College of Education

Bachelor of Teaching and Learning (Primary)

TECP315 Language, Culture and Identity

Enhancing Educational Experiences and Outcomes for Diverse Learners
Assignment 2: Planning and rationale - PRIMARY
Due Date:

Monday 17 October, 2016

Time:

5.00pm

Student Name:

Marchelle Gerrard

ID Number:

53668401

Word Count:

1612

(Maximum allowable = 1600 words. This does NOT include the cover page or the reference section at the
end. It also excludes the brief scene setting you provide prior to beginning Part A. It DOES include
everything in between, i.e. the essay and the lesson plans.)

Declaration
I hereby declare that this assignment is my own work. I understand that if I am
suspected of plagiarism or other form of dishonest practice, my work will be referred to
the Head of School under the terms of the General Course and Examination
Regulations Section J Dishonest Practice and Breach of Instructions. Penalties may
range from denial of credit for the item of work in question, to exclusion from the
University.
Note: By typing your name in the space provided below and uploading your assignment
to the Learn dropbox, you are agreeing to this declaration.
Signature:

M.Gerrard

Date:

10.10.16

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Essay:
This section has been formatted in 12 point Arial with 1.5 line spacing, 18 point spacing between
paragraphs, and left hand alignment. Type your essay below. Please do not alter the formatting.

CONTEXT (maximum, one paragraph) Please give a brief description of the unit/learning
programme, including the year/age group it was planned for, curriculum area and topic
(Primary), time frame, etc, in order to set the scene for me. This is NOT included in your
word count.
The unit analysed was designed for a year 5/6 class. The focus for the unit was literacy
and the topic was writing. The unit involved a game of memory, image sequencing,
sentence starters, adjectives, brainstorming, oral sharing and writing. All of these activities
were done in mixed ability groups or has a whole class. This class was working at level 2
in the curriculum, for many children in the class English was their second language or they
had little to no knowledge about English. The unit was completed over 4 days.
PART A (approximately 800 words)
Upon analysing my unit on writing, I have been able to recognise some barriers with in the
unit as well as some strengths that could impact the EAL students in my class learning.
Each lesson began with a memory game of vocabulary that the students would be
expected to use in their writing. The game for the week of the unit was whole class
memory of wow words, the way the game worked was that each child got to turn over a
card and the whole class had to repeat the word that was turned over by the student. As
words were flipped over and then flipped back again it gave students the opportunity to
hear some of the words that would come up often (Gibbons, P. (2015). I noticed my EAL
learners were very good at memorising where words had been placed and matching them,
doing this activity helped them when it came to group writing as they had some words they
knew they could share. It was not a problem if a student did not know how to pronounce a
word as the other students would often help, as well as they knew I was available, once a
student or myself had pronounced the word we all would say it again as a class in order to
give the student who could not pronounce the word another opportunity to.
The students had set groups that they would work in, in the beginning some students did
not enjoy working in groups or who they were working with. A discussion about group work
and expected behaviour did happen at the start of the unit however I think having an
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explicit lesson on group work would have been beneficial as my EAL learners were often
confused about their role within the group they were working in (Gibbons, P. (2015).
After the game of memory, the sequence of lesson started with picture sequencing, as a
class we would look at the pictures and I would ask students what order do they think the
six images should be placed in. As a class we would talk about why that sequence would
help us write our narrative. Each group would get the six images and have a chance to
decide as a group in which order they think the images should go (Gibbons, P. (2015).
Having the images helped the EAL learners to understand what the story might be about,
however many of them had no prior knowledge of what was happening in the pictures. The
story was about a boy at a park throwing the ball for his dog, the barrier here was that
many of my students had not experienced this, so they could not draw on their prior
knowledge for ideas (Gibbons, P. (2015). For my EAL learners it meant they had no prior
knowledge of the vocabulary that may be used alongside the image, making it hard for
them to have their say in the groups discussion on what order the pictures should be in.
Once each group had decided on the order of the images, it was now time to choose a
sentence starter that they had available from the previous lesson as well an adjective to
use alongside each image. At this point my EAL learners would contribute their ideas a
little more as they had prior knowledge of sentence starters as well as adjectives because
we started the lesson with them and they dont have to construct a sentence using them
yet (Gibbons, P. (2015). The sentence starter and adjective just have to make sense
alongside the image, for example if the image was the boy throwing the ball next to the
image the group may choose the sentence starter of first and the adjective may be fiercely.
A barrier happens when the student does not understand the correct meaning of the word
or the context in which it should be used. Once each group has decided on the words they
are going to use for their pictures they come down to the mat and share it with another
group in order to help ideas when brainstorming. Together as a class we will create a page
of things that should be included in the brainstorm to help them make their narrative their
best work (Gibbons, P. (2015). The groups create a detailed brainstorm and then share it
with another group for feedback. I find during this time a leader usually emerges and only
wants their ideas to be included, this means the EAL learner is often left sitting quietly
waiting for the next instruction rather than actively participating.
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When it comes to writing the narrative I will ask a group for a sentence starter and another
for an adjective then I model the first sentence with class (Gibbons, P. (2015). They go off
in their groups and write their own sentence and they come back on the mat and share it,
this process happens for the first 3 sentences then they are to complete their stories on
their own. I found often in the groups the EAL learners were never given a chance to write
because others thought they could not spell therefore; they were left to share the
sentences or once again be left out.
PART B (approximately 800 words)
As a starting point for all the lessons the class would play a memory game that consisted
of wow words, although this game seemed beneficial for my EAL learners, I think they
would benefit more from playing this in smaller groups as it is not as much pressure (Met,
M.) On the cards I would like to have the meaning of the word (Ellis, R. (2008), as well as
how to break it down in order to spell it, along with it broken down into what it should sound
like (Gibbons, P. (2015). I would include an example of a sentence with the word in it, so
they are able to get an idea of how to use this new vocabulary correctly. This activity is
useful as it allows students to practise pronunciation of words correctly along with building
their vocabulary (Gibbons, P. (2015). Doing this activity in a smaller group or even pairs will
help build the learners confidence as it is not as intimidating as having the whole class
watching.
The first lesson involves putting pictures into a sequence, this is something I found my EAL
learners to be capable of as they could tell by the pictures what the natural order may be,
however they did not really know what it was that was happening in the pictures. Before
handing out the pictures to the class I think it would be beneficial to have a discussion
around if anyone had experienced what is happening in the pictures. If not I think a
YouTube clip could help to create a clearer example of what is going on, or if possible to
create that experience with the class before getting them to put the pictures in order (Ellis,
R. (2008). Once that discussion happens then I will give 1 picture to each person in the
group and one at a time they are to explain what picture they have, once everyone in the
group has described their picture the group chooses where it belongs in the story
(Gibbons, P. (2015). By describing the image, it allows the students to use prior knowledge
or build on the knowledge they have just learnt about the experience happening in the
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image.
When it comes to students choosing the sentence starters and adjectives to go with the
images I think it would help the students if they had a list to choose from and the list had
the meaning of the words, an example of how it can be used and then a breakdown of how
it is said (Met, M.) This means even if the EAL learners does not understand what it means
from reading it, someone else in the group is likely to be able to explain to them in terms
they will find easier to understand (Gibbons, P. (2015). By doing it this way it ensures a
conversation is happening about the vocabulary that can be used rather than just the
sentence they will construct with it (Ellis, R. (2008).
The lesson that follows the sentence starter is the brainstorm and sharing. I found this
lesson was when my EAL learners were the quietest. I feel this could be due to them not
fully understanding the context in what was being taught, as well as being put in a group
where the native English speakers seem to do most of the work. I think having a chart that
goes alongside most of the things included in a brainstorm could be helpful. For instance, if
the chart had a boy or girl on it and then the different colour eyes and hair it may help the
selecting process become easier as well as providing them with a visual link between the
word in order to help them share the idea as well as learn the vocabulary. When having
groups, I think giving each person in the group a role will make the group work more
cohesive and also make each member feel as if they are valued (Met, M.) By doing this it
also will encourage EAL learners to participate more in the group as they know they will be
needed for something. Giving an EAL learner a role such as time keeper or group member
are good roles as they do now put too much pressure on them but still make them feel as
though they are an important part of the group.

LESSON NUMBER 1
Objectives

Activities/Tasks

Language Functions
Page 5 of 9

Langu

Learning Intention (Primary):

Learning rationale (ECE):

1. Children will play a

Repeat

memory game of
adjectives with their

Show sequencing of ideas.

Repetition

I said
Giving permission

it.

language learning

Go aga

group or in pairs.

Its you

You ca

Im wai

take yo

Order images in a sequence that

makes sense.
Use adjectives correctly.
Choose appropriate sentence
starters.

Language Goal:

2. Children will play

Students will choose appropriate

picture sequencing

adjectives that relate to an image.

with their language

Explaining

It looks

The pe
Sequencing

The pic

learning group

it.

Students will use a known sentence

The ord

starter that makes sense with the

It goes

chosen image.

The pic
order.

3. Children will have a

Agreeing / disagreeing

range of adjectives
and sentence

I agree
I dont

Expressing preferences should

starters to choose

I agree

from. They will

becaus

choose the ones that

I like th

they think best suit

This is

the picture and they

I prefer

are not to use the

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same ones in the

picture sequence

LESSON NUMBER 2
Objectives
Learning Intention (Primary):
Learning rationale (ECE):

Share ideas.
Ideas will relate to images
Students will provide others will feed
forward and feedback ideas.

Activities/Tasks

1. Children will play a

Language Functions

Repetition

Repeat

memory game of
adjectives with their

Langu

I said
Giving permission

it.

language learning

Go aga

group or in pairs.

Its you

You ca

Im wai

take yo

2. Children will have a

Language Goal:

chart with images and

relating words on it to

Students will use descriptive

language.

choose what should

Students will include their ideas by

using known vocabulary.

brainstorm. The

Describing
Planning and
predicting.

be added into their

brainstorm is to help
included extra details
in the story. This will
be done in their
language learning
groups each child will
be given a role, the
roles will be, scribe,
reporter, timer, group
member, information
finder and
feedback/feedforward
giver.
Page 7 of 9

It looks
It is
It has
In the s
I think
We sho

3. The children will share Suggesting

some of their ideas
with the class then

Expressing likes and

dislikes

share their work with

another group at this
point it is the reporters
turn to take on their
role and the
feed/feedforward
person to take on their
role when working with
the other group.
Although these roles
are induvial the rest of
the group is expected
to also contribute.

References

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It would
idea to
What d
about
Have y
of?
I like ho
group
I dont
I like it
I dont

This section has been formatted in 12 point Arial with 1.5 line spacing, 12 point spacing
between paragraphs, and hanging indentation. Please type your references here.
Remember to use APA 6th edition conventions. Here is an example.
Howard, J. (2013). Cultural Studies lecture 2 [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from TECP202
Language, Social and Cultural Studies website:
http://learn.canterbury.ac.nz/course/view.php?id=3934&topic=15
Ellis, R. (2008). Principles of instructed second language acquisition. Retrieved from
http://www.cal.org/resources/Digest/instructed2ndlang.html
Gibbons, P. (2015). Collaborative group work and second language learning. In Scaffolding
language, scaffolding learning: Teaching English language learners in the mainstream
classroom (Second ed., pp. 49-76). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
Gibbons, P. (2015). Learning to write in a second language and culture. In Scaffolding
language, scaffolding learning: Teaching English language learners in the mainstream
classroom (Second ed., pp. 96-133). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann
Gibbons, P. (2015). Reading in a second language and culture: Barriers and Bridges. In
Scaffolding language, scaffolding learning: Teaching English language learners in the
mainstream classroom (Second ed., pp. 135-180). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Gibbons, P. (2015). Scaffolding language and learning. In Scaffolding language, scaffolding
learning: Teaching English language learners in the mainstream classroom (Second
ed., pp. 4-18). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Met, M. Educating second language children: the whole child, the whole curriculum, the
whole community (1994)

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