Science Education for All: Integrating Science Content Attainment and Language Development for ELLs
By Cecilia Vila
Introduction
To ensure success in the Science classroom, English Language Learners require content-area teachers to unlock their potential through differentiated instructional practices. Through an asset-based approach, teachers can access the funds of knowledge of all ELLs through the integration of content attainment and language development. Sheltered English Instruction (SEI) strategies are the first step in implementing an asset-based approach to teaching ELLs in the Science classroom. Through SEI, teachers make their instruction accessible to all students. However, to truly excel, ELLs require the integration of English academic language development and content instruction. However, with limited instructional time, rigorous Science standards, and standardized testing, how can Science teachers be expected to teach language as well as content?
The key to integrating language development and Science is shifting the instructional lens and focusing on the how rather than the what of our teaching. When Science educators approach content-teaching for ELLs through the lens of language learning, the Science classroom becomes an equitable and safe learning space where all students have access to the content.
Language development frameworks, such as WIDA’s ELD Standards Framework (June 2020 Edition), provide a roadmap to integrate Science and the academic language for science to ensure ELLs have equitable access to education. And they serve as the blueprint for collaboration between content area teachers and ELL teachers. Here are four steps that Science and ELL teachers can follow to make their science instruction accessible to ELLs:
Step 1: Aligning our Understandings
“(…) all teachers need to share responsibility for both engaging all learners in the core curriculum and developing essential language skills” (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2020). Thus, the ELL teacher and Science teacher must reflect and align their core beliefs to successfully design instruction that will engage all learners. The suggestion is that both teachers reflect upon and share their answers to the following questions to guide their discussion:
- Who are our English Language Learners?
- What can our English Language Learners do?
- How does Science instruction fit with the Second Language Acquisition process?
- Why should Science instruction include language development strategies?
Step 2: Using Data to Guide our Instruction
“The ability to harness student data to solve instructional challenges is becoming an increasingly critical skill in today’s complex learning environments” (Kaufman, 2023). The importance of data analysis cannot be overstated, but a common mistake is to look at data that is not necessarily relevant or appropriate to the academic development of English Language Learners. The data analysis process centers around four specific data sets:
- The student’s most recent English Language Proficiency scores obtained from a State-approved ELP assessment (For example, WIDA Model or ACCESS 2.0). In reviewing the scores, it is important to interpret them using guides such as WIDA’s Can Do Descriptors. It is also important to consider the student’s ELP individual scores in each of the language domains: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing.
- The student’s educational background. While schools generally collect and review a student’s transcript or academic records when available, it is necessary for teachers to analyze what the student’s previous learning experiences have been. For instance, when reviewing a student’s educational background, it is imperative to understand whether that student is SLIFE (A student with limited or interrupted formal education), as their needs will differ from students who are not.
- Student input. Regardless of the age of the student, collecting student input serves two key purposes: to inform our instructional practice and to forge a strong learning partnership with the student. A common modality to collect student input is a beginning-of-the-year student survey collecting information such as learning styles, student interests beyond the classroom, current access to necessary resources, and necessary supports.
- Current learning goals. When integrating language development and content attainment, both teachers must collect and share pertinent data to their individual specialties and consider how they can design instruction that supports the achievement of all learning goals for each individual student.
Step 3: Building our ELL Toolkits
Whether you are an experienced teacher of content, or ELLs, it is important to remain committed to the continuous improvement of our practice. Thus, building our ELL toolkits through collaborative lesson planning and implementation of ELL strategies is a necessary step in designing equitable instruction.
- Before the lesson/ lesson planning: plan for the explicit integration of content and language instruction in the Science classroom by leveraging WIDA’s ELD Standards and Language Expectations for Science: “Multilingual learners will … “(University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2020). Once you have identified the expectations, use them to design content and language objectives.
- Beginning of the lesson: access your students’ prior knowledge. While the activation of their background knowledge takes place at the beginning of the lesson, it is important to plan it and structure the process beforehand:
- Identify key background knowledge needed for the lesson: key concepts, academic vocabulary, and prioritize.
- Leverage students’ existing background knowledge (tip: it does not need to be in English) through peer discussions, drawings, graphic organizers, and quick writes.
- Build the background knowledge your students need by using pictures, pre-teaching vocabulary, explaining concepts, and leveraging their home language.
- During the lesson: make your input comprehensible to all students. Inaccessibility is often mistaken as rigor. Evaluate your resources to identify whether the material is accessible to your linguistically diverse students and utilize varied scaffolds.
- After the lesson: implement multiple modalities to assess content knowledge. Look at your current assessment practices and ask yourself: Am I assessing their learning in a way that allows them to show what they know regardless of their English Language Proficiency? If the answer is no, then update your assessments or design new ones that are varied and consider their linguistic diversity: entry and exit slips, interview assessments, self-assessments, oral presentations, and portfolio assessments.
Step 4: Seeking Further Understanding
Like the Scientific Method, a continued commitment to educational equity calls for seeking further understanding even when we believe we have mastered our practice. It is important to slow when implementing the four steps for language development and content attainment integration. So, what are the next steps?
- Ask: What is one thing from this article I can take back to my own classroom?
- Research: Who is somebody I can collaborate with to make it happen? What else do I need to learn about?
- Imagine: What are some ways in which I can implement it in my Science and ELL instruction? What additional tools will I need?
- Plan: How will my lesson plan(s) reflect this change? What do I currently do that works? What do I need to change?
- Create: What new tool, idea, or strategy will I be implementing?
- Test and Improve: How will I know if my new plan worked? How will I improve it and/ or try the next thing?
Conclusion
The goal of integrating language development and content attainment is not to add more to our already full educational plates. Rather, repurpose what is already on our plates to make it work more efficiently. Advocacy of educational equity can be done in many forms. Designing instruction that is accessible to all learners does not need to lower the rigor. Through the application of the four steps described in this article, educators will be able to enhance their instruction and support linguistically diverse learners. However, to implement this approach, administrators need to design opportunities for collaboration across curricular areas: co-planning time, co-teaching professional development, and instructional resources that support the acquisition of language through the content of science. And most importantly, leaders and teachers must shift their mindset from a departmentalized educational system to one that leverages the intersectionality between language and content.
References
Huynh, T. (2017, April 13). #34. Three types of scaffolding: There’s a scaffold for that. TanKHuynh. https://tankhuynh.com/scaffolding-instruction/
Kaufman, S. (2023). The data wise difference: Harnessing data to improve student outcomes. The Data Wise Difference: Harnessing Data to Improve Student Outcomes. Retrieved January 14, 2023, from https://datawise.gse.harvard.edu/data-wise-difference-harnessing-data-improve-student-outcomes
University of Wisconsin-Madison. (2020). WIDA Focus Bulletin – Collaboration. WIDA Focus Bulletin. Retrieved January 14, 2023, from
https://wida.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/resource/WIDA-ELD-Standards-Framework-2020.pdf
The Author – Maria Cecilia Vila Chave is a Supervisor of ELL and Social Studies, at Ocean Township Schools, NJ. Her experience, both personal and professional, with Second Language Acquisition drives her commitment to advocacy and the implementation of best practices. As a multilingual student herself, she has first-hand experience of being an immigrant student in the U.S. And as a former Bilingual and ESL teacher, she has implemented best practices, in and outside of the classroom, to promote equitable access to education. As an executive board member of NJTESOL/NJBE, she continues to advocate for ML students, their families, and other educators.
Recent Comments