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Click to the right to download a paper outlining this project.

 

 

Inconsistent progress in English literacy and discrepancies between classroom literacy instruction have led schools and districts to mandate large scale, pre-packaged literacy programs.  Although these pre-packaged literacy programs have evolved and improved over time, specific support for English Language Learners has not typically been the driving force of this evolution.  I have created a literacy component specifically for ELLs that can be integrated into a pre-established literacy program.

More specifically I strive for the integration of these multimedia, multilingual storybooks into the overall structure of pre-reading, reading and post-reading activities.  I propose that the storybooks will scaffold reading comprehension and overall literacy development; acting as an advance organizer,  aiding in eliciting prior knowledge and lowering cognitive demands during other L2 activities such as whole class exercises, group work or independent reading.  An increase in comprehension before L2 instruction will allow the ELLs to further utilize reading strategies and afford them opportunities to more fully participate in other literacy activities.

The main idea behind my project is to provide ELLs with as many entry points into the classroom as possible. The excerpt below (taken from my paper which can be downloaded by clicking on the PDF icon to the right) demonstrates my point. Read the passage and try to determine what the author is talking about.

• "The procedure is actually quite simple.  First you arrange things into different groups.  Of course, one pile may be sufficient, depending on how much you have to do.  If you have to go somewhere else due to lack of facilities, then that is the next step; otherwise you are pretty well set.  It is important not to overdo things.  that is, it is better to do too few things at once than too many.  In the short run this may not seem important, but complications can easily arise.  A mistake can be expensive as well...After the procedure is completed, one arranges the materials into different groups again.  Then they can be put into their appropriate places.  Eventually they can be used once more, and the whole cycle will then have to be repeated."

We are able to read the text, but determining exactly what the paragraph is about is very difficult.  Similarly it is extremely difficult to summarize the main points of the text without having an understanding of what it is about.  Gibbons noted, “This places you in a similar position as ESL learners who are asked to summarize texts that contain content that is unfamiliar to them.” (p. 80)  Telling you that the passage is about doing laundry, brings clarity to the passage as a whole and allows better understanding of individual sentences.  Gibbons continued, “Yet what has changed?  Certainly not the words on the page.  What has changed is the nature of your interaction with the text--You are now reading about things that make sense to you and that link with your own experiences.” (p. 80)  This example illustrates the potential benefit of providing ELLs with L1 exposure to a text before they are asked to participate in L2 activities.