The Importance of Early Literacy in ELLs

Abstract

This project aims to support students and teachers who work with English Language Learners (ELLs). At the Trilingual School in Warsaw, 90% of students are native Polish speakers, and the other 10% are Ukrainian, Indian, Korean, Chinese, and Pakistani, among other heritages. Their education is impacted by the lack of curriculum, scope and sequence, teacher training, materials, and resources to support English Language learning. This leads to students needing a foundation of English language skills that they can build on throughout the grades in school. To increase the quality of teaching, especially early literacy, teachers should be trained in modern instructional techniques and practices backed up by the Science of Reading and other modern methods. Solutions to the problem at the Trilingual School in Warsaw are to teach teachers how to teach the foundations of literacy properly, collaborate to make scope and sequence throughout the preschool to upper primary school, and keep the collaboration and communication open and clear to teachers and parents to ensure students are well supported. In a professional development English teachers can collaborate about the different ways they teach English, be trained on modern literacy practices, and create a scope and sequence on which they can base their lessons and assessments. Recommendations include incorporating additional meetings and training for those who teach English, creating a scope and sequence together, and ensuring that teachers have the tools they need to be successful.