Gore, L. (personal communication, 2020.) I interviewed my induction mentor teacher, Lisa Gore. She is a GLAD certified educator who has shown me a lot about including movement in lessons and using TPR. She demoed a lesson in my classroom last week for Induction in which she taught students about an insect and had them include motions so that they could remember the insect's role. I asked her about it for our interview and she said that all of her work as an ELL coordinator and GLAD-certified educator has proven to her that students make stronger connections to academic language and their learning when movement is involved. She said that TPR and movement increases access for English language learners, and increases recall for all students. She has used TPR with kindergarten through 5th graders, and said that she has seen great improvements in all grade levels.
Jablon, J., & Wilkinson, M. (2006). Using Engagement Strategies to Facilitate Children's Learning and Success. YC Young Children,61(2), 12-16. This article outlines the definition and importance of engagement in a child’s learning experience. Jablon outlines the psychological and behavioral characteristics of an engaged learner. On a psychological level, engaged learners are “intrinsically motivated by curiosity, interest, and enjoyment and are likely to want to achieve their own intellectual or personal goals.” (12) Behaviorally, engaged learners show enthusiasm and diligence for their learning. Behaviors to suggest engagement might look like focus on a task, or excited communication with peers about learning. Research shows that disengagement from learning increases as children go on to higher grades. This article shares that this can begin as early as the third grade. In order to increase engagement, teachers must create a “climate of engagement in the classroom to help children focus on their learning, support learning specific skills and concepts, and provide children positive associations with learning.” (13)
Khorasgani, A. T., & Khanehgir, M. (2017). Teaching New Vocabulary to Young Learners: Using Two Methods Total Physical Response and Keyword Method. International Journal of Evaluation and Research in Education, 6(2), 150–156. This article looked at the efficiency and effectiveness of several strategies for teaching vocabulary words. This particular study was focused on teaching vocabulary in a foreign language setting, but could be applicable to our interest in academic language/English language learners. The study looked at two different strategies, Total Physical Response (TPR) and the Keyword Method (KWM). It found that both were effective in increasing students' vocabulary retention both the next day and two weeks later. However, the keyword method had a larger effect size than the total physical response. The article indicated that more research is needed in order to fully understand best strategies for teaching new vocabulary to young learners.
Kieran, L., & Anderson, C. (2019). Connecting Universal Design for Learning With Culturally Responsive Teaching. Education and Urban Society,51(9), 1202-1216. This article drew connections between UDL and CRT. The main crossovers that stood out were to be careful not to look at differences as deficits, and to look at barriers to learning from within the curriculum, instruction, and assessment methods rather than as deficits within the students. It also stood out that both UDL and CRT are intentionally built into teaching practices, not implemented as a reactionary measure after an issue arises. The article describes both UDL strategies and CRT as ongoing processes that require regular reflection, differentiation, and tweaking. Dosch and Zidon (2014) described the practice of differentiation as a repeated cycle of teaching and assessment in which assessment informs the next steps of instruction. The whole point of UDL and CRT are to create environments and practices that meet each learner's needs in a relevant way. If a system is not working for a child, there is no benefit in holding on to it.
Newhouse, K. (2020). Four Core Priorities For Trauma-informed Distance Learning. Mindshift. Retrieved from https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/55679/four-core-priorities-for-trauma-informed-distance-learning In the article, Newhouse outlines that living in a time of global pandemic can be traumatic for all students (and adults.) For students who have and have not experienced trauma in the past, the trauma of this pandemic can cause additional stress that can manifest in many ways. She breaks down the following four key priorities to keep in mind as we plan and implement distance learning with our students. 1. Predictability - Keeping routines consistent and predictable can help students regain a sense of control and normalcy. One expert shared that teachers should "notice what's normal" and find a way to utilize similar and familiar practices in the distance model. 2. Flexibility - Every family and student is dealing with a different set of circumstances and priorities. We do not know which students are watching younger siblings during the day, have a sick relative, etc. so we must be flexible with our learning model to make it fit their needs. Asynchronous learning is one way to do this so that students can do their work at a time that works for their family. 3. Connection - Fostering relationships continues to be important, now more than ever. Teachers can help students by clearly communicating that they care about their students and make sure students know that they will not lose their relationship with the teacher. 4. Empowerment - Finally, Newhouse recommends that teachers empower students by giving them opportunities to make decisions with the teacher and have choices in their learning. Kids can feel empowered by doing relevant and important work, rather than worksheets that are not connected to their lives.
Smith-Walters, C. Et All. (2016). Science and Language Special Issue: Challenges in Preparing Preservice Teachers for Teaching Science as a Second Language. Electronic Journal of Science Education, 20(3).
Straits, W., & Stone, K. (2010). Science Shorts: Action Figures. Science and Children, 47(6), 64-66. Retrieved March 18, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/43175257 This article offered a complete lesson framework that incorporated TPR, games, and movement in science. The authors made several suggestions for teaching science in a meaningful, lasting way. They suggested first tapping into students' prior knowledge about a subject. They suggested using a structure such as a KWL chart before introducing new material/starting a new unit. This particular article focused on a sample lesson with middle school students. In the lesson, the teachers' goal was to tap into student knowledge about the skeletal system. They designed a lesson in which students used movement and games to identify the three different types of joints in the human body. The teacher introduced the three types of joints through explicit instruction, but asked students to gently move their bodies/joints to locate this type of joint within their own body. After introducing the information, the class went outside and played a game that reinforced their learning. The focus of this article was demonstrating multiple ways that total physical response can be used in a science lesson. Total physical response is a strategy that requires students to respond to teacher prompts through physical movement rather than or in addition to language. In this lesson, the teacher asked students to physically identify different joint types with their bodies.
Tobin, T. J, (2014) Increase Online Student Retention with Universal Design for Learning. The Quarterly Review of Distance Education, 15(3), 13–24. In this article, Tobin gave recommendations for teachers as they design online learning modules. In the article, “quality of interactions and feedback” and “social connectedness/presence” were shown to be key predictors for student persistence in online courses and “difficulty in accessing resources” and “lack of accessibility” were listed as significant barriers to student persistence. Universal design for learning is one system of design that can help students connect with and access their learning. UDL gives all individuals equal opportunities to learn and provides a blueprint for creating instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments that work for everyone—not a single, one-size-fits-all solution, but rather flexible approaches that can be customized and adjusted for individual needs (14)..