TEACHER RESOURCES

What are the English Language Proficiency Standards?

The ELP Standards are a classroom tool for informing instruction and assisting teachers in evaluating limited English proficient (LEP) students’ progress in their acquisition of English proficiency. They also facilitate the alignment of curriculum between English language development services and the general education program. This resource will assist in access to the mainstream curriculum in order to increase the potential for LEP students to participate in the general education program.

The ELP Standards are organized by level and include indicators at each level of English proficiency, Level 1 (Beginner) to Level 5 (Fluent), to describe what students at each level should know and be able to do. 

Elementary

• As our demographics continue to become more diverse across the state of Indiana, there is a growing need for educators to become more proficient in meeting the learning needs of language minority students.   Servicing English Language Learner’s (ELs’s) has many guidelines and accountability measures that can be complex to navigate.  To better support our hard working teachers in their efforts to maximize ELs student achievement, we have organized a list of helpful resources.

  The following links provide helpful information on a range of topics from ELs best practices to the English Language Proficiency Standards (ELP) for the state of Indiana.  We hope your learning journey yields high results!

  For questions regarding internal resources contact the LAP Office at 988-8653.

• ELP Standards - What are the English Language Proficiency Standards? The ELP Standards are a classroom tool for informing instruction and assisting teachers in evaluating limited English proficient (LEP) students' progress in their acquisition of English proficiency. They also facilitate the alignment of curriculum between English language development services and the general education program. This resource will assist in access to the mainstream curriculum in order to increase the potential for LEP students to participate in the general education program. The ELP Standards are organized by level and include indicators at each level of English proficiency, Level 1 (Beginner) to Level 5 (Fluent), to describe what students at each level should know and be able to do.
  
  
• Individualized Instruction Plans (ILP’s) – Each student in the Language Assistance Program has an ILP which provides general education and content teachers with directives on classroom modifications, classroom collaboration and appropriate ESL instructional practices to meet the educational needs of the student at their language proficiency level.  The ILP’s are available in English and Spanish.
  
  
• LAP Teacher Handbook – The Language Assistance Program (LAP) Teacher Handbook is designed to help general education and content area teachers understand the legal background, instructional needs, and program expectations for educating English Language Learners (ELs’s).  This is a resource manual which contains additional ideas and examples of appropriate modifications for lesson delivery, reading instruction, project work and assessments.  If a teacher has difficulty understanding how to implement appropriate modifications, he/she can contact their building LAP staff or the Office of Special Services for further assistance.  
  
  
• Indiana Academic Standards (Spanish) – If you would like to share the Indiana Academic Standards with you’re Spanish speaking families; you can easily download them from the Indiana Department of Education’s website.
  
  
• ELs Professional Library – The English Language Learner Library is a new local Wayne resource for teachers and administrators.  The Language Assistance Program (LAP) Office has compiled a series of books and audio visual materials for professional development and/or guidance on the latest research for maximizing the achievement of ELs students. 
  
  
• Teacher websites - In addition to the websites listed on the student page, teachers can access the following websites for helpful vocabulary worksheets, interactive grammar exercises, important research on what you can do to support your ELs students, and much more. 
  

  http://www.ohiou.edu/esl/english/vocabulary.html
  

  Appropriate for high school students - contains sections for practice in English grammar, reading, writing, listening and vocabulary. 

  http://www.vocabulary.co.il/A vocabulary oriented site that is educational, fun, simple to use and user friendly.  The site has vocabulary activities for K-12 in various formats – wordsearch, hangman, quizzes, crosswords, match game and jumbled words.

  http://esl.about.com/od/engilshvocabulary/ 
  Resources for teachers on a wide range of topics.

  http://www.tesol.net/teslact.html  
  Includes links to many other ELs websites that offer innovative ways to work with your ELs students.

  http://www.usingenglish.com/teachers.html
  ESL Teacher Resources – 249 grammar and vocabulary handouts for ELs teachers or general education teachers to use.

  http://www.csun.edu/~hcedu013/eslplans.html
  Provides lesson plans, activities and ESL resources.

  http://www.eslactivities.com/cwlist.php
  ESL Activities.com is a collection of lesson plans, games, puzzles, and other resources for ELs and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers. ELs Activities.com also has several systems set up that allow teachers to customize activities with their own content, making the activities much more versatile and also allow other teachers to have access to the activities they create.

  http://www.pbs.org/teachersource/
  Has resources by curricular subject, grade level and standards; details on PBS station outreach activities in your community; tips on how to effectively teach with technology; convenient tools for teaching, such as recommended books and Web sites

  http://legacy.teachersfirst.com/content/esl/adaptstrat.cfm  -
  You have tried-and-true lesson plans, but now you have an ELs student  in your classroom who needs help to be able to accomplish these lessons. Try TeachersFirst’s Adapt-a-Strategy page, in quick reference format, to look up your lesson’s activity types and find ways to adapt the lesson to meet your ESL student’s needs.

  http://www.ccproject.org/ 
  The Creative Connections Project – Bring the World Right Into Your Classroom.  Travel online to the world region you are studying: Africa, China, Latin America, the Amazon Rain Forest, the Galapagos Islands or the Arctic. Interact with students who live there in English, Spanish or Chinese. Exchange student artwork, music, scrapbooks, letters, E-mail Q & A's, PowerPoint presentations, audio files or videos with overseas partner classes or schools. All K-12 classrooms and schools welcome!

  http://www.pics4learning.com/
  This site is a "copyright-friendly image library for teachers and students. The Pics4Learning collection consists of thousands of images that have been donated by students, teachers, and amateur photographers." 

  http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html
  This is a great resource for content area graphics, word banks and much more! A subscription is required for full access to the website’s resources.

  http://colorincolorado.org/
  This website offers resources in English and Spanish to Parents and Educators for ELs students.

  http://www.balancedreading.com/
  This site provides a variety of research based resources for teachers that need help on how to teach reading.