Anticipation Guide for "The Emperor's Egg"

Here is an anticipation guide that I developed for my technology class. I remember this story as being one of my favorites from the second grade Harcourt Trophies series. I use the powerpoint as a way to introduce students to the vocabulary and background knowledge they will need to understand the story. It is wonderful for ELLs, but any of your students can benefit from the content in this powerpoint video.

This anticipation guide has sound effects, videos, and plenty of visuals. Unfortunately, the videos were downloaded from unitedstreaming, and I cannot get them to upload onto the Internet. For any Cowlishaw teachers, I will put this file onto our Koalas drive in the 2nd grade folder. If you play it from there on your classroom computer, it will play all of the video clips, I promise. Let me know if you have questions, and enjoy!

An Introduction to Me! :)

This is an Introductory Speech I gave to my Graduate Technology class. It is just a simple introduction to me and where I am right now in my life and career. Enjoy!

Cultural Comparisons: A Photostory Lesson Plan

As an ELL teacher, I must constantly speak up for the needs of my students. Often, teachers have cultural misunderstandings about the students. I have had many conversations with teachers about their students and the students' parents. Most teachers really want to reach their students, but they have a hard time doing that when they do not understand their culture.

A few years ago, one teacher I worked with thought that the quiet Korean boy who wouldn't look her in the eye was being rude and "pulling attitude." I had to explain to her about Asian cultures and how often children are told never to look an adult in the eye. In their culture, it is disrespectful. Once she understood, her demeanor towards the boy changed. She knew he was indeed being respectful towards her, in his own way.

I also have to advocate for my students and their culture in a group. Often newcomers do not mesh as well with students who have been in the US for most of their lives. I have had students who are new arrivals and beg for more homework, admonish the other children every time they talk out, and look scared when I scold the class. It took a writing activity where we talked about schools in other countries for the class to understand: In some countries, classes consist of 60 kids sitting on a bench, reciting lessons automatically. If the teacher gave you homework, he liked you and wanted you to do well. If you talked out, you were slapped with a large, hard ruler. When we talked about cultural differences, suddenly the other kids "got" why some students followed the rules to the letter. "I'd follow the rules, too," said one student to me, " if you were going to hit me with a ruler. You're not, are you?" I laughed and promised never to hit them with anything, especially not a ruler.

I spent my summer brainstorming ways that I can bring my students' cultures into their regular classrooms, for the benefit of both their classmates and especially their teachers. I found a way through an elective course I took at NLU about integrating technology to help English Language Learners. I designed a little movie of photos using a program called "Microsoft PhotoStory," and used my recent trip to Paris as a jumping off point. I compared life in Naperville to life in Paris. Using photographs and my own narration, I explained cultural differences and showed positive parts of the French culture. I also spoke a few words of French in demonstration.

I want to help each of my ELL students who are "new arrivals" produce their own PhotoStory to show to their class, showcasing their culture. I would like them to speak a few words in their native language, and show real pictures, so that everyone can see that their culture is something to be honored and understood. I want their classmates and their teachers to "get" what is different about their culture. I am hoping to ease the cultural shock that some of my students face. We always have students who are just arriving from other cultures, and if I can help them to adjust, I feel that I am fulfilling my role as an advocate for these students.

Description of video: I created a 4 minute Photostory about my trip to Paris and how I explored Parisian art, architecture, and especially culture. I edited and integrated photos, text, and my own narration to create the piece. I learned how to save it in multiple forms for editing, and how to teach it to children. This activity was educationally rich for me because it led me to analyze both my trip and the cultural differences that I noticed. It taught me more about photo editing and integrating multiple computer programs. I learned how to create powerpoint slides and import them into photostory when I wanted to use arrows or complex text. I also learned how to integrate music, but I chose not to use that because I felt it would distract from my text. I want my students to be able to read the text and focus on my words.

Benefit to my students: This project will have an almost immediate benefit for my students. Now that I know how to use PhotoStory, I want to try to to use it with my intermediate ELL students this fall, especially those who are new arrivals this year. I will show them my video and ask them to examine either their own culture or one they are interested in, and analyze differences. They will actually be able to create their own Photostory document, and we can even post them on the Internet. From an ELL standpoint, I like students to appreciate one another's cultures and feel proud of where they come from. Also, this activity should be fun for the students, because they get to make a movie and actually narrate it themselves. The writing and speaking can be tailored to the language learning levels of each student. It will also force them to brainstorm, research, and write. Finally, they will have to demonstrate speaking skills when they record their voices onto the computer.

Technology Tools help make content accessible

If you are just learning about UDL and how to use technology to make learning more accessible for your ELLs, don't worry--you are not alone. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. There are a number of places you can go for technology tools that will make material accessible without requiring hours of research and planning.

A good place to start is this website, designed by CAST, which includes a number of tools:
http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/tools/. This site has a program that will enable you to get a class profile of how your individual students learn, a goal setting program for students, and a tool with template that helps you recognize barriers to learning.

Another great place to get started is http://www.unitedstreaming.com/. There, you can download and view video and audioclips in seconds on almost every topic imaginable. Many schools already have a subscription, and this site is run by Discovery Education, so the quality of material is very good and educationally appropriate. If, for example, you are teaching about how plants grow, you can actually find time-lapsed videos showing the entire process, from seed to pland and back again.

One program that is especially beneficial for ELLs is Kidspiration (called Inspiration for older learners). This is a program that creates interactive graphic organizers. It also speaks, and can incorporate multiple color changes and images to increase understanding. It can be used by the teacher to help show the student relationships, but students can also use Kidspiration to demonstrate understanding in a way that is not so text-heavy. Try this site as an example:
http://www.centerforleadership.org/blog/2007/10/04/kidspiration-as-a-udl-friendly-instructional-tool/

Websites that facilitate learning are another tool that you can use to make content accessible to English Language Learners. Some great examples of interactive websites that help ELLs or students who learn differently include:

• http://bensguide.gpo.gov/ If you have to teach government, this site makes it interactive and fun. I especially like the interactive maps and the explanations of symbols and places.
• http://www.manythings.org/ac/family.html This is kind of like audio concentration, and it works great for kids who learn well by listening. It is especially good for kids who are learning to speak and listen to spoken English.
• www.windows.ucar.edu/ When you are teaching about space, interactive sites such as these can accommodate students on a number of levels.
• http://www.scholastic.com/kids/homework/maggie_science.htm Often students who do not speak English well can show you what they know if you give them a visual such as a diagram. This website is a great place to start.
• http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/StarChild.html When teaching astronomy to children, this website is extremely interactive. Additionally, the site is written at different levels, so that the same students can be working on the same topic simultaneously, but at their own reading level.

I have additional websites under Teacher and Student Resources on my ikeepbookmarks page:
http://www.iKeepBookmarks.com/Mrs._Eaton

How UDL can help ELLs

First of all, yes, the education field overuses acronyms. Even though Universal Design for Learning (UDL) was not originally designed to specifically benefit English Language Learners (ELLs), the core principles are of special interest to those who serve students leaning English. ELLs are overrepresented in special education, mainly because many officials are not trained to differentiate between a disability and a limitation that is language-based. Difficulties in reading are often labeled as reading disabilities, and problems with pronounciation and speech are often labeled as speech disorders, even when many times these problems do not exist within the student's home language.

The nice thing about UDL is that it doesn't really matter if a problem is because of a disability or a language barrier--the principles will simple help the student learn. UDL helps ELLs in a variety of ways:

• First, utilizing podcasts, language learning software, and translations can help students who have not learned to read English yet, or who do not read English at the same level as their English-speaking peers.
• Utilizing media such as sound effects, videos, and computer images can help students to understand complicated concepts easily and quickly. For example, the concept of courage is not easily explained to non-English speakers. But by using a quick video of a mouse bravely facing down a cat, most students have a "lightbulb moment" and make the connection to the word courage in their home language. Similarly, students can learn completely new concepts through the use a video clip--sometimes a concept is best understood visually.
• Allowing students to show you what they have learned in a way that may be less print heavy than a traditional paper meets the goals and objectives for the lesson while still ensuring learning for the student. If you want your students to be able to compare the characteristics of civilizations, they can do that just as well (if not better) by using a powerpoint presentation as they can in a 4 page comparison essay. (The only exception to this is when writing itself is what you are assessing.)
• Using images to supplement text enhances the understanding of English Language Learners in a regular classroom withought singling them out.

One additional thing to remember about UDL is that it does not mean you should use technology randomly or indiscriminately. Rather, a teacher must think carefully and thoughtfully about how to make existing material accessible to students who either learn differently or require accommodation. For example, if I was teaching about the concept of mountains vs. hills, and my students could neither read nor understand their social studies book, I might utilize pictures and video to enhance my instruction. The danger is in not being able to justify why and how a particular technology is used. Allowing students to create powerpoint presentations is helpful; allowing them to play with the transitions for 45 minutes is a waste of educational time. The balance is in ensuring that time spent on technology is truly beneficial and helps to meet specific educational goals.

http://www.cast.org/publications/ncac/ncac_limited.html

http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/tools/imagecollector.cfm

The History of UDL

Universal Design originated in the architecture field, where the goal was to design buildings that can accommodate the greatest number of people. It was developed by Ron Mace at North Carolina State University. In the design of architecture and, later, products, the goal was to make things accessible to people with disabilities in an equitable way. This might include ramps for wheelchairs, visual cues to pair with fire alarms, wide doorways, closed captioning on television programs, and using icons and/or braille in addition to words on signs.

In the 1990s, the Center for Applied Special technology, or CAST, used the concept of Universal Design and decided that learning should be set up that way, too. Curriculum should always be designed to accommodate the greatest number of learners. Instead of trying to come up with an accommodation when a particular student has a problem, UDL focuses on making that content accessible to as many people as possible before problems present themselves. Making learning accessible to all students is actually the law in the United States, according to the IDEA (2004) law. This framework is heavily research-based and goes along with the science of neuroanatomy, or the science of how your brain works when you learn.

The wonderful thing about UDL is that technology is becoming more and more available to students across the country, and teachers can share what they have developed via the Internet. So, teachers who need to come up with resources for their students often can find accessible options at their fingertips. Students who want to demonstrate what they know via a powerpoint presentation, a video, or a text-to-speech presentation have choices and options. Neither learning style nor disability are barriers to acheivement when UDL is utilized.

http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/

http://www.csupomona.edu/~facultycenter/facultyResources_UDL.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Design_for_Learning

What is UDL? (Philosophy/Process)

UDL Stands for "Universal Design for Learning." The philosophy behind UDL is that through the use of technology, we can make learning accessible for all students. This goes along with the federal IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act), which guarantees individuals at all ability levels the right to have access to learning. This means that educators must be proactive when it comes to technology; often there is a way to help a student learn utliizing new forms of technology. Making content accessible for all students is the goal for UDL, and there are three main principles guiding it:

"1) The curriculum provides multiple means of representation. Subject
matter can be presented in alternate modes for students who learn best
from visual or auditory information or for those who need differing levels
of complexity.
2) The curriculum provides multiple means of expression to allow students
to respond with their preferred means of control. This accommodates the
differing cognitive strategies and motor-system controls of students.
3) The curriculum provides multiple means of engagement. Student’s
interests in learning are matched with the mode of presentation and their
preferred means of expression. Students are more motivated when they
are engaged with what they are learning."

The process of using UDL requires that a teacher have different approaches to teaching that utilize choices and alternatives that utilize technology support. The availability of websites, computer researching, digital media, voice word processing, and presentation software means that teachers really can find a way to reach every student. Each student can also 'show what they know' using the medium that is most appropriate and interesting to them.

Universal does not mean that there is one right way to teach everyone. In fact, it implies that the variety of learners that teachers deal with requires a variety of ways of reaching students. This does not just refer to students with specific disabilities, such as blindness, learning disabilities, or communication disabilities such as autism. Students who are English Language Learners, who have emotional or behavioral problems, or who simply do not learn using a traditional textbook can all benefit from having increased options to absorb and demonstrate knowledge.

Teaching the 'UDL way' requires that the teacher realize that all students learn differently, and that there is no one 'right' way to learn. The goals and the standards are still the focus of the lesson, it is simply the delivery model and the demonstration of learning that is accommodated with UDL. The "Tools and Activities" link below has many helpful tools for figuring out how to design lessons in a way that correlates with UDL.

http://www.cast.org/teachingeverystudent/tools/

http://www.patinsproject.com/universal_design_for_learning_project_files/udl_new.pdf