In
developing my lesson plans to fit the protocol of the portfolio my state requires
for a teaching license I have been compiling data on my students. In looking at all the data on my students, I
have become very interested in how to better engage the vast number of English
Language Learners in my classes. I want
our classroom environment and the lessons I’m presenting to give them
meaningful opportunities to become more comfortable in their speaking, writing and
reading of English. With my classrooms
being over 50% English Language Learners I really want to know how best to
engage, and grow their writing, reading and even speaking skills.
Of
all the lesson types I’ve done or have seen done with these students this year,
the most impactful and the most engaging have typically involved the production
of or interaction with some sort of artifact.
We’ve done window pane style vocabulary where we introduce students to
words with an image they draw first, we’ve done book cover investigations where
we look at an image and try to infer what the text might be about, we’ve
produced AVID one pagers that include illustrations and we’ve created detail
rich sentences on script strips with added color. Give these students choral reading, Cornell
notes, quick writes or a writing assignment and they struggle. Give them the chance to draw and write or
color and write or draw and discuss and the interaction level and participation
increases exponentially.
In
the November/December 2015 issue of the Journal of Adolescent & Adult
Literacy, Réngine Randall and Mia Lynn Mercurio published an article about the
power of artifacts in the classroom as a motivator for learning and developing
more literate through process and application in students. Based on their article and the work of
advocates for multi-modal learning like Tom Romano, Troy Hicks, Bomer, and many
strategies advocated by Marzano – the resounding opinions seems to be that
artifacts are a great way to engage and motivate our students.
Our
students are consumers of multi-modal literacy every day through their use of
technology and social media and as Randall and Mercurio state, “our ability to
impact student achievement rests on innovative instructional practices that
enable teachers to meet students where they are with the materials that they
are best able to read and interpret.”
The message seems pretty clear to me – if I want to meet my students
where they are and have them be more engaged in the learning process I need to
consider the production, analysis and display of artifacts in my teaching. Again to quote Randall and Mercurio, “objects,
artifacts, and materials matter precisely because they are tangible and often
more central to students’ lives than a text alone.” Artifacts, it seems, are a powerful learning
tool and I suspect, for my students who are English Language Learners, being
able to connect their understanding of text, writing and critical thinking in
conjunction with an artifact is a much more meaningful way to allow them to dig
deeper into how they feel about a particular event, theme or piece of writing. I have seen this myself and have even taught
it myself. I brought cover art
investigations to my 8th grade ELA students and it provided us with
a thoughtful way to consider a text before even reading a single word. We were able to go back and revisit the cover
after reading and discuss what we have accurately inferred and what new things
we saw after our reading. Even better
was that many of my quieter language learner students actively
participated.
“Also, of no small importance is how the use of materials and artifactual literacies might positively change intervention or developmental reading classes intended to support underperforming students. Such an approach is not a perfect or straight path to raising achievement, but it may be one that improves the development of transferable academic skills, promotes engagement and curiosity, informs action, and allows for greater self- efficacy,” (Randall & Mercurio, 327).
I have always seen the benefit and
loved the idea of multi-genre projects, portfolios, and the integration of art
and technology in the ELA classroom, but this new information and the depth to
which it positively affects English Language Learners gives me a whole new
sense of motivation to make artifacts and the opportunity to develop and use
them in the ELA classroom all the more pressing.
Works cited:
Randall, R., & Mercurio, M. L.
(2015). Valuing Stuff. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy J Adolesc
Adult Liter, 59(3), 319-327. Retrieved February 23, 2016.
