Teacher Tip Tuesday: ELL Levels

Today's Teacher Tuesday is courtesy of my schools Curriculum night.

 

All students in the English Language Learner program study speaking, listening, reading, and writing throughout an integrated approach that uses content as the vehicle to meet ELL language goals and standards.

Level 1

Student with no or very limited English language skills.

Students use observational skills and are dependent upon visual cues, and simplified language for comprehension. Level 1 students function well when following a routine. They may feel safest in the ELL environment and take more risk practicing language amongst their peers. They can easily feel overwhelmed with the language and should participate in varied activities that allow them to manipulate objects with their hands and change activities often.

Level 2

Students at the beginning level of English language skills.

Level 2 students rely heavily on visual cues and non-verbal language but are more confidant in their social skills. They will often imitate conversation to meet personal needs or get information. Level 2 students feel the importance of needing English to learn social language and academic content.

Level 3

Students at the intermediate level of English language skills.

Level 3 students gave a strong command of conversational English. This may give students and/ or staff a false sense of language proficiency. Social acceptance by peers and participation in popular culture is very important to students at this level. Students often have a limited awareness of the skills needed to acquire academic language. However, they possess skills and language structures in English that are much more advanced than the previous two levels. Teachers play an important role in motivating these students.

Level 4

Students at the intermediate-advanced level of English language skills.

Students in Level 4 will find school more challenging as they discover the academic demands placed upon them. These students may become frustrated and require support with skills and strategies to help them in the classroom.

Level 5

Students at the advanced level of English language skills.

Level 5 students may read and write at or near native level but require refinement in these areas. These students are confidant in their ability to compete with native-English-speaking peers. They perform very well on daily assignments and projects in the classroom but may have difficulty performing well on