Action plan for Meryem, ELL student from Turkmenistan

1. Coordinate with ELL specialist for push-in/pull-out services

1.1. Who: myself, Karyn (lead teacher in classroom), ELL specialist Jenny

1.2. How: coordinate appropriate times in daily schedule for Jenny to provide push-in/pull-out services; meet regularly to provide updates on how Meryem is progressing; Have Jenny suggest ways to support Meryem's grammar and vocab development

1.3. When/Where: in classroom, in hallway nook, or in ELL resource room

1.4. Why: Meryem is developing English vocabulary rapidly, but needs support for a more systematic way of acquiring grammar and syntax

2. Pre-teach math vocab

2.1. Who: myself, Karyn (lead classroom teacher), and ELL specialist

2.2. How: pre-teach math vocabulary before lessons with visual aids, trying not to rely too much on direct translation; look ahead to word problems to signal which operation to use

2.3. When/Where: consistently; once a week meet to look ahead at next lessons to scaffold vocab and problems; ELL specialist will go over during push-in 2x/week during math

2.4. Why: Meryem is not a strong math student beyond calculations, but with scaffolding she can feel more confident to try word problems.

3. Provide American culture support in place of vocabulary testing

3.1. Who: myself

3.2. How: in place of the 4th grade vocabulary curriculum, "Wordly Wise," have Yuka work on readings about American culture from "Introducing the USA" reader for ELL students, and complete the assigned worksheets with comprehension, vocab and grammar questions related to the readings

3.3. When/Where: Twice weekly when other students are working on Wordly Wise activities/quizzes; in hallway nook

3.4. Why: the Wordly Wise vocab program is extremely advanced for a new ELL and was taking Meryem so much time each week that it was not worth the effort; additionally, she needs support in learning abut American culture and history, and the readings are written specifically for newcomers to the US who are new to English. Additionally, gives a time for Meryem (and 2 other ELLs) to talk to me about any cultural things they find confusing, in a more relaxed atmosphere than with the whole group

4. Allow time for Meryem to interact with her brother (1st grade)

4.1. Who: Myself, Karyn, brother's teachers

4.2. How: During transitions, such as when 1st grade is going to recess and 4th grade is going to lunch, allow Meryem extra time to see her brother and check in on him, see if he is eating, if he is playing with other kids, etc. Allow her to be called if there is an issue in his class

4.3. When/Where: daily during transitions outside; as needed to 1st grade classroom(s)

4.4. Why: Meryem's daily anxiety is reduced when she has the chance to take care of her younger brother. While we want to foster independence in both students, it would be a comfort for both of them to check in - it allows her to focus on school because she doesn't have focus on her worry for him all day. Additionally, her brother has no Russian, and no other Turkmen speakers in the school, so Meryem can act as interpreter if something happens (such as when a kid knocked his cake to the ground and he punched the kid).

5. Scaffold sentence and paragraph stems for reading summaries and writing pieces

5.1. Who: myself, Karyn

5.2. How: provide separate worksheets with sentence starters and paragraph stems for twice-weekly reading summaries

5.3. When/Where: during reading, and given to take home for homework

5.4. Why: Meryem often needs directions in written form so she can go over them at her own pace. She also needs sentence scaffolds for how to talk about her reading.