Welcome!

Welcome to the RAE ESL Parent Information Webpage

About the ESL Teachers Sharon Weatherly – ESL Aide Rueychang Lu- ESL Aide Melissa Saur- 1st melissamsaur@katyisd.org Melanie Reed– 2nd melaniebreed@katyisd.org Cate Creedon– 3rd catherineecreedon@katyisd.org Daniela Shepard- 4th danielajshepard@katyisd.org Indu Jhawer- 5th indujhawer@katyisd.org

Introduction There are 92 languages currently spoken by families in Katy ISD! At Alexander, we have approximately 240 ESL students! At Alexander, there are 33 different languages spoken by our students!!

Push-In vs. Pull-Out For our non-English speakers, we pull out students from the classroom for specific small group instruction. (This is only for a small amount of time within the school day.) For our limited English speakers, we go into their classroom and co-teach. (This is our “push-in” time so that the students remain in their classrooms for instruction.)

ELT Time This is a time built into Alexander’s academic schedule that allows teachers to reteach/review skills in a small group or 1-on-1 setting. Throughout the year, as the needs of the students change, the make-up of the groups will change. Some ESL students may be pulled out by their ESL teachers during their grade level’s ELT time.

Grades Students who have just moved to the United States will NO longer be exempt from grades. All students will begin receiving grades from the 1st 9 weeks.

TELPAS In the spring of 2020, all ESL students will be assessed in four areas of English: Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. All ESL students will be scored by the classroom teachers. (Teachers will score individual students using a rubric provided by the State of TEXAS.) Students will be scored as either Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, or Advanced High in all four areas. TELPAS score reports will be sent home at the end of the year.

End of the Year Paperwork As of 2013, all ESL students may have the opportunity to exit the ESL program at the end of 3rd grade. They must meet state criteria to exit. An end-of-the-year placement form will be sent home with your child. Please return this form as soon as possible after you get it.

Summer School This program depends on state funding, so it varies from year to year. In the past several years, all Kindergarten students who are currently served have been given the opportunity to attend the summer school program. For newly immigrated students in grades 1 through 5, summer school has been offered if the student was born outside of the U.S. The summer school campus will vary each year. Transportation and lunch will be provided.

Work for Home Some activities for you to reinforce at home may include: reading stories on RAZ-kids.com, sight words, phonograms, alphabet letters/sounds, individual take-home readers, vocabulary flashcards, etc… Practice these things at home and have fun with English as much as you can!

Helpful Hints for Home: Please speak your native language at home with your child. Use ‘closed caption’ subtitles in English on the television when your child watches t.v. Read on RAZ-kids.com or other English books at least 20 minutes each evening. Play games with your child using the apps and websites listed on the next page. Use HAC (Home Access Center) to check your child’s grades and progress. If you need access codes, please call Natasha Mueller-Hickler (our ADA clerk).

Good Apps and Websites: www.starfall.com www.kidsa-z.com www.tumblebooks.com Kids’ Vocab by MindSnacks app English First High Flyers app Futaba app ABC Mouse app Google Translate app Sight Words Ninja app

Thank you for Visiting! 