Category: General

It is pretty typical to wonder how newcomer students who are just starting to learn English acquire the language in a mainstream classroom. Educators often ask: what will the student even learn in the classroom if they cannot understand what I am saying? How can I even assess this student?

Most professional learning about English language learners (ELLs), or multilingual language learners (MLLs) address this topic by focusing on program adaptation and instructional tips. I’m not convinced that those approaches have always been effective, especially since we don’t often think about language acquisition from the perspective of the learner.

This blog will first focus on exactly how students learn English, or the language of instruction, in Ontario. We will then explore practical ways educators can enhance language acquisition through instruction and program adaptations, using a student-centred perspective.

How do We Learn a New Language?

Language learning is something that most Canadian teachers are familiar with to some degree. Even if you haven’t invested time in learning an additional language, you still live in a bilingual country where everything from road signs and toothpaste labels are in at least two different languages. At this point, you have probably learned a handful of French words and phrases, simply by reading and re-reading environmental print.

As someone who has spent a considerable amount of time language learning and travelling in places where English is not typically the first language spoken, I can confidently say that a lot of the best learning I have experienced comes from listening, attempting to decode environmental print, and having to interact with others in practical situations like asking for directions or purchasing something.

Yes, explicit instruction makes a big difference. When you take time to learn a new language in a class, study and complete activities from a language learning activity book, or consult a phrase book or digital translator, you can enter a linguistically foreign context armed with much more background knowledge that helps you to navigate situations more easily.

It is no different for newcomer students (students that have recently arrived to Canada for the first time) that enter a new country, community, school, and classroom. Many students come with some background knowledge of English learned in school or through media exposure. Others may not, and will be exposed to English for the first time during the time they join your classroom.

In either case, you will want to consider the environment you work in and the content you teach  to be two powerful pathways newcomer students can acquire English language skills.

A Quick Note on Content

It is important to note that much of the content you use will not teach English as a second or additional language explicitly, especially if you are teaching older students in the intermediate grades. Because you are teaching curriculum to a large and diverse group of students, it is important to reframe the way you think about how your teaching will land differently with a newcomer student.

One way to understand content based instruction to ELLs is to put yourself in their shoes. Find a piece of content on an academic topic in another language using a search engine. Watch a news report in a language you are completely unfamiliar with.

What information can you actually extract or learn from that text, or piece of content? What would you need to make that content more comprehensible?

We will explore how to reframe the content you teach by making it more comprehensible in the second part of this blog.

Language Acquisition through the Learning Environment

Let’s get back to focusing on the learning environment – how might a newcomer student acquire English by simply being in the classroom?

You have may have heard about the Reggio Emilia philosophy of peers being the “second teacher”, and the classroom being “the third teacher”. When an environment is set up effectively for learners with opportunities to explore and problem-solve, they can be active participants in their own learning.

While this concept has roots in learning in the early years, it can also be incredibly relevant to supporting language development in older, newcomer students that are acquiring English while learning alongside non-ELL peers in a mainstream class environment.

Perhaps more importantly, it leverages an additional teaching resource – the environment; in other words, your classroom is also doing some of the work! Consider “tweaking” your classroom for English language development by taking the following actions:

• Label common objects (ex. Whiteboard, clock, garbage can, computers, bins, etc.). You can even add labels in the home languages of your students if they have literacy skills in those languages.
• Include literacy materials around the class that address a range of different reading levels. For example, display non-fiction texts that have lots of features like subheadings, pictures, and table of contents. Have a selection of graphic novels and picture books that students can explore.
• Make a large scale timetable for students to reference, with visuals or symbols that support the subject being learned during a specific period.
• Provide opportunities for informal, low risk conversations among students in small groups or play games in large groups. Listening is a rich way for ELLs to acquire language, and all students benefit from activities that build community.
• Encourage all students in the class to use translation tools to bridge communication gaps in spontaneous conversation.
• Use the outdoors as much as possible, whether it is time for unstructured play and socializing or a guided walk through nature or the community. Language acquisition is powerful when the learning is experiential, and you are referring to concrete elements. The break from the classroom environment and tech also supports your students well-being.
• Have charts with common sentence starters and frequently used academic language (ex. transition words, mathematical vocabulary) posted around your room and refer to them frequently as you teach.
• Leverage phonics resources like sound walls in the classroom to help students, including ELLs, with their decoding skills.

The Learning Environment is Just a Starting Point

Setting up your learning environment to support language development for newcomer ELLs is just a starting point. The main takeaway is that you can support English language acquisition through “implicit” forms of instruction instead of relying solely on program adaptation and explicit instruction – which we will explore in this blog series!

Welcome: to be gladly received.

Welcome to the 2024-25 school year! I hope you have been gladly received by your co-workers and administration. You are likely putting a lot of energy into creating a warm classroom environment that welcomes each of your students.

When I was a new teacher I remember being told that I shouldn’t smile until November but I always failed miserably at that assignment. After all, if the word welcome means to be gladly received, then a smile is the first way you want to communicate to your students that they are welcome in your class!

Another bit of advice I got was to teach the students all the routines I wanted them to follow. Simple procedures had to be reviewed such as where to put their outdoor shoes, how to enter and exit the building, and safe use of the washrooms. Together the students and I would outline expectations for out of classroom locations such as the schoolyard, the library and the gym.

Teaching these basics is second nature to me now but I really appreciated that advice early in my career. I believe consistency helps students feel safe and students who feel safe have an easier time learning and retaining what they have learned.

Academics have their place in September but building a sense of community amongst the people in your classroom is going to set the tone for your year ahead. As a supply teacher I often look for the class agreement poster wherever I am working. It is helpful to have something like that to refer back to when needed. Including prep teachers, support staff, lunchroom helpers, custodians and secretaries as part of the community will help students understand and appreciate the different roles that make the school function. Students can be taught the names of all these important adults throughout the first month.

I already know you’re a resourceful, problem-solving type of teacher since you’re here at the heart and art blog. You are looking to others for ideas and seeing yourself as a lifelong learner. Keep doing what you’re doing. It may not go as planned. It probably won’t go as planned! I’m sure you’ll continue to learn and grow as a teacher and fill your toolbox with all kinds of suggestions from others.

I gladly receive you here and I’m sending you all kinds of great vibes for a wonderful September!

Brenda

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Perhaps you’ve heard the story of the legendary Tina Turner. Although she was born Anna Mae Bullock and had been crowned the Queen of Rock and Roll, the name she fought to keep was her stage name Tina Turner. As the story goes, her first husband gave her this stage name thinking that if she ever left the band he would be able to replace her with another ‘Tina Turner’. Upon leaving the marriage, keeping her name was so important to her that she had it included in her divorce agreement. Tina knew that she had built that name and stage presence and it encapsulated her hard work, talent, and determination to succeed. Ultimately, she won that right.
I’m reminding you of this story because I think it captures exactly how important our names are to people. Names are a huge part of our identities. At times they link us to culture and family while other times they represent the parts of us that we know deeply and personally about ourselves. They can demonstrate a transition or change in our identities – sometimes changing surnames, for example, due to marriage, divorce, adoption, or choice. Sometimes that looks like changing a first name, using a different version or a name that better fits one’s gender identity. Other times people may choose to be recognized by their nicknames or terms of endearment. In fact, in my Filipino culture it is common for people to have their birth name and another name that is more commonly used. I have some cousins that we fondly call ‘Bong’ and ‘Nene’, for example.
When we honour students’ names, we are telling them how important they are to us. It creates a classroom environment where students can feel seen, acknowledged, and respected. It models acceptance for the other students in the class and we are being given a gift of knowing a child for who they know they are and want to be. We may know students who will change their names several times throughout their schooling and it’s important that they feel supported and accepted.
How do we honour students’ and their names, whether they are chosen or given or changing? The first step is to be approachable and open minded. Know that students may have names you have never heard before; ask them to teach you how to say their names properly. This shows them how important it is to you, as the educator, that they have advocacy over how they want to be addressed at school. Should students decide they want to be called a different name than what appears on their school registry, abide by their wishes. Sometimes that’s a change in name and it’s okay to ask whether they want you to share this information with the class or if they are just inviting you to know them. It’s our job to keep them safe and to respect their privacy and wishes.
Discuss varied and real life examples of why people change their names. Share your own story if you’re comfortable! I often share my story of how it is common for people to change their names after they marry, but I chose to keep my name because it reminds me of how close I am with my own mother. It’s important to allow space for students to understand that identity can be determined in different ways, including conscious choice of what feels right or best for oneself. Share the public stories of famous people who talk about their names to build understanding as to why it’s important to honour and respect one another.
Ultimately, using the right names with correct pronunciation are a way we show care and respect for ourselves and each other. That can set the tone for the classroom spaces we cultivate. It’s important for students to feel seen for their authentic selves and as the educator in the room, we can model that explicitly. Names are so powerful and so deeply necessary for all of us to feel seen and validated. As the late, great Tina Turner said, “I’ll give up all that other stuff, but only if I get to keep my name. I’ve worked too hard for it.”

I love the way the light looks different in every season. The frozen skies of winter, sunsets muted with pearl and pink. Soft spring skies, new green and gentle rain.  And of course the fiery blue of summer.  But by the end of summer, the light always starts to look a little bit different. A little less fierce, as if making way for the grand finale.

The light in September, in my opinion, can often combine the best of the other seasons … The brilliant and still-warm blue of summer remains, the leaves that began in spring still edging its horizons, only now with brilliant bursts of colour. And the sunsets of winter can be seen at the end of ever-shortening days, whispers of colder days to come.

September reminds me of beautiful things, and makes me grateful for each one. And I’m particularly grateful for all the gifts, experiences, and hopes of students, for their bright anticipation of the coming year.

I wish every one of them community and belonging, and learning relevant to their lives. And I know educators will support them throughout.

What an amazing role we have, what a chance to make a difference. May each one of you have a wonderful start to the school year, and enjoy every moment of this glorious September light.

It can seem overwhelming to have emergent speakers of English in your mainstream classroom, especially when you are balancing the needs of the rest of your class. As we have explored in the previous two parts of this blog series, it is critical to leverage the learning environment and student peers as part of your program. The third element involves critically examining and tweaking your direct instruction while always keeping language development in mind.

So what does the instruction you provide as a teacher look like when you have newcomer ELLs in your class who are just starting to learn the language of instruction? While there are many ways to approach this topic, I will focus on how to reframe content based instruction for all learners.

Critically Examine the Content you Plan to Teach

Re-examining the content you are going to teach, especially if you are a teacher of intermediate ELLs, is important. A few key questions to consider are:

• What are the language demands of the content?
• Will an early STEP ELL be able to understand the texts and media resources of the lesson?
• What can be done to make the content more comprehensible?
• What can I do in my teaching to make the content comprehensible?

When the learning is content based (Ex. Science or social studies), and reading is involved, encourage early STEP ELLs to use tools like multilingual dictionaries or translation tools. When students have literacy in their home language, it is an important and critical skill they can leverage to access the curriculum and continue building their literacy skills.

Offer simplified versions of the content when possible, or bring in media resources like videos and audio. Slow the pace of the video or audio, and use subtitles and text forms so that students can follow along as best they can develop phonological awareness in English.

Set Appropriate Learning Expectations to Assess

Setting learning expectations for ELLs that are aligned with STEP will help you be more intentional with your instruction and also provide you with a starting point for assessment. When you have a sense of which learning goals will support and challenge your ELLs, you can design tasks, report and assess with purpose.

To do this, consider where the student is on the STEP continua in the areas of reading, oral communication, and writing. Your school should have this information documented, or you can start by printing out the continua (you can find the different continua with a quick search or check out www.ergo-on.ca).

Then, consider the curriculum expectations you are teaching and plan to assess and develop an appropriate learning goal for the student. Here is an example:

Grade 7: Syntax and Sentence Structure

B3.1 use their knowledge of sentence types and forms to construct sentences that communicate ideas effectively, including using and creating complex sentences that combine phrases and clauses to express relationships among ideas.

Modified for a STEP 1 (Writing) student:

“Student will communicate their ideas using translanguaging tools and scaffolds like models and sentence frames to create simple sentences in English.”

Once you adapt learning expectations a few times, it becomes much easier to understand what you can do to scaffold instruction for ELLs.

Provide Ample Opportunities for ELLs to use Academic Language

ELLs will often acquire social or practical language first through play, conversations, and regular interactions with people in and outside of school. Academic language, or the use of words and vocabulary that are not often heard outside of a school context, can be a challenge for ELLs to acquire because these words are not heard as frequently.

Providing ample opportunities for ELLs (and all the students in your classroom) to speak and write less frequently used words is imperative for their academic success. You can do this by posting word walls or charts, providing sentence frames where they can utilize transition words, or structured group projects and presentations that will get students using academic language with purpose.

Here are some examples of activities that will enable students to use academic language in meaningful ways:

• Create a podcast with an interviewer and “expert”
• Script and perform a news report
• Write a blog post or news article
• Develop a game with science/social studies vocabulary for that unit

Here are a couple of resources that you can use to get ideas for sentence frames and questioning.

Blooms Taxonomy for ELLs:

Sentence Frames (created by S. Kim)

Monitor Progress in Language Acquisition

With the learning environment, peers, and direct instruction set up to support English language acquisition, you can monitor for growth and change using the STEP continua.

Keep in mind that language acquisition will vary depending on the student – each student is on their own unique and individual journey.

How will you know if an ELL is progressing? Remember that conversations, observations, and products – also known as triangulated evidence – will give you a sense of where they are. Notice when they respond differently in conversations, take risks in writing and speaking in class, and start socializing more with others.

Summing it Up

We are of course just scratching the surface when it comes to providing instructional support for ELLs in this short blog post. You will find no shortage of ideas on the topic from a number of prolific educators in the field, such as Tan Huynh, Diane Staehr-Fenner, and Oscar Corrigan, and Andrea Honigsfeld just to name a few.

What will you focus on to adapt instruction for the ELLs you are teaching?

We who cultivate
come from homes and histories
diverse and the gardens of
orchids and hibiscus,
marigolds and plumeria,
peonies and plum blossoms
blanketing our lands in rich tapestries of color.

This past May, a beautiful picture book by author Joanna Ho and artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya was released called We Who Produce Pearls: An Anthem for Asian America. Both of these amazing Asian women have worked so hard to amplify Asian identity throughout their work in different modalities. As a children’s author, Joanna Ho invites us to learn about Asian heritage through beautiful stories that celebrate culture, family, and identity. Artist Amanda Phingbodhipakkiya’s vibrant and inspiring artwork has reclaimed space in museums, galleries, at protests and rallies, on buildings in classrooms and even on the cover of Time magazine. Seeing these two wonderful artists collaborate on this book was so inspiring!
You may have read some of Joanna Ho’s stories, Eyes that Kiss in The Corners, Eyes that Speak to the Stars, and Eyes that Weave the World’s Wonders, but We Who Produce Pearls has a very different celebratory flavour. It isn’t a linear picture book story with a defined plot; instead, it celebrates each page with a poetic proclamation brought to life through Phingbodhipakkiya’s bold style. The artists have striven to give the reader a view of the contributions and historically cultural identity of the diversity among Asian Americans while drawing connections between the shared histories.
While this is a picture book, I have used this in junior and intermediate classes. I have found that it’s lyrical style and vocabulary lends itself more to older grades for analysis and reflection. The illustrations have such a myriad of representation and expression that students are able to recognize emotions in the portraits. Although each page has a different stanza beginning with ‘We who…” the book is lengthy and when using it, I recommend investing the time with your classes to build their understanding. One strategy might be to read the book together, sharing your wonderings and thoughts about the illustrations and stanzas. Remember to be responsive to the children, I’ve found that reading picture books a few pages at a time with intentional conversation can cultivate better engagement and learning over reading a book in it’s entirety then revisiting.
What I really love is that at the end of the book, there is “An Invitation to Dig Deeper and Continue Learning”. Each stanza has it’s own set of guiding questions and suggested starting points for learning and research. These include so many options, such as historical events, people, textiles, and more. While it is American-based, the shared histories are so important in shaping how Asian Canadian experience has been influenced by world events. There are many parallels to be drawn out in conversation or research about Asian Canadian history. Both educators and students can benefit from this section – researching and discussing more information that helps us to understand the author’s intention in her writing. Perhaps extending this to sharing the information with one another or highlighting their favourite page or illustration.
At the end of the book is a beautiful call to dream about the future. It inspires Asian Americans to embrace their cultural heritage, understand the influence of their ancestors, and continue to grow in brilliance. It’s a beautiful way to celebrate Asian Heritage Month or to analyse a different way to express one’s own identity.

“We have always risen up, spoken out, stepped into our power, shaped our space.”

This summer we are travelling up the St Lawrence. A road trip. We’ve been meaning to for a while and this was the year we finally cemented plans and took the leap. Starting out in Ontario and making our way east, we are travelling first to Montreal, then Quebec City, Saguenay, Tadoussac and beyond … 

We have not yet made it out of Quebec yet as I write this. And my time in this beautiful province has not only afforded me rich opportunities to learn about the history and culture and surroundings in each region I visit, but also the language. 

Although I am not bilingual, as an ESL teacher I am very used to using other languages every day … to speak with students, to scaffold learning tasks, to support students as they use and expand their first languages simultaneously with English acquisition and curriculum content. And now I find myself using many of these same strategies during my summer trip.  I am constantly learning new phrases, checking the meaning of unfamiliar words on google translate, using context and gestures to aid communication … and others are doing the same for me. As the days go by, street signs, menus, pit stops, and shopping trips all become unconventional language teachers, bringing about new interactions, inviting in new words.

But one thing, above all others, has provided the most opportunities to communicate and connect with others in French. 

We got a new puppy this year and, perhaps a bit too ambitiously, we decided to bring him along. He is 6 months old now, with floppy ears and the softest black and caramel-coloured fur. He has bright white paws that make him look as though he is wearing mittens. His eyes are a solid ice blue — except for the right one, which has a little brown in it too. He is full of puppy-bright energy, sometimes pulling too hard on the leash, but always on the lookout for cuddles and treats.

He goes everywhere we go on this trip … down centuries-old cobblestone streets; onto sun-warmed patios for slow afternoon meals; down forest trails lined with pine-dotted cliffs on one side, and deep fjord blue on the other. And no matter where we bring him, it is our little puppy that has started the most conversations. I have learned how to answer delighted inquiries in French about his age, what type of dog he is, if he is friendly, and if it is alright to pet him. I somehow managed to have a short conversation about Samoyeds with a woman whose puppy took a liking to ours, both of us moving back and forth between English and French (with a lot of gestures) to communicate. I listened quietly to a lovely couple who approached and told us, using simple French and a little English, that they had just lost their dog, and saw something of him in ours. 

I love the connections that come through embracing other languages, and in using all the tools we have as human beings to communicate. And I love how my world gets a little bigger with every gesture, every sought-after word, every conversation … every time I see someone’s knowledge, personality, and feelings flow with their language — even if I do not understand everything they are saying. Whether it is during the school year when working with students and families, or on long summer trips like this, using different languages and ways to communicate is always a gift. 

As September approaches, these August days remind me at every turn of the importance of using first languages in school …  in learning, in lessons, in the way we move through the day. This fall, may you and your students discover your own new and beautiful words. 

At the end of May, I had the opportunity to attend a “Language Friendly School” conference in Hamilton. It was hosted at Glendale Secondary School, as it is the latest school in Canada to achieve this designation. There are member schools around the globe, however, including The Netherlands, Suriname, China, Germany, the UK, and others. I was particularly excited to attend this conference at Glendale, as it is the eventual destination of many students I support across the system.

I have walked these halls many times, touring with excited grade 8s and their families, and have seen the many ways both teachers and students embrace, use, and celebrate multiple languages in learning. It is not dissimilar to many elementary schools I visit, which are quite “language friendly” themselves!

The official designation of “Language Friendly School”, however, is a distinguished one. According to its website, “the Language Friendly School is both a label and a global network of schools that embrace and value all the languages spoken by their students … they actively foster an environment where these languages thrive within the school community.”

Two guest speakers from this organization presented at our conference, and discussed all the reasons why including multiple languages in schools is critical for student learning and well-being. They were the ones we are all familiar with: that students learn faster and better in their first language; that language is an inseparable part of identity, and to exclude it from the classroom is to in many ways exclude students themselves; that multilingualism benefits everyone, not just students learning English; and that first language maintenance is essential not only for strong English acquisition, but also for the vital connection to family and culture, to say nothing of future education and employment opportunities.

The presentation was full of celebratory speeches, examples of students’ multilingual learning and what a Language Friendly school looks like, as well as a moving multilingual performance by the Glendale school choir. Yet there were somber moments as well. Perhaps one of the most impactful occurred during the slide presentation, when a quote attributed to a former principal at Silver Creek Public School in Mississauga appeared on the screen:

“I went into school with two languages. I left with one. This is the exact opposite of what education should do: it should add things, not take away things.”

And there it is. This statement, in its stark simplicity, is a devastating reminder of what can happen out of sight, out of anyone’s notice, when we use only English in our schools.

Perhaps this is why the Language Friendly Schools website has a similarly brief yet poignant objective:

Language as a resource.

Language as a right.

A right, indeed. Language is who we are. To exclude it, consciously or unconsciously, from the school environment is antithetical to our most sacred duties as teachers.

(On happier note, the above school, Silver Creek Elementary in Mississauga, is also designated a Language Friendly School.)

I look forward to detailing in subsequent blogs all the ways in which the elementary schools I support are language friendly. For now I will leave you with a quote that was lovingly scrawled in colourful chalk in one of the classrooms at Glendale:

Language is the blood of the soul, into which thoughts run and out of which they grow.

– Oliver Wendell Holmes