Amber Beauchamp

Dr. Brantley-Dias

ITEC 7430

Spring 2022

ELL Report

1. Description
a. The setting of the field experience (e.g., in a classroom, at a community organization location,
etc.).

The setting is my ESOL Sheltered English I and II classroom. There are 10 students in this class
that are freshmen and sophomores.

b. The student(s)—use a pseudonym to maintain confidentiality—with whom you are working (e.g.
age, grade level, level of English Proficiency, personal characteristics based on
observations/interactions, other information that may give the reader a more in-depth description
of the student)

EP: 16 yo male sophomore from Mexico with developing to proficient range of English skills,
HG: 16 yo male sophomore from El Salvador with developing range of English skills, JH: 16 yo
male sophomore that is SPED/EL with emerging to developing range of English skills, JH: 17 yo
male sophomore native to US with developing range of English skills, RR: 17 yo female
sophomore from Guatemala with emerging range of English skills, WG: 15 yo female freshman
from Puerto Rico with emerging range of English skills, YM: 15 yo female freshman from
Mexico with emerging to developing English skills, ER: 15 yo female freshman from Mexico
with emerging range of English skills, YF: 15 yo female freshman newcomer from Guatemala
with pre-beginning range of English skills. This group of students have developed a strong bond
over the course of the year and work well together in collaborative groups and discussions. Two
come from the same state in Mexico, and the two from Guatemala come from the same state.
Three of my students are here without their parents and are under the care of guardianship
provided to their brothers. The students are talkative, humorous, and hardworking with strong
work ethic.

c. The days and times that you met with the student.

This class meets every day for 3rd period a duration of 50 minutes. The unit we worked on for
this project took three weeks.

d. Ways in which you interacted/engaged with the student (including pedagogical strategies).
 I believe we utilize socio-constructivism in our classroom, because we believe each student has
their own experiences and thinking that collaboratively contributes to the overall learning. As
Khadimally (2019) discusses, “Vygotsky’s social constructivist theory can provide adult ESL
students with the ability to construct their own meanings by critical thinking. Social
constructivism is a learning perspective founded on the assumption that learning is focused on
learners and promotes their active participation as they manage to construct their own knowledge
depending on their own reality.” I take this approach with my students. This pedagogical strategy
helped to inspire our selected reading that represented all of my students’ cultures. We read the
novel, We Are Not From Here. I utilized a text that students could relate to culturally and were
interested in. The novel includes both English and Spanish which further provides students with
a text they can identify with. We utilized a T-Chart for students to keep track of tone and mood
throughout their reading, and students could collaborate with their partner/group on this activity
using a Google Doc. Google Doc and Chrome extensions provide assistive technology such as
translation, read aloud, predictive text, and vocabulary support. We used collaboration as
students read together and completed tone and mood together. We utilized both teacher and peer
feedback throughout this unit as students discussed tone and mood using the text to justify their
choices. I also utilize WIDA’s pedagogical strategies of language charts that allow students to
see anchor writing to compare their own with and see where there are at with their writing.

2. Objectives and Assessments

Write 2-3 learning objectives and state how you will assess each. Provide evidence for meeting the objectives.

Objective Assessment Was the objective met? Evidence of

student learning.

ELAGSE9-10RL4 Formative Assessment: Students will Yes, students were able to use the
Determine the meaning work together to determine tone and tone and mood chart to help them
of words and phrases as mood from each page in a chapter, and identify the tone and mood in the
they are used in the text, they will try to determine how this selections. By the end of the
including figurative and
impacts the story. assignment students could effectively
connotative meanings;
select words that portrayed tone and
analyze the cumulative
impact of specific word mood.
choices on meaning and
tone (e.g., how the Summative Assessment: Students will
language evokes a sense write a paragraph explaining the tone Yes, students were able to choose an
of time and place; how it and mood of one chapter and how it overall tone and mood from their
sets a formal or informal impacts the plot as these characters group assignment. The students did
tone.) make their way from Guatemala to the well with writing a complete
United States. paragraph that explained tone and
AND
mood, and they identified the impact
it had on the plot and what the
ELAGSE9-10W6 Use characters were experiencing. (Our
technology, including goal by this point in the year is for
the Internet, to produce, students to be at 100% success rate
publish, and update in writing a complete paragraph – not
 individual or shared numbered sentences or bullet lists –
writing products, taking and they met this goal.)
advantage of
technology’s capacity to
link to other information
and to display
information flexibly and
dynamically.
WIDA Standard 2 Formative Assessment: I will listen to Yes, students were able to
Language for Language students as they communicate with communicate with each other about
Arts each other and me to assess their use which lines they felt demonstrated
English language of academic language (tone and mood tone and mood, then they further
learners communicate
and plot). elaborated which feeling words they
information, ideas and
felt demonstrated that tone or mood.
concepts necessary for
academic success in the For example stating “tragic” and
content area of language “somber.”
arts.

3. Resources

You are required to use 2-3 ELL-specific resources to help inform your understanding of ELLs and
increase your pedagogical strategies to assist students who are English Language Learners (ELLs). You
may use the resources listed within the module or other resources available to you. Briefly describe how
the resources were used to assist in your experience.

We use the WIDA Standards to assist in standards for ESOL that matches ELA content standards. My
district has provided me with the new framework (2020) book, since I am the ESOL, English teacher.
Students use the domain charts to analyze if their communication and writing is hitting goals we
developed at the beginning of the year. We use the key language strategy to guide what their output
should be for assignments. Key language use for this unit is inform through the analysis of tone and
mood, and the students use key language argue when they are discussing how they identified tone and
mood. We also utilize collaborative groups and whole-class discussion to build upon community
understanding, because my class treats each other like they have additional knowledge and experience to
provide each other. Dieckmann and Villareal (2001) say this is important, because “In contrast to this
traditional and pervasive deficit-model of schooling, an assets-based approach (Montemayor and
Romero, 2000) offers a more effective and equitable solution for educating all students in ways that lead
to success. Assets-based thinking holds that each person is valuable and offers a unique contribution to
the talent pool of the learning community.” The asset-based approach is a crucial strategy for ELs in my
class.

References

Dieckmann, J. and Villareal, A. (2001). “Enriching your classroom through equitable technology
integration.” Intercultural Development Research Association (IDRA).
https://www.idra.org/resource-center/enriching-your-classroom-through-equitable-technology-
integration/

Khadimally, S. (2019). Role of the Social Constructivist Theory, Andragogy, and Computer-Mediated
Instruction (CMI) in Adult ESL Learning and Teaching Environments: How Students Transform
Into Self-Directed Learners Through Mobile Technologies. In S. Khadimally
 (Eds.), Technology-Assisted ESL Acquisition and Development for Nontraditional Learners (pp.
1-37). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-5225-3223-1.ch001

WIDA. (2020). WIDA English language development standards framework, 2020 edition:
Kindergarten-grade 12. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.