Chapter 13 talks about English Language Learners. There were several models and program options listed including Transitional Bilingual Education, Developmental Bilingual Education, Two-Way Immersion, English Language Development, Newcomer Programs, and Sheltered Instruction, but the authors stated that the SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) was most effective. In order for students to be successful, educations with ELL students must be provided with PD focused on "second language acquisition, ESL and literacy techniques, and proven instructional models for English learners" (184).
SIOP's components are the following: Lesson Preparation, Building Background, Comprehensible Input, Strategies, Interaction, Practice & Application, Lesson Delivery, and Review & Assessment. Each component has several parts, but the overall goal is the following: to make sure that the content is broken down into manageable chunks, that vocabulary is emphasized, that frequent interaction between student and teacher occur, that direct activities, multiple exposures, and scaffolding help the student interact with the new material, and that assessments and feedback are regular and relevant.
These PD programs can are most effective when they are presented as book studies, team planning, and peer observations and lesson study as teachers can apply the 8 components of the SIOP model and when they are paired with regular evaluation of the ELL's language acquisition.
Chapter 14 talks about RTIs (Response to Interventions). RTIs are used to create plans to help students become more successful by reducing behavior problems and increasing academic success through student-specific interventions developed by the student's teacher(s) and administrators if needed. There are 3 tiers in the RTI program.
Tier 1 targets differentiated instruction models and grouping options to ensure that all students are receiving proper instruction in a sufficient amount of time with limited disruptions. Frequent, quick assessments are needed for Tier 1 to be able to immediately identify areas of need.
Tier 2 focuses on more individualized instructional plans for more at risk students. These plans including tutoring in foundational skills with teachers, well-trained paraprofessionals, and experts such as special education teachers and reading specialists. These interventions should occur 3-5 times a week for 20-30 minutes at a time over the course of 8-12 weeks. Assessment of student progress should occur weekly or bi-weekly to ensure success of Tier 2 RTI.
Tier 3 is the most specialized RTI as it targets a specific deficit rather than the 2-3 Tier 2 focuses on. These deficits are addressed by specialists, and assessments are frequent but tailored to the deficit. Tier 3 requires more collaboration between teachers, administration and experts.
PD for RTIs would most likely come from reading specialists, but math resource teachers could offer them as well. Reading specialists can work with teachers individually and as groups to evaluate data and curriculum and identify areas where Tier 1 and 2 RTIs would be beneficial and for whom more Tier 2 and 3 interventions may be needed. They can also introduce new practices as well as be the "manager and facilitator of RTI efforts within a building" (197). By taking care of materials, data, and creating RTI teams, the reading specialist can ensure that RTIs are being used effectively.
Questions:
1. Have you used RTIs in your school/classroom? If so, what has been successful?
2. What support from the ELL department do you have in your school? What techniques do you find most successful in your classroom? What is the biggest challenge?
3. What formative assessments do you use to help evaluate student success in ELA? What specific skills do you typically target?
I'm pretty certain my school doesn't have an ELL department, unfortunately. We don't have many ELL students, but I would like more support for the ones that I do have. I had a student this semester who had severe struggles with English, although she was decent at communicating verbally. Her reading comprehension and her writing suffered, and I felt completely lost in terms of helping her. She has unfortunately had to transfer to another school with a better ELL program. What PD approach would you recommend in a school like ours to help those few students that we do have? I really like the ideas you mentioned in your summary!
ReplyDeleteFor formative assessments, I usually do small, informal assessments. In terms of reading, I find that I usually focus on leveled questions, either in terms of having students write them about what they think is important in a story, or having them answer some that I think are key to demonstrating levels of understanding. For writing, I'll usually have them write a small sample targeting their learning goal so that I can briefly see where they are. These sorts of things are usually exit tickets that inform my instructions, although sometimes I have students talk about their ideas or share their understanding with a partner and observe through conversations. Are there any more formal formative assessments you'd recommend from your reading?
I like that you include your students in their learning goal. That is a great idea. I also do a lot of think, share, pair and I really like this way of checking for understanding. I feel like they need to be able to explain their thinking to another individual. I love hearing their conversations and sometimes the little debates that go on too!
DeleteI know that our district provides a generalized ELL PD at the beginning of each year where they go over generalized strategies to help students. We have an ELL resource teacher that we share with another site, and she helps monitor the students and ensure that we are accommodating them appropriately. She also helps students work on assignments that we feel they may struggle on. From experience, pairing them with another student, providing repeated, simplified directions, and scaffolding assignments help ELL students become more confident and successful in class.
ReplyDeleteThose are good ideas for formative assessments. I rely more on informal assessments as well, and I usually monitor the progress and answers on their response sheets or their conversations with their reading groups. We use thumbs-up/thumbs-down and fist-to-five as well. There weren't any assessments in the reading that really stood out, so I was curious as to what others found useful. Exit tickets and other written informal assessments are things that I struggle with developing, so I ask for ideas quiet often! (I know I do them more often that I think I do...I just feel like I should be doing a lot more sometimes!)
Good suggestions! I definitely like the idea of pairing them with another student, although I think it would probably be best to pair them with students who speak their native language? I only had 2 ELLs this year, and I have 2 other students whom I know speak Spanish, but they're all in different classes. Do you think administrators/counselors would be willing to try to accommodate having them in the same class so the fluent speakers can help the ELLs? I think it would be very beneficial, but I'd be nervous to ask about it.
DeleteOh yeah, I forgot! I have my students evaluate themselves (1-4 scale) on our learning goal at least once every class period, which helps me a lot, since most of them at this point have realized that being honest when they're struggling will actually get them more support. At this point I can't believe I ever taught without self-evaluation. As for exit tickets, I think you might find it valuable in terms of formative assessments to give them a level 1 question (to check surface-level understanding) and a level 2 question (to check inferential understanding) to answer for their exit ticket. I also sometimes leave it more open to see what they thought was important that day. My favorite is this one: Draw a circle, a triangle, and a line on the board, and have students pick one. The circle is for something circling around in their brain from that day; the triangle is for three important things they learned that day, and the line is something from the lesson that lines up with their thinking/perspective. Just some ideas!
We also have a ELL resource teachers at our school. She doesn't really work with them on specific assignments, but works more on their skills and strategies to apply within the classroom. We also have several ELL trainings throughout the year. I think we have 2, maybe 3 trainings, in which we go over strategies and accommodations. The strategies are really great for the entire classroom population. Repeating directions, visuals, graphic organizers, proper wait time.
DeleteI have never used exit slips. I know I should, but I guess I am not really sure where to start with it. I would love any tips and advice on how to get started with that as well. I am probably making this harder than it needs to be.
Angela, I love your circle, triangle, line idea! That is so awesome! I can't wait to try it with my kiddos.
DeleteAngela, I think if you have valid reasons and explain how combining the ELL students would benefit everyone, you shouldn't worry about presenting it to administration. I would definitely ask--we've changed students' schedules because of various reasons a few times, and it's not that big of a deal.
DeleteI love the circle, triangle, line idea too! I'm going to steal it!
I'm also going to steal it! What a great idea for exit tickets! I may modify it for my undergrad online discussions, but I"ll give you credit, Angela.
Deleteokay sorry ladies. I forgot I wasn't "following" blogs, so I didn't see that they were posted yet. I guess there was some miscommunication about the chapters read too. I will go back and do the other chapters not read, because I also did chapter 13 and 14.
ReplyDeleteAs far as, RTI, we use something very similar to it. There are tiers that we have our students placed into, but we do not have weekly meetings, so I am kind of wondering what the point is. I have participated in an RTI meeting when I was doing a long term sub job at another school and I really thought it was beneficial. It really helped to track the progress of the students, and there was movement through the different tiers as the year progressed!
We have an ELL liaison, basically she will come and work with the students every day for an allotted time. She works with them on strategies and skills to use within the classroom setting. While working the my ELL students I find that using visuals and allowing them to come up with connections to their own lives. The struggle is definitely with reading comprehension, things that are not as concrete and more abstract are difficult to understand and process. With reading comprehension, I try to use graphic organizers to help organize their thoughts.
As far as formative assessments, I also just determine how they are answering the questions or participating in the classroom discussion. We also use a fist to five rating scale. To determine their own understanding.
It sounds like your ELL students have a strong support system, and I know the graphic organizers are extremely beneficial for all students. My kids love them, and it helps them manipulate information more easily.
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