Checklist of Instructional Modifications for LEP Students

Student(s) (initials): MA

Grade: 2

School: Dunmore Elementary

Date: October 27, 2015

Observation Questions for ELL/LEP student(s)

1. What techniques/methods/strategies do you see being used with the
ELL/LEP student(s)? Are they effective? Why or why not? (Either
specifically for the ELL student(s) or in whole class/small group
instruction)
One strategy that I see in the classroom is that the ELL students receive
notecards of the vocabulary the class will be learning. They receive these
notecards a week before everyone gets the words. This way, when they go
home each night, they can review them and understand them. The class will
normally have about ten to fifteen words every other week. The ELL students
will receive about five. In the past couple of weeks they have been getting
six to try and increase their vocabulary. This method is effective because
they can get a head start on the vocabulary and feel more confident in class.
Also, the teacher will have me work with two of the ELL students each day
that I am there in a one on one setting. If we are reviewing math, I will read
the problems to them and explain anything they do not understand. If they
are doing anything English language arts related, we go over the work at a
much slower pace and I read, reread and explain each task to them. This is
an effective approach because they feel more comfortable asking me
questions about words and asking me to repeat words for them.
2. Do you notice any student behaviors that you would consider out of
the ordinary? Please describe in detail. (This applies to both the ELL
student(s) and other classroom students)
I would say that the behaviors of these ELL students and the students in
the rest of the class are pretty much typical. Everyone gets along and to my
surprise, the other students are extremely supportive of the ELL students. I
was worried that some of the other students would not be as nice and
possibly make fun of them, however I was completely wrong. The other
students will often offer help and support throughout the lessons. Nothing
seems to be out of the ordinary for this class. The ELL students are adjusting
and acclimating at a great pace. They seem to be comfortable and so does
the rest of the class.
3. What type of interactions do you see between the ELL student(s), other
classroom students, and the teacher(s)? Please describe in detail.
As I mentioned above, the interaction is very positive between the ELL
students and the rest of the class. They seem to get along during class as

well as during times like recess and lunch. One of the ELL students can have
normal conversations with the rest of the class. However, the other ELL
student does not speak as fluently but this does not impede their
relationships with his classmates. The teacher had never had ELL students in
her classroom before this year so she was a bit overwhelmed for most of it so
far. She is now better at coming up with accommodations and getting
through to the students. She does lose her patience often with them and will
begin to yell at them for not understanding directions. She will then realize
that she has to say it in another way or slow down her speech. Her
accommodations for them are very useful and beneficial. She makes sure
she tells them when they are doing a good job. She reinforces their good
behavior and good work. I can tell that they respond well to her positive
feedback.
4. Identify resources/materials that are being used with the ELL
student(s). Please describe in detail how the ELL student is using
them. Do they appear to be effective? Explain.
The teacher that I am observing uses the lamination machine quite a lot.
Every week she gives the ELL students laminated vocabulary cards. She also
prints out pictures that go along with the words. Also, since some of the
activites the class does are too advanced for these students, she will have
them work on the ipad. Here, they will play games with letters, sounds and
words. They seem to really enjoy this because it is fun and very interactive. It
helps them practice their letters more and have a better undertanding. I
think the resources that these students have are very effective. The teacher
works with what she has and the students seem to be responding well to the
resources and activities available. I think the teacher could definitely use
more resources for the students. She went to a two day ocnferance earlier
this year regarding ESL and she learned new tactics from that. She is slowly
using more and more with these students. With what they have, I do think
tey are responding well and the resources thus far are effective.
5. Does the classroom environment seem to be comfortable for the ELL
student(s)? Please describe the environment and explain how you
made your decision.
I think that the environment of the classroom is comfortable for the ELL
students. The other students in the classroom are very supportive and are
always offering help. If an ELL student gets an answer wrong, I pay attention
to the other students. I have never seen any of the other students make fun

of them or laugh at them for being wrong. Sometimes the teacher I am

observing will be impatient with the ELL students. She will yell at them or not
explain things well. However, the students do not seem to mind and this
does not seem to effect them in a negative way. She has been getting better
with the way that she approaches them and explains intructions and
directions to them.
6. Whats the comfort level of the ELL student(s) in regards to the
English language? What observations help you arrive at your decision?
Refer to the Vocabulary Performance Indicators. At what level would
you place the ELL student? How did you decide on that level?
There are three ELL students in this class. Each of them are at completely
different levels. M, is defnintely at the lowest. He performs almost average in
math. However, in reading and writing, he is around a kindergarten level. He
is not so comfprtable trying to read on his own and many times, he stops
writing after a couple fo words if he has to write a lot. So, many times, to
make him more comfortable, I will read the questions, stories, intructions,
etc, to him. He can better understand the content this way. On tests where
they hav to write a longer passage, many times the teacher or myself will
have him dictate what he wants us to write and we will write exactly what he
tells us. Every week, when the class gets their new vocabulary words they
get about fifteen. The ELL studetns will receive around five or six on
flashcards. These cards have the spelling and a picture related to the words.
Also, they will get extra paractice work for these words as well as receiving
them in advnce so they can practice a little each night.
7. If you feel comfortable enough to ask, ask the cooperating teacher (or
ESL teacher) what type of accomodations/modifications they have to
make for the ELL student(s). Please describe the types of
accomodations/modifications that were discussed. Do they appear on
the checklist? Why/why not do you think they are present/not present
on the checklist?
My cooperating teacher was not prepared to have three ELL students in
her class. She was informed about them very last minute so she did not have
any accomodations set up in the beginning of the school year. As the
semster went on, I saw that she would have more and more activities and
accomodations for them. For example, like I mentioned above, she made
flashcards fpr each vocabulary unit. She also found programs for the ipad
that helped them with letters and sounds. These are games that the students

enjoy playing. Also she has a lot of hands on activities for them to do. Such
as, playing with letters. These letters look like puzzle pieces and the studetns
have to create certain words, like their vocabulary words. Two of the three
students advancing at a really great rate. The one is still behind so she wil
keep giving him these accomodatiosn for as long as he needs. Her
accomodations do appear on the checklist. I think that they appear because
she had went to a conference for ESL and she brought back some useful
techniques for teaching ELL.