Case Study: Bianca (responds guided)

Guided Response: Respond to TWO of your classmate’s postings. Evaluate their strategies for integrating the four language and literacy domains within the lesson on the parts of a plant and make any additional recommendations. Please respond to any questions posted by your instructor.

I feel that testing a newcomer student for a specific disability is not an appropriate next step.  Bianca has been through a tragic moment in her young life and adjusting to not only a new family, but a new culture and language will take time. As an educator, I would give it more time for Bianca to adapt to her new life and language before making any decisions on testing her for any disabilities.

I would tell Mrs. Perkins to assess the knowledge Bianca might already have about parts of a plant by implementing the following. Mrs. Perkins can make a drawing of a plant with arrows pointing the specific parts she is going to test Bianca on in the form of “Quick Write and Quick Draw.” Teacher may ask the child on what the names of the parts are and if the child answers in their native language the teacher can use a resource such as the internet to find the meaning of the word and see if the child is saying the correct name to the correct part. In addition, Mrs. Perkins can repeat the names of the parts of the plants in English while pointing so Bianca can associate and learn the English words for them.

Four strategies that Mrs. Perkins could intergrade within the plant lesson to develop skills in all four language and literacy domains are as follows. First, for listening the teacher can play a plant book on CD and have the class listen to it as she may ask the children to recall information. Next for speaking and hearing, children would sound out the letter of each word of the parts of the plant and say the word out loud. Lastly, the children can work on plant labeling worksheets and write the words accordingly.

Mrs. Perkins can implement applications on a tablet that must do with plant life and have Bianca wear headphones that she can concentrate on the language while playing along. Bianca may feel emotional and may feel frustrated when attempting to answer a question and is having difficult due to the language barrier.  It is always good to give positive reinforcement and praise when child is trying their best.

Honigsfeld, A & Cohan, A. (2015). Serving English language learners. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.

I feel that testing isn’t the appropriate next step to determine a specific learning disability. I feel that further additional intervention should take place before making a plan for testing for a learning disability. As explained further in the text “In response, teachers need to make every effort to help these students transition into U.S. school settings. One instructional model that has proved informative is DeCapua and Marshall's (2011) Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm (MALP), which considers student readiness for learning, addresses appropriate learning processes, and introduces ways to make academic tasks accessible (Honigsfeld & Cohan.2015).

If Mrs. Perkins is to preform a KWL Chart (What I know, what I want to learn, and what I have learned) it will help her determine what Bianca may know about the different parts of plants and what she can assist with. The importance of why we should assess the student of what the student may already know is because it will it will be of a benefit to help the teacher see where the student may stand based in if they are at their grade-level or not, it is important to see where a student may stand academically.

Four strategies I would offer Mrs. Perkins to integrate to her lesson plan about plants would be as follows:

For listening and speaking I would have her do the read aloud and have her identify select pieces of information, also have her share her selections possibly with a pair in class which will allow them to speak to one another.

For reading I would have her support the students’ reading comprehension. Doing so by constructing specific and clear questions to ask before, during, and after reading. (Honigsfeld & Cohan.2015).

In the writing portion I would have Mrs. Perkins adapt the writing process to the needs of Bianca by spending more time on more manageable subtasks, step-by-step directions, as well as samples and visual aids.

Mrs. Perkins can integrate technology within her lesson plan to support Bianca in many different forms. It can be by using translation devices, computers, application software to support her skills throughout the lesson. Helping her build more knowledge and motivation in her learning.

What I believe can be affecting Bianca’s emotionally may be the transition of coming to new country because of the result of being orphaned. It may not be a night to day process for both her new family and educators to help her cope with her new lifestyle, so she may result being timid, lack of social skills and can possibly lead her to not progress. Motivation will then come into play coming from Mrs. Perkins to uplift Bianca and help her be motivated that will then lead to her academic success.

Resources

Honigsfeld, A & Cohan, A. (2015). Serving English language learners. San Diego, CA: Bridgepoint Education.