Long Term ELLs
six-plus years as an English Language Learner
The facts
- Most of our ELL students are long-term ELLs
- We have nearly 3,000 long-term ELL students including Monitored students in Hays CISD
- The majority of our ELL/ESL students are citizens from birth
The reasons
- Students are entered based on English language proficiency and the Home Language Survey. Students are tested when they enter School and committees review home languages spoken.
- Students are not exited until they meet exit criteria, assessed every year by an LPAC.
- Student exit criteria is usually: Advanced High on reading, writing, speaking and listening.
- The ranking of TELPAS includes: Beginner (1); Intermediate (2); Advanced (3); Advanced High (4) and may differ from modality to modality.
- Students are offered additional supports to help them to meet exit criteria, but many have not reached "fluent" on TELPAS *Reading, writing, speaking, listening* OR passed STAAR exams
- TELPAS is measured by English teachers, and an online reading test. TELPAS results dictate where a student is placed and what courses they can take and what accommodations the students may receive on future tests
Cloze passage generator
Scaffolds your notes for ELL and for special education students
How to Help
- Implement LEP accommodations *Found on LPAC
- Not all students have accommodations, as some are "monitored" for 2 years
- Ensure students are speaking in complete sentences *Sheltered Instruction
- Plan for engagement via randomization, rotation and thinking stems/question stems *Sheltered Instruction
- Implement and expect academic or content-specific vocabulary *Sheltered Instruction
- Integrate writing into your coursework: Exit tickets, explanation paragraphs, essays and finding and proving their responses *Sheltered Instruction
- Put up word walls, anchor charts and visual/academic concepts on your walls and integrate their use into your teaching *Sheltered Instruction
- Advocate for students to attend tutorials when needed and provide lists of missing assignments
- Differentiate your wording if the student reads at a lower level, or provide CLOZE passage support *Sheltered Instruction
- CALL HOME!!!! *Spanish help IS available at every campus
- Access counselors or APs for more than just lost assignments. It may be time to refer them to special education testing and/or RTI processes
- Understand that most students can SPEAK English completely fluently, but they struggle when it comes to WRITING, in English or any other language.
- Point out Cognates! *Sheltered Instruction
- NOT ALL ESL STUDENTS CAN READ THEIR HOME LANGUAGES or even speak their home languages fluently. Many are 'inter-languaged'
- Emotional connections will make or break student progress. Many students refuse to participate if they sense their instructor has a vendetta or shows favoritism towards other students
go formative
Digital, interactive, and real-time feedback and answer mechanism for you and your students
Padlet
Excellent for students to give short responses and information to allow feedback
Ed Puzzle
Instructors can use videos and insert their own questions and ideas into video and students can answer using their devices or orally
Quizlet
Instructors can create "quizzes" or interactive games for students to gauge their understanding.
Melissa Wabnitz
Email: melissa.wabnitz@hayscisd.net
Website: hayscisd.net
Phone: 512-618-3134