Monthly Archives: August 2013

How do I access Guided Reading Texts for ELL through Library Media Resources?

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Lincoln Public Schools’ Library Media has a large collection of guided reading texts ready for ELL teachers to check out for use in their classrooms.  The books are a range of levels and genres and can be used to support language acquisition through guided reading.  You can either check out these books through your library media specialists at your buildings, or you can come down to LPSDO and search the collections in person.

To locate the titles online, you can follow this pathway:

1. From the Lincoln Public Schools Home page, click on library media services under the instruction tab.

2. On the right hand side, there will be a selection of several different catalogs to search from. Select the Professional Library  Catalog.

3. Type in DRA as the keyword. You will see a list of books. To refine your search, look at the bottom left hand corner of the screen.There will be a box with choices for ways to sort your selections. Scroll down to Collections and select it. Some options will drop down for you to choose from. Select Leveled Readers.

4. All of the guided reading texts that are for ELL teachers should come up for you to select from.

 

Please contact Library Media Services or your ELL Instructional Coaches if you have any questions.

 

 

 

Language Functions and Forms

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Students learning English as their second, third, or fourth language, need support in understanding the language functions and forms in English. The functions or purposes of language could be things such as describing, explaining, or informing. The forms include the grammatical structures such as prepositions, verb tenses, and complex sentence patterns. It is important to understand the progression of how we acquire grammatical structures. For example, students understand and use present tense verbs before they understand and use past tense verbs.

The contrast between form and function in language can be illustrated through a simple medical analogy. If doctors studied only a limited portion of the human system, such as anatomical form, they would be unable to adequately address their patient’s needs. To fully treat their patients, physicians must understand the purposes of the human body and the relationships between organs, cells, and genes (Pozzi, 2004). Similarly, ELLs need to understand both the form (structure) and the function (purpose) of the English language in order to reach higher levels of proficiency.

 

Bibliography:

http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/krashen.htm

http://www.ode.state.or.us/teachlearn/real/standards/sbd.aspx

 

Second Language Acquisition

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According to Stephen Krashen (2007), language acquisition occurs when messages are comprehensible and when “speakers are concerned not with the form of their utterances, but with the messages they are conveying and understanding.” Krashen is an expert in linguistics and second language acquisition. He is well-known for his five hypotheses about second language acquisition.

“Krashen’s theory of second language acquisition claims that second languages are (1) acquired, not learned. The process is the same as for first language acquisition. Acquisition occurs in a (2) natural order when people receive (3) comprehensible input and their (4) affective filter is low. Rules that people learn can be used to (5) monitor the output, either speech or writing. Krashen’s theory of second language acquisition provides the theoretical base for content-based language teaching.”

Learn more about these hypotheses.  Listen to Stephen Krashen explain language acquisition.

Bibliography:

www.sk.com.br/sk-krash.html

Freeman, D. and Freeman, Y. English Language Learners The Essential Guide, (2007)

http://esl.fis.edu/teachers/support/krashen.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiTsduRreug

Courses Offered for ELL Teachers: 2013-2014

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Two different courses will be offered to ELL Instructors for the 2013-2014 school year.

Foundations

Foundations is a class developed for K-12 ELL teachers who are new to ELL in Lincoln Public Schools. The class will focus on:
* what ELL teachers teach                              * how they teach it
* how to use the materials that they are provided to support student learning           

Participants will also partner with an ELL coach to work on implementing class content into their daily practice using an “I do it, we do it, you do it” model of support.

The class dates are:  Sept. 16, Oct. 21, Nov. 11, and Dec. 16th.  Please note, the October date on the flyer is incorrect.  If you are interested in more information on class times and location, you can click here or contact Holly Tracy at htracy@lps.org.

SIOP 1

SIOP I is a class developed for K-12 ELL Educators. The class will focus on
learning the first 4 lesson components of the Sheltered Instruction Observation
Protocol (SIOP) developed by Mary Ellen Vogt, Jan Echevarria, and Deborah Short. Participants will also have the opportunity to work with an ELL Instructional coach to apply the newly learned components in their classrooms.

Click here for dates and times this course is offered or contact Molly Williams at mwillia1@lps.org for more information.

 

 

Creating Continuity between General Education and ELL in Reading

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Working Towards Independence, Keeping Language a Priority

In order for English Language Learners to work at an independent level on grade level materials, we need to focus on the language of the learning.  When ELL students are in general education classrooms, what strategies will they be using? What will it look like? What will it sound like and what will they be expected to do to be an active member in the classroom and access learning at an independent level?

Get to know your students. Where are they in both BICS and CALP language development?  How will we use the instructional materials provided in our classrooms such as McGraw-Hill, Rigby and the like as a vehicle to teach academic language and concepts?

To access the General Education pacing guides for reading, the language required for each skill taught and the common strategies that are used across grade levels, please see the following supports generated by the ELL Instructional Coaches:

ELL Language Support Guides by Grade Level

Kindergarten                     Fourth Grade

          First Grade                          Fifth Grade

Second Grade                     Sixth Grade

Third Grade

Language Continuums

Language Continuum for Comprehension Skills and Strategies

Language Continuum for Grammar

Langauge Continuum for Vocabulary Strategies

Pacing Guides Across Grade Levels

Grammar Pacing

Comprehension Skills Pacing

Comprehension Strategies Pacing

Vocabulary Strategies Pacing

Click here for supports in planning and using online resources, as well as for recommendations about what pieces would be most appropriate for use in instructing language learners. 

Click here for supports for Kindergarten and First grade in using online resources.

To utilize some of the components McGraw-Hill Wonders curriculum in your ELL classroom digitally, please click here.

For further information about why ELLs need to have language presented at their language level and scaffolded instruction in order to progress through both language learning and speaking, listening, reading, and writing, please read more here.