Jessi Towne

EDUG 543
September 14, 2015

Appendix B

Cognitive Processing Template

****Digital Copy Available on Moodle***

As you examine and read the weekly assigned chapters, use this template to
stimulate your thinking and analysis. Come prepared to engage and lead
discussion during class.
Essential Understandings from Text Readings/Articles

*Note: Reference title of

book/reading

Teachers and schools must initiate contact and take action to involve parents (Teaching English Language
Learners, p. 12).

Related to the idea of communicative competence is Cumminss definition of two levels of language
proficiency: basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS) and cognitive academic language proficiency
(CALP) (Teaching English Language Learners, p. 21).

The instructional approaches used for a given strategy gradually evolve from teacher controlled and directed
to student controlled and self-directed (Teaching English Language Learners, p. 50).

Learning a second language should not mean losing a first language (Learning to Read, p. 60).

The concept of inclusion, however, means that children with special needs are included in the regular
classroom and receive assistance from the regular education teacher as well as the special education teacher
(Learning to Read, p. 72).

A presumption of differentiated instruction is that different learners have differing needs. Therefore, the
teacher proactively plans a variety of ways to get at and express learningbased on his knowledge of varied
learner needs (Learning to Read, p. 74).

Key Discussion Questions / Perspectives

What if I contact the parents and they do not think they will make an impact?

How can I get my BICS students to become CALP students?

How do I know when students are ready to move from one stage to the other?

How can I make the ELLs feel comfortable in my classroom?

How can I include my students with special needs into my classroom without giving them special treatment
and ignoring my regular education students?

What if it is the beginning of school and the teacher does not yet know the students and how they learn?

Professional Application / Observation

I need to make sure the parents feel encouraged to step in and help, and I can also invite them to class as
cultural and subject-matter experts, so they can share their expertise with the class.

As a teacher, I need to make sure my BICS students are building on their prior knowledge and experience so
that when they learn something new, they can connect and apply what they already know.

The key is to know the learners, provide the level of support needed, and sustain the level of support until
students reach independence (Teaching English Language Learners, p. 51). As a teacher, I want to know my
students so that I can effectively teach them in a way that makes sense to each student. I want to know each
student well enough so that I can gauge which students need more support and which students are ready for
independence.

As a teacher, I can make the ELL students feel more comfortable in my room by incorporating some of their
cultural holidays into our American holidays, inviting them to bring artifacts from their culture in for showand-tell, and make sure that my classroom and the library has books in languages other than English as well as
books written in English that represent the various cultures of the children (Learning to Read, p. 60).

As a teacher, I just have to make sure that I know all of my studentsthe regular education students as well as
my special education studentsso that I know how much time to spend with each student according to his or
her own personal needs for learning.

As a teacher, I would still want to differentiate the learning experience as much as I can and utilize various
learning styles, like visual aids, manipulative and lecture, so that all students get to learn in the best way for
him or her.

**Use the back for reflection notes after class discussion.