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You and Your ELL Student

Wellesley Public Schools

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2 Important Questions to Consider

1. How does my student acquire English?

2. What strategies can I use to help my student?

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Before You Can Help Your Student You Must Know Your:

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BICS

Student is

Very proficient socially

BasicInterpersonal CommunicationSkills(1-3 years)

Student comprehendsand responds to interpersonal language

High ContextStudents uses manyObservational cues•Nonverbal behaviour•Intonation and stress•Pictures and objects

Don’t be fooledby a student who

has excellent BICS! He/she

may still not have…

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CALPS

CognitiveAcademicLanguageProficiencySkills(5 + years)

Context Reduced•Non verbal cues areabsent•Less face to face•Abstract•Inferential•High literacydemand•High on cultural and linguisticknowledge

Very demanding

Lots of support

needed!

-Cummins

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CALPSCognitive

Academic

Language

Proficiency

Skills

(5+ years)

BICSBasic

Interpersonal

Communication

Skills (1-3 years)

What influences language acquisition?

MotivationPrior educational

experience

Literacy level in L1

Support in L1

Perception of L2In the home

Social needs/friends

Risk takingability

Emotional state

Cultural Differences•LearningStyles•TeacherCentered vs.. Student centered

Parental support

At home language richenvironment

Acceptance of new culture

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Transfer of language skills from first language (L1) to second language (L2)There is a transfer of not just language but also cognitive skills from L1 to L2.Children who are proficient in their L1 will use these skills when acquiring L2. Children who are prematurely stopped from fully developing their L1 will suffer and struggle trying to acquire L2

L1 L2

Did you know??? Proficient bilingual and biliterate children and adults have heightened metalinguistic awareness and knowledge that may actually enhance their ability to use linguistic processes and analysis in L2 reading?

L1 proficient LearnersSeek and discover

in the L2:Lexical items,

Clauses, phrases,speech acts and

functions,patterns,

and structures

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Level of English S’s Characteristics How S’s Learn Most Effective Classroom Production Practice

Pre-production

~1-3 months

Silent Period: no speaking

Responds to instruction and commands

S learns by observation and imitationPoints, gestures, drawsto show understanding

Create a safe, no pressure environment. Speak to s frequently in simple language, use lots of gestures, pointing, and visuals. Repeat and rephraseAsk student to point, draw, find, put, show…

Early Production~many weeks to many months

Speaks using one to two wordsUses repetitive language patternsGives “yes” and “no” answersMay mix L1 and L2

S learns by observation and practicing one to two word responses

Points, gestures, draws, or responds with one or two words

Create a safe, no pressure environment. Ask yes or no questionsAsk questions to elicit one or two word responses:What color is the elephant?What do I have in my hand?Is this the mother or father?

Speech Emergence

~many months to a year or two

Speaks in longer complex phrases to express a thought or retell a storyStates opinions/original thoughtAsks for clarificationResponds to open ended questionsS is ready for formal reading and writing in English

S begins to ask questions

Uses basic literary skills

Participates in discussion and responds to questions playing with syntactic structures

Create a safe, no pressure environment. Ask open ended questions Ask “tell me about” questionsAsk “why” or “how”?Ask basic reading comp questionsPlay with sentence structures and grammarGuided reading and story mappingUse writing prompts and organizers

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Level of English S’s Characteristics How S’s Learn Most Effective Classroom Production Practice

IntermediateFluency

Several years

Ready for more advanced reading and writing in EnglishNeeds help with vocabulary development in math, science, and social studiesNeeds help with cultural content

S applies more advanced literary skills

S builds on content learning through discussion using more advanced syntactic structures

Call for process writing Provide content material at grade level Ask s to respond to conditional questions:What if…What would you do if…How would it look if…

Language and learning skills are comparable to that of a native

English speaker in academic settings. Fluency

-Krashen

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Adjusting to a New CultureYour student has many adjustments to make. Keep in mind these

phases of cultural adjustment as they can affect language acquisition!

Honeymoon

• great!

• love all the new things

• very up phase

• very playful phase

Hostility•reality sets in•everything is inferior to native culture•fear of loss of native culture•can be very negative and uncooperative, moody

Humor

•see differences in culture as non- threatening

•sees that new culture has both positive and negative sides

Home

•acceptance of new culture

•able to fully function in new culture

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Student BehaviorsMany new students exhibit some of these behaviors during the “hostility”

phase of adjustment:

• Quick Exit Needs frequent trips to the bathroom or water fountain

• Long Term Exits frequent absence from school

• Physical Problems upset stomach, headache, tiredness

• Psychological Problems mood swings, tears, blow ups, (including homesickness)

• Classroom Behavior inappropriate behavior with classmates, teachers:

touching, grabbing, yelling

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Set a place for your student right away!

• Help your student navigate the new system: what to expect in the classroom with you and other students.

• Be consistent with rules and routines

• Give students jobs to do. Make them a part of the class immediately!

• Informally assess your student’s understanding frequently.

• Don’t take anything for granted.

• Communicate with parents and your ELL tutor!

How Can We Help?

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Effective Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Strategies for

ELL Students in the ContentClassroom

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Remember: all strategies for ELL students are just good teaching!All your students benefit from thesestrategies!

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1. Building Background

• Get to know your student and his/her academic and cultural background

• Link concepts to your student’s experiences

• Make clear connections between student’s past learning and new concepts

• Emphasize key vocabulary

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2. Comprehensible Input(Make sure what your are saying is comprehensible!)

• speak appropriately to accommodate your student’s proficiency level

• enunciate• clearly explain academic tasks (repeat,

rephrase, review, and revisit)• use a variety of techniques to make content concepts

clear:Modeling, hands on, visuals, demos, gestures, movies, pictures, graphs,

globes, maps, diagrams, alternative and supplementary texts

• provide ample wait time• Can vary from culture to culture

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Strategies for Scaffolding

3. Incorporate many grouping configurations:– Whole class

• To develop classroom community• To provide shared experiences

– Flexible small groups• To promote multiple perspectives• To encourage collaboration

– Partnering• To provide practice opportunities• To scaffold instruction

-Flodd, Lapp, Flood, Nagel, 1992

18Whole class Small Group Partners Independent Work

TeachModel Practice

Apply

Increasing Independence

Increasing Independence

-Echvarria

Scaffolding Teaching

Scaffolding Grouping

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4. VocabularyRemember: vocabulary is one of the most limiting factors in L2 acquisition. Think about

not only content vocabulary but all vocabulary surrounding it.

• Explain special vocabulary in terms and words students know

• Word walls and charts• Vocabulary centers with vocabulary cards and

games (concentration, matching words with pictures, puzzles: crosswords, soups)

• Illustrations of vocabulary items • Classroom games: pictionary, scategories, tic-

tac-toe, jeopardy..)• Other Ways to Say Charts Big

huge, enormous, gigantic, mega, supersized

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Vocabulary (cont.)• Provide vocabulary lists of important terms already

known to class (especially in math)• Use dictionaries and thesauruses: appropriate for

your student– Picture, bilingual, beginner’s English-English

• Word of the day:– Define it, draw it, find an antonym, synonym, use in a

sentence, put it on the wall!

• Find vocabulary in context – Page 7. Paragraph 3 What word means large?

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5. Reading

“Learning to read only happens once. When children are already literate in their first language they do not need instruction in how to read in English. What they need is to learn how to speak.”

-MASCD

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Cultural Background

Topic Background

Punctuation

Vocabulary

Increasing complicated sentence structures and grammar

Writing Style and Text Structure

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Reading

Culturally driven content will require extra supplementary material!! Think about culture and language demands…

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Making Reading Comprehensible

Independent Reading is Essential• Make sure student is reading a their “just right” level in L2• Start slow and work up (leveled readers)• Many ELL’s do not have access to books at home: send readers and

many books home• Encourage use of the public library• Read Read Read Read Read ReadContent Reading• Maintain a library of supplementary books at varying levels of difficulty• Make written materials more readable by:

– Simplifying/rewriting– Enlarging– Highlighting key concepts– Writing headings

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Make reading interactiveGive a Purpose!• Photocopy text to mark up with questions,

predictions, highlights• Have students fill in an outline or notetaking

guide as they read; move from completion to production activities

• Support reading material with:-films, music, pictures, magazines, and other supplementary material

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Fabulous Really Effective Practices Found in Wellesley Public Schools

1.Using the whiteboard. Frequently.

-daily agenda

-outlines/ graphic organizers

-key points/main points

-vocabulary with definitions

-questions/answers

-homework

2. Providing outlines and notetaking guides

3. Writing examples and providing the “first one done”

4. Asking fellow students to repeat and speak clearly: enunciate!

5. Keeping communications open with parents via email or back and forth book.

6. Finding differentiated materials to suit your students’ reading levels.

7. Asking ELLs about their culture/ point of view/background knowledge.

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Plan Instruction according to what your student Can DO!!

Use the WiDA Can Do Descriptors

Focus on the verbs!Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4 and 5

ListenDraw PointIllustrateMatchLocateCircleSelectRepeatSortCopy TraceIdentifyDefineName       

       

PredictLabelState/restateDescribeGroupRespond ListCategorizeSequenceAnswerTell or sayAsk/requestClassifyCreateConnectMake listsRephraseGive examples

RecallRetellDefineExplainSummarizeRole playCompare/contrastDiscuss Express

AnalyzeInterpretJustify/defendElaborateCritiqueExplainNarrateConcludeConvinceReflectResolveComposeInferSynthesizeHypothesize 

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Ten Considerations and Strategies in Teaching ELL Students

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Other Things To Know• Familiarize yourself with the WiDA

language proficiency standards and Can Do’s!

• View the WiDA tutorial:http://www.wida.us/DownloadDocs/standards/2012Amplification/2012Tutorial/player.html

• Your ELL is assessed annually using the ACCESS assessment

• http://www.wida.us/assessment/ACCESS/