ESL curriculum for grades 9-12 is aligned
with NJ Core Content Standards for ESL, national TESOL standards for grades 4-8, and NJ state proficiency levels 1-5.
ESL classes at the
high school level are arranged by proficiency level, not by grade level.
Students are placed into one of three ESL classes (ESL 1, 2, or 3) using the NJ
State scale (proficiency levels 1-5). In
general, students with proficiency 1 are placed in ESL 1, students with
proficiency 2 or 3 are placed in ESL 2, and those with proficiency 4 or 5 are
placed in ESL 3.
Standard 1: English Language learners communicate in English for Social and Instructional purposes within school setting
Domain: Listening- process, understand, interpret, and evaluate spoken language in a variety of situations.
Proficiency Level 1 - (Entering)
Objective: Student will be able to respond (non-verbally) to commands pertaining to classroom routines (e.g.- “Close your book.”)
Sample Activities:
-
Teacher observes student in everyday activities
to assess whether comprehension is being achieved.
-
Class participates in TPR activities, where
teacher plays game with students. To stay in the game, students must correctly
perform the physical activities asked by the teacher. (e.g.- Pick up your
pencil. Open your bookbag and put the
pencil inside.) Commands become gradually harder, with more steps involved.
Proficiency Level
2 - (Beginning)
Objective: Student will be able to respond (non-verbally) to questions pertaining to multiple-step classroom instructions (e.g.- What is the last word on page 45 of dictionary?)
Sample Activities:
-
Class participates in textbook “scavenger
hunt”. Using an appropriate grade level
textbook from any subject, (or dictionary, or novel), teacher calls out
commands and comes around the room to see that each person has completed them
before calling out the next command. (Open the textbook to the glossary, and
look up the word “atom”.)
Proficiency Level
3 - (Developing)
Objective: Student will be able to respond (non-verbally) to explicit language pertaining to classroom instructions.
Sample Activities:
-
Every day, teacher gives some instructions
orally, before writing them on the board, to gauge oral listening skills.
-
Students read instructions to each other, more
than once if necessary, to help practice listening skills in English.
Proficiency Level
4 - (Expanding).
Objective: Student will be able to respond (non-verbally) to idiomatic expressions pertaining to classroom instructions. (e.g.- “What does hit the books mean?”)
Sample Activities:
-
Teacher provides worksheet with several common
American idiomatic expressions( e.g.- “ace a test”, “cut it out”, “hit the books”,
“bomb horribly”) . Students use idiom
dictionaries to find the meanings of these expressions, then next to each, draw
a small illustration to show the meaning.
Proficiency Level
5 - (Bridging)
Objective: Student will be able to respond (non-verbally) to figurative language pertaining to classroom instructions (such as to the use of hyperboles or metaphors).
Sample Activities:
-
Teacher uses warm-up time each day to present a
new example of figurative language.
Students freewrite, then discuss to determine the meaning of the new
expression.
-
Teacher periodically quizzes students orally on comprehension
of figurative language use in the classroom.
Domain: Speaking- engage in oral communication in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes and audiences
Proficiency Level
1 - (Entering)
Objective: Student will be able to answer questions that express likes and dislikes.
Sample Activities:
-
Each day, in a warm-up, students are asked to
think about questions about themselves. (e.g. – What is your favorite kind of
music? What kind of music so you dislike?) Students have a few minutes to share
and discuss with their classmates.
Proficiency Level
2 - (Beginning)
Objective: Student will be able to answer a range of questions that express personal preferences.
Sample Activities:
-
Students are given a list of questions and asked
to pick a partner. Students take turns
asking and answering each other.
-
Students may introduce themselves at the
beginning of the year, and answer a set of questions about themselves as a
means of getting acquainted with each other.
Proficiency Level
3 - (Developing)
Objective: Student will be able to express personal preferences or points of view.
Sample Activities:
-
After reading a short story, students break into
groups to discuss their opinions of the story. Teacher assists as necessary to
keep discussion going.
-
Students periodically pair and share during
reading of a novel to discuss the answers to several questions provided by the
teacher. Teacher assists if necessary.
Proficiency Level
4 - (Expanding).
Objective: Student will be able to express and defend personal preferences, opinions, or points of view.
Sample Activities:
- As part of a layered curriculum project, students give an oral critique of a movie they have recently seen. Other students or teacher may ask for clarification, and student responds orally.
- Students may arrange a simple debate, with teacher’s assistance. Students will pick sides on a given topic, and plan out simple statements with evidence to defend their points of view.
Proficiency Level
5 - (Bridging)
Objective: Student will be able to express and defend points of view other than from a personal perspective.
Sample Activities:
- As a follow up project to a unit on a historical period, students choose two or three different groups of people who lived at that time, and recite or read a short monologue for each group, expressing their different points of view.
- A group of students creates a talk show using several famous people or novel characters as models. One student interviews the other characters, and they answer in character as those figures. Videotaping or record the show if possible.
Domain:
Proficiency Level
1 - (Entering)
Objective: Student will be able to identify text features or web resources used for assignments (such as titles or authors).
Sample Activities:
-
Students complete a guided project using a
graphic novel (comic book ) form of a classic novel. Students are guided through questions about
author, illustrator, publisher, etc., as well as many aspects of the story
itself.
-
Students make sample “source cards” in the MLA
format as preparation for a research paper.
Cards must contain information about the author, publisher, title, and
other information to be used on the works cited page.
Proficiency Level
2 - (Beginning)
Objective: Student will be able to match text features or web resources with their uses for assignments.
Sample Activities:
-
Students complete a packet of worksheets based
on the process of researching and writing a paper. One of the worksheets shows several examples
of web information resources on one side (e.g.- Google, Ebsco Host, Library Card
Catalog, Occupational Outlook Handbook) and several topics on the other side
(e.g.- career as an anesthesiologist, types of dinosaurs, Usher) Students match
resources with topics.
Proficiency Level
3 - (Developing)
Objective: Student will be able to match types of books or web resources with information needed for assignments.
Sample Activities:
-
Students go to the library, and with teacher
and/or librarian’s help, find the correct resources to use in an assigned
research paper.
-
Students practice creating source cards with
sample information, and later real information from a research topic.
Proficiency Level
4 - (Expanding).
Objective: Student will be able to use text features or web resources to confirm information for assignments (such as indexes or glossaries)
Sample Activities:
- Students use computers in the room, or in the library, to look up information needed for a project or paper. Students learn to use search engines such as Google or Yahoo, and how to make an effective search.
- Students use glossaries in grade level textbooks to extend knowledge of key terms and processes from a lesson in a subject area classroom, such as mathematics or science.
Proficiency Level
5 - (Bridging)
Objective: Student will be able to scan entries in books or web sites to locate information for assignments.
Sample Activities:
-
Students participate in grade level library
orientation, or specially organized library orientation where librarian
instructs students on the authenticity of web sites and how to tell, plus how
to use a search engine effectively. Students practice in the following weeks,
finding and retrieving information from appropriate web sites with teacher’s
guidance.
-
Students are given weekly vocabulary words from
various subject areas, and independently find definitions to the words in a
dictionary or glossary of appropriate textbook.
Domain: Writing- engage in written communication in a variety of forms for a variety of purposes and audiences.
Proficiency Level
1 - (Entering)
Objective: Student will be able to complete forms read orally with identifying information or produce facts about self.
Sample Activities:
-
Daily journal entries or weekly writing
assignments may be used to reinforce students’ ability to write about
themselves.
-
Students engage in role playing activity with
the teacher, who pretends to be a bank clerk or librarian collecting
information for an account or library card. Students fill out a written form
asking for information.
Proficiency Level
2 - (Beginning)
Objective: Student will be able to complete real life forms.
Sample Activities:
- Teacher copies or recreates real life forms, such as job applications, doctor’s office forms, credit application forms, etc. Students practice filling them out with teacher’s assistance.
Proficiency Level
3 - (Developing)
Objective: Student will be able to create announcements, invitations, or form paragraphs stating who, what, when, where, and why.
Sample Activities:
-
Students look at pictures from magazines that
depict people having different kinds of get-togethers.(e.g.- wedding, birthday
party, anniversary, award ceremony, etc) Looking at pictures, each student
brainstorms an imaginary set of circumstances to match the picture they have
selected, and creates an invitation to match the picture.
-
Using a scene from a novel or short story, in
small groups, students re-create the circumstances and make an invitation to
match the scene in the story.
Proficiency Level
4 - (Expanding).
Objective: Student will be able to make requests, apologize, or compose or respond to emails or personal messages in extended paragraphs.
Sample Activities:
- After reading a novel, students are asked to respond to a HSPA type open ended prompt that asks them to write to the main character and solve a problem for them.
- Students write sample letters to colleges, requesting college catalogs or housing information. With a partner, they revise and edit, then rewrite letters after teacher’s final approval. (If students are really planning to go to college soon, letters can be sent)
Proficiency Level
5 - (Bridging)
Objective: Student will be able to compose social letters, editorials, advice columns, reviews, or resumes.
Sample Activities:
- Students create a class newspaper with a “Dear Abby” type column. Students take turns writing letters with imaginary problems, and writing back with a solution. Newspaper can be typed, printed out, and distributed to the class.
-
Students take a class trip to a movie, to watch,
comprehend, discuss, and form opinions
about. As a follow up activity when
students return, they each write their own critique of the movie, revise, edit,
and rewrite it.
Standard 2: English Language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in the content area of Language Arts.
Domain: Listening- process, understand, interpret, and evaluate spoken language in a variety of situations.
Proficiency Level
1 - (Entering)
Objective: Student will be able to identify and locate sources of information based on oral directions and visual support.
Sample Activities:
-
Teacher directs students orally, as they look
for text features that may help them gain understanding in a grade level
language arts text book. (e.g.- students look at the margin on the teacher’s
instruction to find the definition to an unfamiliar word.
Proficiency Level
2 - (Beginning)
Objective: Student will be able to select or sort sources of information based on oral descriptions and use visual support.
Sample Activities:
-
Student read several articles about a particular
author. During discussion, student
follows oral directions as teacher or other students refer orally to certain
passages.
-
Librarian assists student in preparing a
research paper by directing him orally to certain areas of the library, or
certain reference materials on the shelves or the internet.
Proficiency Level
3 - (Developing)
Objective: Student will be able to compare and contrast sources of information based on oral discourse.
Sample Activities:
-
Students work in small groups, discussing a
topic and information they have read about.
Teacher assists in discussion, leading students to compare and contrast
the information from different sources.
Proficiency Level
4 - (Expanding).
Objective: Student will be able to connect information from various sources based on oral discourse.
Sample Activities:
-
When reading a novel together, students
participate in literature circles. At
different times, students take the role of being the “connector”. They provide and research if necessary, any
connections between the literature, and the world that they live in today.
-
During warm-up times, teacher asks questions for
discussion, leading students to make connections between the worlds of their
parents and their own, and the world of the future, as well as fictional worlds
from literature.
Proficiency Level
5 - (Bridging)
Objective: Student will be able to evaluate information from various sources based on oral discourse.
Sample Activities:
- Students participate in mini debates about characters or issues from grade level language arts textbooks. Students sit in small groups, or in a class circle, and offer opinions. Teacher leads students to carefully examine information and respond.
- Students work in small teams when completing projects. They use oral skills to decide which sources of information will be the best for their project. Students call on teacher to assist if necessary.
Domain: Speaking- engage in oral communication in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes and audiences
Proficiency Level
1 - (Entering)
Objective: Student will be able to state facts related to the news or information in visually supported magazines or newspapers read orally.
Sample Activities:
-
Students look through newspapers, to find
stories they know something about.
Teacher assists by reading the story orally with the student, assisting
student in underlining key words or phrases.
Student makes 3-5 oral statements about the article to conclude the
activity.
-
Begin rudimentary current events activity. Each week, students find an interesting
article, read, discuss and compose a few sentences about with teacher’s help.
Students recite or read their information aloud to the class.
Proficiency Level
2 - (Beginning)
Objective: Student will be able to differentiate opinions from facts related to information in visually supported magazines or newspapers read orally.
Sample Activities:
- Students read simple articles with illustrations from newspapers or magazines. Teacher reads articles aloud with student. They use different colored highlighters to mark what the student thinks are opinions or facts. Students orally share their conclusions with other students, and get their point of view.
Proficiency Level
3 - (Developing)
Objective: Student will be able to provide facts and opinions to articulate arguments related to opinion.
Sample Activities:
-
Student engages in oral brainstorming session
with teacher or other students when asked to write a persuasive paper. Students may take notes. Student writing the paper will orally decide
on three PODs (points of development), and reasons or examples to support each
one, with suggestions from the group.
-
Students engage in monthly speeches on issues
they feel strongly about. Other students listen and have a discussion session
after each speech.
Proficiency Level
4 - (Expanding).
Objective: Student will be able to critique in detail, editorials, reviews, or literary works read orally.
Sample Activities:
- During the reading of a novel, students participate in a literature circle. One role is critic. That student provides opinions orally to the group, about the literature. Students must be encouraged to have reasons for their opinions.
- Students may create and film a weekly or monthly film critic segment. Students watch a movie in class, then select three to five students for the segments. Students are filmed orally giving their opinions about the movie they watched.
Proficiency Level
5 - (Bridging)
Objective: Student will be able to debate issues with coherent arguments related to editorials, critiques, reviews, or literary works read orally.
Sample Activities:
- During warm up time, students are given the opportunity to read a short editorial, freewrite on the issue for a few minutes, then orally discuss what they have read. Students should be encouraged to select passages or sentences from what they have read to support their opinions.
Domain:
Proficiency Level
1 - (Entering)
Objective: Student will be able to identify words and phrases related to author’s purpose. Student will be able to match key vocabulary within graphic supported texts to visuals.
Sample Activities:
-
Class reads simple short story together. Teacher assists class in determining the
theme of the story. Students underline or highlight clues in the text.
-
Students create a vocabulary list from a novel
or story. Using the list, students locate or draw pictures that illustrate the
key concepts from the list they have created from the text.
Proficiency Level
2 - (Beginning)
Objective: Student will be able to identify ideas related to author’s purpose. Student will be able to locate key facts in graphics and texts.
Sample Activities:
-
Get students into the habit of using post it
notes to mark key features in the text. Students
write notes on the post-its, then stick them to key pages in the text for easy
location later.
-
Teacher provides guided worksheets which lead
students step by step through the graphic features in a leveled reading
text. (e.g.- Now look at the bottom of
page 32. These are called footnotes. They give us important information about
what we are reading. Write what it says in the footnote on page 32
_______________.)
Proficiency Level
3 - (Developing)
Objective: Student will be able to identify ideas and supporting details related to author’s purpose. Student will be able to summarize information in graphics and text.
Sample Activities:
-
Students keep a summary log in a notebook while
reading a novel. Every chapter, or every
several pages, they stop reading and form a summary of what they have just
read. Students should not read on if
they cannot form a summary, but go back and reread.
-
Students use different colored highlighters to
find main ideas and supporting details in a text.
Proficiency Level
4 - (Expanding).
Objective: Student will be able to analyze information related to author’s purpose. Student will be able to make generalizations from explicit and implicit literary texts.
Sample Activities:
- Students complete sample HSPA style open ended questions. Students find and underline sentences in the text that support ideas and form responses.
- Students create a thesis statement, using information from texts they have read about a topic.
Proficiency Level
5 - (Bridging)
Objective: Student will be able to interpret author’s purpose, and apply to other contexts. Student will be able to identify extended analogies, symbolism, or abstract ideas in literary texts.
Sample Activities:
- Students read several pieces from a unit in an appropriate grade level language arts textbook, then analyze one piece for tone, together, to interpret author’s purpose. Students apply information gained from this activity to the other pieces they have read in the unit.
Domain: Writing- engage in written communication in a variety of forms for a variety of purposes and audiences.
Proficiency Level
1 - (Entering)
Objective: Student will be able to copy facts pertaining to current events or issues. Student will be able to produce key words or phrases from written texts.
Sample Activities:
-
Students fill in spaces on an outline prepared
by the teacher with some key points filled in, and others missing, to be filled
in by students.
-
Class reads article or story aloud, and students
answer a set of questions on a worksheet that asks for some main ideas in the
article or story.
Proficiency Level
2 - (Beginning)
Objective: Student will be able to express opinions or reactions to current events. Student will be able to extract key phrases or sentences from written text.
Sample Activities:
-
Students read a short article or story. Students write in journals, then create
paragraphs expressing their feelings and opinions about what they have read.
-
Students work together with teacher to find
important passages and highlight them as a step towards writing an opinion
paragraph. Students create sentences or
a paragraph using what they have highlighted.
Proficiency Level
3 - (Developing)
Objective: Student will be able to produce editorial comments on current events.
Student will be able to take notes or produce outlines.
Sample Activities:
-
Class reads a current events article. Students take notes on key points, and write
reactions in their journals. They use
their ideas to write simple letters to important political figures expressing
their point of view.
-
Students watch an actual newsreel describing an
important and timely story. Students
write down important facts about the story.
They outline, and write an editorial using the information in their
notes, and their own opinions about the topic.
Proficiency Level
4 - (Expanding).
Objective: Student will be able to rewrite stories on current events or issues in different time frames. Student will be able to summarize notes from written texts in paragraph form.
Sample Activities:
- Students read a story from an appropriate grade level language arts textbook. They create a paragraph outline to summarize the events of the story in a simpler format.
- Students read articles from the local newspaper. They use the events in the article to help them write a short, first person narrative from the point of view of one or more of the characters or objects in the article.
Proficiency Level
5 - (Bridging)
Objective: Student will be able to rewrite stories on current events or issues from different perspectives or points of view. Student will be able to produce essays and reports from notes and outlines.
Sample Activities:
- Students read articles from the local newspaper. They use the events in the article to help them write a short story from the point of view of one of the characters or objects in the article.
-
Students research an important topic in the
field of language arts, such as the life of William Shakespeare. Using information gathered as notes from
various sources, student will outline, organize, write, revise, edit and
rewrite an essay or short paper on the topic.
Standard 3: English Language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in content area of Mathematics
Domain: Listening- process, understand, interpret, and evaluate spoken language in a variety of situations.
Proficiency Level
1 - (Entering)
Objective: Student will be able to select problem-solving tools from oral statements and visual support.
Sample Activities:
-
Teacher guides student in a process learned in a
grade level mathematics class. Teacher shows student drawings of bar graphs, pie
charts and line graphs. Student selects the appropriate tool after verbal
explanation from the teacher.
Proficiency Level
2 - (Beginning)
Objective: Student will be able to select problem-solving tools from oral descriptions.
Sample Activities:
-
Teacher guides student in a process learned in a
grade level mathematics class. Student selects the appropriate tool after
verbal explanation from the teacher.
-
Teacher leads class in listening activity. Students listen to very simple word problems,
and teacher asks students to draw a particular type of chart to illustrate the
information.
Proficiency Level
3 - (Developing)
Objective: Student will be able to select problem-solving tools and methods to address everyday experiences.
Sample Activities:
-
Teacher explains a situation in real life (e.g.-
a store, where the sale price of an item is wrong.) Students brainstorm and select a method of
solving the problem.
Proficiency Level
4 - (Expanding).
Objective: Student will be able to select problem-solving methods from extended oral discourse.
Sample Activities:
- Students form a study group after school, and bring difficult homework or class work to the meetings. Students work together, asking questions, and proposing oral solutions to difficult problems.
Proficiency Level
5 - (Bridging)
Objective: Student will be able to select problem-solving methods and tools from oral reading of grade level math text.
Sample Activities:
-
Students form a study group after school, and
bring difficult homework or class work to the meetings. Students work together, asking questions, and
proposing oral solutions to difficult problems.
Students create and complete sample problems based on oral reading of
the examples in the text.
Domain: Speaking- engage in oral communication in a variety of situations for a variety of purposes and audiences.
Proficiency Level
1 - (Entering)
Objective: Student will be able to state which derived attributes match units of measurement from pictures an notation (such as speed, density, or acceleration). Student will be able to name operations that apply to numbers and figures (such as factoring or coefficients.)
Sample Activities:
-
Weekly vocabulary words should include terms
from all subject areas, including math.
Using grade level text books as a tool, teacher selects key words and
assists students each week in learning pronunciation , spelling, and meaning. Students may be tested orally on these
three elements.
Proficiency Level
2 - (Beginning)
Objective: Student will be able to describe derived attributes and their units of measurement. Student will be able to describe operations that apply to problem solving.
Sample Activities:
-
Students complete problems from grade level
textbooks, and speak aloud, describing the steps of the problem, with
assistance from the teacher. Other
students, and/or teacher provide assistance.
Proficiency Level
3 - (Developing)
Objective: Student will be able to justify mathematical solutions to real life situations.
Sample Activities:
-
Teacher finds an article in the newspaper about
a land dispute or inheritance issue. Students work in a group, proposing
mathematically viable solutions to the issue. (e.g.- Give 10% to each of the
five children, and 50% to his wife)
Proficiency Level
4 - (Expanding).
Objective: Student will be able to discuss the use of derived attributes presented orally from text based math problems. Student will be able to discuss the relevance/usefulness of math-related, real life situations.
Sample Activities:
- Students in small groups use the appropriate grade level textbook to examine the real world functions of math. Students reflect in writing after reading about examples, and then share their thoughts with the group.
Proficiency Level
5 - (Bridging)
Objective: Student will be able to justify and defend mathematical solutions to real life situations.
Sample Activities:
- Students practice creating solutions to mathematical open ended questions by talking through the answers in a small group. Teacher will assist groups as necessary, as they work through an open ended solution orally, in preparation for writing a response.
Domain:
Proficiency Level
1 - (Entering)
Objective: Student will be able to identify numbers in a variety of forms and mathematical notation within visually supported phrases (such as percent, powers, or roots)
Sample Activities:
-
Students play math bingo or concentration, and
match the symbols for math concepts with their words in English. (e.g.-
students match % with “percent” in the concentration game, or teacher calls out
“minus” and students place a chip on the square with the “-“ sign.)
- Students use flash cards to practice math concepts and symbols. Practice should continue until it is almost