Language Development Among Children of Linguistic Diversity * 61 Among these families, Hart and Risley (1995) identified five quality features in parents' language interactions with their children: 1. Language diversity. This is the variation and number of nouns and modifiers used by the parents. 2. Feedback tone. This is the positive feedback given to children's participation in an interaction. 3. Symbolic emphasis. This is the emphasis placed on focusing on names and associated relations of the concepts and the recall of those symbols. 4. Guidance style. This is parental interaction that uses asking rather than demanding in eliciting specific behavior from the child. 5. Responsiveness. This is parental responsiveness to requests or questions initiated by children.

Ono of the perspectives rosearche<l I.hen was tho verbal-deficit perspective. This perspective contended that anyone who did not use standard English did not have a valid language and thus was verbally deficient.

i is important to 1111cl<Jrsla11d lm-;ic roncopts of linguistic divorsily and second language

Since the story was supported by detailed illustrations. Ms. Harper was able to engage Maria in a conversation (in English) about the story events. When the other Spanish-speaking children in the room heard their teacher reading in Spanish, they came over to join in the story sharing.

Children may develop the ability to use multiple dialects as they interact at home, in the larger community, and informally with peers. Children who are more linguistically flexible and can use more than one dialect will be able lo communicate effectively in a wide variety of settings and interactions.

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For example, when they are pretending to be a clerk in a grocery store, or a doctor, or a teacher, they will use language in a way that reflects that role.

In immersion programs, children are grouped according lo their first language. Teachers in immersion classrooms must have fluency in both languages.

Successful ESL programs provide frequent opportunities for peer interactions (Fassler, 2003).

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Create a Positive Classroom Environment --------------~

Learning basic greetings and expressions in a variety of languages and dialects. Ask speakers of those languages in your classroom to help you with the articulation and inflection.

This approach acknowledges and emphasizes the value and need for fluency and com· potency in using both the first language and English

Ono of tho major ways that you cnn focilitalo lhe dovolopment of linguistic diver-sily is hy creating a classroom onvironmenl that acknowledges, vnluos, and crnhancos lhat divorsily.

<;ognilivc academic language prolicicncy (CAL

The rationale for this approach relies on the assumption that second language learners will gradually acquire English through participating in an English-only environment

A second language learner must· consider this difference when using English because English morphology has a dif-ferent system for indicating subject-verb agreement

These children develop bidinlectism,

Slandard American English (SAE) is often referred lo as the "most correct" form of language used in I he Unilecl Stales and is the form of l,mguage considered appropriate in corporate, business. government, and formal educalional settings.

Transitional bilingual education/I'BE has as its goal the gradual transition from tho student's first language to English. This approach is used in self-contained classrooms where children are taught by a teacher who is fluent in both languages.

Gullah began as a pidgin language used among the slaves, who were brought to that coastal area from many different tribes along the western coast of Africa, and the plantation owners.

Some programs focus only on students' acquisition of English to enhance and facilitate their success in educational settings;

Thus, when these children experience recitational questions in a school setting, they may be confused as to the purpose of the ques· tioning and the expected response.

In contrast, the language used in teaching a science lesson at school on the structure of plants may describe the same infor-mation out of context and be focused on learning lesson-specific facts from an oral lecture. In addition, the role of questioner will differ.

Research on past programs has docu· mcmtcd lhc critical impact of such programs on family culture and communication.

The social setting In which English language leamers Interact with speakers of the target (new) language Is an important factor in second language acquisition.

Ago is a significnnt factor in second ln11guagn acquisi-1 ion.

Codeswitching is distinguished from code mixing and language interference by the speaker's apparently conscious and deliberate use of two languages within the same sentence or from one sentence to another

Children acquiring two languages prior lo age 3 is termed simultaneous bilin-gualism (Baker, 1996; Goodz, 1994).

In some settings, "no problem" has replaced the use of "you're welcome"-

It is also important for teachers and parents to acknowl-edge the importance for children to develop the linguistic flexibility to be able to comprehend and use not only the dialect used at home and in their immediate com-munities but to also understand the form of English used in other social settings (Delpit, 1995).

Slandard American English (SAE) is often referred lo as the "most correct" form of language used in I he Unilecl Stales and is the form of l,mguage considered appropriate in corporate, business. government, and formal educalional settings.

She found differences in communication in working-class black and white families as well as among middle-class townspeople of both ethnic groups

The U.S. educational community is now more aware of the benefits of bilingualism. In the past, especially prior to 1960, bilingualism was thought to be an educational handicap. It was believed that children could not learn a second language while still maintaining and refining their first language. Thus, children were strongly discouraged from speaking their first language and in many instances were made to feel ashamed of speaking a different language than English {Cummins, 1995).

Differences are simply clifferoncos. not deficiencies of language.

Classroom teachers play a critical role in encouraging students to acquire academic English (Wong Fillmore, 1999). Throughout the early childhood years, developmentally appropriate language activities can gradually foster children's awareness of the lan-guage forms used in school settings.

hey are not encouraged to initiate conversa-tions with adults or to join spontaneously in ongoing adult conversations.

Children's language competencies influence their educational opportunities and achievements. Educational activities involve specific types of communication and interaction. To be successful in aca-demic settings, children must learn how to communicate effectively in those set-tings.

In many classrooms. teachers will not ho multilingual or roprosont diverse c.ulturns, nor will thoy have rccoived any special professional preparation lo work with linguislic diversily

The recognition of tho validity and authenticity of language variations within different cultures and communicative interactions came as the result of linguistic; research in the 1910s and 1980s. Ono of the perspectives rosearche<l I.hen was tho verbal-deficit perspective. This perspective contended that anyone who did not use standard English did not have a valid language and thus was verbally deficient. Researchers explored how language was usod in different social settings and doc-umented the varied ways in which language differed with respect to vocabulary, phonological features, grammar, morphemic features, and pragmatic use (Bereiter & Englemann, 1966; Bernstein. 1971; Labov, 1979: Tough. 1977; Winch, 1990). This research provided a basis for recognizing that different ways of communicating and varied use of dialects do not indicate that a person is deficient in language.

In some cultural settings, children are not asked recitational questions. Instead, they are asked only questions of clari-fication or for new information. Thus, when these children experience recitational questions in a school setting, they may be confused as to the purpose of the ques· tioning and the expected response. Further cultural differences in how language is used in educational settings have been documented by Tharp (1994). These differ-ences include variations in how stories are told, the wait time given by teachers to students during questioning sequences, the rhythmic patterns of the verbal interac-tions, and the patterns of conversational turn taking.

For example, a child mighl use the vocabulary or syntac-tic structure of one language when attempting to communicate in the olher language.

As a result, their stories might be assumed to be indicative of lower academic ability and language competency, when, in fact, a complex process of dis-tinguishing between the various aspects of each language is occurring.

In some locales in the United States, a drinking fountain is referred to as a bubbler.

ii is also important for you lo acknowledge the value of their other language compotoncies that will contribute lo their effective communication in fam-ily and community settings

Children may be expected, and thus taught, to speak only when an adult addresses them. They are not encouraged to initiate conversa-tions with adults or to join spontaneously in ongoing adult conversations. In addi-tion, in some cultures, children who enthusiastically volunteer answers at school are considered show-offs

when children speak or write in their home/community dialect or a specific register, they are not mak-ing "errors" in English but are simply using a different form of language. Similarly, second language learners may transfer a grammatical pattern of their home language when speaking or writing English. This does not mean that children must unlearn their home language, dialect, or register, and use only academic English; instead, it means teachers must provide opportunities for children to develop linguistic flexibil-ity, "choosing the language variety appropriate to the specific time, place, audience, and communicative purpose"

Students who have a home language (L1) other than English are faced with the chal-lenge of learning a new or target language (L2) that has different features from their home language. The syntactic, semantic, morphemic, phonetic, and pragmatic aspects of the two languages may be significantly different

Children may be expected, and thus taught, to speak only when an adult addresses them. They are not encouraged to initiate conversa-tions with adults or to join spontaneously in ongoing adult conversations. In addi-tion, in some cultures, children who enthusiastically volunteer answers at school are considered show-offs

Tho Sapir-Whorf hypothesis staled that lho way wn think and viow tho world is dotorminnd by our languago (Anderson & Lightfoot. 2002; Crystal. HlD7; flayes, Omstnin, & Gago, HlB7). fnslances of c:ul-llll'al difforoncns in la11guagu uso am oviclont in languages having specific words for concopls and othm languagos using several words lo roprosont those concepts.

The teacher may not be bilingual and may not have received any special training.

From these teachers' attitudes, further negative assump-tions developed into low achievement expectations for BE speakers, which then became a self-fulfilling prophecy

Findings from their longitudinal study docu· monl the significance of "talkativeness" in families in influencing languago development rather than the family's socioeconomic status or ethnic group iden-tity. Differences in language use were attributed to the complex family culture-not simply to socioeconomic status or ethnic group identity.

Differences are simply clifferoncos. not deficiencies of language.

wait time given by teachers to students during questioning sequences,

socialization mismatch hypothesis. This hypoth-esis "predicts that children are more likely to succeed in school when the home language and literacy socialization patterns are similar to those that are used and valued in school"

At home, the child is often the questioner: at school, the teacher often serves as the primary questioner.

Instead, teachers should acknowledge and value the linguistic diversity that children bring to the classroom.

Students' first languages are not a consideration, nor are their languages used in any aspect of classroom instruction. Teachers in ESL programs may not have any knowledge of, or fluency in, students' respective first languages.

Children who experience this approach to bilingual education develop authentic bilingualism. They are equally able to use both languages for purposes of learning and in their social environments. Thus, developmontal bilingual education is an example of "additive bilingualism."

This approach does not consider the value of children's first language to their family culture or to the larger society's culture. In this way, transitional bilingual education may actuaJly result in "subtractive bilingualism."

1. Embedding lhe tmgot lnnguago in context through piclurns, realin. and movomont 2. Modifying their spooch to students by using a slower rule and loss complex language :1. Organizing o curriculum not basod on grammatical strnctmo but based on language-rich uctivitios, such ns games, problem solving, nnd experiments 4. Encouraging but not forcing children to spook 5. Postponing tho explicit, formal study of a language's grummar until much lator thun usual (high school)

ol only do children learn language with morn oa.se than adults,

he acquisition of a second language will follow the same sequence as development of the first language, with receptive and expressive knowledge of the oral language developing first, followed by knowledge of the written language:

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Children learn how to use language for specific purposes in specific settings as they experience different situations in their preschool and elementary school years. This is part of their pragmatic knowledge of language

ll dialects are characterized by distinct system· alic features wilh respect lo the five aspects of language knowledge: phonological, semantic, synlnctic, morphemic, and pragmatic

two common goals for all children: success at school and propnralion for successful living.

throe distinct types of linguistic diversity: differences in dialect, differences in registers, and differences in language.

provided a basis for recognizing that different ways of communicating and varied use of dialects do not indicate that a person is deficient in language.

Differences are simply clifferoncos. not deficiencies of language.

Further cultural differences in how language is used in educational settings have been documented by Tharp (1994). These differ-ences include variations in how stories are told, the wait time given by teachers to students during questioning sequences, the rhythmic patterns of the verbal interac-tions, and the patterns of conversational turn taking

language to rollect rnltmo

Pidgin language use decreases and may even disappear when one group learns the language of the other or if the original reason for communicating, such as trading or selling goods, has ceased. In some situations, the pidgin develops into a creole language. This occurs when a pidgin language has been used across two generations, so that the children of the initial speakers of the pidgin learn or acquire the new language as their "mother tongue."

When adult responses to children were contingent and focused on tho meaningful content of the interaction, there was a positive relationship with infants' use of vocabulary as toddlers

An important factor in early social interac-tions is the responsiveness of adults lo an infant's behaviors (nonverbal and verbal)

Telegraphic speech is defined as the child's use of two or three content words in an utterance, with no function words, such as conjunctions, articles, prepositions, and inflections

This is further evi-dence of mothers' sensitivity to their children's linguistic competencies and zones of proximal development.

Research suggests that children's sensitivity lo the way in which words are ordered in language (i.e., syntax) also affects semantic development (Gleitman & Gilelte, 1999). For example, verbs occupy a systematic or set place in English phrases and sentences. Children appear to perceive this "special place" as indicating that words used in this manner indicate actions and not o

Al times, children appear to learn some words quickly with only a few expo-sures and without specific feedback reinforcement. This is known as fast map-ping

ccording to Reich (1986), idiomorphs develop from four different sources: (a) straining sounds that accom-pany gestures of need; (b) imitation of environmental sounds such as those made by keys, motors, and animals; (c) self-imitation sounds that occur naturally and then are repeated when a certain outcome is desired, such as "Achoo" meaning "I need a handkerchief"; and (d) imitation of adult speech.

Somnntic development, then, first occurs in an infant's understanding of others' words and actions and object associations.

This pairing between a word and its referent has also been described as a mapping of the language onto the object or specific meaning

Direct experiences occur from birth on, as infants experience objects and events in their world as a direct participant-touching, tasting, smelling, seeing, and hearing.

Early childhood teachers and caregivers need to be aware of the characteristics and significance of this illness so that they may assist parents in safeguarding the health and development of young children.

Early picture book experiences appear to stimulate a child's awareness of the sounds of language and to develop an association between the sounds of language and illustrations in books. This association is the beginning of a child's emergent literacy,

peech requires coordination of the vocal tracl, including the larynx, glottis, hard and soft palate, jaw. lips, and tongue.

As early as 4 days after birth, infants seem "to prefer to listen to their mother tongue over certain other languages," though they do not respond differently to other unfamiliar languages (Karmiloff & Karmiloff-Smith, 2001, p. 44). This indicates a biological readiness to perceive and process the sounds of language

lfocoptivc> language knowledge of tho sounds of a language begins to develop as lho infant hoars lho :;pooch of others around him (

For phonological knowl-edge, the time from birth up to about age 10 is the optimum time for development.

These include verbal mapping, child-directed speech, linguistic scaffolding, and questioning.

When adult responses to children were contingent and focused on tho meaningful content of the interaction, there was a positive relationship with infants' use of vocabulary as toddlers

This assumption initiates and sustains communicative interaction between infants and their families and other car· egivers. Tho ways in which parents and caregivers direct young children's allention to ongoing events and the moaning of those events also has an important role in lan-guage development

interaction pallerns that enhance language dovolopmenl: eyo conlact/shared reference and communication loops.

turn taking, eye contact/shared reference, and verbal mapping.

Concept labels (i.e .• words) and schemata are culture and language specific .

This pairing between a word and its referent has also been described as a mapping of the language onto the object or specific meaning

As children process this information cognitively, they develop ways of categorizing these stimuli into abstract conceptual group-ings, or schemata.

infant's parents and caregivers interpret and respond lo the infant's crying

this may affect a child's ability to recognize and distinguish between phonological charac-teristics essential for learning to speak and understand language

Early childhood teachers and caregivers need to be aware of the characteristics and significance of this illness so that they may assist parents in safeguarding the health and development of young children.

picture book sharing stimulates auditory perception and phonological awareness related to spoken and written language

supportive scaffolding

Language Development of Infants and Toddlers * 127 (Owens, 1988). order toddlers introduce or change the topic of conversation. In addition, toddlers may use some attention-getting words and gestures (Owens, 1988). Gestures are used to increase the semantic content of what is said; however, as children's productive vocabulary increases during toddlerhood, they begin to rely less on gestures and gesture less during conversations. Toddlers' pragmatic knowledge and emergent literacy. In literate cul lures where children interact with print and texts, their behaviors may indicate that they are becoming aware of certain ways in which written language is used to communicate intent or purpose

Language Development of Infants and Toddlers *~ 121 For example, in the sentence, "The girl was riding her bike when it broke," both her and it are pronouns that refer to nouns. We can identify the referent for her because the noun girl precedes the pronoun; likewise for it, which was preceded by bike. When children learn to use pronouns, they learn how to identify or indicate the appropriate referent in the utterance or sentence by using both syntactic and semantic information. The acquisition of pronouns begins during the toddler years and extends through preschool {Owens, 2001). This long period of acquisition reflects the complexity of pronoun use. Children need to learn that the form of a pronoun must reflect the syntactic position within the utterance. For example, one form of a pronoun may indicate the subject of an utterance {I, he, she), while a different form is used to refer to the utterance's object {him, her, me). The acquisition of the pronouns I and you is particularly complex for toddlers because the use of these pronouns depends on the role of the listener {you} and speaker {I) (Owens, 2001; Warren & McCloskey, 1997). In a conversation, the roles of speaker and listener are constantly changing, so the referents for I and you are also constantly changing. Further, it is difficult for an adult to model the appropriate use of I and you ·without adding to the confusion. This confusion may explain why parents and other adults use labels like Daddy's or baby's instead of my or your for objects. For example, a father might tell his son, "Daddy's going to work" rather than saying, "I'm going to work" or "This is Daddy's hat" instead of "This is my hat." Gradually, toddlers learn to use the I and you pronouns appropriately: however, it is important for early childhood teachers to be aware of the initial confusion toddlers experience in acquiring these pronouns. Toddlers are also learning to use the pronouns "I" and "me." They may appear to use both forms to indicate the "agent" position (utterance subject position). For example, saying "Me want dat" on some occasions and at other times saying "I want dat." Even though a toddler has heard others say, "Ready or not, here I come" when playing hide and seek, the toddler may say, "Ready or not, here me come" when it is her turn to look for her playmate. Toddlers are also gradually acquiring the use of the reflexive pronouns such as myself, himself, and herself. In acquiring reflexive pronouns, toddlers may use their knowledge of the possessive pronoun to then form the reflexive pronoun (Otto, 2012). For example, a toddler who has used "his" to refer to someone's possession (e.g., his hat) may use "hisselP' instead of "himself." For example, "He got down there all by hisself." Emergent literacy and syntactic knowledge. When toddlers participate in sto• rybook activities with adults, they are exposed, to more complex sentence struc-ture than in everyday conversations.

Selective reinforcement occurs whon children are encour-aged lo produce and ropoal the sounds that are appropriate and necessary for their home language,

While direct experiences have a greater impact on concept development, both direct and vicarious experiences make valuable contributions to concept development.

When meaning is attached to words or sequences of speech sounds, young children begin to develop semantic knowledge.

Early childhood teachers and caregivers need to be aware of the characteristics and significance of this illness so that they may assist parents in safeguarding the health and development of young children.

"lhal lho capacity for basic Janguago dovolopment is 'wirocl' into the analomical slruclurc of lho brain" (p. 29)

t is only through interaction in lhe environment that language is acquired.

In acquiring language, an infanl musl first begin to "sort 0111" tho spooch sounds lha1 arc usocl by othors in his nnvironmont

it is important to keep in mind that each aspect of language knowledge does not develop in isolation from,the other four aspects; instead, their development is interrelated.

Tho ways in which parents and caregivers direct young children's allention to ongoing events and the moaning of those events also has an important role in lan-guage development

An important factor in early social interac-tions is the responsiveness of adults lo an infant's behaviors

According lo Bruner (1990), "language is acquired not in the role of spectator but through use. Being 'exposed' to a flow of language is not nearly so important as 'using it' while 'doing'

Receptive language develops first and pro-vides a basis for later expressive language.

Infants' continued parlicipation in eye conlacl/shared reference and commu-nication loops is crilical lo Inter language development and social interaction.

within this social envi-ronment that language development begins.

esearch on chit d rcn 's percepl ion of speech and lhe dovolopmonl of lhP auditory syslem in utoro has dolorminod lhal lho fetus can perceive sounds beginning wil h I ho 251 h wook of gestation (do Doysson-Dardios, HJ99). At 35 woo ks' gostatiou. a folus's hearing acuity is al a Jovel similar to an adult's.

wo key interaction pallerns that enhance language dovolopmenl: eyo conlact/shared reference and communication loops. After ostablishing eye contact with her newborn son, Miriam created a communication loop by speaking, listening, and then responding to her newborn's nonverbal behavior. This process of gelling an infant's attention and main-taining that attontion is critical lo creating a setting in which linguistic exchanges can occur

and court battles over the teaching of evolution (Pennock, 2001) demonstrate, issues relating to curriculum content can be areas of significant contention and disagreement.

teachers should understand the deeper knowledge fundamentals of the disciplines in which they teach.

It is, thus, not surprising that they do not consider themselves sufficiently prepared to use technology in the classroom and often do not appreciate its value or relevance to teaching and learning.

On an academic level, it is easy to argue that a pencil and a software simulation are both technologies

Technological pedagogical content knowledge is an understanding that emerges from interactions among content, pedagogy, and technology knowledge.

TPK requires a forward-looking, creative, and open-minded seeking of technology use, not for its own sake but for the sake of advancing student learning and understanding.

Teachers need to understand which specific technologies are best suited for addressing subject-matter learning in their domains and how the content dictates or perhaps even changes the technology—or vice versa.

Acquiring TK in this manner enables a person to accomplish a variety of different tasks using information technology and to develop different ways of accomplishing a given task.

PCK is consistent with and similar to Shulman’s idea of knowledge of pedagogy that is applicable to the teaching of specific content.

Pedagogical knowledge (PK) is teachers’ deep knowledge about the processes and practices or methods of teaching and learning.

Knowledge and the nature of inquiry differ greatly between fields, and teachers should understand the deeper knowledge fundamentals of the disciplines in which they teach.

there are three main components of teachers’ knowledge: content, pedagogy, and technology. Equally important to the model are the interactions between and among these bodies of knowledge,

There is no “one best way” to integrate technology into curriculum.

not surprising that they do not consider themselves sufficiently prepared to use technology in the classroom and often do not appreciate its value or relevance to teaching and learning.

Over time, these technologies achieve a transparency of perception (Bruce & Hogan, 1998); they become commonplace and, in most cases, are not even considered to be technologies.

effective teaching depends on flexible access to rich, well-organized and integrated knowledge from different domains

The TPACK framework for teacher knowledge is described in detail, as a complex interaction among three bodies of knowledge: Content, pedagogy, and technology. The interaction of these bodies of knowledge, both theoretically and in practice, produces the types of flexible knowledge needed to successfully integrate technology use into teaching.

teacher knowledge for technology integration called technological pedagogical content knowledge

But in today’s networked world, there’s no reason why all children should not have the opportunity to pursue connected learning.

The culture clash between formal education and interest-driven, out-of-school learning is escalating in today’s world where social communication and interactive content is always at our fingertips.

Traditional education is failing to engage many students as they enter their middle school, high school, and college years.

Young people learn best when actively engaged, creating, and solving problems they care about, and supported by peers who appreciate and recognize their accomplishments.

The perfor-mance tasks ask students to apply their learning to a new and authentic situation as means of assessing their understand-ing and ability to transfer their learning.

Bloom’s Taxonomy

oo often, teaching focuses primarily on presenting information or modeling basic skills for acquisition without extending the lessons to help students make meaning or trans-fer the learning.

Acquisition of content is a means, in the service of meaning making and transfer.

They focus on ensuring that learning happens, not just teaching (and assuming that what was taught was learned); they always aim and check for successful meaning making and transfer by the learner.

think purposefully about curricular plan-ning.

Managing and maintaining the privacy and security of your digital identity through behaviors and digital tool settings.

Learning through making involves constructing new content.

Using questions and keywords to find the information you need.

Good online readers know the tools and strategies that can be used to search for and locate people, resources, and information.

Approachable and accessible to diverse audiences and their needs. The map needs to be written in a language that is easy to understand, and relevant—why do web literacy skills matter to them. Applicable to interest and/or expertise. The map needs to connect to curriculum, credentials, professional development, and other resources to teach people the skills they need to engage online and offline.

Developing and presenting effective messages, and contributing to groups through appropriate interactions and active listening.

college and career readiness, and workforce development

Writing on the web enables one to build and create content to make meaning

critical thinking, collaboration, problem solving, creativity, communication

coach students in using rubrics or other sets of criteria to critique one another's work.

After their discussion about encounters with pollution, in addition to choosing a driving question, Ms. McIntyre's students as a whole class generated a list of more detailed questions about diseases

Collaboration was central to the project. Students formed teams of three or four and began planning what tasks they would do and how they would work together.

initiates questioning

tudents shared their experiences with suspicious water quality, discussed times when beaches had been closed and why, and talked about how much pollution bothered them.

First, students must perceive the work as personally meaningful, as a task that matters and that they want to do well. Second, a meaningful project fulfills an educational purpose.

coach s

discussion

that distinguishes projects from busywork.

eaching is a means to an end. Having a clear goal helps us as educators to focus our planning and guide purposeful action toward the intended results.

Authentic learning experiences shift a student from the role of a passive knowledge receiver into a more active role as a constructor of meaning.

What would we accept as evidence that students have attained the desired understandings and proficiencies—before proceeding to plan teaching and learning experiences? Many teachers who have adopted this design approach report that the process of "thinking like an assessor" about evidence of learning not only helps them to clarify their goals but also results in a more sharply defined teaching and learning target, so that students perform better knowing their goal.

We are advocating the reverse: One starts with the end—the desired results (goals or standards)—and then derives the curriculum from the evidence of learning (performances) called for by the standard and the teaching needed to equip students to perform.

the ability to regurgitate information is no longer valued the way it once was.

A PBL project might ask students to educate their peers on the best ways to prevent the spread of viruses in school.

In the process of solving the problem, students also meet required standards, but this work is integrated into the project, not separate from it.

qualities like the ability to work on a team, problem-solving skills, written and verbal communication skills, and initiative

the project is often hypothetical—students know it’s still a school assignment,

In the process of solving the problem, students also meet required standards, but this work is integrated into the project,

students rarely see its relevance.

With project based learning, the content is baked inside of a long-term project, a real-world problem students need to solve in a creative and authentic way. In the process of solving the problem, students also meet required standards, but this work is integrated into the project, not separate from it.

These inquiry-based teaching methods engage students in creating, questioning, and revising knowledge, while developing their skills in critical thinking, collaboration, communication, reasoning, synthesis, and resilience

students learning knowledge to tackle realistic problems as they would be solved in the real world increased student control over his or her learning teachers serving as coaches and facilitators of inquiry and reflection students (usually, but not always) working in pairs or groups

project-based learning (PBL) can increase retention of content

The approach that I think is more effective with teachers is: “you’re trying to do Y- and here’s how X can make you more efficient or effective (through increased access, better organization, more automation, etc.)”. That way, the focus for professional development starts with good teaching practices- rather than starting with the tool.

this approach not only isolates the tool from instruction, but it also seems to suggest that teachers are using lower level teaching strategies before using “technology”

TPACK looks at the collaboration between technology, pedagogy, and content and argues that teachers need knowledge of all three. I agree with this statement, but I don’t agree with how this framework is presented. Take a look at the graphic to the right- it shows all three concepts represented in circles of equal size. I think this sends the wrong message; knowledge of content is less important than knowledge of pedagogy (even more so now because of how accessible information is) and there is even evidence that shows that too much knowledge of content can actually lessen a teacher’s ability to properly scaffold learning for students. Same goes for technology- it doesn’t deserve equal weight for the knowledge a teacher needs.

a three-stage "backward planning" curriculum design process anchored by a unit design template a set of design standards with attendant rubrics and a comprehensive training package to help teachers design, edit, critique, peer- review, share, and improve their lessons and assessments

UbD™ works within the standards-driven curriculum to help teachers clarify learning goals, devise revealing assessments of student understanding, and craft effective and engaging learning activities.

"They're learning to be more proactive; they're learning how to depend on their peers. When they go off to college, they already know how to work with people and draw out their strengths."

In English classes, students are encouraged to share and to listen to each other's individual interpretations of the text, underscoring the notion that there can be multiple right answers

they have to focus on the mathematical process and not just the “right answer.”

teachers must be willing to “cede the floor” to the students. Other things to consider are the need to create an effective classroom geography, focus on the process, build accountability, let students teach one another, and encourage students to be in tune with one another.

hypothesis testing. Children test their hypotheses or sets of assumptions of how language is spoken, arliculnted, used, and manipulated.

Steven Pinker (1994) conlended that language is an instinct, not simply a cultural invention: "Language is a biological adaptation lo communicate information ... language is the product of a well-engineered biologi-cal instinct"

universal grammar, as "the system of principles, conditions, and rules that are elements or properties of all human languages"

nativist and the cognitive dovelopmentalisl perspectives emphasize the contributions of "nature," whereas tho behaviorist and interaclionist perspectives focus more on the contributions of "nurture."

nativisl, cognitive developmental, behaviorist, and interactionisl.

These perspectives have varied in the ways they believe nature and nurture influence language developmonl.

Researchers have determined that technology integration typically moves through specific levels. The higher the level of an activity the greater the educational benefit.

The key to successful technology integration is the efficient use of digital tools tools that are appropriate for the task.  Technology provides us all with the ability to develop our own toolkit of flexible resources for use when needed.

The key to successful technology integration is the efficient use of digital tools tools that are appropriate for the task