk tales. That's one of the main genres that we look at for first and second grade. So again, what they really enjoy doing is making those connections with other stories in stories that we've previously read and expand upon those.
We're going to do a comparison chart, like a Venn diagram. And so that's one of the most important standards is for kids to be able to make those text-to-text connections. And the kids were able to do that right off the bat. So when we read The Little Red Hen the first time and then introduced Burro's Tortillas, kids right away said, "Oh, I recognize that this is like The Little Red Hen. The story is similar." And then another little boy brought up Mañana Iguana so another story that he felt was similar to the Burro's Tortillas. So that's a really important standard in second grade is making those text-to-text connections.
The vocabulary was really important to teach the kids the content of the story. And so we did that through having the part of the lesson done on PowerPoint. So the kids got to be familiar with the vocabulary through partner talk, working collaboratively, and trying to gain understanding of all of the language and all of the rendering of the text with Burro's Tortillas. I think that's really important so that ELL students can gain the confidence to express themselves in their language. So that's one component that we use throughout the entire lesson. Every day we did partner talk and they got to discuss certain parts of the text within their groups.
I said, "So raise your hand if you've never had a tortilla before in your life." And none of them raised their hand. Here in New Mexico that's part of our culture. We eat tortillas. So one interesting aspect was having all of this, the items displayed for, on a table for the realia component. And so one of the items was a metate and a tortillera. So a lot of the kids were unfamiliar with those two items used to make tortillas. So even though they have had tortillas before, they were able to make that connection and have a more memorable experience by being able to touch the metate and understand that that is used to grind the corn and then also with the tortillera using that to press the dough, the masa into making a flat tortilla. So a lot of them had not known what those utensils were used for and didn't know that that's how the tortillas were made.
This experience I've learned a lot. I will never pick up a book the same way. I've really understood as a teacher how to render a text, go through a vocabulary, how to teach concepts explicitly to students. And I think that one need that I think is still there is more planning. We need to plan and develop more lessons. And I would love to see a lesson where we go across all different content areas and really establish a model lesson within a theme, a good theme.
I think it's an exciting time for New Mexico and the nation really. Our school piloted a lot of the work from Dr. Doug Reeves for the Center of Leadership and Learning. And the one thing he always said about New Mexico was that the standards were a mile long and an inch deep. So there wasn't that opportunity for kids to really reach mastery. And now with the Common Core, I think that students really have that opportunity to engage in more in-depth learning.
I know for example it has completely changed the way that I've taught literacy and math also. I just did a quick little math word problem where I wrote my age and then my mom's age and the kids had to find the difference. And so when they came up to the board to do that, they used three different strategies. One student showed the answer in base ten notation. One student came up and showed her answer, she drew the number line and counted backwards.
Another one came up, drew the number line, counted forwards to show the difference. And so I don't think before that teachers would have had the opportunity to teach that kind of in-depth learning and now – and now we do. We have our creative freedom back.
Common Core advice
The most important bit of information or advice that I could give is to start with the standard. And I think that is really challenging for teachers. They're used to being tied to curriculum, box curriculums, Everyday Math, Treasures program. And now those are used as resources. One resource among a lot of teacher-developed activities, collaboration with the staff.
I think that's key, that's crucial. And again, providing your students with those kinds of well-developed, project-based learning activities, common formative assessments. But that takes a lot of collaboration. And that also takes a lot of time, but if you start with the standard first and then go from there, I think that's what's needed to guide instruction.
So I had the opportunity this year of looping. So the students that I had in first grade, I have all of the exact same students and now I am teaching them second grade curriculum. And it has been the best teaching experience of my life because I have really had the chance to see these kids grow and I know that on that first day that we started second grade, I looked at the kids and I said, "Guess what? We are starting today. We're starting today. We all know each other. We know our strengths. We know where we need some help."
And to see us start that process on that first day of second grade, I know we have saved time and I know that I am going to just continue to push my students as far as they can go.
Currently in my class, since I've looped, the first-grade students that I have have tested out of ELL. So now they – so now they are really, really flourishing. They're thriving. I believe that my role in that was really helping kids navigate through some really challenging – some really challenging work and projects.
And by doing that, when they're all finished with the performance assessment or a project that we've been working on for a couple weeks, they really can explain and articulate their proficiency on standards. I use a lot of rubrics. So the rubrics really – we do that all the time for all academic areas. Kids are really able to speak to those rubrics and articulate why it is they got a three for proficient, why it is they got a four for exemplary. And now, you know, my kids this year, last year I told them, "The goal is a three. The goal is for you to be proficient on a standard."
And now one of my kids had said, "But we don't consider you a proficient teacher so maybe the goal should be exemplary." So now we've been having those kinds of discussions on really pushing kids to have as much potential as they can in achieving exemplary on certain standards and again I think that's through project-based learning.
And so one of the activities that we're going to do once this – once we're done with this project is recently there was Hurricane Sandy on the East Coast and so we've worked before, our class, with natural disasters. So we brought in talking about FEMA and how the under – we're going back to Burro's Tortillas. The underlying message in that story is about friendship and helping. And so today we discussed how there are paid people within FEMA to just help people when they're in need. So the kids are going to put together a survival kit and write about what they're going to include in their survival kit and why that's important.
Scripting the lessons
Scripting the lessons for that actual read-aloud of the book was an intense process that made me examine my own teaching. I know I will never pick up a piece of literature without taking the information discussed throughout this process and implementing that with all of my students. I have learned an immense amount of knowledge on what not only works for ELL students, but for ALL students! This will assist me in the delivery of all curricular materials.
After meeting with Dr. August, I now have a better understanding of my role within this cadre. My initial concerns were that as teachers we were having to script out every minor aspect of a lesson. My fear was that this would be insulting to teachers. I felt that a portion of our lesson should be left up to the creativity of the teacher, and that we were providing teachers with a solid frame of what the lesson should be.
I learned from Diane that the reason for all of the scripting is that we were developing a "model" lesson. The directions throughout the sequence needed to be in explicit detail so that teachers could have an ideal example of what a great lesson for students would look like.
I am thankful that I had the opportunity to work with Diane. Though there were many times throughout our meeting that became heated and often times frustrating, everyone brought valid arguments to the table. This is what learning is. I am glad that our state has moved toward the direction of national standards. I believe that the CCSS will provide ELLs with numerous educational opportunities in more in-depth, and project-based learning. That is what ALL kids deserve. Being an English Language Learner is not a deficit!! It is an asset!
I still feel confident about the work we have accomplished so far. Today I attended a district wide training on the CCSS. Some positive aspects of the training were that we were given an opportunity to unwrap one particular standard and also see the variations/changes/progression of each standard vertically. As a first-grade teacher, I was provided with a snapshot of the progression of each standard through kinder, first, and second grade. I no longer feel that I am solely responsible for first grade standards, but rather for having knowledge of many levels so that we as a school can dramatically progress in teaching our students.
I feel thankful that teachers across the country will now be able to incorporate their individual creativity within their lessons, but I also feel that that is what makes teaching an art more than a science. Teachers should not feel stifled in their ability to provide their students with meaningful learning that goes beyond any curriculum, even outside of the classroom. This is what great teachers do. They get to know their students, and form strong relationships tailored to each students needs. They cover all the standards leaving no gaps and then soar above them.
I feel that the CCSS does provide higher standards for minority students and will give them more exposure to more in-depth learning. New Mexico is the only state where it is written in our constitution that we must meet the educational needs of ELL students. If we can take the time to look at what other areas of the country are doing, that will only enrich our practice. Conversely, what New Mexico has learned and is continuing to learn about ELL students can help other states. If we do this, our learning community will be hugely enlarged.