ESOL Hopkins Elementary Presenter: Yanira Alfonso, EDS ESOL Teacher Hopkins Elementary School

ESOL English to Speakers of Other Languages

Presentation Objectives Tell us your needs. We want to help. Brief Program Overview New WIDA Standards ESOL Modification Plans

Mission of the Gwinnett County ESOL Program To help students learn to use English to communicate in social settings In socially and culturally appropriate ways To achieve academically in all content areas Meeting Academic Knowledge and Skills and state standards

Why ESOL? Federal Law - – United States Code “No state shall deny equal educational opportunity to an individual on accounts of his or her race, color, sex, or national origin by (f) the failure of an educational agency to take appropriate action to overcome language barriers that impede equal participation by its students in its instructional programs.”

Verbal language proficiency is NOT an indicator of language proficiency! BICS - Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (Approx.. 2 years) CALP - Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (5 - 7 years)

An Urgent Call to Meeting Students’ Needs Recent Hopkins ESOL AYP Results No Child Left Behind – All students on grade level – In reading, mathematics, and science – By the year 2014

State of Georgia Curriculum From a discrete skills curriculum To a standards-based curriculum emphasizing language proficiency.

Aligning English Language Performance Standards to English Language Arts and Content Standards Making Connections: WIDA and ACCESS and AKS Student Achievement

What are the features of WIDA standards? Standards Language Domains Grade Level Clusters Levels of Language Proficiency Performance Indicators

Why are English Language Proficiency Standards necessary? To provide a resource for ALL involved in the education of English language learners …administrators and teachers To establish a common yardstick to define and measure how English language learners acquire language To meet compliance with Titles I and III of No Child Left Behind

How are the WIDA standards connected with other standards?

Support is essential for English Language Learners. Types of support for ELLs include: (Gottlieb, 2006) Linguistic SupportGraphic SupportVisual Support Use of native language Definition of key terms within sentences Modification of sentence patterns (i.e. avoiding passive voice) Use of redundancy or rephrasing Opportunities to interact with proficient English models Charts (i.e., pie, T) Tables (i.e. histogram) Timelines, number lines Graphs Graphic organizers (i.e.,Venn diagrams, semantic webs) Real objects (i.e., maps, coins, rocks) Manipulatives (i.e. cubes, Cuisenaire rods) Photographs Pictures, illustrations Diagrams Models (i.e., displays) Magazines, newspapers Videos Multimedia, including Internet

In teaching AKS to ELLs… Regular classroom teachers focus on AKS while considering the English language proficiency standards for ELLs through AKS Modification and Intervention Plans

ESOL Modifications ESOL Teachers & Classroom teachers work collaboratively to provide – language support & – AKS academic support for ELLs Creating an AKS Modification and Intervention Plan for ELLs Called an “ESOL Modification Plan”

Parts of the ESOL – AKS Mod. Plan 1. Student Information 2. AKS Modifications 3. Modification, Intervention, and Classroom Assessment Strategies Options Checklist

Modification Plans & Grading A Modification Plan is a document in progress. Used throughout the year to add AKS as students master the AKS Used to grade the student each nine weeks

Creating Modification Plans 1. ESOL teacher & classroom teacher collaborate to determine ELL’s proficiency level. 2. Select AKS 3. Use WIDA Model Performance Indicators, Can DO Descriptors, and Quality-Plus Teaching Strategies 4. AKS Modification Plans Database

How will new standards transfer to my teaching as a classroom teacher? Document to reflect new standards: – lesson plans (include one language goal) – student progress (grading/ mod. Plans) – Update Mod. Plans every 9 weeks Providing accountability data for: – administrators – parents – other teachers

Students’ Academic and Linguistic Success Depends on… Collaboration between all to ensure that language and AKS instruction is congruent throughout the entire school day!