ELL Collaboration
To accurately assess my Spanish speaking student’s literacy development, I administered the Acadience Reading Benchmark Assessment in Spanish, his first language. This approach provided a clearer understanding of his foundational reading skills without the added challenge of English decoding. The assessment revealed significant gaps in phonics and phonemic awareness, as the student correctly identified only two words and demonstrated limited letter sound correspondence, often alternating between English and Spanish phonemes. His strongest skills included recognizing a few familiar letters and sounds (such as /o/ and /a/), being able to spell and rewrite his own name and modeled sentences accurately. Based on these results, I determined that instruction should begin with intensive support in letter and sound recognition in both languages, emphasizing phonological awareness and cross linguistic connections. Lessons were scaffolded with visual supports, bilingual vocabulary instruction, and consistent modeling of sounds and word formation.​​
Accomodations:
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Providing directions and key vocabulary in both Spanish and English.
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Allowing oral responses or translanguaging (mixing Spanish and English as needed).
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Partnering with a bilingual peer to assist with translation and engagement.
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Using manipulatives, picture cues, and sentence frames to support comprehension and participation.
Progression:
Moving forward, instruction focused on building transferable literacy foundations, such as sound symbol correspondence and decoding simple CVC words, while gradually introducing English phonics patterns. By leveraging his motivation and native language skills, he was able develop more confidence and foundational reading abilities in both Spanish and English.
Lesson Plans & Accomodations
In this social studies lesson on reading and constructing maps, I supported my Spanish speaking ELL student by translating key vocabulary and directions into Spanish on note cards and adding Spanish translations to the pages of Mapping Penny’s World. I partnered him with another Spanish speaking peer so they could collaborate on creating a classroom map together. These supports allowed him to access the content, build map related vocabulary in both languages, and actively participate in meeting the lesson objective of designing a map with a title and key.
During this math lesson on addition within 20, I supported my ELL student by replacing traditional number problems with pictures of familiar items that connected to his interests. This visual approach helped him relate mathematical concepts to real world vocabulary he recognized and understood. To make the activity more engaging and hands on, students used Skittles as markers on their ten frames to represent quantities. These adaptations made the content more accessible by reducing the language barrier, supporting comprehension through visuals and manipulatives, and allowing the student to meaningfully participate in achieving the lesson objective.
