Since the introduction of art to society many millennia ago, the fine arts have been used to convey ideas, core values and themes to a captive audience. Whether that fine art is music, drama, visual art or any other medium, everyone around the globe lives and breathes art. Whether someone is a cinephile, enjoys Broadway, frequents museums, or listens to Bach in their car on the way to work, they all have one thing in common- they are learning and enjoying new concepts through a very powerful medium. One of the best ways that art influences people is through enhancing and building their oral language and vocabulary. So how exactly can teachers introduce fine arts into the classrooms to help build and enhance English Language Learners’, or ELLs,
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Research has shown that the student population from 1993-2003 grew 9% while the ELL population, within the same time frame, grew no less than 65%. (2) The ELL student population continues to grow today, especially in the states of California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois, which are the five states with the greatest amount of ELLs, in descending order.
The relevance of building oral language in ELLs can be seen in daily interactions in classrooms. Many people don’t understand the key role oral language plays in their everyday lives, especially in learning. When ELLs have an understanding of the basic vocabulary of their classroom, they can clarify directions, connect with their classmates and reference objects in the classroom. (5, pg 132) However, to fully understand a word, one must know the pronunciation, the connotative and denotative definitions, how it can be used in different contexts, and its semantic relationship with other words. I have had the opportunity to watch this unfold in a kindergarten classroom once. In the middle of the …show more content…
Teachers may not feel that there is enough time in the day to do both, but as illustrated above, there are fun, easy, cost-effective ways to make sure that educators can make the best of their time with their students. Teachers should not be afraid to use drama and music to further their lessons and get their information to their students. In order to do this, teachers require a supportive administration to help them with this task, should they choose to try and implement fine arts into their kindergarten through second
Research has shown that the student population from 1993-2003 grew 9% while the ELL population, within the same time frame, grew no less than 65%. (2) The ELL student population continues to grow today, especially in the states of California, Texas, Florida, New York and Illinois, which are the five states with the greatest amount of ELLs, in descending order.
The relevance of building oral language in ELLs can be seen in daily interactions in classrooms. Many people don’t understand the key role oral language plays in their everyday lives, especially in learning. When ELLs have an understanding of the basic vocabulary of their classroom, they can clarify directions, connect with their classmates and reference objects in the classroom. (5, pg 132) However, to fully understand a word, one must know the pronunciation, the connotative and denotative definitions, how it can be used in different contexts, and its semantic relationship with other words. I have had the opportunity to watch this unfold in a kindergarten classroom once. In the middle of the …show more content…
Teachers may not feel that there is enough time in the day to do both, but as illustrated above, there are fun, easy, cost-effective ways to make sure that educators can make the best of their time with their students. Teachers should not be afraid to use drama and music to further their lessons and get their information to their students. In order to do this, teachers require a supportive administration to help them with this task, should they choose to try and implement fine arts into their kindergarten through second