ENL Students Not Making Much Progress

Ms. Tomeo                                    mtomeo@vanyc.org                                  Q319 Village Academy Middle School

https://www.walmart.com/ip/2in-x-2in-Happy-and-Sad-Faces-Stickers/967958591 (modified by Ms. Tomeo)

 

INTRODUCTION

Our parents gathered everything they had and brought our families to the United States to give us a better life. We know they make a lot of sacrifices and work very hard because they want the best for us. We also know that learning to speak, read and write in English is essential to have a successful life in the United States. However, many times we do not try our best or use all our energy to learn English. We are often distracted, focusing on other things, and not using our time wisely to accelerate our English learning.

That is a big problem here at Village Academy! Many of our ELL students are not making much progress learning English. One example is that many of our English Language Learners (ELLs) have been reading at the same reading level since September, and many of our ELLs have received the same and sometimes lower scores in their January i-Ready Reading assessment as they did in the October assessment.

We need to come up with solutions to this problem to help ourselves and to support each other to speed up our English learning. I am sure that if we work together, we can solve this problem and achieve so much more!

 

 

TASK

            You will collaborate with your small group to raise awareness to the fact that many of our English language learners are not learning English fast enough.  You will do research about the topic and about the negative impact of the slow progress in English language learning in our students’ lives. You will offer several possible solutions to this problem, and will recommend the solution that your group believes will make the biggest positive impact in our ELLs’ English learning.

 

●       Poster

Work wIth your group to create a poster to be displayed in Village Academy’s classrooms, main office and hallways showing students why they need to work harder and spend more time learning English, and what they can do to accelerate their English language learning.

 

●       Slide Presentation

Work wIth your group to create a Google Slides presentation with at least 4 slides describing the problem we want to solve, the negative impact that this problem creates in our ENL students’ lives, containing a list of possible solutions, and highlighting the solution you believe we should focus on the most to solve our problem and your reasons.

Your group will use the Public Policy Analyst (PPA) Tool to help you develop our presentation.

 

●       Script for Oral Presentation (to go with your slide presentation)

Work wIth your group to create a script of what each group member will say during your presentation. Each group member will be responsible for presenting one slide in your Google Slides presentation. The audience for your presentation will be our class, principal Dr. Lee, Assistant Principal Ms. Harris and Assistant Principal Mr. Bailey.

 

 

PROCESS/RESOURCES

This week, you will work in groups of four using the Public Policy Analyst (PPA) Process to create a presentation on how the English language learners at Village Academy can progress faster in their language learning.

 

Here are the 6 steps of the Public Policy Analyst (PPA) Process:

1.      Define the Problem

2.      Gather the Evidence

3.      Identify the Causes

4.      Evaluate an Existing Policy

5.      Develop Solutions

6.      Select the Best Solution  (Feasibility vs. Effectiveness)

 

 

Day 1 - Define the Problem & Gather the Evidence:

Identify and explain the problem you are researching. We know that learning English quickly is extremely important to our ENL learners. Now it’s your job to explain why. Interview your classmates to find out why not learning English fast is a big problem for our English language learners, and how they are affected. Interview at least 5 classmates asking at least 3 questions such as:

1. How do you feel when people ask you questions in English?

2. How do you feel when you must ask a question or tell someone something in English?

3. What are some things you wish you could do, but feel you are unable to do now because your English isn’t fluent enough yet?

4. What are some things you plan to do once you learn to speak English more fluently?

You and your group may use up to two questions from the list above, but must have at least one question created by your group.

Remember to write the name of each student interviewed, and their answers to your questions. Later, your interviews will be included in your presentation.

 

Day 2 - Identify the Causes & Evaluate an Existing Policy:

Now it is time to identify what causes many of our English language learners to make slow progress. Once again your group will interview classmates to figure out what are the reasons why students are making progress more slowly than expected. Interview at least 5 classmates asking at least 3 questions such as:

1. Do you think it is important to practice English outside of school?

2. How often do you practice English outside of school?

3. How many minutes per week do you practice English outside of school?

4. How do you practice English outside of school?

You and your group may use up to two questions from the list above, but must have at least one question created by your group.

Remember to write the name of each student interviewed, and their answers to your questions. Later, your interviews will be included in your presentation.

Once the student interviews are conducted, research our school website (vanyc.org), our ENL Google Classroom and your Humanities Google Classroom to list the current policies for Duolingo, i-Ready and NewsELA usage, for homework completion and other assignments submission. Take notes.

Your notes will be used in your presentation.

 

Day 3 - Develop Solutions & Select the Best Solution:

Now work with your group to think of several possible solutions to help our English language learners speed up their English learning process. What are some things you can do to learn English more quickly? Create a list of at least 5 things you can do to learn English faster.

Think of how students can use the resources that Village Academy offers you. Also, interview your classmates and teacher, and research the web to find tips, or use the links below to help you list strategies to learn English quickly.

-          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cAfSxeu_nY

-          https://www.ef.edu/blog/language/how-to-learn-english-faster/

-          https://www.fluentu.com/blog/english/how-to-learn-english-faster/

-          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JCX0qg46hE

Next, select the strategy your group finds the most effective. Why do you think that strategy is the most helpful? That is the strategy your group will recommend students use to speed up their English learning. You have to explain why they should use it.

Your group will try to convince all English language learners in our school to use that strategy to learn English fast!

 

Day 4 - Create Google Slide Presentation:

Your group will create a Google Slides presentation with at least 4 slides (1 per student). Your slides must contain:

1. Description of the problem (English language learners not making much progress)

2. The negative impact the problem creates for students

3. List of possible solutions

4. The most effective solution that your team recommends all English language learners at Village Academy try to learn English quickly, and the reason why your group recommends that strategy

Remember to use your notes from the previous days this week, to include name the students, teachers and staff interviewed, to include the websites researched, to use quotations (“  ”) to show that those words were said or written by someone else, to check for good grammar, spelling, capitalization and punctuation.

 

Day 5 - Create Script for Presentation & Poster:

Each member of your group must create a script with what you will say for each slide of your Google Slides Presentation. Each student presents 1 slide.

Remember that your audience will be our classmates, Ms. Tomeo, Dr. Lee, Ms, Harris and Mr. Bailey.

Next, work together to create a poster that explains why English language learners at Village Academy need to work harder and spend more time practicing English outside of school, include at least 3 strategies to learn English quicker, and highlight the strategy your group deemed the most efficient to speed up your English learning.

If your group completes the work early, rehearse what each group member will say in their portion of the presentation.

EVALUATION

Google Slides Presentation Rubric

 

 

Oral Presentation Rubric

 

Poster Rubric

 

 

https://www.educationcorner.com/esl-students-success.html

CONCLUSION

Congratulations!!! You have completed your WebQuest project on the important issue of English language learners of Village Academy not making much progress on their language learning.

In your groups. you have collaborated to raise awareness to the fact many of our ENL learners have not been advancing quickly enough in the English learning process, and to the negative impact of this slow progress. Additionally, you have offered a number of possible solutions to this issue, and have advocated for the solution you feel is best to help our ENL learners to gain English fluency more swiftly.

Now we have 4 new solutions to help our English language learners learn the language more rapidly, become more successful at school and in life! Bravo!!!

 

STANDARDS

NGLS.ELA.Literacy.6-8.WHST5: Conduct short research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question by the end of grade 8), drawing on several sources and generating additional related, focused questions that allow for multiple avenues of exploration.

 

NGLS.ELA.Literacy.6-8.WHST6: Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, using search terms effectively; assess the credibility and accuracy of each source by applying discipline-specific criteria used in the social sciences or sciences; and quote or paraphrase the data/accounts and conclusions of others while avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation.

 

NGLS.ELA.Literacy.6-8.WHST2a: Introduce a topic clearly; organize ideas, concepts, and information into broader categories as appropriate to achieving purpose.

 

NGLS.ELA.Literacy.6-8.WHST2b: Develop the topic with relevant, well-chosen facts, data, definitions, concrete details, citations, or other information and examples.

 

NGSS.Pracitices.1: Asking Questions and Defining Problems

 

NGSS.Pracitices.3: Planning and Carrying out Investigations

 

NGSS.Pracitices.4: Analyzing and Interpreting Data

 

NGSS.Pracitices.6: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions

 

NGSS.Pracitices.7: Engaging in Argument from Evidence

 

NGSS.Pracitices.8: Obtaining, Evaluating and Communicating Information