Inside the Science Classroom by Brittany Bankston

Being that the field of science has its own complicated language in and of itself, it is important for educators in this field to take into account the added level of difficulty a student may have when approaching this subject in what could possibly be their second or third language. Teachers must remember that science is not a subject that is reading or writing only. There are skills that students must develop in order to master it successfully. Therefore, when teaching these skills to group of students teachers need to do so in a way that is comprehensible to all the types of students that may be in the classroom. As previously stated, science is not a field that is reading and writing alone. There are several areas in which science teachers must develop their skills in a way that best benefits all students.  

First, in the areas of listening and visualization, teachers must remember to speak slowly and distinctly. Key terms must always be written so that the students can hear as well as see it. Teachers may highlight the importance of cognates or root words if the students’ native language has enough in common with English. Teachers may also keep a word wall in the classroom with key terms. Also, whenever possible, teachers should use visuals whether they are pictures, graphic organizers, charts, graphs, or figures when trying to explain or demonstrate material. Furthermore, if videos are used in class there should be closed captioning and manual control. This is so that again students may see the words as they are hearing them and also to be able to pause or bookmark important parts of the video.

Next, teachers should do what they can to help develop strong interpersonal skills. To develop these skills teachers can employ cooperative learning strategies. In many cultures, the idea of a student expressing his opinion to a teacher is frowned upon. This will help those students express their ideas in a comfortable environment. Also, due to this cultural difference, educators must encourage participation. The “Think/Pair/Share” strategy also gives students the opportunity to think of their answers and share them with a partner (another bilingual students would be helpful) before presenting to a group. Teachers are also encouraged to use lots of hands-on activities and demonstrations as well as pictorial guided to aid no only ESL’s but all students.

Although the aforementioned strategies are extremely important when teaching in a science classroom, the most important strategy for a teacher to have in the classroom is structure. The classroom should run on a consistent routine. Students should be provided with an outline or agenda of that day’s activities. Also, teachers should take every opportunity to relate what is going on in the classroom to what students already know. Employing all of these strategies in the classroom may seem like a daunting task to many. But the fact is that these strategies should not only exist for ESL teaching. These strategies are all apart of good teaching and will benefit all students.

Bibliography

Herr, N. P. (2007). Strategies for Teaching Science to English Language Learners. Retrieved from The Sourcebook for Teaching Science: http://www.csun.edu/science/ref/language/teaching-ell.html