Page 46 - The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 9-12: English As a Second Language and English Literacy Development, 2007

THEONTARIOCURRICULUM,GRADES9–12 | ESLandELD
To complete a K-W-L chart, the teacher asks students what they think they already know about a topic and fills in the K column with their responses. Then the teacher prompts the students to state what they would like to know about the topic, and adds these details to the W (middle) column. At the end of the lesson or unit, the students review what they have learned. This summation will complete the L (final) column of the chart.
In order to activate students’ background knowledge and stimulate their curiosity, teachers can supply pictures, maps, models, and objects related to the topic to be studied. When the teacher initiates the K-W-L chart, students will be eager to offer what they know and to delve further into the topic as their interest is provoked by the prompts the teacher has supplied.
Language-Experience Approach. In this instructional strategy, students collectively com- pose a written text based on an experience they have had. An excellent method for use with beginning readers, the language-experience approach allows students to see the connections between their actual experiences and the spoken and written language, while reading texts that are immediately meaningful to them.
Students first participate in an experience such as a school tour, art lesson, science expe- riment, or field trip. The teacher then engages the class in a discussion of the experience and records the students’ dictated words and sentences about the experience to create a short text or story on chart paper or an overhead transparency.
Teachers can utilize class-created language-experience stories for many purposes, includ- ing highlighting sound-symbol relationships, grammatical structures, word formations, and vocabulary study. The stories can be incorporated into class and school newsletters or compiled into individual student booklets for rereading and illustration.
Learning-Strategy Instruction. Learning strategies are techniques that facilitate the process of understanding, retaining, and applying knowledge. Making learning strategies expli- cit so that students can apply them successfully to both language and content learning
is a powerful classroom technique. Through building a repertoire of learning strategies that they can use in reading, writing, and vocabulary development, English language learners take more responsibility for their own language learning and success in school. Examples of learning strategies include: using mnemonic devices to remember new words; using a highlighter to emphasize important information when reading; preparing cue cards to study for a test; and observing peers to learn more about Canadian culture and language.
To help students become aware of their own learning processes and increase their reper- toire and use of learning strategies, the teacher can prepare a questionnaire or survey to gather information on how students complete an assignment on time, learn and retain new words, or organize and learn from their notes. Class discussion then generates a
larger class list of strategies, to which the teacher may add additional techniques and tips. The teacher can then round out the experience by asking students to write a reflec- tion on growth and changes that have occurred in their learning process as a result of the application of new learning strategies.
44