Читать книгу Equitable Access for English Learners, Grades K-6 - Mary Soto - Страница 33

Choose some English learners in your class you would like to know more about. Give them a general topic that students would have an opinion about. For example, you could ask them what they like to do outside school or what they like or don’t like about school. Then ask all the students to write in English about the topic for a set amount of time, but at least for ten minutes. These samples should give you a general idea of the students’ English literacy level. You can also ask students to write about a topic in their home language. Even if you can’t read what they write, you can gauge their general ability in the language based simply on how much they write. Looking at their handwriting in either English or their home language will also give you an idea of how much formal schooling the student has received. Usually, students who have attended school have been given some formal instruction in penmanship.

Teachers can share their students’ writing samples with other teachers to compare and contrast and analyze writing samples together. They can discuss writing samples, looking at students with same home languages and different home languages and considering students’ length of residence in this country and previous schooling. Teachers can refer to the proficiency level descriptors to determine their students’ written proficiency level.

 Standards based skills: analyze, evaluate, use evidence to support ideas