Understanding the Cold War

Today I worked with my Ell student.  It was a really great and challenging experience at the same time.  We began reading the chapter on the Cold War that is located in her United States history textbook.  I asked my Ell student to read from the text and then when we came accross complicated words that she did not understand we wrote them down and tried to define them.  I also read several passages to her in an attempt to model how the language sounds and in particular how difficult academic words are pronounced.

I think it was a good way to review new material.  The class has just finished with World War II and has not begun their study of the Cold War; this will help my student to have an edge on understanding this material.  However, I did not realize how difficult it would be for me to explain words that I use everyday but rarely have to define for others.  This kind of activity is definitely good for me because it will help me to increase my own understanding of these topics and become a better teacher.

In reflection, next time I work with an ELL on reading a piece of academic text, I want to review all the words I think may pose a problem and think of ways to explain the words that are interesting and revelant to a high school student.  I also realize more and more how powerful relationships are in helping students to learn.  I can tell that the student I am working with really enjoys our time together; this allows her to have more patience with me while I work on trying to figure out the best ways to promote more understanding.  I think developing positive relationships is central to wroking with all students but especially effective when working with ELL.