Developing+language+as+a+tool+for+inquiry+with+iPads+&+IB

Team Members/ School(s) Jeri Schultz- ESL Bancroft KP Powell - ESL Bancroft Amy Cortright - ESL Bancroft

In learning through the International Baccalaureate model of Units of Inquiry, students must engage in a considerable range and depth of content and language. ESL teachers have the task of considering language development and differentiation, academic standards, and units of inquiry in developing learning goals and activities for English language learners. Capturing specific data on individual students‘ academic language growth can be inhibitively time consuming. Using content standards, WIDA Can Do descriptors, and site-based IB units of inquiry we are developing MPIs to support EL's acquisition of content specific and technical language. We are looking to incorporate iPads as a tool for capturing student production of oral language, and for providing the students with feedback on their own efforts to use the target language. Plan to measure results: For each unit or line of inquiry, pre-assessments of tier one and two academic language will be developed, with a corresponding post-assessment to evaluate acquisition of target language. Each of us will implement a pre- and post-assessment prototype related to a current (fourth quarter) unit and reflect on the experience and data gathered to inform further collaboration and planning after the school year concludes. Use of a tool such as an iPad audio application would enable us to capture students’ oral production of target academic language, and providing teachers and students with data and feedback on the students’ progress.
 * Brief description of Learning Circle plan:**
 * We propose to collaboratively synthesize multiple resources for developing MPIs and teaching lessons for specific Units of Inquiry ** being implemented at different grade levels at Bancroft. We would meet weekly through the end of the school year and into the summer to discuss academic standards, can-do descriptors, unit planners and lines of inquiry, professional literature on language acquisition and inquiry, methods of instruction, differentiation and assessment, and resources for support, with particular attention to ipad applications that would engage and support students’ academic language acquisition.

Work & Progress:
Kindergarten IB Unit of Inquiry: Sharing the Planet MPI: In a small group, students will practice asking "Is it living, or nonliving?" and establish criteria for living and nonliving things with realia and photos. MPI: In a small group, students will classify pictures of living and nonliving things, explaining their rationale while marking a chart for living thing criteria.
 * April**:

Materials we used: video of animals - Teacher's Domain: Living/Nonliving texts about living and nonliving things (Living and Nonliving Things - Harcourt, Living and Nonliving level C text) realia of living and non living things group-created chart with criteria

MPI: Students will generate and build vocabulary to describe animal feet as they explore and classify pictures of animals, realia and footprint casts from Science House, using theses resources to create a poster for each type of animal feet. MPI: Students will practice target language for animal feet (hooves, paws, claws, fins, webbed feet) with a partner, playing a game of matching a photo to their partners description and naming the animal (A: "I'm thinking of an animal that has (adj) + (animal feet noun)" B:"Is it a ?")

A similar game will be played to develop vocabulary for body coverings

Materials we used: trade books about animal physical characteristics animal footprint casts from Science House animal body covering realia (fur, feathers, shells, skin, spines) Teachers Domain video: Animals on the Go photos of animals, animal feet, body coverings


 * Reflections**

We need to use backwards planning, focusing on content standards and language needed //and then// explore possible supports such as ipad apps.

MPI's may be difficult to formulate ahead of time when working to use an inquiry-based approach to student learning.

So far, the ipad apps we've found tend to provide language for students to receive; less often have we found apps that support students' language production

We need to teach students how to ask questions (syntax, question words), and provide enough background knowledge to inform their inquiries.


 * Next Steps**

Develop and teach objectives/MPIs to teach students how to ask questions (syntax, question words).

Develop and teach lessons to build background knowledge/vocab to support student inquiries about plants.

Share our ideas and reflect on our progress in a meeting (May)


 * May:**

MPI: Students will describe an animal using content specific nouns and appropriate adjectives referring to the animal's feet, body covering and other features looking at a picture of the animal embedded in a Showme (iPad application) document. The students' description will be recorded, via Showme, with audio capture of the student's voice and video capture of the features the student signals by outlining with their finger while describing.

Materials we used: Showme on iPads Photos from the Internet Student created posters Group created image/word bank as a rubric

For a detailed report and reflection on the Showme animal description project, plus samples of student work, go to Kindergarten animal descriptions with Showme

Students tended to drop use of technical language as they focused on adding adjectives. (one task at a time?)
 * Reflections:**

Students enjoyed using the iPad app, but needed some time to explore it before being asked to do specific tasks with it.

An interactive whiteboard app with audio recording capacity provides opportunity for students to produce language and reflect on their use of language later.

Continue work to develop MPIs for Kindergarten that structure lessons for building content vocab and concepts.
 * Next Steps:**

Continue researching apps that provide opportunities for students to reflect on their own production of language.


 * May/June**

Kindergarten IB Unit of Inquiry: How the World Works MPI: Students will sort seeds in terms of color, size, shape, and texture, and communicate reasoning for sorting system, using realia, a sorting mat and Mystory app on an iPad.

Preassesments: • MONDO session with photo of milkweed • Exploration and drawing of a plant (teacher modeled to include detail) on school grounds. Teacher modeled with students "wonderings" about the plants. (ie "I wonder why this plant is tall and straight, but this one grows close to the ground." "I wonder why this plant is fuzzy?")

Materials: seeds adjective chart/graphic organizer iPad

Target language: "classify" adjectives to describe seed color, size, shape and texture such as: tiny, small, little, big, huge oval, round, flat, pointy, parachute, helicopter smooth, hard, soft, rough, hairy, shiny

sentence frames to communicate reasoning for system such as "I classified/sorted my seeds by ." "These seeds are ." Sharing and implementation of ideas to build background knowledge for describing plant parts with various activities. • Plant part song to tune of Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes (Discovery Ed. video) • Diagram of plant, accompanying leveled book • Realia - pea shoots, milkweed, etc. • Read alouds about seeds, roots, leaves, stems • Exploration of seeds with realia - gathering/learning of adjectives, creation of chart with seed and adjective • Seed sorting with sorting mat, variety of seeds • Documentation of students' classification of seeds and justification with MyStory app/photos

MPI's for describing/classifying seeds: • Students will use adjectives to develop an accurate description of seeds using observation of realia and dictating their ideas to record on a chart. •Students will articulate a hypothesis about a peer's system for classifying seeds, then cross-check it against a recording of the student explaining their system on a Mystory app document (photo + audio).

MPI's for identifying ways plants are useful to humans: • Students will ask questions about uses for plants as they explore realia • Students will classify plant-based products into categories, naming their uses as they sort, in a small group discussion using photos and chart paper. • Students will write and illustrate a description of how they use plants with the support of the group-created plant use chart.
 * Students will take notes from a book read aloud about why people need plants using a graphic organizer.

Students need some background knowledge in order to form deeper questions. The more background knowledge they have, the more higher order questions they ask.
 * Reflections**

Realia, as it engages multiple senses, is very helpful for generating and giving meaning to rich vocabulary**.**

Mystory is an app with serious glitches making it impossible to edit and share - stick with Showme for now.

There is much more work to be done developing MPIs for Bancroft's units of inquiry. We would like to find ways to have time/compensation for this beyond the project deadline.


 * Next Steps**

Summarize our work as much as possible before the June 5 deadline for reporting work time.

Continue to develop MPI's in collaboration with classroom teachers/ grade level teams as we plan for units of inquiry.



MONDO pictures and realia were used to launch the unit and begin generating language and questions about plants

Students used a sorting mat to classify seeds, then explained their sorting system. Photos and audio were captured using Mystory app. Students added actual seeds to this chart with teacher's help gluing, then used it as a reference while classifying their own set of seeds (pictured above).