Writing with ESL Students

1. Writing with ESL Students Megan Ward Katie Kidd Bridget Walsh Amy Jandovitz Christian Cox

2. Research Question • How will teaching the conventions trait (CUPS) through various writing prompts for two 30-minute sessions per week over 5 weeks improve the writing of ESL students in grades 2 and 5?

3. Review of Literature • “Assessing ESOL Students” • By Judy Abrams, Julie Ferguson, and Leslie Laud • “The Trouble with ESOL” • By Peter Lavender and Jane Ward • “Teaching Basic Skills and ESOL in Non-Traditional Venues” • By Mary Deigan and Tara Mcarthur

4. Review of Literature:Assessing ESOL Students • Distinguishing between ESOL and learning disabilities • Oral Comprehension and Fluency vs. Written Comprehension and Fluency • Supporting ESOL students • Does not mean lowering academic standards • It does mean providing more structure, scaffolding, cisual organizers, and assistance

5. 2nd Grade Week 1 Wednesday • Students will pass a ball around to introduce themselves telling their name, grade, and something interesting about themselves. • Students will spell their names with play-dough. • Students will take the verb preassessment.

6. 2nd Grade Week 1 Pictures

7. Week 1 Reflection(Wednesday) After analyzing the data collected from the students’ pre-assessment, our action research question did not meet the needs of our students. We collaborated with our students’ 1st grade teacher who suggested we change our focus to improving the students’ writing skills. She knew from past experiences that these specific ESOL students struggle with the transfer of oral explanation to written explanation. We adjusted our action research questions and proposal that reflects the students’ needs (writing).

8. 2nd Grade Week 1 Thursday • Read the letter we wrote to the students to model their task. • Brainstorm ideas with students and set guidelines for writing preassessment. • Students will write a letter to us telling their name, favorite subject, where they were born, favorite food, sport, game, or animal. Students will be asked to write at least two interesting facts.

9. 2nd Grade Week 1 Pictures

10. Week 1 Reflection After analyzing the data collected from the students’ new pre-assessment, write a friendly letter, we created a weekly plan to focus on conventions (CUPS) and all the different writing prompts.

11. 2nd Grade Week 2 Wednesday • Read aloud The Secret Knowledge of Grown Ups by David Wisniewski. (For time purposes, only read three short tales) • Model a bad example of writing to inform about a tale from the read aloud. Include run on sentences, incorrect grammar usage, and fragments in example.) • Through guided practice, fix the writing piece with students. • Ask students to write to persuade about a tale that was read aloud. (Students can only choose the two remaining tales, not the modeled example). • Students will share their tales if time allows.

12. 2nd Grade Week 2 Thursday • Students will be introduced to the rules of the game, Change It. • Ask students to repeat the rules back to check for understanding. • Students will play the game as a group. • Students will write to inform by writing the rules of the game. • Students will share their writing and play the game again if time remains.

13. 2nd Grade Week 2 Pictures

14. 2nd Grade Week 3 Wednesday • Students will be introduced to compound words. • Students will be given one top to an acorn. • The students will need to search for the bottom of the acorn that will combine with their word to make a compound word. • The students will discuss their compound words. • The students will have to use at least two compound words in two sentences.

15. 2nd Grade Week 3 Pictures

16. 2nd Grade Week 3 Thursday • The students will play Sightword Bingo using words from the second grade Dolch Sight Word list. • The students will play until 9:00. • The students will use at least three sight words in three different sentences.

17. 2nd Grade Week 4 Wednesday • The students will continue to practice spelling sight words • The students will play Type-It-Ball. • There will be a “keyboard” taped to the floor. • The students will be given a word. • The students must spell it on the keyboard. • As they spell their word, we will write the letters they type on the board. • If the student spells the word correctly they get to shoot a basket.

18. 2nd Grade Week 4 Pictures

19. 2nd Grade Week 4 Thursday • The students will learn about contractions. • There will be 20 post-it notes around the room. • The students will wander the room trying to find the matches of two words that go together to make a contraction. • We will come together after we have collected all of the contractions and discuss the words we made. • The students will use one contraction in three sentences.

20. 2nd Grade Week 4 Pictures

21. 2nd Grade Week 5 Wednesday • The students will be given a spot of shaving cream. • The students will spread the shaving cream on their desk. • The students will spell sight words in their shaving cream. • The students will use at least three sight words in three different sentences.

22. Pictures

23. 2nd Grade Week 5 Thursday • The students will play “Type-It-Ball” to review the skills they learned. • The students will take their post-assessment.

24. Pictures

25. Results

26. 5th Grade Week 1 Wednesday Students will pass a ball around to introduce themselves telling their name, grade, and something interesting about themselves. Students will spell their names with play-dough. Students will take the verb preassessment.

27. 5th Grade Week 1 Thursday • Read the letter we wrote to the students to model their task. • Brainstorm ideas with students and set guidelines for writing pre-assessment. • Students will write a letter to us telling their name, favorite subject, where they were born, favorite food, sport, game, or animal. Students will be asked to write at least two interesting facts.

28. 5th Grade Week 1 Reflection • Students enjoyed the getting to know you game. One student had a difficult time writing the introduction letter. We were able to modify the letter to help meet the needs of this particular student.

29. 5th Grade Week 2 Wednesday Read aloud The Secret Knowledge of Grown Ups by David Wisniewski. (For time purposes, only read three short tales) Model a bad example of writing to inform about a tale from the read aloud. Include run on sentences, incorrect grammar usage, and fragments in example.) Through guided practice, fix the writing piece with students. Ask students to write to persuade about a tale that was read aloud. (Students can only choose the two remaining tales, not the modeled example). Students will share their tales if time allows.

30. 5th Grade Week 2 Thursday Students will be introduced to the rules of the game, Change It. Ask students to repeat the rules back to check for understanding. Students will play the game as a group. Students will write to inform by writing the rules of the game. Students will share their writing and play the game again if time remains.

31. 5th Grade Week 2 Reflection • Students were able to accurately point out the errors in the incorrect piece. Students were able to write to inform about the rules of the game. All students had many errors. We had the students go back and edit then revise their pieces in order to see their own errors.

32. 5th Grade Week 3 Wednesday • Students will cut out a list of twenty-four compound words. • They will cut each word into two separate words, and then flip them over on their desks. • With a partner, they will engage in a matching memory game. • As the game is being played, we will discuss with students multiple ways compound words can be match together to create a new word. • As an exit ticket for the day, the students will orally use their favorite compound word in a sentence.

33. 5th Grade Week 3 Thursday • Students will review the concept and meaning of compounds words. • On the board there were two columns of words. Students will be called to the board to match and draw a line from one word to the next word, creating a new compound word. • Students will use a lists of compound words to create sentences. • They will be asked to pick five compound words, and use them in a sentence. • We will grade their usage of compound words in a sentence through CUPS.

34. 5th Grade Week 3 Reflection • Students enjoyed working with a partner to complete the matching games. The student with the least amount of English skills was able to create compound words and write sentences to accompany each of them. This student has shown vast improvement from the initial pre-assessment.

35. 5th Grade Week 4 Wednesday • We will engage students by reading the book, “Dear Mr. Blueberry” aloud. • We will ask the students why he continues to write to Mr. Blueberry each day. In the story, the main character was writing to persuade. The students will be asked to recall a time when they had to persuade a parent or friend. • Student will share examples, and discuss what should be included in a persuasive letter.

36. 5th Grade Week 4 Thursday • Students will be given a prompt and asked to write to their parents. • We will explain they will be persuading them to let them do something, or buy something. • We will discuss what they should include in their letter. Such as: proper letterform, punctuation, capitalization, spelling and usage. • After each student completes his or her letter, they will pass it to their partner and read it aloud. • The students will vote as if they were each other’s parents and determined if they were persuaded or not.

37. 5th Grade Week 4 Reflection • Students were able to answer Higher Order Thinking questions about the text. Each student shared an example of a time when they needed to persuade someone. The lowest student in the group needed additional prompting to answer the question. When the students wrote letters to persuade, all chose real-life examples that were important to them. When the students passed around the papers they were able to spot errors and make corrections in the form of peer editing.

38. 5th Grade Week 5 Wednesday • As a group, we will post words around the room. • Students will determine whether the word is correctly spelled, and had correct capitalization. If they are not correctly spelled or capitalized, students will take the words down. • During the “Punctuation Bee” students will review punctuation and usage. The teachers will say sentences aloud. According to our tone of voice and inflection, students will need to determine the correct punctuation that completes the sentence. • The winner of the Punctuation Bee will receive an Eagle Egg.

39. 5th Grade Week 5 Thursday • Post-assessment Farewell Letter • Thank you/treats 

40. 5th Grade Week 5 Reflection • All students actively participated in the review for the final post-assessment. They were all eager to participate for the prize of an Eagle Egg. In the end, all students received an egg for their hard work. The final day we gave the students the post-assessment. All students received a goodie-bag for their time and dedication. Each student was able to show improvement from the pre- to post-assessment. This is clearly shown in the proceeding data chart for 5th grade.

41. Grading Rubric

42. 5th Grade Data Collection

43. 5th Grade Data Chart

44. Conclusion • Every student improved his or her writing performance after completing the five week action research project.