ESL Newsletter

• WIDA Standards
• Progress Monitoring Forms
• Headcounts
• Access to Ellevation Education
• Navigating Ellevation Strategies Video
• Ellevation Strategies: Clarifying Input
• Importance of Scaffolds for ELLs and ALL students
• Motivating ELLs: Amplifying Language Development
• Students with Limited or Interrupted Formal Education (SLIFE) & Refugees
• ESL Teacher Vacancies
• TOP NEWSLETTER VIEWERS

Access to the WIDA Standards

Reminder for Teachers of English Learners

You should have received emails with an invitation to complete the two types of Progress Monitoring Forms:

1. Progress Monitoring Forms for Exited ELs
2. Progress Monitoring Forms for Active ELs

This is a federal requirement for our district. If you have not completed the forms yet, please, do so at your earliest convenience.

Contact the ESL teacher at your school if you have any questions or concerns about the Progress Monitoring Forms.

The Immigrant Headcount has been finalized as of October 15, 2021.

The October 1st Headcount is due at the end of the month of October.

The number of active English language learners has drastically increased this school year. There are more than 500 students identified as English learners in Granville County Public Schools.

• Anyone wanting to access the Ellevation platform must have an active Ellevation account.
• https://login.ellevationeducation.com/
  
• Use your credentials
• Username: (your work email)
• Password: (one of your preference)
• Log in

You can initiate the process to get an account with Ellevation if you do not have one yet. It will ask for a six-digit password. Send Ivelisse an e-mail and she will complete the process. Ivelisse's e-mail address is: marini@gcs.k12.nc.us .

This is the image that you will see when you access the Ellevation's platform link indicated above.

Ellevation Strategies | Ellevation Education

Clarify Input Overview

Ellevation Strategy - "Clarify Input": Learning 1-2-3 Activity (How-To)

Have you ever asked yourself if your students have some knowledge of what you will teach in the lesson?

Do they truly understand the learning objectives for the lesson?

This graphic organizer will be a quick-assessment for the teacher about the student's previous knowledge of the topic of discussion. This will assist the educator to determine the levels of support (differentiation) that the student needs.

The students write the learning objectives on the graphic organizer and they self-assess their level of understanding or knowledge of the topic of discussion before the lesson and when the lesson is complete, they self-assess their comprehension of the objectives again.

Use this strategy each time that you will teach new content.

Science Example - Grades K-2

This could be adapted for Grades 3-5

There is not an example provided in Ellevation for grades 3-5.

It could be adapted from K-2 and from 6-8.

Science Example - Grades 6-8

Science Example - Grades 9-12

This is a middle school classroom where there are many English learners learning English. The teacher provides multiple strategies each day with the students and this was their response after reading a short story.

When English language learners learn to use the strategies provided during instruction and assessments as tools, they become confident and own their learning. The use of scaffolds increases comprehension, learning becomes meaningful, and it accelerates English language acquisition.

Another important component of providing all these supports is that the students learning a new language feel more comfortable and less anxious. The Affective Filter is low and they do not encounter "obstructions" during the learning process. Once they own their learning, the quality of work that the English language learners will produce will be excellent.

"We amplify language development for English language learners (ELLs) when we provide students opportunities to verbalize their thinking and to express ideas related to class content as they are learning it. This means giving students the chance to orally produce the academic vocabulary and work with it to find out how it has meaning for them."

Resource: Escalante, L.B. (2018). Motivating ELLs: 27 activities to motivate and engage students. Seidlitz Education, Irving, TX. p. 22.

Amplifying Language Development

• Encourage students to speak in complete sentences.
• Provide students with multiple opportunities to verbalize academic content and vocabulary.
• Create a language-rich environment where discussions are valued and encouraged.
• REPEAT key vocabulary several times per lesson, and have students do the same. Challenge yourself to see how many times you can get students to say a word in class using a variety of stems.

Things to Keep in Mind

• If it does not happen at school, it might not happen.
• The technological age means less speaking and more screen time (texting as supposed to talking to friends)
• We can be surrounded by a language and never learn it.

Therefore, it is crucial that students are provided opportunities in the classroom, with support, to speak more and to be able to develop English acquisition.

Resource:

Escalante, L.B. (2018). Motivating ELLs: 27 activities to motivate and engage students. Seidlitz Education, Irving, TX. p. 24.

Helpful Hints:

• Plan 2-5 minute blocks throughout your lessons during which students can engage in structured conversation. This may take 5-10 minutes when it is new.
• Consider timing yourself in order to assess the balance of teacher talk and student talk.
• Display 2-3 simple sentence stems that students can access.
• Randomly select which student starts the student-student conversation.
• Be PATIENT. It takes time and consistency.
• Give genuine praise and feedback for students' comments.
• Enhance listening skills by allowing students to respond to peers.
• Hold students accountable for contributing, supporting them as needed.

Resource:

Escalante, L.B. (2018). Motivating ELLs: 27 activities to motivate and engage students. Seidlitz Education, Irving, TX. p. 26.

Move and Talk

• Roving Paragraph Frames

Role Play

• T-Chart, Pair, Defend

Music

• Music Memory

Review of the characteristics of a student that fit the category of a SLIFE:

• The majority of these students are enrolled in grades 6-12
• They are faced with increasingly challenging academic content and standardized testing requirements
• They need solid instruction in literacy and in numeracy skills
• They need broader orientation into our public school systems, procedures, and basic learning and study skills
• They depend upon the classroom teacher, the school community, and the community outside of the school walls to facilitate their orientation and integration into their new learning environment
• Teachers need to be prepared to teach language, in addition to content, to maximize English language development.
• Sheltered Instruction (SI) strategies in content area classes, and quality ESL instruction are necessary to ensure that students have extensive opportunities to interact with the English language and receive comprehensible input and scaffolded opportunities for output.
• Teachers need to understand culturally responsive teaching in order to provide appropriate empathy and an enhanced, safe, and interactive environment for optimal language learning and academic achievement.

Salva, C. (2017). Boosting achievement: Reaching students with interrupted or minimal education. Seidlitz Education, Irving TX, pp. 12-13.

Our district has received an increase of students that could fit in the SLIFE category. These students need the assistance of everyone at their schools.

• Get to know your SLIFE since the start with this informal assessment.
• Here are some tips to consider for planning and instruction of SLIFE.

Help to spread the word that Granville County Public Schools is looking for ESL teachers. Whoever becomes interested, they can contact Human Resources to learn about the application process. Attached is the announcement for the position in the District's Website. Anyone interested could apply at: https://bit.ly/3AtxT1D

• Ms. Kelly Helner - Creedmoor Elementary School - Assistant Principal - 62 clicks
• Dr. Alisa McLean - District Superintendent - 41 clicks
• Dr. Charmain Day-Heggie - Butner-Stem Elementary - Principal - 35 clicks
• Ms. Guadalupe Escalona-Villafuerte - Mount Energy - Teacher - 21 clicks
• Ms. Madison Hancock - West Oxford Elementary - Teacherm- 8 clicks

Ivelisse Rosario de Marin

Granville County Public Schools

Email: marini@gcs.k12.nc.us
Phone: 919-528-2313