Mod 13 Video Discussion

VIDEO: Co-Teaching for ESOL Instruction - All Grades

What is the process these teachers use to co-teach? These teachers use a co-teaching model to support language development for English Language Learners at PS 29 in New York, an elementary school. They describe their thinking curriculum as having a two-layer practice. Upper levels have a lot of accountability for academic learning so the teachers work together to present content and bring attention to language. They identified more complex structures for grades 3-5 (what they called juicy sections) and then implemented in the classroom where both teachers and ESL teachers would work together to come up with different strategies for teaching. After building a foundational knowledge, they applied this knowledge to address higher order analytical questions like how and why as well as drawing comparisons. In ALL lessons, they applied an ongoing process of learning vocabulary to the lesson, often applying old vocabulary in new ways. After the instruction period, they allow the students to work in small groups while the teachers circulate and then the teachers deconstruct the lesson and draw conclusions. I many of the smaller activities, students are also paired together to facilitate learning. The lesson also allows them make pre and post assessments to help them identify what succeeds and where the gaps still remain. The co-teachers are constantly checking in with each other to ensure lesson alignment as well as appropriate student growth for EVERY student. This approach is in effect a deep dive approach, which is why it allowed the ELL students at this school to out perform the native English speakers at their school on ELA exams.

How does it mirror your own efforts at co-teaching, and what can you take away from this in planning for ESOL instruction? These teachers do a much better job of coordinating their efforts at ensuring their instruction is consistently aligned to the needs of the students and the standards because the ESL teacher is dedicated to working with this specific teacher to co-teacher. In schools with more limited resources and perhaps only a single ESL teacher to work with 6 grades and 300 students, the results would not be as impressive.