English Learners Resources

Parents are a child’s first teachers! As a parent, you expose your children to new situations, teach them language to communicate and you are their biggest supporter!  There are so many ways you can support your child’s learning. For example, continue to use new vocabulary, ask a lot of questions that require more than a one-word response, tell stories from your family and homeland, read to them, encourage them to tell you about what they are doing in school and support their work by learning with them at home.

One of the highest indicators of success in school is vocabulary. Regardless of the language (either in your first language or English) keep talking and introducing them to new words! Keep in mind that the language and skills that children have in their first language will assist them in acquiring a second language…so keep talking! Below are some sites for parents to find more information. All of them contain information in Spanish and English.

• Colorin Colorado: A bilingual site for families and educators of ELLs! This a must-visit for parents and teachers!
• Reading is Fundamental: Beginning reading skills are fundamental. This site is geared toward young children (toddler – kindergarten) and provides books to be read aloud, nursery rhymes, songs, etc… in English and Spanish.
• Kahn Academy: For ages 2 – 18, available in 40 languages, exercises, quizzes, and tests so students can practice and master skills, as well as instructional videos to help students learn or review material. Free videos are nearly all in Spanish, French, and Brazilian Portuguese (in addition to English) and may be useful to parents who are trying to support their children.
• International Children’s Digital Library: The ICDL’s goal is to build a collection of books that represents outstanding historical and contemporary books from throughout the world. Ultimately, the Foundation aspires to have every culture and language represented so that every child can know and appreciate the riches of children’s literature from the world community. The site has multiple languages available.
• Unite for Literacy: A collection of fiction and nonfiction books in multiple languages to support literacy, vocabulary, and concept learning.
• Mrs. Jones Room: Mrs. Jones offers English and Spanish beginning literacy activities, websites, and access to online language learning sites.
• Learning ESL…A Wealth of Resources for Children and Adults Learning English as a Second Language: Students can sit on their couch and practice their English language skills via the many different offerings on this site! This website is geared towards all ages and has many links that support interactive learning for all family members, regardless of your age!
• Iowa AEA Online: This site is a great resource for homework, student projects, and getting more books into our homes! Families can also listen to books in Spanish and English and research other countries. Students will each have a password from their school. This site is encouraged to be used at home.

Other Sites

• Britannica Online: This is an encyclopedia, plus more.  Families can search for information, use the translation tools to translate into their first language, and there is a Quick Click dictionary that provides definitions and audio pronunciation when reading text.
• BookFLIX: Intended for preschool through 3rd grade, families can read, listen and watch stories in English and Spanish, along with videos that tie to the content. These are titles you can check out at your local library as well!
• TrueFLIX: Books are written at an English level for grades three through six. You can access books and videos.

• BBC News: Access news and information from around the globe in 28 languages. Viewers can read, listen, watch and download content in the language of their choice.

• Duolingo: A language learning website to promote language acquisition, vocabulary, etc…
• Interesting Things for ESL Students: This website is for students studying ESL or EFL. There are word games and puzzles, proverbs, quizzes, and numerous language activities!
• English Learner Lesson: English Learners can be used k-12 and the activities range from beginner grammar exercises to more complex reading comprehension skills. One useful feature is that you can choose the level of student: beginner, intermediate or advanced.
• Star Fall: This interactive site builds pre-reading and literacy skills.  It is very attractive to students with videos, games, and activities.
• Iowa AEA Online: Each student has a district password that they can get from their teacher or librarian.
• Britannica Encyclopedia: students can research and use for homework support (also in Spanish)
• BookFLIX: for students in preschool through 3rd grade to read, listen, and view popular books in Spanish and English
• TrueFLIX: for students in grades three through six to listen, read and watch both fiction and non-fiction literature
• CultureGrams: learn about other cultures through videos, data and charts, interviews, photographs and much more!  Great to use for research projects!

Educators have access to many resources via the vast knowledge of information that is online.

Understanding Language Acquisition

In order to know what resources to use with English learners (ELs), teachers must first know a student’s level of English Proficiency. Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS) may take up to two years to acquire. This is everyday, basic vocabulary. However, it can take students five to 10 years to learn Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP). CALP consists of the academic language, higher-order thinking, vocabulary, etc… that students need to be successful in our academic settings. Problems sometimes arise when teachers think that a student is proficient in English because they have good BICS. This sometimes tricks educators into thinking that “they have great English and can carry on a fine conversation with me. Why aren’t they turning in their homework?” The answer may be that they have good oral language, but have not acquired the academic language necessary to be successful in school. It is crucial, as an educator, that you learn your student’s level of English proficiency and use this to guide instruction.

How Do You Know a Student’s Level of English Proficiency?

Each identified ELL is required annually to take the English Language Proficiency Assessment for the 21st Century (ELPA21). Students will have scores in reading, writing, speaking, and listening English proficiency (1-5). Ask your ESL teacher or administrator for this data. If a student is new to the district, they will have been given the ELPA21 Dynamic Screener which will provide teachers with this information. It is crucial to know where your ELL students are at. We encourage you to take a few minutes to find this data on each student. It will save you weeks of learning this information on your own.

What the Data Means

The Language Acquisition Chart provides educators with characteristics and behaviors on each proficiency level, as well as instructional and assessment strategies. This is a very broad overview.

Educators can access the Achievement Level Descriptors (ALDs) and Achievement Level Indicators (ALIs)(1) to get a further understanding of the data by grade level and domain (reading, writing, listening, and speaking).

The WIDA CAN DO descriptors are a resource to assist in understanding what ELs can be expected to know in the different domains. (Although WIDA is a different state assessment, we still feel these are valuable tools.) Once you know your student’s proficiency level, look up the grade bands you are teaching and this will give you a basic overview of what the students ‘can do’ at each proficiency level in reading, writing, listening, and speaking. This is a fantastic tool to see if what you are asking the student to do aligns with what are ‘reasonable’ expectations. These can also be used to guide instruction and assessments and to choose appropriate strategies.

Resources for the Classroom

• Iowa AEA Online offers many sites that can be used for classroom instruction.

Graphic Organizer sites:

• Education Place
• Ed Helper
• Freeology

Activities for ESL Students:

• Duolingo: A language learning website to promote language acquisition, vocabulary, etc…
• ESL at Home: 8 Weeks Tech Free: Activities that can be done at home for K-8 students. Students use common household items to complete learning tasks.
• Kahn Academy: For ages two through 18, available in 40 languages, exercises, quizzes and tests so students can practice and master skills, as well as instructional videos to help students learn or review material. Free videos are nearly all in Spanish, French and Brazilian Portuguese (in addition to English) and may be useful to parents who are trying to support their children.
• ESL/ELL Education Interactive Website: This site has a list of interactive resources for English learners.
• Larry Ferlazzo: Check out this website for all your needs…technology, curriculum, methods, research, blogs and a wealth of other links and resources.
• Dave’s ESL Cafe: Dave offers ideas for teachers as well as students!  A place to learn and connect with others.
• International Children’s Digital Library: The ICDL’s goal is to build a collection of books that represents outstanding historical and contemporary books from throughout the world. Ultimately, the Foundation aspires to have every culture and language represented so that every child can know and appreciate the riches of children’s literature from the world community. The site has multiple languages available.
• Unite for Literacy: A collection of fiction and nonfiction books in multiple languages to support literacy, vocabulary, and concept learning.
• Learning ESL…A Wealth of Resources for Children and Adults Learning English as a Second Language: Students can sit on their couch and practice their English language skills via the many different offerings on this site! This website is geared towards all ages and has many links that support interactive learning.

Translations

Communicating with parents is key to building successful relationships between schools and families. The information to a “parent shall be provided in an understandable and uniform format and, to the extent practical, in a language the parents can understand” (NCLB, section 3302.c).

We recommend finding bilingual personnel who are proficient in English, as well as the language in which they are translating/interpreting. To find local interpreters, check in your community, hospitals/medical organizations, neighboring school districts, your culturally diverse families and local community colleges or universities.

Translation Assistance

• TransACT: The Iowa Department of Education currently provides a subscription to TransACT to public, accredited nonpublic districts and area education agencies within the state. This is valuable to assist districts in communicating with parents who speak languages other than English. You have the option to translate these forms into other languages with the click of a button. (At this site, you are able to access pre-made forms, not translate your own English documents.)
• Casa Notes: where you can assemble notes to send home to parents.