NEWCOMER TOOL KIT

CHAPTER 3
PROFESSIONAL REFLECTION AND
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY GUIDE
Discussion Cards for “Teach Me” Reflection and Discussion Activity
Copy a complete set of the following discussion cards on paper or cardstock for every four participants. You can
add additional examples to this set if you wish.
A teacher gives her newcomer ELs a test on English grammar once a week to gauge their progress in
learning English.
A sixth-grade teacher uses a second-grade text with her newcomers. She claims that the language is at the
students’ level and that if she gave them grade-level materials they would not understand texts.
A literacy coach walks into a teacher’s classroom. The class has a mix of ELs who are newcomers, children
of immigrants, and native speakers of English. All the students are engaged and animated, working on
grade-level materials in activities that have them analyze texts and support the conclusions they draw from
their reading. As the coach approaches a group, he notices that one student speaks in Spanish to another
student while the rest of the group is working. He asks the other two students in the group what the
Spanish-speaking students are doing. They say one student is a newcomer who had trouble understanding
the assignment, and the other student is explaining what they are doing in the group. Before the coach
leaves, he makes a note that students need to use English when they work in groups together.
Continued on next page
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION • NEWCOMER TOOL KIT • CHAPTER 3 • 21
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mentioned in this publication is intended or should be inferred. For the reader’s convenience, the tool kit contains information about
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