Tori Martin

ITEC 7430
Spring 2022
ELL Project

Initial Thoughts

Date of Initial Reflection: February 7, 2022

What do teachers need to know about students who are learning to speak English?

Initially teachers need to know the origins of the students’ native language. It is important to get

to know the students as best you can, as well as, their learning styles. Vanderbilt University

makes it a point to say on the Iris Peabody website that ELL teachers need to stay away from

generalizing about their student’s backgrounds (2021). This website did solidify three pieces of

information to gather or consider prior to jumping into curriculum with an ELL student. Because

each ELL students is different and can have wide range of contributing factors, it is important to

dig up some information about each students’ familiarity with the English language, their

educational background, and take into consideration their socioeconomic background. These

three key factors are going to help you maximize each students’ learning and engagement. Each

cultural family dynamic is different and can affect the learning outcome of any student. Learning

the basics about your students and doing some initial testing can help you when setting goals and

meeting standards.

What are some general instructional practices that can be beneficial to students who are

learning to speak English?

I believe the most comprehensive way to initiate learning English is through picture clues. Even

if we call items and social relationships by different names their visual representation is easily

understood because they are universal. Another general instructional practice is assigning ELL

students to an interpreter. An interpreter will provide a developmental bilingual approach and

 Tori Martin
ITEC 7430
Spring 2022
will help students to feel more comfortable as they are adjusting to new people and surrounds.

“Research indicates that bilingual programs support students in achieving better outcomes in

school (Vanderbilt & Peabody,2021). The earlier you initiate instruction using academic

language the better.

What should teachers consider when testing students who are learning to speak English?

“It is crucial that teachers and administrators understand the basic tenets of second language

acquisition” (Iris & Peabody, 2021). When assessing students who are learning to speak English

teachers should consider any cultural and language barriers that may hinder the students from

performing well on the exam. For example, are the directions in the student’s native language?

Should this student be provided an accommodation in the form of an interpreter? Can the student

successfully operate a computer (if the test is given digitally) or does the student need a paper

and pencil copy? In many countries, there are no computers or other forms of technology in the

homes. If the assessor wishes to be fair, then perhaps considering the above circumstances would

help provide the accurate data necessary to deliver daily instruction suitable for ELL students.

Description

a. The field experience took place in Mrs. Capalbo’s ELL classroom at Ragsdale

Elementary school. During this period Mrs. Capalbo leads instruction for a small

group of mostly male Ell students. Ragsdale is a Title I school. This means atleast

50% of the students who attend Ragsdale are on free or reduced lunch. The

socioeconomic status of 50% or more of the school’s population is considered to

be low or below the poverty line.

 Tori Martin
ITEC 7430
Spring 2022
b. I worked with an 8-year-old 2nd grade student named “Kevin”. His family is from

Mexico, and he speaks both English and Spanish. His parent’s speak Spanish and

English at home, and he also has a little brother that attends Ragsdale. Kevin is

able to understand English and express himself in English. He very rarely speaks

Spanish or seems frustrated when receiving or presenting communications. Kevin

is considered to be an at-risk student for academics. He is currently working to

decode words with common vowel teams. His homeroom teacher has expressed

some concern with his ability to pay attention in class. She says that this has got

him into some trouble, but for the most part he is a sweet and respectful student.

His strongest academic subject is math. Kevin was the runner up in his class for

achieving the most growth on the math inventory test. He shared with me that he

enjoys playing outside and riding his bike.

c. I worked with this student from March 4th through April 1st. We met every other

day from 11:30am-12:00pm. We met informally for a bit before we started to

work together on the assignment. I wanted to establish a relationship with this

student before expecting him to meet any learning objectives.

 March 4th- 11:30-  March 11th- 11:30-

12:00pm 12:00pm

 March 7th- 11:30-  March 14th- 11:30-

12:00pm 12:00pm

 March 9th- 11:30-  March 16th- 11:30-

12:00pm 12:00pm
 Tori Martin
ITEC 7430
Spring 2022
 March 18th- 11:30-  March 28th- 11:30-

12:00pm 12:00pm

 March 21st- 11:30-  March 30th- 11:30-

12:00pm 12:00pm

 March 23rd- 11:30-  April 1st- 11:30-

12:00pm 12:00pm

 March 25th- 11:30-

12:00pm

d. met with the student twice a week for 5 weeks. Our sessions began on Friday

March 4th and continued until April 1st. During our lessons we worked on several

different reading skills. The main skills we worked on were phonemic awareness,

comprehension, and fluency. The specific phonics focus that Kevin showed

weakness in was vowel teams. Showing proficiency in this skill will help students

understand the spelling pattern and phonemes or sounds that are made when

certain vowels are combined in a word. I used BoomCards.com to create activities

to help Kevin master his vowel teams. Boom Cards allows teachers to search for

or create interactive activities. Once aspect of Boom Cards that makes it so

effective is the self-grading tool. As students complete the activities, the Boom

Card will let them know if their answers were correct then send the teacher a

progress report. This tool makes it easy to drive instruction based on student data.
 Tori Martin
ITEC 7430
Spring 2022
This website put a gamification twist on learning and can be accessed on any

device in any setting, so students can even practice at home.

When working on comprehension, Kevin and I used the Rainbow Sentences app. I

used Rainbow Sentences because it has students think carefully about

constructing grammatically correct sentences in a colorful and playful way.

Rainbow Sentences helps students learn the numerous mechanisms of a sentence

with bright rainbow colors and self-recording. The app offers students a scene and

a few words in a sentence describing that scene. Students must then fill in the

other words, which are provided to them in a list, to complete the sentence.

Rainbow Sentences uses colors to help students differentiate between the who,

what, where and why parts, showing them how to combine these into a proper

sentence. Once the sentence is formed, students can also record it in their own

voice, allowing them to improve their language skills. The Iris Peabody Center at

Vanderbilt University suggests teachers use multimodal techniques to build ELL

student’s comprehension. Rainbow Sentences does just that. Kevin and I worked

diligently each time I visited his class using this app. He seemed engaged and I

saw an increase in his oral language skills and comprehension.

Finally, the third concept of reading we focused on was oral reading fluency. It is

important for students to demonstrate proficiency in oral reading fluency.

“Students who read with automaticity and have appropriate speed, accuracy, and

proper expression are more likely to comprehend material because they are able to

focus on the meaning of the text” (Rasplica, 2015). I used the Google Extension

Fluency Tutor to help Kevin improve his oral reading fluency. Fluency Tutor
 Tori Martin
ITEC 7430
Spring 2022
provides several leveled reading passages for students to choose from. There are

tools to help students improve their fluency. The most effective aspect of Fluency

Tutor was Kevin’s ability to record himself and listen back while reviewing the

passage. This led to several discussion questions. We talked about how certain

words are pronounced and why. This extension allowed Kevin to dissect words,

sentences, and phrases. He learned that how you read is just as important as the

speed at which your read.

2. Objectives and Assessments

Objective Assessment Was the objective met?
Evidence of student learning.

Student will know spelling-
sound correspondences
for additional common
vowel teams.
Students will read
on-level text orally with
accuracy, appropriate
rate, and expression on
successive readings.
c. Use context to confirm
or self-correct word
recognition and
understanding, re-reading
as necessary.
Students use technology
to seek feedback that
informs and improves
their practice and to
demonstrate their
learning in a variety of
ways.
Final Thoughts
 Summative-Student completed a
vowel teams assessment where he had
to decode and read the words with
common vowel teams.
 Formative- Kevin will work
collaboratively to complete a small
group assignment where students will
read a passage and identify words
with certain vowel teams.
 Formative – Student will record
himself orally read a passage
using the Google Extension
Fluency Tutor and self-correct
any errors he made.
 Summative- Student will be given
and oral reading fluency exam.
 Formative- Student will use
Rainbow Sentences and Fluency
Tutor to practice and inform oral
reading fluency and language
skills.
Tori Martin
ITEC 7430
Spring 2022
 Yes, initially Kevin had a score of
60% Kevin read 30/35 words
correctly resulting in a score of
95%.
o Week 1: 65%
o Week 2: 78%
o Week 3: 85%
o Week 4: 90%
o Week 5: 95%
 Kevin did an excellent job and
proved that he understood each
phoneme that each vowel team
represented.
 My observations of this activity
indicated that as time went on
Kevin became increasingly
more aware of his fluency
errors. As he practiced his
fluency. I kept track of the
amount of errors he was
making. He started out with 17
errors and is now down to 4
errors.
 Kevin’s fluency prior to our
lessons was 45 wpm. This is
considered below average for
2nd grade.
o Week 1: 45 wpm
o Week 2: 48 wpm
o Week 3: 52 wpm
o Week 4: 55 wpm
o Week 5: 58 wpm
13 word increase
 Kevin used Rainbow Sentences
and Fluency Tutor consistently
to inform his learning. He
progressed each time he
practiced with these tools.
 Tori Martin
ITEC 7430
Spring 2022
1. What do teachers need to know about students who are learning to speak English?
Getting to know students and making connections is most commonly the first objective when

receiving your roster. Teaching an ELL class is no different. A good teacher will learn their

students’ background, learning styles, academic strengths, and weaknesses. Specifically for

English language learners, The Iris and Peabody Center shared that the best way to start off on

the right foot is to learn some information about each students’ familiarity with the English

language, their educational background, and take into consideration their socioeconomic

background. This data will help you get to know your students and cater your instruction to their

needs. It is common for ELL households to practice both English and their native language. It is

also not unheard of for families to only communicate in their native tongue at home. Getting to

know your students will cut out the guess work and bring about healthy teacher/ student

relationships.

Secondly, each classroom whether ELL or general education should create a learning

environment that embraces diversity and is rich in cultural responsiveness. “It thus becomes

necessary for teachers to develop a repertoire of strategies that tap into their students’ cultural

and ethnic potential, in order to maximize learning and to close the achievement gap between

cultural groups” (Tanase, 2020). There is a digital divide based on culture, and it is our jobs as

educators to help students break down those barriers.

2. What are some general instructional practices that can be beneficial to students who are
learning
to speak English?

In my opinion, a good educator will use the background knowledge gathered to spark student

interest and help them draw on prior knowledge. When working on Kevin’s fluency, I chose
 Tori Martin
ITEC 7430
Spring 2022
passages about riding bikes and sharks because Keven had expressed that he loved to ride his

bike in the afternoons and that his favorite animal to read about is sharks. I feel that providing

reading content that Kevin was interested in helped him to enjoy his lessons more and it

motivated him to work towards his goals. Another general teaching practice that I found to be

effective while working with Kevin was using visual clues to help with some of the vocabulary

words in the reading passages. This helped Kevin put the subject of the passage into context and

build his comprehensions skills.

After watching the initial video of The Isis Center lesson, I realized the important of sheltered

instruction. Sheltered instruction is explained on The Isis Center website as “a strategy that

blends an assortment of techniques that help students understand demanding lesson content”

(Vanderbilt, 2022). Procedures should be presented through multiple modalities, a combination

of diagrams, vocabulary cards in both languages, imagery, and physical demonstrations.

3. What should teachers consider when testing students who are learning to speak English?
I agree with my initial thoughts. “It is crucial that teachers and administrators understand the

basic tenets of second language acquisition” (Vanderbilt, 2022). When assessing students who

are learning to speak English teachers should consider any cultural and language barriers that

may hinder the students from performing well on the exam. For example, are the directions in the

student’s native language? Should this student be provided an accommodation in the form of an

interpreter? Can the student successfully operate a computer (if the test is given digitally) or does

the student need a paper and pencil copy? Kevin did not need these accommodations when I

tested his comprehension, phonemic awareness, and fluency. If he did require a mini-lesson on

computer operations, translated directions, or even picture cues I would make sure they were

provided so Kevin could perform to his highest abilities.

 Tori Martin
ITEC 7430
Spring 2022
All in all, this experience was very eye-opening. I learned several new tools that could even be

implemented in a general-ed classroom. In the future, I plan to use the sheltered learning strategy

with some of my struggling leaners. I think this is a great strategy in general to use for young

learners and early readers. I look forward to implementing these strategies and hope my

experience will help me to foster the learning of any future ELL students. I enjoyed working

with Kevin and watching him grow.

References

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.

Creative Commons. (2021). What do teachers need to know about students who are learning to
speak English? IRIS Center. Retrieved February 24, 2022, from
https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/ell/cresource/q1/p02/#content
Edwards, L. (2021, July 27). What is boom cards and how does it work? best tips and tricks.
TechLearningMagazine. Retrieved April 14, 2022, from
https://www.techlearning.com/how-to/what-is-boom-cards-and-how-does-it-work-best-
tips-and-tricks
This website helped to strengthen my knowledge of Boom Cards and gave insight on how
to effectively use them in the classroom. This research
International Society for Technology in Education. (2022). The ISTE standards. ISTE.org.
Retrieved April 18, 2022, from https://www.iste.org/iste-standards
Rasplica, C. (2015, June 22). Oral reading fluency: Verbal reading proficiency: Council for
learning disabilities. Council for Learning Disabilities | The Council for Learning
Disabilities (CLD) is an international organization that promotes evidence-based teaching,
collaboration, research, leadership, and advocacy. Retrieved May 1, 2022, from
https://council-for-learning-disabilities.org/what-is-oral-reading-fluency-verbal-reading-
proficiency/#:~:text=Oral%20reading%20fluency%20is%20the,required%20for
%20successful%20reading%20comprehension.
Tanase, M. (2020). Is good teaching culturally responsive? - ed. Doi.org . Retrieved May 1,
2022, from https://doi.org/10.33902/JPR.2020063333
Vanderbilt University. (2022). Teaching English language learners: Effective instructional
practices. IRIS Center. Retrieved April 30, 2022, from
https://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/ell/
 Tori Martin
ITEC 7430
Spring 2022