Classroom Recommendations

There are four recommendations for using these four types of advance organizers in the classroom.

1. Use expository advance organizers because they describe the new content that will be introduced. Expository advance organizers are a clear-cut, uncomplicated means of describing the new content students will be learning.

Before having ELLs in his class, 5th grade science teacher Mr. Abrams used an expository advance organizer to teach an activity as follows:

Mr. Abrams tells students in his science class that he is going to float a potato in the center of a beaker of clear liquid. He wants them to apply what they already know about density and solubility to figure out why the potato floats.

Mr. Abrams explains that he will place three beakers on a table in front of the room and fill each with a slightly different solution. All the solutions will appear clear, says Mr. Abrams, but one beaker will be filled with plain water, another will contain a very strong sugar and water solution, and the third will be filled half with the sugar/water solution and half with water.

Next, says Mr. Abrams, he will cut a potato into one-inch wedges and place one wedge in each beaker. In one beaker, the wedge will float on the top, in one it will sink to the bottom, and in one it will float right in the center of the liquid. Mr. Abrams challenges his students to figure out which solution is which and why the trick works.

Here is how Mr. Abrams modified the activity for use with ELLs:

Mr. Abrams knows that he cannot just tell his science students what they are going to do. He needs to explain it to them using sheltering techniques, including

• Manipulatives, miniature objects, and realia

• Visuals (photos, pictures, drawings)

• Body movement and pantomime

• Facial expressions and gestures

• Clear expression and articulation

• Shorter, simpler sentences

• Eye contact

• High-frequency vocabulary

• Reduction of idiomatic expressions

• Personalized language and nouns favored over pronouns

• Synonyms

Mr. Abrams tells his students that he is going to “float” a potato in the center of a beaker of clear liquid. He wants them to apply what they already know about density and solubility to figure out why the potato floats.

In addition to orally explaining that he is going to fill each of the three beakers with a different solution, he pantomimes the act. When describing the different solutions, Mr. Abrams shows a drawing of plain water, another of water and sugar, and a third of a beaker filled half with the sugar/water solution and half with water.

As he tells his students about the potato, Mr. Abrams actually cuts a potato into one-inch wedges and pantomimes placing a potato wedge in each beaker. He continues to use body movements to let everyone know that in one beaker the potato will float on the top, in one it will sink to the bottom, and in one it will float right in the center of the liquid. Mr. Abrams challenges his students to figure out which solution is which and why the trick works.

2. Use narrative advance organizers to let students know what they are going to be learning in a story format. Because Mr. Anderson was going to be starting a 3rd grade unit on the experiences of immigrant groups as they moved to the United States, he told students the following story:

My grandfather Gustav came here from Sweden with his cousin, Nels, in the late 1800s. They were young kids, 18 or 19 years old. They had been farmers in Sweden, but there was a potato famine and thousands of Swedes immigrated to the United States about that same time. I’ve often thought what a spirit of adventure they must have had.

Somehow Grandpa Gus and cousin Nels made it to Minneapolis, where Grandpa Gus met a girl named Brynhild, whom he married. Grandma Bryn also was from Sweden. When I was little, we would go to their house to celebrate Santa Lucia Day, near Christmas. One of my cousins would get to wear a beautiful white dress and a garland of lighted candles on her head. There was always a huge table full of food. There was one kind of fish that was very stinky, but there were also lots of delicious cookies and cakes. Like other immigrants, we were celebrating our heritage but also making new traditions in the United States.

In a classroom with English-only students, a teacher could essentially stand in front of the room and tell this story. With ELLs, however, and particularly with Preproduction students, this would simply sound like noise. Remember when a teacher would talk to Charlie Brown and all he would hear was “Wa-wa, wa-wa-wa-wa?” That’s how English can sound to these students. By using sheltering techniques such as visuals, pantomime, and simple vocabulary, teachers can bring understanding and comprehensibility to the story.

3. Use skimming before reading as a form of advance organizer. The Survey, Question, Read, Recite, and Review (or SQ3R) strategy (Robinson, 1961) has long been popular with ESL teachers because it engages students in each phase of the reading process, including skimming. This activity will need to be teacher-directed and modeled before students can do it on their own. Provide students with the following directions for the activity.

Step 1: Survey what you are about to read.

• Think about the title: What do you know about this subject? What do you want to know?

• Glance over headings or skim the first sentences of paragraphs.

• Look at illustrations and graphic aids.

• Read the first paragraph.

• Read the last paragraph or summary.

Step 2: Question.

• Turn the title into a question. Answering this question becomes the major purpose for your reading.

• Write down any questions that come to mind during the survey.

• Turn headings into questions.

• Turn subheadings, illustrations, and graphic aids into questions.

• Write down unfamiliar vocabulary and determine the meaning.

Step 3: Read actively.

• Read to search for answers to questions.

• Respond to questions and use the context clues for unfamiliar words.

• React to unclear passages, confusing terms, and questionable statements by generating additional questions.

Step 4: Recite.

• Look away from the answers and the book to recall what was read.

• Recite answers to questions aloud or in writing.

• Reread text for unanswered questions.

Step 5: Review.

• Answer the major purpose questions.

• Look over answers and all parts to organize information.

• Summarize the information learned by creating a graphic organizer that depicts the main ideas, drawing a flowchart, writing a summary, participating in a group discussion, or writing an explanation of how the material has changed your perceptions or applies to your life.

Preproduction

Students will be learning to preview text material by looking at bold print, pictures, and graphics.

Early Production

Students will be learning academic vocabulary such as headings, para graphs, and questions.

Speech Emergence

Students will be learning how to formulate questions as they hear students turn headings, subheadings, illustrations, and graphic aids into questions.

Intermediate and Advanced Fluency

Students will be able to apply the strategy to text after the teacher has modeled, and students understand, each step.

4. Teach students how to use graphic advance organizers. Graphic advance organizers are visual representations of the information students are about to learn. These visual representations help students understand the confusing relationships presented in the text.

اخر الاخبار

اخبار العتبة العباسية المقدسة

معهد القرآن الكريم النسويّ يعقد الجلسة الرابعة من مسابقة فضة القرآنية

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تهيّئ الصحن الشريف استعدادًا لمهرجان رحمة للعالمين الدولي الأوّل

بمشاركة عددٍ من الطلبة.. المجمع العلمي ينظّم دورة مختصّة بالتجويد في محافظة الديوانية

العتبة العباسية المقدسة تنشر لافتات احتفائية بذكرى المولد النبوي الشريف

المزيد

الآخبار الصحية

هل من الآمن شرب القهوة على معدة فارغة؟

تحذير: مرض السكري يسرق طاقة قلبك

حقيقة صادمة.. لماذا يجب أن تتوقف عن شراء الجزر الصغير؟

بعد عمر الستين.. توقيت وجبة الإفطار مؤشر على صحتك

المزيد

الآخبار التكنلوجية

تركيب مقعد الطفل بأمان في سيارتك: دليل كامل وسهل

مليار مليار عملية في الثانية.. ألمانيا تدشن الحاسوب الفائق

أخيرا.. إنستغرام يصل رسميا إلى آيباد

حل يثير جدلا طبيا.. حقنة قادرة على إخفاء الشيب من رأسك ؟!

المزيد

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