The teacher uses many gestures and visuals to aid student understanding, including having students mimic gestures. For the ELL student specifically, the teacher speaks slowly and repeats explanations. The only unusual behavior noticed in the ELL student was watching the teacher for an extended time after speaking. The ELL student interacts well with classmates and has developed strong English skills. The student uses the same materials as peers but benefits from visual supports. While the classroom organization could improve, the ELL student seems comfortable participating with peers of similar ability levels. The student demonstrates knowledge of vocabulary at a basic level and communicates effectively despite some accent challenges. The teacher provides slowed speech as an accommodation.
The teacher uses many gestures and visuals to aid student understanding, including having students mimic gestures. For the ELL student specifically, the teacher speaks slowly and repeats explanations. The only unusual behavior noticed in the ELL student was watching the teacher for an extended time after speaking. The ELL student interacts well with classmates and has developed strong English skills. The student uses the same materials as peers but benefits from visual supports. While the classroom organization could improve, the ELL student seems comfortable participating with peers of similar ability levels. The student demonstrates knowledge of vocabulary at a basic level and communicates effectively despite some accent challenges. The teacher provides slowed speech as an accommodation.
The teacher uses many gestures and visuals to aid student understanding, including having students mimic gestures. For the ELL student specifically, the teacher speaks slowly and repeats explanations. The only unusual behavior noticed in the ELL student was watching the teacher for an extended time after speaking. The ELL student interacts well with classmates and has developed strong English skills. The student uses the same materials as peers but benefits from visual supports. While the classroom organization could improve, the ELL student seems comfortable participating with peers of similar ability levels. The student demonstrates knowledge of vocabulary at a basic level and communicates effectively despite some accent challenges. The teacher provides slowed speech as an accommodation.
What techniques/methods/strategies do you see being used
with the ELL/LEP student(s)? Are they effective? Why or why not? (Either specifically for the ELL student(s) or in whole class/small group instruction) a. The teacher uses many gestures when explaining new concepts. Not only does she express the concepts using gestures, but also she has the students do the same. For example, when explaining phonics rule the teacher said, The first vowel does the talking; second one does the walking. While doing this she walked, and made a talking sign with her hands. After showing the students, she then had the students do the same while saying the rhyme. In small group instruction the teacher instructs in the same way that she does for all students. However, she takes her time when explaining to the ELL student. She speaks slowly and is more likely to repeat things to this student.
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) a. The only behavior that I noticed that was different about the ELL student was that she watched you for a long time when talking. Even after the teacher would finish saying something, the student would look at the teacher for an extended period of time. I just assumed that ger gaze was her way of processing the information or attempting to process the information.
3. What type of interactions do you see between the ELL
student(s), other classroom students, and the teacher(s)? Please describe in detail. a. I would say that the interactions betweeen the ELL student and the other classroom students are typical of any child. She has friends, and talks to everyone in the classroom without hesitation. She has developed very well as an English-speaking
student, so she is able to interact with the other classroom
students.
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. a. The child is not given any extra materials. She uses the same manipulatives as the other students in the classroom. That being said, the teacher uses several manipulatives and pictures throughout her classroom. She believes that all students benefit from learning in this way. So just as the ELL student is able to make the concepts concrete with visuals, the other students do the same. The manipulatives, visuals, and other internet resources do seem to very effective. The ELL student is definitely more engaged when there are manipulatives involved. For example, the student is able to see picture cards when learning new phonics rules. I can see her look at the picture, identify the object, and then sound out the phonics rule. This shows me that shes definitely using the visual to aid in her learning.
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. a. Sometimes the student struggles with finding materials. I do not know if thats due to the organization of the classroom, or due to the fact that very few things are labeled. Other than the organization of the classroom, the ELL student seems to be very comfortable. She is seated with students that are similar in academic level, so I see her thrive when they are working together. She is also encouraged in many ways to talk with her peers. The teacher always has the students out of their seats interacting with one another, whether in groups on an assignment, or discussing their afternoon plans, the students are frequently talking with one another.
6. Whats the comfort level of the ELL student(s) in regards to
the English language? What observations help you arrive at your decision? Refer to the Vocabulary Performance
Indicators. At what level would you place the ELL student?
How did you decide on that level? a. The student seems to be very comfortable in regards to the English language. I have never seen her struggle to find a word. The only struggle I see is with her accent. She sometimes struggles with saying a word, and sometimes struggles to effectively get a point across because of her accent. However, that rarely stops her from talking about everything. She is very well developed in her vocaulary. As far as being a first grade student goes, I would say that she has knowledge of vocabular. She can use her vocabulary words in sentences and in her conversation. I do not think it is a rich, decontextualized understanding, but she is able to make use of her vocabulary words. For example, if she learned the vocabulary word habitat, she may write a sentence such as, The animal lives in his habitat. She can make use of the word, but may not completely decontextualized understanding of the word.
7. If you feel comfortable enough to ask, ask the cooperating
teacher (or ESL teacher) what type of accomodations/modifications they have to make for the ELL student(s). Please describe the types of accomodations/modifications that were discussed. Do they appear on the checklist? Why/why not do you think they are present/not present on the checklist? a. The teacher told me that she does not make many accomodations or modifications for the student. She says that she does slow down her speech to aid in processing information. She also said she uses visuals to help all of her students better understand the concepts being taught. Using visuals is on eht checklist. I think they are present on the checklist because using visuals helps learners to make abstract ideas more concrete.