M.

Borders ELL Report 1

Title of Project​: ​ Living in America

Subject(s)​: ​Social Studies & ELA

Grade Level(s)​: ​Second Grade

Description

a. The setting of the field experience (e.g., in a classroom, at a community organization

location, etc.).

The setting of this field experience took place in Robbie Kearns’ K-2 English Language Learner

classroom at Hamilton E. Holmes Elementary. HEHES is located in Southwest Atlanta in a

predominantly African-American community. According to the Governor's Office of Student

Achievement, HEHES’ demographics are as follows:

Hamilton E. Holmes Elementary

Enrollment Economically Students with English Language Asian Black Hispanic Other White
Disadvantaged Disabilities Learners

730 67% 8% 12% 0% 83% 13% 2% 2%

b. The student(s)—use a pseudonym to maintain confidentiality—with whom you are

working (e.g. age, grade level, level of English Proficiency, personal characteristics based
on observations/interactions, other information that may give the reader a more in-depth
description of the student)

During this field experience, I worked with 7 second grade students. The students’ ages ranged

from 7-8 years old. Within the group, there were 2 boys and 5 girls. Their level of English

Proficiency ranged from emerging (2.7) to developing (3.8) according to their ACCESS

Assessment data. The group of students were very eager to engage in our activity, as Mrs.

Kearns had mentioned our time together days prior to my arrival. During our time together, their
M. Borders ELL Report 2

eagerness to participate varied. During the hook of our lesson, most of the gentlemen either

shared their prior knowledge immediately or frantically raised their hands whereas the young

ladies waited to be called on or had to be coaxed to share their perspectives. Throughout the

lesson’s activities the students were able to follow their guidelines and work independently.

c. The days and times that you met with the student.

This field experience took place over the course of three 1 hour class sessions. These lessons

occurred on November 2nd, 6th, and 28th.

d. Ways in which you interacted/engaged with the student (including pedagogical strategies).

During my time with Mrs. Kearns’ students, our meetings consisted of an initial hook,

exploratory activity, and the assessment component.

November 2nd (Initial Hook):​ Students were introduced to our activity in a whole group setting.

One of the projects students were working on involved learning about Georgia’s regions and

constructing friendly letters (postcards) to share their favorite locations within those regions. The

medium used during this lesson was Google Tourbuilder with embedded videos and links to

various resources.

November 6th (Exploratory Activity):​ During this activity, students were provided with graphic

organizers to gather information that was provided during the initial hook of the lesson. After I

modeled how to look for one interesting fact from their selected region’s attraction (provided in

the Google Tourbuilder) and build their ​why c​ omponent of their letter, students were given

access to GIFS that modeled each step as a visual reference. Students began to build the drafts of
M. Borders ELL Report 3

their friendly letter/postcards after their graphic organizers were completed and teacher

reviewed.

November 28th (Assessment): ​Depending on where students were from the last activity, they

were either allowed to complete their drafts with the available resources or they were able to

conduct their teacher conferences to move on to their final drafts. Students transferred their

drafts to the provided postcard template.

Objectives and Assessments

Write 2-3 learning objectives and state how you will assess each. Provide evidence for meeting the objectives.

Objective Assessment Was the objective met? Evidence

of student learning.

(Hook)
The students will
investigate attractions
within the 5 Regions
of Georgia to conduct
research for their
“Living In America”
lesson.
(Formative)
I will observe and ask questions
while students are investigating the
provided resources of attractions to
figure out their favorite region.
Yes, students were able to
engage in collaborative dialogue
about their interest in each
attraction within a region.

(Content)
Students will use
graphic organizers to
transfer information
from their research to
their postcard drafts.
(Formative)
I will observe students using
resources to appropriately
complete their graphic organizers.
I will also observe/ask questions
while the students are working.
Some students needed guided
support in order to gather
information from the Google
Tourbuilder resources. After
modeling, the other students were
able to use the website to
correctly complete the graphic
organizer. Many students
benefitted from using Google
Chrome’s Snap & Read extension
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(Language)
The students will draft Postcard Drafts (in friendly letter
a postcard (in friendly format)
letter format) to
persuade readers to
come to their selected
attraction within one
of the 5 Regions of
Georgia.
ELL Report 4
to assist them with unfamiliar
words.
(Summative)
After careful modeling, most
students (excluding two) were
successfully able to use their
graphic organizers, the friendly
letter video resource embedded
within Google Tourbuilder, and
the postcard template to create
their friendly letters.
Most students struggled with the
greeting and signature components
of the letters. When asked
(collectively) to break down the
purpose of each part of a friendly
letter, they could only identify the
greeting as “hello,” the closing as
“goodbye,” and the signature as
“my name.”
M. Borders ELL Report 5

Resources

You are required to use 2-3 ELL-specific resources to help inform your understanding of ELLs
and increase your pedagogical strategies to assist students who are English Language Learners
(ELLs). You may use the resources listed within the module or other resources available to you.
Briefly describe how the resources were used to assist in your experience.

There were a variety of ELL-specific resources used to enhance the learning experience of Mrs. Kearns’

second grade students who are ELL. Details of the each resource are listed, below:

1. Google Tourbuilder

Google Tourbuilder was used as a ​virtual field trip modified language immersion.​ This tool allowed

students to visit various locations and attractions state-wide through the use of digital media. “With this

tactile strategy, students can see, touch, and hear as they learn” (Evans, p. 31). According to Margaret

Roblyer, this strategy “offers expanded opportunities for language acquisition [and] allows students to

‘visit’ locations and have experiences not available to them in person” (p.289). Within the IRIS Center’s

ELL module, a similar strategy of ​multimodal techniques ​aligns with Google Tourbuilder in that it

supports comprehensible input. This type of input is “​teaching at a level that is just beyond the students’

current level of language competence—while also providing the scaffolded supports necessary to

understand the information” (What do teachers need to know about students who are learning to speak

English?, 2017).

2. Snap & Read

Snap & Read is a Google Chrome Extension that reads the texts on any webpage. As students accessed

information within Google Tourbuilder, Snap & Read was beneficial, because it was an “as needed”

tool. Snap & Read was used as a ​support for authentic oral language practices and assessment​ to “help

provide individual help for students’ different language levels” (Roblyer, p. 289).
M. Borders ELL Report 6

References

Evans, S. (2017). New Directions for Technology Use in ELL Instruction. ​Language Magazine,​ ​16(​ 9), 28.

Google Tourbuilder [Instructional Software]. (2017).​ ​Retrieved from: ​https://goo.gl/JTLvw7​.

Roblyer, M. D.. Integrating Educational Technology into Teaching. Pearson Education. Kindle Edition.

Snap and Read [Instructional Software]. (2017).​ ​Retrieved from: ​https://snapandread.com​.

The Governor’s Office of Student Achievement. (2016). ​2015-2016​ ​Annual report card​. Retrieved on

November 23, 2017 from ​https://schoolslikemine.gosa.ga.gov/​.

The IRIS Center. (2011). ​Teaching English Language​ ​Learners: Effective Instructional Practices​. Retrieved

from ​https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/ell/

The IRIS Center. (2011). ​What do teachers need to know about students who are learning to speak English?

Retrieved on November 23, 2017 from ​https://goo.gl/Vdur8j