This project was designed for two Transitional level ESL classes composed of students in grades 8 through 12.  It was implemented at the end of Term 1 (November 2006) as a comprehensive assignment for students to work in small groups, explore a short story and demonstrate their understanding of the short story genre.

Profile of School and Classes

Lord Byng is a comprehensive high school of 1200 students on the west side of the city, close to a university.  Forty percent of the school population speaks a language other than English.  The two classes have 17 and 21 students respectively.  Most of the students come from China, Taiwan or Korea, with a few from Greece, Thailand, Mexico and Japan.  Their proficiency levels vary but in order to enter the class the students must have a minimum of grade 5 level reading, and be able to write a reasonably fluent paragraph. 

Transitional classes act as a bridge for students whose English proficiency is not at grade level but who have sufficient skills to move out of reception level ESL classes.  The goal is to prepare them for entry into their grade level English classes, in this case grades 8, 9 or 10.  Even though students may be grade 11 or 12 age, they must complete English 10 first.  In general, their knowledge and skill level in English is very rudimentary.  By and large, they have had little experience dealing with literature at a sophisticated level, even in their first languages in their home countries.  Eighty  percent of the students in both classes entered Canada within the last year or less.  The others have been in Canada little more than a year.  They all think in their first languages and few have moved out of their ethnic social groups.  In other words, English is still a "foreign" language.

Purpose and Goals of the Project

The overall purpose was to provide the students with a challenging but "achieveable" task.  A task which: a) reflected the kind of activity in a regular credit English class and would require them to dig deep into meaning without me providing all of the hooks; and b) would provide an opportunity for me to observe their skill level, and get to know them more as individuals.

Students were to design a mandala using a short story to examine character, elements of style and theme.

Background to the Project

We had spent two full months working with various short stories - some easier, for the juniors, and other more complex stories for the seniors.  They were introduced to the essential features of the genre, e.g. character development, plot development, elements of style, figurative language and so on.  Most of the stories came from the grade 8 or 9 syllabus, with two from the grade 10 level.  In this preparatory phase, my teaching is very sequential, explicit and guided.  They have much to learn and many new learning patterns to embrace.  For example, working in groups is often totally new for these students, taking risks by venturing a tentative idea is not only unfamiliar but scarey for them.  Little in their previous schooling prepares them for Canadian English classroom expectations.  Thus, the fall or first semester is largely teacher-centered.

Steps in the Project

a)  Introduction

I introduced the project by discussing the concept of mandalas as a religious visual which is used to graphically represent the inter-relatedness of key concepts for individuals.  I brought in examples from Buddhism, Hinduism, Shintoism, First Nations spirituality. 

Next, I showed them examples of student work (Transitional English) from a previous year.  Then, I displayed examples from an enriched English class at the grade 9 and 12 levels.  I used a gallery format to have them walk around and explore the intricacies of these examples.  During this process they were to follow some questions and write down some observations.  This step blew open the minds of the students because they could see how students had gone far from predicable interpretations and methodologies for displaying their ideas.   You could literally hear students gasp in admiration and amazement at the work before them.  I consider this an essential tool in helping students to comprehend how to be successful in managing a new and complex task.

Another important step in learning is to prepare students for the dynamics of group work.  ESL students often have had no experience with group learning.  Thus, I wanted to pre-teach some language to help them constructively deal with difficulties, when for example a student doesn't pull his/her weight and falls behind, or when a student is so reticent that she/he doesn't offer much or anything to the discussions.  Such negotiations are very tricky even when one has a solid grasp of a language.  But when English is very new, and one has little experience with the culture, a student has no ability or confidence to handle these challenges.  They must be given some language and mechanisms for this.

b)  Group Formation

I asked students to self-select their groups based on three conditions: i) there must be one member who does not speak the same language; ii) juniors and seniors must form their own groups; iii) 3 people per group.  My thinking was to maintain a balance with regard to cognitive levels. I allowed them to choose their own groups because the project would require students to do a fair amount of work together outside of class, therefore, they should feel comfortable with one another and be able to connect after school hours.

c)  First Phase

All groups chose their own stories.  Groups had to reach consensus on their choice(s).  Seniors worked from stories in Crossroads 10, and juniors from Crossroads 8,  in other words they were working with material at their grade level. Each group had to choose a different story.  The next phase was for everyone to read and re-read the story.  Students must understand the basic storyline before they can attempt deep, interpretative work.

d)  Middle Phase

Within each group, students decided who will be responsible for analyzing character, style and theme. During this phase I moved from group to group to make sure that each group had the gyst of the story.  Next, using a "placement" activity, I asked the students to answer 3 questions about the central character and perhaps the antagonist in their story on the placement.  They completed this during classtime.  I collected them and read them before the next class.  This became another essential tool for me.  Individual responses are the only way for me to gauge the level of a student's understanding.  But having them write "proper" paragraphs during class time would have taken too much time.  This method gave me an entry point to know where each student was with regard to the basic ideas of the story. 

We continued with the placement activity for style and theme.  I asked the students to write in different colours for each series of questions, so that I could quickly focus on the answers for each section.  I usually commented on each student's or group's responses after each lesson.

Next, the students worked their way toward a visual representation.  This phase was full of discussion and sometimes heated debate (in English) as students tried to convey to one another how they imagined the mandala.  It was interesting to hear students use actual phrases of negotiation that had been taught to them when trying to persuade the group of their point of view.  Of course, it was also necessary to remind reticient students that their ideas were worthy and should be shared. 

As a teacher I felt gratified that the explicit teaching that had been done around successful participation in groups had resulted in fuller discussions than I had heard in the past two months.  Once again, I was reminded that students, especially new ESL students, need tools and strategies to have a chance at being a valued member of a group. 

e)  Final Phase

Three culminating activities:

 i) The students presented their masterpieces to the class.  Their oral presentations were evaluated by other groups (feedback included one positive comment and one constructive comment for improvement next time), themselves (self-reflection) and me.  Because oral presentations may be new to them, we outlined the hallmarks of strong oral presentations before they presented.  We created a rubric for this task.

ii) The students wrote a summative in-class essay based on their portion of the mandala (character, style or theme).  For this task they were allowed to have their notes and an essay or composition outline, but no dictionaries. This was submitted for marking  which was done on a 16-point provincial scale.  Both the UBC Multiliteracies coach and myself marked these papers.  Students were thrilled to have a UBC professor mark their papers!

iii)  Students completed two reflections which resulted in a "participation pie".  Individually and privately each student reviewed and rated his/her own performance and participation, and then she/he did the same for the other group members.  My guidelines to them were that the group had to have roughly similar responses.  If not, I would check back with them to sort out the discrepancies in rating.  Once again, the processes of working in groups has to be taught as it can't be assumed that they will know how to handle discrepancies.

Teacher's Observations and Reflections

This project is very demanding for the students and the teacher.  But it is equally rewarding.  The adjustments I made the second time round, greatly improved the overall products and satisfaction levels.  The students were justifiably proud of themselves, and continue to be, as visitors to the class frequently remark on the beautiful mandalas displayed in the classroom. 

The leap from simplistic, linear thinking to complex, analytical and interpretive work with abstract material is an extreme challenge for ESL students.  This project shows that it is possible if the ground work has been laid.  These students continue to surprise and delight me with their meaning-making.  When given the tools, they can begin to make the transitions that are required of them to be successful in regular English literature classes.