ESL Reflections

My ESL students are taking a quiz right now. Before that we finished up a jigsaw activity in which each student is an "expert" in one particular area and then teaches the others in their group. What I learned is that students have difficulty understanding each others dialects and accents when trying to speak in English about academic subject matter. Most (not all) of my students speak Spanish, but they don't necessarily understand the Spanish of the other students. This activity proved to be much more difficult than I would have expected. When I teach them something, I write down key words or show pictures to help explain vocabulary words, etc. When they are just speaking to one another about unfamiliar topics, all I hear is, "What? What was that? What did you say? Can you spell that? Oh! That's what you mean!"

I am always surprised by what these kids CAN do (which is much better than I could do if I were in their shoes), but sometimes they really catch me off guard with the things that are difficult for them.

We are also making some progress with Gay Lay. I say "we" because my whole class is helping him out. He is from a refugee camp in Thailand and speaks no English. We've had 2 big accomplishments lately. I required the students to memorize the Preamble to the Constitution. Gay Lay didn't have to memorize it, but had to read it out loud. He did well. Second, today, all on his own, he said "1-A." That is what group he was in for the activity. None of us could remember. That's all he's ever said in our class on his own except for "toilet."

Here is part of the quiz if you want to take it:

U.S. History – Unit 2 Quiz

Name ___________________ Date _______________ Per ____

Fill in the blank. You may use any notes or assignments that you have.

1. The United States became its own country after the end of the Revolution when we separated from which country? ___________________.

2. At first, we did not have a constitution, instead we used a document call the _________ of _________.

3. This document was not strong enough because (list 1 reason). _____

4. ________________________________________ was the first President of the United States.

5. Name 2 other presidents of the United States who served between the first one and Andrew Jackson (7^th). _________ ____________

6. Explain the Great Compromise in 3-4 sentences.

Answer the following questions about the branches of government

7. There are three branches of the United States Government. Each is able to check and balance out the others. The President is in charge of the _____________ branch. The __________ branch is led by Congress. The ____________ branch is led by the Supreme Court.

8. There are two parts to Congress. They are the House of _____________ and the ______________.

9. Each office in government is elected for a specific term. How many years are in each term?

a. President _________

b. Congressman __________

c. Senator ___________

10. List 2 Powers of Congress:

11. List 2 Powers of the President:

12. List 2 Powers of the Supreme Court.

13. Explain 2 things that Andrew Jackson did that made him significant.

14. What is a reform? _____________________________

15. Name 1 reformist that you learned about. Describe what they did and why they were important.

16. BONUS!! Write the Preamble to the Constitution (below or on a separate piece of paper).