Activity Presentation Guidelines
RESA ESOL Endorsement Program
Name: Shirlyn Mahaffey Date: 7/21/11
Strategy Number 40 from Reiss, 2008: Have Students Develop a Personal Dictionary
One-Paragraph Description of Strategy:
Personal dictionaries are a valuable tool for building vocabulary. The students take ownership of new vocabulary when they can describe it in their own words. Instead of just an academic definition of a word, the personal dictionaries can include a list of synonyms, the word used in a sentence, an illustration of the word, etc. The dictionaries can be organized in a number of ways, so they can be used in all grade levels and all subjects.
Provide three examples of situations when the strategy could be used in your teaching field and/or grade level(s) – also include the GPS/WIDA standards addressed by the activity, what materials are needed, and what assessment you recommend:
Personal dictionaries can be used on a regular basis as teachers introduce new vocabulary. When the word is first introduced, it may be appropriate to only fill in a few categories in the entry. Later, when students become comfortable with the word, they can go back and finish their entry.
Below are three examples of personal dictionaries and how I would use them in my 9th grade math class. They address the following standards:
MM1A1(d) Investigate and explain the characteristics of a function: domain, range, zeros, intercepts, intervals of increase and decrease, maximum and minimum values, and end behavior.
WIDA Standard 3: Ell’s communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Mathematics.
1. Foldable dictionary: Students use a sheet of paper and fold it hotdog style, bringing the right edge to the red margin line. Note, the paper is not folded completely in half. The vocabulary word goes on the outside cover, leaving two boxes on the inside for definition and illustration or synonyms, etc. Items needed: Notebook paper, scissors, highlighters, markers, or crayons.
2. Make a smoosh book which gives you a cover page and 7 additional pages for vocabulary. You can use this to organize your book by concept. Items needed: One sheet of paper, crayons, markers, color pencils, highlighters…
3. Create on ongoing dictionary that students will add to throughout the year. Items needed: Binder, sticky notes to make tabs, crayons, markers, color pencils, highlighters…
Activity Presentation Guidelines
RESA ESOL Endorsement Program
Name: Shirlyn Mahaffey Date: 7/21/11
Strategy Number 40 from Herrell & Jordan, 2004:
Interactive Comprehension Building: Using Technology to Build Background Knowledge
One-Paragraph Description of Strategy:
An effective use of technology for English language learners is to create links into presentation software (like PowerPoint) that provide background information. These links can be video clips, pictures, and vocabulary support like language translations. You can set your links up so that the students have options and they can choose what link best fits their needs.
Provide three examples of situations when the strategy could be used in your teaching field and/or grade level(s) – also include the GPS/WIDA standards addressed by the activity, what materials are needed, and what assessment you recommend:
MM1D3(a) Compare summary statistics (mean, median, quartiles, and interquartile range) from one sample data distribution to another sample data distribution in describing center and variability of the data distributions.
WIDA Standard 3: Ell’s communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Mathematics.
1. WIKI tutorial: I have an online tutorial for a statistics lesson on my wiki, www.mahaffeymath.wikispaces.com. The students have a choice of videos and activities that teach and reinforce the concepts. In the end, they take an online quiz to assess what they learned.
2. PowerPoint: When giving a lesson in PowerPoint, I link vocabulary words to word graffiti, so the students can see the definition.
3. When working through word problems, I will link pictures to words that may not be academic vocabulary, but still necessary to understand the project. For example, we were solving a math problem about a cabin cruiser and I soon realized that none of my kids knew what a cabin cruiser was. So I linked the word “cabin cruiser” to pictures of such actual boats.