Literacy Tutor ELL Training

Workshop

February 15th, 2017

Presented by:

Griselda Pérez, ESL TeacherHuntingtowne Farms Elementary

AGENDA

Who we are.

Who are our LEP students?

What do all the acronyms mean?

The Importance of Vocabulary

Strategies & Suggestions

Your turn: questions, concerns, comments

Who we are… We have a diverse student body of children from 9 countries

own neighborhoods of Huntingtowne Farms, Starmount and

Old Pineville Road Corridor. About 930 students.

U.S.A. = 1 and Honduras = 2

Hispanic=59.8% African American=26.6% White=8.8%

Students speak 11 different languages at home.

We have 282 LEP students and 533 Hispanic students.

Who Is An ELL/LEP? English

Language Learner

Students that speak a language other

than English at home.

Students who take an English Placement

when they are new to CMS(W-APT).

Students who get a Language Proficiency

Test every year (ACCESS TEST).

Who are our students?

The acronyms:

ELL – English Language Learner - Speak another language at home

ESL – English for speakers of other languages - Have limited English

proficiency

LEP – Limited English Proficiency - Will learn English with time

CLD – (newest one) Culturally and Linguistically Diverse - Can take

up 10 years to perform like a native speaker

The Importance of Vocabulary

ELLs move through different stages as they

acquire English proficiency and, at all

stages, need comprehensible input.

The more vocabulary they acquire, the

more they will comprehend.

So many words! Which are most important?

Taken from ‘’Words to Teach’’(Beck & McKeon, 1985; Beck et al., 2002; Calderon et al., 2005; Cecil & Gripe, 2009)

Tier One : *rarely require instruction , EXCEPT for ELL students

Those that start learning young will “catch up.”

building blocks of everyday language;

known by most students; easily explained and understood

Tier Two (general academic): are good ones to teach directly

occur frequently in texts, but students may not be exposed to them in everyday contexts; are central to comprehension

Continuation

Tier Three: should be taught only as they arise in text

o Domain-specific o Low-frequencyo “Specialized”

For ELLSo Teach Tier 1 words firsto Provide pictures clueso Engage the senseso Provide lots of review! Repetition!!

Academic Language

Academic Language is the:

Oral and written language used for academic purposes.

Means by which students develop and express content understandings.

Language of the discipline that students need to learn and use to participate and engage in meaningful ways in the content area.”

(edTPA Elementary Edu. Assessment Handbook, 2013 , p. 59)

Academic language is what students need in order to:

Understand (read, listen, think)

Communicate (listen, speak, write, connect)

Perform (think, read, write, listen, speak, solve, create)

Academic language is necessary to participate in literacy-to think, question, talk, and learn.

Academic Language Examples

Math: 12/24

Language Function: Dividing

Necessary Vocabulary: dividend, product, divisor

Syntax: Division symbols (/ and ÷), divided by

Discourse (how you read/say it):

24 goes into 12 or 12 divided by 24

Vocabulary Activity

Show students how to divide a card into four quadrants (either fold or draw lines)

Ask students to label the quadrants as follows:

First Quadrant: WORD

Second Quadrant: DEFINITION

Third Quadrant: PICTURE

Fourth Quadrant: SENTENCE SYNONYM/ANTONYM-Find the word in the reading.

Let’s Examine a Textfrom Volcanoes by Seymour Simon

In early times, no one knew how volcanoes formed or why they spouted red-hot molten rock. In modern times, scientists began to study volcanoes. They still don’t know all the answers, but they know much about how a volcano works. Our planet is made up of many layers of rock. The top layers of solid rock are called the *crust. Deep beneath the crust is the *mantle, where it is so hot that some rock melts. The melted, or molten, rock is called magma. Volcanoes are formed when magma pushes its way up through the crack in Earth’s crust. This is called a volcanic eruption. When magma pours forth on the surface, it is called lava.

Tier 2 words (general academic) & Tier 3 words (domain specific)

Let’s Examine a Textfrom Volcanoes by Seymour Simon

In early times, no one knew how volcanoes formed or why theyspouted red-hot molten rock. In modern times, scientists began to study volcanoes. They still don’t know all the answers, but they know much about how a volcano works. Our planet is made up of many layers of rock. The top layers of solid rock are called the *crust. Deep beneath the crust is the *mantle, where it is so hot that some rock melts. The melted, or molten, rock is called magma. Volcanoes are formed when magma pushes its way up through the crack in Earth’s crust. This is called a volcanic eruption. When magma pours forth on the surface, it is called lava.

Tier 2 words (general academic) & Tier 3 words (domain specific)

Vocabulary

Be a model!

You will help ELL students by simply modeling pronunciation. This might be the only time during the day where they get instruction one on one with a Native Language Speaker.

Reading Strategies

Ask the student if they know anything about the topic, let them talk to you about it.

Share any knowledge you already have about the topic.

Identifying the important parts/details in the reading.

Ask specific questions while reading.

Clarify vocabulary if necessary.

Create mental images/pictures about the material you are reading.

Final thoughts…

We are here for you – resources, ideas, communication and concerns.

All your help is needed and important!

Your presence matters – beyond tutoring to mentor and model!

To the board of the Augustine LiteracyProject for your interest in learning moreabout our ELL students.

To each of you for finding time in yourschedules to work patiently andcompassionately with our and now yourstudents.