Educating <a href="/keyword/english-language-learners/" >english language learners</a> SL Smiley Imagine... ! ! ! ! ! ! 5 years old Beginning school Primary language is Spanish Limited exposure to literature Low level of parental education Instructed and assessed in English My Observations ! ! ! ! Understanding = Better Teaching ! ! Influx of native Spanish speakers Teachers and students become frustrated and develop poor attitudes High referral and retention rate Lack of teacher knowledge = &quot;passing the buck&quot; to reading specialists, ESL, and special ed teachers ! ! Value home experiences translators Activate prior language knowledge to build vocabulary and concepts Cultural influences: La maestra Parental involvement, education, SES Language structure and pronunciation Facts ! Facts continued... ! ! 3 million English-learning Spanish speakers in classrooms throughout the U.S. today (Bear et al., 2008) ! Fastest growing population and by 2025, will increase to 1 out of 4 students (Mathes et al., 2007) Low achievement levels Erroneously referred and identified for special education services (Malloy et al., 2007 and Goldenberg, 1987) ! ! ! ! Can take 7 years to &quot;bridge the achievement gap&quot; (Malloy et al., 2007) More likely to be retained in 1 or more grades High drop-out rates Cyclical process within families 1 Research ! The BIG Question ! ! Uccelli and Paez (2007) analyzed associations between narrative and vocabulary development of bilingual children in kindergarten and first grade. They assessed in both English and Spanish in hopes of minimizing &quot;code-switching.&quot; When code-switching did occur, it was more prevalent from Spanish to English. Significant gains made, but overall scores still lower on all elements than native English speakers. Methods of instruction may be more important than the language of instruction for ELLs. Success for All, Reading Recovery, one-to-one and small group tutoring models have all yielded positive effects. (Slavin and Chang, 2004) What effects will supplemental small group instruction have on the overall literacy development of <a href="/keyword/english-language-learners/" >english language learners</a> in kindergarten? Additional Questions ! Participants ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! How many letters, sounds, and words will they be able to correctly identify? Will they be able to successfully read texts that are taught to them? How will they negotiate between native language of Spanish and instructional language of English? 4 Hispanic kindergarten girls Ages 5.1 - 5.6 years All attended Bright Beginnings Pre-K Parents from Mexico and Colombia Spanish is primary language spoken Wide range of performance levels Daily ESL classes (3 yes, 1 no) Instruction ! ! ! ! ! ! Instruction continued... ! English v. Spanish 6 week period, 18 sessions (15 lessons, 3 assessments), 30-45 minutes Picture/sound sorts of consonants Reading of instructional texts (discussion) Games to build/reinforce English vocabulary and sounds Writing Cultural shared reading experiences (bilingual books) 2 Data Collection ! ! ! Data Analysis Initial Assessment Letter &amp; Sound Identification Laura: 50, 25 Yamilet: 48, 22 Bianey: 49, 23 Jacqueline: 26, 4 ! ! Daily anecdotal notes Running records Initial and Final Evaluation 1. Letter Identification (An Observation Survey, M. Clay 1993) 2. Abecedarian Reading Assessment: Phonological Awareness (Phoneme Identity Perception and Rhyming Perception) Phoneme Awareness (First and Last Sounds) 3. Word Recognition (Includes Sight Words) 4. English Vocabulary Knowledge Sight Words Laura: 18 Yamilet: 5 Bianey: 4 Jacqueline: 0 and the Letter Confusions: b-d, p-q,n-u, V-y, l-1, g-6 Missed Sounds: Vowels a, e, I, u Data Analysis Initial Assessment Phonological Awareness 20 15 10 5 0 Rhyme Phoneme ID Data Analysis Sort Success ! ! Laura Yamilet Bianey Jac Picture/Sound Sort (Consonants, followed order in Words Their Way) All girls were able to perform this task successfully. Told unknown objects Jacqueline didn't know `watch.' Word Production (Generate) Laura, Yamilet, and Bianey seemed to do this with ease. Jacqueline struggled. *Note: c/k were combined, omitted v, x, y, z Data Analysis Oral Reading 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Data Analysis Final Results Letter Identificiation 54 26 21 16 Initial Final 11 6 1 Laura Yamilet Bianey Jac Letter Sounds Cat Cat Ran I Can Read 44 34 24 14 4 -6 Initial Final -4 Laura Yamilet Bianey Jac Laura Yamilet Bianey Jac 3 Data Analysis Final Results Phonological Awareness 20 Data Analysis Final Results Word Recognition 65 10 8 Initial Final 6 4 2 Laura Yamilet Bianey Jac Phoneme Awareness 15 10 5 0 Rhyme 1 Rhyme 2 Phoneme ID 1 Phoneme ID 2 55 45 35 25 15 5 -5 First Sounds Last Sounds 0 Laura Yamilet Bianey Jac Laura Yamilet Bianey Jac Data Analysis Final Results English Vocabulary Knowledge 40 30 20 10 0 Laura Yamile t Biane y Jac Discussion ! ! ! ! ! English Spanish ! Laura and Bianey both had 100% accuracay Yamilet had 1 incorrect response said &quot;ladder&quot; for stairs Jac had 7 incorrect responses, 6 were in English, 1 in Spanish ! ! Growth exceeded my expectations in some cases Learning patterns can be difficult to analyze and predict with ELLs Laura, Yamilet, and Bianey are on their way! Ready for: vowel sounds, word families, final sounds, &amp; segmenting Concerns about Jacqueline If they only had support at home... Tip of the Ice Berg ! ! ! They say a picture is worth... ! Stay current on research Continue professional development Start dialogue with staff -Share information -TEAM effort (attitude, responsibility) Hold parent workshops - Demonstrate how to help at home -Provide take home materials -Find tutors when needed ! Take conversational Spanish course in January 2008 4 Resources: ! References: ! ! ! ! Bear, D.R., Helman, L., Templeton, S., Invernizzi, M., &amp; Johnston, F. (2007). Words their way with <a href="/keyword/english-language-learners/" >english language learners</a> : Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. Bear, D.R., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., &amp; Johnson, F. (2008). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction, 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education Inc. Clay, M. (1993). An Observation Survey of Early Literacy Development. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann Inc. The Abecedarian Reading Assessment (Sebast...