Chapters 4-10 summary assignment

The structure of this book is very helpful insofar as making this book a reference and
guide. Each chapters concept is presented, and then generalizations are listed about
the concept. Next, the structure gives recommendations for teachers to understand and
put into practice the ideas. Specific examples are given for each stage of second
language acquisition. These examples are easily adaptable to a teachers personal
lesson.
Chapter Four discusses nonlinguistic representations. According to Hill and Flynn
(2006), knowledge presented in this form is stored in the form of mental pictures or
physical sensations such as sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, and movement (p. 36).
The best way to initiate this for students is to use realia, demonstrations, audio-visuals,
and hands-on activities. Realizing that nonlinguistic representations elaborate on
knowledge (p. 37) gives teachers tools that they know will activate prior knowledge and
students can use these representations to apply to academic content.
Chapter Five describes how cues, questions, and advance organizers can be used
to the best advantage. The most important thing that I discovered and considered was
that focusing on unusual items does not help activate prior knowledge and in fact will
take them off track, away from the primary learning objective (p. 46). I have always
introduced interesting or unique items in class as attention-getters, but I believe now
that while that does have its place, it is not useful when it comes to focusing on content
knowledge and academic goals.
Chapter Six focuses on cooperative learning. Cooperative learning is not the same
as group work. Cooperative learning has the following elements: heterogeneous
grouping, positive interdependence, face-to-face supportive interaction, individual
accountability, interpersonal and small group skills, and group processing. It is also
noted that in some cases of early language development, homogeneous grouping may
be of benefit. The most important thing I learned from this chapter was that cooperative
learning groups have several benefits for ELLs that I had not previously considered. The
book tells us that ELLs in small groups have speech demanded of them, because each
member must carry out her role if the group as whole is to succeed (p. 56) and that
ELLs must negotiate meaning they must adjust their language to that it is
comprehensible to other members (p. 56).
Chapter Seven asserts that even an ELL with a lower ELP can master the skills of
summarizing and notetaking. As far as summarizing, I read very carefully the
information on keep-delete-substitute information, as I had not seen this structure
before. As far as notes, I had always thought verbatim notes was a bad idea and that
notes should of course be used as study guides, but I had not thought before that notes
should always be considered works in progress (p. 70). Allowing for time to adjust and
append notes is a great idea. This is probably the most important thing to be from this
chapter, along with the examples of the summary frames in Appendix B. These
templates provide one more example of why this text is of such importance for a new
ESL teacher who needs reference material.
Chapter Eight gives insight into homework. I have always written and maintained a
homework policy, but this chapter provided some food for thought as to expectations
regarding homework and how to adapt for ELLs. One important thing to remember that
as homework is to practice or elaborate on what has been learned (p. 79), it is also
useful in preparing students for new information. I have in the past used homework in
this way, but in my content class, I believe it was more of a preview type of assignment.
I see now that it will be beneficial to ELLs to use homework as a way to activate prior
knowledge so that they are prepared in class to relate this knowledge to new material.
Chapter Nine is titled Reinforcing Effort and Providing Recognition. What I found
most important in this chapter is that effort and achievement can both be tracked. The
examples and rubrics offered for consideration are well done and something that I
would use. I have always used both abstract recognition and tangible rewards, but I had
never considered one to be better than the other. The authors tell us that abstract
recognition is more effective when trying to improve performance and that the more
abstract and symbolic the reward, the more powerful a motivator it can be (p. 92).
Chapter Ten, Generating and Testing Hypotheses, presents as interesting point. It
states that students may not have been introduced to inductive and deductive reasoning
(p. 95), so teaching ELLs these skills must be a goal of the ESL teacher. We can use
the if-then structure, but we must also be sure to encourage students to explain their
hypotheses and conclusions (p. 96). We have to use a variety of tasks to do this, and
also require students to verbalize their hypotheses and conclusions (p. 97).