www.fisherandfrey.com

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Teaching English Learners with the Brain in Mind

• www.fisherandfrey.com
• Doug Fisher, Nancy Frey, and Diane Lapp
• San Diego State University
• Pam Cole
• Kennesaw State University

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This Sessions Agenda

• Examine reading processes from a neurological
  standpoint
• Review brain anatomy
• Discuss the unique characteristics of the
  bilingual brain
• Analyze mirror neuron systems and their role in
  teacher modeling
• Consider the linkage between neuroscience and
  academic discourse for English learners

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Pyramid of Reading Behaviors
Behavioral
Cognitive Perceptual/Motor
Neural structures
Neurons and circuits
Genetic Foundation
Wolf, 2007
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It took the species 2000 years of insights to
develop an alphabetic system. A child is given
2000 days to gain the same insights.
--Maryanne Wolf
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A Quick Tour of the Brain
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2 Hemispheres

• Left and Right

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The hemispheres are connected by the CORPUS
CALLOSUM
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Each Hemisphere has Four Lobes

• Frontal
• Parietal
• Occipital
• Temporal

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Frontal Lobe

• Memory, emotion, planning

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Temporal Lobe

• Auditory processing

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Occipital Lobe

• Processes visual information and integrates
  vision with other senses

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Cerebellum

• Small Brain responsible for movement and motor
  control (balance, posture, automatic motor
  functions)

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Specialized Areas

• Sensory strip
• Motor strip

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Fitting Two Languages Into One Brain
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Neuroanatomy of the Bilingual Brain

• Competition for cortical space (Doidge, 2008)
• Neuroplasticity Learning and experiences change
  the way the brain physiologically (Mahncke
  Merzenich, 2006)
• Bilingual brains have more dense grey matter
  (Mechelli et al., 2004)
• Recruit more parts of the brain than monolinguals
  including those not typically utilized for
  language, especially right hemisphere (Price et
  al., 1999)
• Pathways utilized for listening differ from those
  used to speak, read, and write

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Educating the Bilingual Brain

• Translation is typically approached as a
  non-automatized task (Dehaene, 1999)
• Automaticity frees working memory
• Exposure to two languages does not leave children
  language delayed, or language-confused (Petitto,
  2002)
• Students must learn English, not just in English
  (Dutro Moran, 2003)
• Late-bilingual students (second language after
  the age of 5) achieve mastery of a new language
  through highly systematic and multiple contexts
  that are richly varied involving both home and
  community (Petitto Dunbar, 2004)

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The Power of Modeling

• Why?
• Humans mimic or imitate
• Mirror neuron systems activate pathways similar
  to the pathways used by the person performing the
  action
• Reading about the actions of characters in a
  narrative activates similar pathways (Zacks,
  2009)

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Mirror Neuron Systems

• Brain cells that respond both when we do
  something, and when we watch someone else do it
• The more expert the observer is, the more brain
  cells are fired (Glaser et al., 2004)
• Evidence that mirror neuron systems are necessary
  for social cognition, especially for predicting
  another persons intentions (Iacoboni Dapretto,
  2006)

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Embodied semantics

• Hypothesis The same brain area that processes
  sensory-motor experiences also processes the
  semantics related to that experience

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What Do Effective Teachers Model?

• Analysis of the practices of 25 expert teachers,
  as identified by principals and coaches in San
  Diego County
• Observed 75 lessons
• Fisher, D., Frey, N., Lapp, D. (2008). Shared
  readings Modeling comprehension, vocabulary,
  text structures, and text features for older
  readers. The Reading Teacher, 61, 548-566. ,

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Selecting Participants

• 100 site administrators and peer coaches
• Expert classroom teachers in grades 3-8
• Expert (models for others, presents in
  professional development forums, recognized as
  excellent in teacher

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Participants

• 74 responders
• 67 experts identified
• 25 teachers representing 25 schools

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What Happened?

• 3 x 2
• Inter-observer reliability for the 75 lessons
  was .88.
• Observations and field notes

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What We Saw

• Four major areas of modeling instruction
  (comprehension, vocabulary, text structures, and
  text features)
• students could see the text
• a class set of books
• photocopies of specific texts
• projected the text on a screen using an overhead
  or document camera
• fluent reading
• clearly practiced the selections

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What We Saw

• Teachers modeled their thinking, not ask
  students individual questions
• Students encouraged to partner talk, write
  reflections, indicate agreement through unison
  responses such as fist-to-five
• Students asking questions

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1 They Model Comprehension B/D/A

• Visualize
• Monitor
• Synthesize
• Evaluate
• Connect

• Inference
• Summarize
• Predict
• Clarify
• Question

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Bundled Strategies

• I used to do it that way, focus on one
  comprehension strategy at a time. But I think
  thats a problem. I dont really read that way
  and if I dont read that way its not really an
  authentic shared reading and think aloud, right?
  

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Metacognition

• I hope youre not suggesting that we should
  model one at a time. For me, the shared reading
  is about consolidation. We need to show students
  how to incorporate these things automatically and
  not artificially stop and summarize or question
  or whatever. I use my guided instructional time
  to focus on specific strategies with specific
  students who need attention in a specific area.
• Yes, I agree. And its also about
  metacognition knowing that youre doing this but
  not paying a lot of attention to it.

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2 They Model Word Solving

• Context clues
• Word parts (prefix, suffix, root, base, cognates)
• Resources (others, Internet, dictionary)

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What Teachers Want

• I want students to have both inside and outside
  word strategies. I want them to be able to go
  outside of the word, to context clues. I also
  want them to be able to go inside the word, using
  parts of words, to figure out or make educated
  guesses about, the words meaning.

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What Teachers Modeled

• Context clues Coming on Home Soon (Woodson,
  2004)
• When she put her dress into the satchel, I held
  my breath (p. 1) and said, Im not sure what a
  satchel is. Ill read this page and check out
  the picture. If I cant figure it out from this
  information, Ill ask someone for some help.
• Mama folded another dress and put it in the
  bag (p. 1) Another dress in the bag? She
  already put a dress in the satchel. I bet that a
  satchel is a special kind of bag, but it looks
  like a suitcase in the picture. Im going to
  re-read this page with the word suitcase in place
  of both bag and satchel to see if this makes
  sense Rereads sentences. Yes, it does. So
  theres another word for a suitcase, a special
  kind of bag for traveling.

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What Teachers Modeled

• Word Parts 4th grade teacher
• Carnivore reminds me of carne in Spanish
  meaning meat. It also reminds me of carne
  asada, a kind of meat, but that just makes me
  hungry. So, I use carne to remind me that
  carnivores eat meat.

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What Teachers Modeled

• Resources
• 7th grade teacher Patrol An American Soldier in
  Vietnam (Myers, 2002)
• Two clicks away, there are flashes of gunfire.
  Two clicks is the distance of my enemy (p. 15).
  She then paused and said, Ive heard of clicks
  before but mostly about the Internet, you know
  click on this page and stuff. I think I want to
  know what this is and I dont have any context
  clues to use to figure it out. Im going to look
  it up really quick.

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What Teachers Modeled

• Wide Reading
• I know that students will learn a lot of words
  from reading, so I have them reading all of the
  time. I also know that they will learn to solve
  unknown words when theyre taught how to do this.
  They need my modeling to figure out how to do
  this.

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3 They Model Using Text Structure

• Informational Texts
• Problem/Solution, Compare/Contrast, Sequence,
  Cause/Effect, Description
• Narrative Texts
• Story grammar (plot, setting, character)
• Dialogue
• Literary devices

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Modeling Text Structures

• 7th grade teacher The Prince by Niccolo
  Machiavelli
• I think that Machiavelli is comparing and
  contrasting here. Ive thinking that he wants me
  to understand the difference in the two types of
  fighting he discusses. I see here, where he says
  You should consider then, that there are two
  ways of fight, one with laws and the other with
  force. I think hes setting up to compare and
  contrast these two ways. This leads me to
  organize my thinking into to categories that I
  can use to help me remember what Machiavelli
  believes.

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4 They Model Using Text Features

• Headings
• Captions
• Illustrations
• Charts
• Graphs
• Bold words

• Table of contents
• Glossary
• Index
• Tables
• Margin notes

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Modeling Text Features

• In some cases, the text features may even
  confuse the reader. At minimum, students need
  to know when to attend to the text features. For
  example, when should they read the graph? Before
  reading the text, while reading the text, or
  after reading the text? The answer is, it
  depends. And any time thats the answer,
  students need a lot of modeling and practice.

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Teaching

• Establishing a purpose
• Modeling
• Guiding Learning
• Supporting productive group work

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Classroom Discourse

• Pam B. Cole, Ph.D.
• Kennesaw State University
• pcole_at_kennesaw.edu

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Classroom Discourse

• Oral/written language used by teachers and
  students to communicate.
• Pictorial, symbolic, numerical, and graphic, body
  language

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Importance of Classroom Discourse

• Language is the instrument of education.

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Importance of Classroom Discourse

• Teacher modeling requires discourse.

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Show. Dont Tell. Experience.

• Ex. Writing an argumentative paper
• (focus on form)
• Students need
• to know how to question and disagree with
  points of an argument.
• to ask questions and have deep discussion
  based on those questions.
• to think through the process of constructing
  an argument.
• to talk through and develop their
  understandings

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Discourse Patterns Structure

• Pedagogic language routines take specific forms
  (Bernstein, 1990 Wells, 1999)
• Student learning takes place through these
  language routines

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Discourse Pattern Cyclic Structure

• A. Teacher asks a question
• B. One or two students answer
• C. Teacher comments (sometimes summarizing and/or
  clarifying and/or evaluating)
• D. Teacher asks another question
• E. Cyclic Pattern Repeats

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QAE Pattern or IRE Pattern

• Question. Answer. Evaluation.
• Initiation. Response. Evaluation.
• Most common pattern
• Possibly accounts for 70 of teacher-student
  interactions (Nassaji Wells 2000)
• Q A

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Why worth talking about?

• Q A routine marginalizes some learners
• Enables different learners unequally
• Closes classroom discourse
• Privileged learners can readily recognize,
  predict, recall patterns

• Subject/content specific
• Dense content specific vocabulary
• Teacher controls conversation/vocabulary
• Differs from home/social discourse

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• Language Diversity
• Cultural differences (questioning patterns may be
  different vocabulary/lexicon home/family)
• Linguistic differences (confusion and miscues
  with vocabulary/sound-symbols)
• Dialectic (confusion with variations in language)
• Learning problems

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• Opening Up Classroom Discourse

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• Shared ownership in classroom discourse

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• Validating responses
• Room for deep conversation
• Reading/Learning not on a fixed schedule
• Assessment isnt a threat
• Safe environment
• Sensitivity and understanding of different belief
  systems
• Rewriting classroom experience

• Student choice
• Student ownership
• Select class activities
• A level playing field
• Multiple answers
• Fluid curriculum
• Respect for where adolescents are
  cognitively/emotionally
• Comfortable in our own skins
• Opportunities for students to see how we think
  (modeling)

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• Tell yourself right now you cant know
  everything, but you can be a lifelong learner.

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• Accept that you may stumble and feel awkward at
  times.

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• Enter class discussions expecting (and wanting)
  to learn from students.

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• Dont fudge.

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• Recognize when a students intelligence
  intimidates you and learn to embrace and
  celebrate his/her aptitude.

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• Let students know you value learning from them.

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• Shock effect questions your Achilles heel

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• Awkward silences are good.

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• Remember
• Some of the best questions have no answers, but
  multiple possibilities. They may raise additional
  questions.

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• What questions do you have?
• versus
• Do you have questions?

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• Facilitate discussions.

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• Spread the conversation around.

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• Listen.

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• Be aware of put downs.

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• Scaffold students responses (avoid the laundry
  list of questions)

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• QAR
• Right there
• Think and search
• Author reader
• On your own

• Question Guess
• Categorizing Questions

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• QtA (question the author)
• (ex. how to instructions)
• Thick Thin
• (Harvey Goudvis, 2000)
• Ranking Questions

• Questioning Circles
• (Christenbury Kelly, 1983)
• Socratic Circles