Making Sense of Language & Symbols in the Classroom - E126

This week, we are chatting about how to help students to make the most sense of language and symbols in the classroom. Using the UDL (Universal Design for Learning) framework and representation pillar, we are exploring ways to provide support and reduce barriers to language and symbols.

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Featured Content
**For detailed show notes, please visit our website at https://edugals.com/126**

• CAST.org - Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework
• Representation pillar - Language and Symbols guideline
• Avoid single forms of representation
• Checkpoint #1: Clarify vocabulary and symbols
  • Everyday vs academic language
  • Shorthand notation
  • Start a class crowdsourced glossary
  • Beware of idioms
  • Pre-teach vocabulary and symbols
  • Embed vocabulary and symbols through hyperlinks
  • Practice Sets in Google Classroom
• Checkpoint #2: Clarify syntax & structure
  • Combining symbols and words change context
  • Make it explicit!
• Checkpoint #3: Support decoding of text, mathematical notation, and symbols
  • Text-to-speech
  • Not everyone reads with fluency and comprehension
  • Decoding increases cognitive load, uses working memory
  • Scaffold skills - lab reports
  • Audio paired with text
• Checkpoint #4: Promote understanding across languages
  • Make resources available in other languages
  • Allow the use of first languages
  • Google Translate - doesn't always translate 100% but is useful for key concepts
  • Multi-lingual glossaries - use pre-made or make one with your class
  • Multiple modalities
• Checkpoint #5: Illustrate through multiple media
  • Text is not always the best - use alternatives to support
  • Images, simulations, video, graphs, etc
  • Very useful for complex concepts
• Key Takeaway: Don't just use text, include multiple representations to best support learners

Transcript

Rachel: 0:40

In this episode, we are looking at the representation pillar of the Universal Design for Learning framework.

Katie: 0:47

Specifically we're going to be talking about guideline two, which is all about language and symbols and how we can support our learners in the classroom.

Rachel: 0:54

Let's get started. This week Katie and I are looking back at the Universal Design for Learning framework, and so specifically what we're gonna cover in this episode is the language and symbols section or guideline for the representation pillar.

Katie: 1:19

Yeah, so this one goes into. Linguistic and non-linguistic kind of language and symbols. So it's looking at how we can ensure students are understanding what they're seeing and reading in class.

Rachel: 1:31

And I know Katie was really super excited about this one.

Katie: 1:35

Well, that that's kind of my life. This is what I do on a daily basis. It's all about language, right? And making sure students understand things. So I always find this kind of stuff fascinating.

Rachel: 1:45

Well, I almost feel like, like we're, we're a really good pairing because you've got the language side and then I've got the symbol side with with science and math sort of perspective. So we always kind of complete each other very well.

Katie: 1:57

I like that. So yeah, so when we first kind of get into it and they're explaining it, it, it makes so much sense and it's often things that we overlook. So even something as simple as an equal sign. You know, not everybody's going to have that understanding of what that means, or they might be confused, and then graphs, et cetera. So it's, it's ensuring that we're presenting things in different forms and then having some strategies on hand to ensure that, you know, students can make meaning of what they're looking at.

Rachel: 2:31

And the, this is a big one because it does really vary by subject, by subject too. What Even an equal sign means like the context for. Math and an equal sign might be very different from a science course. And even between the sciences, they can all mean different things. There's, there's many places where I've seen that come up. Like, for example, balancing chemical equations. We don't even use an equal sign like that's blasphemy basically to stick an equal sign in there and not an arrow. So there's so many nuances and, and you can kind of understand why students can struggle in this area.

Katie: 3:06

So, um, in terms of this guideline or this, this area of udl, there are five checkpoints. Uh, There's a lot of similarities across all of them, so it, sometimes we may be more general in terms of how we're talking about it, but um, Yeah, it was, it was a very interesting kind of category this week. It was very fascinating to kind of go over, so that first checkpoint is to clarify vocabulary and symbols. And so this is looking specifically at words, symbols, numbers and icons and, and how, you know, students dependent on their lived experiences, culture, where they're coming from, education, experience, languages and knowledge of at all. Like in, in general, how it really is going to be different in terms of what they understand, what they don't, and what supports they're going to need to make sense of it all.

Rachel: 3:58

I think it's important for us to also keep in mind that we have language that's also like our common, everyday kind of language, social language, and then we have our academic language and academic kind of context as well. So really kind of defining what both of those are for students and, and how they kind of play within your subject area, I think is really kind of a key factor here.

Katie: 4:21

And then there's also like shorthand. So sometimes we write things like little short forms of words and we don't really think twice about it because. It's just, it is what it is. We know it. We assume everybody else does, but it's knowing that that's not necessarily the case. In remembering that,

Rachel: 4:36

I have so many of those short forms, and I really do have to watch myself when I'm writing things up on the board and just knowing that students don't know my shorthand, like even one of them came from my high school biology teacher. Whenever he wrote energy on the board, he wrote the capital letters N R G.

Katie: 4:55

oh,

Rachel: 4:56

So, you know it's energy, but it's it, you're only writing three letters instead of, I don't know how many letters energy has. And so I picked that up, picked up on that over the years and, and sometimes I write energy too, and I'm like, I have to stop myself and go, no, wait a second. I need to write out the full word, or at least explain and define what my short hands are.

Katie: 5:19

One I use is government. I do the short term G O V apostrophe tea, and the first time I did that, I wasn't even thinking, I was kind of just writing, and then my students are like, what is that? And then it like started this conversation of, oh, short forms, this is what we do. You know, shorthand, kind of reduce writing if we're at a space, et cetera. But it, it actually ended up being a really neat conversation. And then I would always kind of try to, you know, think about are there other short forms that other teachers might use that I could share? And then that way, you know, it's a conversation starter.

Rachel: 5:49

Now, I think a good strategy for that is to start like a, a class crowdsourced glossary of, of sorts, where you can take all of the words and short forms and anything that's sort of specific to your course. And as you're going through your course, you don't need, necessarily need to do all the work, right? Like, have your students go onto this document and add the words as they kind of come up.

Katie: 6:14

Yeah, anytime. Right? Like, and it's, even if it's from another class, they could still be adding to it and then sharing with their uh, classmates later on or starting a conversation about it. It, it's a neat concept and it's a neat way to kind of track that and, and have that reminder. Cuz that's really gonna be helpful.

Rachel: 6:30

I think idioms are also another big one that I do, that I know is terrible, right? Because not everybody understands the context of what an idiom is and what it means.

Katie: 6:40

No, and like they're not all clear either, so some of them are just like so random and my students are just looking at me like I don't know what you're saying. That doesn't make any sense. Um, And, and we use them without even thinking often. Like there are some that are just embedded in everyday speech, and so then it's hilarious, but they pick up on them and then it's, it's really kind of cute to hear them try to use them or use them accurately, et cetera. It's neat.

Rachel: 7:07

Now another one of the strategies they list here is pre-teaching vocabulary and symbols. Especially in ways that promote connections to learners experience and prior knowledge. So taking that time, for example, all of my lessons, I usually have a slide of, here are all the vocab words that are coming up in this lesson, and I have them take the time to go through, define each one. You know, if, uh, they need to translate it into first language, do a definition. Sometimes for the ones that are really challenging, we might do frayer models or something like of that sort. But taking a little bit of time to work with the vocabulary before you actually get into the lesson. Like, it does take time, but it's so worth it.

Katie: 7:50

Yeah, and then they have that resource they can use throughout as like that reminder and that support.

Rachel: 7:56

And I think it doesn't just go with words too. So symbols as well. What symbols you are using. For example, in grade 12, chemistry, in equilibrium, we use not a single arrow, but a double arrow. So going one way and then going the other way and defining what that actually means because that's something that's so new to students when they first see it.

Katie: 8:16

Yeah. So, um, it's, it's a good kind of concept and I know in science and math there's a lot of like formulas and stuff and ensuring that. They know what each of the symbols stands for. And then even relating it back to maybe, perhaps how they learned it, if they're from coming from another country because they could have different letters, et cetera, or symbols, whatever the case may be. So just giving kind of that extra time to process through and ensure that they, they kinda know what's going on.

Rachel: 8:42

Yeah. There's so much in science. It's ridiculous.

Katie: 8:46

Agreed.

Rachel: 8:47

Q equals mc, delta T. Like if I don't define what q and m and C and delta T mean, you're, you're just like, okay, you just spat a bunch of letters out at me and you know, whatever.

Katie: 8:58

Yep.

Rachel: 8:59

So yeah, really, really important having those, if you're not formally defining it before the lesson starts, like having that. Slide. That's a definition within your lesson. You know, here is the equation. Here's what all of the letters and symbols mean. Maybe even describing it in words or, or having some other resources to go along with that.

Katie: 9:20

Another one of the, um, supports or strategies is embedding vocabulary and symbols within the text, through the use of like hyperlink. So hyperlinking in maybe some information that you think will be unfamiliar to them or linking it to a previous lesson where you went over some of that terminology. That sort of thing just to kind of help them. Figure out what they're doing and, and know that there's an easy click for them in case they are feeling confused or overwhelmed.

Rachel: 9:46

I actually really, really love that idea. Like I think out of, out of looking at all the checkpoints within this pillar of udl, That one was probably my favorite sort of suggestion cuz it's such an easy thing to do, but it's, it's high impact.

Katie: 10:01

A hundred percent.

Rachel: 10:01

Mm-hmm.

Katie: 10:02

it, it's such a simple thing to do and, and it's something that has, you know, potentially some really big impact for students who might be afraid to admit they don't know, and having it, there is like that reminder of, it's okay if you don't know. on this.

Rachel: 10:15

And, um, it, it kind of, it actually reminded me of, in Google Classroom there's a new feature practice sets, which is only available if you have one of like the upgraded versions of Google Classroom. But what's really neat about those. And I haven't played with them too much yet because we're, we're forced to use Brightspace. But that's beyond the point, is that, um, you can set up questions and then as students are kind of working on them, if they're not getting them correct, they have little buttons that they can press to get more information or to get some help on a topic and stuff like that. So, Even using practice sets within Google Classroom, I think helps to support some of this as well as the next kind of point they make where they talk about embedding support for unfamiliar references within the text or within whatever um, you're working on.

Katie: 11:10

love that.

Rachel: 11:11

Yeah, they're really cool. And uh, yeah, we, I definitely need to play with them a little bit more, but um, they're very easy to set up. You can share practice sets between within your domain, like between different people. So really, really neat, really powerful tool, and I think it fits really nicely within this sort of section of udl.

Katie: 11:30

Okay. So the next one is to clarify syntax and structure. And this one is, you know, kind of how you can combine different. Symbols or words, et cetera, and it changes meaning entirely. And this one, particularly for language learners, this can be one of the toughest because they might know what an individual word means, but when you put it into a new phrase, a new context, all of a sudden it's not meaning that same thing. So this is one of those things where it can really. Prevent some learning right off the bat, and, and it's important that we do take the time to actually make sense of it with our students.

Rachel: 12:06

I think the, uh, suggestions they have are all around just really making things explicit. So highlighting structural relationships or. Making connections between concepts from what we've learned previously to what we're learning right now, or making those relationships between different elements, like highlighting transition words in a essay, or creating concept maps. Like all of those things are really, really helpful here.

Katie: 12:34

I, I think you just gave a very concise summary of that entire checkpoint. So on that note, next,

Rachel: 12:42

So the next one is about supporting uh, with decoding of text, mathematical notation in symbols. So I think again, kind of goes along with what we've been talking about with the past two checkpoints.

Katie: 12:56

Yeah. Um, I think it, it almost goes that next step, and I see it just through my lens of working with language learners and those who may struggle with literacy development and just knowing that not everybody can look at a text and make sense of it all. And so this is where they might be able to sound out a word, but that doesn't mean they can decode and comprehend. And, and so it's kind of that reminder to, say it's okay if we do text to speech, for example, because then if they hear the word they, they won't struggle necessarily depending on where their strengths lie. So it's, it's just a reminder that not everybody reads with fluency and comprehension, and some students need that extra support to make sense of it all.

Rachel: 13:39

it's not like decoding is not automatic for all of our learners, and so, If it is taking students time to decode something, it's going to increase the cognitive load on them and take up a lot of their working memory, and then that leaves less room for, you know, the rest of the stuff that goes in there.

Katie: 13:59

and it's almost that reminder of, hey, if I'm in a content course, Is there a specific strand that says it has to be reading? And if not, how can we support that to, to ensure that I'm not putting an obstacle in place by only giving a text that they then have to read versus allowing for use of technology or an alternate method to, access that text.

Rachel: 14:20

Yeah, and I like it totally depends on where you're at, but I know for example, Ontario curriculum, like there's nowhere in science that says you must write a lab report. You have to do the steps of inquiry, but you do not have to write a lab report.

Katie: 14:33

which like opens a big can of worms because how many science classes are doing lab reports.

Rachel: 14:38

All of them,

Katie: 14:38

Yes, a hundred percent. Yeah. And, and so it is fascinating that it's not there, but it's something we do. But I see the value in it, but it's, it's understanding how we can scaffold that skill and not expect it right from day one.

Rachel: 14:52

Yeah, so text to speech is a good one. Also having um, any anywhere where you can kind of add in audio, where there's text. So having those two options can be um, incredibly helpful here.

Katie: 15:05

Yeah. Even if it means you're recording yourself at this point it's, it's anything to ensure our students have that access.

Rachel: 15:11

All right. Moving on to the next checkpoint then. So this is around promoting understanding across languages, and that is all I am going to say. I'm gonna hand it over to Katie.

Katie: 15:23

This is, yeah, this is my cup of tea. This is what I love. And so this is where we're just talking about, you know, in a content course. Making things available in their languages or even allowing them to use their language in order to express their learning. And it's, it's so easy. Yet sometimes it's one of the toughest things that um, educators can like wrap their heads around because it can be tough. And I understand you're not a translator. You are not a linguist. And so maybe you don't have understanding of that language, but there are ways. Like in my history class, I had a student who couldn't remember the English words and, and I was just like, just write in in Mandarin, cuz that was their first language and I could still get it easily translated to see her understanding. And I allowed it because understanding is what I'm looking for.

Rachel: 16:12

Well, there's the app and I, I forget which app it is, but you basically just hold it over the document and you tell it what translation you want to do, and it was. Just translate it for you

Katie: 16:22

It's Google Translate.

Rachel: 16:23

yeah, it's Google translates. So it's amazing and it really does break down that barrier between languages.

Katie: 16:30

Yep. And it may not be a hundred percent correct, so obviously don't look at grammar necessarily, but look for those key ideas that you're, you're checking for. And it's, it's really easy and it, it really helps.

Rachel: 16:41

Yeah. There have been multiple occasions where I've had Google translate open on my screen and they're like, oh, I don't understand what this word is. So I'll put it in and have it translate into their language. And they're like, oh, I still don't get it. And I'm like, okay, what's another English word for that? And I'll put in a different English word and then it comes up and then they're like, oh yeah, I get it now. So sometimes it does it, it depends on. You know, Google Translate doesn't understand the context always.

Katie: 17:07

No, not at all. And so you have to give it a bit of help, but it, you get there.

Rachel: 17:11

Yeah. But first languages are something that you should be tapping into.

Katie: 17:15

Yeah. A lot of students have background knowledge from, from where they've been learning prior. So use it. Why not they have the words? And then, so just multilingual glossaries um, there's lots available out there. I can link in a few to our show notes that are subject specific or create your own with your students. I know we've talked about that before. There's lots of really great ways to embrace the languages and build up a resource that you can then use in your classroom for years to come.

Rachel: 17:42

And as you're sort of building up, those resources include multiple modalities, so pictures, video, audio, text, all of the things together, multiple ways of representing that language And that vocabulary is going to benefit your students.

Katie: 17:58

And that summarizes that checkpoint.

Rachel: 18:00

All right, so moving on to the last one. It's uh, talking all about illustration through multiple media.

Katie: 18:08

So it talks about, just text isn't always the best platform and for those who um, have language related disabilities or struggle with reading and decoding it's going to be even harder. And so finding alternatives and providing illustrations or images, graphics videos, et cetera, it, it helps bring that text to life.

Rachel: 18:30

This is a big one. I find like, especially some of the really complex kind of concepts in science. I love simulations because they just, they show it in 3d. They show what's happening and, and you can actually visualize what's happening of something that you can't actually see.

Katie: 18:48

Yeah.

Rachel: 18:48

And uh, Just reading a paragraph of text about it is not gonna help.

Katie: 18:52

No, no. I find I am not good at figuring out what something looks like in some sort of 3D structure by reading. Like that's just not, that's one of my weaknesses. I'm spatially challenged at the best of times. And so something like that would've helped me as a learner to kind of be able to visualize.

Rachel: 19:10

Yeah, like a big one is the, the quantum model of the atom. Like just, even that just sounds ridiculous if you, if you don't know what it looks like. But trying to picture how all the electrons are coming in and how they're all like flying around everywhere, which basically they are. So it's such a complex topic for students to really grasp onto to and, and understand. So I have lots and lots of like, Moving images and visuals and simulations to kind of go along with that information.

Katie: 19:38

That's amazing. That's helpful.

Rachel: 19:39

It's needed.

Katie: 19:40

Oh my goodness. Yes. And that's essentially language and symbols

Rachel: 19:45

Yeah, so they, they are all pretty connected with each other. I think kind of the key takeaway here is not just using text to integrate as many possible modalities as you can and think about the language and the symbols that you use in your courses and, and pre-teaching that out before you get there.

Katie: 20:04

That is a perfect summary.

Rachel: 20:06

so on that note, we're gonna wrap up our conversation here today, and we'll include any of the links or resources we talked about in our show notes. You can access our show notes for this episode@edugals.com slash 1 26. That's edu G A l s.com/ 1 26.

Katie: 20:24

And if you like what you heard today, then feel free to share it with a colleague or a friend. And don't forget to subscribe on your favorite podcast app so that you don't miss out on any future content.

Rachel: 20:34

And as always, we'd love to hear from you. So if you have examples of language and symbols in your courses and how you do accommodate for your different learners, we would love to hear them. You can go onto our flip at edu gals.com/flipgrid and leave us a video message there. Or you can go onto our website@edgygals.com and leave us a written reply.

Katie: 20:56

Thanks for listening and see you next week.