In the video the teacher was discussing the book Esperanza Rising which is about a Hispanic family who are migrant workers. It was a story that possibly some of the children could understand and relate to. I was unable to access the video to reveiw a second time for further detail and observation of teacher and student actions.
Good teaching practice should always include sheltered instruction, especially in the lower elementary grades. The students usually have a varied level of background knowledge, which is not necessarily reliable or factual. By begining with visuals and discussion of the topic, it levels the playing field so that the students begin the topic of discussion with the same information.
Sheltered Instruction includes Preproduction, Early Production, Speech Emergency and Intermediate and Advanced Fluency.
Preproduction is a basic first step for students to see pictures and discuss the upcoming topic. The teacher should provide a visual representation of vocabulary, discuss the words and inquire the students for understanding and examples.
Early Production is further discussion of the topic using open ended questions to lead the students to better understand the topic. This also can be done in small peer groups.
Speech Emergence step of sheltered instruction requires more indepth involvement and communication by the student to verbally discuss the topic in complete sentences. The level of understanding is at a higher level with the use of graphic organizers.
Intermediate and Advanced Fluency requires the student to answer higher level of questions using a graphic organizer.
I agree that sheltered instruction practices are good teaching practices for all students. I like your approach to background knowledge, but knowing that some students may need even further differentiation to access the concepts.
ReplyDeleteSpecific tools in each of the levels of understanding can be used. The author of our text was specific about graphic organizers, however; other tools can be used at each level.