Transcript Action Research Project

Writing with ESL Students
Megan Ward
Katie Kidd
Bridget Walsh
Amy Jandovitz
Christian Cox
Research Question
How
will teaching the conventions
trait (CUPS) through various writing
prompts for two 30-minute sessions
per week over 5 weeks improve the
writing of ESL students in grades 2
and 5?
Review of Literature
“Assessing ESOL Students”
By Judy Abrams, Julie Ferguson, and Leslie Laud
“The Trouble with ESOL”
By Peter Lavender and Jane Ward
“Teaching
Basic Skills and ESOL in NonTraditional Venues”
By
Mary Deigan and Tara Mcarthur
Review of Literature:
Assessing ESOL Students
Distinguishing
between ESOL and learning
disabilities
Oral Comprehension and Fluency vs. Written
Comprehension and Fluency
Supporting ESOL students
Does
not mean lowering academic standards
It does mean providing more structure,
scaffolding, cisual organizers, and assistance
Review of Literature:
The Trouble with ESOL
Review of Literature:
Basic Skill and ESOL in Non-Traditional Venues
2nd Grade Week 1
Wednesday
1. Students will pass a ball around to introduce themselves
telling their name, grade, and something interesting about
themselves.
2. Students will spell their names with play-dough.
3. Students will take the verb preassessment.
2nd Grade Week 1 Pictures
Week 1 Reflection
(Wednesday)
After analyzing the data collected from the students’
preassessment, our action research question did not meet
the needs of our students. We collaborated with our
students’ 1st grade teacher who suggested we change our
focus to improving the students’ writing skills. She had
known from the past experiences that these specific ESOL
students struggle with the transfer of oral explanation to
written explanation. We adjusted our action research
questions and proposal that reflects the students’ needs
(writing).
2nd Grade Week 1
Thursday
1.
Read the letter we wrote to the students to model their
task.
2.
Brainstorm ideas with students and set guidelines for
writing preassessment.
3.
Students will write a letter to us telling their name,
favorite subject, where they were born, favorite food,
sport, game, or animal. Students will be asked to write at
least two interesting facts.
2nd Grade Week 1 Pictures
Week 1 Reflection
After analyzing the data collected from the students’ new
preassessment, write a friendly letter, we created a weekly
plan to focus on conventions (CUPS) and all the different
writing prompts.
2nd Grade Week 2
Wednesday
1.
Read aloud The Secret Knowledge of Grown Ups by David
Wisniewski. (For time purposes, only read three short tales)
2.
Model a bad example of writing to inform about a tale from
the read aloud. Include run on sentences, incorrect
grammar usage, and fragments in example.)
3.
Through guided practice, fix the writing piece with
students.
4.
Ask students to write to persuade about a tale that was
read aloud. (Students can only choose the two remaining
tales, not the modeled example).
5.
Students will share their tales if time allows.
2nd Grade Week 2 Pictures
2nd Grade Week 2
Thursday
1. Students will be introduced to the rules of the game, Change
It.
2. Ask students to repeat the rules back to check for
understanding.
3. Students will play the game as a group.
4. Students will write to inform by writing the rules of the
game.
5. Students will share their writing and play the game again if
time remains.
2nd Grade Week 2 Pictures
2nd Grade Weekly Reflection
2nd Grade Week 3
Wednesday
1.
Students will be introduced to compound words.
2.
Students will be given one top to an acorn.
3.
The students will need to search for the bottom of the
acorn that will combine with their word to make a compound
word.
4.
The students will discuss their compound words.
5.
The students will have to use at least two compound words
in two sentences.
2nd Grade Week 3 Pictures
2nd Grade Week 3
Thursday
1. The students will play Sightword Bingo using words from the
second grade Dolch Sight Word list.
2. The students will play until 9:00.
3. The students will use at least three sight words in three
different sentences.
2nd Grade Week 3 Reflection
2nd Grade Week 4
Wednesday
1.
The students will continue to practice spelling sight words
2.
The students will play Type-It-Ball.
a.
There will be a “keyboard” taped to the floor.
b.
The students will be given a word.
c.
The students must spell it on the keyboard.
d.
As they spell their word, we will write the letters they
type on the board.
3.
If the student spells the word correctly they get to shoot
a basket.
2nd Grade Week 4 Pictures
2nd Grade Week 4
Thursday
1. The students will learn about contractions.
2. There will be 20 post-it notes around the room.
3. The students will wander the room trying to find the
matches of two words that go together to make a
contraction.
4. We will come together after we have collected all of the
contractions and discuss the words we made.
5. The students will use one contraction in three sentences.
2nd Grade Week 4 Pictures
2nd Grade Week 4 Reflection
2nd Grade Week 5
Wednesday
1. The students will be given a spot of shaving cream.
2. The students will spread the shaving cream on their desk.
3. The students will spell sight words in their shaving cream.
4. The students will use at least three sight words in three
different sentences.
Pictures
2nd Grade Week 5
Thursday
1.
The students will play “Type-It-Ball” to review the skills
they learned.
2.
The students will take their post-assessment.
10
8
6
Preassessment
4
Postassessment
2
0
MA
JL
ZM
AM
LS
EK
Pictures
Results
2nd Grade Week 5 Reflection
5th Grade Week 1
Wednesday
1. Students will pass a ball around to introduce themselves
telling their name, grade, and something interesting about
themselves.
2. Students will spell their names with play-dough.
3. Students will take the verb preassessment.
5th Grade Week 1
Thursday
1.
Read the letter we wrote to the students to model their
task.
2.
Brainstorm ideas with students and set guidelines for
writing preassessment.
3.
Students will write a letter to us telling their name,
favorite subject, where they were born, favorite food,
sport, game, or animal. Students will be asked to write at
least two interesting facts.
5th Grade Week 1 Reflection
Students
enjoyed the get to know
you game. One student had a difficult
time writing the introduction letter.
We were able to modify the letter to
help meet the needs of this particular
student.
5th Grade Week 2
Wednesday
1.
Read aloud The Secret Knowledge of Grown Ups by David
Wisniewski. (For time purposes, only read three short tales)
2.
Model a bad example of writing to inform about a tale from
the read aloud. Include run on sentences, incorrect
grammar usage, and fragments in example.)
3.
Through guided practice, fix the writing piece with
students.
4.
Ask students to write to persuade about a tale that was
read aloud. (Students can only choose the two remaining
tales, not the modeled example).
5.
Students will share their tales if time allows.
5th Grade Week 2
Thursday
1. Students will be introduced to the rules of the game, Change
It.
2. Ask students to repeat the rules back to check for
understanding.
3. Students will play the game as a group.
4. Students will write to inform by writing the rules of the
game.
5. Students will share their writing and play the game again if
time remains.
5th Grade Week 2 Reflection
Students
were able to accurately point out
the errors in the incorrect piece. Students
were able to write to inform about the
rules of the game. All students had many
errors. We had the students go back and
edit then revise their pieces in order to
see their own errors.
5th Grade Week 3
Wednesday
1. Student cut out a list of twenty-four compound words.
2. They cut each word into two separate words, and then
flipped them over on their desks.
3. With a partner, they engaged in a matching memory game.
4. As the game was being played, we discussed with students
multiple ways compound words can be match together to
create a new word.
5. As an exit ticket for today, we had the students orally use
their favorite compound word in a sentence.
5th Grade Week 3
Thursday
1.
Students reviewed the concept and meaning of compounds
words.
2.
On the board there were two columns of words. Students
were called to the board to match and draw a line from one
word to the next word, creating a new compound word.
3.
Students used lists of compound words to create
sentences.
4.
They were asked to pick five of the compound words, and
use them in a sentence.
5.
We graded their usage of compound words in a sentence
through CUPS.
One student was absent. (JL)
5th Grade Week 3 Reflection
Students
enjoyed working with a partner
to complete the matching games. The
student with the least amount English skills
was able to create compound words and
write sentences to accompany each of
them. This student has shown vast
improvement from the initial perassessment when he wasn’t able to form a
sentence without assistance.
5th Grade Week 4
Wednesday
1.
We engaged students by reading the book, “Dear Mr.
Blueberry” aloud.
2.
We asked the students why they continued to write to Mr.
Blueberry each day. That in the story, the main character
was writing to persuade. The students were asked to recall
a time they had to persuade a parent or friend.
3.
Student orally shared examples, and discussed what should
be included in a persuasive letter.
5th Grade Week 4
Thursday
1.
Students were given a prompt and they were asked to write
to their parents.
2.
We explained they would be persuading them to let them do
something, or buy them something.
3.
We discussed what they should include in their letter.
Such as: proper letterform, punctuation, capitalization,
spelling and usage.
4.
After each student completed their letter, they passed it
to their partner and read it aloud.
5.
The students voted as if they were each other’s parents
and determined if they were persuaded or not.
5th Grade Week 4 Reflection
 Students
were able to answer Higher Order
Thinking questions about the text. Each student
shared an oral example of a time when they needed
to persuade someone. The lowest student in the
group needed additional prompting to answer the
question. When the students wrote letters to
persuade, all chose real-life examples that were
important to them. When the students passed
around the papers they were able to spot errors and
make corrections in the form of peer editing.
5th Grade Week 5
Wednesday
1.
As a group, we posted words around the room.
2.
Students had to determine weather the word was correctly
spelled, and if it had correct capitalization. If they were
not correctly spelled or capitalized, students took the
words down.
3.
“Punctuation Bee” To review punctuation and usage, the
teachers said sentences out loud. According to our tone of
voice and inflection, students had to determine the correct
punctuation that completes the sentence.
4.
The winner of the Punctuation Bee received an Eagle Egg
and all students participated in an interactive and engaging
review before the post-assessment on the following day.
5th Grade Week 5
Thursday
1. Post-assessment Farewell Letter
2. Thank you/treats 
5th Grade Week 5 Reflection
 All
students actively participated in the review for
the final post-assessment. They were all eager to
participate for the prize of an Eagle Egg. In the end,
all students received an egg for their hard work. The
final day we gave the students the post-assessment.
All students received a goodie-bag for their time and
dedication. Each student was able to show
improvement from the pre- to post-assessment. This
is clearly shown in the proceeding data chart for 5th
grade.
Grading Rubric
Convention (CUPS)
Capitalization
First letter of a sentence capitalized
Proper nouns capitalized
Usage
No run-on sentences
Proper verb tenses
Subject verb agreement
Punctuation
Correct punctuation at the end of sentence
Use commas in a series
Spelling
All grade level sight words spelled correctly
All words on word all or in resources are spelled correctly
All contractions and compound words are spelled correctly
Points
Worth
4
6
4
6
Points
Earned
5th Grade Data Collection
5th Grade Data Chart
Conclusion