ESL Notes from Mike Bowden
Weeks of April 4th to April 22nd
What Background Music Are You Using?
Rounding the Metaphorical Base to Close the Year
Analogies are a skill that your English Language Learner will be measured to exit ESL (reclassifying).
The Bridge Map is exactly what students need. This Thinking Map helps them understand the higher order relationships of the items compared.
Aaargh! Analogies!?!? Yuck!
Analogies - are they like doing combinatorial number placement puzzles?
You know, Sudoku. Love 'em or hate 'em, it's all all about the pattern.
And yes, that goes for analogies too!
ALL Your Students Will Benefit
Solving analogies taxes the brain in many ways. Students have to know the meaning
of the word. Next they will determine the relationship of the word pair on the left.
Once they have determined a possible relationship, the student will transfer that hypothesis to the single word on the right. The solution will have to follow the pattern of the beginning pair of words.
What?
It is like a casserole of reading, logical reasoning and spatial relationships.
Analogies Make My Head Hurt
Your Thinking Maps binder has several pages to demystify Bridge Maps.
During reclassification testing, students listen to verbal examples and identify the missing element. That IS a challenge!
Examples, Please
The pattern is as follows:
Cat is to Lion as Dog is to (Wolf).
Lettuce is to Salad as Yogurt is to (Smoothie).
Pencil is to Paper as Finger is to (Tablet).
Puppy is to Dog as Sapling is to (Tree).
WHEN will I do this?
Adding a Bridge Map warm up to the beginning of the day, or the return from
specials and recess is a quick and fun challenge for the last few weeks of school.
After a week you will notice your students becoming more skilled. When they begin
writing their own stems, the enthusiasm for analogies will be sealed!
Let Me See It
I am happy to demonstrate the map and the strategy to solve them with your class.
Schedule & Availability
Monday Apr 4 - Flower Mound
Tuesday Apr 5 - Forest Vista
Wednesday Apr 6 - Forest Vista; Kinder Registration
Good-bye TELPAS for the year
Thursday Apr 7 - Flower Mound; Kinder Registration
Friday Apr 8 - Forest Vista
Monday Apr 11 - Flower Mound morning,
LAS Conclave afternoon
Tuesday Apr 12 - Forest Vista - EOY OLPT Testing PK
Wednesday Apr 13 - Forest Vista - EOY OLPT Testing PK
Thursday Apr 14 - Flower Mound
Friday Apr 15 - Forest Vista - EOY OLPT
Monday Apr 18 - Flower Mound
Tuesday Apr 19 - Forest Vista
Wednesday Apr 20 - Forest Vista
Thursday Apr 21 - Flower Mound
Friday Apr 22 - Holiday
Contact Mike
Would you like to visit about strategies or ideas?
Let's set up a time to meet!
Email: bowdenm@lisd.net
Twitter: @BowdenLAS