English
Language Learners = ELL
An
Environmental Education Unit for English Language Learners
The data for this needs
assessment was collected by reviewing the following documents:
-Chicago Board of Education Standards
book
-Curriculum Alignment Plans for the Science
Department at Roosevelt High School
-1998-99 School Improvement Plan for
Roosevelt High School
These
documents contain the standards and curriculum guidelines for science courses
in the Chicago Public Schools.
Environmental Education for ELL students is not included anywhere. ELL students are offered ELL courses in
Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Earth Science. However, they are not offered an ELL Environmental Education
course, as are regular education students.
Although,
for the purposes of the assignment, this curriculum has been reduced to just a
unit, ideally, this environmental education curriculum would be a semester
course. Through informal teacher
interviews (as the science department chairperson), it has become apparent that
there is simply too much to teach in a general biology course, where a unit
like this may be implemented.
Furthermore, teachers have expressed, through informal interviews, the
need and desire to expose students to Environmental Education. Therefore, this is one unit out of an entire
semester curriculum (Environmental Education for ELL Students).
Because
Environmental Awareness is at the forefront of education today and because many
school districts, including Chicago Public Schools, are doing little to meet
the needs of ELL students in this particular arena of science, this unit
project draws together two issues:
1)
educating
young people to be environmentally aware and knowledgeable about the world
around them
2)
addressing
the needs of English Language Learners within this environmental education
context
The
unit is designed for high school students (typically juniors).
The
unit is designed to meet the developmental and instructional needs of ELL 3 or
transitional ELL students (those almost ready to enter the mainstream
curriculum).
The
unit is to be used in a classroom which is composed entirely of ELL students.
The
unit is just a part of the whole; a semester course in Environmental Education
designed for ELL students.
Central
to this unit are the developmentalist and constructivist frameworks:
The developmentalist philosophy
of education is built upon the teacher’s knowledge of what students know; that
is, where each child is in his/her learning.
From the developmentalist perspective, curriculum and learning should be
inquiry based. Skills that an
individual needs will develop naturally and, as they do, individuals will form
appropriate questions to guide their learning.
This is not to say, however, that guidance and direction are not needed
or appropriate. (Wilke, 1993)
The constructivist philosophy
is also based on the idea that the learner is the director, in a sense, of
learning. The learner becomes the
problem solver and critical thinker.
