English Language Learners
How to define it...
"Every school district shall provide a program for each student whose dominant language is not English for the purpose of facilitating the student's achievement of English proficiency and the academic standards under 4.12 (relating to academic standards). Programs under this section shall include appropriate bilingual-bicultural or English as a second language (ESL) instruction." (http://www.education.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/english_as_a_second_language/7529) |
There are 45,776 English language learners in the commonwealth: students who are ELLs are enrolled in 462 of 630 local educational agencies; more than 200 different languages are spoken by our ELL population; 90 languages are each spoken by fewer than four students.
The top 10 languages spoken in Pennsylvania make up 85 percent of the total: Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, Russian, Arabic, Korean, Khmer, Gujarti, French, Creole & Pidgins. (PDE 2008 LEP Report) (http://www.pattan.net/category/Educational%20Initiatives/English%20Language%20Learners%20(ELL)/page/What_are_PAs_Languages.html) |
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When reading to our kids...
Strategies to help our kids...
- Talk to your child: Ask your child to talk about his day at school. Encourage him to explain something they did, or a game he played during recess.
- Say silly tongue twisters: Sing songs, read rhyming books, and say silly tongue twisters. These help kids become sensitive to the sounds in words.
- Read it and experience it: Connect what your child reads with what happens in life. If reading a book about animals, relate it to your last trip to the zoo.
- Use your child's name: Point out the link between letters and sounds. Say, "John, the word jump begins with the same sound as your name. John, jump. And they both begin with the same letter, J."
- Play with puppets: Play language games with puppets. Have the puppet say, "My name is Mark. I like words that rhyme with my name. Does park rhyme with Mark? Does ball rhyme with Mark?"
- Write it down: Have paper and pencils available for your child to use for writing. Working together, write a sentence or two about something special. Encourage her to use the letters and sounds she's learning about in school.
- Play sound games:Practice blending sounds into words. Ask "Can you guess what this word is? m - o - p." Hold each sound longer than normal.
- Read it again and again: Go ahead and read your child's favorite book for the 100th time! As you read, pause and ask your child about what is going on in the book.
- Talk about letters and sounds: Help your child learn the names of the letters and the sounds the letters make. Turn it into a game! "I'm thinking of a letter and it makes
Online Resources...
http://www.colorincolorado.org/guides/
http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/teaching/kreading/
http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/49826_Lado_Ch1.pdf
http://www.education.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/english_as_a_second_language/7529
http://www.elc-pa.org/law/law_english.html
http://www.education.com/reference/article/who-ell-english-language-learner/
http://www.colorincolorado.org/educators/teaching/kreading/
http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/49826_Lado_Ch1.pdf
http://www.education.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/english_as_a_second_language/7529
http://www.elc-pa.org/law/law_english.html
http://www.education.com/reference/article/who-ell-english-language-learner/