LESSON PLAN SETTING AND STRATEGY

The English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) classes at our public middle represent a
suburban community with a linguistically diverse group of English Language Learners (ELL).
This lesson is situated in an 8th grade sheltered social studies instruction class. Students are
identified for possible inclusion in ESOL through enrollment information. The majority of the
students in the class are not native born in the United States. As a result, they lack foundation
knowledge of United States history. This goal of this lesson is to provide this critical
sociocultural knowledge.
The language screening tool is the WIDA-ACCESS Placement Test (W-APT). This
assessment device determines student eligibility for the program. W-APT assesses the four
language domains of language; listening, speaking, reading and writing, to determine English
proficiency in each area. The students in the class range between levels two and three on the
WIDA scale of language proficiency. The students scores tend to be on a higher range for
receptive and oral language and lower for reading and writing.
The ESOL classes follow the sheltered (or pull-out) model whereby students are provided 45
minutes per day of specialized ESOL instruction in social studies. Outside of ESOL instruction
the ESOL teachers work with content teachers to build strategies and accommodation
plans. Educators base these plans on the W-APT scores, ESOL assessments and overall
academic performance.
The pedagogical approach of this lesson is based on the constructivist theory of Lev
Vygotsky. Constructivism is a theory of learning stating that learners construct new ideas or
concepts based upon their current/past knowledge (Retrieved from http://5es-in-lesson-

planning.wikispaces.com/_br). Under this framework, the design of the lesson will be learnercentered. According to Vygotsky, students learn best when they are within their zone of
proximal development. When teaching concepts that are outside this zone, the teacher must
scaffold the lesson and provide ample support to the students. The educator will provide
sufficient scaffold to help students increase their knowledge of the subject. Students will be
allowed autonomy, encouraged to talk among themselves to support oral English fluency. There
is a building of concepts in the lesson from day-to-day. This successive accumulation of
knowledge helps the student retrieve and build on the concepts each day for deeper learning.
In addition to Vygotsky, Paulo Freires Critical Literacy approach will also be used to stimulate
and enhance the learning process. The reading materials presented to the students will present
the content, but more importantly they will provoke thoughtful criticism. Using Freires circles
of cultures", students will be required to share their reflections, which are will based on a
thorough review of course materials. The circles of culture technique is a way to engage
students in a dialogue. ELLs need ample opportunity to engage in dialogue in the classroom
because it helps develop their academic language and basic communicative skills.
According to Freire (1993), teachers should encourage students not to accept things at face value
and to read through a critical lens. The purpose of this reading strategy is to encourage higher
ordered thinking, which directly aligns with the rationale for this unit. In terms of todays
classroom this approach can be used to introduce students to multiple viewpoints, promote social
justice, dismantle stereotypes and examine socio-political issues (Norris, Lucas and Prudhoe,
2012). This unit is designed to expose students to all of the previous listed critical review
strategies while simultaneously meeting content and language goals.

The educators of this American Revolution unit employ several purposeful megastrategies within
the lesson plan. Strategy based instruction has emerged in recent years in the teaching profession
as a touted tool for its powerful ability to support student learning. To achieve this there are
several graphic organizers used in the lesson plan to provide a cognitive framework to help
students understand and visualize the concepts presented. During the lesson educators are
encouraged to make the strategies explicit and guide students through application and use until
the learners have evidenced competency.
Finally, the lesson plan is based on the SIOP model. The SIOP model research-based is an
empirically based approach to building lessons specifically for the sheltered ESOL history-social
studies classroom. The book offers a systematic process for teaching history-social studies and
academic content and language to English learners as well as strategies for implementing the
standards.