Return-Path: <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id g2KBURu20314; Wed, 20 Mar 2002 06:30:27 -0500 (EST) Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 06:30:27 -0500 (EST) Message-Id: <97.24a5e11c.29c9cba9@aol.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: LELemke@aol.com To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-esl@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-ESL:7456] ESL students: grouped or separated? X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas X-Mailer: AOL 5.0 for Mac sub 36 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Status: O Content-Length: 2757 Lines: 50 In a message dated 3/19/02 8:31:35 PM, sschutte@swbell.net writes: .. this is the first year I have had ESL students. I teach three blocked classes (90 mins. long) of 8th grade Reading/Writing Workshop; one class of 22 students, 13 of whom are mainstreamed ESL students. These students range from low Novice to low Intermediate in ability. All are native Spanish speakers. I teach in a middle school in Little Rock, Arkansas. We have no aides, no specific materials, and I am just now halfway into becoming ESL endorsed. My question has to do with recommendations for next year. I feel that some of the ESL students would do better without someone to rely upon to do translation all the time. I don't want to isolate the students from one another, but I have found that the low Novice students (two with no English at all) do not even try to understand since they rely upon the others who have some English to translate for them. There are two other reasons I have come to this conclusion. 1) I have not seen much progress in the English of any of the students, except for one who is definitely gifted. 2) The ESL students and the native speaking students do not mix well, even though I insist on mixed grouping. I think if we separate the ESL students, all the students will benefit by the effort of trying to communicate with one another. Therefore, I would like to recommend that ESL students be separated somewhat, instead of all in one classroom. Do any of you have any thoughts or ideas, either in support of or against my recommendation? Sarah Schutte I have been teaching an inclusion class (but only since January) in which two ESL 6th graders are students. At first they sat together, but we had to separate them (within the class) because they talked too much (in Spanish, of course!) and didn't stay focused on the lessons. Also, the less able was always looking at the other's work rather than trying to figure it out herself. So, I tend to agree with your thoughts. Grouping ESLs appears to slow down the learning process; separating them forces them to learn the second language and the assignments more quickly. The real plus in our class is the material we are using: The Language! Program. It is geared for students with special needs such as LD, slow learners, and ESL. This program is helping them tremendously with the phonemes which then increases their spelling and overall writing skills. I have seen much improvement since we implemented this program. I hope there will be many responses to this question, but I fear the responses may be similar to the ongoing debate: bi lingual classes versus total immersion, whereas for me the answer lies somewhere in between. Ellie Lemke
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