Assessing an ELL with little English

Assessing an ELL with little English can be daunting but it can be done.  This screen shot from 
KINDERGARTEN ELL  would definitely help an Primary/Kindergarten teacher with ELLs who have very little English. I thought this should even be printed and put up on the wall for quick reference for the KG educator as assessing should be ongoing and daily in order to help the ELL improve.  Click on the above KINDERGARTEN ELL link to see the document in full (page 44 and 45).

Teaching Games with Different Learning Styles

Below is a fantastic resources which outlines lots of different games and activities in different learning styles.
Games with Different Learning Styles

There were so many great games that I thought this would be good reference.
Looking at the website there are lots of other resources too that would be handy.  Rather than bookmarking on my computer, I thought it would be best to include them in this online portfolio.
Other teachers would also find this resource useful when supporting the ELL, especially in the mainstream classrom. 

Teaching Strategies that Address Trauma and Resilience

This video is well worth watching from time-to-time to remind ourselves about how to deal with trauma and encourage resilience in the ELL learner.

 I thought it was worth including in my portfolio because it reminds us of 'Growth Mindset' and dealing with the entire person, not just the student.
Also, I believe this video can help remind us of the issues that other children (not just ELL's) may be facing in their everyday lives that affect their abilty to learn.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO

Vocabulary Spinner

One of my colleagues included this idea in one of her discussion posts.  She suggested adding different vocabulary activities to the spinner such as:

•  Act it out
• Say a synonym
• Part of speech 
• Draw it
• Say an antonym
• Rhyme time
• Use it in a sentence
• Define it

I use this particulary online spinner: Online Spinner
 For the ELL, this activity would be a good idea but perhaps not in front of the entire mainstream class. I think this would be fun with a small group of mixed English and ELL speakers. 

Talk 4 Writing

Here is a video explaining Talk 4 Writing.

 It is a concept widely accepted and used in the UK.  It has been highly successful in developing both Speaking and Writing Skills in children aged 4-12.  The general idea is that a student is taught actions for certain words (actions that either the class comes up with or the teacher regularly uses).  Then, the children start to use these in their writing.  Conjunctions are some of my favourite types of words to use 'Talk 4 Writing' with because they are harder words to describe.  Therefore, for an ELL, this idea would be particularly useful to extend their ideas and writing.

Here is one more video with an example.

Vocabulary Ideas for the ELL

Here is a link to some super easy and effective strategies for building vocabulary in a classroom with ELL's:
15 Vocabulary Strategies in 15 minutes

It is a good guide and reference to hand to hep within the classroom.

Scaffolding Options for Teachers of ELL's

Scaffolding Options

Here is a PDF of a list of scaffolding options to help an ELL (Click on Scaffolding Options above).

I particularly liked this document because it summarized each activity.
It is a great resource to have to hand!
The detailed list starts on page 29!

Using Whiteboard tables to help children visualize

Whilst preparing my Communication Skills inquiry, I stumbled across this brilliant video of a teacher who using 'whiteboard tables' in the classroom to help ELL's visualize both for themselves and for each other.  These are homemade boards covered in whiteboard paint.  I've never heard of these (or even whiteboard paint) but I cannot wait to try them. 
I could see that this visualizing has the potential to instantly help an ELL. I know when I'm often stuck for relaying information to a student  with litttle English knowledge, I often pull out a piece of paper or try to act it out with hand gestures. This would be a readily available tool not only for the teacher, but also for the rest of the classmates.
Whiteboard tables in the classroom

Participation Protocol

I had to include this into my archive.  Below is a screen shot from a video whereby a teacher gives structure to her students on how to participate in disccussion. 

It's taken from the following video:  Participation Protocol

I think this would be a valuable tool for not only ELL's but for native speakers as well. With more and more technology being brought into our lives, the skill of successfully taking part in a discussion is often not refined in many of our children.

Planning for Academic English in the ELL classroom

Important tips for helping an ELL use academic English orally:

https://www.teachingchannel.org/videos/improve-conversation-skills-ells-ousd

I added this to my archive because I found this particular video to be quite inspirational. The final thing one of the educators said was: "Children want to learn, so when we design the learning activities for them to learn, they're with us all the way."

STEP: Observable Language Behaviours and Oral Profiles

This is an important document to have referenced for the future in terms of
STEP: Observable Language Behaviours and Oral Profiles.

I think it's important to keep an archive of this document so that I can later reference it with ELLs in my class.  "The Observable Language Behaviours continua describe ELLs' English proficiency development in three broad strands-oral, reading, and writing. Each strand is guided by the Ontario language curriculum."

My Vision and Action Plan for English Language Learners

Here are some of my thoughts on teaching English Language Learners:

https://www.powtoon.com/online-presentation/bOdE2uFSHL6/?mode=movie#/

Fostering Literacy Success for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Students

This article is an invaluable resource.
I needed to make sure I could find it because it included so many great tips to helping foster Literacy for First Nations, Métis and Inuit Students.
https://oere.oise.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/WW_Fostering_Literacy.pdf

The experience of youths in moving to Canada

This perspective of youth moving to Canada and their experience in the school systems is a must to watch.  What struck me most was the fact that some youth came without their parents.  They had to adapt and settle without parental support.  This fact alone is astonishing and it really puts light on our job as educators for ELLs.  It isn't always the academice side that we must focus on with youth; there are sometimes more basic concerns like whether or not a child has enough food to eat.  This is why I felt it was important to include this video clip in my artifacts.

Stages of Acculturation

These Stages of  Acculturation are important to keep in our mind when ELLs enter our school and classrooms:

Dual-Language Books

As soon as I saw this idea, I had to archive it.
Whilst reading the Many Roots, Many Voices Document, I came across the idea of creating 'Dual- Language Books.  The strategy encourages the use of the child's first language because it is seen to enrich the language-learning process. An added advantage is that it helps parents become more involved in their child's learning. It is definitely a strategy to try in the future and an exemplar for it is the  Dual Language Showcase.  This website was inspirational in how using a child's first language in order to learn English could be done.

Student Identity and Engagement

I had to include this point and video clip in my archive for future reference. It was made by another course candidate and I think it was a great example illustrating HOW we can include the identity of an ELL and make it positive experience.

Your points about including all aspects of a student's identity reminded me of this commercial I recently saw. Sama, a 9 year old Syrian refugee has shared parts of her story with her classmates, and in an effort to make connections with peers, her family and teacher coordinated a day for Sama to share cultural food. Give it a watch if you can! It's only 2 minutes and demonstrates a supportive and welcoming environment!

Edugains

This is a point made by one of the course candidates:

"The Edugains website has a section dedicated to ELLs. The section on the website provides educators with many resources to support ELLs including initial assessments and rubrics to track student progress in their English language acquisition. The resources also tell teachers how they can best support the ELL by providing suggested strategies. Great resource for anyone teaching ESL in Ontario (Grades 1-8). You may require a password from your school board to access some of the resources."

  http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/ell/index.html

I had a look at the website and I felt it was important to archive it to refer to when needed. One of the parts that I particularly loved were the Video Series.  I learn best by watching other educators and so I felt this was in important link where I could see best practice in action. Another useful part of the website were the link to all of the monographs. Everything was laid out in a very organized way so that a busy teacher can easily use this website to help with ELL learners in thier classroom.

Not every English language learner is new to the country

This is an excerpt from an introduction post by one of the course candidates.

 "This is especially important for me, because as an elementary student my self those many years ago I struggled to learn English. This is even though it was my native tongue."

And some responses:

"That's an interesting point you made about native language .. did you know that many of our ELLs were born right here in Canada but their first language is something other than English.  School boards still receive funding to support those students to learn English."

"Yes, very true .... My first cousins were born and raised in Canada but my aunts and uncles only spoke Serbian to them at home. They were all placed in ESL classes for the first few years of school."

This is an important point to archive and remember because their experience learning English will likely be very different.  The cultural aspect of coming from another country will not be a factor and they will be able to draw upon more experiences from living within the country.

Following this link will give you a very detailed monograph about the subject of Canadian-born English Language Learners.http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/CBS_CBELL.pdf

Vocabulary Building

This LINOit page gives a good summary of why vocabulary-building is crucial for an English Language Learner:
http://bit.ly/2yK3GML

The link will give a larger-scale view of my findings on a World of Words and how it is enhances the learners ability to develop their vocabularly.
I decided to include it in my portfolio because I am a huge fan of developing word knowledge! I genuinely believe it is crucial for success. There are so many fun ways to help with the development of vocabulary. One idea that was given to me by the instructor was to include translations on 'Vocabulary Word Days' whereby children dress-up as a word, include the word in English but also include the word translated in one or more other languages. This way the ELL will feel personally connected to an activity and likely take a lot more from it! Great idea!