Making a Claim About Variation: Designated ELD Transcript
Anna Dearlove: My name is Anna Dearlove, and I teach second grade at Glen Park Elementary in San Francisco. Today we're going to be looking at the next part of our book. In the morning I work with four English learners at the expanding level during my designated ELD time. Let me read the very first sentence. Follow with my, everybody. Variation means different. My two goals were to have them make a claim about variations, so that they could be able to explain, and speak about it and exchange ideas using academic language moves, or we call it talk moves. Then I wanted to also get them to go beyond being a designated into an integrated listener, so that they can build confidence and also use their language.
Student: Look, guys, the butterfly. First they were little eggs. Then they're pupa.
Anna Dearlove: In science we're studying plants and insects. This lesson is helping them understand more about the life cycle as well as what the concept of variation is. What's a variation in that beetle?
Student: That's he's different.
Anna Dearlove: Is he different?
Student: No, his color, size and ...
Student: Skin.
Student: ... skin.
Anna Dearlove: Whoa. In our district we use the five essential ELD integrated and designated practices. While I'm planning, I always refer to that. We can say that a variation means something that's ...
Student: Different.
Anna Dearlove: First of all, I wanted to remind them of the academic language that they would be using as well as the word itself, variation, and a synonym for that. When something varies, it's different.
Student: Like the one that we reading, Abuelo and ...
Anna Dearlove: Abuelo and the Three Bears. Exactly. That was a variation, a difference in story. Now we're doing the difference in living things. Then I wanted to use some realia, some real things that actually they knew or were familiar with. What would one variation be here?
Student: Texture.
Anna Dearlove: Texture? Very good. Michelle. Let's let Michelle have a little chance first. Michelle, what texture would you say?
Michelle: This [ball 00:02:36] is soft, and this [ball 00:02:38] is hard.
Anna Dearlove: I thought they might have trouble with texture, but they end up not having it. It made me think about never to hold back, to always go higher and see what happens. They may not have had all the vocabulary for it, but they understood the concept, and they had some words for that.
Michelle: This one does not bounce.
Anna Dearlove: That doesn't bounce. That would be an other. That's the way it moves. While I was planning this, I decided that I would provide a sentence structure for them to be able to make a claim. Now watch me because I'm going to show you something. I am going to show you what we're going to do later in the bigger group. We're going to make a claim about variations. My sentence that I'm going to use is I think one variation is hair color. First, they had to find the variation and then give an example of that. In this book it says, "Sometimes it is hard to see variations, but we can if we look closer." There is a variation in color. Do you see how I did that? That's what you're going to do.
Student: Their bear is brown, and black bear and white bears.
Anna Dearlove: There are white bears. I agree with you. Does anybody want to ask me one of those questions or tell me something?
Student: I think one variation ...
Anna Dearlove: No, not that one. Here. That's what I was looking for, that they're using that. If they weren't, I'd refer them back to it, back to it until it became natural for them. Can you tell me one of the ones in the orange? What did you say?
Student: I hear you saying.
Anna Dearlove: What did you hear me saying?
Student: There are some black and some brown.
Anna Dearlove: Good. Let's do it together. Try to think of a variation. When you have one, go like this. Don't shout out. Put your thumb up. Got one? Nancy, why don't you tell me? What's one? Try to use that.
Nancy: I think one variation is this fish is different than the other fish here because it gots orange dots.
Anna Dearlove: You're looking at color up here.
Student: Shape, size.
Anna Dearlove: We have color, shape, size, texture. She's looking at color. Very good, Nancy. I like the way she said that. I think one variation is color because this fish is different than the other. Next time you could even say, "For example." You want to say one? Go ahead.
Hector: For example, they-
Anna Dearlove: Wait, say the whole thing.
Hector: I think one variation is that one are big, and some are small.
Anna Dearlove: Which variation did you use over here? Over here, color, shape, size, texture or other?
Hector: I think one variation is ...
Anna Dearlove: What did you say? What is one variation? You just said it.
Hector: Their size.
Anna Dearlove: Their size. You used size, number three on that one. Somebody want to respond back to him? What could you say to him?
Hector: [inaudible 00:05:41].
Anna Dearlove: No, not you. You can't respond to yourself. Who's going to do it? That's funny, huh? Go ahead, Michelle. You go. Use one of those. You could use I hear you say, I agree with you, I disagree with you or tell me more.
Michelle: I agree with you.
Anna Dearlove: What do you agree? Give me a full sentence. I agree with you, Hector ...
Michelle: ... because some are small, some are big.
Anna Dearlove: Nancy, give a response to him, please.
Nancy: Tell me more.
Anna Dearlove: Tell me some more. Could you? We've been using talk moves even before this science unit. They're really getting to go deeper, and they're actually agreeing and disagreeing more. They were doing it in a respectful way, but yet they were talking about ideas and exchanging ideas. That really showed me that they were able to go further.
Hector: I disagree with you.
Anna Dearlove: You disagree, I love it.
Hector: This fish is going faster. That's why it looks like it's big.
Anna Dearlove: How can you tell?
Hector: I see. This tail is right here, and this tail is right here by his ...
Anna Dearlove: Who can say that? If there's a confusion or something, you can say what? What do you want to say to him?
Hector: They are the same size.
Student: They are the same size, but just that this one is going faster and that this one has orange dots.
Anna Dearlove: What do you think about that? You agree with him or disagree?
Student: I disagree.
Anna Dearlove: You disagree back? Tell him why though. You've got to explain your thinking, right?
Student: I think he has a big tail.
Anna Dearlove: Interesting. I don't know if we're going to be able to find who's right in that one, but I love the way you were able to disagree, and you were able to say, "No, wait a minute." You were holding onto your claim. That happens in real life. During my designated ELD time, I think they were able to say I ... They may have tripped up a little bit here and there, but they were able to actually use that frame. They were able to pick and choose one of the variations. That made me know that they could understand it. How did you feel about talking about variation?
Student: A little bit shy, but then ...
Anna Dearlove: Then it all came out. How about you, Nancy? How did you feel?
Nancy: Crazy.
Anna Dearlove: You felt crazy. I feel like I'm able to offer something that is worthwhile to my English learners. It seems slow when you do the close reading, and everything seems pulled out, but it's really worth it in the end because they have now tools to carry their life on in a real productive way. I feel really good as a teacher that that's something worthwhile. That's really good. You think you're going to be ready for the big group now?
Student: Yeah.
Anna Dearlove: I think you are. Yeah, I do.
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