Math for ELLs

Sonia DominguezDistrict Mathematics

CoordinatorNovember 4, 2010

Objectives

• Explore the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS) and apply them to teaching mathematics

• Examine mathematics teaching and learning

• Analyze the role of language in teaching mathematics

What can we do to teach MATHEMATICS to ALL

students?

Access Prior Knowledge

• One major challenge facing English learners is…

• One major challenge we face as teachers of English learners is…

English Language Learners

• English language learners (ELL) face the daunting task of being responsible for making progress in content area classes while simultaneously learning academic English, an abstract, complex form of English specific to content area subjects.

English Language Proficiency Standards (ELPS)

Statutory Requirement 19 Texas Administrative Code §74.4Chapter 74. Curriculum RequirementsSubchapter A. Required Curriculum §74.4 English Language Proficiency Standards

Approved November 16, 2007

These take the place of the ESL TEKS.

ELPS

ELPS Components

A. Introduction

• ELPS part of required curriculum• ELL need to know social and academic

language• Integrate second language acquisition

with content area instruction for all language skills

• ELL must read, write, listen and speak with increasing complexity

• ELPS SEs apply K-12• Level descriptors serve as a road map

B. School Districts Shall

• Identify students language proficiency levels

• Provide linguistically accommodated instruction in the content areas

• Provide content-based instruction based on ELPS standards

• Provide targeted (intensive and ongoing) language instruction for beginning and intermediate ELLs (3-12)

C. Cross-curricular Second Language Acquisition Essential

Knowledge and Skills

D. Proficiency Level Descriptors

Designing Math Instruction

Instruction that supports academic language acquisition in mathematics…

3 Critical Instructional Dimensions

Tasks

• Are complex and problematic for the learner

• Involve meaningful problem solving as opposed to simple skill practice

• Are linked to the students’ backgrounds and experiences

• Have multiple entry points and more than one solution

• Rich in opportunities for math content and language development

Tools

• Students use tools to represent mathematical ideas and meaningful problem situations

• Include concrete manipulatives, pictorial or graphical representations, graphing calculators, etc.

• Students are provided with opportunities to use any tool to explain their thinking to others

• Opportunity to bridge students representations with symbolic notation and vocabulary

Mathematics Classroom Norms

• Students are making and justifying math conjectures

• Students negotiate mathematical meaning by listening to one another’s thinking

• Respectful, low-risk atmosphere• Student collaboration• Communication of ideas• Lesson includes language and math

objectives

Mathematics Teaching and Learning

• Classrooms must promote teaching and learning mathematics with understanding

• Students must collaboratively engage in making sense of mathematics tasks in their own ways

• Focus is on conceptual understanding• Students use multiple representations to

make connections to symbolic notation

Instructional Planning with the ELPS

Essential Components of Instruction for ELL Success

• Know students’ language proficiency levels• Plan linguistically accommodated instruction• Set language objectives• Access/build background knowledge• Use visuals and adapted materials• Explicitly teach vocabulary• Interaction strategies (so kids talk)• Assessment aligned to language proficiency levels