Action Research

Section 1: Thoughts on Action Research

After completing this project, I realize that action research is a great way to improve practice as a teacher. One of the responsibilities of a teacher is to identify problems in the classroom and come up with solutions to improve them. In a way, I think teachers are always conducting action research, formally or informally. Taking the time to complete this action research project has helped me identify and address a problem that I see in my own classroom with my ESL students. My students seem to really struggle with academic vocabulary words in Science and Social Studies. These subjects, for ESL students, are difficult because many of them do not have any background knowledge on the topics that we study in fourth grade. Because of this, it is hard for them to connect meaning to the new and unfamiliar words in our textbooks. After seeing the result of keeping a word journal to record academic vocabulary, I realize how valuable action research can be in the classroom.

Section 2: Ideas generated as a result of my project

For my project, I had my ESL students keep a word journal of all of their academic vocabulary words in Science and Social Studies after being introduced to the words in class. For each word, they had to write the word, write a definition in their own words (not copy from the glossary of their book), write a sentence using the word correctly, and draw a picture to help them remember what the word means. After seeing how much my ESL students enjoyed this assignment and really showed improvement because of it, I have decided to start making my entire class keep a word journal to reinforce these words.

Section 3: Suggestions to ESL professionals based on your my findings

To ESL professionals, I would highly recommend the use of word journals for their students. I found that it was very beneficial in Science and Social Studies, but this idea could be generated across the curriculum. The teacher could have students keep a journal for any subject, it is not just limited to the two that I suggested. My students loved the part where they got to draw a picture for the word, and I think that drawing is a great way for students to attach meaning to a word even if they don't understand the words that explain it.

Observation and Problem Identification

Teaching Issues

During my observation, I noticed several problems in the classroom related to teaching and instruction. The first problem that I noticed was simply not enough time to meet the needs of each child that requires EL services. The teacher that I observed pulls out 30 kids a day at two different schools. She comes in early and starts a group, stays late, and has no lunch break. Even with this rigorous schedule, it is still a challenge to spend enough time with each small group throughout the day to give them the attention that they need.

In addition, some of the groups were too big. Instruction time would have been more effective if the groups had less children in them. The time restraints and lack of money to hire another EL teacher is the reason that the groups cannot be broken into small ones. Especially the kindergarten groups are too big and hard to manage. In those groups, instruction time is limited due to trying to manage that many K's that do not speak English.

Second Language Acquisition

The majority of instruction that I observed was in Reading/Language Arts. The teacher did a fabulous job teaching reading strategies to help her students be successful readers of English. She was reviewing the concept of visualization while I was there. I was amazed at how the students understood this concept and the vocabulary that the teacher was using with them. It made me wonder if my own regular ed. 4th graders would have understood this same thing! I also liked how she incorporated their native countries and languages into her assignments. She allowed them to share and listen to stories about their native countries that related to the visualization exercise.

As far as materials go, the teacher used SO many books the day that I observed. She had all kinds of wordless books, picture books, chapter books, leveled readers, and more. The students all had individual book bags and comfy places around the room where they loved to sit and read. I would have liked to see more technology available for the teacher. Both schools that she services are very nice, new schools yet they fail to provide adequate technology for the EL room. She does not even have a computer in either room at the two schools.

Ethnographic Perspective

As an ESL professional, I would like to have more background in different language other than English. I am not fluent in another language, and I believe having background knowledge of other languages and how they work would benefit me. The teacher I observed was able to use her knowledge of languages to help her understand the mistakes that her students would come across in the classroom.

As I said earlier, the teacher really incorporated culture into her assignments and activities. She had students share about their native countries and made it a part of the learning environment. The students had a neat opportunity to share and to learn about the native countries of their peers.