District 157-C Family Night for English Language Learners

With a theme of “We Give Thanks,” friendship, fun, language and culture were the key ingredients at a recent English Language Learner (ELL) Family Night. Superintendent Dr. Maura Zinni welcomed the District 157-C families as they enjoyed dinner and listened to a presentation about the ELL program. The students also created a picture frame to use at home to display photos taken of their families. The Frankfort Public Library, the District’s Family School Partnership (FSP) and the Frankfort Park District also joined in this event. The overall focus was to make the families aware of the resources available to them and to encourage them to become more involved in the school and community.

In Frankfort District 157-C, there are 30 pre-kindergarten through eighth grade students currently listed as English Language Learners. These are students who came to the district speaking a language other than English or who live in a home where another language is spoken and now are learning English at school. Their languages include Russian, Spanish, Arabic, Portuguese, German, Japanese, Mandarin, Chinese, Urdu and French.

The District’s ELL teachers are Jenny Griffin for Grand Prairie and Chelsea students and Johanna Bartolomeo for Hickory Creek Middle School students. Families registering their students at District 157-C are given a home language survey. When a language other than English is spoken at home, students are screened in the domains of speaking, listening, reading and writing. The ELL program works hand-in-hand with the primary teachers so that the student’s classroom program is supported. The ELL program also combines the English language proficiency standards and common core state standards to create content and language goals for students. It also utilizes the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment Consortium (WIDA) which advances academic language development and academic achievement for linguistically diverse students through high quality standards, assessments, research and professional development for educators.

The daily activities for all grades include working with interactive notebooks using vocabulary picture dictionaries, graphic organizers, grammar practice and writing enrichment. It also includes visual representations such as posters, technology and total physical response. Kindergarten and first grade students retell the events of a familiar story using key details. Second graders participate in a pen-pal program with the Mokena School District and learn to write “how to” books. Third grade students learn about literal and non-literal language such as idioms like “pulling my leg.” Fourth graders learn about inferencing and fifth graders learn about figurative language as it applies to a story in the classroom. Sixth and seventh graders also use interactive notebooks to study the structure of a story and vocabulary learning.

Each January, ELL students take the ACCESS for ELLs (Assessing Comprehension and Communication in English State-to-State for English Language Learners.) This is a secure large-scale English language proficiency assessment given to Kindergarten through 12th graders who have been identified as English Language Learners. The test results are received by the schools at end of the year and determine the students’ English proficiency level, which helps to guide instruction.

The English Language Learner program is a key program of instruction as students transition to the English language in all areas. The program is partially funded through a state grant written every year. Part of the grant requires that the district host a Family Night to bring together the families of the many languages represented for a fun and educational experience. Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Janet McClarence, stated, “The Family Night is a nice way to celebrate the success of our students. We are very proud of the work we have done over the past six years to ensure that there is differentiation of instruction to meet the needs of all of our students. Our ELL program is getting wonderful results based on testing and monitoring by the state.”

During their classes, students also spend time exploring different cultures. A variety of projects have been completed to learn about the students’ cultures. A project at the beginning of the year had students create an “All About Me” web. It explained members of their family, special events and holidays, religion and important values. These were shared and discussed with their grade level groups. ELL teacher Jenny Griffin stated, “It was wonderful to see how excited the students were to share what was special to them. It was also fun and interesting to listen to students explain how their culture, values and beliefs were the same and different.”

Students have also shared literature in their native language. After the recent Family Night, representatives from the Frankfort Public Library said they plan to order books in the different languages spoken in District 157-C. Mrs. Griffin said, “This will be a great resource for supporting reading development at home. Having the community representatives at the event also helped make community resources more accessible to families.” The Family Night also provided a way for families of the district to get to know one another. ELL teacher Johanna Bartolomeo stated, “This event was a great opportunity for families to meet each other. A few families mentioned plans to get their families together, which made the night even more successful.”

Many of the students shared that they enjoyed taking pictures and making picture frames with their families, seeing their pictures in the presentation showing the activities they have done in the ELL program and having a special dinner with their families and teachers. Mrs. Griffin continued, “As it stated in our event’s theme, we are thankful for our families, our school and our community. We are grateful for the wonderful turnout at our Family Night, as well as the opportunity to talk and share information with our families.”