EDUC 605 - The E.L.L. Student in the K-12 Mainstream: Accommodating through Awareness

3 hours
Whether instituted by federal, state, or local mandates, the inclusion of E.L.L. (English Language Learner) students into the U.S. K~12 mainstream is a reality within our schools. This course is designed to provide the K~12 mainstream teacher with two major skill sets: 1) the knowledge and tools necessary to accommodate the E.L.L. student’s English-language-learning needs inside and outside of the classroom; and 2) the teacher-leadership skills necessary to function in the capacity as both an educator and leader within the community, the family, the school, the classroom, and the profession.

The tools are practical; include components that allow for feedback regarding the on-going assessment of the tools themselves, and are utilized by the teachers, the student, and by the student’s family who are viewed as an extension of the classroom-learning environment. This course reaches beyond general TESL strategies by providing accommodations so the learner can attain English while studying in the content areas at school with supportive measures at home. Accommodation through awareness of cultural differences and similarities is the foundational theme upon which the tools are built. The workings of this topic are applied universally to the daily encounters the mainstream teacher, and the E.L.L. students and the family have with the student’s English-language-learning. This explorative theme will be implemented also into the areas of assessment, instructional principles and practices, and resources as they apply to accommodating E.L.L. students in the K~12 mainstream. This course includes a 10-hour practicum experience during which theory is applied to practice. Candidates must complete their practicum requirements in schools with a diverse population. GR