SLPS ESOL ExcELLence Newsletter
Issue 7, 2020-2021
Teacher of the Month
Theresa Klebert, ESOL Teacher at Roosevelt HS
Honorable Mention
Lauren Dickerson, ESOL teacher at Roosevelt HS, for student and program supports.
Annmarie Maher, ESOL teacher at Gateway HS, for student, parent, and staff supports.
Mary Cancila, ESOL Teacher at NCNAA@ Roosevelt 9-10, for student supports.
Jennifer Wallace, ESOL teacher at Long, for the student. staff, and parent supports.
Jennifer Arellano, ESOL teacher at Buder, for student and parent supports
Constance Berry, ESOL teacher at Mann ES, for staff and student supports.
Thomas Johnston, ESOL Teacher at Gateway HS, for student supports.
ESOL Teacher is the SLPS Humanities Educator of the Year!
Submitted by Amanda Wiesner-Groff, ESOL Coordinator.
Congratulations to ESOL Teacher, Thomas Johnston, for winning Humanities Educator of the Year for Gateway STEM High School! Mr. Johnston is the ESOL Department Head and currently teaches Sheltered American History, World History, American Government, and Academic Language Support. A couple of Mr. Johnston’s instructional highlights include a 4-Minute History Podcast with listening guides and question sets, as well as his Words of the Week narrated Nearpods with visuals and quizzes. Click the following link to watch a video and learn more about the exciting things happening in Mr. Johnston’s classroom!
Special Thanks to Sonia Smith, ESOL Teacher Assistant at Roosevelt HS
Submitted by Theresa Klebert, ESOL teacher at Roosevelt HS
Ms. Smith has been asked to support classes while an ESOL teacher is out with in-person students, translate, call student families, talk with students 1:1, and never complains. She also is so thoughtful and checks in with both Ms. Dickerson, myself and the students. Roosevelt and the ESOL office are so thankful to have such a hardworking and loving individual. Thank you, Ms. Smith!
Language Access Updates
Submitted by Fatima Rhodes, Arabic/French Interpreter/Translator
During the month of March, the ESOL language access team supported meaningful communication between ELL families and SLPS staff during Parent-Teacher Conferences the week of March 15-19. Hundreds of personalized phone calls were made and meetings conducted via conference calls, Zoom, and Teams platforms with the district’s interpreters at the ESOL office as well as via telephonic interpretation to support all-district languages. The team continued their support during the month of March setting up appointments for virtual learning students to come in for ACCESS testing, assisting families with completing 4th quarter surveys as well as summer learning registration.
The 3rd Academic Concern Letter template has been translated into Arabic, Bosnian, Spanish, Swahili, and Vietnamese and has been shared with principals to send along with the English copy.
As always, thank you for contributing to meaningful communication with ELL parents in a language they understand by using SLPS language access services.
ESOL Parent Involvement Updates
Submitted by Tuyet Nguyen, the ESOL parent Specialist.
Raz-Plus and ELL Edition from Learning A-Z At Work
Teacher Reflection on the Program Implementation with Elementary ELLs
Submitted by Lisa Rigg, ESOL Teacher at Mann ES.
I have been using Raz- Plus daily and love it! I have not been using the assessment piece. My two students, student D.and Student J., in third grade have started blossoming in reading with this program. Just this week, student J. has moved from C level to D level. They have both grown in their sight words without my need to drill. They have collected more reading time and the rewarded STARS than any of my 36 students and have made greater gains in this period of time than the others as a result.
I use the vocabulary power packs and picture cards in the ELL package for my ESOL pullouts and they have great interactive lessons. The students are highly engaged and they are a good match to the Academic Toolkit words and TEAMS curriculum.
I will try the assessment pieces next week and have already downloaded a lot of materials for future implementation.
Student Placement For Co-teaching for ELLs: Recommended Do’s and Don'ts
Submitted by Elena Okanovic, ESOL Coordinator
To initiate and sustain effective co-teaching for ELLs, placing English learners in clusters is one of the pre-planning strategies that administrators and ESOL teachers should start thinking about as they plan for the upcoming school year. Below you will find the Dos and Don'ts suggested by Dr. Honigsfeld to adequately plan for the co-teaching classrooms.
Do cluster ELLs into classrooms where the classroom teacher has or will have intense professional development related to the inclusion, instruction, and assessment of ELLs. Ideally, the classroom teacher should have both content/classroom and ELL certification.
Do keep the classroom with the ELL cluster smaller than other classrooms (90%) at the beginning of the year to make room for new ELL enrollees who arrive after the school year begins. Train building registrars to refer students who indicate the influence of a language other than English to the grade team to consider the placement of the student into the ELL clustered classroom first.
Do assign the ELL specialist to coteach with one, two, or three classroom teachers (at the most). Facilitate (require?) co-teachers to plan together for at least 30 minutes each week.
Don’t place too many ELLs in the cluster classroom – including high proficiency and monitored ELLs. In schools where less than 50% of the students are ELL, no more than 50% of the students in the classroom should be ELL, MY1, or MY2. If the total number of ELLs at a grade level (including higher proficiency, MY1, and MY2) exceeds 50% of the class, consider these options:
- Cluster the higher proficiency (5.0+ overall) and MY1 and MY2 ELLs into another classroom where the classroom teacher has or will have intense (24 hours annually) professional development related to the inclusion, instruction, and assessment of ELLs. In addition, the classroom teacher with the “extra” ELL cluster should co-plan with the ELL teacher and co-teaching classroom teacher every week for at least 30 minutes.
- Below average (for the school) non-ELLs or non-ELLs with specific learning disabilities can effectively be included in the second ELL cluster classroom so long as no more the 50% of the class are “special students”, (ie. ELL, including MY1 and MY2) + below average for the school + displaying challenging behavior + identified with a specific learning disability = no more than 50%.
- Disperse the higher proficiency and MY1 and MY2 students (or Kindergarten with W-APT scores of 28, 29, 30) evenly among all classrooms at the grade level where all the classroom teachers have or will have intense professional development related to the inclusion, instruction, and assessment of ELLs.
Don’t place in the co-taught ELL cluster classroom where 50% of the class is ELL, MY1, or MY2 students who are:
- Non-ELL academically below average (for the school)
- Below average fully transitioned ELL (ie., previously ELL, MY1, or MY2)
- Non-ELL students with documented challenging behavior
- Non-ELL students with identified or suspected specific learning disabilities
One important exception to this guideline is when, if in following this guideline, another classroom would end up with more than 50% academically below average (for the school), challenging behavior, or students with disabilities.
Rationale: Including ELL students in co-taught classrooms is meant to provide meaningful access to:
- Highly qualified content teachers
- Grade level content area instruction
- Opportunities to participate with their average and above native-English speaking peers
Classrooms with more than 50% of “special needs” students (ie. challenging behavior, below average academics, ELL status, etc.) can be less effective in meeting the expected outcomes for ELLs in co-taught classrooms, especially when classroom teachers and ELL teachers have insufficient training or time.