the ESL/Bilingual newsletter.

OAKWOOD SCHOOL
BILINGUAL/ELL DEPARTMNET NEWSLETTER 2015/2016
“IF YOU WANT YOUR CHILDREN TO SUCCEED, THEN HOLD ON TO YOUR
HOME LANGUAGE!”
Welcome to Oakwood’s Bilingual and English
Language Learner Newsletter!
A NOTE ABOUT LANGUAGES
There are about five thousand
different languages spoken in the
world. Many languages are spoken
only by relatively small numbers of
people in specific geographic areas,
while major languages are spoken
by large numbers of people in
widespread areas. People have
long been interested in having one
language that could be spoken
throughout the world and serve as
bridge between language groups
for international communication.
English is spoken throughout the
United States, Canada, Great
Britain, Ireland, Australia, and New
Zealand. It is also used as a second
language in almost every part of
the world.
We believe that the role of education is to prepare
children with the knowledge and skills that are
needed to become productive, successful citizens of
the United States of America. Our educational
philosophy is that each child must be recognized as a
unique individual with personal strengths, learning
styles and various levels of readiness. We believe that
every child can learn and recognize that each child
blossoms at his/her own pace. We acknowledge that
it our responsibility as effective teachers to provide a
safe, orderly environment that is challenging, while
instilling a life-long love for learning. We use a
variety of research-based approaches to provide
meaningful authentic language instruction to meet
the specific needs of all the English Language
Learners. We respect all families and their children
from all cultural backgrounds and believe in
promoting pride in culture.
1!
Respectfully,
Mrs. Odarka Czerniak – English Second Language Teacher
Mrs. Beata Kresso-Zielonka – Polish Bilingual Teacher
Mrs. Sharko – English Second Language Teacher
What Are the Benefits of Leaning Two Languages?
In today’s society majority of people live in situations where they regularly use two or more
adopted a new definition of English language proficiency for students in Illinois schools.
languages. It is estimated that between half and two-thirds of the world’s population is bilingual.
Effectivemore
January
1, 2014,
a student
mustisobtain
overall
composite
proficiency
level of
Knowing
than one
language,
therefore,
a skillan
to be
valued
and encouraged.
Research
5.0 as
well language
as a
shows that continuing to develop a child’s
native
does not interfere with the
acquisition of English – it facilitates the process! The child who knows more than one
language has personal, social, cognitive and economic advantages, which will continue
throughout his or her life.
“A CHILD WITH AN ACCENT HAS ANOTHER
LANGUAGE WITHOUT AN ACCENT!”
Activities that Parents Can Do at Home to Help Develop Children’s
Literacy
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Converse with your child in the language you know best, your home language
Foster literacy development by reading books and telling stories to children in the home
language AND ask “wh” questions (what, where, when, why, who)
If you are unable to read to your child, tell stories to your child which is just as valuable
Share stories about when you were younger, your values, your experiences at work, and
your daily activities to develop language
Expand your children’s world by exploring the community (go to the zoo, observe nature)
Talk to your children about school work, values and daily activities
Make learning experiences out of every day activities (sorting mail, sorting socks,
shopping with a created shopping list
Schedule a special time to do homework
Look over all homework to see if it is neat and complete
If you can’t help your child with any given homework, please let your child’s teacher know
INTERNET SITES
Please copy and paste the link below to open up many different sites for students
as well as parents.
http://www.guidetoonlineschools.com/tips-and-tools/esl-resources-kids
We hope that this web-page will be beneficial for everyone.
Mandated State Testing is just around the corner…………
ACCESS TESTING WINDOW
1/11/2016 – 02/12/2016
ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State
for English Language Learners) is a state mandated assessment given annually in WIDA
Consortium member states to monitor students' progress in acquiring academic English. It is
a secure large-scale English language proficiency assessment given to students in
kindergarten through 12th grade who have been identified as English language learners
(ELLs). School year 2015-2016 is the first operational year for ACCESS for ELLs 2.0 which will
be administered primarily via computer. The Kindergarten ACCESS and ACCESS Writing Test
grades 1-3 will continue to be paper and pencil.
ENGLSH LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY CUT SCORES
EXIT/ENTRY CRITERIA
Effective January 1, 2014 a student must obtain an overall composite proficiency level of
5.0 AND a reading proficiency level of 4.2 AND a writing proficiency level of 4.2 on the
ACCESS for ELLs to be considered English language proficient. Any student that does
not achieve all of the minimum criteria is considered an English learner student and remains
eligible for TBE/TPI services.
ALWAYS REMEMBER TO GIVE THANKS FOR ALL WE
HAVE LEARNED!