So after a year of being off on maternity leave with my daughter, I have returned to work in June. As many of you may guess this was a difficult transition for me, but through some early morning tears, I made it. I am glad to be back in my two schools again, if only for 5 weeks until the summer vacation.
I was fortunate to have had my position covered by two amazing teachers but none the less I have to get to know the students again and re-assess them to determine strengths and needs. This assessment can be a quick process or a difficult one. Often you may ask “Where do I start when they don’t speak English?” I will be following the assessment used from ERGO (ESL/ELD Resource Group of Ontario).
My Process for End of Year Assessment
Oral Interview asking personal questions
Basic skills overview (letters, numbers, colours, basic vocabulary)
Looking at a picture and labeling the vocabulary
Reading a story about the picture
Write a story about your connection to the picture.
I compare the results of these activities to determine what step each student is working on using the criteria here.
For a better understanding of the Steps of Language Acquisition, this support document may be helpful.
These activities give me a good idea of how the student’s language is progressing. I complete these assessments at the beginning of the year, sometimes throughout the year, and at the end of the year. This information along with data collected from the classroom teacher and student work done with me helps to identify which step of language acquisition each students is working on.