Series Five Essential Practices for the Teaching of ELLs - High School: Write-On Tables: Tools for Communication

Lit Circles: Fostering Heterogeneous Collaboration

Preparing for Literature Circles with a Jigsaw

Foundational Literacy Skills with Newcomers

Split Dictation Activity

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Write-On Tables: Tools for Communication

Lesson Objective: Use tables as whiteboards

All Grades / All Subjects / ELL

2 MIN

Discussion
Supporting Materials

Thought starters

How do the students use the tables throughout the class?
|How does the teacher?
|Why are whiteboard tables useful tools for communication in classrooms with ELLs?
How might you use whiteboard tables in your own classroom?

19 Comments

Lan Pham Apr 20, 2020 4:25pm

How do the students use the tables throughout the class?

Using the whiteboard tables is a great way to encourage students to actively participate in group discussion activities. Students use the tables to put their ideas on with keywords and pictures so that everybody in the group can see and express their ideas or thoughts through the discussion.

2. How does the teacher?

During the lesson using this strategy, the teacher is the facilitator, who give students the support and guide them in the discussion to make sure that they all understand the content. Moreover, it is the formative assessment in which the teacher can assess their vocabulary, spelling, content understanding, and collaborative skills.

3. Why are whiteboard tables useful tools for communication in classrooms with ELLs?

Whiteboard tables are useful tools for ELLs to communicate with each other in the classroom. Students are asked to write out their thinking with words or pictures on the whiteboard tables. In this way, they are more engaged and become more confident to express their thoughts, exchange ideas and discuss with their peers comfortably.

4. How might you use whiteboard tables in your own classroom?

Using whiteboard tables in the classroom for communication is a great way that benefits student learning in many ways. I will apply this method in my own classroom in the same way or adjust a little bit with pair-work, group-work or group presentation.

Recommended (0)

wei xiaohong Apr 3, 2018 8:49am

I love table teaching. Merci beaucoup.

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Genaline Cabije Apr 3, 2018 5:50am

Helpful & practical indeed..Thanks a lot.

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Candice Byers Mar 30, 2018 11:48am

Great idea! I will have to try using this with my students.Thanks!

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wei xiaohong Mar 27, 2018 11:35pm

I really enjoy this table teaching! It is great! a very new and easy way to communicate with the students. I will learn this way to discuss with my students. Thank you!

Recommended (0)

Materials

Transcripts

Write-On Tables: Tools for Communication Transcript

Speaker 1: Everyone wants to talk to Diego, they want to see Diego. I use

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Write-On Tables: Tools for Communication Transcript

Speaker 1: Everyone wants to talk to Diego, they want to see Diego. I use tables as whiteboards, and it’s a way for students to really engage with each other and exchange of ideas, not just verbally but to draw in pictures.

Speaker 2: [inaudible 00:00:21].

Speaker 3: Thank you.

Speaker 1: Through helping them identify keywords in their text or spelling experiences.

Speaker 4: [inaudible 00:00:29] what this experiential so.

Speaker 1: How do you say [inaudible 00:00:33] number?

Speaker 4: Strong.

Speaker 1: How do I spell ‘strong’?

Speaker 4: S-T-R.

Speaker 1: These things have free range to use only whiteboard markers, to put their ideas on the table so everyone can see. So they are allowed to do that in every class. You can buy them and they are very expensive, but what I did was I took these tables, sanded them all down, prime them, and bought some whiteboard paint, did about three or four coats of whiteboard paint which isn’t that expensive, let them dry for a couple of days and then taught students how to use them, and being really intentional while keeping them clean.

Can you do me a favor? Can you try to draw that for me?

Speaker 4: Which one?

Speaker 1: This idea. Can you try to visualize it for me?

Speaker 4: Yes.

Speaker 1: Thank you so much. I think for students that know how the English to, I’ll put their idea and explain it to you, they can draw a picture, and they can use their vocabulary to point to things and show you what they are thinking and how they are understanding the content in a way that validates what they really know, but also it shows you that, “Wow, I need to build the scheme, I need to build the vocabulary.” So you can express that in English, but I know you understand the content.

Speaker 5: Frida [inaudible 00:01:36] because Frida [inaudible 00:01:40] I don't know.

Speaker 1: Frida cheers by herself, so it makes class more interesting. I get to write on the boards too, adds a little bit more engagement for both the teacher and the student.

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