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What do you do when a student has had a traumatic early life to acknowledge their experiences without creating unwelcome reminders?

How should other students be prepared for what the student might share?

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What is most important in the curriculum? Identifying what is most important in the curriculum, scaffolding literacy and language development, providing necessary supports, and frequent assessments, are all important to ensuring English language learners success.

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Am I assessing needs and English competencies frequently? Assessing their needs and level of proficiency is critical to creating an age-appropriate program that will support their language development.

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Are my expectations realistic? Students with limited formal education may take 10 years to acquire academic language, skills.

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Am I recognizing and utilizing the unique histories of students? Each ELL is unique and their individual experiences can be built upon.

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Literacy skills can be developed through oral language, pictures with vocabulary development, use of the first language to encourage speaking, small group work, guided reading, running records, selecting texts to align with STEP levels, use of identify texts, and by integrating language and curriculum goals, along with social and orientation goals.

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Teachers can engage students by building upon what the students knows or has experienced to date. Identity texts have been suggested as a valuable tool for students’ voices to be heard and shared with classmates, helping create a sense of community. Student-created texts may include pictures and illustrations and may be created in both languages. The students ‘voice’ with assistance from the teacher is transferred into a written text that gives the student a positive sense of identity.

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Learning profiles are a critical tool in terms of understanding the learner and making appropriate adaptions. Assessment using Steps to English Proficiency (STEP), also provides a critical starting point.

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ELD is programming to support learners who had limitations on learning in their first language, from grades 3 to 12. This program combines literacy skills with language acquisition through adaptation at the elementary level and accommodations and modifications at the secondary level. Credit course in ELD are optional, prior to ESL courses at the high school level.

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Students who have had limited schooling and who may not be competent in the first language, can experience success, make a contribution and with the right supports and amount of time, realize their academic potential

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Ministry of Education, Government of Ontario. (2014). English Literacy Development. Toronto, ON: Queens Printer for Ontario. Retrieved March 4, 2017 from: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/literacynumeracy/inspire/research/CBS_LiteracyDevelop.pdf