Mastery of Knowledge & Skills
Claim #2 Evidence
Fox Creek English Language Learners have shown consistent growth in Reading.
“I feel great being a tutor because I get to teach 3rd graders and 2nd graders. It helps to collaborate with each other. Being a tutor is awesome because it has helped me share my thinking and it helps my reading”. L.P. , 5th Grader
Supporting our English Language Learners (ELL/ELD)
Academic Achievement and Growth:
When reviewing our School Performance Framework, minority students overall are meeting achievement expectations in the areas of English Language Arts and Math and exceeding expectations in the area of 5th grade Science. Additionally, our minority students as a group are exceeding growth expectations in the area of English Language Arts and meeting expectations in Math.
When drilling down however, our English Language Developers are not quite meeting Achievement and at this time are “Approaching”. Therefore we have been intentional about altering our strategies to support these students overall.
Click the image to view the full report
Read Together Program: The Read Together Program is facilitated by our ELD instructor with the purpose of enhancing students’ : Enduring understandings Collaboration to influence effectiveness Interaction to impact community Role to impact responsibility Students in the program gather twice a week for an hour to read a book together. An older student who is trained to be a tutor reads with a younger student. The program is a model example of collaboration between the tutors and tutees. The purpose of the program is to strengthen reading comprehension of the ELD students so at least 50% of the participants are required to be in the program. Tutors exhibit commendable leadership qualities while working with the younger students and the younger students show perseverance. Both tutors and tutees demonstrate collaboration and integrity as they are expected to work independently in groups of two students. A majority of tutors started as tutees in the program! It gives a tutee a goal of working hard to be able to be a tutor. |
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This video speaks to a student's perspective of the Read Together Program
Embedding Vocabulary:
Fox Creek teachers are intentionally breaking down the meaning of learning targets which helps many ELD students who may also need a language objective. For example, a classroom learning target could be, "I can comprehend the text by using self monitoring strategies." However, many ELD students need more time to discuss the term self monitoring, so a language objective might become, "I can explain to my classmates the meaning of self-monitor." It is easy to assume that students are understanding the more common and basic words, such as “count” and yet frequently this is not the case.
In addition to focusing on learning target meanings, various other strategies are used to reinforce academic vocabulary. Turning targets and goals into interactive vocabulary tasks help students apply and find relevant meaning. Oral summation is also helpful for an ELD student, where one has to explain the academic vocabulary to another. Sentence stems for answers and questions are also helpful to reinforce vocabulary. Turn and talk helps all students become engaged but sometimes English Language Learners do not know where to start so having sentence stems for questions and answers helps with vocabulary. Short videos are also used quite often to explain vocabulary and concepts, particularly with science and social studies. It is common to play the short videos several times until students can explain what they understand. Based on what we are seeing with Expedition work, our English Language Learners are connecting to broader and more relevant concepts.
Fox Creek teachers are intentionally breaking down the meaning of learning targets which helps many ELD students who may also need a language objective. For example, a classroom learning target could be, "I can comprehend the text by using self monitoring strategies." However, many ELD students need more time to discuss the term self monitoring, so a language objective might become, "I can explain to my classmates the meaning of self-monitor." It is easy to assume that students are understanding the more common and basic words, such as “count” and yet frequently this is not the case.
In addition to focusing on learning target meanings, various other strategies are used to reinforce academic vocabulary. Turning targets and goals into interactive vocabulary tasks help students apply and find relevant meaning. Oral summation is also helpful for an ELD student, where one has to explain the academic vocabulary to another. Sentence stems for answers and questions are also helpful to reinforce vocabulary. Turn and talk helps all students become engaged but sometimes English Language Learners do not know where to start so having sentence stems for questions and answers helps with vocabulary. Short videos are also used quite often to explain vocabulary and concepts, particularly with science and social studies. It is common to play the short videos several times until students can explain what they understand. Based on what we are seeing with Expedition work, our English Language Learners are connecting to broader and more relevant concepts.
ISTATION DATA:
The tables below represent comparisons of Overall Reading Skill Growth between ELD students and all classes. These scores are presented as “Ability Index” Scores. As evidenced below, in five of seven grade levels, Fox Creek ELD students are demonstrating more growth in their overall reading levels compared to their peers. While they still may be performing in a tier two or three category, these growth rates are indicative of targeted instruction.
The tables below represent comparisons of Overall Reading Skill Growth between ELD students and all classes. These scores are presented as “Ability Index” Scores. As evidenced below, in five of seven grade levels, Fox Creek ELD students are demonstrating more growth in their overall reading levels compared to their peers. While they still may be performing in a tier two or three category, these growth rates are indicative of targeted instruction.