English Language Learners Strategies Incorporated
The Houston region is racially and ethnically the most diverse in the United States,
according to a report by Rice University (see
http://kinder.rice.edu/uploadedFiles/Urban_Research_Center/Media/Houston%20Regio
n%20Grows%20More%20Ethnically%20Diverse%202-13.pdf). This diversity does not
only represent a large Latino population; estimates for the number of languages in the
Houston region vary but a new initial report maps over 100 languages and estimates up
to 1000 languages. (See
http://kinder.rice.edu/uploadedFiles/Kinder_Institute_for_Urban_Research/People/Rese
arch_Fellows/Willis_White_Paper_Kinder_Fellowship_2012.pdf.) As a result,
incorporating strategies for English Language Learners (ELL) within professional
development is important for teachers within this region.
STEP team member Lisa Felske of Harris County Department of Education has
provided a variety of ELL strategies that have been incorporated into the STEP
workshops.
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Many of the activities are visual or kinesthetic, which are fundamental learning
strategies for all learners, but particularly for English Language Learners. (See
the additional documents on kinesthetic activities and on modeling activities.)
A vocabulary list and “word wall” are created for each topic; examples are
included below. Spanish cognates and terms are sometimes included. These
resources are usually created during a workshop through discussions with
participants rather than simply presented to them.
Extra time and activities are spent in helping to address common
misunderstandings that are related to confusion in vocabulary; for instance, a
bead on a pipe cleaner turned into a bracelet is used to demonstrate both
rotation and revolution, terms that are often confused, resulting in difficulties in
understanding lunar phases and seasons.
A list of Spanish cognates and false cognates (words that sound similar but with
different meanings), supplied by Felske, was shared with STEP participants and
is attached.
ELL students need opportunities to practice speaking, reading, and writing in
English in low-pressure, “safe” environments. Many of the STEP activities are
conducted in small groups, in which students work together, sharing their ideas
and analyzing data. Strategies to invite students to write short pieces to express
their thinking have also been included, such as the attached “Table Texting”
activity at the end of this document.
Seasons Misconceptions and Vocabulary
Before they can understand why we have seasons, students should know:
• That the Earth spins on its axis, causing day and night.
• That the Earth orbits the Sun.
• That the Earth takes a year to orbit the Sun.
• That the Earth’s axis is tilted 23.5 degrees.
• That countries in the northern hemisphere (like the United States) experience winter in December
and summer in June, but countries in the southern hemisphere (like Australia) experience winter
in June and summer in December.
• That the calendar year doesn’t change depending on where you are (Australia and the United
States have December at the same time and June at the same time).
Some common misconceptions: Seasons
• Students may mistakenly think Earth orbits the Sun in a day.
• Students may mistakenly believe that the seasons are caused by distance from the Sun.
• Students may mistakenly think that the Earth’s axis wobbles, alternating in pointing toward and
away from the Sun, to cause the seasons.
• Students may mistakenly think the Sun goes around the Earth, causing day and night.
• Students may mistakenly think that seasons are planet-wide (that both hemispheres experience
the same seasons at the same time).
• Students may be confused by daylight hours and mistakenly assume that daylight increases as
the summer goes by (rather than knowing that the beginning of summer, summer solstice, has
the most daylight hours).
• Students may not be aware that the Sun does not rise exactly in the East daily.
Seasons Vocabulary
English
North
East
South
West
Tilt
Axis
Rotation/Rotate
Revolution/Revolve
Hemisphere
Orbit
Path
Equinox
Solstice
Summer
Winter
Spring
Fall
Spanish
Norte
Este
Sur
Oeste
Inclinar
Eje
Rotacion/Girar
Revelucion/Girar
Hemisphereo
Orbita
Camino
Equinoccio
Solsticio
Verano
Invierno
Primavera
Otono
Lunar Phases Misconceptions and Vocabulary
Before they can understand why the Moon has phases, students should know:
• That the Earth spins on its axis, causing day and night.
• That the Moon orbits the Earth in about a month.
• That the Moon doesn’t shine like the Sun, but reflects sunlight.
• That the Moon’s orbit around the Earth is at an angle with respect to the Earth’s orbit around the
Sun (it’s inclined or tilted).
• The scale of the Earth-Moon system.
Misconceptions: Moon Phases
• Students may mistakenly believe that the Moon can only be seen at night.
• Students may mistakenly assume that the Moon makes its own light, instead of reflecting
sunlight.
• Students may mistakenly infer that the Moon’s phases are caused by the Earth’s shadow.
• Students often mistakenly assume that the Moon is very close to the Earth—perhaps only 3 times
Earth’s diameter in distance.
• Students may mistakenly suppose that the Moon’s phases are caused by clouds.
• Students may confuse rotation and revolution and suppose that either the Earth’s or the Moon’s
rotation causes phases.
• Students may mistakenly believe that the Moon takes one day to orbit the Earth.
• Students may mistakenly believe that the Moon orbits the Sun instead of the Earth.
• Students may believe that different countries see different lunar phases on the same day.
Lunar Phases Vocabulary
• Phase—change, repeats (students may be confused given the use of this with other scientific
phenomena)
• Rotation/rotate—spin or turn
(Spanish: Rotacion/Girar)
• Revolve—orbit or go around
(Spanish: Revelucion/Girar)
• lunar cycle—changing appearance of the Moon that repeats
• First Quarter Moon—we see the right half of the Moon
• Full Moon—we see the whole Moon
• Gibbous—a phase of the Moon that is more than half and less than full (literally, hump-backed)
• Crescent—less than half of the Moon, shaped like a banana or crescent roll
• New Moon—the phase of the Moon that we cannot see because the sunlight is on the other side
• Third Quarter Moon—we see the left half of the Moon
• Waning—getting smaller; the light is on the left side of the Moon
• Waxing—getting bigger, the light is on the right side of the Moon
• Increase—growing or getting larger
• Decrease—getting smaller, shrinking
Visual and Memory Aids
ease
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Increase: incr
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Decrease:
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Waxing: candles wax as you make them, dipping the string into the wax repeatedly); when you
wax a car, it becomes brighter
Waning: the car isn’t as bright when it’s raining
Gibbous: “gib us more”
If you draw a waxing crescent or first quarter moon, the light is on the right, and you can make a
lower case “b” from it, which stands for brighter/ bigger
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Decreas
e
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If you draw a waning crescent or third quarter moon, the light is on the left and you can make a
lower case “d” from it, which stands for dimmer, or Dewayne (rapper) (wane)
Song: When the light is on the right it’s getting bright (snap, snap); when the light is on the right
it’s getting bright (snap, snap); When the light is on the right, then the Moon is getting bright;
when the light is on the right it’s getting bright (snap, snap).
Tides Misconceptions and Vocabulary
Pre-requisite knowledge: students will need to understand phases if they are going to study spring and
neap tides.
Misconceptions: Tides
• Students without firsthand experience of tides often think that tides are the same as waves.
• Students often lack any understanding of the frequency of tides.
• Students may believe that tides are caused by the Earth’s rotation rather than by gravity.
• Students may confuse tides with tsunamis.
Tides vocabulary
• Recede—get smaller or less or pull away (a hairline can recede, and so can the ocean)
• High tide: the water level is at its highest point and will start to recede
• Low tide: the water level is at its lowest point and will start to rise
• Neap tide: the high tides aren’t as high and the low tides aren’t as low (happens during first
quarter and third quarter moon phases)
• Spring tide: the high tides are even higher than usual and the low tides are even lower than usual
(happens during full moon and new moon)
Visual and Memory Aids
• Ninety = Neap= Not so much (a neap tide occurs when the Sun and Moon are at 90 degree
angles from each other, both as seen from Earth and from above the Earth)
Sun-Earth-Moon in a straight line = stronger= spring (a spring tide occurs when the Sun, Earth, and
Moon are in a straight line, regardless of order)