Checklist of Instructional Modifications for LEP Students

(Recommended for Regular, Bilingual, ESL and Special Education Teachers)

Student: Student X Grade: 4 Year: 2019

Campus: Neil Armstrong Subject: Teacher: Mrs. Walter

ELL Student

Please retain this record in your gradebook/lesson plan book as documentation for TEA Audits.

Instructional Modifications Check (√) Comment

Modification

X
1. Shorten assignments, tests

no
2. Oral administration of test, taped tests

X
3. Provide highlighted texts, tests

X
4. Use visual cues to accompany oral directions

no
5. Provide advanced organizers-webbing, outlining,
graphing ...

X
6. Extend time for completion of assignments, projects

X
7. Provide study sheets

no
8. Use assignment notebooks and prompts
 no
9. Provide repeated reviews and drills-vary teaching
strategies

X
10. Teach in small cooperative groups

No
11. Reduce paper/pencil tasks

X
12. Provide manipulatives

X
13. Seat in close proximity to the teacher

X
14. Encourage student to underline key words or facts

no
15. Use language experience activities

X
16. Allow students to express key concepts in their
own words

no
17. Provide time and place for assistance with school
projects

X
18. Directly teach vocabulary used on tests

no
19. Audiotape lectures

no
20. Peer tutoring
 no
21. Shorten length of oral tasks

no
22. Provide clarification in primary language (if
possible)

X
23. Allow translations by peers for clarification

X
24. Monitor for individual student comprehension

X
25. Simplify language and adjust the rate of speech
when needed

X
26. Frequently monitor for comprehension

no
27. Other recommended interventions....
Observation Questions for ELL student(s)
1. What techniques/methods/strategies do you see being used with the ELL
student(s)? Are they effective? Why or why not? (Either specifically for
the ELL student(s) or in whole class/small group instruction)

- For the ELL student in my classroom, I see a lot of one on one work being
done in the classroom. When my teacher gives independent work, my
teacher will work one on one with her by her desk. My teacher described to
me that she works well with pictures and visuals. During my teacher’s
instruction to the whole class, she is always using the smartboard. On the
smartboard she will have pictures of what she is talking about and will
make it interactive so the students can come up and actually interact with
her instruction.

2. Do you notice any student behaviors that you would consider “out of the
ordinary”? Please describe in detail. (This applies to both the ELL student(s) and
other classroom students)

- In my classroom, there is a small handful of students that exhibit behavior that a

typical fourth grader should not be doing. One student in particular curses a lot. I
know for a fact that he or she does not have a certain disability that would lead
him to do this. My teacher and I believe that he knows what he is doing and
simply does not care to fix his behavior. We think that it has something to do with
his home and family situation. He has been suspended multiple times for the
same reason, and other kids at one point were starting to copy his behavior. The
ELL student in my classroom does not seem like an ELL student. She does not
struggle with language at all. One area where she does struggle is her spelling
tests. I noticed when grading them that she spells them phonetically correct but
does not do the correct English spelling. For example, she spelled the word
“turtle” as terdel. To anyone, when saying this word out loud, it sounds perfectly
like the correct spelling of turtle My teacher has noticed improvements with her
spelling however because she has spent extra time with her practicing outside of
class.
3. What type of interactions do you see between the ELL student(s), other
classroom students, and the teacher(s)? Please describe in detail.

- There is one ELL student in my classroom, and I have noticed nothing but
positive interactions between all of the students towards her in the classroom.
She is social with all of her classmates and I have noticed that she has many
friends. For example, I overheard a conversation with her and another student
about how they are going to have a playdate over the weekend. Toward the
teacher, they have a very close relationship. My teacher works with her often
outside of the classroom especially on her spelling words. She always offers to
assist her in anything that she is doing. My teacher always puts her ELL student
next to someone who she can also rely on for assistance beside the teacher
herself. Overall, the class I am in is very close knit. The class is not really divided in
any way and I give a lot of credit to my teacher because she works hard to foster a
positive and inclusive learning environment.

4. Identify resources/materials that are being used with the ELL student(s).
Please describe in detail how the ELL student is using them. Do they appear to
be effective? Explain.

- For spelling tests, my teacher lets the ELL student in her classroom do less
words. The whole class normally does about 25 words. The teacher lets the ELL
student do 15 words. Having this accommodation lets her have a fair shot of
doing well. When she has done tests with 25 words, she has not been able to
keep up with the pace and has missed and rushed to complete words. I have
found this accommodation to be effective for her because there has been some
improvement in her scores. Another resource that she has in the classroom for
her ELL student is picture books for the vocabulary words. Besides just looking
and reading the definition, she is able to have a visual at all times to understand
what the meaning is if she does not understand the word definition.

5. Does the classroom environment seem to be comfortable for the ELL

student(s)? Please describe the environment and explain how you made your
decision.

- The classroom that I am in is somewhat ELL student friendly. My teacher has a

lot of visuals around the classroom that helps the ELL student figure out words if
she ever has a problem. For example, on the vocabulary wall there are the words
listed and then a picture of the word next to it. My teacher also has jobs in the
classroom that are on a chart on the wall. For each job, there is also a picture of
what he or she will be doing or what it involves. My teacher also has many
different levels of reading books in her classroom for each student that is
struggling to excelling. There is a computer station in the back of the classroom
that has a program on it that the ELL student can use when she has trouble with
formulating sentences along with the language. Overall, I believe that the
classroom can have more things that can be useful to an ELL student, but
sometimes schools do not have the money or resources to provide these things to
their students.

6. What’s the “comfort” level of the ELL student(s) in regard to the English
language? What observations help you arrive at your decision? At what stage
would you place the ELL student? How did you decide on that level?

- The comfort of the ELL student in regard to the English language is very strong.
As stated earlier, the one major issue she has is spelling. Her reading skills are a
little below average but overall her language skills are very impressive. She is a
very good speaker and rarely has many miscues when speaking aloud.

7. Ask the cooperating teacher (or ESL teacher) what type of

accommodations/modifications they have to make for the ELL student(s). Please
describe the types of accommodations/modifications that were discussed. Do
they appear on the checklist? Why/why not do you think they are present/not
present on the checklist?

- My teacher does not make too many accommodations and modifications

because my student does not struggle too much. However, my teacher
emphasizes the different learning styles. For example, when the students are
doing vocabulary, she uses visuals and pictures next to the vocabulary words. My
teacher also gives her shortened spelling and vocabulary tests because that is
where she struggles the most. My teacher also uses manipulatives that the
student could physically hold and see. She is always constantly checking up on her
as well making sure that she is on track with comprehension. A good strategy that
my teacher uses is pairing the ELL student up with a student on track and on
normal level. The ELL student can turn to him when she has any questions or
needs any help at all. Some of these are present on the checklist because I think
they are universal strategies that other schools and teachers use. Some are not on
the checklist because teachers do have to adjust based on the student and not
every student will have or need the same modification or accommodation.