introduction - program - curriculum - lesson plans
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LESSON PLANS

The compilation of lesson plans in the PaELL Resource Kit is specifically designed to assist regular education teachers in all content areas and across all grade levels in providing a quality education to students acquiring English as a new language.

Included in the PaELL Resource Kit are lessons in reading, writing, speaking and listening, mathematics, civics and government, economics, history, geography, science and technology, and environment and ecology.

The lessons are aligned with current and proposed Pennsylvania Academic Standards. Additionally, the specifically designed Pennsylvania Standards instructional lessons are correlated with the reading, writing, speaking, and listening TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages), and ESL Standards Guide developed in 2000.

The lessons are intended to serve as a guide from which other plans may be patterned. The content included in the lessons reflects comparable grade-level curriculum with suggested instructional adaptations for the English language learner (ELL). Varied instructional practices and assessments are offered according to the ELL's level of acquired English. Student levels of acquired English are categorized using the four levels of English proficiency used by this PaELL Resource Kit: pre-conversational, beginner, intermediate, and advanced. Comments related to pre-conversational and beginner have been combined in these lesson plans. The four ELL levels are outlined to assist teachers in understanding and recognizing the developmental patterns of second language acquisition.

Lesson plans have also been arranged by four organizational levels, including primary (K-3), intermediate (4-6), middle (7-8), and high school (9-12). A matrix detailing the lessons in each content area is provided for a quick preview of the material covered. A suggested grade level is recommended for the content lesson, but can be altered to meet the needs of a teacher's particular classroom. A lesson focus, for example "Identifying and Producing Rhyming Words," as well as the teaching and assessment strategies to be employed during the lesson, are printed in the margin of the plan. The content discipline, the Standard Category, the Pennsylvania Standards, and the related TESOL standards followed by leveled objectives are included at the beginning of each lesson plan. Materials needed to complete the lesson are included, after which the implementing procedures appear. Ready-to-use assessment tools and supporting worksheets are available for many of the lesson plans, and educational websites are suggested for additional research and support.

Accommodations for ELLs are woven throughout the body of the lesson plan. These accommodations have been italicized for easy identification.

Two additional resources can be found in this section. The first, "Affective Strategies for Better Communication in Teaching English as a Second Language: The ABC's of ESL," lists critical strategies for every teacher working with students acquiring a new language. The creation of a welcoming environment where cultural differences are respected and celebrated contributes to success for the learner and teacher. The second resource contains information that explains characteristics of each of the four language levels and instructional strategies appropriate for each level.

The sixteen teachers/authors of these lessons have considerable expertise and educational background in teaching students who are learning a new language. The strategies offered have yielded success in their own classrooms. Strategies, however, can only be successful if they are delivered in the positive spirit of working with students who are not only facing academic challenges, but language and cultural obstacles as well. Developing sensitivity and an awareness of the difficulties these students endure is a teacher's first step towards preparing for their education. All learners have specific learning styles. Discovering an ELL's learning style, coupled with teaching him/her a new language, complicates the task. Exercising patience and taking the time to employ strategies to lower the affective filter for the ELL will produce benefits for all participants in the learning environment.

Classrooms where diverse populations learn and work together provide enrichment for every individual. Providing a quality education for all students of the Pennsylvania School System is the dynamic motivation in the presentation of these documents. The teachers of the University of Turabo and Penn State Lehigh Valley share their plans in the hope that they can make a difference in the lives of the ELL students and teachers who are responsible for creating the conditions of their education.

Lessons have been prepared by graduates of the Master's in Education, specializing in Teaching English as a Second Language from the University of Turabo, Puerto Rico, and the Penn State Lehigh Valley Writing Project.