She earned a social science degree from the University of Michigan and spent two years at Hampshire College in Massachusetts, where studies must be linked to a third-world perspective. Her work, education and travel experiences make her uniquely qualified to work with ELL students. They oversee 199 students who represent 14 different languages. Amy Clay works with eighth-grader Araceli Torres-Perez to help her understand the literature her class is readingĬlay is one of four ELL teachers in the district. “Finding and producing my own non-linguistic examples of the literature they were studying and concepts they needed for school was key.” She reads and learns large works of literature and other things at the same time as the students, and said her use of notebooks soared when she had students from Iraq and Africa. She said she has found that visual learning is especially important for students who do not speak English or Spanish. The quality of the drawing is not as important as the process of the learner making the drawing.” “It helps them keep track of all the information. “They have to edit and focus on the most important parts,” Clay said. Doodles help anchor the thinking of the student making the drawing. ![]() She noted the book “ The Doodle Revolution” discusses the process of summarizing information via drawings. “Visuals can help me focus and make a memory picture in my head in a way that text cannot,” she said. Her reading class with ELL and non-ELL students considered high risk improved by an average of 6.7 points, as did the reading MAP scores for the general ELL population.Ĭlay said she has great memory and often makes visual archives in her head. From fall 2021 to spring 2022, reading MAP (Measures of Academic Progress) scores in her newcomers class improved by an average of 11.6 points. The effectiveness of Clay’s methods may be seen in test scores. ![]() Do you see any of the prepositions we’ve been talking about?” Araceli pointed out the preposition “into.” To help her understand the word “throughout” Clay drew an arrow to illustrate going through it.Īraceli explained how the notebooks help: “Many times, I only understand some works or I confuse others, so I don’t understand what the story is telling.” She writes the meaning of English words that are difficult for her in Spanish, then makes drawings about the actions of the characters or the setting to better understand the story and the meanings of words.Īmy Clay has spent the past few summers traveling in Ecuador (pictured), Cuba and Mexico In a recent session, Clay asked Araceli what she thought of the book “Who Was Frida Kahlo?” that her class was reading. ![]() “I can draw the actions of the characters and then remember the drawing and know what part of the story it is,” Araceli said in Spanish as Clay translated for a visitor.Ĭlay said Araceli was a straight-A student in Mexico who was reading at the 12 th-grade level, and is highly motivated to improve her English. She moved to Comstock Park from Mexico about 15 months ago. Clay keeps a collection of them that are a cross between graphic novels and CliffsNotes with doodles.Įighth-grader Araceli Torres-Perez said drawing in notebooks helps her comprehend classwork and literature as she learns English. To help her ELL students understand the difference between characters in what they read, Clay has them draw the characters and make notations in a dedicated notebook. She said research has shown that drawing more than writing has proven to be more effective as a memory aid. ![]() Comstock Park - Amy Clay knows the impact that visual learning has on her students.Ĭlay, a multilingual learner teacher in her 11 th year of teaching at Mill Creek Middle School in the English Language Learner program, said making visuals helps ELL learners with recall and retention of new information.
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