Providing Support for Non-Native Learners of English in the Social Studies Classroom: Integrating Verbal Interactive Activities and Technology
n a junior high school social studies I classroom in the midwestern part of the United States, Ms. Veatch’s eighth graders are starting work on a Civil War unit. Ms. Veatch assigns small groups of students to explore different aspects of the time period-dress, life style, economy, political issues-by doing research and presenting a report to the rest of the class. Through their collaborative work, students understand the context for the Civil War before they study it in depth. As is common in classrooms throughout the United States, Ms. Veatch’s class of twenty-seven students has students whose native language is not English and who are at different levels of English proficiency. Enaam, a recent arrival from Iraq, receives instruction from the ESL teacher three times each week in forty-five minute periods. The other three students, who are from Mexico, Colombia, and Guatemala, have passed