Let's Talk!

Strengthen Student Led Discussion with Accountable Talk

in the Adult Basic Education/English as a Second Language Classroom

By Diana McIntyre, Nevada State Leadership-Professional Development Coordinator

In order for students to be committed to their education and become college and career ready, they must become active classroom participants.  What better way to involve students in their education than by providing opportunities for students to participate in student led discussion in small collaborative groups?  Ideally, class time should consist of at least 50% productive student discussion. 

Student Led Practice

The Workshop Teaching Model is designed around student practice.  Just as students in band rehearse regularly and learn to actively listen and effectively play together in an ensemble, students in the Adult Basic Education (ABE)/English as a Second Language (ESL) classroom acquire college and career readiness skills by meaningful reading, thinking, discussing, and writing-through student led practice during class.  What’s more, the Workshop Teaching Model requires students to do the majority of the work.

The Workshop Model asserts that the teacher provide direct instruction in the form of a rigorous mini-lesson for the first third of the class, students then engage in active discussion and relevant practice of their learning in small collaborative groups for half the class, and the teacher concludes by taking the last portion of class to guide students in recapping their learning. 

Accountable Talk

Getting students to discuss in small collaborative groups can be a challenge at first.  Students may not know how to begin an academic discussion; other students may be afraid to try to discuss unfamiliar topics in English.  Students require basic Accountable Talk Stems to guide discussion and keep students on topic.

Basic Accountable Talk                                       I think _____ because it says in the text on line…                                       I agree with _______ because in the text on line…                                       I disagree with _______ because in the text on line…                                       Where did you find your evidence?                                       Can you defend your answer?                                        Can you tell me more?                                       Can you please repeat that?

The College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) necessitate reading, writing, speaking, (and listening) grounded in evidence from text.  More often than not, one of the most daunting teacher tasks is getting students to discuss academic topics while using English skills.  

 Students need guidelines for how to appropriately discuss literature and refer to text.  Students require support in how to discuss and they must understand exactly what is expected of them, otherwise they will easily get off-task and revert to using their native language, alienating other classmates from the conversation. 

Importantly, Accountable Talk puts structures in place to guide students in building on the conversations and arguments of peers, teaches respectful agreement or disagreement as well as instructs how to politely ask for clarification or more information.  Moreover, Accountable Talk supports students’ increase of knowledge by learning to logically link their claims with evidence from text, and building factual arguments.  Valid, structured student discussion with Accountable Talk language stems benefits students by helping to break down classroom barriers, strengthen peer relationships and bond socialization to education.

Close Read Example

After a lesson in American symbols, a teacher may elect to provide the following Close Read for rich student led discussion with Accountable Talk stems.

 The Bald Eagle, a United States National Emblem

Adapted from www.baldeagleinfo.com/eagle/eagle

The bald eagle was chosen June 20, 1782 as the emblem of the United States of America, because of its long life, great strength and majestic looks, and also because it was then believed to exist only on this continent.

Benjamin Franklin was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.  Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.

Benjamin Franklin wrote:
     I wish that the bald eagle had not been chosen as the representative of our country, he is a bird of bad moral character, he does not get his living honestly, you may have seen him perched on some dead tree, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the labor of the fishing-hawk, and when that diligent bird has at length taken a fish, and is bearing it to its nest for the support of his mate and young ones, the bald eagle pursues him and takes it from him.... Besides he is a rank coward; the little kingbird, not bigger than a sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the district. He is therefore by no means a proper emblem for the brave and honest. . . of America.. . . For a truth, the turkey is in comparison a much more respectable bird, a true original native of America . . . a bird of courage, and would not hesitate to attack British guards, who should presume to invade his farmyard with a red coat on.

     

 

Franklin was clearly against the eagle and let everyone know it. Likewise, the artist John James Audubon agreed with this opinion of the bald, or white-headed, eagle. 

Nevertheless, selected as our national bird, the eagle has appeared on all official seals of the United States, as well as on most coinage, paper money, and on many U.S. stamps. 

Because of their size, bald eagles are not concerned about threats from other birds. However, eagles are often chased by smaller birds, who are trying to protect their young. Bald eagles are unlikely to bother smaller birds or their young, which makes these efforts unnecessary. Eagles often ignore mobbing behavior by smaller birds. It was Benjamin Franklin's observations of a bald eagle either ignoring or retreating from such mobbing that probably led to his claim of the bald eagle's lack of courage.

Basic Accountable Talk

I think _____ because it says in the text on line...

I agree with ________ because in the text on line...

I disagree with ______ because in the text on line...

Where did you find your evidence?

Can you defend your answer?

Can you tell me more?

Can you please repeat that?

Text Based Questions for Student Led Discussion

1)  Using evidence from the text, explain Benjamin Franklin's sentiments about the bald eagle.

2)  What evidence in the passage supports Ben Franklin's claim that another bird should be our national bird?

3)  According to the passage, why does Ben Franklin refer to the bald eagle as a rank coward?  What facts does the author provide to defend the bald eagle?

Writing Activity

How is the bald eagle used as a national symbol in America?  Support your answer with evidence from the text.

If you tried the activity, let us know how it went in the comments section below.

Art in the ESL Classroom: Close Reading and Text-Dependent Responses without Text

If you still have not attempted your first College and Career Readiness Standards-based lesson, fear not.  I will share a creative way to introduce the CCRS to your ESL students without searching for a single Lexile-appropriate text.

It begins with a piece of art.  And a great video from the Teaching Channel:  Arts Integration: Professional Development –Developing Common Core Habits

Yes, you can develop College and Career habits using art.

The trainer, Jill Jackson, stresses the importance of independence in the video.  Students learn to become independent thinkers when analyzing art or a text.  While Jill trains teachers to transfer close reading skills and text-dependent questioning from language arts classes to art, adult education teachers can use art as a starting point.  Adult education students can learn to discuss art and then transfer those skills to complex texts in the language arts classroom or examining charts and graphs in the math classroom.

Jill describes a three-step reading approach by asking the following questions, "what it says, how it says it, and what it means."  The first read is what the text says, the second read tackles how it says it, and the third read examines what it means.  When looking at art, Jill suggests, we can take a similar approach.  During the first 'read' ask, "what is it?"  The second read, investigate "how it was created" and the third read, inquire "what does it mean?"

The former GED test asked students how they felt about x, describe their favorite y, or what is their interpretation of z.  Asking how a student feels about Picasso or To Kill a Mockingbird is similar.  Oftentimes, students may not have the words to describe how they 'feel.'  The CCRS remove the ambiguity, so now we can just jump right into the art and/or text without the personal anecdotes.  You may find that students prefer this approach.

Let's choose art pieces that our students may find interesting.  Although I love Monet and Matisse, I'm going to select pieces that could be a little more controversial and related to a topic that I will discuss in subsequent language arts lessons.

Now keep in mind that text-dependent questions cannot be answered without reading, or in this case, viewing the text.  Any time the word 'feel' forms in your mouth, I want to you pause and substitute that word for something that addresses the specifics of the piece.

"How do you feel……"  pause, reflect, change course….  

"What do you see?"  What [can we infer] is going on here?  How are people in the piece feeling? How do you know that?  Who do you think the man in the middle is? What makes you think that?  What images are in the border?

redpoppyarthouse.org

We can then examine how it was created.  Is this a painting? Are there visible brush strokes and how does it impact the message? Is it a collage?  Where did the images come from? Who created the piece and for what purpose?  How does the choice of colors give you insight into the meaning?

Lastly, we ask, "What does it mean?"  Who is protesting and why?  If someone knows about Cesar Chavez, ask if they can explain additional images in the piece.  Why are agricultural fields, the White House, and factories included in this piece?  Based on this piece, what do you think led up to this moment?  Based on the evidence, what do you think happened after?

Jackson espouses teaching our students the 'flow of questioning' rather than specific questions to ask.  This process will teach students to analyze independently when you're not present.  We want our students to independently and critically examine a cell phone plan or a letter from their child's principal about new school policies.  If our students learn to ask and answer, "what it says, how it says it, and what it means" on their own, we will have taught them a very valuable life and standards-based skill.

Now, let's extend the lesson further.

After a thorough discussion of the first piece followed by some type of writing (a sentence, summary, evidence-based reflection etc.), you can introduce a second piece to compare/contrast.

utla.net

How does this piece differ in tone? Color? Message? How is it similar? How does it add to the story? etc.

I realize that we are encouraged to begin a text-based lesson with a cold read (no background knowledge), but for lower-level ESL and ABE students (or any teacher who would prefer to ease into the CCRS), I would argue that you could segue from art to language arts using the same theme.  I'd introduce a brief text on Cesar Chavez, continue with close reading strategies and text-dependent questioning while explicitly connecting the strategies for analyzing art to strategies for analyzing text.

Implementing the CCRS in your classroom doesn't have to hurt.  Choose your favorite piece of art and begin there.  When you teach close reading, you are teaching the standards.  Take a deep breath, examine the piece you chose, write a number of text-dependent questions, include an evidence-based writing activity (creating a title for the piece, summarizing in one sentence/paragraph, or composing an essay) and voila!  You took your first step towards College and Career Readiness.

Tongue Depressors and Marshmallows: Integrating STEM Activities in the Adult Classroom

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) in the Adult Basic Education Classroom

By Diana McIntyre, Nevada State Leadership Professional Development Coordinator

     Now, more than ever, Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) should be integrated in the Adult Basic Education (ABE) classroom.  After all, numerous careers require scientific and mathematical thinking:  scientists, geologists, ecologists, biologists, physicists, chemists, statisticians, research analysts, software designers, civil engineers, and architects to name a few.   It is the responsibility of ABE educators to understand student goals when creating curriculum.  Employees in STEM occupations use technology and engineering in the workplace to obtain solutions to quandaries important to the world.  Curriculum that integrates STEM supports the state of our global economy and growing concerns over the competitiveness of the United States (U.S.) in STEM fields.  What’s more, integration of math and science concepts with technical disciplines target essential 21^st Century learning skills, and STEM is endorsed by the U.S. Department of Education-Office of Career, Technical, and Adult Education (OCTAE). 

     Importantly, the College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) call for students to be proficient in reading complex informational text and its academic vocabulary in a variety of content areas.  What better way to impart science and technical curriculum to ABE students than by integrating subjects through purposeful STEM activities.  Teachers trust students to be more responsible for their learning through STEM problem solving and extension activities.

     Providing hands-on, high interest experiences for ABE students, and more deeply involving them in the curriculum, will in turn increase program retention.  When students are engaged in the learning process, coming to class becomes more meaningful because it connects to the real world.  Best practices of differentiating the curriculum through STEM activities allow for all students to be successful because it naturally appeals to all learning styles.  Purposeful student groupings increase student academic conversation as well as needed socialization connections, further intensifying the educational experience.  When students are engaged and excited about their learning, they share their experiences with family and friends, and persevere in the community college education process. 

     Consider for example the impact of a STEM project that involves students with authentic opportunities to apply science, math concepts and language arts when constructing a catapult.  Students would first recall what a catapult is and how it is useful.  Students would then be provided with various supplies to choose from to construct the most efficient functioning catapult to thrust a large marshmallow a specified distance.  Supplies might include different sized rubber bands, tongue depressors, plastic spoon, straws, string, large paper clips, glue, index card, ruler, small pieces of wood, hammer, and nails.  In collaborative learning groups, students would calculate distance, speed, length of lever, tension, height, angle, weight, transfer of energy, accuracy, and other variables associated with the accuracy of hitting a target, predict, launch and collect data, graph, analyze, discuss, journal trials and errors, research, adjust, practice, question, share successes and failures, and present.  Students have implicit ownership in their learning because they have choices in how they design the most efficient catapult and no two catapults are engineered the same.  Think about how a lesson would be significantly different if students do not have the opportunity to design and learn through experimentation. 

     For further information regarding STEM, visit www.stemtransitions.org.