Planning an Individualized Program

Getting Started: Planning an Individualized Program

The first step in setting up a program for a student who speaks no English is to take stock of the subjects she can participate in with some degree of success (P.E., art, math, etc.), what tutors are available and when, and what materials or independent activities can be used.

A teacher may prefer to seat a limited English speaking student in front of the class where she can hear directions and pronunciations and watch the teacher's illustrations and gestures. Seating her to one side may make withdrawal for independent work or tutorial help less awkward. A responsible "buddy" sitting next to her can help the student with a scrapbook or other activity initially and later quietly explain new words being used by the teacher.

An E.S.L. student may be placed in average or top reading groups as a listening member only. Basals should not be used to teach reading skills until most of the basic structure of English is learned orally. As a listening member, the student is exposed to good language models and the teacher can choose a few simple words from the pictures for the student to learn each day. Use this strategy with caution.

To teach reading, a language experience approach is best. Basals are poor for E.S.L. students because they contain advanced sentence structures and function words that cannot be defined and must be learned in ways that show meaning in a linguistic sequence. With language experience, comprehension is insured and failure is avoided.

As the student improves in speaking and understanding English, she can take part in more and more activities with the regular class. In content areas such as science or social studies, a list of basic vocabulary can be submitted to the E.S.L. teacher to be taught in advance. It is helpful to have someone sit with the child and explain vocabulary during a regular lesson when possible, as words and concepts will likely be repeated and reinforced throughout the presentation. This is a difficult job, because many words that seem very simple and basic are unknown to the student. A helper must try to see through the E.S.L. student's eyes. The most important thing is that the student learn and experience some degree of success when participating with the class.

Following is an example of how activities for a student who knows no English might be scheduled in a regular classroom.

Time	Class Activity	E.S.L. Student's Activity	Materials Needed
9:00-9:30	P.E. or Music	Same as class	None
9:30-10:00	English	Vocabulary Development. Consult with E.S.L. teacher for assistance in choosing a sequence of words and sentence structures to reinforce E.S.L. instruction.	Language Master with pictures clipped to recorded language master cards. Always record words within a sentence, not in isolation, i.e. This is a hat.
10:00-10:30	Spelling Writing	Same as class. Individualized spelling list of known vocabulary is best. Test by giving student an appropriate group of pictures. Or a peer can dictate the list.	Pictures used for vocabulary development. Appropriate handwriting materials.
10:30-11:15	Science	Participate with class to the degree possible, especially for films, experiments, or other activities that do not depend entirely on language.	As needed.
11:15-11:55	Social Studies	Participate with class to the degree possible. This is a good time for language tutoring by the E.S.L. teacher or an aide.	As needed.
11:55-1:00	Lunch and Recess
1:00-1:30	Reading Group	Language experience transcriptions and skills lessons based on them. Teacher or tutor time is necessary. Independent work with cassettes, computer, etc.	As needed.
1:30-2:00	Reading Group	Participate in a reading group as a listening member only. Learn and illustrate some vocabulary from stories. (Do not use basals to teach reading.)	Same as class.
2:00-2:20	Recess
2:20-3:15	Math	Participate with class with help from a student "buddy", Ask E.S.L. teacher to teach math terminology.	Regular texts or texts in the student's language if available.