Scaffolding Project Template

HTH 106: Preparing to Teach English Language Learners

Teacher

Kirstie Dela Cruz

School

High Tech High Chula Vista

Grade / Class

11th Grade Inclusion

52 students; 7 have an IEP or 504

Class Description
(# of students, demographics,
special populations)

P1: 1/26 documented ELL

Project Title

Science of Violence

P2: 5/26 documented ELLs

You can attach a project description if you prefer.

Project Description
(Handout attached)

Notes on write-up:
Sections 1-3 can be bulleted for ease of reading.
Bold important parts or key words.
When applicable, refer to SDAIE strategies (i.e. from Reiss)
Support your responses and choices of strategies with language acquisition theories whenever
possible (i.e. Krashen, Cummins, Bloom, etc.)
1. How might you build background knowledge or spark interest before beginning this project?
Think-Write-Pair-Share: pose an open-ended question (i.e. Projects Essential Question) and give
students time to think about their answer then write it down. Also, use a GRAPHIC ORGANIZER
on which students can record their thoughts. After students have spent time writing, allow them
to pair up and discuss what they had recorded. This will also allow students to cultivate more
ideas from their peers before sharing out to the whole class.
Make KWL charts: students would create KWL charts to demonstrate what they know about the
human nervous system, what they would like to know about the nervous system, and then apply
what they have LEARNED to the final project.
Link lessons: students are linking previous knowledge gained from the XONR8 project to both
SPARK INTEREST and CREATE CURIOSITY about the essential question.
Personalize the lesson: by allowing students to choose their own topics for this project, it serves
two functions; a) gains buy in to the project and b) allows students to draw from their banks of
prior knowledge to begin brainstorming what kind of information to search for. Students are
required to find their own articles as evidence to support their theses and will need to draw from
their own knowledge in order to search for appropriate material.
Preview the material: i.e. Next week, we will be discussing this topic in class. Use resources to
gain background information on any subject prior to class.
Combine strategies: for example, Think-Write-Pair-Share and K-W-L charts

2. What about this project is good for an ELL? Which requirements will be the least difficult? Why
do you think so?
This project is good for an ELL student because of the personalization aspect of the project. By
investing interest into a topic, students will be more open to learning about the new terms.
Students may choose their method of research, whether it be by visiting the library and using
hardcopy texts, using solely online resources, or going out into the community and interviewing
people. There is also an opportunity for personalization within the deliverable itself, as there are
many options to choose from aside from a written paper. Online resources are also suggested by
Reiss for vocabulary growth, which is also useful for students who are EL Learners and
attempting to access scholarly text on their topics.
Multiple access points: students have the ability to approach their topic from whatever angle
they feel most comfortable. If they choose to access mostly visuals and deliver a visual product,
students may do so. Also, the essential question is broad enough so that students may access
information as it interests them. For example, if a student decided that he wanted to explore the
correlation between football players multiple concussions, CTE, and a history of domestic
violence and suicide, he may do so. On the other hand, if a student decided that she wanted to
compare males and females and the tendency towards violence, she could also do so. Both
avenues of research access the essential question of whether or not crime, and more specifically,
violent crime, has biological roots.
Clear directions: Because the project is so broad, the directions are pretty clear: research a topic
that relates to the essential question regarding violent crime and whether or not it has biological
roots. (Chapter 10, Reiss)
Assign different means of completing the assignment (Chapter 10, Reiss)
Personal dictionaries (Chapter 8, Reiss)
Read text in small segments and highlight main ideas.
3. Which components of this project will be the most difficult for an ELL? How might you scaffold or
adjust those components?
Reading scholarly articles: we can scaffold this for ELLs by giving them tools to find articles in or
translate text to their native language. We can also encourage students to read articles in
sections and summarize bit by bit.
Writing components: scaffold by using graphic organizers and peer tutoring & editing.
3. How did completing the prototype/sample inform your scaffolding decisions?
As an Inclusion Specialist, I was not able to complete a prototype or a sample. My role was to
simply support the General Education teacher and provide accommodations when needed.
5. What feedback did you receive from your case study (ELL) student about this project? How did this
feedback inform your scaffolding decisions?
My case study is not in this teaching team, but the General Ed teacher and I were mindful about
allowing ELL students access to this project. By using the above accommodations and building
them into the project, we supplied proactive measures for assisting students who are EL
Learners and/or have IEPs and 504s. Things that have worked for my case study, however, were
things like providing note taking services, strategic pairing, and allowing the students to ask
clarifying questions or clarification of directions. Some of these same accommodations were
available during this project, with the exception of strategic pairing (because this was an
individual project) and note taking services. Students were also given access to peer editing and
one-on-one teacher consultation time, where they could ask the teacher for clarification and
have special time to get advice on refinement.

Reflection on the process of scaffolding this project.

What difficulties did you face?
What can you apply from this process to the way you approach future projects, activities,
assignments, etc.
The difficulties I always find in assisting General Education teachers with projects is that I am
having to provide accommodations after the project has been assigned rather than getting time to work
scaffolds in beforehand. However, as Ive mentioned before, this particular teacher is always mindful on
how to create projects that are accessible in an equitable manner, especially with this particular project.
One of the deliverables that she had provided as an option was to combine their Biology research with
their current Humanities project, which was to write a play. But even with those supports in place, some
students still had a difficult time, and that was when it was necessary for me to step in. Giving all
students who need help an equitable amount of my time is always difficult and my challenge was
making sure that I was available to assist all students and not spend too much time with any particular
student at a time. This was difficult for me because there are, of course, some students who may need
more assistance than others, but I also dont want to ignore the students who need less help. Like I said,
I want to be able to provide an equitable amount of assistance to each student, and that does not mean
that I can ignore the students who are more independent.
What I have learned from this process is that maybe I can benefit from sitting with teachers
during the project planning phase at the beginning of the semester and collaborate with them on how to
work scaffolds into the project. What has been happening not too often, but it still happens is that
teachers are assigning work and I have to figure out accommodations for the students who may find the
assignments challenging, i.e. ELL students and/or students who have an IEP or 504. Ideally, the
assignment provides access to all students from the moment that it is handed to each student. As an
Inclusion Specialist, however, I dont always get the opportunity to see a project in its beginning stages
and too often see the project about the same time as the students. By making a conscious effort to coplan with General Education teachers, we can make sure that students can work to the best of their
abilities and without feeling as if they are working at a disadvantage. Another thing to think about is that
not all students are documented as an English Language Learner. What Ive learned is that there may be
a number of students who speak another language at home, yet they are recorded as speaking only
English. Even if they do have knowledge of English, they may still struggle with assignments such as this
one. So by working accommodations into the project and scaffolding properly, we can access even those
who are not documented as EL Learners, or even those students who have not exhibited any sort of
learning challenge, yet may have a difficult time with this particular project.