The
English as a Second Language (ESL) Program
at
George Read Middle School
Overview:
The ESL program at George Read focuses on the key
components of the English Language: writing, reading, speaking and
listening. Students will be engaged in
activities throughout the school year that promote these components to help
students succeed in all subject areas.
This year the ESL program has extended itself beyond
the English Language Arts component.
The ESL teachers will teach the ELA part of the curriculum for the ESL
students, however the teachers will also assist some of the regular teachers to
help meet the needs of the ESL students.
This will give the regular teachers an opportunity to meet all the needs
in the classroom as well as provide a way for the ESL students to have the best
possible opportunity to learn.
The
following are some of the goals for all ESL students for the 2006-2007 School
year
Reading Activities:
·
Opportunities
for paired reading and silent reading.
·
Individual
students reading to the teacher (for comprehension/oral practice)
·
Utilize
reading conference record sheets
·
Guided
Reading (teacher to student, or student to student)
·
Oral
Reading (for the whole class or in groups)
·
A
variety of reading activities will be used to spark students’ interest in
reading.
·
Students
will be engaged in pre-reading, during-reading and after-reading activities.
Writing Activities:
·
Journal
(Students record daily what they learned in class and any questions for the
teacher. Teacher will respond at least
once a week by writing back to students in their journals).
·
The
Writing Process will be implemented for every writing assignment. (Pre-Writing, Rough Draft, Revising,
Editing, Final Draft, Publishing).
Students will become familiar with all phases of the writing process to
help improve their writing.
·
Writing
activities will stem from reading assignments.
·
Students
will learn all forms of writing (narrative, expository, descriptive)
Other:
·
High
Expectations- Students will have their ESL class as their Reading/Language Arts
class this year, rather than an exploratory class. Thus, while the expectations were high in previous years, this
year will require more reading, writing, speaking and listening skills from the
students in hopes that they will strive to meet these expectations.
·
Student
Evaluation forms:
·
These
will be for reading, writing or what the students learned in general. Every week, the students will reflect on the
week’s activities and what they learned, struggled with, or where they feel
successful.
·
Models. Students, especially ESL students, need a
model of what they are going to do.
Students need a physical example/model of the final project more than a
verbal description of what is required.
Some samples of students’ work from this past year will serve as a model
for next year!
·
Vocabulary
will be addressed within the reading and writing assignments.
·
Appropriate
assessments will take place for each area taught.
Some ESL Links:
Top
1000 English words: http://esl.about.com/library/vocabulary/bl1000_list1.htm