Holly Tracy

About Holly Tracy

Holly Tracy is an ELL Instructional Coach for Lincoln Public Schools. She works with the staff and administration at Adams, Arnold, Calvert, Cavett, Clinton, Hill, Humann, Kloefkorn, Maxey, Roper, Rousseau, and Zeman. Holly has had the chance to develop valuable partnerships with many teachers across these buildings as they support their ELL students and looks forward to continuing this work.

Meeting the Needs of Level Ones (Elementary)

This session introduced the new thematic curriculum developed for Level One students in elementary schools across Lincoln.  This curriculum would also be useful in our kindergarten ELL classrooms.  We also learned about new assessment components of the Level One Thematic Curriculum and the ELL Level One Literacy Assessment Guide.  The session also shared with teachers components available to them on the new Enhanced ELL Reading Solution portion of Reading A to Z, as well as discussed which parts of the McGraw-Hill Language Support Guides to make use of in our Level One classrooms.

To review any resources or paths to resources, please consult the Powerpoint here.

The entire Level One Curriculum can be found under ELL Teachers in Docushare or by clicking here.

The ELL Level One Literacy Assessment Guide can be found in Level One Curriculum or by clicking here.

The Level One Thematic Curriculum can be found in Level One curriculum or by clicking here.  

ELL–Taking Care of Business (Elementary)

This session focused on ELL Business including 2014-2015 PD opportunities and where to find pertinent ELL information in the ELL handbook and in Synergy.  We reviewed of McGraw Hill materials developed for ELL teachers and updates on reading assessments for ELLs.  It also included an introduction to the new ELPA21 State Standards.

Click here for the presentation about ELL Business and the McGraw Hill Review and Updates

Click here for the presentation introducing  ELPA21 State Standards

Click below to access the updated Language Arts Assessment Guides:

3rd Grade

4th Grade

5th Grade

Informal Reading Inventory

On the Same Page: The Chronicles of ELL Coaching

History of ELL Coaching in Lincoln Public Schools

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Action Plan from 2010-2011

Action Plan from 2011-2012

Action Plan from 2013-2014

Resources developed for our district’s professional development

Menu of Professional Development Options for 2014-2015

ELL Foundations Class Presentation (Example comes from the third class in the series for new ELL teachers)

Planning for Reading Instruction with K-1 ELLs Presentation (Example comes from ELL district professional development)

Math Strategies for Elementary ELL Students Presentation (Example comes from General Education professional development)

Resources developed for teachers to enhance language acquisition instruction in our classrooms

Lesson plan from a guided reading model lesson

Math Word Problem Sentence Frames

Model Video to share a Word Study strategy with teachers

Video highlighting the use of content/language objectives in an ELL classroom  (if you have trouble opening the video, try using a Firefox or Safari browser)

District Wide Communications

Before launching the current ISELL site, we had several versions of newsletter communications with our school district.  

2008 Newsletter                 2011 Newsletter

 

 

Composite ELL Level

Traditionally in Lincoln Public Schools, students enrolled in the English Language Learners program have been assigned levels based on each of the individual domains of speaking, listening, reading and writing. In kindergarten and first grade, students were placed in service based on their speaking/listening level due to the fact that it seemed the most developmentally appropriate placement. Transitioning from 1st to 2nd grade, demands in academic language proficiency increased and as a result, students’ levels were adjusted to reflect their writing level instead of their speaking/listening level.

According to Verplaetse & Migliacci (2008), ELL students may sound as if they are English fluent in their oral speech within two years’ time, but this is deceptive.  They need minimally five years and often as much as 10 years to fully develop the language proficiency they need to operate in an academic setting on par with their native English-speaking classmates (p.6).

In addition, Cummins (1979) and Thomas and Collier (2002) agree that students develop interpersonal social language in two to three years, whereas academic language takes five to seven years.  Butler, Stevens, and Castellon (2007) state, “ELs were often exited from language support programs because they sounded fluent in social language or were tested primarily on social language.”  Focusing solely on social language proficiency as opposed to academic language proficiency frequently leads to learning concerns down the road (as cited in Peregoy & Boyle, 2013, p. 46).

Therefore, level placement for students enrolled in the English Language Learner program in Lincoln Public schools will be based on a composite score as opposed to being leveled by a specific domain for the following reasons:

1. To reduce variability in how students are leveled and create more consistency.

2. To ensure that all four domains are reflected in an ELL student’s level.

3. Prevent premature exit from the ELL program and ensure that students who quickly master listening and speaking skills also master necessary reading and writing skills (“Guide to Understanding Scores,” n.d., para. 21).

Please view the following resources for more information on Composite Levels:

Composite Level Rationale and Examples of Configuring Composite Levels

Translated Note to Explain the Adjustment to Composite Levels to parents

Updated ELL Assessment Summary

Tutorial Video on How to Configure Composite ELL Levels  (if you have trouble viewing the video, try opening it using either a Firefox or Safari browser)

References

Guide to Understanding Scores on the English Language Development Assessment. (n.d.). In Nebraska Department of Education. Retrieved from http://www.education.ne.gov/natlorigin/ELDA.html

Peregoy, S., & Boyle, O. (2013). Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL: A Resource Book for Teaching K-12 English Learners. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Verplaestse, L. & Migliacci, N. (2008).  Inclusive Pedagogy for English Language Learners:  A Handbook of Research-Informed Practices.  New York, NY:  Routledge.

DRA Tutorial for ELL Instructors

The role of Oral Reading Assessments are important in ELL classrooms not only to inform instruction but to also document growth in the  language acquisition domain of reading. ELL teachers can use several different resources to conduct reading assessments in their classrooms. They are as follows:

DRA

Reading A-Z Benchmark Assessments

Rigby Benchmark Assessments

Running Records

DRA is a commonly used assessment in our district. ELL teachers are not required to use this assessment but may find it to be a helpful tool to use to create consistency between general education classrooms and ELL classrooms. If DRA is not an option for your current teaching reality, then you can also choose from the above options. The point is that one of these assessments are used each quarter to influence level movement and help inform daily instruction.

When evaluating the results of any Oral Reading Assessment ELL teachers need to consider not only reading based errors but also language acquisition influences in the way students negotiate a text. Some guiding questions to facilitate this process are as follows:

What errors do I see in this assessment?

Are they skill based errors or language based errors or both?

Are the errors’ students making used in their oral language?

What does this tell me about this child as a reader?

How would this inform my guided reading instruction?

How can that be supported through both oral language and reading?

Teacher can use the following documents to record students progress and interpret results of reading:

Fluency Chart

ELL Reading Assessment Log

DRA Tutorial for ELL Instructors Powerpoint

DRA for Secondary ELL Teachers Powerpoint

Language Objectives in Action

What is a language objective?  Well, teachers are familiar with lesson objectives.  They are what we want our students to learn.  A language objective is the language the student needs to be able to use in order to complete that task.  Not everyone is used to thinking about the language demands of what they are teaching.  But, for ELLs, knowing how language is used in a particular content area is essential in order for teachers to convey information (orally or through text) and for students to use and apply that information (through class reading, writing, and discussion activities).  (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2013)

Perhaps one way to introduce the idea of including language objectives into your lesson planning is to see one in action.  Terri Johnson, an ELL teacher at Rousseau Elementary, offered to let us take a peek into how she’s using language objectives to give her first grade students access to academic language and comprehension strategies.  Watch Terri’s group here If you are having difficulty accessing the video, try switching your browser to Firefox or Safari.

To hear more about Language Objectives, contact your ELL Instructional Coach.  We would love to work on developing these with you!

 
Reference:  Echevarria, J, Vogt, M., & Short, D.  (2013)  Making content comprehensible for English language learners–the SIOP model.  New York:  Pearson.

ELL Strategies for Elementary Math

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

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!