Modifying Instruction for ELs: Chunking

Have you heard of chunking?

Chunking involves instruction being intentionally paced to deliver one idea at a time or one step at a time. The term was first used in 1956 by George A. Miller at Harvard in studies on memorizing codes and musical tones.  Miller found that people could only hold - or chunk - five to nine bits of information in their short-term memories.

In order to increase memory and be able to use more than 5-9 bits of code, letters, words, etc., we "recode" or combine small chunks into larger chunks.  Other researchers have said four bits is all we can store.

There is some evidence the seven-digit phone number was introduced because of this research.  Think about it: Are those phone numbers really seven digits, or are the chunks of three and four digits, now three-three-four with area codes?

Recent research says there is no magic number, rather the ability to hold chunks in short-term memory depends on many factors, especially when it comes to language. Some of these factors include the complexity of the words, whether the person knows the words, and how long it takes for the person to speak the word.  This implies that the more knowledge of language we have, the larger the size of chunks we can hold in short-term memory.

What does this mean for ELs?

There are several studies that have shown that the more academic fluency a person has in their first language, the quicker they will be able to transfer those skills to a new language.

Even with the differing views, this research indicates that chunking is a natural process of building short- and long-term memory.  Therefore, it makes sense to use it intentionally as a tool in education to help students build understanding.

Throughout most of their day at school, ELs need to process new information and language at the same time.  They are constantly trying to match vocabulary, syntax, and register with the content they are learning.

I like this image from Empowering ELLs.com.

  

The pizza example in the graphic is great.  When eating pizza you wouldn't put the whole pizza in your mouth at once. That would be overwhelming and unmanageable.  You could choke!  Instead, we take small bites from one slice which are carefully chewed and swallowed until the portion is eaten.

Our ELs need to learn in a similar manner. If we give the student too much information at once they will become overwhelmed and are likely to "choke" or shut down. This is especially true for newcomers who become easily overwhelmed. So, we need to chunk the information, text, task, and instructions... into smaller more manageable pieces.

How do you chunk information?

Some recommendations for chunking information for ELs include:

• Provide ELs with an overview of key concepts and key vocabulary (defined and used in context).
• Add images to represent an idea.
• Provide text that is accessible to ELs and focuses on the main concepts. Break the text into smaller pieces for the students. For newcomers, make sure your chunks don't have more than one important piece of information per section. Be sure the text is comprehensible for their level of proficiency. Google Slides is a great tool to use for this. 
• Avoid giving a lengthy list of directions all at once. ELs will be much more successful at following the directions when they are chunked into smaller segments. When possible give directions both orally and in writing.  It might also help students to have a visual for the directions.  I created a desk plate for students that had common and frequently used directions accompanied by an illustration.
• Use technology to chunk information by providing ELs with opportunities to synthesize information before going on to the next concept. Some great tools for this include Padlet, Buncee, Adobe Spark, Google Draw, EdPuzzle, and Quizlet.
• At the end of a lesson, review key concepts and ask ELs to summarize the information in 1-2 sentences. Use the summary as an exit slip for the day. A great strategy for this is Somebody Wanted But So. This is also a great time to bring in oral language.  You could incorporate technology by having students complete a FlipGrid to give an oral response.
• Review the exit slips to assess for understanding and to identify areas of struggle/re-teaching needs.
• Provide ongoing formative assessments throughout the lesson to ensure ELs comprehend the material before moving on.
• Prior to introducing a new concept, review the previous material and show how it connects to the new material. Each time the material is reviewed, ELs have additional reinforcement of the material, which furthers comprehension.
• Use Academic Conversation and/or writing from questions with frames.  After the input phase, the partners discuss what they read with academic language frames and skills. They are directed to use specific language frames that build the explicit vocabulary and academic language connected to the content. Frames can be designed to help students express the content ideas and learn specific language skills, or in the best case, both at the same time.
  
  

Chunking takes time.

All this chunking will extend the time it takes to complete the lesson. Pacing is a constant and real concern. The question is, do you want your students to deeply understand key points of the lesson knowing that you might have to forfeit some details, or can you live with them missing vast pieces that went by way too fast? It takes time when you are learning both language and content.  If you go to fast, you sacrifice understanding.

The size and placement of the chunk depends on the age and language ability of the student. Studies suggest that with fluent students, you should consider their age and give no more than that many minutes of input before taking a break, capping at about 10 minutes no matter the age.  This even applies to adults.  Shorten that as needed for ELs at lower levels of acquisition and support the input with visuals and movement. This means that for a five-year-old EL student you should stop every 3 to 5 minutes to check for understanding or demonstrate the learning. For a 16-year-old high school student, you will need to stop every 8-10 minutes.

Consider the key points of content where clarification or conversation almost starts by itself.  What is the sweet spot between just enough input to talk or write about, but not so much that the key details are getting lost?  Identify the key plot points for fiction or information points for nonfiction that contribute to the main ideas of the text or lesson.  Plan a chunk break at each key point.

A teacher doesn't have to be an EL specialist to create instruction that is EL friendly. These strategies may seem like they take up valuable class time, but we're trying to go slow to go fast. The strategies really divert class time from teacher talk to student engagement.  As the ELs engage with content, they internalize it. When students internalize they are truly learning with understanding. That learning will transfer over to other content.