Entry #4--unfamiliar text

As I sat to read an article off the internet written in German, I had no idea where to start. I began by looking for similarities to my language. I looked for words that had similar spelling patterns or words that looked like English words. I only knew two words and they were iPhone and iPod. I found a translation page through google and I looked up a few words to figure out what they thought of the iPhone and iPod. The words I initially looked up were words like sleek and light. These words made me think that the Germans liked the product. I still however could not make much more sense of the article. I found my mind wandering and it was very hard to stay focused on my task. Since I had become very frustrated I went to complete translation and read the article. All of my frustration was immediately alleviated. I then did a side by side of the German version and translated version and tried to make sense of the article. After a while I found similarities in the text which made the article a little less confusing. I can't imagine how our ESL students must feel if they have no connection with our language. I was praying for a picture to guide me through this article. So I now know that it is important to provide other things besides the text if we are expecting students to learn. The more realia the better. Using scaffolding and differentiation is key for ESL students, but can also help the other students within the classroom.