multi-Level Curriculum
Description of the ESOL
Multi-Level Class
Submitted by Aaron
Leavitt
The information here describes the curriculum. Follow the links in the navigation bar to the left to find course materials.
GRCC is an active part of the Washington State Adult Learning Standards Curriculum Development project. For more information, please visit the SBCTC site for Learning Standards.
Click to read the whole document of a letter for the Multi-Level curriculum or read it below, section by section.
The community-based, multilevel ESOL program serves students in levels 1-3 (low beginning, beginning and high beginning). We have a total of six classes being offered at off-campus sites: Auburn Library, Algona-Pacific Library, Covington Library, Cedar Valley Elementary, Kent Phoenix Academy and Enumclaw campus (please note these classes may not run each quarter). The classes meet twice a week and are 4-5 credits each except Enumclaw, which meets 3 days a week and is 10 credits. Therefore, these classes are less intensive and have a different set of course outcomes and goals than our leveled classes do.
The students we serve in these classes are adult immigrants and refugees of the local communities. Many of these students had little academic experiences in their countries. These students are generally literate in their first language, but may have no English or limited English. They may have some verbal skills, but little or no reading/writing skills (or vice versa).
This letter should assist in answering some of your questions and serve as a guideline regarding available materials and curriculum, teaching methodologies, best practices, assessments, general policies, registration, CASAS testing and course outcomes. As you prepare to teach your multilevel class, please read this letter carefully and keep in mind the following information.
If you have any additional questions, concerns, or want to share some ideas, please do not hesitate to contact me. My email address is aleavitt@greenriver.edu or you can call me at 253-833-9111, ext. 4646. Thank you very much for your time and I wish you the best in your class, quarter, and hope you thoroughly enjoy your multi-level teaching experience.
General Information: The curriculum includes units, question and answer handouts, some supplemental handouts and activities, final exams, and assessment handouts and activities. Also, there are numerous documents which explain the purpose of and the directions how to administer a needs assessment, final exams, phonics readers and activities, as well as daily question and answer handouts.
Units: There are a total of eight thematic units (or topics) in the curriculum. They include: grocery shopping, parts of the body, health: doctor and dentist, maps and directions, jobs and work, forms, activities and hobbies, and family. With the ongoing implementation of the Washington State Standards into our ESOL program, the overall goal of the curriculum is to focus on teaching students learning strategies that are transferable across contexts. Therefore the units are comparable in structure and include similar types of activities, which encourage students to utilize similar learning strategies. The activities address all focal skills and various grammar points.
Question and Answer Handouts: The curriculum includes daily question and answer handouts. The directions how to administer this daily activity is included. These questions and answers are organized by topic and are an extension of each unit. Other supplemental material is also available to coincide with a number of the units. I encourage you to create and/or bring in more supplemental materials to your class for whatever unit you are working on.
Phonics: Since many students have more problems with reading and writing, phonics instruction is an integral part of the curriculum for the lower level students (or higher level students who may need it). Directions on how to administer these activities is included. I cover all short and long vowel sounds each quarter. I use “Sounds Easy” as a resource for materials and activities. We have four copies of this book and if you would like to borrow one for the quarter, please contact me.
Exams
Comprehensive final exams are part of the curriculum as well (see Assessments section).-
Create a learning environment which
promotes a community of collaborative
learning and supports spontaneous peer
teaching.
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Continually remind students it is their
class, and provide opportunities for
students to take control of their
education and language learning
experience.
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Emphasize teaching language learning
strategies which are transferable across
contexts.
-
Build on language components by
scaffolding language instruction.
-
Vary instruction between whole-class,
mixed-level, level specific and if
possible, return to whole-class
instruction each lesson so all of the
students’ needs are being met.
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Listen to your students. If something
isn’t working, replace it with something
else. Ask your students informally after
each lesson what they learned and what
they liked or didn’t like. Keep a
teaching journal as you progress through
the quarter. Be flexible!
- 4-5 credit classes will only cover 1-2 units per quarter depending on the amount of supplemental material you provide. Enumclaw may cover 2 units depending on the amount of supplemental material you provide. Balance your lessons with predictable but engaging activities each night (e.g., question and answer handout, phonics/reading materials and activities from whatever unit you are working on). DO NOT hand out entire units to your students. Go through a couple of activities each class.
Transparent: When introducing students to new language, grammar points and activities, try to make it as transparent as possible. Whether it is to enhance the students’ focal skills or because they need to review a specific component of the language, tell the students exactly why they are doing it and why it is beneficial for them to learn and practice it.
Purposeful: The units cover and introduce students to language associated with familiar topics which they can relate to and share personal experiences with. The needs assessment (see section below) also addresses the purposefulness of the curriculum, since the students are able to choose which units to study throughout the quarter. Constantly remind the students it is their class, and whatever they need and is most important to them, they will study and practice.
Contextual: Since the units are themed, the language, vocabulary and grammar are introduced in specific contexts. No segments of the language are introduced in isolation.
Needs Assessment and Goal Setting: Education for empowerment begins with teachers creating opportunities for students to take control of their own learning. To START the quarter, it is imperative to conduct a needs assessment. The needs assessment has two parts. First, address focal skill needs. Conduct the four corners activity to highlight the student’s strengths and weaknesses. Then, pass out the goal setting handout. When they are finished, collect their papers and put them in their student folders (make sure you also fill in their goal setting information on their student profile sheet). Second, address the content of the class. Pass out the possible topics to study handout. Once the students are done filling out the page, tally up everybody’s top two choices. The two topics that receive the most votes are the topics they will study throughout the quarter (in addition to the daily question and answer handouts, phonics/reading instruction and supplemental materials). The documents and directions how to administer these activities are included on the web.
On Going Assessments: Keep notes on students as they progress through the quarter, particularly if they have trouble with a specific area or focal skill. Try to compensate their needs by bringing in materials they can work on independently at home, before or after class. Also encourage students to write in their journals (see section below). This will help make their educational experience more personalized. Make yourself available to your students so their needs can be addressed and met successfully.
Final Assessments: There are a total of six comprehensive final exams. Be aware there are not final exams for all units. Since the instructional methodology focuses on teaching language learning strategies that are transferable across contexts, students will be able to take final assessments any of the themed units. However, it is best to use a final exam that matches up with the content that was taught in the class. Test what you teach if possible. The final exams are also themed to coincide with the curriculum. There are four separate tests (four for each level) in each comprehensive exam: speaking/listening test, C-test (reading cloze), reading test (with comprehension questions) and a writing test. A student must receive an 80% on the C and reading test, and a 3/4 on the speaking/listening and writing test to pass a level. The directions how to administer these tests are included.
Since the community-based program is less intensive, levels 1-3 on campus cover more material. Therefore, if a student passes a level in the community-based program and wants to transfer to a leveled class on campus, please register them laterally. In other words, if a student at Auburn Library passes level 2 and wants to go to GRCC in the evening, register him/her for level 2 (unless they are absolutely ready for level 3).
Homework: Since these classes are less intensive than our leveled classes are, homework is not mandatory. However, it may be worthwhile to give homework to the students to complete over the weekend. Our overall program’s policy states: Successful completion of homework is an indicator of readiness for level completion. The assumption is that students will progress faster when they take responsibility to do their homework and prepare for class. Completed homework will be reviewed by instructors and students will be given meaningful feedback. Examples of homework include:
Journals: Give all of your students a blue book at the beginning of the quarter and encourage them to write about anything. The amount of feedback you give a student will vary depending on the student’s level and ability of writing/reading.
Incomplete assignments: Go over these the following class session with the students if you weren’t able to finish them the previous session.
Northwest News: Give the students a copy of this newspaper each month as it comes out. Make copies of the activity sheet which comes with the paper too. Distribute them before the weekend and encourage the students to read level appropriate articles and to complete level appropriate activities. Check their work the following week and answer any questions they may have.
Since you are teaching a multilevel class, there will be at least three different listening tests to administer. This can be rather tricky depending where you are teaching. At the beginning of each quarter, look ahead at when the date for CASAS testing is at your site. The multilevel classes operate on a different schedule than the campus classes do. Therefore you will need to plan accordingly and strategically. If you need to check out CD players and headsets, place your order with media services a few days before your testing date. Heather has 10 CD players in the office you may use as well (if they are available). Be aware that the CD players have plug-ins for up to 5 headsets at each station. So, if you have 16 students and 3 separate listening tests, you will need 4 CD players or 2 rooms (1 group in the 1 room with no headsets and the other 3 groups in the other room with headsets). Also, if you are teaching at a library site, it is a good idea to reserve additional rooms on testing dates. Talk to the employees at your designated site.
As stated earlier, the multilevel classes range from 4-5 credits and only meet two evenings a week (except Enumclaw). These classes are less intensive and students will generally make fewer gains and perhaps repeat levels more frequently. Therefore, the classes have a different set of course outcomes compared to our leveled classes. Please keep in mind you will not be able to address all these outcomes each quarter. The following two pages contain tables to illustrate the course outcomes for all focal skills, grammar points and phonics for levels 1-3 in the community-based, multilevel program.
Click for a complete continuum of the outcomes for the multi-level class.