Student Background Session

Blog post on ESL Strategies Course: Session #1 

We kicked off our ESL PD for teachers highlighting students background - learning who our ELs are, seeing them for who they are, and for what they CAN accomplish.

All the resources used are in the Wakelet below.
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• Activating Background knowledge:

Teachers watched the chip "Immersion" - After watching the short clip about Moisés' experiences, we asked them to write 5 basic things teachers should know about ELLs.

• Content: Questions to Ask About ELs 

After sharing  with teachers how simply being aware of our ELs' background can help us understand them and sere them even better. Asking 5 simple questions about our ELs can clear up any myths and misunderstandings about our students. 
The 5 simple key questions to ask about our ELs came from this article from Barbara Gottschalk. Teachers were asked to work with a partner and each partner was to read one of the key questions and create a poster to share with the rest of us.
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The 5 key questions are represented here: 

After each partner learned about a key question, we presented to the rest and we learn from each other's learning. 

As a homework assignment, teachers were to ask these 5 key and essential questions about ELs in our class and share through a Flipgrid video. We also provided extra resources for teachers to read and learn even more.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you decide to use these activities and/or share with your staff, please let us know.
We'd love to learn from you as well, so let me know if there's anything else I should add to our Wakelet!

​Thank you so much for reading! ​