Teaching Children with Special Concerns

Chapter 3

I remember when I was in grade school there were a few kids in my classes who would leave class in the middle of the school day and come back an hour or so later. I always wondered where these kids were going. I found out as I grew older that many of these students were ELL (English-Language Learner) students. They would go during the school day to get help with learning English.

Chapter 3 speaks about teachers helping English-Language Learners communicate. Many of these children have come from all over the world to the United States, and may also come from distinct areas of the United of the States and have heavy accents that makes it difficult for the students to understand the language in the region that they now reside. This is a major concern for teachers in Early Childhood Literacy programs.

Although language barriers may present problems for children in their communication with adults, children tend to overcome language barriers in many unique ways. Most students will communicate with children who speak their own language, however they do still communicate with children who may not speak their language. Chapter 3 discusses the ways that children respond to language differences. One thing that children tend to do is use gestures if another child speaks a different language. Allowing ELL students and children who are native English speakers to communicate in the classroom is a part of a critical component of helping ELL students learn English.

Cultural diversity is extremely present in schools today and should be shared among students to learn the unique differences between them and their classmates. One way to achieve this goal is to ask parents to share their culture with the class on holidays or other meaningful dates. They may also discuss their culture with their children, so that their children could share with their class. Cultural diversity is important in showing children the different places that everyone has come from, and is very closely related to ELL students.

There are four well-known types of instruction for teaching ELL students. The first is English Immersion which describes a classroom where only English is spoken. The next type is ESL (English as a Second Language). Children are taken out of the classroom by a different teacher and taught English (this is the type of instruction I noticed in the school I attended as a child). The third type of instruction is Bilingual Education which is students who learn English and another language evenly in the classroom. Primary Language is the last type of instruction for ELL students. With this type of instruction they learn in their primary language and English is gradually incorporated into their instruction. Chapter 3 includes many helpful tips and activities for teachers to use with ELL students.

Children with special concerns include gifted students which are students with an IQ of 130 or more, or who are gifted with an ability level far above the expected grade level they are in. Students with learning disabilities include students who have ADD, ADHD, dyslexia, perceptual and processing problems, and/or brain injury or disfunction,  At-risk students are students who may come from diverse backgrounds, speak a second language, have learning disabilities, physical disabilities, live in poverty, and/or live with(out) parents. Another type of student with special concerns would include students with physical impairments, such as visual or hearing impairments, communication disorders, and orthopedic impairments. All of these students will need to be addressed individually and with great care by the classroom teachers, helpers, and administrators.

Diversity is very present in schools today. Teachers must know about what they are up against. ELL students may be the bigger sector of the population in schools at this time, but other types of students must be addressed. No students should every fall through the cracks. Diversity must be addressed and looked at more than it ever has before because disabilities and learning problems are becoming more identified in this day and age than they have ever been before. Teaching emergent literacy to students has become harder than ever before and teachers teaching emergent literacy must know of all the concerns they are going to be facing.

Chapter 3 really made me examine my knowledge in the different types of students I will be teaching. I now see that all students are completely different and I will need to address many types of instruction in order to meet the needs of diversity in schools today.