ELL stands for English Language Learner. These are students who do not speak English as their primary language. ELLs may be Canadian born or immigrants from another country. There are two types of language proficiencies displayed by ELLs as outlined in Capacity Building Series: Canadian-born English Language Learners (2013).
1. Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS): ELLs with BICS are able to interact socially and carry on conversation in a familiar setting. It may take ELLs around two years to develop these conversation skills. 2. Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP): ELLs with CALP utilize specialized vocabulary and functions of language common to the education system. They are able to understand academic and abstract content and can use low-frequency vocabulary in more complex sentences. This language proficiency takes between five and seven years to develop. Teachers should not mistaken a student’s BICS for CALP. Just because an ELL student appears to communicate well and participate socially does not mean they have the skills necessary for language skills in the classroom. It is important ELLs receive interventions and adaptations or modifications in the classroom to be successful. Some strategies teachers can utilize in the classroom to help support ELLs are: 1. Create a safe and welcoming classroom environment. Students should feel safe to use their first language without fear of being made fun of. ELLs should also feel comfortable participating in all classroom activities. A safe environment allows for the inclusion of student identity and use of first language whenever the opportunity presents itself. Teachers can provide instruction in english first and have opportunities for instruction in the student’s original language too. Teachers should display more pictures and visuals around they classroom. They may also utilize technology such as text-to-speech when necessary. 2. Work collaboratively with colleagues, past teachers, parents, and community resources. Together, teachers can make meaningful instructional decisions and set specific goals for specific students. By building off past knowledge, teachers can set goals to ensure their students are seeing progress in their language development. 3. Reading and Language Intervention. ELLs will likely require Tier 2 or 3 support for reading and language intervention. They should receive high quality classroom instruction that supports their individual needs. Classroom teachers may need to monitor their speech more regularly to avoid speaking too quickly, using slang, or sayings unfamiliar to ELL students. One area I found interesting is on ELLs’ ability to read. When entered into a Canadian school at a young age, “ELL learners often attain equivalent levels of reading and spelling achievement” (Lovett et al., 2008). I believe strongly in the importance of early education, the earlier we can introduce ELLs to english language the better. As I mentioned in my previous post, there is one ELL in the other grade one classroom this year. She moved to our community four years ago. She was enrolled in the Pre-K program for two years, completed kindergarten last year, and is excelling in first grade so far this fall. Her teacher explained to me that while she makes some grammatical errors, such as runned instead of ran, her phonological skills are equivalent to her English First Langauge (EFL) peers. I believe her early start in our school is a huge factor in her success. I am skeptical to believe her results would be the same if she entered our school in Grade 5, for example. My experience will ELLs is slim to none. As a first grade teacher I can envision life with an ELL student in my classroom. While being extremely challenging, and likely intimidating for the student, I believe these early years are the best time for ELLs. In grade one, all students are learning and reviewing letters, sounds, and language concepts. We are developing our phonological awareness and just beginning to learn how to read. There is a wide range of skills already in this first year of schooling even for EFLs. I worry about ELLs entering in the later years where students have already learned to read and are now reading to learn. For Canadian born ELLs this is likely less of an issue as they will enter school at the right age. However, for our immigrant ELLs there is no deciding when they will move and enter our school system. Teachers of all grade levels should be educated on ways to assist ELLs in their classroom. References: Lipka, O., Siegel, L. S., & Vukovic, R. (2005). The literacy skills of English language learners in Canada. Learning Disabilities Research & Practice, 20(1), 39-49. DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5826.2005.00119.x Lovett, M. W., De Palma, M., Frijters, J., Steinbach, K., Temple, M., Benson, N., & Lacerenza, L. (2008). Interventions for reading difficulties: A comparison of response to intervention by ELL and EFL struggling readers. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 41(4), 333-352. DOI: 10.1177/0022219408317859 Applied: Ministry of Education (2013). Capacity Building Series: Canadian-born English Language Learners. Secretariat Special Edition #31. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/CBS_CBELL.pdf
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I found the article created by the Ontario Ministry of Education to be interesting and concise in its information on Canadian-born English Language Learners (ELLs). I have not had the opportunity to work with an ELL in my classroom. There is one student in the other Grade 1 classroom who moved to our community from Asia four years ago. After reading this document, I am more intrigued to find out about her progress in the classroom next door.
Despite my limited involvement with English Language Learners, reading through the document I feel that the strategies outlined, while are specially meant to support ELLs, can be beneficial for all learners in the classroom. Explicit instruction, teaching word parts, focusing on phonological awareness, and more text exposure are strategies to support ELLs that will not hurt the average student. Incorporating these strategies will ensure students are receiving the high-quality classroom instruction they need. Separate intervention is not enough for ELLs, they must be exposed to a variety of effective practices in all of their classes. “Intervention effects quickly fade if regular classroom instruction does not extend and support language learning” (Capacity Building Series, 2013). Another area that this article got me thinking about is the need for more Indigenous materials in our Canadian schools. While none of my students speak Cree as their first language, it is an additional language that many families in the community are trying to engage in more frequently. The article discusses the need for inclusiveness and for students to “see themselves in the actual content of the classroom learning” (Capacity Building Series, 2013). I have tried to include Indigenous levelled readers in my classroom. While these books are still written in English, they are written about Indigenous characters and make references to Cree words such as regalia. I believe we have a duty to teach all students in our school in a safe, inclusive, and effective way. References: Ministry of Education (2013). Capacity Building Series: Canadian-born English Language Learners. Secretariat Special Edition #31. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/CBS_CBELL.pdf I came across this quote on the Fountas & Pinnell Facebook page the other day. It really got me thinking about the RTI framework and the importance of Tier 1: high-quality classroom instruction. High-quality instruction refers to the methods, techniques, and lessons general, classroom teachers utilize when teaching the components of the school’s core reading program. High-quality instruction is important for all learners in the classroom. When high-quality instruction is implemented, teachers can rule out inadequate instruction as the reason for students’ poor reading performance. It allows for the exploration of other reasons/areas why students may be struggling. High-quality instruction should meet the needs of the majority of students in the classroom. When there is an over abundance of students needing Tier 2 support, we need to re-evaluate and examine what students and teachers could be missing during classroom instruction. Perhaps not enough time is spent on phonemic awareness skills or phonics activities. Maybe the teacher could incorporate more comprehension lessons and activities. Perhaps the small groups need to be changed. There are a number of reasons why students may require Tier 2 intervention but we first must ensure that Tier 1 is of the highest quality. As I read through the two Dawson and Guare (2010) chapters, I began reflecting on strategies to promote executive skills that I am currently using in my classroom. These chapters provided an overview of what executive skills are, how they are developed, and why they are important. They also provided teachers with a number of strategies and interventions to promote executive skills.
One intervention I use daily in grade one, for all of my students, is a class schedule. We move an arrow down the schedule as we complete tasks and transition to the next class. There is no more asking “when is home time” as they can see the jobs they need to work through before they get to go home. For individual students with poor executive functioning skills, I have created a person schedule on their desk with velcro. Instead of saying “math” their schedule will say “math journal”, “math talk”, “pattern work”. The steps of the overall math class are broken down into steps to help these students stay focused and motivated to complete assignments. I have also taken into consideration things such as where student supplies are placed, where they hand in work, and how we line up to leave the classroom. I don’t remember for sure but I assume these thoughts and routines were not well developed during my first teaching year. I have come a long way in learning about elementary children, their skills, and how I can assist them through their environment. One thing we started doing this year is called the “unicorn horn”. When we are working on a multi-step pencil task, I will get students to put their pencil to their forehead like a unicorn horn so I can see who is done and who is still working on that step. This prevents students from working ahead and allows me to see who may need some assistance. I am grateful for the strategies provided in the article and am proud of the interventions I am already using. It is important to consider how much control and guidance teachers use when acting as the frontal lobe. These executive skills and intervention strategies can work for a whole class and for individual students. Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2010). Overview of executive skills. Executive skills in children and adolescents (2nd ed., pp. 1–11). New York, NY: Guilford Press. Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2010). Interventions to promote executive skills. Executive skills in children and adolescents (2nd ed., pp. 49–74). New York, NY: Guilford Press. Over the last few weeks I have found myself constantly checking in on where I’m at on my assignments. We have three assignments due this month two of which are due only three days apart. The assignments and due dates are overlapping and I find myself starting a new one before the old one is complete. I am constantly checking in and evaluating my progress on each of the assignments. I have also been taking into account the grade percentage of each assignment. As I complete another reading on executive skills I think I’m on to Dee…
Executive skills allow us to plan and organize activities and manage the time needed to complete a task or reach our goal. When we have strong executive skills (like most of us at Queens!) we can manage multiple assignments with different requirements and due dates. I believe these three assignments are Dee’s secret way of getting us to utilize these high-level cognitive functions. Metacognition would be one of the executive skills I’ve been using during the last three modules. I am constantly stepping back and checking in on my progress. I have been editing papers and making necessary changes. I have also experienced feelings of pride for my ability to stay on task and organize my time and learning activities. Professionally, the executive skill I see students struggling with the most is emotional control or self-regulation. I have experienced many students in the last few years who have a difficult time managing their emotions which in turn impact their learning. My school has created a Self-Regulation Room (SRR) where teachers can send students who are needing some emotional support. Ideally, the SRR is used as a preventative measure, before the student has a melt-down but sometimes it is used after the fact to try to bring the student’s emotions under control. The article reminded me that while these skills begin to develop in early infancy, they do not fully form until late adolescence or early adulthood. It is not abnormal for my grade one students to struggle with self-regulation from time to time. It is important, however, for us to use strategies that will help form and strengthen the executive skill of emotional control. Reference: Dawson, P., & Guare, R. (2010). Overview of executive skills. Executive skills in children and adolescents (2nd ed., pp. 1–11). New York, NY: Guilford Press. Expert Classroom Instruction for Students with Reading Disabilities by Ruth Wharton-McDonald (2011) could very well be my favourite article assigned to read throughout my PME journey. I found the article concise, informative, and extremely motivating. I would like to dedicate this post to reflecting on my favourite quotes from the article.
1. An Effective Teacher “when struggling readers are matched with highly effective classroom teachers, their developmental trajectory can be altered” (Pg 265) “the most powerful intervention tool that schools have to offer students who struggle to read is the classroom teacher” (Pg 265) “the lowest-achieving students in classrooms with exemplary teachers achieved at the same level as the average students in classrooms with more typical teachers” (Pg 265) “apply their knowledge in providing learning experiences for their students is what makes them so effective” (Pg 268) “What differentiates the expert teacher from a less effective colleague is the ability to match the intervention to the individual student” (Pg 268) Now that Wharton-McDonald has clearly indicated the importance of exemplary teachers, I NEED to make sure I am being a highly effective classroom teacher. After celebrating our literacy success last year, I thanked our reading specialist and congratulated her on her hard work paying off. She quickly replied that the classroom teacher is the one who makes the biggest difference for our students. I thought she was just being modest and not wanting to take all of the credit. This reading has opened my eyes to see what an important role I truly play in the literacy success of our students. I believe I work incredibly hard at making our literacy block meaningful, engaging, and differentiated to all of my students. Through this article, I am reminded of the reason behind all of this hard work - our readers! It is also not enough to just know what to do, or recite what research says or identify literacy programs that are available. Effective teachers take this knowledge and apply it to the needs of their current students. My pet-peeve this year has been when a few of my colleagues are so focused on a specific reading program. They follow the steps of that particular program and refuse to integrate pieces or concepts from anything but that program. I have tried to explain that a program is simply a program. There are so many other pieces to literacy intervention that our students need that may not be contained within any program! 2. Differentiation “struggling readers, even those with identified disabilities, need dramatically different reading instruction from students who learn to read more easily.” (Pg 266) “use ongoing formative assessments to determine the specific needs of individual students and to ensure that students are neither overwhelmed by instruction that is too difficult or bored by instruction that is no longer needed” (Pg 268) “Expert teachers provide instruction that targets the particular skills needed by individual learners” (Pg 268) “any classroom in which all students are expected to read the same book will fail to successfully develop reading proficiencies in all students” (Pg 269) “individual students will enter with different understandings and backgrounds, learn in different ways, at different rates, and in the context of different social environments” (Pg 269) Differentiation ensures that each student is receiving the instruction, lessons, and supports that they need. When we use differentiation and small groups, teachers need to make sure the groups are flexible and dynamic, always changing based on the needs of the students. Effective teachers will provide unique and engaging instruction for their students based on their reading needs and what they are ready to learn next. 3. Explicit Instruction “Explicit instruction means that teachers teach skills and strategies clearly and directly.” (Pg 266) 2 Types of Scaffolding: 1) “a careful sequencing of sills so that concepts and skills build gradually upon a strong, coherent foundation” 2) “an on-going teacher-student dialogue that demonstrates directly to the child the kind of processing or thinking that must be done” I have definitely been guilty of assuming a student understood a concept more than they really did. Sometimes I feel as though I am repeating myself over-and-over, so many times that they must know what I mean. However, I now understand that students need explicit literacy instruction. It will not hurt strong readers to receive overly direct instruction and it is exactly what our struggling readers need. 4. Intense Instruction 1) Increase instructional time “more instruction, more time on task, and more opportunities to read” (Pg 267) “effective classroom teachers spend more time teaching - and their students spend more time engaged in instruction - in on-task behaviour” (Pg 267) 2) Decrease group size “provide instruction in small groups created to provide targeted instruction to particular groups of learners” (Pg 267) “students with reading disabilities benefit more from individualized time with an effective teacher” During this section I made many connections to the RTI framework studied in Module 4. RTI calls for extra support for struggling readers through the Tier 2 or 3 model. RTI does not indicate that students who struggle be removed from the class during literacy instruction or guided reading groups. These students need to be a part of the high-quality classroom literacy instruction AND receive additional instruction either in a small group or one-on-one. 5. Success & Motivation “when students experience success with a text, they are more likely to be motivated to sustain their effort and engagement” (Pg 269) “they need motivating learning environments that support ongoing engagement in learning” (Pg 270) Students want to work on things they are good at. They do not want to spend time and effort on things they believe they are bad at. If we can provide our students with differentiated material that is at their appropriate level, we can help build their confidence and overall motivation in reading. My goal is to build life-long readers, I want students to feel excited about reading and proud of the words they can recognize. If I can inspire my class to develop a love of reading, I will consider myself an effective teacher. Reference: Wharton-McDonald, R. (2011). Expert classroom instruction for students with reading disabilities: Explicit, intense, targeted … and flexible. In A. McGill-Franzen and R. L. Allington (Eds.). Handbook of reading disability research (pp. 265-272). New York, NY: Routledge. Throughout much of my research on decoding and through required readings for this course it has become unfortunately clear that many students do not like to read. Students are simply not reading for pleasure. This is a fact that I feel very sad about. I love to read. Throughout my PME journey, I have developed a list of more than five books I can’t wait to read when I am done reading for the courses. Some of these books would be considered professional development (“The Next Step Forward in Guided Reading” by Jan Richardson) while others are for pleasure (“The Boy Who Was Raised As A Dog” by Bruce Perry). My niece is just over three years old and is so blessed to live in a house with a huge collection of books. Some days when I go over for a visit, my sister will be sitting at the table all alone. When I ask where my niece is, my sister will smile and point to her daughter’s room. Inside I will find her sitting by herself surrounded by a circle of books scattered around the floor. She will be flipping through her story books unprompted and without encouragement to stay focused. Sometimes she will ask me to read them to her while other times she is content making up her own stories that match the pictures. I am overwhelmed with happiness and I am so proud of her (and my sister) for finding a way to make reading enjoyable. I try very hard in my classroom to make learning to read fun. While it sometimes feels stressful and as though we are making little progress, I try to take a step back and remind myself of the longterm goal - to develop lifelong readers. We do not want to teach kids to read just so they can pass their reading tests at the end of the year or meet some provincial goal. We want students to become readers for life. We want students to lose themselves in a good book and experience adventures along side their favourite characters. My background knowledge on executive skills prior to the readings was very limited. I can relate to the examples given on the first page of the assignment, the Grade 4 class, the Grade 11 student, and adult life. I feel as though I am often multitasking, always thinking of things that need to get done, and trying to prioritize them the best I can. However, I never considered this organization as executive functioning which I guess is the point. We want find ways to develop our executive functioning skills so that our brain can think and act quickly.
The first reading I started with this module was 7 Actions that Teachers can Take Right Now (Hiebert, 2012). When I consider text complexity and executive functioning together, I believe students must be able to develop executive functioning skills and strategies that will assist them in reading increasingly more complex texts. Hiebert (2012) outlines 7 actions that teachers can take to work towards supporting students with complex text. 1: Focus on knowledge provided by text. This can be done through a read aloud or through independent reading depending on grade and ability level. 2: Create connections between the text and existing knowledge. While the teachers role should be limited in this connection, I do believe we have a duty to direct and assist connections when necessary. This can likely be achieved by asking questions that require students to think deeply about their prior knowledge as well as the text. 3: Activate students’ passion, find books they want to read or will be interested in. 4: Develop vocabulary - connect more difficult or unique words to words students already know. Sometimes I even have to take the time to look up a word or find a synonym for it. If we prepare students to read the complex texts they will more likely persevere through the challenging words instead of losing motivation. 5: Increase the volume or amount of time students are reading. “Students only get good at reading indecently if they read texts that engage them” (Hiebert, 2012). 6: Build stamina so students can read and remember/comprehend longer texts. 7: Identify benchmarks “used to gauge the appropriateness of instructional texts for particular students and tasks” (Hiebert, 2012). We use benchmarks in the lower grades to identify when a student is displaying the reading skills for a higher reading level. Sometimes I will show my students a Fountas and Pinnell level G book in September and tell them that this is what they will be reading by the end of Grade 1. Their eyes get really big and they laugh in disbelief. Then all of a sudden they will recognize a word on the page like “said” or “the” and they get so excited. They may recognize that the book is too difficult for them right now, that they can’t do it YET - one day they will be able to. One area that still stands out to me from this reading is accessible text vs. dumbed-down text. Accessible texts are complex texts with a moderate number of rare words. In first grade we are just learning how to read. I wouldn’t consider the books we use during guided reading or small group learning to be accessible or complex. I do not like to use the term dumb-downed, but explained in the short video on the website http://textproject.org/topics/text-complexity/, the books my students are currently reading are texts with short sentences for readability and texts with phonetically regular/decodable words. We experience complex texts during read-a-louds or through the chapter book they listen to during snack time. Hiebert (2012) touches on this in Action 6: Build Up Stamina. She brings up the term “academic emotions” and students’ willingness or lack-there-of to complete tasks that they do not feel they are good at. When we are reading a book together during guided reading or when students are engaged in independent reading, there must be a balance between interest and ability. Teachers want students looking at books that interest them yet there is a time and a place for levelled readers. References: Hiebert, E. H. (2012). 7 actions that teachers can take right now: Text complexity. Santa Cruz, CA: TextProject. Retrieved from http://textproject.org/teachers/7-actions-that-teachers-can-take-right-now-text-complexity/ http://textproject.org/topics/text-complexity/ My focus this last week has been on writing my individual research paper focusing on decoding. While the topic of my paper is extremely interesting to me, I have been struggling to write my ideas down in an organized and meaningful way. There is so much information about there about decoding and why students may struggle with it. My job is to organize the information into six, double-spaced pages!
A few contributing factors to decoding struggles that seem to give me writers block are dyslexia and working memory. Throughout this course we have read multiple 20+ page papers on these topics. While they have a strong impact on a student’s ability to decode simple words, how do I bring up such lengthy topics without steering away from my main topic: decoding. I worry that I am too vague on some subjects leaving me with a six page paper that just barely skims the top of such an interesting and meaningful topic. I also find myself thinking more and more about the students in my classroom. Are they “struggling” or are they just learning. We do not use the RTI model in kindergarten at my school so first grade is the start of any literacy intervention. We just finished our 28th day of school, and while I feel I have identified my weaker decoders I have not yet determined if they will struggle throughout the year or if with proper intervention we can get them caught up to their peers. I am looking forward to finalizing my paper over the next two weeks. With continued research and editing I am sure I can put some of my concerns to rest. I will also continue to monitor our classroom progress as we move closer to the end of the first reporting period. As a first grade classroom teacher, my role in RTI falls in the first tier: high-quality classroom instruction. Classroom teachers are in charge of providing students with the everyday lessons to teach and build literacy skills. One way teachers can ensure they are reaching the needs of all of their literacy learners is to utilize differentiated instruction.
Differentiated instruction is grounded in the philosophy that students learn at different rates and through a variety of different ways. By using a variety of teaching methods we are ensuring all of our students’ needs can be met. When teachers use differentiated instruction and students understand the need for it, an environment where learning differences are valued is created. One way teachers may use differentiated instruction is to provide different levels of difficulty for the same overall assignment. Teachers may also provide different supports, such as text-to-speech technology, depending on their students’ needs. Classroom teachers must also identify those students who are at-risk for literacy skills. By identifying these students who may struggle in the future, we are moving away from the wait-to-fail model that has been used in the past. We do not want to wait until students are two years behind their peers, we want to assist students when the gap is still small. One way we can ensure we are identifying students correctly is by using assessment for learning. We may screen students based on their phonemic awareness, letter recognition, or on their sight word knowledge. From this data we can group students according to the RTI tier that can best support their needs. This is one area that I am curious to learn more about as we move through this course. I would like to focus on understanding the area of assessment and identifying those students who require more support. “There is currently no universally accepted protocol for the early screening, identification, and assessment of specific learning disabilities” (Harrison, 2005). What is the best approach for identifying at-risk literacy students in my school? Is the system we use now effective or can it be improved? Once we have identified those students who are considered at-risk, we must design flexible groupings that are dynamic and forever changing throughout the year. RTI requires frequent assessment to ensure students are making progress and if they are not, what changes need to be made. Formative evaluation of the RTI model should also take place, teachers need to reflect on their instruction or groupings and determine what needs to change. RTI cannot be completed in isolation, we need to collaborate and connect with other staff members and those working with students at the Tier 2 and 3 level. After completing the readings for this week I am proud of some of the things I am doing well. I am making sure my lowest readers are working with the most educated teachers. I am also attempting to give my higher students more meaningful, independent work. RTI is not just about kids who struggle but it supports those that are gifted too. We need to make sure we are giving each, individual student what they need to succeed. Through the use of the RTI framework, I believe teachers can provide the best learning experience for all students in the classroom. References: Averill, O. H., Baker, D., & Rinaldi, C. (2014). A blueprint for effectively using RTI intervention block time. Intervention in School and Clinic, 50(1), 29–38. DOI: 10.1177/1053451214532351 Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L. S. (2006). Introduction to response to intervention: What, why, and how valid is it? Reading Research Quarterly, 1, 93-99. Harrison, A. G. (2005). Recommended Best Practices for the Early Identification and Diagnosis of Children with Specific Learning Disabilities in Ontario, Canadian Journal of School Psychology, 20, (1/2). 21-43. DOI: 10.1177/0829573506295461 http://www.readingrockets.org/reading-topics/response-intervention http://www.rtinetwork.org/learn/what/whatisrti |
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November 2018
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