Nicole Rutman

Professor Reilly
EDUC 359 – Introduction to English Language Learning
28 November 2018

Classroom Observation Report

1. According to the ELL teacher, there are 11 ELL students in the elementary school. I was

unable to observe an ELL student in a general education classroom. However, I was able

to observe in a classroom composed only of ELL students. I observed two kindergarten

students who were considered English Language Learners. They get pulled out of their

classroom at least two times per week to receive ESL services. When I observed in the

classroom, the students were learning about the letter “L”. I observed many techniques

being used with the students to develop their English language skills. One technique that

I saw the teacher use frequently is that she used visual cues to accompany her oral

directions. She pointed to words and pictures as she spoke. Doing so not only allowed the

students to associate the spoken language with the written language, but it also helped the

students follow her directions. For example, the teacher asked the students to write their

names at the top of the paper. When she said this, she pointed to the line on one student’s

worksheet. She then repeated the direction and pointed to the line on the other student’s

worksheet. One of the worksheets required the ELL students to color the pictures that

started with the /l/ sound. The teacher pointed to, said, and emphasized the beginning

sound of each word that the pictures represented. The first picture was of a lion. After the

children colored the lion, the teacher asked them if the picture next to the lion began with

the /l/ sound. When the teacher used the phrase, “next to”, she pointed to the picture next

to the lion. This showed the children what the phrase “next to” meant. The teacher also

did this with the phrase “below”. She used hand motions to show what below meant. The
 teacher also spoke slowly and clearly. As we learned from the Sheltered Instruction

Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model, this is important for teachers with ELL students to

do. By slowing down her rate of speech, using pauses, and enunciating clearly while

speaking, her students at the beginning levels of English proficiency will benefit. The

ELL teacher also repeated herself a lot. She repeated directions, as well as words and

sentences that she read. I believe that the strategies that the ELL teacher used were

effective. The teacher provided the students with opportunities to acquire the English

language with ease by implementing strategies, such as using nonverbal signals,

providing visual cues, and monitoring her speech. It was interesting to see the teaching

strategies that we discussed in class be put into action in a real classroom.

2. The two kindergarteners in the ELL classroom were polar opposites. Student H speaks

Vietnamese. According to the ELL teacher, Student H is typically very quiet. The student

has a large receptive vocabulary, but is not comfortable producing the language yet.

When she does speak, she expresses herself softly. The teacher mentioned to me that

Student H may not speak at all when I observe because she is so shy. However, Student

H surprised the teacher. She smiled a lot when I watched her do her work and she

responded to questions. She was quiet, but not completely silent. Student A, on the other

hand, was very vocal. Student A is exposed to both Spanish and English at home from his

mom and dad. However, Student A primarily speaks Spanish at home. His behavior was

quite distinct from Student H’s. Student A did not pay attention to the teacher. He had to

be reminded many times of the instructions. He took a long time to finish tasks, such as

coloring the pictures that started with the /l/ sound. The teacher had to constantly get him

to regain his focus. The ELL teacher told me that Student A has been to three schools in
 the past year. Because of this, she does not believe that his behaviors and lack of

language proficiency are a result of speaking another language at home. She believes that

his behaviors are from not having consistency in his schooling. I do not think that the

behaviors of the students are “out of the ordinary” considering that they are both only in

kindergarten.

3. I did not observe any interactions between the two students in the ELL classroom. They

sat across from one another, but did not engage with one another at all. The students only

interacted with the teacher. Because there are only two ELL students in kindergarten at

the school, the teacher was able to work with them closely. They both sat in close

proximity to the teacher. The teacher interacted with them during the entire lesson.

Before beginning to teach, she asked them how their weekends were. She also

complimented them on how well they both did during the pull out sessions the previous

week. By doing this, she made the students feel welcome in the classroom. During the

lesson, the teacher engaged with the students as a group, as well as individually. This is a

benefit of having a small class size. One of the worksheets that they completed was

called, “L is for…”. The worksheet had sentences that all began with the phrase, “L is

for…”. The phrase was then followed by a picture of something that began with the

letter. For example, there was a picture of a lizard, a leaf, a leopard, and a lamp. The

teacher read the directions to the students together. As she read, she pointed to the words.

This served as a model for the students who then pointed along with her. She read each

sentence twice before moving on to the next sentence. This was all done as a group.

Afterwards, she interacted with the students one-on-one. She went to each student and

asked them things, such as to point to the letter “L” in the sentence and to read the entire
 sentence aloud. There were plenty of interactions between the teacher and the students.

There may not have been much interaction between the students themselves because it is

still the beginning of the school year. They may not be comfortable with one another yet.

The teacher can foster interaction between the students by implementing activities in her

future lessons that require them to work together.

4. The activities that the teacher used in the lesson were primarily worksheets. As I stated

earlier, the students learned about the letter “L”. The first worksheet was called, “L is

for…”. The second worksheet was called, “I Hear an Ll”. The teacher received these

resources from her teacher textbook. The students used these worksheets to read words

that start with the letter “L” or the sound /l/. Because the students are in kindergarten,

they cannot really demonstrate their knowledge in writing. To account for this, the

teacher provided the students with crayons and colored pencils. The teacher had the

students color pictures and circle words that start with the letter “L” on the worksheets.

This allowed the teacher to use these worksheets to assess their knowledge. At the end of

the lesson, the students completed an “All About Me” activity. The teacher brought in

mini white boards and dry erase markers as materials. She wrote sentence starters on the

white boards for the students. For example, one of the sentence starters was, “My eyes

are…”. The teacher pointed to the words as she read. She modeled how to fill in the

blank. Then, she had the students fill in the blanks about themselves. The sentence

starters provided the students with help to form their thoughts. The activity also allowed

the students to hear words being pronounced, as well as to see words in written form. It

showed them that words have meaning. The materials that the ELL teacher used appeared

to be effective because she was able to gauge their levels of understanding. She was able
 to see where the students were confident in their language abilities and where the students

needed more help. The teacher was able to assess their knowledge and inform her

instruction throughout the lesson.

5. I believe that the classroom environment was comfortable for the ELL students. I believe

this because I felt comfortable being in the classroom for the first time. It was an inviting

environment. The classroom was colorful and there were posters and images on the walls.

There was a big table in the middle for all of the students to sit together. If I felt

comfortable as an adult, I believe that children would feel the same. I also believe that the

environment was comfortable for the children because they were in an ELL only

classroom. The students may not feel comfortable in their regular classroom because it is

composed of children who speak English as their native language. In a classroom made

up of only ELL students, the environment is different. The children may feel that they

have something in common with their ELL peers compared to being in their general

education classroom. They may feel that their peers can better relate to them.

6. The two students were at varying degrees of comfort in regards to the English language.

As I discussed earlier, Student H understood the language. She could produce the

language, but she was not comfortable doing so. She remained quiet until she was

directly asked questions from the teacher. When she did respond, she did not have

confidence in herself. In terms of the stages of second language acquisition, I would say

that this student is in Stage 2, which is Early Production. In this stage, children develop a

receptive and active vocabulary of about 1,000 words. Children typically speak in one or

two word phrases. Because she was in this stage, the teacher supported her by asking

simple response questions and providing listening activities. For example, the teacher
 modeled how to say a word and asked her to repeat it. She also did not force the student

to respond. She implemented wait time to allow the student to think and feel comfortable

enough to use the language. For the same reasons, I would place this student at Level 1,

or Entering, on the Vocabulary Performance Indicators. Student A, on the other hand,

was very comfortable using the language. This was most likely because he is exposed to

the English language to some extent at home. I would put this student in Stage 3 of

second language acquisition, which is Speech Emergence. In this stage, children

communicate with simple phrases and sentences. They ask simple questions and initiate

conversations. He had more of a command of the English language. I would place this

student at Level 3, or Developing, on the Vocabulary Performance Indicators because he

can use more of the English language with the proper supports.

7. Because I did not observe in the regular classroom, I asked the ELL teacher if she knew

of any accommodations or modifications that the kindergarteners receive. She said that

the students get preferential seating in the classroom. This allows their teachers to see

when they need assistance. This also allows the students to see writing and visuals on the

board, as well as to hear the teacher better. This appears on the checklist as “Seat in close

proximity to the teacher”. I think that this is present on the checklist because it is a

common modification for ELL students. The ELL teacher also said that the students

receive repeated directions. This appears on the checklist as “Provide repeated reviews

and drills – vary teaching strategies”. This is on the checklist because repeating directions

for ELL students is crucial to their language acquisition. It provides them with many

opportunities to hear words and it gives them time to process the information that is being
spoken. The fact that this modification is implemented in both the regular classroom and

the ELL classroom shows how important it is for English Language Learners.