Theme 2: Innovations Aimed at Higher Learning Outcomes
Literacy
ESL
and knowledge building: Designing a supportive environment
Sutapa Raybardhan, Rose Avenue Public School, ON, Canada
Richard Reeve, & Marlene Scardamalia, IKIT, OISE/University of Toronto, ON, Canada
Sutapa Raybardhan, Rose Avenue Public School, ON, Canada
Richard Reeve, & Marlene Scardamalia, IKIT, OISE/University of Toronto, ON, Canada
This poster presents the iterations in the design of a classroom environment to support Knowledge Building by ESL students at an inner-city public elementary school. Over a three-year period this grade 4 teacher moved from a focus on coverage to a focus on deep learning. A key goal in the third year was to have her students use Knowledge Forum® to focus on only a few topics. Key features of the altered approach included strategies to support the release of agency to the students so they would be more in control of their research and the use of already in-place school-wide strategies to encourage a collegial classroom atmosphere so Knowledge Building could proceed. This multimedia poster includes interviews with students and their teacher along with entries from their Knowledge Forum® database.