Teaching Children to Investigate and Solve Problems

Teaching Children to Investigate and Solve Problems

Chapter 13 Teaching Children to Investigate and Solve Problems 449

What Works Teaching STEM to Dual Language Learners Considerable attention is paid to research on how dual language learners acquire English and learn to read. At times, there is an as- sumption that because mathematics is about numbers and quan- tity, language is less of a barrier. However, mathematics itself is a language, and as we have seen, math talk is what makes its ab- stract concepts comprehensible for children. Other areas of STEM have their own vocabulary and involve academic language that children do not encounter in everyday interactions. In short, STEM learning presents unique challenges for dual language learners.

Many of the same strategies for teaching dual language learners in general are effective in teaching STEM. For example, gestures such as a circling motion are useful in helping young children understand basic concepts such as the whole amount or putting together and taking apart. Children readily count or form shapes with their fingers. Teachers can set up an obstacle course for children to use their whole bodies to learn position words such as above, below, between, and through. A strategy for older chil- dren is to create a math, science, or technology dictionary of rel- evant terms. Such a resource engages children in using different ways of representing a concept—in this case, words that can be referred to later.

Another effective strategy is having children talk to one another in pairs or small groups. When children are learning a new lan- guage, it is important not to put them on the spot. They shouldn’t be expected to respond in front of the whole class. In a small group, it is easier to practice concepts and “errors” are more likely to be viewed as part of the learning process. This is especially important with a topic like math that may have only one correct answer.

Introducing a math or science concept to the whole class can be done effectively using an interactive whiteboard. Then chil- dren can be prompted to respond to questions chorally as a whole group. Not every child will answer correctly, and no one child’s response will be singled out.

Another proven strategy when introducing a math or science concept is to explicitly teach it by modeling, supplying the spe- cific name, and having children repeat the word. Also helpful is introducing and using a consistent sentence such as the one first

graders used to interpret their graphs in Figure 13.1.

Problem solving is playing a larger role in today’s curriculum due to the Common Core standards, but word problems complicate the challenge of math instruction for dual language learners. Teachers should avoid tricky word problems that create confusion, such as: “Jonas has 2 cars and 3 trucks; how many vehicles does he have?” Such a question poses a lan- guage test rather than a math problem. A related challenge pre- sented by word problems is the culturally implicit knowledge they often require. Solving a problem usually requires that a child un- derstand the situation in which it occurs, whether it’s purchasing groceries or driving a car at a certain speed.

Manipulatives are hailed as an excellent tool to teach STEM, and yet many children cannot relate to these toys. Few such toys reflect the racial, cultural, and gender diversity of our classrooms. For example, Lego® has introduced some plastic figures portray- ing people of color as doctors, scientists, architects, and other STEM occupations. However, most STEM toys still promote ste- reotypes of only white males in these roles.

What works most effectively are the practices that are de- velopmentally appropriate for all children—hands-on, meaning- ful experiences coupled with teacher scaffolding, as opposed to worksheets that test what children should have already learned. Dual language learners need to actively “do” science, technology, and engineering tasks—as teachers and other chil- dren supply the words. And most important of all, teachers need to have high expectations that all children can learn challenging STEM content.

Sources: Based on “6 Tips When Discussing Math with the English Language Learner,” by B. Austin, 2014, Chicago, Erikson Early Math Collabora- tive, retrieved March 17, 2015, from http://earlymath.erikson.edu/6-tips- discussing-math-english-language-learner; “It’s Time for More Racial Diversity in STEM Toys” by M. Weinstock, 2015, Scientific American, Voices: Exploring and Celebrating Diversity in Science, retrieved March 8, 2015, from http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/voices/2015/02/23/ its-time-for-more-racial-diversity-in-stem-toys/?WT.mc_id=SA_sharetool_ Twitter.

STEM skills and understanding, with T standing for technology. In other words, children need to think critically about how technology is used to solve problems as well as learn how to use technological tools in intentional and creative ways.

A Developmentally and Technologically Appropriate Classroom A preschool teacher creates a class website that is updated regularly. The children create a slide show about their class pet using Kid Pix software to share with families. For an integrated science study on the properties of water, kindergartners produce information books on the computer using digital photos of their water experiments.

Current Research on Effective Practices In an era of Common Core State Standards and Early Learning standards, accountability, and rapid change in the field, the text makes research understandable and meaningful for students and illustrates the connections between child development, curriculum content, assessment, and intentional teaching.

What Works features present research-based practices in action, including descriptions of demonstrated effective practices such as teaching mathematics to dual language learners, father involvement, and using evidence-based cur- riculum to narrow the achievement gap.

Lens features present insights on culture, language, and in- cluding all children. These features discuss practice through diverse lenses, expanding the sources of information teach- ers use to make decisions and helping them look at questions or problems from broader perspectives. Widening the lens with which teachers view their practice is a strategy to move beyond the persistent educational tendency to dichotomize difficult or controversial issues into “either/or” choices, and move toward “both/and” thinking.

Current research findings, such as effective strategies for teaching dual language learn- ers or children with autism spectrum disorder, are brought to life and made meaningful by connections to classroom and community examples.

The terms and definitions used in this text contribute to establishing a shared vocabulary for all of those in and entering the field.

Approximately 40% of the references are from 2012 and beyond.

Part 2 Learning and Developing from Birth to Age 8: Who We Teach192

Dual language learners are individuals. They need differentiated instruction to devel- op their English skills, to maintain and further develop their home language, and achieve in school. Today’s vast array of digital tools make individualizing instruction for multi- language learners much easier than in the past, as described in the feature Language Lens: Using Technology to Teach Dual Language Learners.

Awareness and responsiveness to all forms of diversity must be integrated across all areas of curriculum and teachers’ relationships with children to ensure that all children succeed in school. But more than that, schools have a responsibility to provide today’s children with the skills to function in a complex, global society. In short, they benefit from an anti-bias education, which we describe in the next section.

Anti-Bias Education The early childhood field has embraced the concept of an anti-bias education. Anti-bias education includes learning experiences and teaching strategies that are specifically designed not only to prepare all children for life in a culturally rich society but also to counter the stereotyping of diverse groups and to guard against expressions of bias ( Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010). In this section, we discuss goals of culturally responsive, anti-bias education and ways of helping children achieve those goals. The overarching goal of anti-bias education is to help all children reach their full potential. To do so, anti-bias education focuses on four core goals for children (Derman-Sparks & Edwards, 2010; Teaching Tolerance, 2012):

Identity. Teachers foster and support children’s self-awareness, confidence, and pride in their family and own identity.

anti-bias education Learning experiences and teaching strategies that are specifically designed not only to prepare all children for life in a culturally rich society, but also to counter the stereotyping of diverse groups, and to guard against expressions of bias.

Language Lens Using Technology to Teach Dual Language Learners

With growing numbers of dual and multi-language learn- ers in our classrooms, all teachers need to be prepared to support English language acquisition while also pro- moting continued home language development. Using technology exponentially increases teachers’ options to achieve these goals, as these examples illustrate:

Yao is a Chinese speaker who doesn’t talk at all in preschool. He is isolated from the other children who won’t play with him. His teacher knows that without social interaction, his English skills won’t develop. She loans his family an iPad and with the help of a trans- lator shows him a digital storytelling app to create a story about his family with photos and narration in both English and Chinese. When he shares the story with the other children, they realize that Yao has an interesting life and several of them decide to use the app to create stories about themselves.

Kara’s kindergarten includes speakers of four different home languages, some of whom are newly arrived immi- grants. She relies on technology to create an accessible environment for all the children as they acquire sufficient English to navigate the school. Kara posts pictures and labels in various languages (in some cases with phonetic

spellings) to help children learn routines and safety pre- cautions. On the Internet she finds images, songs, and stories that accurately depict children’s homelands, and uses these to spark conversations among small groups of children. She teaches all the children to use iTranslate on classroom tablets to aid communication and support burgeoning friendships. The class uses Skype to com- municate with children’s relatives in other parts of the country or world. Within a few weeks, all the children, including native English speakers, enjoy helping each other explore different languages and learn together.

Children all over the world speak multiple languages. The opportunity to become bilingual or multilingual awaits every child in America if schools take advantage of young children’s inborn ability to learn language and the afford- able, technological resources now available.

Sources: Digital Story Helps Dual Language Learner Connect with Classmates, by D. Bates, no date, Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children, retrieved August 27, 2014, from http://www.naeyc.org/technology/digital-story- helps-dual-language-learner; “Using Technology as a Teaching Tool for Dual Language Learners in Preschool through Grade 3,” by K. N. Nemeth and F. S. Simon, 2013, Young Children, 68(1), 48–52.

Chapter 12 Teaching Children to Communicate: Language, Literacy, and the Arts 393

Stage Description How Teachers Can Help Stage 6: Advanced Language Proficiency

Children have developed understanding of specialized, content-related vocabu- lary. It can take from 5 to 7 years for children to master this level of cogni- tively demanding language.

Teachers intentionally teach the vocabu- lary and language skills required for academic achievement in school. For example, mathematics requires knowing words like addend or double-digit mul- tiplication that are not used in everyday speech.

Sources: Based on Getting It Right for Young Children from Diverse Backgrounds: Applying Research to Improve Practice, by L. M. Espinosa, 2010, Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson; Oral Language and Early Literacy in Preschool: Talking, Reading, and Writing. 2nd edition, by K. A. Roskos, P. O. Tabors, and L. A. Lenhart, 2009, Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

 

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