Author Archives: Anne Hubbell

Anne Hubbell

About Anne Hubbell

Anne Hubbell is an ELL instructional coach for LPS. She has been an ELL teacher and team leader for LPS since 1992. She has also taught English for Gretna Public Schools in Gretna, NE and Canyon Springs High School in Moreno Valley, CA.

Academic Language and English Language Learners

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Students learning English as an additional language need supports in all of their academic courses. According to Lydia Breiseth (2013), “Many students, including English language learners (ELLs), have difficulty mastering the kinds of academic language needed to succeed in school, especially if they have never been explicitly taught how to use it.”

Academic language is the language of school. Although learning both social and academic language are demanding, students need to have academic language to be successful in school. Students may be at different levels of English language proficiency and the following descriptions may help teachers as they work with English learners.

Beginning stage

ELLs at the beginning stage demonstrate comprehension of simplified language, speak a few English words, answer simple questions, and use common social greetings and repetitive phrases. They make regular mistakes.

Intermediate stage

ELLs at the intermediate stage speak using standard grammar and pronunciation, but some rules are still missing. Their level of comprehension is high and they can ask or answer instructional questions. They can actively participate in conversations, retell stories, and use expanded vocabulary and paraphrasing.

Advanced stage

ELLs at the advanced stage use consistent standard English vocabulary, grammar, idioms, and oral/written strategies similar to those of English-speaking peers. They have good pronunciation and intonation. Advanced ELLs initiate social conversations. They use idiomatic expressions and appropriate ways of speaking according to their audience.

There are also language structures checklists that ELL teachers in LPS use to measure students’ progress in the grammatical structures in their English language development.

In addition to grammatical structures and content vocabulary, academic language also refers to the words and phrases that connect ideas and communicate concepts. Dr. Cindy Lundgren (2013) explains the idea that students need key words but they also need the language such as signal words and phrases that connect them.

Teachers can support their ELL students by being aware of the academic language they need and by providing language objectives as well as content objectives. For more information about language objectives, click here. According to Breiseth (2013), “The most important thing you can do is to provide examples and model the kinds of language you expect students to use on a regular basis. By doing so, you will help familiarize students with the kinds of academic language needed to succeed in your classroom, as well as the purpose of the language they are using.”

 

What Is the Difference Between Social and Academic English? Colorín Colorado (2007). Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/background/academic/

Academic Language and ELLs: What Teachers Need to Know, Lydia Breiseth (2013). Retrieved from http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/60055/

ELL Connections

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As we move toward more rigor in our curriculum it is important to recognize the needs of our ELL population. At this session we investigated aspects of the Common Core and how that impacts ELL students. We addressed three guiding questions:

•Why is there a movement for more rigorous standards and expectations?

•What is Common Core and how does it impact English Language Learners?

•What can we do to support/enable ELL students as they negotiate these academic demands?

Please find the following resources here:

A Continuum of Change-Secondary August Staff Development

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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?

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.

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.

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

Reading and ELL Flex Session, November 7, 2012

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This session addressed many of the challenges faced by English learners. It is helpful for teachers to understand these challenges so that they can provide support and teach students effective strategies. All students use three cueing systems as they learn to read. Those cueing systems include graphophonics, semantics, and syntax. ELL students have additional needs. Building background knowledge and vocabulary are two areas needed by English learners. Teachers can use various strategies such as mental images, visualization, kinesthetics, graphic organizers, and physical representations to help students. A third area of need is in learning language patterns. David and Yvonne Freeman have presented five syntactic challenges for English learners. They are modals, passive voice, comparatives and logical connectors, verbs with prepositional phrases, and relative clauses. There are many things teachers can do to help ELL students with these challenges. Some examples are scaffolding instruction, using graphic organizers, using hands-on activities, promoting oral language development, and providing opportunities for practice and feedback.

To access the powerpoint presentation, click here.

To access the bookmark, click here.

 

Freeman and Freeman (2009). Essential Linguistics, What You Need to Know to Teach Reading, ESL, Spelling, Phonics, Grammar. Heinemann Publishers.

ELL Students at Lincoln High Using iPods

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The ELL level 1 students at Lincoln High School have been using iPods to improve their language skills since November of 2011. Ben Kreimer, a UNL senior majoring in journalism, has documented their progress in a short video clip.

http://docushare.lps.org/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-1089099/IPods%20in%20ELL%20Classrooms.mov

Thoughts about Reading

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A book was recommended in a meeting I attended last week. (Personal recommendations are powerful!)  I got a copy of it and started reading. I couldn’t put it down. It confirmed my thoughts about reading and how we need to provide choice and time for our students to “get the bug” and develop a true love of reading.  The title is The Book Whisperer by Donalyn Miller. Miller refers to Stephen Krashen, an ELL expert, and his studies about reading. Stephen Krashen has been advocating free voluntary reading for years as a powerful method to acquire language. In her book, Miller provides examples from her experiences and practical methods to help teachers implement a free reading program in their classrooms. It is a book I would highly recommend!

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/book_whisperer/

 

Simple Strategies to Help ELLs in Math

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I have had the opportunity to work in various math classes with English learners for past two years. While there are a variety of English learners with different language backgrounds as well as educational backgrounds, it has been my experience that a few intentional approaches seem to make the most impact. Using visuals, such as word walls and sentence frames, are crucial for English learners. Providing lots of opportunities for students to work together and use math language such as partner time, and small cooperative learning groups makes a huge difference for English learners. And giving students lots of practice and reinforcement seem to make a difference in achievement.