ARCENTINA
Newsletter rESOL Fall92
.Araentina T eachers of Eualillh to Spélkers of Other LaIJlU&llll
Them4tic Units: CrNting
INSIDI
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Eftrirorunent for lMIrning MUle c. GiGftelli .
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Editors Note: Elemeruary and secondary ESL teacbers aro faced wi/b tuo tasks: teacbtng a second language lo tbeir students and simultaneously instruatng studeuts tn tbe contentarea subjects tbat learners at tbese leoels must master. Marge Gianedi describes boto ber scbooi district ;'1 Texas addressed tbese lUJO issuos by creating tbematic units. Her students na only improoed tbeir Englisb ta,¡guage abüiues bUI also gained kllowledge in all ateas 01 tbe school curricutum. Her paper should be 01 interest lo ESLelementary and secondary tcadier»; and also lo ESL a lid NL educators al al/ /evels toho may desire lO implement tbematic units ;/1 tbeir scbools. 11also bas grea: importance loprop,ram administrators and curnculum
and material deoetopers.
How do teachers decide what to teach cvery day? Do we follow the currículum
guide? Do we use the scquence of the textbookfs)? Do we analyze the deficiencies of each student and indivídualize lessons? Is coverage of the content of a discipline the best way for our students to hccome knowledgeable, competent students, or should we Iocus on language? Answers to thesc qucstions are esscntial for tcachers of English as a second language (ESL). Especially in an c1ementary or secondary school setting, we teachers find it tremendously difficult to balance the dernands of the school curriculum and the students' need to learn English. There must be a way to ensure that neíther need is neglected while children are learning both languaue and content.
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'nlemat1c Units: Creatin¡ an Bnvironment for Learning ............••.••.
Although 1 am no longer in the classroom, 1 struggled for years wlth these questions. For the past 5 years, as director of bilingual and ESL prograrns, 1 have been working with teachers to implernent a thematíc approach to curriculum organization in Canutillo Elementary and Canutillo Middle School. Together we began the process at the kindergarten level 5 years ago and have now progressed through grade six. A drastic change like
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organizing the cur- .
riculum around themcs requires a tremcndous amount of effort, but the results have been worth the effort. Previously, classes were se'! up so that students spent set arnounts of time in the different disciplines: an hour for readíng, an hour for ESL-Spanish, 30 minutes for spelling, 20 mínutes for social studies, and so on. The lesson concluded at the proper time no matter what was going on. I observed many flnc lessons cut short because "time was up." Rcading, writing, study of grammar rules, and spelling wcre never connected; each was selí-contaíned. In addition, the bilingual teachers were frustrared because there was never enough time 10 teach in both languages. Other teachers also complained about the lack of lime.
Tbe resutts baue been dramatic. No longer do students forget what tbey are studying~
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Affillate Newe ....•.••...•p 4.In Memorian Tracy Terrel ••.•..•.••..•• P 4.Acknowledgemente •••.••.•••P 5.Aek the TJ .•..•..••.•..•.• P 7.Tesol arants •.•••••.•.•.•. p 8.Call for part1c1patlon 6th ARTBSOL COnvention •••.p 12.Calendar of Bvents .••.••..p 14.-
But worst of all, students weren't learníng, They couldn't remember from one day lo the next what they had been taught, the spelling words were never spelled correctly in actual writing situations, and more than one-third of the first-grade students were being rctained because they were, unablc to read. Students counted their succcsses by the numbcr of papers they had to turn in, and were kept after school only for not tuming in a paper (never for inability lo read): thus, ihe bbjec; of the day was to turn in papers. No students 1 ever asked knew what they were leaming in scíencc, or what story they had rcad in reading. When asked, 'What is scíence", a student responded, "II's right after lunch." To remedy this fragmentcd approach lo learníng, the teachers (who wcre as díscouraged as I) and 1 decíded to try focusing on th~mes
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