Get Ready! Soar - PROGRAM SAMPLER

All of the following charts can be used to address transferable and non-transferable skills in daily instructional routines . Preview the charts as part of lesson preparation for phonemic awareness, phonics, spelling, word study, grammar, writing, or speaking instruction . • Have students preview words and skim for cognates or other areas of positive transfer . Highlight positive transfer areas as they arise . For example, in phonics, if the sound being taught is a shared sound, emphasize its similarity at the outset of the lesson and reinforce that ELs know the sound as they go through examples . This will build confidence as ELs work with unfamiliar English words . Bold or color-code the shared grapheme or phonics pattern to emphasize the known . Offer opportunities for ELs to interact with words and to share what they already know . • If the transfer is “zero” and the student will have to learn the sound, grapheme, or syntactic structure, expand the lesson or conduct a separate mini- lesson . For example, in some languages such as Vietnamese, the gerund form does not exist . Therefore, ELs who speak Vietnamese will need a targeted explanation, reminders, sentence frames where they can apply the form, and multiple opportunities to use the new form by listening for it, practicing it orally, reading it, and using it in writing . Repetition is key, as it takes multiple exposures for ELs to internalize the form . One of the most effective strategies is to recast what the student has said using Standard English . For example, in the Get Ready! unit where students discuss what they enjoy doing, a recast might sound like the following: Teacher: Name something you enjoy doing . EL: I enjoy play music . Teacher: Oh, you enjoy play ing music? I enjoy playing soccer . Tell me again what you enjoy do ing . EL: I enjoy playing music . If the transfer is “negative” and the student brings in a phoneme (sound), grapheme (symbol), or syntactic structure from their home language that causes interference with English, be aware of what the conflicts will be based on the grammar transfer charts . Expand the lesson or conduct a separate mini-lesson on “look fors” as things they should watch out for in their speaking and writing . • Have students discuss language transfer issues they notice . Ask students to look for patterns in academic English based on individual transfer issues . For example, a student who is challenged by possessives can search Get Ready! for sentences about ownership . They can examine the text for the owner plus what is owned . Point out the use of ‘s (as in Farouk’s backpack ) . Also, show ownership as a plural possessive ( the students’ backpacks ) . • If a pattern of errors occurs, have students keep a language transfer and interference chart in a notebook where they document what they wrote followed by the Standard English . Check for increased use of Standard English . Txxxviii LANGUAGE TRANSFER AND INTERFERENCE