Post 7: An IHE/LEA Research Partnership: Closing the Achievement Gap Through Differentiated Professi

McSparran and Anderberg's (2010) article "An IHE/LEA Research Partnership: Closing the Achievement Gap Through Differentiated Professional Development for Preschool Educators" is offered an a professional development tool for teachers. Although many preschool classrooms now include children whose first language is not English, teachers may find it challenging to effectively support young children with limited English skills. McSparran and Anderberg stress the importance of continuing to support first language development in children, and gives suggestions for assisting these young learners in their acquisition of English. When teachers and parents engage in practices that support oral language development, children can develop strong language skills in both their first and second languages.

I found a video that Dr. Ann Anderberg is featured in that shows examples of putting into place, the practices outlined in the article. This video is produced by the Center for Early Childhood Education at Eastern Connecticut State University.

The main points that I got from this video are:

Supporting ELL

1) Use gestures, pictures, and other clues to support children's understanding.

2) Ask questions to encourage children to extend their talk

3) Use parallel talk, self-talk, and total physical response to support English acquisition

4) Learn a few key words and phrases in children's first languages.

5) Point out similarities between children's native languages and English

6) Encourage families to use their native language at home

Reflection

By this point in my research, a lot of resources are repeating similar teaching strategies. What was unique in this video is that it mentions to ask questions to encourage children to extend their talk. It is important not to ask yes/no questions, but questions where the student has a chance to talk. I really liked the visual examples in the video. It is one thing to read about them in a peer-reviewed article, but it is another to watch them being out into practice.

As it relates to my theoretical approach, children have the freedom to participate in the activities they want to and in that they are competent.

References

McSparran, R., & Anderberg, A. (2010). An IHE/LEA Research Partnership: Closing the Achievement Gap Through Differentiated Professional Development for Preschool Educators. NERA Conference Proceedings 2010. Paper 8. http://digitalcommons.uconn.edu/nera_2010/8

EarlyChildhoodVideos. (2013). Supporting English Language Learners in the Preschool Classroom. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09PrmLppQ1A