English Language Learning

To learn a language is to have one more window from which to look at the world. – Chinese Proverb

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Monday Mash-up June 1, 2020

June 1, 2020 / / 0 Comments
Last Week’s Victories
Once again, teachers pivoted and adapted for a new learning environment in a short time. You went into schools, you set up classrooms, you met with colleagues and administrators to plan and collaborate both in-person and remotely. You showed bravery, leadership, and compassion. As you head into schools to see students for maybe the first time since March, Fanny and Michelle hope your reunions are filled with joy. We are often the line of communication between our language learners and the rest of the school community so we know they have missed you.
Reminders
If you have questions about assessment and reporting, please see the Frequently Asked Questions Document that was sent out last Wednesday. It can be found here: https://blogs.sd41.bc.ca/ell/2020-reporting-and-year-end-assessment-frequently-asked-questions/
Last Note
This weekend Michelle was listening to Tan Hyunh’s Empowering Language Learner’s Podcast with Dr. Jim Cummins. This Canadian RoyELLty has been researched English language learning for over 40 years. Listening to him speak was so inspiring so she’d thought to share a few of the highlights with you.
  • When a dominant language group does not allow for a minority language in the academic setting, students not fluent in the dominant language will continue to fall further behind academically throughout their schooling.
  • It is a teacher’s responsibility to challenge power and status systems by asking “Who are my students?”
  • Three overlapping groups consistently underachieve in schools: children of immigrants, children from low socio-economic backgrounds, and students from marginalized communities. Students who fall under all three groups achieve the least academically.
  • Teachers can push back by scaffolding instruction, reinforce academic language, and engage students home languages to learn academic content.
  • The most effective way to combat this underachievement is by making sure students have ample access to print in both target language and heritage language and consistently engage in literacy activities. Reading can eliminate 1/3 of the affect of poverty. 
  • Finally, challenge all students with learning that reflects a high level of intelligence and capability.

Thank you for all you do. Have a fantastic week.

Fanny and Michelle

Supporting English Learners at Home

May 28, 2020 / / 0 Comments

There are a lot of websites out there to help with students studying of English language. However, it can be hard to know where to start. Below are some suggestions that I recommend.

Primary

A resource I often recommend to parents of new students is Unite for Literacy. This amazing website has dozens of books that have beautiful pictures and informative as well as engaging stories. The books can be read by the student or they can choose to have the story read to them in English. However, the best feature is that the stories can be read in over 40 languages. By clicking the narration button, these languages will be available. Choose the language you want and the books that are available with that second narration will be shown. Students can listen to the English narration, their heritage language narration, and then repeat or read the text. This is an excellent opportunity in a dual language situation.

Intermediate

A fun vocabulary building website is Quizlet. There are thousands of vocabulary lists to student (including mine under the user name mvanbalkom). There are many activities and games students can use to study these but they can also create their own based on classwork or independent study. Finally, students can use the multilingual function to translate words into their heritage languages.

Secondary

A website that has multiple home uses for secondary students is News in Levels. In my own secondary classes, I often have students work with this site. It offers three levels of English difficulty for news stories around the world. All three levels have audio versions as well as the text and vocabulary support. I recommend students listen to the audio while reading the text, then read the text out loud either with the audio or alone. Then, write one sentence summary of what they read either in their home language or in English.

Bitmoji Virtual Classrooms

May 15, 2020 / / 0 Comments

In the last few weeks, a new way to present materials to students has emerged on social media. Virtual Classrooms use embedded links to websites or videos to organize information. These classrooms are an engaging way for students to interact with your materials and assignments. In addition, they provide visual scaffolding for ELL student. Finally, they are pretty fun to make (think Sims without the annoying language). 

They are so fun to make that below are two versions. One is a virtual version of this blog and the other is a sample ELL classroom. As you click the items, they will take you to links of audio books, resources, and tools. 

If you are interested in making one of your own, this We are Teachers article is a great place to start. 

Please share out your creations with the Burnaby ELL community. 

 

 

Monday Mash-Up- May 11, 2020

May 11, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Happy Monday morning!

I hope the sunny weekend brought you rest and respite. Also, happy Mother’s Day to all of you out there.

Last Week’s Victories

About 100 teachers were able to attend workshops on this year’s year-end assessment process. Thank you to everyone who was able to attend the workshop and share practice.   It’s nice to hear that many teachers have been able to start the year-end assessments through collaboration, in-consultation, and in small groups.  If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Common Questions:

Can we invite students into buildings to do assessments? Please discuss any students that you are concerned about with and would like to invite into the building with your school’s administrator. 

Do we need to assess ELLs in French Immersion Program? If a student was receiving ELL support in 2019-2020, they need to be assessed. We are still looking into other French Immersion students who may need ELL support for the 2020-21 school year.

Do we need to assess students who are exiting? If students received support for ELL in 2019-2020, they need to be assessed. After that, if they are found to be no longer needing support they can be exited. In Burnaby, students are not automatically exited after 5+ years. It is only if the ELL teacher finds that the student no longer requires support to succeed at grade level
.

Are we assessing ELD students at this time? Yes, please contact Michelle for further information.

Reminders

Thursday, May 28th at 1pm, there will be an AIP workshop for anyone who has never used the ELL database before. Please let me know if you would like to attend and I’ll send you the invite.

Last Note

Thank you for your amazing dedication and work. We are inspired by all the creative approaches you’ve taken with your students.

Have a brilliant week!

Monday Mash Up May 4-8, 2020

May 5, 2020 / / 0 Comments

Common Questions this week:

Can matrices be completed with classroom/content teachers? Yes, collaboration is key. Take notes to document your discussion and find a reading and writing sample to support your assessment (Grade 3+).
 
What should I do if I can’t contact a student? The first action is to ask other teachers if they’ve had any contact with that student. Then, if no one has, discuss it with your administrator and ask them to try. Then, contact Michelle or Fanny and we will consult with you on next steps.
I’ve never done an AIP. How do I complete one? We will be holding an AIP tutorial later this month so keep an eye out for announcements in the next few weeks.

Reminders

There will a workshop every day this week. These optional sessions are mostly to answer questions and give some pointers about planning, scheduling, and collaborating with the Ministry of Educations ELL Standards.  If you wish to attend but are unable, please email Michelle to make alternative plans. Please note Wednesday’s session was changed because it conflicted with a LSS district meeting. Check your email for zoom links.
Monday, May 4th, 10-11am Year-end assessment for first-year ELL teachers
Tuesday, May 5th, 12:30-1:30pm Primary matrices and IPT for year-end assessment
Wednesday, May 6: 9am-10am Intermediate matrices for year-end assessment
Thursday, May 7: 1:00-200pm Secondary matrices for year-end assessment
Friday, May 8: 1-3pm ELL teacher drop in with Fanny and Michelle

Last Note

One of positives that have come from this crisis is the number of free educational webinars that have become available. We’ve added a channel to our ELL Teams with these opportunities. If you have one you want to share, please do. Last week, I attended a session with Larry Ferlazzo (author of the ELL Teacher Toolbox) and he discussed how difficult he’s found this change and some solutions he has found. Here is the link to the video if and when you want to give it a watch: Distance Learning for ELL

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