Summer Learning Loss and Parent Outreach

Working with English Language Learners has its challenges and like any student, the summer months can be a set back.  English Learners spend most of their summer recess speaking their first langauge at home and many times travel home to their native country to visit family and friends.  While I encourage students to keep their first langauge and continue practicing, it is also important to continue practicing Englsih too.

While working with some parents, it dawned on me.  One way to help prevent major summer learning loss is to help the parents by providing them with the tools and resources necessary to continue practicing Englsih in the home.  Recently my district purchased a handful of Rosetta Stone subscriptions for our immigrant students to use and over the summer they would just sit and not be used.  Why not give these subscriptions to the parents and allow them the opportunity to learn Englsih at home!  

That was it...I would call this parent outreach...Summer Learning Loss.  But it gets even better than that....I had a large amount of money to spend from our federal immigrant grant funds.  How can I spend the money effectively and make sure it is being put to good use?  After brainstorming, I logged onto Lakeshore Learning and puchased English Language Learner games and resources to share with our newcomer students learning Englsih. I created backpacks that students were given to take home and practice learning English over the summer.  These were assigned to families and will be collected in the fall.  

To make this all happen, I set up an evening to host the event.  Parents and students attended for an hour.  We enjoyed some Jimmy John Subs and learned how to log into Rosetta Stone and use the program at home.  Towards the end, I shared the backpacks with the parents and had them sign out the materials.  

My hope is this promotes learning English at home during the summer and students will return in the fall well practiced and better equipped to start school.  

New ELD Resource

As an ELD (English Language Development) teacher I am always looking for resources. While sitting in a meeting I was introduced to this new website created by the US Department of Education.  Check it out! It's still in the works but it appears to be a great tool.

http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oela/english-learner-toolkit/index.html

Utilizing our Community Resources: The Public Library

The public library in Troy where I work is amazing.   They offer many different youth programs and have an abundant selection of resources from books, media, to online reources.  Not every community is as fortunate as we are to have such resources available to them.  Whiile brainstorming ways to reach out to our immigrant families, it dawned on me that some families in our district may not be aware of how useful our library is.  They may have visited but never had a tour to see the available resources. To reach out to our families, the library has agreed to host a family night.

I am excited about this.  This is a very cost effective way to reach out to families.  Most public libraries will offer similiar services at no charge.  What a great idea for those on a tight budget.  As we know, most of our schools are these days.  We need to utilize our resources.  Plus it promotes literacy and it's a great parent outreach opportunity.

The evening is still in the making but I have secured the date and the details are in the works.  Our vision is to separate the parents and children.  The parents will receive an adult resource tour of the library and the children will enjoy story time in our children's library.  At the end of the evening families can receive a library card and check out materials.  

For those of us who are born and raised in a community with a public library, this event may seem like a waste of your time, but for many families who are new to our country, this event will be very valuable and exciting as they become aware of the new opportunites available to them at no charge.  

I have a little over a month until this event.  This will provide me plenty of time to get prepared.  I wiil need to invite familes and hire a few translators for our non-English speaking families.  As it gets closer I will update on further details made.  

Use of Grant Funds: Project #1: Providing support to Families

I can't imagine moving to a new country.  I'm a pretty outgoing individual so I think I would yearn to find a community that accepted me and full-filled my social needs.  But I am sure I wouldn't know where to start, especially if I struggled with the language or social norms of the new country in which I moved to. 

With our grant funds we hope to create a fun and supportive program to help newer immigrant families to the US feel more comfortable and address any needs or concerns they may have.  To do this, we have hired two social workers that are perfect for working with immigrant families.  One of the social workers was an immigrant to the US and moved here when she was in high school.  Having this experience will help her make connections with our families. The other social worker comes from a family that migrated to the United States from the Middle East. Her family culture and customs will allow for our families to feel more connected and comfortable knowing she can relate to their situations.  Having these two positions filled is a big load off my project "to do" list. It is a relief to have found two individuals that fit the job description perfectly!

Next, I secured a location for families to meet. I was able to use our community Nature Center to host these programs.  We plan to have two separate groups running at the same time.  Each group will consist of a small group of families and their children.  I'm thinking no more than 8-10 families. While the parents meet with the social workers, a teacher from the nature center will provide an educational program for the students.  During the last 30 minutes or so, the students will switch with the parents and the parents will then receive a nature tour by the teachers and the students will do a team building activity with the social workers.  Each group will meet a total of 4 times for 2 hours.  And of course refreshments will be provided at each session. 

I can breathe knowing I have the social worker positions filled, dates solidified and location determined.  The next big step in this process will be selecting and contacting the families to participate and determining if we will need translators, and if so, post these positions and hire these individuals.  

I am also in the process of working on another project which will consist of family outreach.  

This project is also in the beginning stages and will need to be completed quickly.  I have a few ideas in mind.  I contacted our public library and I'm waiting to hear back from the coordinator there.  I would like to set up an evening where I can invite new immigrant families to the US to visit the library and learn about the resources available to them.  At the same time they can sign up to receive a library card and learn about the summer programs available for children and adults.  And of course refreshments will be served!  As soon as I here back from someone at the library, I can set a date and send out invitations.  

I need to set up one more parent outreach event for our ELL Families and I am still not certain on what to do. Do you have any suggestions?  I thought about an Icecream Social where we have a guest speaker come and share their success stories about coming to America.  This could be inspiring.  

Tomorrow I hope to complete the following tasks.

1. Connect with public library/ set date

2. Determine families to invite for Nature Center

3.  Work on invitation rough draft

4. Come up with a plan for the mystery parent outreach event.

5. Post translator positions for Nature Center/library

Reaching out to our Immigrant Families

Recently my school district has received federal funding to use towards our Immigrant families.  The sole purpose of this funding is to reach out to our families and provide them with valuable resources to be successful in school and our community.  This consists of two separate projects and funding must be spent appropriately.  

I have been hired to facilitate these programs.  This is very exciting for me because I can use my knowledge as an ELL Teacher and my experiences to meet the special needs of these families.  As I brainstorm different ideas through pinterest and the web, I've come to realize how very little information is readily available.  Servicing our English Langauge Learners and their families is a topic on the horizon but still very new to many districts.  English Learners are on the rise in the United States and more districts are faced with this new population of students and are making changes to meet these needs both academically and socially.  My goal is to reach out to these families and meet their needs.  To do this, I must bulid positive relationships within the community of my district and utilize the resources readily available to me. Once I have secured connections within my community, I need to bring these resources to my ELL's and their families.

Please follow me as I share my journey as I try to bridge the gap between our immigrant families and my school district.  This will be an interesting journey.  I work for an amazingly diverse district with over 80 spoken langugages within our schools.  These families consist of many different cultures with different needs.  We have a refugee population and an auto industry population of immigrants.  Some are here for a short period of time and others will reside in our area for many years.  Little or no English is very common for our newcomer families but many times the parents are literate in English.  Some of the spoken langugages are Korean, Manderin, Urdo, Chaldean, Spanish, German, or Portuguese.   We have pocket communites where large groups of immigrants reside in apartments until they decide on a long term home. This means often times students will move mid school year or change schools within the district.  As I brainstorm ways to effectively reach out to these families, I must keep these unique qualities in mind. 

First on my to do list...

1. Contact our public library to see if they would be willing to attend an evening event to promote literacy at home.  

2. Gather a list of potential families to invite. (Realistically I can't invite the entire district.  Room is limited)

3. Set a purpose or topic for the event.

4. Set a date

5. Brainstorm and tap into my community resources.

Time is limited so I need to get moving on this.  We have a budget for food and translators.  My wheels are turning.  Oh the possiblities!

The American Name

When we name our children we put a lot of thought into it. For this will be their name forever....or not. Some names are biblical and others are given after ancestors. They are special because it means you. 

 What happens when your family picks up and moves all across the world to America?  Do you keep your birth given name or change it to the American version? I would believe that's a tough decision to make because either way it's hard. If you keep your name as it was given to you, you get to still be you. Not to mention, it's probably a nice name, and fits you perfectly because that is the perfectly chosen name for you. But, the truth be told, many people, including your teachers will mispronounce your perfect name on a regular basis, and that is frustrating. 

My Name is Yoon by Helen Recorvits is a great book that many ESL Students can relate to. It's a story of a girl named Yoon who moved to the US and her struggles with her new American name.  It's very touching and gives the reader a new perspective from the eyes of a little girl named Yoon who moves across the world to live in America.

Gestures and Tangible Items

As I sit in a conference on teaching EL's, the discussion of teaching vocabulary became a top discussion. The presenters discussed how looking up definitions alone, are not effective in the fact that words have multiple meanings and may be hard to distinguish the correct meaning in the text.

Instead we discussed the value of teaching definitions by using gestures and tangible items. This helps students make meaning either visually or orally.

Here are some other ways to help with understanding vocabulary.
1. Video clips
2. Previewing text before reading
3. Making Connections
4. Activating prior knowledge
5. Using context clues
6. Picture cards
7. Visuals
8. Translating to native language (bilingual text)

My big "Aha Moment" was when we discussed how the strategies we use for our English Language Learners is good for ALL Learners.  As classroom teachers receive more ELL's in their classrooms, it's reassuring to know that what we do for the ESL student, we can do for the struggling English learner.

As we collaborate to meet the needs of our English Learners, what are some other ways to teach vocabulary to our students? Please share.

Speaking English: The Struggles with Fluency

I've taken plenty of Spanish classes and my biggest struggle was and still is speaking. I can't get the words organized in my head quick enough to say a sentence let alone have a conversation. I remember this when I'm teaching English Learners. It's hard and very frusturating. When I talk to them and ask a question, it sounds like I'm speed talking and it takes time for students to process what it is exactly I'm saying or asking. Responding is an entirely different challenge. 

Over time it gets easier, especially since most students learning English are submerged in an English speaking environment. I have found that speaking fluently tends to come after the student has solid a foundation with listening and reading. 

I've been working with a young boy from Korea. Last year he came late in the school year and over the summer he had some regression in the English language like most English Learners do. His parents and teachers are both concerned. As I brainstormed on ways to help this little guy, it clicked....teach him how to speak. Sounds reluctant, isn't that what I have been doing!?!  

This time we did things a little differently. I found an engaging big book with fun vibrant colors. We discussed the pictures and we introduced new vocabulary by looking at the pictures. Then I said something about the picture and had the boy repeat exactly. We focused on the fluency of repeating what I said. Lastly, it was his turn to come up with a sentence about the picture. Having previously modeled this exercise, made it much easier for him. We will continue these type of modeling exercises to see how well we can gain fluency in speaking. Our next discussion will be the fun illustrations of the work from Dr. Suess! 

MAISA

It's the same struggle each year...what to teach ESL students in the small amount of instructional time provided. What is effective and purposeful?!? So much has changed. The WIDA Access Test, Common Core and our resources available are limited. The good news for ESL Teachers and ALL teachers is MAISA. Log onto Oakland Schools MAISA and filter your search for Elementary ESL.  Oakland Schools  MAISA offer curriculum maps for teachers to follow.  These maps align with Common Core.  I look forward to using this resource throughout the school year to drive my instruction for my level 1 and level 2 English Learners ( EL's).  Check it out!

Fontas and Pinnell PD

Today I'm receiving professional Development on Fontas and Pinnell. The goal of the training is to help ensure all teachers are on the same page and testing is consistent. As you can see from using Soapbox, many of us are torn on when to stop assessing a student.  After further discussion, it's 

important to note that In the Fall and Spring, teachers should test until the student reaches their placement level. Placement level is the level at which teachers have obtained enough information to determine a student's instructional needs. 

My first thought as an ESL Teacher is how fast a student learning English may change levels, which can make a student's instructional needs change rapidly. I encourage classroom teachers to test ESL students again after he/she becomes more fluent with English and has adjusted to his new environment. 

Kicking off the 2014-15 School Year

Well my summer is officially coming to a haunt, which means its time to get back to work.  Each year I enter refreshed and motivated to try new ideas. The down fall to this, is I create an overwhelming "to do" list. This year I would like to try a new approach.  That is...Try new ideas one at a time, instead of creating a large "to do" list that never makes me feel good. I want to feel good this year, not overwhelmed.

I wish all teachers a happy start to the 2014-15 school year.  I hope you are refreshed and ready to tackle one goal at a time. I would love to hear about some of your new school year goals. What do you plan to tackle this year? Please share!

Dropping the "s" Sound at the End of Words

Interesting Observation of the Day!

I like to give my EL Students plenty of opportunities to read out loud.  This helps students with reading fluency, pronunciation and allows me the opportunity to observe how they are doing.  I am noticing more and more that my students (especially my Asian speaking students) are omitting the plural "s" sound at the end of a word.  For an example, as a student is reading and  comes across a word such as "soldiers" they  pronounce it in the singular form and say "soldier". I know this has a lot to do with how their native language uses plural nouns but I find this very interesting.  Does anyone have an interesting way to teach plural nouns to EL Students?

Reading Strategies for the English Langague Learner

The great news about teaching English Language Learner Students (ELL) reading strategies is that, what is great for your struggling reader, is also great for your ELL student. Just like your struggling reader, your ELL student will benefit from learning to connect prior knowledge, make inferences and find meanings to keywords when reading. ELL students need support with academic languages and identifying vocabulary throughout the text.  Many teachers find the Close Reading Approach  beneficial when teaching students reading comprehension. The English Language Learner benefits by teacher modeling.  When ELL students hear the teacher think aloud, they are able to see reading strategies being used.  It is also a great form of visible thinking for students. Visuals and graphic representations help our ELL's organize their thoughts and make better understanding of what is being read. Graphic organizers help students to support their evidence and claims when reading.  They are also a great tool to use for retelling.  Knowing that all students benefit from the same intervention strategies is very helpful when planning differentiated instruction for all students in the general education classroom.

ESL Interview Questions

Recently I interviewed for a new ESL teaching position. It was both exciting and nerve wrecking.  I can best describe it as a roller coaster of emotions.  The up was receiving the call that I had an interview. Recieving an interview is worth celebrating.  I feel like it is hard to get an interview now days.  Everything is done online and we no longer apply in person.  You can't get a job without an initial interview.  

The downer was after my interview.  I second guessed all my responses and made myself practically sick by over analyzing everything I said.  Why didin't I respond with this or that!?! What did they think of me?  Did I make a good first impression?  I should have said this...! I wonder when i will hear something?  A person can make themselves nuts after an interview!

The good news for me is after a long interview process, I was offered the position.  I was thrilled.  I was the one!  They chose me!  Then the excitement was followed once again by the downer...I would have to break the news to my current job that I would be leaving.  I guess this is what they call...bittersweet. 

This was especially hard because I truly enjoyed my current teaching position.  I worked with a great group of staff members and was led by a caring and supportive administration.

I now have a new opportunity and me leaving was providing a new opportunity for someone else.  Plus I had to remind myself that change is good.  My colleagues were excited for my new opportunity and they were quick to ask me what were some of my inteview questions.  What a great question.  Especially since we will be interviewing for my current ESL Teaching Position.  So after reflecting on my recent interviews, below are some of the questions I was asked.  Of course these are not word for word.  These questions are restated the best I can remember.  You know what its like to interview...it's a big blur while you are in the hot seat.  

1.  What are ways you reach out to parents, especially those parents that don't speak English?

2. How can you support the classroom teacher?  

3.  Working as an ESL Teacher can be a very islolated position.  How would you reach out to other teachers in the building to provide support for students?

4. Describe a recent lesson you taught.

5. How do you differentiate for small group instruction?

6. What are some best practices in supporting ESL Students?

7. What sets the ESL Student apart from other students in the classroom?

8. How do you teach an ESL Student that is a level one (beginner of English)?

9.How would you handle a situation where your colleagues are not happy about something your principal has asked you to do?

10. Describe your teaching experiences.

11. Why did you choose ESL?

12. How do you incorporate technology when teaching?

Have you had a recent interview or plan to interview canidates for a current ESL Position? If so, please share your questions with us.  

WIDA Blog: Using the CAN DO Descriptors in Grades 3-5

Recently at a PD, we had a lot of discussions about using the WIDA CAN DO Descriptors.  One was how ESL Teachers can introduce these to mainstream classroom teachers.  Many of us agree that utilizing the Can Do Descriptors is great for driving instruction and mapping out a plan of action for teaching and making accommodations.  It is also a great tool to share with teachers so they can better understand their ELL Students.

But, like anything "new" these can be overwhelming.  One ESL Teacher pointed out that she created Can Do Descriptors for each of her students in all four domains and handed them out to classroom teachers.  Having no experience with these descriptors caused some anxiety for teachers.  One suggestion is to start small. Instead of creating Can Do Descriptors for each domain, start with one, such as Reading.  Set up a meeting time to sit down with each grade level and go over how to use these descriptors.  It's important that we support classroom teachers by providing them with the proper tools and training to be successful in teaching ELL Students.

If you or your district have a log in to www.wida.us you can download Can Do Descriptor Name Charts for your own use.  This is a great way to inform teachers and drive ESL support both in and outside the classroom. Also check out the WIDA Blog link below.  I find it to be very helpful.  Please comment and share any ideas or experiences you have with utilizing Can Do Descriptors.

WIDA Blog: Using the CAN DO Descriptors in Grades 3-5

Attention Grabber for Teaching Root Words

Creating an attention grabber is my favorite part of a lesson.  It's the teachers opportunity to spark  student interest and trigger excitement for what we they are about to learn.

Currently, I am teaching my students about Greek Latin Roots. To spark their attention, I introduced  the longest English word. Wow they couldn't believe how long the word was!  They couldn't help but  count the letters.  They chuckled when they had to stop counting and start over again because they lost count. This long 45 letter word definitely grabbed their attention.

Then we tried to pronounce it.  I gave each student a chance at it.  This was fun! Take a stab at it, can you pronounce the word  pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconoisis ? Pretty tricky huh! It took me a few tries.

Next we took the time to break the word into its different Greek root words. 

pneumono=lung/breathe
ultra=beyond/exceeding
micro=small
scopic=watch/see
silico-flint/quartz
volcano=fire
coni=dust
osis=disease/condition

From here we could put a meaning to the word.  The actual meaning is referred to as an actual disease of the lungs more commonly known as pneumoconiosis or silicosis.

As I reflect back on my lesson, I believe my attention grabber is what helped keep my students focused and interested in the lesson involving root words. The key is to keep it short, to the point, but fun and engaging. Please share any ideas you may have for attention grabbers. I would love to hear your ideas.

ELL Family Information Night

Reaching out to the families of our ELL Students can be very challenging.  Many times parents shy away from school events because they are unable to communicate with teachers and staff.  This language barrier also makes it harder for teachers to build relationships with parents who speak little to no English.

 

Here in Michigan we have funds called Title III funds which schools are given from the state to service our ELL populations after school.  Part of these funds are used towards "parent nights" which provide parents an opportunity to get involved and informs parents on what is happening at their child's school. 

 

Recently, we had an ELL Family Information Night.  Since a large portion of our ELL's are Spanish speaking, we hosted the meeting in Spanish.  This makes our families very happy since they are able to receive important information in their native tongue. 

 

At the meeting, we provided families with information on things happening at the school and upcoming events.  Light refreshments were served and we raffled off items such as poinsettias and gift cards.  Parents love raffles!  Its fun to win something. 

 

Our turn out was decent.  One take away we have from our most recent parent night is...survey families and get to know them.  We found that many could not attend because there was an important event at the local church which many of our families attend.  Had we known this, we would have scheduled the event on a different evening.  For future events,  we will now print out the calendar of events at the local church and talk to parents ahead of time to find out what is happening in their communities.  This will help us better understand our families and help us build a relationship with them.  Its important to take the time to get to know our students and families.

 

 

Our Costco Trip

Wow its hard to see! 

Teaching Students Social Language

Middle school is tough enough for any student, let alone an English Language Learner. While working with one of my middle school students, I was reminded of how important it is to look cool and not sound dumb in front of your peers. One of my students asked me what lol meant. After explaining that it stands for "laugh out loud" he chuckled and proceeded to ask what lmao stood for. Now it was my turn to chuckle to myself (silently in my head) as I expained what it represented. He then had that "aw hah" moment. 

It was then that I realized how important it is to teach ELL's street smarts. For the longest time he communicated with his English speaking friends and played along as if he knew what these text acronyms meant, and all along he was lost and confused. I'm glad that he had me to trust and ask for help in understanding. 

Building Background Knowledge

As educators we know the importance of building background  knowledge. This is especially important when teaching ELLs.  Today I made the mistake of assuming my middle school students had prior knowledge of what a monument was. The narrative text was about an experience The author had when visiting his grandparents. Not being familiar with what a monument was made the text hard for my student to understand. Too often ELL students struggle with vocabulary and as educators we can help by building background knowledge and discussing vocabulary. During the same small group lesson this same student was not familiar with the word windy such as...The windy road. We can't assume they know even what appears to us as the  simplest words.

WIDA Blog: Using the CAN DO Descriptors in Grades 3-5

Has your district adapted the WIDA Standards? We are here in Michigan. This is our our first year. As with all new things, I am in the process of learning the different tools available. Can Do statements are one tool I am finding to be very useful. Check this blog out!

WIDA Blog: Using the CAN DO Descriptors in Grades 3-5