OBSERVATION FORM: ACADEMIC ENGLISH IN THE CONTENT AREAS

MCC 607 –Spring 2022 - Rama

Date: April 25, 2022 Teacher: Ms. Corbo

Class: Level 1 Grade level: 10th-12th grade
Subject of lesson: ESL-Level 1

The goal of this observation is to look for evidence of best practice in the teaching of academic English to ELLs
in a classroom setting.

INTRODUCTION/REINFORCEMENT EVIDENCE

Teacher builds student awareness of academic The teacher has the learning target and objective along with the
English and its place in the classroom setting success criteria written on the board.
and beyond Learning Target: We will draw inferences and cite evidence from
the text to analyze complex character development in a story in
partners.
Language Objective: We will write sentences about characters
using the form "I Infer."
Success criteria: We will use a text to create inferences.

ACADEMIC ENGLISH TAUGHT EVIDENCE

Teacher explicitly teaches academic English Teacher starts with bell-work: Write 1 sentence using the
through: vocabulary word: GONE. Example: After school, all of the students
● Introduction of vocabulary that is were gone. giving students time to complete it then they have time
appropriate to academic English and not to share their answers.
watered down
● Using and eliciting accurate and level- or Vocabulary words: rosy, valuable, wise, wrapped, treasures,
grade-appropriate definitions of academic unwrap, tore, combs, gone, eagerly Teacher goes over the
vocabulary vocabulary words with pictures and it is translated in Spanish using
● Addressing challenges that students may be google slides.
having by rephrasing, scaffolding, eliciting,
or other techniques The story is advanced where the teacher is able to rephrase and
● Evidence of SIOP planning repeat the story in simple ways.

directions written on the board: use the inferencing chart. infer a

minimum of 6 things about each other. the graphic organizer is
scaffled for them on the board.

Differentiation: The 4 language domains will be used during

different parts of the SIOP lesson which allows students with
different ESL learning styles to thrive. Differentiation will be offered
through modified texts or writing samples.

EXAMPLES OF BEST PRACTICE EVIDENCE

Teacher is careful to include: Continue reading aloud: "The Gift of the Magi"--(not ESL friendly
● Technical vocabulary with support but in the curriculum for level 1, teacher made it very interactive
● Special expressions explained and to their level) The teacher reads and stops to check for
● Syntactic features embedded or explicitly understanding. Reviewing the story by asking another student to
taught translate difficult words in Spanish. Teacher asks students to recall
● Language constructions carefully planned previous vocabulary words by asking for the definition.
● Scaffolds
The teacher has the graphic organizer filled out as an example for
them. After completing it the teacher asked the student to write 1

Copyright © Corwin 2018

 paragraph inferring what will happen to Della and Jim next year on
Christmas.

Aligned Activity: Ss will create inferences about characters in the

story "The Gift of the Magi."

Teacher asks:

1. What is an inference?

2. What is the difference between inferencing and telling what you

see?

3. How can you make a creative inference?

EXAMPLES OF IDEAS/TIPS/STRATEGIES EVIDENCE

SEEN IN CLASS

Teacher explicitly assesses academic English Teacher quizzes the students on Vocabulary words. Match the
through: letter with the definition.
● quizzes students on vocabulary words
● facilitates discussion Teacher will model character inferencing. T will read part of the
● explains directions by repeating it more story and facilitate discussion with class. T will explain the graphic
organizer.
than once

IDEAS FOR IMPROVEMENT EXAMPLES

● differentiation provide differentiation for the inferring to offer the higher level
children the option to choose their own evidence. (which everyone
is doing) The lower level to offer preselected evidence where they
just find the inference instead of digging for it from the text

Copyright © Corwin 2018

Aiya M. Fawzy
Professor Rama
MCC 607
May 9, 2022

Sitting in Ms. Corbo’s level 1 class felt as if I was sitting with a family. Students entered

the classroom with smiles on their face as Ms. Corbo welcomed them into the class. Ms. Corbo

already had the projector prepared with the Google slides for the class. The students

automatically sat at their desks, opened Google classrooms to begin their bellwork. It stated,

“Write 1 sentence using the vocabulary word: GONE. Example: After school, all of the students

were gone.” The students were given time to complete it then they had time to share their

answers. Ms. Corbo used The Wheel of Names to randomly choose a student to share their

answer. She then moved on to review the vocabulary words on the slides, which had the

translated word in Spanish in the left corner. After reviewing, students were given a short

written quiz on a paper. They had to match the letter with the definition.

Ms. Corbo had the learning target and language objective written on the board for the

students to read. Learning Target: We will draw inferences and cite evidence from the text to

analyze complex character development in a story in partners. Language Objective: We will

write sentences about characters using the form "I Infer." Success criteria: We will use a text to

create inferences. Ms. Corbo then began to continue reading "The Gift of the Magi” from

Fundamental Edge, the ESL curriculum. She would read and stop to check for understanding.

They then began reviewing the story by asking another student to translate difficult words in

Spanish. Ms. Corbo asks students to recall previous vocabulary words by asking for the

definition.

After the completion of the story, the students had to continue working on an assignment

they had started from the start of the story. They were given a graphic organizer to write
different inferences they read from the story. Ms. Corbo had a pre-filled organizer as an

example and guide for the students. After completing it the teacher asked the student to write

one paragraph inferring what will happen to Della and Jim next year on Christmas. Ms. Corbo

asks: “What is an inference? What is the difference between inferencing and telling what you

see? How can you make a creative inference?” Ms. Corbo allowed the students to start and she

checked their quiz. Afterwards, she went around to ensure the students' understanding and assist

them if they needed help while writing the paragraph.

Ms. Corbo was able to model character inferencing. She went over the directions written

on the board: use the inferencing chart. She then began with inference about the different

characters from the story. She continued to ask questions to check for understanding. Ms. Corbo

was able to infer a minimum of 6 things about each of the characters. As the students were able

to see the filled graphic organizer and how it was scaffold for them on the board they were able

to continue working on it on their own. She did not limit them with time which was less stressful

for the students. The students were engaged and willing to participate. Lydia from the video

“The Secrets of Learning a New Language” states, “To find enjoyment in the process of learning

the language in addition to applying methods to remember and create a system of learning it”

(Lýdia, 2019). Ms. Corbo was able to apply this with the students.

Not only was it enjoyable but she was able to apply some theories in her classroom. For

example, she applied Teaching tip 3. She was able to display pictures in the Google slides for

the students to view for each vocabulary word. Visuals help the students learn by focusing and

building the word by providing a picture. The student was able to link the word with a visual and

allowed them to fully understand what it is, even how to use it. (Sousa, 2011)
 Ms. Corbo was able to apply differentiation in her classroom. The 4 language domains

were used during different parts of the SIOP lesson which allowed the students with different

ESL learning styles to thrive. Differentiation was offered through modified texts or writing

samples. She was able to explain directions by repeating it more than once. The story is

advanced where Ms. Corbo was able to rephrase and repeat the story in simple ways. As she

continued reading aloud: "The Gift of the Magi '' it was obvious that it was not ESL friendly but

it is included in the curriculum for level 1. Ms. Corbo made it very interactive and maintained to

modify it to their level, which was level 1.

After observing Ms. Corrbo, I realized that if she would have adapted WIDA Guiding

Principle 1 it would have provided choices and multiple pathways for students that use

multilingualism as a key to open doors to grade-level content (WIDA, 2022). Rather than her

translating it for them, if she would have asked them what they think it is in spanish, or even if

they use Google translate themselves would have been more interactive for them.

Since the story they were reading was beyond their level and very difficult for them to

understand, Ms. Corbo could have adapted the WIDA Guiding Principle 5 because this principle

enables students to use and develop language in situations that allow them to take responsibility

for their learning path according to their own experiences and abilities (WIDA, 2022). As for

Ms. Corbo, this translates to creating differentiated lessons/activities for students to learn

according to their proficiency level and providing them with adequate challenges. Instead of her

constantly stopping to check for understanding and asking another student to translate to the rest

of the class if they understood.

In the video, “Creating Fluent Bilinguals” Dr. Ramirez found that learning two

languages at the same time does not have its disadvantages (Ramirez, 2017). I find that being
able to differentiate in the classroom and provide differentiation in Ms. Corbo’s class for the

inferring would have been beneficial for the students. For example, to offer the higher level

children the option to choose their own evidence, which all the students were asked to do.

Meanwhile, the lower level would have been offered preselected or translated evidence, where

they just find the inference instead of searching for it from the text.

Ms. Corbo displayed a very welcoming and nourishing class allowing the students to

prosper and grow. It was enjoyable to remain during her block period and watch the great

interaction between the students and teacher. It shows how wonderful their bond is and how

willing the students are to learn English.

 References

TED. (n.d.). The secrets of learning a new language | Lýdia Machová - YouTube. Youtube.

Retrieved April 25, 2022, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_XVt5rdpFY

Sousa, D. A. (2011). How the ELL Brain Learns (1st ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin.

TEDx Talks. (2017, February 8). Creating bilingual minds | naja Ferjan Ramirez - YouTube.

Youtube. Retrieved April 26, 2022, from

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp2Fvkt-TRM

Teaching multilingual learners online. WIDA. (n.d.). Retrieved April 25, 2022, from

https://wida.wisc.edu/memberships/isc/newsletter/teaching-multilingual-learners-online