Living and non living things Essay

Abstract Whenever you are teaching student a new language that they are not used to speaking at home or around their peers; require a lot of sacrifice for the he teacher and the students that are usually speaking their native tongue. With the challenges ahead the teacher will need to dedicate more time for teaching and instruction for the English Language Learner. And for the student wishing to learn a new language it will also take some sacrifice on their end as well. For the teacher and the pupil it will be very crucial that the students know and see the different language acquisition theories; how they are used in a classroom setting and how to implement those theories in a lesson plan. Introduction As the English Language Learner’s numbers start to increase in districts around the United States; many instructors are looking for more effective ways to teach the ell a new language. The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) is an avenue that teachers use to decide how he/she will attack the different ways of delivering the lessons to the ell so they will be able to understand and gain knowledge and deliver lessons that allow English learners to acquire academic knowledge develop some English language proficiency. When the SIOP method is used all students benefit from the lessons and instructions not just the ells. The more the instructors use the SIOP model the English learner’s progress shall be seen in their academics. Since there are so many language acquisition theories that go along with SIOP; the two methods used in my lesson plans are an Innatist and Interactionist methods. Within both methods there is an emphasis on natural language development and they focus on interaction between people as the main ways to learn and develop a new language. Innatist Theory In the innatist natural language development is received by the students through materials such as books, friends and other resources. The input of this theory given to the students by the teacher is very important for the learning process. The ideal classroom setting would consist of students who have equal proficiency to those who are learning a second language. By  having the setting in such a way; this will ensure that all of the students are on the same level and can better work with another in improving language development. During this time a students’ output is not a concern and it is shown that language will occur naturally. There is also, a silent period to be expected during this time but there should be no worries. Innatist also believes that errors should not be corrected; students will correct them over time. â€Å"Most English language learner errors among their subjects were best described as similar to errors made by children acquiring English as a first language† (Peregoy, et al., 2008, p. 53). Some students are known to make the similar mistakes of those who are learning English as a small child. So the innatist theory is a way of making the students learn on their own, at their own pace, and use the interactions they have with others to build different skills. The lesson plan discussed will work jointly with the theory; due to the fact that the students will continue to use resources and do normal activities that they do on the normal. There will be times when the students will pair off with another student who may speak their native tongue so he/she will be able to relate to his/her peers; during this time they will bouncing ideas off each other to find out what the other may have learned so the will be able to teach each other. My lesson plan was given to a teacher of 6 and 7 years students where there are quite a few of English language learners. If the teacher were using the innatist theory he/she would pair students according to language level. The students who are considered more proficient in their native language would be paired with an student who may be ELL. With this lesson plan it was a good way to use group discussion it was an interesting to keep those students attention in order to make them more interested and excited to discuss the big ideas. Interactionist Theory The interactionist theory and the innatist theory are very similar. . The input of this theory given to the students by the teacher is very important for the learning process. The ideal classroom setting would consist of students who have equal proficiency to those who are learning a second language. By having the setting in such a way; this will ensure that all of the students are on the same level and can better work with another in improving language development. On the student output end, speaking occurs  naturally in communication with others. This theory puts no pressure on speaking, except when the student has the natural impulse to communicate with others. As for the treatment of errors is concerned, errors that impede communication will be naturally corrected as the meaning is negotiated; some errors may require explicit corrective instruction in order to make sure that the student is not being taught in the wrong way. â€Å" Interactionists view the communicative give and take of natural conversations between native and non-native speakers as the crucial element of the language acquisition process† (Peregoy et al., 2008, p. 55). Lesson Plan Success As you can see from the reading innatist and interactionist theories were present in the discussed lesson plan. As noted before the theories are very similar and the key purpose is to let the student learn and interact with each other in hopes that they will pick up on a new language and possibly learn to speak a new language. By using different activities that may be interesting and engaging to the students is also a big part of learning success. Many students like to hang out in groups; so with making a lesson plan around having the student to work in groups doing so can really help with the success of the students. The only major opposing view is that one theory would not make any correction on errors and the other theory would correct the wrongs. In a classroom setting it is important for teachers to correct errors as much as possible, this would help make sure that students are not abusing the language in the negative manner; and it would be easier to correct errors as they happen instead of having to force a student to change a habit he/she has been doing for a while My plans were not difficult; I made it interesting and fun for all students. As the students learn it becomes evident that the plan fits everybody. Conclusion When you have to create a lesson plan to teach students of different language backgrounds and make the plan fun and enjoyable for all students in the class; and when you also have to make the lesson where any teacher is able to instruct any group of students and keep them interested is not an easy task. And do keep in mind while creating these plans you may have some students in the selected class that may have no knowledge of the current  language being spoken in the class. In order to make the plans enjoyable for all students it is very important that a teacher or whomever is creating the plans have knowledge of the student that they may be potentially teaching and trying to get to grasp the English language. If the SIOP lesson plan broken down in it will be easier to follow and keep student interested in the learning process. If the lesson plan is followed no areas will be omitted and the students’ success will be seen in their academic increase. So as a teacher; you will have more time for teaching and less time trying to plan and focus more on ensuring that all the objectives and language acquisition theories are in place to assure that the all student have an equal chance to obtain the and learn the English or any other language. (Building Background) Students will read the book See How They Grow: Owl. Pose class discussion questions from the story such as: Is the owl from the story a living thing? Why or Why not? What does the owl do to make it a living thing? What does the owl need to survive? Steering the conversation into differentiating between living and non-living. Presentation (Language and content objectives, comprehensible input, strategies, interaction, feedback) Using a whiteboard divide the board into two categories, living and non-living things. Introduce the various pictures of living and non-living things. Do not tell students which is living or non-living. Students will approach the white board and place the living and non-living pictures under the correct category. Discuss with students why these things are living and why they are non-living. Using the teacher pointer ask for a volunteers to point out living or non-living things in the classroom. Discuss the differences among the things that the students  pointed out. Practice/Application (Meaningful activities, interaction, strategies, practice/application, feedback) Two stations should be created in the classroom. One station will be the â€Å"plant station† and the other will be the â€Å"Fish station.† Students should be divided into two groups also. One group will observe like scientists at the plant station and the other group will observe like scientists at the fish station. Pass out data sheets and magnifying glasses prior to students going back to their station. At the plant station the fake plant and the real plant should be positioned in the middle of the table and be labeled plant #1 and plant #2. At the fish station the beta fish and the candy Swedish Fish should be positioned in the middle of the table and labeled fish #1 and fish #2. Students will go to their assigned station and predict which plant or fish they believe is a living thing and which they believe is a non-living thing. Students will use their magnifying glasses like scientists and record on their data sheets characteristics of each plant and fish. Water for the plant and food for the fish should be available for the students to use when recording observations. Students will complete their data sheets by concluding which plant and fish was living and non-living. Students will discuss their conclusions as a class. Review/Assessment: Content (Review Objectives and vocabulary, assess learning) Students will use their science journals to draw a picture of a living thing and a non-living thing. The students will write in their journals what makes the picture they choose to draw a living and non-living thing. Extension: Introducing the word metamorphosis and how some living things can change when they grow. Reference Peregoy, S., Boyle, O. (2008). Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL. New York: Allyn and Bacon.