Collaborative WIDA Tools for Serving ELs in the Classroom Many roads, one destination.

Rita Platt Reading Specialist/Media St. Croix Falls School District St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin

Questions to be Answered What’s WIDA got to do with co- teaching? What are the WIDA Proficiency Levels? How can we use the WIDA tools to differentiate and motivate?

Relax … Everything (and more) is on The Wiki

WIDA Philosophy in a Nutshell

WIDA: The Bigger Nutshell 1.Language is the tool for learning! 2.LEP’s are in mainstream classrooms. (95% of the time in MPS.) 3.LEP’s use their Limited English to learn in 5 basic contexts (Language Arts, Science, Social Studies, Math, Social & Amplification.) 4.EL’s English -- no matter how limited – is an asset for learning. You work with what you’ve got! 5.WIDA is designed to help all teachers modify the language demands of instruction to provide LEP students with meaningful access to content.

The Old Way of Looking at Co-Teaching

Benefits of Collaboration Shared responsibility for educating all students Ideal structure for transfer of teacher expertise Two heads are needed…these are complex needs! Shared understanding and use of standards, curriculum, & assessment data Shared ownership & accountability for teaching and interventions

The New Way + The Surgical Model

Instructional Tips KNOW the MN standards. UNDERSTAND the assessments. Be ready to DIFFERENTIATE (MODIFY) instruction. Clearly display an agenda for the class, which includes the standard(s) to be covered and any additional goals Strive to demonstrate parity in instruction whenever possible by switching roles often Share common tools…WIDA tools Together, “Act as if!”

WIDA to the rescue!

Remember! language serves content learning What students can do with language BROADLY The student’s LEVEL But what might that look like in a particular lesson in a particular unit? Differentiation But what does that look like at different grades? With different language domains? (Speak/Listen/ Read/Write) THIS IS WIDA! (“Yeah, but what does that look like?”) Standard 1 – Social & Instructional Language (SIL) English language learners communicate for social and instructional purposes in the school setting. Standard 2 – Language of Language Arts (LoLA) English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts. Standard 3 – Language of Mathematics (LoMA) English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Math. Standard 4 – Language of Science (LoSC) English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Science. Standard 5 – Language of Social Studies (LoSS) English language learners communicate information, ideas and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Social Studies.

Performance Definitions

Good … but still too hard …

WIDA Proficiency Levels (Nutshell Perspective) WIDA Levels describe the difficulty of the language we can reasonably expect a student to be able to use for grade-level content learning.

Your Data

Lyndale’s Data 7 months old… TTYP: Thoughts? Ideas? Patterns?

Data-Based Teaching 1.Assess 2.Analyze results 3.Set goals for student growth- plan interventions to meet goals 4.Teach for growth toward goals 5.Reassess 6.Tweak plans Repeat Repeat Repeat Continuous Improvement Model

What students can do with language BROADLY But what does that look like at different grades? With different language domains? (Speak/Listen/ Read/Write) Up the Triangle = A More Specific View Performance Defs informed by the CVC Criteria

Can-Do Descriptors

Language Control is clearer in the productive domains – speaking and writing – where it refers to the extent to which errors affect comprehension. In the receptive domains (Listening & Reading), think of “language control” as referring to how closely the speaker has to monitor his/her language to be sure not to lose the listeners.

Good … but can it be easier???

The Student- Friendly Can-Do’s Go to the Wiki for the Can-Do’s in Spanish!

Student-Friendly’s do NOT Replace Can Do’s WIDA Can-Do DescriptorStudent-friendly version Match oral language to classroom and everyday objects Listen and match words to things Compare attributes of real objects (e.g., size, shape, color) Tells what is the same and what is different in things Indicate spatial relations of real-life objects using phrases or short sentences Tell where things are Apply content-based information to new contexts Write about [new situation] using information I learned in class Remember: These do NOT come from WIDA! They come from John & Rita

Peek at the Can Do’s TTYP Think about your students: – Do they seem like accurate depictions of what they were able to do? – How could you use the Can-Do’s to inform your teaching?

Data-Based Decision Making 1.Assess 2.Analyze results 3.Set goals for student growth- plan interventions to meet goals 4.Teach for growth toward goals 5.Reassess 6.Tweak plans Repeat Repeat Repeat Continuous Improvement Model

Why Share “Kid-Friendly” Can Do’s? Students and teacher(s) have a clear target Makes Can Do’s into “I can…’s” Facilitates differentiation Post them? Refer to them? Give students Can Do booklets? Have level 2 and level 3 set goals?

WIDA-ProgressMonitor

They’re on the Wiki!

What students can do with language BROADLY But what does that look like at different grades? With different language domains? (Speak/Listen/ Read/Write) Up the Triangle = A More Specific View but … we now have enough to work with…. Performance Defs informed by the CVC Criteria Student Friendly Can-Do’s

Look for CVC Think about—is the same knowledge still tested/reviewed?

3 ½ Steps Toward Differentiating with WIDA MPIs = Differentiation in action!

Lyndale’s Data

USE THE 3 ½ STEPS TO DIFFERENTIATE USING THE WIDA LENS 1. Reformat activities or aspects or steps of a lesson to match language needs 2. Determine the WIDA level 3. Design an analogous learning activity appropriate for lower levels 3 ½. Consider levels of support/scaffolding that might be needed

3 rd Grade Social Studies: Identify the 3 branches of government and their primary functions. 1.Check the lesson with the CVC, what level is it pitched to? 2.Use the Can Do Descriptors and the 3 ½ Steps to Differentiation to modify the lesson for a level 3. 3.Share your work with someone else.

Try it! Choose a standard Think of a lesson you use to teach it Look at the CVC to determine what level your lesson is pitched to Look at the Can-Do Descriptors and use the 3 ½ Steps to Differentiation to modify it down (and up if needed) the levels

Remember language serves content learning What students can do with language BROADLY Illustrate what students can do at each level in context (in the content area) What students can do with language broken down by domain (Speaking, listening, reading, writing) Student-Friendly Can-Do’s

SOEI SOEI Domain Relationship to Co-Teaching If co-teaching is effective teachers must: 1. Preparation & Planning Understand the content and how students learn it (A.i). Have a ready “toolbox” of resources and strategies (A.iii) and be able to use this toolbox to plan (A.iv) Know goals for students (B.ii) and be able to align goals to teaching and learning (B.iii). Plan and provide assessments (C.i) in skills, interests, and language proficiency (C.iii), use data collected (C.ii) to differentiate instruction (C.iv). 2. Classroom Environment Create an environment where students are respected (A.ii), actively engaged in their learning (B.i) and held to high expectations for achievement (B.i). 3. Classroom Instruction Be flexible and able to use alternate instructional activities to meet students’ needs (A.ii). Be aware of cultural as it relates to language and cultural nuances (A.iii). Allow for differentiated instruction (B.i) student ability to progress at their own learning rates & work in groups as needed (B.iv). Use assessments to inform adjustment of instruction and as the base for applying varied learning strategies (C.i). 4. Professional Responsibilities Be willing to grow, learn, and change teaching practices (A.i & B.i). Be able to articulate different courses of action to help students succeed (A.ii). Collaborate with colleagues (B.ii).

Focused Instruction FI FeaturesRelationship to Co-Teaching Planning lessons using high-quality curriculum derived from state standards Both teachers must know the standards for the core and for ESL. Engaging students in rigorous learning using a variety of strategies All ELs have access to content and to English language development through teacher use of flexible strategies matched to student need. Adapting instruction to meet individual needs This is the point of co-teaching! Conducting frequent assessments In order to figure out HOW to serve learners, teachers must first determine a student’s language, content, and skills levels. Using dataTeachers must consult data in order to ensure that the differentiated strategies are helping increase student achievement.

Questions to be Answered What are the WIDA Proficiency Levels? How can we use the WIDA tools to differentiate and motivate? What’s WIDA got to do with co- teaching?

Ready, FIRE, Aim!!!