Vocabulary Murals

I have a lot of former English Language Learners (ELLs) in my classes. Even though they are not necessarily classified as ELLs any longer, a lot of my ELL students continue to need extra attention to ensure that they are developing the same knowledge as my other students. Interestingly enough, a lot of the strategies I can use with ELLs are applicable to my other students with special education services and in general education.

The following strategy I read about as I was taking a graduate course in Adolescent Language and Literacy, taught by Dr. Pabon. Taken from Chapter 4 of The Literacy Gaps: Bridge-Building Strategies for English Language Learners and Standard English Learners by Ivannia Soto-Hinman and June Hetzel, this strategy continues to take a look at how to increase and strengthen vocabulary:

"Using murals with key vocabulary is another way to assist ELLs, particularly Beginning and Early Intermediate students, in demonstrating their understanding of the content topic at hand. In these particular murals, the teacher has provided space on her bulletin boards for students to illustrate three biomes: rain forest, desert, and prairie. The students create the mural and add key words. As the students build the mural, the teacher directs conversation to build English language acquisition... Artistically oriented children also enjoy illustrating their understanding of text through cartoons. Cartoon illustration are a fun way to motivate students and clearly demonstrate comprehension and (re)organization of passages." (2009, p. 103)

This could be a fun activity for visually oriented students and also show that they know what the words mean by connecting their mural design with concepts around the word. Teacher driven conversation around the mural they are creating will also help assess a student's true understanding of the words and the idea they are illustrating. Asking questions like, "Can you point to..." or, " What is this called?" or, " Why did you choose to include..." will help assess and drive more thought. If students need extra support, they can be given a list of required words to include on the mural, and their definitions or a dictionary along with it.

Again, though I am focusing on vocabulary development this week, this concept can be used for other activities. As a science teacher, I was thinking about using the mural idea for the different types of volcanoes or types of clouds. In history perhaps different people, places, or time periods could be used as the theme of a mural. English could be themes, books, people, etc. This type of project also helps art get back into the schools in a time period when a lot of budget cuts affect the art and music opportunities our students have. Most importantly, this type of activity might help students make connections from the words they are learning to a visual component, increasing the likelihood that they are learning it, rather than memorizing and forgetting.

Works Cited:

Soto-Hinman, I. & Hetzel, J. (2009). Comprehension. In The Literacy Gaps: Bridge-Building Strategies for English Language Learners and Standard English Learners (p. 75-117). California: Corwin.