Characteristics of ELL Students/Schools in Native Countries

Although each student is different, the following provides you with some general characteristics of ELL students who may be in your class: 1. Students may be silent much of the time because they are translating from English to their first language. 2. Students may misinterpret the body language of people around them. For example, the thumbs -up signal and pointing are seen as very rude in some cultures. 3. Hispanic students may look down when addressing an adult because looking down is seen as a sign of respect. Requiring a student to look directly at you when speaking is telling him/her to be disrespectful to you. 4. Students may rely on a teachers gestures for understanding. Therefore, it is important for teachers to be consistent in their use of gestures. It is also important to be sure the gestures you use are not viewed as a sign of disrespect. 5. Students may have had very little formal classroom experience because of political or economic conditions in their native countries. 6. Students social language skills may be more advanced than their academic language skills. That is, students may be able to speak English to their peers, but they may have difficulty reading and writing English. 7. Students writing may contain the syntactic structure of their first language, and they may experience variations from day to day in their ability to write in English. 8. ELL students (especially Haitian) may be accustomed to learning by rote, in which all materials are memorized and then recited. 9. Audiovisual materials and computers are almost nonexistent in some countries, especially Haiti. 10. Communication is usually from the teacher to the student, not student to teacher. 11. Students may be unable to participate in extracurricular activities because their families do not have the money to pay for them. 12. Students may be absent frequently because they are expected to help with family matters such as paying bills, translating for their parents, or caring for siblings. Or they may be late because it is polite to arrive late in some Hispanic cultures. (Literacy for Diverse Populations 408) Literacy for Diverse Populations. McGraw-Hill Create. VitalBook file.

Language Interferences
language patterns of a student's first language that may affect the reading, writing, and speaking of a second language. Below you will find examples of language interferences in Spanish, Creole, and even non -standard English, also known as Ebonics. Spanish Phonology 1. No short vowel sounds 2. Consonant sound substitutionsEX. English: b (box) Spanish: v (vox) 3. Difficulty with final consonant sounds because only a limited number occur in Spanish. Consonants that cause difficulty: b, g, h, k, m, p, s, and v. 4. Difficulty with final consonant digraphs. Consonant digraphs that cause difficulty: voiced th, unvoiced th, sh, and ch. 5. Difficulty with certain initial consonant blends: sk, sm, sn, sp, st, scr, shr, spl, spr, and str. Grammar 1. In Spanish no is used to mean both not and no. English: She did not go. Spanish: She no go. 2. The words do, does, and did are not used to form questions. English: Did you go shopping? Spanish: You go shopping? (raising intonation) 3. To be is not used to express temperature, age, or state of being. English: I am 18 years old. Spanish: I have 18 years. 4. The prepositions in and on are not used. Instead, en is used. English: The pot is on the stove. Spanish: The pot is en the stove. 5. The comparative and superlative suffixes er and est are not used. Instead, more and the most are used. English: John is the biggest. Spanish: John is the most big. 6. Articles are used with professional titles. English: I saw Dr. Lynn. Spanish: I saw the Dr. Lynn. Creole Phonology 1. No short vowel sounds 2. Consonant sound substitutionsEX. English r (ripe) Creole w (wipe) 3. Difficulty with final consonant digraphs because only a limited number are used in Creole. Difficulty with b, f, g, h, k, m, p, s, and v. 4. Difficulty with final consonant digraphs: unvoiced th, voiced th, sh, and ch. 5. Difficulty with certain initial consonant blends: sk, sm, sn, sp, st, scr, shr, spl, spr, and str. Grammar 1. Plurals are not made by adding s. Instead yo is placed after the noun. 2. There are no variant forms of pronouns (such as they, them, their, he, she, it). He is used to refer to males, females, and objects. 3. The verb to be is not used. 4. Definite articles (the) are used after nouns, not before. Non-Standard English Phonology 1. The final consonants d, t, and k are omitted. English: told, lift, risk Black English: tol, lif, ris 2. Plural and past tense endings are omitted. English: rocks, barked Black English: rock, bark 3. The r and l sounds are omitted at the ends of words. English: door Black English: doe 4. Various consonant sounds are substituted for th. English: this, mother, with Black English: dis, muver, mudder, or mutter, wif Grammar 1. Double negatives are used. English: I dont have any bananas. Black English: I dont have no bananas. 2. S is added to irregular plurals. English: men, feet Black English: mens, feets 3. The root word is used for third-person agreement. English: John walks every morning. Black English: John walk every morning. 4. The pronouns they and them are substituted for their and those. English: Send me those letters. Black English: Send me them letters. 5. Omissions and substitutions are made for the verb to be. English: Sam is running. They were running. Black English: Sam running. They (we, you) was running. 6. The word done is substituted for have. English: I have completed my homework. Black English: I done my homework.

Parental Involvement

Student & Parents Teacher & Parents

Parents & Parents

Have students share with parents what happens at school

Have a welcome kit for students and their parents

Have students and parents participate in reading programs and computer programs together

Contact parents about their childs progress and events happening at the school

Have bilingual parents help out in the classroom

Have bilingual parents be part of a telephone tree

Use translators and interpreters for parent-teacher conferences, documents sent home, school registration, etc

Set up childcare for conferences or events so parents may attend and have refreshments available. Have food, people will come

Have bilingual parents help out with registration

May be apprehensive to talk aloud or ask for help

Include them in class activities and assign a part-

Provide outlines for lessons and daily reviews

Allow extra time, speak slowly, and write clearly

Be consistent with classroom behaviors, expectations, and routines

Use direct instruction, but also a variety of strategies when presenting a lesson

Working with ELL Students

Place labels around the classroom and provide lower level reading opportunities Rephrase idioms and allow heritage-toEnglish and English-to -heritage dictionaries

Integrate their culture into lessons and the classroom

Use hands-on activities and visuals

Allow opportunities for small group work

Use gestures, hand-signals, and short sentences

Literacy in ELL Students

Technology and Visual Language

Vocabulary Strategies

Reading Strategies

Talking TextsKidPix, Kidspiration Thinking Reader Digital Field Trips Recorded Texts DVDs Electronically highlight words and look up in Digital Dictionary Document Camera to display text pages Interactive Electronic White Boards SMART Boards, Promethean boards Song and Lyrics on CD or DVD iClicker

Semantic Maps Word Banks Interactive Word Walls Dramatize Words Illustrating Words Word Sorts List-Group-Label Concept-Definition-Map Frayer Model Alphaboxes (ABC boxes)

Predictable/Picture Books/Picture Walk Mental Imagery Think or Read Alouds K-W-L Anticipation Guide SQ3RSurvey, Question, Read, Recite, Review Retelling Venn Diagram or T-Charts Story maps Timeline or Sequence Mapping Organizer Magnet Summaries One-sentence Summaries Picture Notes Admit/Exit Slips Free Writes Dialogue Journals SSRSustained Silent Reading Choral Reading Readers Theatre Buddy/Partner Reading Think-Pair-Share Guided Reading Directed Reading Thinking Activity Reciprocal Reading Question-Answer Relationships (QAR)

Portfolio

Observation

Oral Retelling

Quizzes

Administer Oral Tests

Assessment for ELL Students

Products and Exhibits

Timing

Journal Entries

Setting

Exit Cards or Slips

Demonstrations