Monthly Archives: October 2013

The ELL Teacher’s Role in PLC & DT

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ELL teachers in our district provide core reading, writing and language instruction for ELL students to prepare them to transition into the general education classrooms. ELL students’ language acquisition and learning will accelerate WHEN instruction is delivered using ELL research-based strategies.  An ELL teacher’s expertise in language acquisition is an instrumental and vital part of the PLC team’s collaboration as it provides a language learning perspective when analyzing assessment results as well as when selecting high impact strategies for linguistically and culturally diverse students.

In this session, we worked to contextualize the Data Teams process to the ELL teachers’ role. We reviewed the Data Team steps, and we focused on the language acquisition and learning considerations in each step of this process.  Additionally, we developed relevant questions that can help the ELL teacher and PLC team interpret and react to data considering the variables of language acquisition which is key to more critically address the content and language needs of English Language Learners in the PLC process.

Resources:

ELL Teacher Role in Data Teams – (First Draft)

ELL Teacher Role in Data Teams – FACILITATORS QUESTIONS (First Draft)

LPS ELL Strategies

Title I Data Teams Resources

Related Literature:

Reading Comprehension: Jigsaw Cooperative Learning

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Jigsaw Text Reading

This reading strategy is a powerful way to support ELLs as they are challenged to comprehend difficult texts about new or unfamiliar concepts.  It also provides a setting for interaction among students which is an important component of effective instruction for ELLs.

Steps in the Process:

  • Form cooperative learning groups called ‘home’ groups. Students in this group will then be assigned to an ‘expert’ group.  All students will eventually return to this home group.

  • Each expert group is assigned a different section of the text to read.  They can take turns reading orally as a group, to partners, or as individuals (tailor this to the needs of your students).

  • After reading, assign roles within each ‘expert’ group for students to take notes, identify essential vocabulary, and/or answer key questions about the text.  A graphic organizer can help keep students’ thinking in order and make it easier for them to later present to their ‘home’ groups.

  • Ensure that each ‘expert’ group understands the materials they have read in order that they may share it with their ‘home’ groups.

  • ‘Experts’ share their learning within their ‘home groups.’  The same or a different graphic organizer may help students with this process.

ELL Strategies for Reading and Fluency

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Unique variables present themselves when teaching fluency to English Language Learners. In this session, we will explore the balancing act around the instruction of fluency to enhance reading comprehension for English Language Learners. Some of the main points are as follows:

  • Reading Fluency is reading accuracy+automaticity+ prosody. In order for students to show us they are truly fluent and are on a solid pathway to understanding, students need all three.
  • Reading fluency is not reading fast.
  • Reading fluency for ELL’s can be misrepresented. We may diagnose a low fluency score as a need for skills based instruction. Although ELL students need access to those skills, if too much time is spent on these skills students may still struggle.

So how do we use the instruction of reading fluency to enhance comprehension?

Timothy Rasinski talks about deep reading and wide reading. We will discuss these strategies and activities that may encourage not only reading fluency but oral language fluency as well. For ELL’s if they do not have oral language fluency in place, we cannot expect them to have strong skills in reading fluency. As a result of this, we need to make sure that we are creating a balance in our approach to teaching fluency so that students are working on both oral language and reading language skills succinctly.

To see resources, links to videos, and the presentation slides for this session, click here.

To see examples of fluency assessments to use with students, click here.

To see Timothy Shanahan speak about reading fluency for ELLs, click here.  You can also read his blog regarding ELL’s and Fluency.

You can also read ELL’s and Reading Fluency in English and Reading 101 for English Language Learners from Colorin Colorado’s website!

ELL Strategies for Elementary Math

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There is a common misconception that mathematics is one of the least language-dependent subject areas; consequently, many mathematics teachers are not fully prepared to include elements of language acquisition in their mathematics instruction.  –Jane Hill

To address this, we examine ways to make math more comprehensible for ELL students.  Check out the full presentation here.

Teachers used a planning guide to form content and language objectives, as well as consider what instructional practices would provide appropriate scaffolds for students.

For more strategies to support ELLs in math, check out the ISELL posts:

Solving Math Word Problems with ELLs  and  Increasing Math Achievement Through Sentence Frames and Opportunities for Math Talk

Supporting Non-speakers in Writing

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Working with new Level One students can be a challenge, particularly during writing time.  Writing is all “output” and Level One students are still working on acquiring language through “input.”  Getting all that language they are taking in back out–and on to paper, no less–is quite a rigorous activity!

A few things to remember are…

Build on the small things, common language experiences.  Sometimes, you just have to feed them the language…and that’s okay.

“I saw you playing on the swings today at recess.  Let’s draw a picture of that.  Here’s how I would draw it.  I’m going to put swings and a sun in my picture because it was sunny today.  I’ll add some grass, too.  Can you draw like me?  Great!  Should we put an “s” by your swings?  Because swings starts with s!  Let’s say, ‘I play on the swings.’  Can we try to write that?”

ELLs the chance to Say it, Write it, Read it and Repeat it to Learn it.  The best thing we can provide Level Ones is the opportunity for rehearsal, rehearsal, rehearsal.  With Level Ones, you might use a writing conference to do a sort of adapted “individual interactive writing.”  See what that rehearsal might look like here!

Additional resources:

Hartman, Amanda.  Up Close:  Teaching English Language Learners in Reading and Writing Workshops  (DVD).  Portsmouth, NH:  FirstHand.

Units of Study for Primary Writing:

Calkins, Lucy.  (2003). The Nuts and Bolts of  Teaching Writing.  Portsmouth, NH:  FirstHand.

Calkins, Lucy & Mermelstein, Leah.  (2010).  Launching the Writing Workshop.  Portsmouth, NH:  FirstHand.

Check out a sample here!

Calkins, Lucy & Oxenhorn, Abby.  (2003)  Small Moments:  Personal Narrative Writing.   Portsmouth, NH:  FirstHand.

Check out a sample here!

 

 

Classroom Instruction that Works with ELLs

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Authors Jane D. Hill and Kathleen M. Flynn provide a different approach to Classroom Instruction that Works and Marzano’s Instructional strategies, one that includes the ELL perspective.  This text  provides instructional strategies that can be applied to ELL students in every grade level and includes specific steps and guidance for educators that will boost the achievement levels of ELL students.

This resource is available via the Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Click here to read “Classroom Instruction that Works”