Teaching Science with Hispanic ELLs in K-16 Classrooms


Book Description

The goal of this fourth volume of RISE was to provide a research foundation that demonstrates an agenda to strengthen the preparation and enhancement of teachers of science for regions and states experiencing extensive initial growth of Hispanic ELLs in schools. The goal was carried out through a series of events that led to the planning and subsequent dissemination of research being conducted by various stakeholders throughout the United States. Researchers were first invited from regions of the country that have had a long history of with Hispanic ELLs in classrooms as well as those regions where initial and now extensive growth has occurred only in the past few years. A national conference Science Teacher Education for Hispanic English Language Learners in the Southeast (SHELLS) funded through the National Science Foundation was used as one of the dissemination methods to establish and secure commitments from researchers to a conduct and report research to strengthen teacher preparation for science. The national call for manuscripts requested the inclusion of major priorities and critical research areas, methodological concerns, and concerns and results of implementation of teacher preparation and development programs.




Application of Visual Data in K-16 Science Classrooms


Book Description

This book examines visual data use with students (PK-16) as well as in pre-service in- service science teacher preparation. Each chapter includes discussion about the current state of the art with respect to science classroom application and utilization of the particular visual data targeted by the author(s), discussion and explanation about the targeted visual data as applied by the author in his/her classroom, use of visual data as a diagnostic tool, its use as an assessment tool, and discussion of implications for science teaching and/or science teacher preparation. Although the body of research and practice in this field is growing, there remains a gap in the literature about clearly explicating the use of visual data in the science classroom. A growing body of literature discusses what visual data are (although this topic is still viewed as being at the beginning of its development in educators’ thinking), and there are some scattered examples of studies exploring the use of visual data in science classrooms, although those studies have not necessarily clearly identified their foci as visual data, per se. As interest and attention has become more focused on visual data, a logical progression of questioning has been how visual data are actually applied in the science classroom, whether it be early elementary, college, or somewhere in between. Visual data applications of interest to the science education community include how it is identified, how it can be used with students and how students can generate it themselves, how it can be employed as a diagnostic tool in concept development, and how it can be utilized as an assessment tool. This book explores that, as well as a variety of pragmatic ways to help science educators more effectively utilize visual data and representations in their instruction.




Teaching Beginner ELLs Using Picture Books


Book Description

Picture your beginning ELLs reading their way to success! For beginning English language learners, a picture really is worth a thousand words! Picture books can unlock puzzling cultural and social meanings for students at all ages and grade levels. ELL educator Ana Lado illustrates how picture books are an especially useful tool for building important language and social foundations—foundations that students may miss through traditional instruction. Lado provides all the tools you need to engage your English learners with picture books, including how to: Design lesson plans around themed units Select appropriate picture books using specific criteria Incorporate fun and engaging strategies like singing and reenacting Integrate picture-book learning to facilitate development of English Language Proficiency In addition, you will gain access to a searchable online database to find just the right book for your lessons, based on author, title, genre, and English Language Proficiency level. With practical, classroom-friendly techniques, Teaching Beginner ELLs Using Picture Books helps teachers, ESL/ELD specialists, and bilingual teachers transform lessons into richly-illustrated learning opportunities. "This book is a great tool to use when teaching level one students and contains the different strategies necessary for complete English instruction." —Giuliana Jahnsen, ELL Teacher Sterling Middle School, Sterling, VA "This book makes the TESOL standards accessible by summarizing the three main goals of learning a language and how picture books support these concepts." —Blanca L. Campillo, Professional Development Specialist Chicago Public Schools Area 9, Chicago, IL




Supporting K-12 English Language Learners in Science


Book Description

The contribution of this book is to synthesize important common themes and highlight the unique features, findings, and lessons learned from three systematic, ongoing research and professional learning projects for supporting English learners in science. Each project, based in a different region of the U.S. and focused on different age ranges and target populations, actively grapples with the linguistic implications of the three-dimensional learning required by the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards. Each chapter provides research-based recommendations for improving the teaching of science to English learners. Offering insights into teacher professional learning as well as strategies for measuring and monitoring how well English learners are learning science and language, this book tells a compelling and inclusive story of the challenges and the opportunities of teaching science to English learners.




Teaching Science to English Language Learners


Book Description

This edited collection explores how science can be taught to English language learners (ELLs) in 21st century classrooms. The authors focus on the ways in which pre-service and in-service science teachers have developed—or may develop—instructional effectiveness for working with ELLs in the secondary classroom. Chapter topics are grounded in both research and practice, addressing a range of timely topics including the current state of ELL education in the secondary science classroom, approaches to leveraging the talents and strengths of bilingual students in heterogeneous classrooms, best practices in teaching science to multilingual students, and ways to infuse the secondary science teacher preparation curriculum with ELL pedagogy. This book will appeal to an audience beyond secondary content area teachers and teacher educators to all teachers of ELLs, teacher educators and researchers of language acquisition more broadly.




Preparing Teachers to Work with English Language Learners in Mainstream Classrooms


Book Description

Co-published with TESOL Press There is a growing need for knowledge and practical ideas about the preparation of teachers for English language learners (ELLs), a growing segment of the K-12 population in the United States. This book is for teachers, administrators, and teacher educators looking for innovative ways to prepare teachers for ELLs and will position teachers to empower these students. This volume will appeal mostly to those preparing teachers in contexts that have not have historically had large numbers of ELLs, but have had a high rate of recent growth (e.g., Midwestern U.S.). This work is the combination of teacher preparation and ELL issues. This volume is unique in tackling pre-service and inservice teacher preparation. Additionally, the chapters collectively aim to go beyond merely equipping teachers to meet the needs of ELLs, but to reach a level of effectiveness with the outcome of equity. The book highlights the knowledge, skills, and beliefs of teachers about ELLs. Part I addresses teacher perceptions of, and beliefs about, ELLs and teacher preparation specifically addressing what they should know in terms of students’ perspectives. Chapters attend to the experiences and beliefs of immigrant teachers about their roles, the role of service learning in teacher preparation, and the potential of understanding home literacy practices to change teacher beliefs about ELLs. Part II focuses on skills necessary to teach ELLs—writing skills teachers can draw on to inform their teaching practices, technological skills teachers need to develop, and skills related to focusing on the Common Core State Standards for English language arts and mathematics. Each chapter explicitly addresses implications for teacher education or professional development.




Effective Educational Programs, Practices, and Policies for English Learners


Book Description

The central issue of this volume is how to meet the linguistic and academic needs of the increasing numbers of English learners (ELs). At the center of educational turns is the role of school professionals in this Common Core Standards era. Teacher education programs and professional development, or pre-service and in-service programs for teachers of ELs, are currently being reframed to reflect the new demands placed on all teachers in light of the new standards. The expectation is that ELs can learn, and their teachers possess the expertise to teach, both discipline content and academic English at the same time. The large numbers of ELs across the country have created a wide gap between what teachers have been trained to do and the skills they need to teach and reach them effectively. This practical handbook brings together research, policy and practice on teacher effectiveness, pre-service and in-service programs in the context of student linguistic and cultural diversity. Key features include: • Clearly articulated teacher training and professional development programs; • Coverage of Common Core curriculum and a variety of instructional programs and practices with research-based tools to implement them; and, • Policies to equitably and effectively prepare ELs academically and linguistically.




Research in Early Childhood Science Education


Book Description

This book emphasizes the significance of teaching science in early childhood classrooms, reviews the research on what young children are likely to know about science and provides key points on effectively teaching science to young children. Science education, an integral part of national and state standards for early childhood classrooms, encompasses not only content-based instruction but also process skills, creativity, experimentation and problem-solving. By introducing science in developmentally appropriate ways, we can support young children’s sensory explorations of their world and provide them with foundational knowledge and skills for lifelong science learning, as well as an appreciation of nature. This book emphasizes the significance of teaching science in early childhood classrooms, reviews the research on what young children are likely to know about science, and provides key points on effectively teaching young children science. Common research methods used in the reviewed studies are identified, methodological concerns are discussed and methodological and theoretical advances are suggested.




Teaching, Learning and Scaffolding in CLIL Science Classrooms


Book Description

This edited volume presents a collection of empirical studies examining the teaching and learning processes in science classrooms in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) contexts. It is a timely contribution to the rapidly growing body of CLIL research in response to scholars’ consistent calls for more classroom-based research on the issues in integration of content and language teaching in lessons. With the dual goal of content and language learning, students in CLIL programmes are also facing double challenges – mastery of abstract, cognitively demanding content knowledge and unfamiliar academic language. Focusing on the notion of “scaffolding”, this edited volume demonstrates how science teachers can provide appropriate and timely scaffolding for their students to overcome the challenges in CLIL science classrooms. With studies from different educational settings (Hong Kong, Mainland China, Singapore and Australia) and epistemological paradigms, and adopting a variety of research designs, this volume will provide key insights into CLIL pedagogy and teacher education. Originally published as special issue of Journal of Immersion and Content-Based Language Education 7:2 (2019).




Secondary STEM Educational Reform


Book Description

Federal and state funding agencies have invested billions of dollars into secondary STEM (Science, Technology, Education, Mathematics) educational reform over the past decade. This volume addresses the interplay of external and internal variables associated with school reform and how this dynamic has impacted many efforts.