ELL Student Support Guide PDF

What do I do with my ELL Student? (A Guide for the Classroom Teacher regarding Academic Expectations for the English Learner) Profile of an EL: Who is an EL? Some ELs (English Learners) can be clearly spotted. Perhaps they just moved here from another country and...

What do I do with my ELL Student? (A Guide for the Classroom Teacher regarding Academic Expectations for the English Learner) Profile of an EL: Who is an EL? Some ELs (English Learners) can be clearly spotted. Perhaps they just moved here from another country and it is clear that they do not understand spoken English, directions, etc. Others are not as easily identified by those who are not familiar with ELL. You may think: “Maria doesn’t even speak Spanish. How can she be an ELL?” “Juan speaks perfect English and Spanish. He understands me perfectly. How can he be an ELL?” “Erika is nonverbal. Her parents speak Swedish and English. Yet if Erika is completely nonverbal anyway, how can she be an ELL?” “Le has an IEP. He has a learning disability and was diagnosed in preschool. His family speaks Chinese. Even if he knew enough English to pass the ACCESS test, how would he pass it if he isn't able to process the information due to his disability? Will he be labeled ELL forever?” An EL is very literal. Figurative Language is very difficult to grasp, as well as sarcasm. References to children’s literature, holiday traditions, and even movie characters such as Peter Pan can be non-existent. Vocabulary is a daily struggle. The typical EL often acts like they understand. ELs don’t like to draw attention to the fact that they have no idea what you are saying. Sometimes they pretend to understand and then continue listening to see if they can form their own meaning based on what they have heard. Often the understanding they have formed is incorrect. An EL may still be thinking about the word from the last sentence that they did not understand when you have moved on to a new topic. They might seem unorganized because they were so busy thinking about what you might have said and they missed the instructions for the assignment or the reminders for what to bring to class the next day. Qualification Process: 1. Home Language Survey: Marked “yes” on one of the questions 2. ELL Screener- Student is given a screener- “MODEL K” for Kindergarten “W-APT” for Grades 1-8 3. Eligibility- If the student doesn’t pass the screener, he/she is labeled “ELL.” 4. Services- Services can look very different from student to student depending on the need, grade level, proficiency level, number of students in the group, academic schedule, etc. 5. *Special circumstances- if the student has a significant learning disability, the IEP team can decide to delay services until they are deemed appropriate and essential to the language learner. The student still has to take the ACCESS test every year until he/she passes. 6. ELL Curriculum: Flexible depending on the needs of the student, grade level, etc. The variations of the ELL curriculum are extensive. ELL Domains: 1. Reading 2. Writing 3. Listening 4. Speaking ELL Proficiency Levels: As a classroom teacher, it is important to know your students’ scores in each of the four ELL domains, especially as we work together to determine academic expectations in the various content areas. Real-Life Example of an EL's Struggle to understand the material: 1.6th grade example this year: Definition of culture: the knowledge, beliefs, customs, and values of a group of people Teacher: “Do you know what values means in this definition?” Student: “Yes, getting a good deal.” 2. Definition of secondary source: information gathered by someone who did not take part in or witness an event What in this definition do you think could be a stumbling block for the EL? 3. 2nd grade example from this year: Writing prompt: “Why did Annie run away?” Student Question: “Should I talk about how she was running? What if she was walking?” ELL Support: Translation/interpretation services- notes home, parent teacher conferences, bilingual parent nights, bilingual parent council, ELL services- can support with vocabulary, test-taking and interpretation, pull out/push-in Expectations of the Classroom Teacher/Grade Level Team: ELL students can/should be given the opportunity to achieve success and meet the classroom goals just like the other students in the classroom. If they are able to do this without modification to the assessments, then the teacher should continue to assess him/her like any other students. Additional supports can be given in the process of teaching the material such as: Preloading vocabulary Working with the ELL teacher to understand the students’ proficiency level Explaining things in more than one way Warning: Just reading the test aloud may not benefit the student. Test-givers need to check for understanding of the words within the questions. The problem arises when the student earns a 1 or a 2 on the first assessment. At this point, intervention needs to take place. ELL Intervention Steps: 1. Ask the question “Why is this happening?” Find out if the student actually prepared for the assessment. 2. Contact the ELL teacher for ideas and support. 3. After additional support and reteaching has taken place, reassess when possible. If the score on the assessment is still a 1 or a 2, then the teacher needs to start the process of creating goals for the EL and assessing him/her based on his/her English Proficiency Level and the WIDA Can-Do Descriptors. 4. Make academic, content-specific goals for the ELL based on the WIDA Can-Do Descriptors (The ELL teacher can help get you started on this, but essentially this is the classroom teacher’s responsibility- also see below to get started). 5. Example: Let’s say the ELL is at Level 1 (Entering) on the WIDA scale. He/she should be engaging in what you are currently teaching the class on a regular basis. From there, specific tasks can be assigned that cover content-specific, academic vocabulary. Writing Academic Goals for the EL: 1. Look at the student’s English proficiency level for the domain that pertains to the content area (Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking) For example, if  the assessment is a Science Test that is mostly multiple choice, you would look at the Reading proficiency. HOWEVER, if the mode of learning the material was mostly through lecture and discussion, you may need to take into account his/her listening proficiency level as well. If the assessment is a speech, you will need to look at the Speaking Proficiency level. HOWEVER, if they had to do their own research on the topic that they are speaking about, you may need to also consider the Reading proficiency when making the goal. 2. Look up the WIDA Can-Do descriptors for the Grade Level and Proficiency Level for the Domain you are looking at. Look at what the student is able to do and form a content-specific goal that falls in line with the Language Proficiency ability of your EL. Grades: Grades are based on how well the EL is meeting the goal(s) that were set in step 5 of the ELL Interventions. Final grades will be submitted with the comment "Grades based on modifications" IF THE STUDENT DOES NOT NEED MODIFICATIONS ON THE ASSESSMENTS, THE GRADE IS NOT LABELED WITH THIS COMMENT ON THE REPORT CARD. An EL could have some grades with this comment and some without.