This morning, I had the chance to work with my ELL buddies, Mr. A and Miss R, on a chemistry concept: The difference between a chemical change and a physical change. Fortunately, Miss R. is on a higher level of English language profficiency than Mr. A, and the English/Spanish translations that were going on were extremely helpful. To begin with, I handed them a text (their teacher provided), which explained the differences between a chemical and a physical change. I made sure to give them explicit instruction about what we were going to do during our meeting: Each one of us is going to read a paragraph aloud and paraphrase it using simple English, Spanish, or drawing. Mr. A started by reading the first paragraph: COMBUSTION!

   As I previously mentioned, Mr. A is a ”novice” ELL student. He still cannot express himself in English; in addition, his reading comprehension performance is on the “frustrational’ level, especially when it comes to scientific terms. I intended to ask him some questions in order to focus his attention on the key words of the text: “What does chemical reaction means? What is combustion? What do we mean by combing elements? What is substance identity?” I asked him to underline these terms, and I asked Miss R. to translate some words to him like: candle, wax, smoke, heat, energy, light etc… Ok, now Mr. A understands the concept, he says, but as a teacher, how do I know that, and when do I move on to the next concept? I gave each one of my buddies an empty piece of paper and asked them to write or draw an example of a physical change. Miss R. wrote a paragraph about boiling water, and Mr. a drew a thorough diagram about gold recycling. Each one of them translated their learning process in a different language, but they showed me the same level of comprehension. But the question is: Does Mr. A’s teacher accept diagrams on her tests? Does the TAKS exam give Mr. A the chance to express his knowledge using diagrams? NO.

     In reflection, my meeting with the buddies was pretty productive. They were able to read, learn new concepts, and apply what they learned in different ways. Obviously, Mr. A needs extra support from his ELL teacher, other teachers, and peers to gain essencial English language skills he still lacks, like reading comprehension and speaking skills.