Grade level: Second grade

​

Content Area: Read, Writing and Communicating

​

Colorado Academic Standard:

b. Contribute knowledge to a small group or class discussion to develop a topic

 

WIDA Can Do Descriptor:

ELP Level 6 Reaching

Recount by:

• Producing discourse appropriate to task and situation

 

Vocabulary words chosen:

Bad

Okay/ Alright

Good

Great

Excellent

 

             The vocabulary words I chose for this activity happen to be all tier one words because they only having one meaning and are used often. The reason I decided to choose these words is because they are very common words in the academic and school setting, especially when giving feedback on assignments. I choose these words because I believe an emergent bilingual student could very easily confuse them. Because these words have such different meanings, knowing the definitions of them are very important. These words are used a lot in the school setting to describe the development and progress of a student, and requires students to know the meaning of them to be able to use them.

 

 

Overview of Activity:

​

            In this activity students will be arranging different vocabulary words based on their meaning using a thermometer. To begin this activity the students will be placed into groups of people no larger than three. The students will then be given a list of five different vocabulary words used within the school setting. The words will be: bad, okay/ alright, good, great and excellent. The students will then be instructed to read through the words with their partners and begin to think of the meaning of these words. The students will be given one minute of silent think time and five minutes to discuss the meaning of them with their partners. While discussing, the students will be asked the think about the order they would put the words in and why. During this part they will be allowed to group them in any ways they see fit. During the discussion with their partners, the teacher will walk around and distribute one blank thermometer to each group. The students will then be instructed to figure out with their partner how to arrange the words on the thermometer so that the words ascend from negative to positive. The teacher will give some instruction on what positive and negative mean, and explain that words should go in order from good to bad, having the bad words be lower down on the thermometer than the good words. The students will then be given work time to do this with their partner, and will also be asked to glue down the words when they are positive of their order. After each group has glued their words on their thermometer, we will compare as a class how each group arranged them. We will make different piles, putting similarly grouped words together. The groups will have the chance to explain their thinking in front of the whole class but will not be required. This activity will end with a class gallery walk, consisting of the entire class walking around and viewing each others thermometers.

​

​

Justification Of Activity: 

​

         Just as vocabulary development is important for any learner, it is very important for emergent bilinguals. As you can imagine, the more vocabulary a student knows, the more meaningful interactions they will be able to be apart of. They will also be able to speak, write and read more words if they have an expanding vocabulary. In the book, Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy and Practice, Wayne E. Wright states, “research does suggest, that direct, systematic vocabulary instruction leads to higher academic achievement for ELLs” (Wright, 2015, p.160). This activity is not only aimed at the development of vocabulary, but it is also made for emergent bilingual students meaning it is structured in a way that will benefit them. Wright also states that, “teaching specific terms in a specific way is probably the strongest actions a teacher can take to ensure that students have the academic background knowledge they need to understand the content they will encounter in school (Wright, 2015, p.160). By teaching a vocabulary activity in this way, you are not only ensuring students have a sufficient academic background, but also taking a strong action as a teacher to certify success. Although there can be many different ways to develop the vocabulary of emergent bilinguals, this activity is just one of them.

​

​

​

Artifact:

​

Below is a visual of the materials required for this lesson. They are the vocabulary words and blank thermometer printed out for the students to manipulate. 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

This is an example of an already competed thermometer, with the vocabulary words accordingly placed in their corresponding spots. This is an example of what the students' work may look like. 

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

    References: 

Wright, W. E. (2015). Foundations for teaching English language learners: research, theory, policy, and practice (Second                     ed.). Philadelphia: Caslon Publishing.

​

​

​

​

​