Week 7 - Lupita

From what Mrs. Potters mentions about Lupita, it seems that she is the third type of ELL mentioned in the Freeman & Freeman article- a recent arrival with adequate schooling. Lupita speaks little to no English but has demonstrated that she is at the same cognitive level as her fellow classmates; even a little ahead, since not only did she finish the assignment given to her early but was able to help other students who could not figure out a puzzle solve theirs since she solved hers already.

While her school in Mexico may not have prepared Lupita to speak English at a native level, it did appear to give her academic content knowledge that she can apply to her learning in Mrs. Potter's classroom. And her lack of English skills is not actually spoken about by Mrs. Potter- it just says that Lupita is so quiet that she rarely is called on because of Mrs. Potter's fears about her academic skills, not just her language ability. It may be that Lupita is just very shy and needs encouragement. A third possibility is that Lupita is just not as familiar with the materials being used in the classroom on a daily basis and just needs more time and exposure to the tools in order to become comfortable with their use. While able to speak English and able to apply previously learned background knowledge to her lessons here, she just doesn't know how to express the answer using the tools given to her.

One way Mrs. Potter could modify or tailor her instruction in such a way that would benefit Lupita without getting off track for the rest of the class would be, according again to Freeman & Freeman, to provide a "challenging, theme-based curriculum".  Mrs. Potter could have topics that help Lupita not only learn and practice her English, but as something that could connect with Lupita's background and previous knowledge, to scaffold what she already knows to new information, thus building Lupita's skills and confidence in what she knows. Freeman & Freeman also mentioned letting the student occasionally play the role of "informal expert" to help increase confidence.

Brietfelder's article also mentioned a couple of ways Mrs. Potter could enhance her lessons to help Lupita out. One way would be to include more visual supports. This way, it helps Lupita process language better and become a better English speaker and reader. (That is, if that is what Lupita is struggling with.)

Lastly, I think one of the best ways Mrs. Potter could help Lupita would be to do something where she wouldn't even have to change her curriculum for. I think if Mrs. Potter just called on Lupita more often, and was patient and gave her a chance to answer questions, and to be rewarded verbally or otherwise when getting the right answer, may help to increase Lupita's confidence and therefore her willingness to participate in lessons and raise her hand more often.