Helping our ELLs find success in what they know…

Helping our ELLs find success in what they know…

First of all, I would like to begin with a “Thanksgiving.” During this time of giving “thanks,” I would like to give a huge “Thank you” to our Dual Language Kinder, First, and Second grade teachers for all your support, enthusiasm and hard work with Esperanza. I am so thankful to you for your hard with launching Esperanza. It is off and running thanks successfully to you… YAY you!

With that said, I would like to share some useful information with all of you. We have such a large population of ELL (English Language Learners) in our district, and it’s time to capitalize on what they know. With that in mind, here are a few tools to help you “use” your students’ first language knowledge to help make the transition to English. One of the things many of our students struggle with is vocabulary; so, remember to use their first language (if it’s Spanish) as a springboard when you can. Spanish is a Latin-based language, and much of our academic language is also Latin based. The use of cognates to help students make connections between languages would be advantageous for all parties involved. Here is a website of cognates that are categorized by subject. http://spanishcognates.org/cognate-subject?page=1&tid=27

 For those of you that aren’t bilingual, as you plan, look at your academic vocabulary and find cognates you can draw attention to in class. This would be a great way to engage students and to “piggyback” on what they already know.

Another resource I will share with you is a list of Spanish prefixes and suffixes and their English correlations. The list of prefixes and suffixes lists the prefix and suffix and their meaning. Defining the prefix and suffix helps students understand the word meaning and how the prefix or suffix changes the word. I strongly encourage you to create an anchor chart as you encounter prefixes and suffixes in context. (Esperanza teachers should create a “growing” anchor chart of prefixes and suffixes as they are introduced in the lessons). 

(I will also be uploading these charts to my digital portfolio under the Teaching, Learning and Assessments Tabs)

These are just a couple of resources to help our ELLs acquire a second language. Remember, always start with what students know to help “grow” our students. Our Spanish speaking students have lots of language; we just need to find means by which to capitalize on what they know. We have to explicitly teach them to use their first language in an effort to build their second language. Spanish speaking students are truly at an advantage; we just need to help them understand how to transfer what they know.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!