Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1. The teacher uses a variety of techniques to assist JR, a Spanish speaking ELL
student in the class I observed. For example, when the students have to read
independently reading and during their reading tests JR sits with the teacher and
together they read the passage. They will take the reading one sentence at a time
and depending on what the subject matter is, either the teacher or JR reads the
passage. If the passage is from their reading lesson, JR will read the passage while
the teacher typically reads stories from the science lessons. The teacher will stop
after either she or JR reads a word she thinks JR might be familiar with. She will
ask JR if he knows what the word means and if he does not, they use a Chrome
book to look up the translation of words. The teacher then highlights or underlines
the word in the reading and write the definition or a synonym that JR is familiar
with next to the word, so when he goes back to the reading while answering
When the teacher is not able to read JR but she knows him listening will be more
effective for his understanding of the topic, she allows him to listen to the story on
a CD. Additionally, the teacher has the students work in small groups. This is
instruction is effective not only for the general education students but also for JR
because he is able to ask his classmates questions about the activity they are doing
to help him better comprehend the material. The teacher also will sometimes
allow JR to provide an oral response instead of having him write his answer on
reading tests. Lastly, the teacher provides JR with vocabulary for science lessons
prior to them being taught. This allows him to be familiar with the words before
the teacher goes over them in class, thus giving him a better chance at mastering
the topic. All of these techniques seem to be effective, as JR has been improving
throughout the year in all subject areas. He is fairly high functioning, so he mostly
uses the techniques described above to assist him with learning Tier 3 vocabulary
2. As far as unusual behavior, JR does not display any. JR has been living in
American for a few years so he is familiar with American customs and knows
what is socially acceptable in this culture. As far as other students in the class,
there are students who have difficulty listening to directions but no student has
3. JR gets along with his peers very well as he is highly developed in his BICS. He
has many friends and seems to enjoy the company of others. He is able to play
with his classmates at recess and is able to converse with them in a proper
manner. JR also feels comfortable asking his peers questions during lessons when
he is confused. His peers understand that he is not 100 percent fluent in the
English language, so they are also willing to assist him. Jas far as JR’s
interactions with the teacher, they are similar to that of his interactions with his
peers in that they are very natural and normal. He feels comfortable asking her
typically ask the teacher for assistance after he asks his peers. If his friends are not
Translate to look up the definitions and synonyms for words he is not familiar
with. He can also use Google Translate to listen to the pronunciation of the words
in either Spanish or English. JR also often uses manipulatives during the math
lessons. This allows him to be able to visually see the quantities being discussed.
problems where the numbers are written in word form. The teacher will provide
him with the appropriate number of manipulatives in order to help him translate
5. The classroom is very warm and inviting for the ELL student! I determined this
by looking around the room and taking note of the resources readily available for
JR. One example of these resources is that the room is covered in English and
example, in the morning the students have to come in and choose what they want
for lunch by looking at the calendar and reading what the options are for that day.
In order to assist JR, the teacher provides pictures next to each of the options so
even if he is not able to read what the choices are, he is able to see a picture of it
6. JR is comfortable with the English language. He is fully sufficient with his BICS
and is able to communicate with his peers and teachers in an effective and proper
manner. He is doing a good job at developing his CALP. While he still needs to
use the Chrome book to look up words, they are typically Tier 2 or more often
conclusion because he is able to speak and write with few phonological errors
(which is required for stage 4) but he is also able to use vocabulary and technical
language that is associated with a topic after he has learned it (which is necessary
for stage 5). For these reasons, I would place JR somewhere in between stages 4
and 5.
7. As far as accommodations and modifications that the teacher has made for JR, she
b. Helps him look up the vocabulary on tests (if it is not a vocabulary word
The highlighting, providing repeated reviews, and directly teach and define
vocabulary used throughout the lesson are all instructional modifications that are
included on the checklist that the teacher uses. These are present on the checklist
because these are common modifications are also for students with disabilities.
This makes it easier for the teacher to incorporate these in the classroom because
he or she might be doing this already for students with IEPs. Additionally, these
specifically for ELL students. The highlighting brings the students attention to the
vocabulary words, helping them identify and remember them. By having repeated
reviews the ELL students are able to hear the information several times in
because the ELL students have most likely not been exposed to these words like
with English-speaking parents has the potential to hear the vocabulary words
being taught whereas it is very unlikely that the ELL student heard the word
before. Additionally, while the checklist does include using recordings, it does not
include the teacher reading the tests to the student. This might be because it is not
common that the teacher would only have one ELL student in their classroom so