Policies & Supports
What are the two types of language competence that students need to successfully access the curriculum?
1. Social language: language used in interactions with others
2. Academic language: vocabulary, terms, phrasing used when discussing and engaging in content
Government of British Columbia, 2018
What are cognates?
"Words that have a similar spelling and meaning in [two different] languages"
These can be helpful to early ELL students to find meaning in English vocabulary and phrases and to connect English to their home language.
Breiseth.
Why is it important to have tools that help communicate with families?
If families do not speak English, they do not have a way to quickly communicate with the school and teacher. Providing a tool for quick multilingual communication can help all families receive important announcements, engage in communicating about their student, and have their questions answered. This provides a more equitable environment for the families of students in your class.
Huynh, 2018
Why are portfolios beneficial for ELLs?
They allow students to select pieces of writing and take ownership over their work, they require ongoing goal-setting and reflection, and they can make writing less daunting by keeping writers engaged in their own development
Wong, 2017
What are the three core principles of UDL?
Novak, 2018.
How can you show students that their languages and cultures are welcome in the classroom and school?
Post signs and posters in different languages; bring a variety of diverse books and stories into the classroom; asking students to teach words/phrases and parts of their culture with the class (if they are comfortable); connect content and materials to student experiences; incorporate different languages into instruction.
Robertson.
How many domains of language use academic language? What are they?
Four: reading, writing, speaking, and listening.
To support ELLs in using academic language in these domains, ensure to model it and provide explicit instruction on what different words, terms, and phrases mean and how they should be used.
Breiseth
Who benefits from the use of language tools in the classroom?
All students! More than just ELLs can benefit from the use of language tools. These can benefit students who struggle with reading, writing, and understanding information.
Knutson, 2023.
What are the three stages of the writing portfolio?
1. Goal setting: gives learners a purpose for writing
2. Monitoring: students take ownership of their work in relation to their own goals that they have set for their writing
3. Reflection: on their writing piece, their overall writing development, and on their enjoyment towards writing
What are some ways that UDL benefits ELLs?
Provides different ways for ELLs to acquire background knowledge, a variety of ways to interact with information beyond just reading/writing, provides scaffolds for tasks, provides different opportunities to show what they know in ways that work best for them.
Novak, 2018
What information should be included in an AIP?
1. Language assessment and the language proficiency from it
2. Linguistic and/or literacy goals for the student for the current school year
3. Plan of support for language development (nature of support, support strategies)
Government of British Columbia, 2018
What are some supports that can be used to support students using new/unfamiliar language?
Pre-teach vocabulary needed to understand content; using sentence stems; using sentence frames; use graphic organizers; assign reading partners; use strategies such as think-pair-share; etc.
iColorin colorado!
Creative projects and storytelling allows ELLs the ability to express their thoughts, feelings, and creativity while also building their English language skills. This can result in increased engagement through heightened interest and more insight into who they are. This can be done through tools such as Book creator, Flip, and Seesaw.
Knutson, 2023.
Tests are not an accurate representation of student knowledge because students may not perform as well as they could due to test anxieties, tests only measure what students can memorize (not what they can apply, connect, understand, etc.), time restraints that come with tests may not give adequate time for all students to express what they know.
Li Cain, 2024
The three steps to begin to apply UDL in the classroom:
1. Determining goals that allow for multiple different ways of achieving them
2. Considering the diverse needs of the learners in the classroom
3. Identify which barriers may exist in consideration with student needs and find pathways to reduce these
Ralabate, 2011.