{"id":1401,"date":"2024-04-29T13:54:31","date_gmt":"2024-04-29T13:54:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seizethedayinela.com\/?p=1401"},"modified":"2024-08-18T19:29:27","modified_gmt":"2024-08-18T19:29:27","slug":"the-best-ell-accommodations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seizethedayinela.com\/index.php\/2024\/04\/29\/the-best-ell-accommodations\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best ELL Accommodations"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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One of my favorite aspects of teaching is the diverse blend of students I meet every year.\u00a0 But that\u2019s simultaneously one of the more challenging aspects of my job, too.<\/span><\/p>

This year, I have really devoted myself to creating and implementing meaningful ELL accommodations.<\/span><\/p>

Here is a little more about one of my favorite ways to include my ELL students.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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A Bit of Background for my ELL Accommodations<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Before I begin, it\u2019s worth sharing some information about how most of my ELL accommodations came to be.<\/span><\/p>

While any given year I taught 8th grade ELA, I had between 5 and 10 ELL students, much of this post relates specifically to my time at the high school.\u00a0 My first year at the high school level, I had just 1 ELL student.\u00a0 Looking back, it embarasses me to think of how little I did to really help him succeed academically.<\/span><\/p>

This year, I have more than a dozen ELL students, most of which are assigned to the same class period.\u00a0 When I received my class rosters last summer, I knew I had to up my game when it came to ELL accommodations.<\/span><\/p>

At my school, we have an absolutely irreplaceable English Language Development teacher. She and I have become so close in the last year and a half I\u2019ve worked at the same building as she.<\/span><\/p>

This past summer, she really went to bat for our ELLs and advocated for so many beneficial ideas to help our non-native English speakers succeed academically and socially.<\/span><\/p>

One of those ideas was to pinpoint particular teachers as being assigned the majority of ELLs.\u00a0 I was one of the teachers she recommended.<\/span><\/p>

She and I have worked tirelessly together over the course of the year devising the most appropriate and inclusive ELL accommodations.\u00a0 At first, it was tough, time-consuming, and even terrifying work. But then I really got into a groove with one accommodation in particular.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Literature Summary Booklets<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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As a World Literature teacher, I enjoy a diverse curriculum that samples various texts spanning both continents and millenia.\u00a0 Other than <\/span>Night<\/span><\/i> by Elie Wiesel, we don\u2019t usually study an entire text.<\/span><\/p>

But something I like to do for all of my students is provide a comprehensive overview of whatever text we read.\u00a0 With my ELL students, it\u2019s no different.<\/span><\/p>

But providing ELL accommodations for World Literature can be a tough task.<\/span><\/p>

So when we first studied <\/span>Night<\/span><\/i> in the fall, I put together my first summary booklet.\u00a0 And since then, I create summary booklets as often as I can.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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What is a Summary Booklet?<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Whatever larger text (i.e. book or novel) we\u2019re reading, I think it\u2019s important for my ELLs to understand the most important premises.\u00a0 Think: plot, characters, themes.<\/p>

My summary booklets are created so they fold in half and resemble actual books.<\/p>

The majority of the booklets feature first a summary of the chapter or section in English.\u00a0 Then opposite that same page is the Spanish translation.<\/p>

Depending on the booklet, I\u2019ll include additional information like characters, themes, and even comprehension questions.<\/p>

But at the heart of one of my favorite ELL accommodations, students have a basic summary of each portion of the book we\u2019re reading.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Summarizing the Booklet in English<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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I create my summary booklets within the Google Suite.\u00a0 I think very linearly, so I usually start with a Google Doc.\u00a0 There, I first write a summary of the chapter in English.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t stop there.\u00a0 It\u2019s important in ELL accommodations to consider the language itself.\u00a0 Though my ELLs are high school age, their reading comprehension abilities could be significantly lower.\u00a0 Let alone their language comprehension skills, which, understandably, are still strengthening.<\/span><\/p>

My coworker and I collaborate to discuss our students\u2019 needs, and we usually take into consideration their WIDA score.\u00a0 More often than not, I adjust my English summaries to suit a 2nd or 3rd grader.\u00a0 Adjustments vary, but usually that means I look at the specific word choice and vocabulary.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

And when making my ELL accommodations, it\u2019s important to also consider idioms and turns of phrase natural to English speakers but foreign to non-native speakers.\u00a0 For example, a native English speaker would have no trouble understanding this: \u201cThe protagonist put his head down and got right to it.\u00a0 He knew it was up to him.\u201d\u00a0 But a non-native English speaker might not understand phrases like \u201cup to him\u201d or the figurative meaning of putting one\u2019s head down.<\/span><\/p>

If you\u2019re considering making ELL accommodations, Magic School is an awesome AI resource that can help you tailor any reading passage to any grade level.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Translating the Booklet in Spanish<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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With the English summaries abridged and ready to go, I then set my sights on the Spanish translation.<\/span><\/p>

To make the ELL accommodations most meaningful, I think it\u2019s important to feature the translation on the opposite page as the English.\u00a0 Not only does it help fill in any comprehension gaps, but seeing the English and Spanish side-by-side can help my ELL students pick up on specific word choices and language devices.<\/span><\/p>

There is a lot out there to help you out if you aren\u2019t bilingual.\u00a0 Magic School AI, as I mentioned previously, can help you translate.\u00a0 So can Google.\u00a0 As does the paid version of Canva.<\/span><\/p>

I\u2019m blessed to have so many helpful colleagues and students where I work that I first translate my booklets and then ask my Spanish National Honor Society intern to edit my translation.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Finalizing the Booklet<\/h4>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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As I said, I like to start with a Google Doc.\u00a0 But then I adjust a Google Slides presentation to be 11 x 8.5.\u00a0 From there, I divide the page in half and begin building the individual pages of the booklet.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Admittedly, this can take a while to get the hang of because this ELL accommodation isn\u2019t just page one, page two, page three.<\/span><\/p>

Because of how the booklet prints, you have to put a little extra thought into how the individual pages are laid out.<\/span><\/p>

If space allows (depending on the number of chapters), I\u2019ll also add graphics and sometimes comprehension or discussion questions on the individual pages or at the back of the booklet.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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ELL Accommodations: My VIP Booklets<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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Once I got <\/span>Night<\/span><\/i> under my belt, I was kind of addicted to creating these booklets.\u00a0 Whenever we cover a larger text (i.e. <\/span>Julius Caesar<\/span><\/i> or Dante\u2019s <\/span>Inferno<\/span><\/i>), I create one of these books.<\/span><\/p>

But I\u2019ve also created them for other teachers in my building.<\/span><\/p>

Here\u2019s a full list of all my current ELL accommodations summary booklets.\u00a0 If you teach any of these books, give them a look!<\/span><\/p>