Instructional Approaches that Set SLIFE Up to Succeed (and are good for everybody else): Structured Oral Interaction and Elders as Fonts of Knowledge Jill A. Watson, Ph.D.MELEd ConferenceNovember 10, 2015

Agenda

1. Affordances of orality and challenges for SLIFE in U.S. classrooms

2. RISA Oral Interaction

3. Elders as Fonts of Knowledge

SLIFE: a unique learner profile

Have come of age in an oral paradigm rather than a paradigm of literacy.

Cognitive / social maturation in an oral paradigm brings with it characteristic orientations to learning and life.

(Akinnaso, 2001; Battiste & Henderson, 2000; Bigelow, 2012; Bigelow & Watson, 2012; Bryce Heath, 1983; DeCapua & Marshall, 2013; Mosha, 2000; Olson & Torrance, 1991; Ong, 1982; Tarone, Bigelow, & Hansen, 2009; Watson, 2010, 2012)

Orality vs. Literacy Continuum: A cognitive, cultural, & axiological distinctionLiteracy-based education Orality-based educationGrounded in sight, phonetic alphabetic literacy. Much learning is done alone: reading, writing. Lettered = educated, intelligent.

Grounded in sound, the oral-aural dimension. All learning is physically proximal, face-to-face, premised on mentoring.

Values definition, precision, abstraction, categorical thinking, formal syllogistic reasoning. Discursively sparse, favors detachment, objectivity, subject / object split.

Values contexual understanding, lived experience, practical relevance. Discourse is additive rather than concisely subordinative. Empathetic and participatory.

Knowledge based on referentiability to written authority and demonstrability via objective methods.

Knowledge based on authority of elders, family and kinship relations, lessons of experience, tradition.

Careful, sequential planning, pre-determined outcomes--objectives, standards

Heuristic—trial and error, development of skills & judgment, practical results

Individualistic: individual performance Collectivistic: the common good

Challenges for SLIFE in Western schooling Learning based on abstraction, classification, definitional thinking

Learning grounded in literacy activities

Learning from teacher lectures, presentations

Learning without familiar or practical context or relevance

Refraining from oral communication most of the time

Knowing and following the implicit structure of lessons: turn-taking, hand-raising, note-taking

Individual performance vs. collective work and goals

African proverb: If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far,  go together.

Watson’s law:

“Instruction that involves only reading, writing, and the teacher talking dooms SLIFE to fail.”

The big question:

What instructional approaches CAN teachers use that set SLIFE up to succeed rather than fail?

How can we create fertile spaces for SLIFE learning? (Marshall, 2015)

RISA Oral Interaction: Rationale

1. Students learn better if they process information and learning orally/aurally, not only via reading, viewing, and writing (Zwiers, 2010; Zwiers & Crawford, 2011).

Stop Googling, Let’s Talk (New York Times, Sept. 26, 2015)

2. Especially true of SLIFE ELs who have come of age in orality and have rich oral cultural backgrounds. They MUST process learning through the oral mode, as a bridge to literacy and Western academic thinking

(DeCapua & Marshall, 2011, 2013; Watson, 2015).

RISA Oral Interaction: Rationale (cont.)

3. Students learning English and the patterns of Western academic work benefit enormously from routine instructional procedures: frees cognitive attention for engaging with the content and language objectives (August & Shanahan, 2006).

4. Peer-mediated learning is a top best practice for ELs (Gersten, Baker, Shanahan, Linan-Thompson, Collins, & Scarcella, 2007).

RISA OI: Rationale (cont.)

5. Classroom benefits from structured, routine instructional strategies Lesson delivery Behavior management

6. Teachers agree: ELs need more direct oral language instruction and practice!

RISA Oral Interaction: Routine, Integrated, Structured, Academic

Routine: It’s a part of your regular routine. 3+ times per week. Integrated: Directly integrated with your content objectives. The information that students are interacting about comes from the content of your lesson or unit. Structured: Give the students a structured template for their interaction. Not just, “Talk to your partner about ______.” Academic: This refers to your language objectives, which are directly linked to your content objectives. The language you are having students use is academic. It contains both academic vocabulary and academic structures.

Specific Learning Purposes of RISA-OI

1. Gives students correct models of academic English that they practice and are assessed on in the oral/aural mode.

Dialogs in foreign language class Conversation continuance: keep it going

2. Creates a structured, manageable opportunity for oral practice of specific language objectives: vocabulary and grammar

3. Increases depth of processing of content objectives

4. Lets teacher know if students have understood content

What is RISA Oral Interaction?

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Question: At what point in the unit would you use RISA Oral Interaction?

Answer: RISA Oral Interaction formats are used as a way for students to process and practice informatin students have ALREADY BEEN EXPOSED TO through:

Readings Presentations Demonstrations & lab work Vocabulary work Field trip or LEA experience Film, video, pictures, realia

Remember: RISA-OI is NOT used at the very start of a new unit. It works on depth of processing of information already available to the students.

Grouping & Planning

Create 2-person and 3-person options

Plan ahead for absences: what will your system be?

Vary the RISA-OI partners week to week: elbow partners, median split, homogenous, same-language partners, different-language partners, draw names, etc.

In creating the dialogs, you can differentiate for different student proficiency levels

Three RISA-OI Formats

1. Dialog Skit2. I have a question…3. HOTS Dialog

Question to keep in mind: What WIDA level and academic function is each suited for?

1. Dialog SkitSuitable for lowest levels. Teacher creates the dialog based on content &

language objectives, students learn and perform it as a skit.

Integrate social and academic language.You can include some cloze items to be filled in from

key vocabulary from the lesson or unit.Based on reading, class lecture, or other form of

information that students have already learned (eg. presentation at the start of class, assigned reading, previous class notes, etc.).  

Example: Invasive species reading

Modified for Level 1-2

This dialog skit is entirely for oral practice—no cloze items.

Many people help control invasive species 

Many groups of people are trying hard to stop bad plants, fish, and insects that come from other places and hurt species that grow naturally in Minnesota. One of these groups is called Three Rivers Natural Resource Management (NRM). Some of the bad invaders are zebra mussels, Eurasian water milfoil, buckthorn, garlic mustard, emerald ash borer, Asian carp, and gyspy moth.  One problem is, people who use the parks give a ride to the bad species on their cars, trucks and boats without even knowing it. That’s one way the invaders move to new places. It helps a lot to find the invaders early, before they become big. If the invading species get big and establish themselves, it is very hard to get them out, especially European buckthorn, black locust and oriental bittersweet. Sometimes NRM and helpers pull these bad plants up and get them out. Some bad plants live in water, and catch a ride on people’s boats to get to another lake or river. Lots of groups are working on teaching people who have boats how to clean the bad plants off their boats. If you want to help, contact Three Rivers (NRM). They teach you how to find bad species and have events where people pull out the bad plants. Call Three Rivers NRM at 763.694.7840.

Launching your RISA-OI Dialog

1. Hang a poster with the dialog on it. Leave it up. 2. Post key vocabulary related to unit and dialog. Work with cultural liaisons / classroom EAs to connect vocab to L1. 2. Explain the dialog briefly. 3. Model correct, natural pronunciation and prosody of words and key phrases. Have class choral repeat. 4. You do format with one student, and then another. 5. Have 2 students do for the class. Have 2 more do for the class. 6. Assign partners. 7. Have all members of the class do with their partner while you and classroom EAs / cultural liaisons circulate and support.

* Remember to always post the key vocabulary for your lesson / unit and leave up (not just on a powerpoint!)

* Vocabulary words you post are typically part of the missing cloze words.

Example: Level 1-2 Geography unit on Africa

Content Objective: SWBAT locate and name select countries in Africa, hemispheres, and cardinal directions

Language Structure Objective: SWBAT use preposition “of” with directions, the expression “is located in” – as a statement and a question, using the structure “In which hemispheres is __________ located?”

Language Vocabulary Objective: SWBAT name select African countries, all hemispheres, and cardinal directions

Questions

1. How can you implement it so students know what type of information goes in which blank?

2. What needs to be taught prior to this RISA-OI?

3. What else do you need to make this work?

Story Elements Dialogue example

• ESL class

• WIDA 1 – 2 SLIFE

Vocabulary:

1. characters2. setting3. conflict4. resolution 5. resolved

Story Elements Dialogue: WIDA 1 – 2 SLIFE

A: Hello! How are you?B: I am good, thank you.A: Great! Can you help me answer my reading questions?B: Sure. What is your question?A: What are characters in a story?B: Characters are _________ or ________in a story.A: Characters are _________ or ______ in a story. Great! What is setting?B: Setting is ________ and __________ a story happens.A: Setting is ________ and ________ a story happens. Good! What is the conflict?B: Conflict is the _______ of the story.A: Conflict is the _________of the story. Awesome! What is the resolution?B: The resolution is how the ________was _________. .A: The resolution is how the _______ was ______. Amazing! Thank you for your help!B: You’re welcome!

2. “I have a question” format

Similar to dialog skit, but more information is provided by students

Especially good for sequential processes, or concepts / things with specific components. Eg.: how to perform a mathematical operation or order of operations, describe a biological process, chronological order of events, identify the components of something and their functions.

Example: zebra mussels, from invasive species reading

Content objective: SWBAT describe the process of movement of the invasive species ‘zebra mussels’

Language objective (structure): SWBAT use First, Next, Then, Finally, and But to describe the process

Language Objective (vocabulary): SWBAT use target vocabulary in describing process: establish, zebra mussels, invasive, species, boat

Questions

1. Where would the information come from that students need to complete the dialog?

2. How can you differentiate for varying student WIDA levels in the “I have a question” format?

Your turn: Chambers of the heart lesson for high WIDA 2s and 3s.

Work with a partner or small group and create a dialog using the “I have a question” format

What could your dialog be about?

Look at the schematic and decide on language and content objectives for a dialog.

Remember: for language, you should determine a structure objective and key vocabulary list (select just the most important words).

Chambers of the heart

3. HOTS Dialog (Higher Order Thinking Skills)

Most advanced ELs (WIDA 3 and up), most flexible format Infuse this dialog with lots of academic language stems (eg. from

Socratic Seminar, Accountable Talk). Create a poster of sentence stems for different purposes and post

on the classroom wall (leave up). Choose different stems to include in the dialog so you cover many different ones over the year.

Include stems for different functions: asserting a point of view, agreeing and disagreeing, asking for elaboration, etc. (see handout)

Teacher can write this or share writing with more advanced students, especially after they have done a few HOTS Dialogs. The language structures chosen should be at the instructional level for the students—challenging, but not overwhelming (i + 1, ZPD).

Use plenty of theme-rheme structure.

Example

Content: SWBAT compare and contrast the performance of candidates in the Republican presidential debate

Vocabulary: SWBAT use Republican, presidential, debate, performance in oral exchange

Language structure: SWBAT use comparative language structures and sequence words.

Questions

1. What would be the source(s) of information for students to complete this dialog?

2. How could you adjust the difficulty level of this dialog?

3. Which academic language phrases were modeled in this dialog?

4. Which academic stems and phrases could be added or given as options?

Your turn: Create a HOTS Dialog1. With a partner or small group, create a RISA HOTS dialog for WIDA high 3

and up

2. Decide on classroom context: sheltered content, direct ELD, co-taught content

3. Decide on content connection and theme of dialog: What class is it part of? What theme does the dialog address? What language and content bjectives does it practice?

4. Decide on roles: equal difficulty? Or differentiate?

5. Determine degree of student completion: stems? Cloze?

Remember: the part that students fill in should be directly related to content objectives!

Assessment Assess students every two weeks, or more often. After launch, give students practice time to prepare for quiz on a daily

or nearly daily basis. Have partners rehearse dialog for you and cultural liaisons / EAs–

give them feedback to prepare for quiz. On dialog quiz day, plan quiet work or test, call partners up for dialog

quiz. Teacher, EAs hear and grade the dialog quizzes. Typically: have both partners do both parts—do one way, then

switch. If there are 3 people in the group, just have them do 2 parts each.

Alternative: Assign one part to stronger student, one to lower student (you design dialog for that)

Assessment Rubric

Review.

Practice assessing performance on dialog.

Elders as fonts of knowledge (EFK)

Recall: elders and tradition are the primary sources of knowledge, values, and learning in oral cultures.

Oromo saying:

You have libraries, we have elders

EFK Rationale (cont.)

Oral cultural elders bear important knowledge and wisdom For SLIFE students For Western cultures

SLIFE are predisposed to respect elders, listen to them, and look to them for guidance

Transfixed listening Behavior & focus support

Culture shock: role of elders in U.S. totally different from home

Causes breakdown, confusion, identity loss Essential to strengthen intergenerational bonds

EFK Rationale (cont.)

Increasing family understanding of U.S. schools is importantLittle or no prior knowledgeCultural dissonance: family expectations of school and teachers

Exposure to literacy and Western academic thinking benefits eldersOften isolated, little connection to American mainstream culture

EFK Rationale (cont.)

Elders are often availableGreat opportunity to bridge from storytelling and narration of oral mode to academic work

Considerations

Important to structure how elders are usedEmploy a careful design, including roles and

proceduresCommunicate just the essential info to elders: what

they will do, what students will do, how long, etc.

Background checks ImportantDistrict may require

TransportationOften necessary

ConsiderationsWhere to find elders?

Families connected with the schoolStudent families, cultural liaisonsEthnic community organizations

Interpretors likely needed

Arrange in advance and TRIPLE confirmDiscuss details of task in advance with interpretorsStudents, family members, community members

Considerations

Connect directly to learning

Not just a fun visit—integrate with theme, content

Include specific student activities and assessment

EFK Scenario #1 Class: Human Geograph Grade: 7 - 8 Proficiency: adaptable to any level Unit: Trail of Tears (native Americans displaced to Oregon) General Objective: compared experience of native Americans with experience of Hmong people

leaving homelands and crossing the Mekong river to refugee camps in Thailand.

Teacher: preteach concepts and vocabulary

Students prepare questions in advance and ask during elder visit.

Elder role: With interpretor, tell story of his or her family, or in general. Show Paj Ntaub tapestry. Describe actions of soldiers, what happened to people as they tried to escape. Describe refugee camp, and journey to U.S.

Students take notes using a rubric with specific areas for comparison Why they had to make the journey Who forced them When it happened Where they went What happened along the journey

Students work in groups, discuss. Elder sits with groups, rotating, sharing. Cumulative project: compare the two journeys using drawings with captions, sentences, paragraphs.

Include L1 terms, eg. Paj Ntaub.

EFK Scenario #2 Class: ESL Grade: any Proficiency: adaptable to any level Unit: Folk literature / oralature with a moral, scary stories

General objective: compare Somali fairy tale of Dagdheer with German tale of Hansel and Gretel

Teacher: preteach concepts and vocabulary

Students prepare questions in advance and ask during elder visit.

Elder role: With interpretor, tell the tale of Dagdheer. Describe how s/he and Somali children in general feel about the story, and why s/he thinks parents tell this scary story about a witch who eats children.

Students take notes, draw pictures using a rubric with specific areas for comparison What happened in the story: sequence of events Why the with eats children Why the children were unprotected Which part was scariest What is the moral or lesson of the story

Students work in groups, discuss. Elder sits with groups, rotating, sharing. Cumulative project: students create a fairy tale with elements of both Dagdheer and Hansel &

Gretel, act out for an audience, including elders from Somalia and America.

Your turn: How could you create an opportunity to use elders as fonts of knowledge in the classroom?

Discuss ideas with a partner or small group.

Share your ideas with the large group

Thank you for participating!

Questions?

Comments?

Ideas?

Contact: Jill A. Watson, Ph.D.watsoneducationalconsulting@gmail.comwww.watsoneducationalconsulting.com