Conversational and academic language
Scaffolding
In order to scaffold learning, you need to be able to assess learners’ current knowledge, skills and understanding. Based on this, you can set appropriate targets and plan suitable activities and individual support along the way. It is important that you consider the language demands of the activities and materials you have chosen for your lesson and provide appropriate support to help with these demands. The language skills that learners will be using (listening, reading, writing and speaking) will influence the type of support that you provide. In this video language expert, Esther Gutierrez Eugenio, discusses why it is important to scaffold language.
Transcript The importance of first-language development
Common Underlying Proficiency - Jim Cummins (1984; 2000) Each language contains distinct surface features such as pronunciation, vocabulary and grammar. These allow people to speak, read, and write, but underlying these surface features is a shared skill that is common across languages. He argues that it is the cognitively demanding higher-order thinking skills and conceptual understanding that characterise academic language (CALP) that is shared. For example, if a student has understood a mathematical concept in their first language, they will not need to relearn this concept but they will need the surface language in their additional language to be able to show that they understand. Cummins suggests that learners need a minimum level of linguistic and conceptual knowledge in their first language to successfully develop a second language. Once this knowledge is firmly established in a first language, the students can draw on this learning when working in an additional language. As a result, continued support for conceptual and linguistic development in a student’s first language provides a solid basis for development in an additional language. Formative assessment is a proven technique for improving student learning, and the strategies shared here by Jay McTighe work both in the classroom and remotely. Bob Daemmrich / Alamy Stock Photo Using formative assessments designed to check for understanding and provide students with feedback and support is one of the most effective ways to improve and enhance student learning. Yet because of the need to cover large amounts of information and develop many skills, teachers may not take time checking to make sure students understand a concept or can effectively apply a skill, and, if they don’t, figuring out ways to improve their learning. Thankfully, there are practical, proven formative assessment techniques that teachers can use as a quick “pulse check” to gauge students’ understanding. The eight techniques here can be applied across grades and subject areas in virtual, hybrid, and in-person learning environments. The results of these checks should not be graded since the purpose of formative assessment techniques is to obtain feedback to use in improving teaching and learning, not to evaluate learning. It’s important that students understand the purposes of these techniques, that mistakes are OK—and even expected—and that they will not be graded on their responses. Ask students to display a designated hand signal to indicate their degree of confidence in their understanding of a concept, principle, or process. For example:
Self-assessment and self-reporting can be unreliable, so use a random calling technique to periodically select students with their thumbs up (e.g., pull names out of a bowl) and ask them to explain. In virtual learning environments, students can signal on camera or post designated emojis to signal their understanding levels.
Present students with a few binary-choice statements or questions containing an understanding or a common misconception and have them select a response (e.g., True or False, Agree or Disagree) and share it via a whiteboard, cell phone app, or hand signal (e.g., thumbs up or down). This efficient technique is particularly effective to use in checking students’ prior knowledge or potential misconceptions before beginning new instruction. Here are a couple of “choosing” formats with examples:
In virtual learning environments, students can use the chat box feature to record their choices, or respond to a poll. Visual representations, such as graphic organizers and concept maps, are widely used to enhance learning, and can also be used as formative assessments. Have students create a visual or symbolic representation (e.g., a graphic organizer, web, or concept map) of information and abstract concepts and then be prepared to explain their graphic. Picturing techniques are especially useful to see if students understand how various concepts or elements of a process are related. Examples:
In virtual learning environments, students can post their visuals on a Google slide or Pinterest board, or in Nearpod or Jamboard.
One of the most efficient and effective quick checks for understanding involves troubleshooting. Present students with a common misconception or a frequent procedural error. See if they can:
Their responses will provide a quick check of the depth of their understanding. Examples:
Having students regularly summarize what they are learning is not only an effective means of helping them increase comprehension and retention of new material, it can also provide teachers with insight into whether students are really grasping important ideas. Here are a few examples of this technique:
Khan Academy has helpful videos on summarizing nonfiction texts and fiction texts.
Understanding is revealed when students can transfer their learning to new situations. Accordingly, one of the best checks for understanding is to see if students can apply material in a somewhat novel context. This technique includes asking students to find or create new and novel examples to illustrate a newly learned concept. Here are some examples:
This is a more involved, but valuable, formative assessment technique. Ask students to teach a new concept or skill to someone else—a new student, a student who has just returned from absence, or a younger child. You’ll be able to gauge their degree of understanding as you review or observe their lesson. Here are two examples:
In virtual learning environments, students can record a lesson using a laptop, tablet, or cell phone camera. A more sophisticated technique invites students to develop an analogy or metaphor to illustrate a newly learned concept or skill. The effectiveness of their explanatory analogy or metaphor can give you insight into their understanding. However, be cautious when interpreting student responses to this technique—a student may very well understand a concept but be unable to generate an appropriate analogy. Asking students to explain their analogies will give you further insight into their understanding. Here’s a prompt for students: A _____ is like a _____ because _____. Examples:
Students can also create visual analogies (combining techniques 3 and 8). In virtual learning environments, students can post their analogies and metaphors in a chat box or on a Google slide or Pinterest board. Note: Several of these techniques (especially 1, 2, 5, and 8) can be naturally used in conjunction with another popular formative assessment technique—an exit card—given to students at the end of a class period or end of the school day. While these techniques can provide valuable information about the effectiveness of teaching and the quality of students’ learning, they’re not ends in themselves. Instead, they should be seen as the first step in a “feedback cycle.” The next step is to act on that feedback—reteaching something that many students failed to learn; correcting misconceptions that may be revealed; and/or providing scaffolded support to students who need it. Moreover, when students are given feedback, they must also be given opportunities to use it, such as revising their work, practicing the skill, or correcting errors. (Getting feedback without a chance to use it is like eating without digesting!) Then, the formative assessment cycle reboots as revisions can be assessed again, with progress noted and new learning goals set.
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