Assignment Instructions

Write a 750-1500 word “Learning Activity” based on the following assignment:

Scenario: You are teaching English Language Development (ELD) to a small group that includes the following: WIDA Level 3 Spanish speakers and WIDA Level 1 Portuguese speakers (at the grade level of your choice).  

Now, follow the steps below to demonstrate your understanding of teaching and assessing ELLs at varying levels of proficiency:

1. Select a piece of literature (could be an authentic children’s book or young adult novel)
2. Select one concept you will teach this group using this piece of literature ( e.g. vocabulary words, a language pattern (such as rhyming), a grammatical structure ( adjective, irregular past tense…), a phonemic item ( how to pronounce a phoneme not found in students L1), idioms, syntax…
3. Describe how you will use the children’s literature, and any related multimedia resources, such as videos, apps, music, etc., to teach the new concept.
4. Describe one listening activity and one speaking activity (see Gottlieb, pages 96-106 for suggestions, or create your own) for students to complete during this 30-minute small group session.
5. Write a conclusion to your Learning Activity. Include connections to your own teaching practice and course content as it relates to your instruction and assessment of ELLs at varying levels of proficiency and from diverse language backgrounds.

PLEASE NOTE: If you are able to actually try out these activities with students, ELL or otherwise, you will gain valuable information about the quality of your listening and speaking activities. Try them out on your own children- or borrow a niece, cousin, or neighbor’s child- This is OPTIONAL! This could be done at any point in the Learning Log process, and you can include your comments in your conclusion.