Collaborating for Greater Success

In Science for English Language Learners

Written by: Elizabeth Park

STUDENTS AS TEACHERS:

Presented by: Liriett Herrera

This program was developed in a middle

school in New Jersey because the state and federal

mandates requiere that eighth grade students

perform at a level considered proficient on

standardized content area assessment within a few

years of their arrivals in the United States.

This program was based on the ideas that

students learn best in groups and students who

are encouraged to leverage their learning

strengths may read most successfully in

heterogeneous groups. For instance, groups of

Literature are good example of this method.

BELIEFS BEHIND THE PROGRAM

1. Students are often the people who are best placed to understand peers´

difficulties and offer sucessful explanations.

2. A student may not understand what the teacher is saying for any number of

reasons,including regional dialects, the affective filter,(Krashen 1981), or

culturally different approaches to processes. However, peers are quick to

identify what component is missing in a friend´s understanding and, if

possible, to help fill that void.

All the ELLs in the Students as Teachers are native

Speakers and the school is located in a town with

A population identified as 75% Spanish speakers.

The students in this program are classified as

Beginners , intermediate and advanced.

1. Beginners receive content instruction in Spanish

In addition to the ESL classes.

2. Intermediate level students are offered sheltered

content area Instruction in English with ESL instruction

reading and writing, math,e social studies, and science.

3. Students at advanced level attend English only content

,

reading, and writing classes and have no classes

period of ESL support each day.

ORGANIZATION OF THE PROGRAM

TEACHER´S

INTRODUCTION

STUDENT´S

CONTENT

EXPLORATION

CREATION OF

TEXTS

WRITING ILLUSTRATINGDEVELOPING

ASSESSMENT

LAYING OUT

THE PAGES

PRINTING AND ASSEMBLING

(8-12 PAGES .ENGLISH

BOOKLET)

TEACHING AND

ASSESSMENT

TEACHERS IS MONITORING THE PROCESS AND

ANSWERING QUESTIONS

CONTENT INTRODUCTION AND GROUP CREATION

THE TEACHER INTRODUCES THE

TOPIC

WATER SOUND LIGHT

STUDENTS BEGIN TO ENVISION

THEMSELVES AS TEACHERS

TOPICS ASSIGNED BY THE TEACHER

STUDENTS READ ALL THE THREE CHAPTERS, BUT THEY FOCUS ON THEIR OWN CHAPTER

EACH GROUP MEMBER INDEPENDENTLY PRODUCES A SUMMARY OF HIS OWN

SECTION.

WORKING COLLABORATELY, ALL GROUP MEMBER REVIEW EACH SUMMARY AND CHECK EACH OTHER´S WORK TO MAKE SURE THE CONTENT IS COMPREHENSIBLE.

TEACHING• ROUND-ROBIN

READING

• LECTURE

• GROUP DISCUSSION

DISCIPLINE• VERBAL

WARNING

• TEACHER DETENTIONS

• STUDENTS DETENTIONS

ASSESSING

• MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST

• EASY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TOPIC

TEACHER´S ROLE

Support and Encourage students

Give individual roles to reach the

goal.

Make clear that all thestudents have to

assumedresponsabilities.

Createsopportunities foreach student to

work individually orin group

Negative Factors:

1. Classroom management was profoundly affected

By this program.

2. Disciplinary actions (for infractor such as missing

homework, class disruption,

3. And sidebars conversations unrelated to class work)

dropped by approximately 50% as measured by the

number of detentions issued for breaking class

rules against these kinds of behaviors.

EVALUATION OF THE PROGRAM

For all leaners in the Students as Teachers program, content area

grades rose by an average of one letter grade. Allowing students to

concentrate on sections of one chapter as a whole. When students

tookthe next step and explained their understanding to their peers,

they were encouraged to focus more deeply on their language

proficiency,

They mined small pieces of text for increasingly greater meaning,

analyzing syntax and grammar in ways they had not done before.

CONCLUSION:

A program like this offers challenges and rewards .

But as the author of this chapter mentioned “If the

Student can study in collaborative groups and create

Their own materials , many of them learn more

Comprehensively. Students who know content

exceptionally well can and should in turn teach

their peers.