week 18

1. Week 18
ELLs & Family Inclusion in the
Language Classroom

2. Agenda
• Circle
• PBP’s by Lauren and Marcus
• PLC Discussion on ELL strategies
• Family Inclusion/Communication
Methods
• Book Club: Building Empathy

3. Circle
Quick Check In
Concerns
Looking Ahead -Final Weeks

4. Picture Book Lesson Plan
Presentations
Lauren and Marcus

6. So Many Acronyms
• English Language Learners (ELL) are the students whose
first language is a language other than English, or is a variety
of English that is significantly different from the variety used
for instruction in Ontario schools. These students may be
Canadian-born or newcomers from other countries.
• English as a Second Language (ESL) refers to the program
received by ELL students who are literate in their first
language.
• English Literacy Development (ELD) refers to the program
received by ELL students who are (a) not literate in their first
language, (b) have educational gaps, or (c) speak non-
standard Ontario English.

7. Who might our ELL students be?
Because of the variety of language experiences
that make up ELL’s, it is important that we do
not group these students in stereotypical ways,
but that we take the time to get to know each
one’s strengths and needs with regards to
English literacy.

8. POP Quiz!!
TRUE OR FALSE
1. Speaking their first language at
school delays the acquisition of
English for ELLs.
2. The ELLs’ linguistic ability in the
home language has little relevance
to their instruction.
3. Students should be encouraged to
practise their English skills at home
as much as possible.

9. Speaking their first language at school delays
the acquisition of English for ELLs.
• False - students should be encouraged to keep
building their first language along with learning
English.
• Benefits of allowing students to use their first language in the
classroom:
1. ELLs feel that their culture and background are validated.
2. Classmates are exposed to new learning.
3. Develops compassion and empathy in all learners.
4. Research shows that children who continue to develop in their
first language improve literacy levels and academic
achievement.

10. The ELLs’ linguistic ability in the home language
has little relevance to their instruction.
• False - literacy skills in a first language are very
relevant to instruction; if a student knows how to
make a connection in their first language, they will
be able to do it in English once they have the
vocabulary
Why is it so important to be aware of a students first language?
• Urdu: why student is holding a book backwards, or not using articles such as a/an or
the
• Low German: not typically a literate language- immediate disadvantage due to lack of
connection with oral language and literacy
• Chinese: why a student doesn’t understand when we say ‘sound it out’ (not
phonological)
• Punjabi: why a student is writing in between the spaces on the paper
(Punjabi script hangs from the line)
• Chinese: difficulty organizing a piece of persuasive writing.
(culturally it may be considered rude or opinionated to begin by
stating a point of view)

11. Students should be encouraged to practise their English
skills at home as much as possible
• False (qualified) - some extra practice at home is beneficial
if students have a good model, but primarily students need
to keep developing their first language skills at home
• Think: We do want some practice to bridge home and school life. We want to
encourage students to teach their parents English words, and to practice using
some of the vocabulary from class.
• However: Practicing a skill incorrectly does not lead to improvement of the
skill, but rather bad habits that are hard to break. It should not be forced to try
to only speak in English at home unless there is an English speaking person to
help continue proper language development.
Example: (You learn much better French by immersing yourself in Paris than by trying to have
conversations with someone else who is learning French too).

12. Students should be encouraged to practise
their English skills at home as much as possible
• False (qualified) - some extra practice at home is
beneficial if students have a good model, but
primarily students need to keep developing their
first language skills at home
• Think: We do want some practice to bridge home and school life.
We want to encourage students to teach their parents English
words, and to practice using some of the vocabulary from class.
• However: Practicing a skill incorrectly does not lead to
improvement of the skill, but rather bad habits that are hard to
break. It should not be forced to try to only speak in English at
home unless there is an English speaking person to help continue
proper language development.
Example: (You learn much better French by immersing yourself in Paris
than by trying to have conversations with someone else who is learning
French too).

13. Professional Learning
Community Discussion
• Review your forum post
• Share a summary of your lesson
reflection and the strategy your
chose to help meet the needs of ELLs
• Use the question prompts to help
enhance your understanding and
inform your future teaching practices
in the Language classroom

14. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/en
g/document/manyroots/ELL
_LPS.pdf
Interesting Pages to Note
when you have time to peruse:
1 The English language learner with limited
prior schooling p.5
2 Assessing the English language learner
with limited prior schooling p.21
3 Teaching the English language learner
with limited prior schooling p.35
4 Supporting transitions: Whole school,
whole system p.61

15. Other ELL and Community Resources
• An Ontario Ministry Created Guide: “Supporting English Language Learners”
(revised 2008)
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/document/esleldprograms/guide.pdf
• Edugains Weblink that contains articles and videos related to ELLs
http://www.edugains.ca/newsite/ell/supportingenglishlanguagelearners.html
• Capacity Building Series: Canadian Born ELLs
http://etfo-ots.ca/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/CBS_CBELL.pdf
• Capacity Building Series: ELL Voices in the Classroom
http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/ELL_Voices09.pdf

16. Getting to know your students
and their families
• School is only one part of students’ daily lives. If
we are going to reach students, interest them,
excite them, support them, make them see that
what we do in the classroom will be useful to
their lives… We need to get to know who they
are, what interests them, how much support
they already have/don’t have, and what their
lives entail outside of the walls of our classroom.
• Students’ background knowledge and
experiences directly influences their
understanding and connection to classroom
content. If we are not aware of this background,
we can’t use it to help our students make these
very important connections.

17. Invisible Backpacks
• Check out this article:
http://edublog.scholastic.com/post/i-asked-my-students-
what-they-carry-their-invisible-backpacks#
“My journey as a teacher has taken me to a place
where I now realize the importance of reaching each
child beyond the curriculum and classroom walls. I
want my students to realize that I am there for them, I
truly care about what they are feeling and I want to
help them reach their goals”.

18. The home-school connection
When you build a connection
between home and school,
children will benefit
tremendously. Research shows
that when bridging these two
worlds together, students will
do better in school.

19. The home-school connection
When parents and teachers work well
together, everyone benefits. Parents and
teachers can provide each other with unique
insight and different perspectives about the
same child, culminating in a more complete
understanding of that child, his/her abilities,
strengths, and challenges. The teacher will
know much more about the curriculum and
the school culture, while the parent will
know more about a child's personality,
tendencies, and family life. A successful
parent-teacher partnership also shows a
child that an entire team of adults is on
his/her side.
From: http://www.scholastic.com/parents/resources/article/parent-teacher-
partnerships/connecting-home-and-school

20. Families in the classroom
How can we create opportunities to involve our students' parents in
their child's education?
 Invite parents into the classroom as guest speakers to share insights
from their cultures, careers, or other skills and interests.
 Invite parents to join in on field trips, or attend assemblies and
concerts
 Stress the importance of parent-teacher communication

21. Families aware of
the classroom
With the busy lives our parents lead today, teachers may find it
difficult to strengthen the bond between home and school. How can
we connect to working parents who can’t be in our classrooms?
 Use the power of technology: create classroom blogs or websites,
these can be great places to post updates on class activities, as
well as posting homework so parents can see what is expected of
their child.
 Encourage parents and students to talk about their day, and to
find time to read together every night.
 If technology is not an option, traditional communication
is just as useful: notes in agendas, weekly or monthly
class newsletters, and parent phone calls are important
ways to communicate.
 Positive phone calls can be even more powerful than
problem calls!

22. Family integration at home
Since we cannot go home every night with our students and ensure
they are communicating with their parents, we can assign work that is
personal to students and that requires them to converse with family
members:
 Have students share cultural traditions, childhood memories,
ancestral stories, that require them to gather insight from their
elders
 Have students poll their family members on an issue or question
related to class content
 Have students create inquiry-based projects where they have to
set a goal for their family to try something new, and report on
their progress

23. Empathy Building in the
Classroom
• We can build better relationships and
foster global citizenship by building a
capacity for empathy in our students.
• One way we do this is through exposing
them to multiple perspectives: different
cultures, classes, generations, genders,
etc.
• In the Language classroom, there is a
plethora of books that can be read
and discussed with students!

24. https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=ohs-7ue_wdM
Mentor text: Voices In The Park
listening to a day through 4 different voices

25. BOOK CLUB:
Moving from identifying point of view to
developing empathy & honouring Identity
In our read aloud of "Voice in the Park", we were introduced to the
concept of point of view and empathy. Different individuals' understanding
of situations can be affected by their background experiences. Today you
will read 5 more books that highlight a personal narrative from a
cultural/social perspective that might be different from your own.
The two books in each set have a common
theme for you to discover.
Follow the prompts on the next slide.

26. BOOK CLUB:
Moving from identifying point of view
to developing empathy & honouring Identity
Task 1: Read the books wearing your Student Hats
✪What might the common theme be in the
two books in this set?
✪What comparisons can you make between
the two books? What connections or
differences can you find between the
characters experiences and your own lives?
✪What thoughts or reactions did you
experience? What is it about the story or
images that makes you feel something or think
something significant?

27. BOOK CLUB:
Moving from identifying point of view
to developing empathy & honouring Identity
Task 2: Put on your teacher hats and discuss:
✪How important is it to expose students to
stories of other's experiences? What can they
learn from reading these?
✪How might you use these texts in the
classroom? What meaningful and personal
activities/projects might stem from these mentor
texts?
✪What considerations might you have to take
into account for sharing stories with intense
content? What pre-lessons might you have to
teach?

28. Preparing for Week 19
Monograph presentations
Second Story Press
 Choosing order of Monograph presentations
 Guest speaker Margie Wolfe – Publisher of Second
Story Press
 Do a bit of research on Margie and some of the
books you think would be interesting to have as a
teacher and prepare a few questions