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!