English as a Second Language Lesson Plan Reflection

INTASC 2 covers learning differences between students, specifically how a teacher

addresses those differences to ensure every student can meet high standards. Diversity of a
school and its students plays a large role in how lessons should be taught and what issues may
arise. Through both observation and teaching at Jackson Middle School in Roanoke, I was able
to gain insight and practical experience into the field of education of diverse students. While the
INTASC standard applies to all kinds of diverse students, Jackson is unique experience for
teachers because students from all over come to learn because of the English Language Learner
programs they have in place.
Like any other group of diverse students, ELLs require certain scaffolding and assistance
in order to best succeed in their education. In a reading we did earlier in the semester called
Science and Language for English Language Learners in Relation to Next Generation Science
Standards and with Implications for Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
and Mathematics, the authors stressed that when students, specifically ELLs, have the support
they need, content and language learning occur simultaneously. They also emphasized that
acquiring a language requires not only speakers of the language to provide access and assistance,
but also a social situation where language can be implemented frequently.
When I went to Jackson to observe, I was able to sit in on both a Science and English
class. In the science classroom, there was a mix of ELL and regular students. I noticed the
teacher made sure to repeat directions multiple times and give examples as well as walk around
among students to offer additional help. The teacher also modeled activities for students and
wrote key words on the board. While activities were proceeding, the teacher, along with an aide,
assisted students, but students also assisted each other. The article specifically discussed how
important it was for students to use discourse to bridge the gap between everyday language and
disciplinary language so I thought this collaboration was very useful for language development.
The English classroom was a much smaller class than the science class and was made up entirely
of ELLs. Because of this difference, the teacher geared the lesson more toward discussion. The
article highlighted how important modality, or multiple forms of language use, can be beneficial
to ELLs, which I thought was integrated well into the English class as students communicated in
small groups, full class discussions, with the teacher, and through writing.
When I returned to Jackson to teach, my partner and I did a lesson on the needs of living
things. It was interesting to see how the language objectives guided the lesson plan and assisted
in scaffolding by showing how each level ELL could participate. In order to reach all levels, my
partner and I built in extensions to each portion of the lesson plan to help encourage increased
language use. For example, we posed questions that asked them to think about what would
happen if their environment changed or we asked them to explain their drawings to the group.
Overall, the lesson plan went smoothly. Students were engaged and interested in the content and
activities the whole time. In addition, we were able to elicit responses from every student
regardless of the level of English acquisition and in so doing, they were able to learn from
speaking and listening to their peers. As a bonus, we structured the lesson to be very personal for
them if they wanted, so we were able to learn not only what they knew about the content area,
but also about their home countries and their favorite foods or activities. This level of interest in
their personal lives seemed to engage them further and also made teaching more fun. By working
their diversity and personal experiences into the lesson, I think the content made a greater impact
on them and ultimately will help them to retain the knowledge longer.

This experience really helped me to see how important it is to structure lessons to fit
every students diverse needs and also made the task of doing so seem less daunting. No matter
where I end up teaching, students will be diverse in their home lives, races, languages, etc.
Originally, it seemed impossible to make a lesson that would be useful for both ELL that were
level one and level six, but after working through the content and language objectives together,
the scaffolding seemed to appear naturally. I feel more prepared to teach any form of diversity in
the classroom after having this experience.