Working with International

Students in a Gifted Class

A Picture is worth a thousand words Pictures, pictures, pictures!

What do you think this word means?

ZRMZLINA

Now try again

Now let’s tackle another word in this ad - nejlepši.If I know that lepši means better and ne means no or not than what can I guess nejlepši might mean?

Acquisition and learningYour students will do the same thing you just did - they will latch onto a few words in their lexicon, play around with them, use pictures to help learn, transfer what they know about some words to figure out new words. But, they will do this silently in their minds and you won’t know about their process of language learning and acquisition. Trust that it is taking place however.

It Takes TimeStudents learn English best in an immersion environment but it takes time. Students acquire a great deal of vocabulary by being surrounded by English. They learn new vocabulary and grammar in school. But it does take time. Manage expectations of what you can do as their teacher.

Strategies for the ClassroomGroup work - have students work in pairs or small groups so they can help each other. It might even help native English speakers who are confused but don’t want to admit it.

Examples of group work: English and history - students brainstorm ideas for an essay theme before writing

Math - students work together to solve an algorithm (if international students are strong in math they will feel confident and motivated).

Science - lab work in pairs

Peer tutoringCreate opportunities for students to tutor each other outside of class time. Make sure it’s not just for the international students but for all students. If the international students see peer tutoring among native speakers, they will not feel so isolated.

Make content manageableCreate a brief summary of the key points of each lesson for the international students - if you make it available to all students it could help them with their note-taking as well!

Partner talkTalk with a partner about how you might incorporate some of these strategies into your lesson plan(s). What makes sense for your class?What do you think wouldn’t work for your class?

Create communityAre the international students encouraged to take part in after school activities? Do they feel as much a part of the school community as native speaker students? What are some ways that you might help the international students join the school community? Could they help with yearbook? Choir?

Get to know the studentsAs much as possible with language difficulties try to get to know these students. They might have gone to a private international school and they probably thought their English was great … until they arrived in America.

Help students manage their own expectationsWhat are the students’ expectations of

themselves? Do they feel they have a heavy responsibility to honor their family by doing well in school in America? Are they worried about their grades and what their parents will think?

China’s “One child rule” has created a cultural phenomenon in which children in China receive a lot of attention from two parents and four grandparents but which also means they have a lot of pressure to succeed.

Asian culture also focuses on the group rather than the individual and these students may feel more burden to represent their country, their family than an American student would feel. How successful do the international students feel in their efforts?

Manage academic expectationsThese students cannot be compared to the native English speaking students. Teachers need to differentiate instruction for international students.

What is differentiation, anyway?Carol Ann Tomlinson is the leading expert on

differentiation.http://www.caroltomlinson.com/Differentiation accommodates students’ different learning styles and their unique approaches to learning.It’s good to refresh your approach to teaching all the students in your classes, not just the English language learners.

Developing VocabularyStudents acquire approximately 3,000 new vocabulary words per year. They do this through exposure to language in text and by hearing spoken words every day. As students acquire a new language, they tend to use social language first, and then broaden out to academic language.

Best Ways to Provide New VocabularyTeachers best serve international students by

providing vocabulary in context, with many opportunities to use it - by reading it in different content areas, in different forms. Students need to be able to use these words in meaningful ways that apply to content (i.e. NOT an assignment such as “Write the new vocabulary words 10 times).

Lesson checklistTarget the vocabulary you will teach in this lesson.Make dictionaries or glossaries available, or post

vocabulary in room.Provide a short summary of your lesson to students.Hands on activities where possible.Support materials such as props, visuals, charts, etc.Create small groups for student work where

possible.

Good news for STEM teachers!ck12.org

You can create your own text and it can be translated instantly.

QuestionsWhat questions do you have at this time?

email me with additional questions:

jennifergoodnowesl@gmail.com