Can Addressing Language Skills for Fifth Grade ELLs in a Multiplication Curriculum Help Address the Achievement Gap in Math? A Multiplication Workbook for Big Kids

<p>Currently, the state of California has 1,332,405 students from grades k-12 who speak a language other than English at home (Caledfacts, 2016). When I started my first year teaching fifth grade with 95% of my students being English language learners (ELLs), I was surprised to see an achievement gap of two to three years in my student’s reading and math skills. I found that my student’s developmental language and math skills contributed to a lack of engagement during math time. Upon further research, I found that these three factors play a role in the wide achievement gaps between ELLs and Native English speakers: 1) developmental English Language skills (Soto-Hinman, 2012) and 2) developmental math skills (Starkey, Aber, and Johnston 2016), both of which result in 3) a lack of student engagement in math (Attard, 2014). This field project is a multiplication review workbook for students which consists of 39 pages with six engaging lessons. The workbook allows students to develop language skills to help them understand the concept of multiplication. The workbook is comprised of six lessons that focus on the key components of multiplying: repeated addition, equal groups, make and array, use a number line, 1 digit by 1 digit and 2 digit by 1 digit. Each lesson integrates an overview of a vocabulary word which is the concept of the lesson. Students will be able to practice their oral language development as they deepen their understanding of essential math content.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)

Level thesis:degree_level

Project/Capstone - Global access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Teaching English as a Second Language

Year dc:date.available

2017

Author dc:creator

• Douglas, Michelle

Contributors dc:contributor

• Dr. Sedique Popal
• Dr. Luz Navarrette

• English Language Learner
• Math Skills
• Language Skills
• Engagement Strategies
• Cooperative Learning
• Accountable Talk
• Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education
• Curriculum and Instruction
• Educational Methods
• Elementary Education
• Elementary Education and Teaching
• Language and Literacy Education
• Other Mathematics
• Reading and Language
• Science and Mathematics Education

Repository record dc:identifier

https://repository.usfca.edu/capstone/642

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.usfca.edu:capstone-1673