B-Background+Information

**Background Information** CELDT

__**What is it?**__ CELDT stands for **C** alifornia **E** nglish **L** anguage **D** evelopment **T** est. It is administered to identify students who have limited English ability and determine their English language proficiency level in listening, reading, speaking, and writing. It is also used to continue monitoring these students' progress.

__**Who Takes the CELDT?**__ State and federal law mandates that school districts administer the CELDT to newly enrolled K-12 students whose primary language is not English (according to the Home Language Survey) and students who were English Learners from the previous year who have not tested out. The CELDT must be administered every year to English Learners until they are reclassified as fluent English proficient (RFEP).

Listening-Strategies and applications (following oral directions, extended listening comprehension, rhyming, listening comprehension) Speaking-Strategies and applications (oral vocabulary, speech functions, choosing and giving reasons, four-picture narrative) Reading-Word analysis, fluency and systematic vocabulary development, reading comprehension, literary response and analysis (alphabet recognition, word analysis, fluency and systematic vocabulary development, reading comprehension, literary analysis) Writing-Strategies and applications, English language conventions (writing words, sentences, and a short story) **
 * __What Does the CELDT ASSESS?__

The No Child Left Behind Act gives guidelines to teachers for the expectations of the English Language Learners in their classrooms. Please review the link below to understand NCLB better. NCLB Title III The ELD standards for the state of California are methodically arranged into categories to streamline the areas of need for English Language Learners. The standards are arranged by grade level. Within each grade level is are Listening/Speaking, Reading, and Writing sections. These standards clearly identify the areas on which teachers need to focus. Please click the link below, to review California State English Language Development Standards. [|englangdevstnd.pdf]
 * No Child Left Behind**
 * California State English Language Development Standards**

=** Curriculum Content **=

It is important to expose English Learners to rich academic vocabulary. Some programs only focus on conversational English. This does not help the student succeed in the classroom when learning new vocabulary words related to the curriculum. **
 * Rich Academic Vocabulary

__Research:__ "Thus, we conclude that direct vocabulary instruction is effective, with both ELL and EO learners, if it incorporates the various principles gleaned from previous work on monolingual English speakers and ELLs (Beck et al., 1987, 2002; Graves, 2000; Nag), National Institute of Child Health and Human Develop- ment, 2000; Stahl & Eairbanks, 1986). We also conclude that teaching children strategies for inferring the meaning of unknown words is effective, with both ELL and EO learn- ers, if it builds on well-verified procedures (Garcia & Nagy, 1993; Graves; Jiménez et al., 1996; Nagy et al., 1993) such as teaching explicitly how to use context cues, teaching morphological analysis, and teaching about cognates" (Carlo et al., 2004, p. 64). =** Oral Language **= Oral language and academic vocabulary development support language and literacy development.

Research shows that vocabulary development is one of the most important skills that ELLs must gain before becoming proficient in English. These include: teach vocabulary in an explicity, systematic way, teach vocabulary thematically, teach vocabulary by focusing on common root words and affixes to expand word knowledge, capitalize on cognates, preview the vocabulary, teach and build, teach vocabulary specific to content, teach signal words, and directional words in order to build a student's academic vocabulary, teach students how to use context clues to figure out a definition of a word, differentiate between different kinds of academic vocabulary and usage, give students multiple opportunities to work with vocabulary, teach students to actively engage with vocabulary as they read.  The teaching tips from Colorin Colorado were provided to increase the reading skills of English Language Learners. Tips included increasing exposure to language through the following: 1. Phonics Instruction 2. Providing grouping opportunities 3. Reading buddies 4. Using books on tapes.

=** Engaging Texts **=

ELLs should be encouraged to read at their appropriate levels and have lots of opportunities to hear rich, visually stimulating stories read aloud.

__Research:__ For example, teachers should introduce novel words in the context of engaging texts. design many activities such as Charades that allow learners to manipulate and analyze word meaning, heighten attention to words in general with techniques like Word Wizard, ensure that learners write and spell the target words several times, ensure repeated exposures to the novel words, and help children note how the word meaning varies as a function of context  (Carlo et al., 2004). 

The teaching tips from Colorin Colorado also suggested to expose the English Learners to text through the following: 1. Rereading familiar texts 2. Using multicultural texts 3. Read and listen to books on tape 4. Using hands-on manipulatives while reading

Strategies for Inferring Meaning of Unknown Words __**Importance of Vocabulary**__ English Learners gain knowledge of the English language and content through active participation in curriculum activities. It is crucial to constantly and consistently expose vocabulary to ELLs. Allowing students to use their first language enhances mental flexibility and problem solving. Students will benefit from using their first language in pre-writing strategies, journal writing, discussion with others who speak the same language, etc. Students gain confidence when English skills learned are used and applied.

__**What are Some Strategies for English Learners When They See a Word They Don't Know?**__ When students run into a word they do not know, they need to learn effective strategies to help them decode on their own. Some strategies include:


 * Use context clues to decipher meaning of unknown words
 * Use word parts to decipher meaning of unknown words
 * Use the dictionary and other tools
 * Come up with a strategy for dealing with unknown words
 * Develop a personal method to build one's vocabulary

Authentic Communication media type="youtube" key="8mgwWhWa0Q8" height="385" width="480" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mgwWhWa0Q8&feature=player_embedded