Course Description:

This course discusses the reading process and the factors that influence its development, the role of assessment to inform and adapt literacy instruction, the evaluation and use of formal and informal assessment tools for individual learners and groups of students, and the interpretation and communication of assessment results. A 30-hour practicum is required.

Thursday, September 29, 2011

English Language Learners

The chapter on helping ELL students really caught me this week. I happened to read it the day after I was doing a DRA for an ELL student who is literate in his first language (Russian). He was telling me about the books he reads at home and some of them are in Russian. When I told him he could put those books on his reading log and they would count for his home reading, you would have thought that I gave him a million dollars. Although at first he didn't believe me. "Really?" he says. "But in school I am practicing in English." I told him that as long as he keeps reading in both languages (he is on grade level in English) he'll be fine and that I didn't want him to start struggling with his reading in Russian because he wasn't doing it as much. Then I was able to tell him that in fact reading in Russian will help him be a better reader in English. I still don't think he quite believes that part (it's not even the same alphabet!), but he's happy to be able to keep reading his books in Russian with his dad.
Of course he is one of the lucky ones that is literate in his first language. My heart breaks for those kiddos who aren't and end up losing parts of their native language or not developing their ability to read in their native language. It's so frustrating to know what would help these kids be on track (teaching reading in their native language first) and yet not be able to provide it because of the usual suspects: time, money, etc. etc. etc.

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