Chapter 5: Teaching Math To Ells

Ms. Anita is a 6th grade bilingual teacher. All instructional time in her classroom is in English. She has a newly arrived learner from Mexico. His name is Juan. Juan’s home language is Spanish. Each day at school, Juan has the same routine. He enters the classroom, sits at his desk, and stares down at his book(s) as the instruction continues. At times, he will open his notebook and start scribbling. Sometimes he will look up at the Promethean Board when something is displayed on the board that catches his eye. Other than that, he mostly sits at his seat quietly. Once everyone gets started on indi-vidual, partner, or group work after given instruction to do so, Juan asks the bilingual (Spanish-English) learner that sits next to him for instructions. Since Ms. Anita speaks Spanish, Juan will approach her during this time to have her clarify the task at hand. He usually only participates during individual, partner, or group work. During this time, he talks to the bilingual learner that sits next to him. He then copies down responses based on what that learner says. Ms. Anita has tried desperately to figure out ways to better support Juan. Her bilingual lead teacher simply tells her that as a bilingual teacher her job is to provide a certain amount of time a day when Juan can have a teacher who speaks his home language.