English Language Learners

Facilitators:     Rebekah Elliott (ECML), Cathy Rutherford (Seattle Schools)

Participants:    Lake Washington: Denise Lemieux

    Bellevue:  Susanne Harvey

    Seattle Schools: Monica Wagenhoffer, Barbara White

Description

The English Language Learner (ELL) group focused on meeting the needs of ELL students in mathematics.  Their guiding question was:

• How can we accurately assess ELL students' mathematical understanding when their ability to communicate in written English potentially obscures their ability to show their understanding.

They recognized and discussed a number of issues affecting the performance of ELL students including: language, group/ethnic identity, teacher-student communication, and home - school connection.  They decided to focus on how math and language interact as students show their thinking on word problems.  They used journals, student work, and interviews to find out more about this issue and to explore alternative strategies to address it.

In order to pinpoint ways to address both the mathematical ideas and the language issue within a task, all participants posed the same task to their case study students.  The group agreed that they would use a fair share task:  "There are 10 goldfish crackers and 5 kids.  How many crackers does each kid get for snack?"  After using the task in the classroom, teachers shared the interventions they used for offering extra support and clarifying vocabulary. 

Presentation at the Culminating Event

• Transcript of a teacher-student interaction

• SIOP lesson plan example

• Problem solving questions - we found these helpful to guide ELL students through their mathematical thinking

Articles

• Chamot, A.U., & O’Malley, J.M. (1994). The CALLA handbook: Implementing the cognitive academic language approach. (pp. 222-52) New York: Addison –Wesley.

• Ginsberg, M.B. (2003). Motivation Matters: A Workbook for School Change.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

• Lee, H.J. & Woo, S. (2004). Limited English proficient students: Mathematical understanding. Teaching Children Mathematics, 9, 269-70.

• McIntyre,E. Rosebery, A., & Gonzalez, N. (Eds.) (2001). Classroom diversity: Connecting curriculum to students' lives. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann

• Midobuche, E. (2001). Building cultural bridges between home and the mathematics classroom.  Teaching Children Mathematics, 8, 501-2.

• Ron, P. (1999). Spanish-English language issues in the mathematics classroom. In W. Secada (ed) Changing the faces of Mathematics, Perspectives on Latinos (pp. 23-33). Reston, VA: NCTM.

• Garrison, L. & Mora, J.K. (1999). Adapting mathematics instruction for English language learners: The language-concept connection.   In W. Secada (ed) Changing the faces of Mathematics, Perspectives on Latinos (pp. 35-47). Reston, VA: NCTM.