Student Needs:

I think one of the biggest barriers to success in an ELA unit is language. For ELL students I want them to be able to understand the stories well enough to predict their own endings, and to understand what is happening enough so they know what to look for in realistic fiction stories. To achieve this I will preview each book before we read, and we will go over the stories as a class. With repetition and multiple opportunities to predict through different formats I am confident that they will be able to succeed.

As we go through the unit students will also create their own stories. This is often hard for ELLs but I will go slow and provide a lot of support as we go along. Students will only focus on one aspect at a time, and will have plenty of lessons to review and discuss before creating their own story. Students will not have to write until the very end of the unit and will be guided and well prepared when they do. I think this is important and supported by Gibbons, who suggests teaching explicitly and slowly so children can take the time to understand through multiple different ways.

Research and evidence-based best practice ideas:

I want to make things explicit, especially for my ELL students. I will model everything I teach, and allow children to be exposed to the material in various ways. I will record their ideas on an anchor chart, and use small drawings to represent my writing, so children can follow along. I will give rich introductions for all texts that I read, and preview words that may be challenging. For the new vocabulary I will have students think about the words, and use them in their own sentences. This is supported by Pauline Gibbon’s research.

I will also use Nancie Atwell’s best practice research about picking engaging texts that readers can connect with, to help get students into the “Reading Zone.” Students need to be able to see themselves in the texts and connect in some way. Through read-alouds and writing assignments students will have the opportunity to make connections and write about what is important to them.