21 HS - ELL S. VanTimmerman - West Michigan PBL Network

Communication for Multi-language Learners
By: Susan VanTimmerman

Project at a Glance :

This project is designed for high school students, identified through the WIDA test, who are at risk of not passing classes independently. The seminar class will be a graded course for high school credit that involves executive functioning skills, skills for success components, and self advocacy skills. The lessons will utilize education in these topics combined with additional language support through other content areas.

Driving Question:

How can students in Jenison, who speak two languages, improve communication pathways with school staff, or future employers?

Standards:

Team / Culture Building:

The classroom setting for this PBL is a English Learners Seminar. Students whose native language is not English and are at risk of not passing classes. Students will engage in team building activities to establish relationships and informal observations of strengths and weaknesses. Followed by the Spider Web, showing each persons strength, and combine groups that with various qualities ensuring all students can be involved in the project.

Entry Event:

Students will independently create 5 or more images of what school used to look like in the past. Images can be hand drawn or computer generated.
Images will be posted on the board or in a shared document.
Students will use talking chips to show similarities and differences between images.
Lesson will repeat this time creating 5 or more images of how you would like to learn today and submit them on google form.
Students will see everyones images and then reply in google form writing to how the new images made them feel and reflect on their learning. Google form will be added to their portfolio of learning throughout the PBL project.

Stakeholders:

Students at risk of not passing, with needs for understanding and valuing academic advocacy and the need for self advocacy, workplace communication skills/ self advocacy, and/or the need to practice communication with various adults in various occupations.

Empathy Building:

Create an Empathy Map for students who struggle and for teachers who want to help.
Write a wish list - including what they wish school was like for them.

Inquiry / Need to Knows:

Students will see the big picture problem of communication when they do the student empathy map. Hopefully, they will also recognize the view of the teacher, and see the need for self advocacy to get the help they need. By allowing them to speak with business leaders who also speak two or more languages to hear their experiences. Further using this interviews to build our academic ability of summarizing and defending what we see are the roadblocks in our education and how the business partner may have handled that.?
Research samples and use voice and choice with Talking Chips
Pains and Gains

Newsela Articles: Jigsaw activity - This article brings in strategies for communication and Skills for Success in general.
Sentence Starter: I read_______ and felt like the most important part was_________. Three supporting details were . . .

Incubation:

The 4 C’s - components, characteristics, characters, challenges Use the TED talk of Puerto Rico chef/ translate that activity of 4 C’s to our driving question Video of Hispanic Chef who provides food for Puerto Rico.
NUF test - Reflection notes using sentence starters to generate discussions. (I don’t feel that __________ is feasible because___).
3-12-3 activity to generate solutions
Anti- problem
Think/ pair/ share….generate sticky notes and card sort them...using an 3 axis (building communication with peers vs. staff vs employers) or that you can then categorize with ideas that are within the realm of relating to driving question and ones that would involve another topic (in/out).

Checking in:

Individual and group conferences with business partner or classroom teacher from another content area.

Solution Building:

Reflection notes using sentence starters and talking chips to generate discussions.
Create individual mind maps and then do a Gallery Walk for feedback.
NUF test - Reflection notes using sentence starters to generate discussions. (I don’t feel that __________ is feasible because___
$100 Test to narrow down solution ideas.

Critique and Revision:

Group presentations to staff will give students additional comments about the content, graphics, and delivery.

Authentic Audience:

Final Presentation:

Reflection and Feedback:

Using the futurePREP'd rubric for presentations with the 3 point scale will give students a qualitative and quantitative result from their audience and myself.
After the presentation the students willl self reflect using the rubric above before reading the results of others, they might be surprised by their reflections in comparison with those around them.

Meet the Educator:

Susan Van Timmerman teaches ELL at Jension Junior High School.

"Learn the work, by doing the work."