Improving Academics through Language Acquisition

1. Improving Academics through Language Acquisition Presented by: Elizabeth Suman

2. Are you a Culturally and Linguistically Responsive Teacher?

3. Definition • “The validation and affirmation of the home culture and home language for the purposes of building and bridging the student to success in the culture of academia and mainstream society. Simply put, CLR is going to where the students are culturally and linguistically for the aim of bringing them where they need to be academically. Metaphorically, CLR is the opposite of the sink and swim approach to teaching and learning.” Sharrocky Hollie PhD

4. Components • You can define it • Something that you are not that you do • You are not confused about your identity • You know who you are serving or not serving • You don’t celebrate Black History Month • Practice every day in every way

5. ACronyms

6. How many of these acronyms can you identify? • ELL • LEP • FLEP • ESOL • ESL • TESOL • LAB-R • L1 • L2 • HLQ • BICS • CALP • SIOP • LEAP • SIFE • NYSESLAT

7. How is an ell/Lep student identified?

9. Types of programs RCSD has for LEP/ELL students • Free Standing ESOL : This is the type of program we have at School #41 • Bilingual: Spanish/English • LEAP (Learning through English Academic Program) : It’s a self-contained class for LEP/ELLs who are newcomers.

10. What does Free Standing ESOL at School #41 Look Like? • Can be push-in or pull-out: I do pull-out only • Students are grouped together by grade level and language ability which is determined by the NYSESLAT score • The NYSESLAT is given every May and includes 4 parts: Speaking, Listening, Reading and Writing. It is also given by grade level: K-1, 2-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-12. • NYSESLAT scores are either Beginning, Intermediate, Advanced or Proficient(When a student reaches proficient, they exit the program)

11. Free Standing ESOL at School #41 Cont. • According to the NYS regulations for ESOL found in CR Part 154, beginning and intermediate students should receive 70 minutes of ESOL a day and advance students should receive 35 minutes a day. • Currently all of my students are receiving 35 minutes of ESOL a day due to my being stretched so thin between three schools. • ESOL focuses on building all four language skills: reading, writing, listening and speaking • Lessons are alligned with what their classroom teachers are teaching • ELL/LEP students also receive test accommodations which include: separate location, extended time, and listening passage read three times.

12. Language acquisition Basics

13. Language Development Basics • BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills) 1-2 yrs. to develop • CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency) 5-7 yrs. to develop

15. Stages of Language Acquisition

16. Strategies for enhancing Language Acquisition

17. Activity • Can you read the story The Traveler? • This is how students with lack of CALP see the reading tasks we give them. • What can we do to make something like more meaningful? • One way to do it is through the SIOP model.

18. SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) • Lesson Preparation • Building Background • Comprehensible Input • Strategies • Interaction • Practice/Application • Lesson Delivery • Review/Assessment

19. Lesson Preparation • Content Objective • Language Objective • Content concepts appropriate • Supplementary Materials • Adaptation of content to all levels • Meaningful Activities

20. Building Background • Concepts explicitly linked to students’ background experiences • Links explicitly made between past learning and new concepts • Key vocabulary

21. Comprehensible Input • Speech appropriate for students’ proficiency level • Clear explanations • A variety of techniques used to make content concepts clear

22. Strategies • Ample opportunities provided for students to use learning strategies • Scaffolding Techniques • A variety of tasks that promote higher order thinking skills

23. Interaction • Frequent opportunities for interaction and discussion • Grouping configurations • Sufficient wait time for student responses • Ample opportunities for students to clarify concepts in L1

24. Practice/Application • Hands-on materials and/or manipulatives • Apply content and language knowledge • Activities integrate all language skills (reading, writing, listening and speaking)

25. Lesson Delivery • Content Objectives clearly supported • Language Objectives clearly supported • Students engaged approximately 90%-100% of the time • Appropriate Pacing

26. Review/Assessment • Review of key vocabulary • Review of key content concepts • Regular feedback • Assessment of student comprehension and learning

27. Cultural Miscues

28. Some Examples • Talk: When it is and is not appropriate to talk in a classroom • Personal Space • Clothes • Materials • Male and Female roles • Asking questions • Entering and Leaving the classroom • Classroom movement (group work, amount of movement) • Pace, time • Different teachers with different expectations

29. Code Switching • We speak differently in different situations • We need to validate the way our students speak in addition to teaching them standard English • Many children don’t know that there is any other way to speak • Through literature and the use of role play we can both validate our students’ home language and teach standard English • Different registers of language can also be explored in writing

30. Final Thought “Equality means getting what you need, not the same thing”