My Elementary Ed Blog

As mentioned earlier, Provost has a high percentage of ELL students. Many of them speak Spanish in the home so they might have gaps in their English vocabulary. The teacher will often ask for a good synonym or antonym for vocabulary words to help all students learn new words.  Also one student in this 5 th grade class moved to the US at the beginning of the school year and speaks very little English. I’ve heard the teacher speak Spanish to help the student understand that they are lining up to go to an assembly. Even though the student can tell everyone’s lining up, because it’s something that doesn’t happen all the time (like lining up for recess, lunch, or PE) she made sure he knew what was going on. Also there are some students who don’t celebrate Halloween because of their religion. (I think Catholic and Jehovah’s Witnesses). She is sensitive to mentioning Halloween and has a few decorations out but doesn’t make a big deal about it. For an in class art project,...

At Provost Elementary there are a lot of English Language Learners. Most of them are Spanish speakers. Some come to the school not knowing any English at all and others have parents that speak Spanish to them in the home. Some parents don't speak any English so the student has to rely on the English they learn at school to help them with their assignments. At this school I do see lots of support for ELL students. They all take a test called the World Class Instructional Design and Assessment or WIDA. This assesses where the students are in their English proficiency in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. They are given scores from novice to proficient in levels of 1-5. Provost also has several teachers who speak Spanish although not all of them do. Some ELL students receive one on one individual English tutoring each day. The tutor works with them on vocabulary and also encourages them to try to speak more English. Other ELL students receive some accommodations on tests. Fo...