General Observations: 

What kinds of special support and/or assistance are ELs receiving? 

At my school site, we have a Bilingual Special Education Specialist who 
works with the classroom teachers to support English Language Learners. She 
gives us professional development on supporting ELs, helps us identify ELs, and 
supports us with our understanding of how best to teach our students so that it 
means the needs of their proficiency levels and continue growth.  
 
Is there a paraprofessional who speaks English and/or the students’ home 
language(s)? 
There is paraprofessional who speaks English and Spanish at our school 
site. She is known as the Bilingual Special Education specialist. Not only does she 
support our EL families, but she also is our education specialist for our learners 
with IEPs. If there is a language outside of Spanish, we will bring in an interpreter 
for the language needed. 
 
Does the classroom teacher use the students’ home language? 
No, I do not speak my learners home language (Spanish); however I work 
closely with our Bilingual Education Specialist who could help me if I needed 
information translated. 
 
Are there special materials available in the students’ home language? 
When there is a newsletter sent home from the school, it is usually available 
in both English and Spanish. If I am sending home emails to families through our 
Classroom Weekly Newsletter, it is typically in English. Many of the families of the 
EL students in my classroom are bilingual, speaking both English and Spanish. In 
the beginning of the year, we send home surveys that let us know whether or not 
a family in our classroom understands English. If they speak Spanish and do not 
understand English very well, we have the ability to have our newsletters 
translated by our Bilingual Education Specialist; however if they speak a 
language other than Spanish, we do not have a translator for our Classroom 
Weekly Newsletters at this time.  
 
Casual and anonymous conversation with or observation of a teacher who 
specializes in teaching English as a second language. 
Question: “What are your views about the effects of students’ cultural and prior 
educational backgrounds on their school performance?” 
The teacher I spoke to specializes in teaching English as a second 
language. She teaches a 5th and 6th grade combo class. In this conversation, 
she does find that prior educational and cultural background make a difference 
on student’s performance. In most of her experiences, the transfers were easy 
because most of them had a good educational background. A few times she did 
notice a cultural and educational differences in performance- in particular when 
she had a student who was from Syria. She found this was more difficult to teach 
her because not only was the young girl learning a new language, but a new 
alphabet as well. Also, the young girl from Syria originally said she was from Israel 
because she was worried about how she would be viewed by other students and 
the school (fear of American culture). The family did as well because none of them 
wanted to be known as Syrian. The only reason the school were able to find out 
was because the school provided an interpreter that spoke Hebrew (thinking the 
family was from Israel based off of the information given); however once the 
interpreter came in, the family wasn’t able to understand the interpreter. Once 
they began speaking to the interpreter, the interpreter discovered that the family 
was actually from Syria, but were afraid to be judged by Americans at the school. 
This situation can definitely show how culture and fear can impact a transition 
into schooling.  
 
Question: “What accommodations does the teacher make to help students 
adjust?” 
During our conversation, this teacher discussed many SDAIE strategies 
that she uses within the classroom ( speak slowly and repetition, activating prior 
knowledge, limiting teacher centered lectures, graphic organizers, and 
cooperative learning). She also expressed the importance of learning about the 
student’s culture. She would talk with the kid and pull up Google images so the 
student could show her pictures from his/her culture. For example, when she had 
a student from Nigeria, she would pull up images of her flag and pictures from 
where she lived. Over time, she would share these images with the class (with 
permission of the student from Nigeria) and the whole class would get so excited! 
They would sometimes do a Q&A with everyone and she found that her student 
from Nigeria felt extremely special.  
Another accomodation to help students adjust, in particular, was with a 
student from the Middle East. What this teacher did was she had all of her 
students names written on cards in English. Then, her student (who spoke Arabic) 
would translate their names to her language. Her students would learn to write 
their names in Arabic and her EL student would learn how to write her name in 
English. She said they had to best time and it allowed them to connect in another 
fun way. 
 
Question: “What kinds of programs does the teacher consider best for English 
learners and why?” 
She loves using programs like Read 180 and System 44. System 44 is for younger 
children that is about phonics. It is about teaching the 44 sounds of the 
alphabet. This program is used for 3rd-6th graders and helps students master 
English phonics and basic vocabulary. Read 180 deals with all of the reading 
elements such as comprehension, vocabulary, context cues, grammar, etc. Both 
have audiobooks available and are used in computer labs. The students 
strengthened their English skills within these programs through teacher directed 
lessons as well as reading centers for optimal learning experiences.  
 
Question: “What kinds of materials or activities has the teacher used with success 
with English learners?” 
An activity she finds successful would be “word building”. They use letter tiles and 
kids would try to build as many words as they could using those tiles. Also, she 
uses chunking techniques to help them build their reading and comprehension 
skills. She also loves audiobooks because students are able to follow along in 
their books as the content is read aloud.   
 
Question: “What types of conversations do you hear happening among teachers 
in the hallways, in the teachers' lounge, during grade level meetings?” 
It is a very positive staff! Everyone feels like family. Luckily, everyone seems to be 
supportive of one another and I think that culture transfers to the kids and 
parents.  
 
Casual and anonymous conversation with or observation of a child who is 
learning English as a non-native language. 
Question: “What it is like to learn English in school?” 
The students love using the computers. It is fun for them! They also love the 
audiobooks because they like hearing the story and reading along.  
 
Question: “What is the hardest part?” 
The tests they have to take. Also, sometimes it’s hard to go back and find 
information from reading that they need to answer questions. 
 
Question: “What has been fun, if anything?” 
The computers and when they are using the tiles to make words. 
 
Question: “How long has it taken to learn English so far?” 
“I went up 1 grade level in 3 months!” This student is a 5th grader in Read 180 that 
has gone up to a 4th grade level. He wasn’t sure what I meant when I asked how 
long it has taken to learn English, but was definitely excited about going up a 
grade level! 
 
Question: “What program, materials, and/or activities seem to work best?” 
“The computer with Miss Ellis. I do Read 180 on the computer and it is really fun.”