![]() Mathematics is so much more than numbers; it is also rich with language. Mathematicians must understand the complex and diverse vocabulary and be able to use it when discussing problems. Developing the language of math can be difficult for all students, but we need to pay special attention to our learners who are in the process of acquiring English as well. Students need to talk about math using specific vocabulary and sentence starters. They need to be able to take apart a problem and explain how they got the answer (or explain why an answer is incorrect). It is not enough to simply memorize facts or write down an answer. Mathematicians need to explain their thinking using language. Let’s help our learners master the language of math!
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As an ELL Specialist teacher, strategies to support our students are the forefront of everything we do. From planning to assessing, we carry our heavy toolkits with us in order to provide the best possible learning experience. We work with homeroom teachers to support learning by providing the best strategies for each particular lesson, student, or learning target.
Strategies come in all different types, but we categorize them in the four language domains. There are strategies for reading, such as snake reading. There are strategies for writing, such as graphic organizers. There are strategies for listening, such as audio books. And there are strategies to help improve speaking, such as one stray. When you bring in the world wide web and social media, the list becomes endless. Our team uses ELL strategies on a daily basis. In Grade 1, Ms. Campagna go-to strategy is turn&talk and sentence stems. Ms. Kelly likes to use seesaw to get students comfortably speaking in grade 2. In grade 3, Ms. Feliz loves to use open-ended questions to get students talking and to teach them that some questions may be answered in different ways. Mr. R often uses graphic organizers to help 4th graders synthesize the texts they read. And in grade 5, circle-the-sage is one of Ms. Costeira's favorites. It is our job to be cognisant and up-to-date with strategies. We share, we collaborate, and we reach out. You are welcome to follow us on twitter to see what are some of the ELL strategies in use at KISJ Elementary. Ms. Campagna @MsCampagna_KISJ Ms. Meredith @MsKellyMeredith Ms. Landes @FelizLandes Mr. Rosenthal @MrRoKISJ Ms. Costeira @MmeCosteira ![]() This blog post will be dedicated to answering questions from the parent-teacher-student conferences last month. We have grouped similar questions together and listed them below. Thank you very much to all the families who participated in the conferences and asked questions! Question 1: What is ELL? ELL usually stands for "English Language Learner." At KISJ we have an ELL department dedicated to supporting our English Language Learners (ELLs). The term "ELL" can also stand for "English Language Literacy" at KISJ, as one of our goals is to help develop students' literacy skills. Question 2: How many teachers are in the ELL office? There are 5 teachers in the Elementary ELL office at KISJ: Ms. Angela Campagna - Grade 1 Ms. Kelly Meredith - Grade 2 Ms. Feliz Landes - Grade 3 Mr. Eric Rosenthal - Grade 4 Ms. Elaine Costeira - Grade 5 We also have a school-wide ELL coordinator, Ms. Shelly Hampton. Question 3: Can we read Korean books? YES! Reading Korean (or other language) books helps to build a love of reading. It also helps grow our schema and develop reading comprehension skills. It is important to read books in English AND your home language. Question 4: Can we read English chapter books like "Holes" and "Wonder?" Yes, you can read English chapter books if they are "just right" books for you. Remember, if a book is too hard for you, it will be difficult to understand and you might not enjoy it. Also, if a book is too easy for you, you will not be challenging yourself to decode and comprehend texts to help you grow as a reader. Most of the time, students should be reading "just right" books which are not too easy and not too hard. In class, our homeroom and ELL teachers will be helping students choose books at their instructional ("just right") level. |
AuthorThe Elementary ELL team! Archives
March 2019
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