Teaching across Age Levels

[smantrach]

When teaching ELL children we shouldn’t neglect their age group. In the classroom, we might have children of the same age group, or children of varied age groups. These children might be at the same level of English proficiency or might be at different levels. Some of them might be at the beginning level and others might be at the intermediate one. Therefore, when planning lesson and activities for our learners, we have to keep in mind how their attention span can be short. We also need to plan sensory, hands on, and physical activities. Plus, we have to keep in mind that we need to start teaching them the language as a whole first before we move to the smaller parts of it. When my ELL students begin the school year, I model for them how to speak the English language as a whole first, then later on I start working with them on their sentence structure, conventional grammar, and teach them gradually how to use language to express their thoughts and ideas. If my activity is too long, my learners will not relate to it and I loose their focus quickly. I always try to make my activities fun learning experiences they can remember and learn something from.

[birdy]

I agree that it is challenging to support the ELL adequately, due to the age range an their different proficiency level. Especially for young learners it is essential to make the language learning process concrete. Instead of hearing precise grammar explanations, young learners need to see the purpose of the language. Certain considered necessary grammar structures - like progressive - can for example be learned through a pattern and repetition. I think I would let young learner’s act out what they are doing, so they will keep in mind patterns like: At the moment I am swimming. Like you said it is essential for children to be involved with their senses.