EAL and mainstream teachers – How can we

work together to scaffold teaching and

provide targeted support for EAL

learners?

1) How can we support EAL students during lessons?

2) How can we adapt tasks to avoid language-heavy responses?

3) How can we scaffold written and verbal tasks for EAL students?

4) How can we scaffold lessons for EAL students to include more pre-teaching and recycling?

How can the EAL teacher help during mainstream classes?

Small group tasks or individual projects, assessments task preparation etc - EAL teacher can be available to edit, re-draft, provide a language model as required. Mainstream teacher should provide the tasks beforehand.

Student presentations - EAL teacher can observe and give feedback (grammar, pronunciation, vocabulary, use of cohesive devices etc). This can be done 1:1. Mainstream teacher should provide the format that you plan to give feedback in and any assessment criteria.

Written work: EAL teacher marks written work. Hand specific work samples to the EAL teacher.

EAL teacher takes a specific lesson or part of (e.g. on language for presentations or a certain essay structure). All students may benefit from this. Mainstream teachers to provide an example essay and assessment criteria.

EAL teacher levels worksheets and provides alternative tasks as necessary. Mainstream teachers to provide worksheets or book and page references.

EAL teacher produces additional materials (such as glossary of terms etc).

Sample essay

How can EAL support mainstream teachers in lesson preparation?

Issues: Students may have understood content and know what to do but they don’t have the English skills to verbally respond or write question responses, essays, reflections etc.

Consequences: This can make it seem that they haven’t grasped the concept / it can discourage them from speaking during class / it can diminish their confidence / it can make assessment difficult.

1. How does the narrator characterize the human visual system?

2. How is it that the co-pilot is able to spot such a small plane in the sky? 

3. Suggest a reason why the volunteers in the experiment have been misled into believing that they are just waiting at the bar with the models before being called behind the bar to perform the study by the psychologist?

4. What do the results of the psychological study suggest?

Adapting tasks

Avoid open questions and summaries (difficult for students to write/speak using lengthy /complex language). If students only need to demonstrate understanding use..Questions which require only short answers. Multiple choice questions (still demonstrate that Ss have understood the content).True / False answers / sentences ( The advantage of sentences is that they give the student good examples)Cloze

Part 1: State (phase) and Energy

What is matter? Write your own definition. Then watch and check.

 

Circle the three states (phases) of matter. 

gas energy plasma solid water liquid heat

 

a) What’s the difference between molten steel and solid steel?

 A. molten steel is liquid steel

B. they contain different amount of energy

C. solid steel is cold

D. molten steel is very hot

b) Which one has more energy? a) molten steel b) solid steel.

 

c) How do you know? Write your response and then discuss with a partner.

 

Scaffolding tasks

Provide the language and structural support students need to produce adequate responses.

Sentence starters (students complete the sentence) – help Ss to produce accurate and coherent sentences that they can use as a model answer. Match beginnings and endings Order the text (work with an example text) Correct the information Cloze texts

Scaffolding tasks

Sound: Concept checking questions and key language

1) What did the experiment with the tuning fork demonstrate?

This experiment demonstrated that ....

2) What did the experiment with the spoon tied to a string demonstrate?

From this experiment we could deduce that...

3) What did the experiment with the balloons show?

From this experiment we could conclude that...

Key language for describing results

Complete the sentences using words from the box. There does not _______________ to be a relationship. No line or smooth ______________ can be drawn. The results seem to be ________________. The data is _________________. The relationship between distance and time is _________________. Time is directly ________________ to distance.

random correlation linear appearsufficient reliable conducted inconclusive

quality proportional supportfair range curve

Giving instructions

Match beginnings and endings of sentences.

1) Mount the lens a) distance between the bulb and the lens.

2) Plug the bulb b) the data.

3) Place the lens in c) and forth.

4) Move the lens back d) steps 5-7 for several different distances.

5) Measure the e) into a socket.

6) Record the distances f) in the data table.

7) Repeat g) between the bulb and the screen.

8) Analyse h) on to the lens holder.

 

Writing up a procedure

Put the steps in the procedure into the most logical order.

1)Move the lens and/or the screen or the bulb back and forth until a clear and distinct image of the filament is formed on the screen.

2)Place the lens in between the bulb and the screen as shown in the setup.

3)Repeat steps 5-7 for several different distances between the bulb and the lens. Ensure that a wide enough range of distance between bulb and lens is tested. Ensure also that the height at which both the lens and the bulb are setup is constant throughout, that the lens and the screen are parallel to each other, and the orientation of the bulb is also the same throughout.

4)Measure the distance between the bulb and the lens, and the lens and the screen using a meter stick.

5)Mount the bulb on to the ring clamp at the same height as the lens on the lens holder.

6)Plug the bulb on to a socket.

Comparatives in science

Choose the best adjective and use it in the comparative (-er) from.

deep / fast / great / slow / long / small / heavy / shortThe ____________ the amplitude, the slower the wave.The greater the speed of the wave, the ____________ the wavelength.The _____________ the water, the slower the waveThe _____________ the wavelength, the slower the speed of the wave.The _____________ the waves travels, the shorter the amplitude.The ______________ the weight, the longer the spring.

Complete the text using suitable words. First cover the words in the box below and see if you can remember the words. If you need help, reveal the box below. All of the words you will need are there.The movement of a wave through a medium involves 1)_______________ of the particles in the medium. The up and down vibration contains energy which gets transferred to its neighbour. This is called a 2)________________.In a transverse pulse the motion of the 3)_______________ and that of the particles is up and down. The 4)__________________of the pulse is perpendicular to the motion of the particles in the medium. In contrast, in a 5)______________pulse the source vibrates back and forth (not up and down) and the particles also vibrate back and forth so the direction of both the pulse and the particles is the same.

speed sound source wavelength particles direction complete water vibration pulse distance longitudinal

Pre-teaching vocabulary

EAL teacher can prepare activities to pre-teach the vocabulary (10 mins at the start of the lesson) This can be a fun activity and can be diagnostic.

You can give the vocabulary tasks to EAL students beforehand to prepare for the lesson.

You can give them a glossary of terms to use during the lesson

EAL teacher can source materials that provide more visual support or graded definitions.Mainstream teachers: need to provide worksheets, slides or book and page references.

Reviewing & recycling

Important for EAL students to meet new language again and again in a variety of formats and contexts

Vocabulary can be recycled at the same time as concepts being reviewed

Students need the chance to activate language which they were previously introduced to receptively

Mainstream teachers can deliver these activities themselves as a warmer.OR students can be given them to work on at home.

Complete the text using suitable words. First cover the words in the box below and see if you can remember the words. If you need help, reveal the box below. All of the words you will need are there.The movement of a wave through a medium involves 1)_______________ of the particles in the medium. The up and down vibration contains energy which gets transferred to its neighbour. This is called a 2)________________.In a transverse pulse the motion of the 3)_______________ and that of the particles is up and down. The 4)__________________of the pulse is perpendicular to the motion of the particles in the medium. In contrast, in a 5)______________pulse the source vibrates back and forth (not up and down) and the particles also vibrate back and forth so the direction of both the pulse and the particles is the same.

speed sound source wavelength particles direction complete water vibration pulse distance longitudinal

General EAL support

Years 6 & 7 – Steve Lanning Years 8 & 9 – Jaom Fisher Year 10 – Peter Roberts