SIFE PROGRAMSFOR STUDENTS WITH

INTERRUPTED FORMAL EDUCATION

Betsy MarkmanMurchisonMatadors.org/Markman

Betsy,Markman@Austinisd.orgMurchison Middle School

ESL TeacherSheltered Math for SIFE students

ESL Writing

Please note:

There is a far more interesting version of this slide show, but I can not show it outside my district because it contains photos of my students and their parents.

Definitions

SIFE = Students with Interrupted Formal Education

Students who started school but then had a gap of a semester or longer in the course of their schooling. Usually these are refugees or asylees, but not always.

And………..

SIFE Education serves:

• Students whose education has been interrupted by war, border crossing, financial considerations, safety, and survival.

• Students with no formal education.• Students who attended school only a few

hours daily, but have not missed any years.• Students whose formal education started

later.

This presentation aims to ...

⦿ Show what we do at Murchison to support ELL newcomers in general and SIFE newcomers specifically.

⦿ Show how our program has changed since the influx of SIFE and other refugee students in the past 2 years.

⦿ Show what we’ve found that works on our campus.

The Big Ideas⦿ Students need to feel safe in school and in their

classrooms.⦿ Structures are very important.⦿ The ESL teacher often becomes the person

that the kids and the families trust most.⦿ The ESL classroom is the safe place for

students and their parents.⦿ SIFE students want to do well, want to

participate in everything the other kids are doing.

⦿ But they need more support than typical newcomers.

Identification of SIFE Students⦿ ESL teacher present at registration.

⦿ We have made our own educational history form which includes the number of hours per day of schooling & language of instruction. (Parents sign this, and it becomes part of the data we can use to exempt from testing.)

We involve parents and students in scheduling without needing much language via slideshows like this one, usually on the iPads.

The same slide show teaches conduct expectations.

TestingWe administer LAS LINKS because we have to, but find that the information it provides is limited, so we also do informal testing, including having the student read to us and asking them to write a few sentences in each of their languages. We use a computation test that covers kindergarten to 6th grade skills. Last year, we tested our new kiddos whose families are originally from DRC, at the public library, before the year started.

We keep it all with the LAS LINKS in their folder.

How SIFE students differ from other new English Language Learners

The typical ELL new immigrant

SIFE new arrivals

⦿ Academic knowledge and skills are present, and can be transferred to English.

⦿ More used to school structures and the processes of classroom learning.

⦿ May have had a chance to say goodbye to friends.

⦿ May have never been in a classroom.

⦿ May not trust unfamiliar adults.

⦿ May be intimidated by school.

⦿ Very likely to have PTSD issues.

⦿ Very likely to be in a family with PTSD issues.

Family-School ConnectionWe have no parent support specialist, but we provide the following:⦿ We have the ability to text in

any language to individual parents or groups via https://mightytext.net/

⦿ We make home visits.⦿ Our PTA pays for dance

admission and field trip fees.

One parent texted me a pic of his brand new American baby.

PTA & Church Support

⦿ We work with PTA volunteers and a local church to provide household goods and clothing.

⦿ The same church hosts a “Free Shopping Day” twice a year and a Sunday Thanksgiving feast for our refugee families. One of us attends.

Our refugee program (which is the bulk of our ENL newcomers program) has been adopted by the church that rents space from Murchison on Sundays. This has been HUGE!

Community Support

25+ Church and PTA members help with the following:⦿ Reading buddies in ENL class⦿ Transportation for families to the Target

where teens can get clothing.⦿ Transportation to the PAC for concerts.⦿ Inclusion support in math, science & social

studies classes.⦿ Cooking for celebrations.⦿ A “bring your mail” day to help parents.⦿ A million other things

Day of Sharing - Free Shopping Day

Portraits of a few Murchison SIFE students:

A.⦿ Speaks Turkmen at home. ⦿ Attended school in a shortened day for 2 years with

instruction in Kurdish.⦿ One year of no schooling.⦿ Two and a half years of schooling in Arabic, a

language he didn’t speak, in a classroom of 60 boys, for three hours a day.

⦿ Learned that he wasn’t expected to understand school – just to sit quietly.

E.⦿ Attended school for two years in Myanmar, with

instruction in a different dialect of Burmese than the one spoken at home.

⦿ Her next school was in a refugee camp in Malaysa. Instruction in English, but the only class with open seats was 2nd grade, so she repeated second.

⦿ No schooling for three years before arrival in United States.

⦿ Learned to love school and is an eager student.

B.

⦿ Born in DRC and fled to a refugee camp in Burundi with mom and extended family when she was a toddler.

⦿ Speaks Kinyarwanda at home, but education was in Swahili and French, but was such that she can not hold a conversation in French.

⦿ Morning session of school was free, but the afternoon classes cost money, so she was only able to attend when mom could pay.

The first week⦿ Full backpack (Backpacks are provided by a

local church.)⦿ Tour guides – usually another ELL who speaks

the same language and can guide them through the school the first day and explain the cafeteria.

⦿ Lunch cards. – bright yellow. These include name, ID number, language, English level, enrollment date, whether or not they eat pork, and the phone number of the ESL portable.

⦿ A “Please welcome …..” letter to teachers.⦿ SAFE SPACE pass back to the ESL rooms

These cards are given to all new ELLs who enroll, with Murchison as their first school in the United States. However, we designed them primarily with ELLs in mind.

We re-write their schedules.

Sample welcome letter to teachersGood afternoon, Please welcome our newest 6th grader ___. She uses both her first and middle names as her name. She has recently come from Afghanistan, where she was in school for kinder-2nd grade only. She will be on free lunch. She is in Laurie’s beginner class, and she speaks Pashto. Please email us with any questions. Thanks! Betsy

The teachers know “free lunch” means to ask us for supplies.

Numbers, their names and days of the week are vital!

We use a lot of technology, even the first week or two.

❏ http://www.starfall.com/n/level-k/index/load.htm❏ http://www.abcya.com/letter_match_uppercase_lowercase.htm ❏ http://www.abcya.com/letter_trace.htm❏ http://www.primarygames.com/math/learnnumbers/ ❏ http://www.abcya.com/number_bingo.htm ❏ http://www.abcya.com/connect_the_dots_10.htm ❏ http://www.abcya.com/number_match.htm ❏ http://www.henryanker.

com/Math/Number_Sense/Kinder/K_Number_Basics_Set_1.swf❏ http://www.henryanker.

com/Math/Number_Sense/Kinder/K_Number_Basics_Set_2.swf❏ http://www.henryanker.

com/Math/Number_Sense/Kinder/K_Number_Basics_Set_3.swf❏ http://www.abcya.com/shapes_colors_bingo.htm

Murchison Facts and Classes 2015-16 as of January 15, 2016.

⦿ 1360+ students⦿ 137 English Language

Learners⦿ 34 Immigrant Status⦿ 22 Refugee/Asylee

(years 1-5)⦿ 54 monitored

⦿ 3 ESL/ENL Teachers

CLASSES: ⦿ ENL Beginners* (14)⦿ ENL High Beginners* (11)⦿ ENL Intermediates (18)⦿ ENL Writing (long term ELLs)⦿ ENL Reading (long term ELLs)⦿ Sheltered 6th World Cultures⦿ Sheltered math for SIFE (from

beginner to long-term)⦿ ENL Study Skills⦿ Tutorials after school, 1 hour x 3

days for all subjects* Inclusion Support offered in social studies & science by ESL Staff , teachers with off periods, and community volunteers.

Most of each newcomer (beginner, high beginner & intermediate) class is made up of refugees.

SIFE Education at Murchison

⦿ Like our other ELLs, SIFE students are with us for ENL Class. (We renamed ESL to ENL – English as a New Language, because many of our students are learning English as a third, fourth or fifth language.)

⦿ Like our other ELLs, they are in an immigrant advisory with an ESL teacher.

⦿ Like our other ELLs, they are in a general education class for science and social studies, sometimes with inclusion support.

But also…..⦿ We developed a SIFE study skills class that can

focus on skills like the following:● Handwriting● Cutting and gluing● Numbers● How to use a computer. (Many of them had never

touched one before they started school.)● Homework help● 2014-15 – Trauma counselors worked with boys 45

minutes each week and girls for 45 minutes on a different day. (Program is unavailable 2015-16)

SIFE Study Skills

⦿ If possible, we find them a classmate with the same language to assist them in study skills, the cafeteria, and class. (We then separate them in a month or so and ask a classmate with a different language to assist.)

⦿ We organize their binder, folders and agenda with them.

⦿ We support their learning in other subjects.⦿ We help with homework from all subject

areas.

She needed to draw HEADS and TAILS of a penny for a probability assignment in her regular math class. (This is before we created the sheltered math class.) With such limited schooling, she does not copy well, so I let her and another SIFE classmate trace them from the board.

This activity supported the grammar and vocabulary lesson in the beginner ENL (ESL) class, and also gave students a chance to practice their cutting and gluing skills.

Supporting 8th graders in US History

Sheltered Math Started in the SIFE study skills class

SIFE Study Skills supports the regular class:⦿ All the 6th graders work on the same world

cultures current event.⦿ All 7th graders work on the same science

current event.

I always choose a topic where I can find video to go with a topic from here, and I print from https://newsela.com/ at the lowest lexile available. Sometimes we use Scholastic News, which has excellent photos.

Our current events have a differentiated format.

⦿ Students with no English yet draw pictures from the video and copy labels from a lined post-it. (I write in perfect handwriting on the post-it.)

⦿ Students with some English copy phrases into a WHO-WHAT-WHEN-WHERE organizer.

⦿ Students in the high beginner class write sentences from sentence stems in the organizer.

⦿ Students in the intermediate class write their own sentences and a short summary.

Low beginner high beginner& intermediate

ScienceCurrentEvent

This student was in her second year of formal schooling, having arrived in the Spring of 5th grade with no previous formal education. On her own, she chose to write a book. I labeled her first picture and she wrote the others, with help from a picture dictionary.

Comprehensible Material

⦿ Picture dictionaries⦿ Very simple books with good pictures, but that

do not look too babyish.⦿ Google images⦿ Websites for ESL and math⦿ Bilingual dictionaries only if the students are

literate. (One Iraqi girl asked for a Turkish dictionary since she’d forgotten how to read in Arabic.)

We just started a SIFE math class

⦿ A SIFE student can have some success in a history or geography class when teachers use sheltered instruction methods.

⦿ A SIFE student can have some success in a science class when teachers use sheltered instruction methods.

⦿ It is almost impossible for a student who was never taught multiplication or division to be successful in a middle school math class.

The idea behind SIFE Math⦿ A smaller class with small group differentiation.⦿ Content pulled from primary grade TEKS⦿ All content is taken from the building blocks for

middle school content.⦿ Simplified version of grade level TEKS

● We learn the first quadrant of the coordinate grid because few students are familiar with negative numbers.

⦿ Hands-on with manipulatives, foldables and student-created anchor charts.

⦿ Computer or iPad use daily.

Note that math and English are integrated. Writing made use of sentence frames. Students wrote first on paper, then copied.

This activity involved cutting, gluing, math vocabulary, academic English discussion, and a cooperative group.

Math Reference folder with a foldables and mini anchor charts

All new immigrants need instruction in US money and measurement. (Not just SIFE.)

This goes with the following slide.

Students use reference materials in order to have success on independent work.

Student-createdanchor charts

Math for the first weeks

A simple activity like this allows them to practice their colors and write our numbers even when they’re new to school and math.

A few weeks later - New colors and harder addition

Manipulatives

DifferentiationI wrote their names on tape that covers the grade level on the book, but most kids don’t mind their classmates seeing that. They don’t like kids in other classes seeing the level of their math books.

Integration: One picture, many skills

Money, fruit, math facts, colors, simple word problems, & signal words. I also have the students write their own word problems when they’re learning question words in ENL class.

During inclusion support in the regular 6th grade math class, my students did only the word problems that I could illustrate for them on a white board, and we worked as a group.

The math is still too hard for this group, more than a year later, and is part of the reason we developed the sheltered math class.

Integrating writing, art and math.

Other Structures in ENL⦿ Lifelong Journal*⦿ Fun Friday

● listening comprehension● awareness of, and

participation in the school culture

⦿ Ask the Expert⦿ Tour Guides⦿ Cultural Celebrations*⦿ Immigrant Advisory* Separate Slide

How the Lifelong Journal helps SIFE students

● all ENL classes, 15 minutes, 4x/week● Students write in any language● Students may copy (if they note that it is from

a book or song)● Students may draw● Teacher NEVER writes in the journal.● Teacher leaves post-it comments that

students may answer, or that form the basis for the writing conference, and skills groups

● Students share their feelings and histories● Students may choose to keep a page private.

Beginner - with picture dictionary

Someone spelled the word “buy” but he didn’t hear the difference between O and U. His sports shirts are soccer and shirts.

high beginner

high beginner

high beginner - Note the use of the native language (Burmese) and the interactive nature. Half her entries are love notes to the teacher.

Cultural Celebrations

Teach, learn, and have a party.

Paper, internet research, personal photos, clothing, Google slides presentation, food from the country.

Teachers model the process.

September, high beginner - EID

This is after editing with an adult.

September, intermediate

Immigrant Advisory 90% of what we do is the same as other advisory classes of the same grade, but there are some activities specifically geared toward students who are new to the United States, particularly beforeholidays or pep rallies. This is alsowhere we teach them anythingfrom crossing the street in theU.S. to fire drills.

It’s also a time when wecan have class meetings andresolve conflicts between peers.

A rare opportunity to write in their own languages.

Our Technology Program (for newcomers and some long-term ELLs)

We have 7 iPads with the following apps: The school has purchased licenses for these:⦿ Spelling City⦿ Kids A to Z⦿ IXL

Assorted free apps.

We also have 10 iPods with recordings of books that kids can take home.

Computer programs:

⦿ Spelling City⦿ Kids A to Z⦿ IXL⦿ Starfall⦿ My Reading Coach⦿ henryanker.com/⦿ http://www.abcya.com/ ⦿ www.esolhelp.com/⦿ Mathplayground.com⦿ http://www.math-play.com/⦿ http://studyjams.scholastic.com/

For more, see MurchisonMatadors.org/Markman

We help students install these apps on their own devices if they have one.

Further reading:

http://www.colorincolorado.org/article/how-support-ell-students-interrupted-formal-education-sifes

Office of English Language Learning & Migrant Education: Indiana Department of Education. Effective Programs for English Language Learners (ELL) with Interrupted Formal Education. 2008. www.doe.in.gov/englishlanguagelearning

http://www.schools.utah.gov/fsp/ELL-Services/Educator-Resources/InterruptedEducation.aspx

http://www.brycs.org/documents/upload/SIFE-Article-final-OT.pdf