I have two students who are pre-functional ELL students who have both failed the Ohio Graduation Tests (they were not grandfathered) at least once since I took over as their ELA teacher. I am working through my older material on the Reading and Writing tests. They simply do not have the vocabulary in English, and I know they won't be able to bring Google Images into a test. Today, all three of us became extremely frustrated because I was unable to articulate the concept of personification. The biggest frustration is that there is no ESL teacher at my school. The teacher I replaced was an ESL teacher with an ELA endorsement. I'm an ELA teacher with SIOP training. I need some help, and soon! Their next test is next month.
This might not exist for yours, but for our state testing, one accommodation we can provide is an _insert language_ to English (&vice-versa) dictionary. You might see if that could be requested. (if you haven't already, of course! )
I have already ordered two Nepali / English dictionaries, and have also requested the students get audio instructions for the tests.
Nepali? Crikey. Here's Omniglot's page on Nepali: among the links are a couple for English to Nepali that might be adaptable to Nepali to English.http://www.omniglot.com/writing/nepali.htm Here's a link to a downloadable (printable) dictionary of Nepali: http://www.nepalresearch.org/dictionaries/nep_eng/nep_eng.pdf Here's a dictionary that can be used as an app: http://www.englishnepalidictionary.com
I've been using Google Translate and Images a LOT, but it's extremely difficult to explain literary concepts and devices to them when they're missing many of the words I'm using to define the terms. Unfortunately, the state will not exempt ELL students.
Pretty decent, going by their transfer grades (yes, I have transfer grades from Nepal). The problem is they haven't been in the US that long and probably need more immersive language training.
They probably need the immersive language training, yes. But this can be approached from more than one direction. You might find it useful to glance at Michael James Hutt's Himalayan Voices: An Introduction to Modern Nepali Literature; at its Google Books page you can see a preview of the book or even download an eBook version for a price that's not exorbitant, for a university-press book. This might give you a sense of some literature your students might have encountered in their own language. It points out that, alongside Kathmandu in Nepal, the other major center of Nepali literature is Darjeeling, in India - and, while it's not clear to me whether English is a language of instruction in Nepal, I know that the converse is true in India, which makes me wonder whether there mightn't be an online Nepali-English glossary of literary terms. (Not that I've found it yet.)
I've adjusted the level and type of instruction I've given them, ordered English / Nepali dictionaries, AND have requested the instructions be provided to them on CD per their LEP. The previous teacher refused to do anything besides that first part.
Oh, and my Intervention Specialist is helping me as well! She taught at a bilingual school before coming to my school and she has a few tricks and tips to share.
