Teaching Strategies

Making Connections through Social Interactions

            This teaching strategy encourages students to make connections to what they are reading from their lives and the lives of others around them.  These connections can be made through teacher led classroom discussions and also through conversations of student led small groups.  These groups can also model comprehension by acting the reading out, creating a poster, drawing a picture, and a variety of other small projects. 

            This strategy works well in an elementary setting because it will allow students to see connections to the real world.  It is easier for English language learners to talk about things that they know about, so making connection to their lives will make it easier for them to discuss what they are reading about. 

            (2006). In Teaching diverse learners . Retrieved April 18, 2011, from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/elemlit/orallanguage.shtml#strat4

Daily Sharing

            Because culture affects oral language, this teaching strategy helps English language learners to learn the socially valued way of speaking while also listening to how their culture organizes its communication.  After listening to how an English language learning tells his or her story, the teacher will then ask the students questions and write down responses that will model the socially valued way of telling the story. 

            This would be especially effective in an elementary classroom where sharing daily events with the class is an everyday occurrence.  It would help your English language learners to improve their oral language.   This strategy will also help your English speakers to practice their listening skills. 

            (2006). In Teaching diverse learners . Retrieved April 18, 2011, from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/elemlit/orallanguage.shtml#strat4

Student/Teacher Conferences

            This strategy puts the teacher and the student together one-on-one to discuss the work that the student is doing.  This takes away the competition that a student might be feeling from the more proficient students in the classroom.  During this conference, the teacher and student discuss what was written or drawn.  They talk about what the students did especially well and what the student could improve on for next time. 

            In an elementary classroom, this strategy would be effective when having the students do daily writing assignments and special writing projects.  If would not only be effective for students who are learning English but also for all English speakers who need help with their writing.  The teacher could spend just a couple of minutes with each student, as they complete their writing, discussing what is done well and what could be done better. 

            (2006). In Teaching diverse learners . Retrieved April 18, 2011, from http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/elemlit/orallanguage.shtml#strat4