The ESL (English as a Second Language) Program at Logos is a “sheltered immersion program”. Students are placed in an English speaking environment and are given support so that they can interact meaningfully in the classroom. The program is complemented by all the teachers at the school, whose task it is to create an intercultural learning environment.
We work with four types of support for ESL students: Language Instruction, Content Instruction, Monitoring, and Push-in Support.
Language instruction helps the student to develop concepts and
vocabulary in order to receive (listen and read) and express
(speak and write) the English language. The students learn both
“life” and “school” English because they want to interact socially
with their friends and to be successful in their classes.
Content instruction refers to the method of teaching language in content
subjects such as science, math, etc. It is designed to help children
participate successfully in these content areas. The ESL teacher
communicates closely with the grade level subject teacher to make sure
the ESL student gets the preparation they need for their classes.
Monitoring takes places when it’s been determined an ESL student can
successfully cope with the activities and expectations within
the classroom. The ESL teacher keeps in regular contact with
the subject matter teacher to ensure that the ESL student is keeping up
with the work. Additional ad hoc support can be arranged as requested
by the teacher or the student.
Push-in support is when an ESL goes into the classroom and works
with the classroom teacher. The teacher can help individual students
while they are working with the class, take ESL groups aside for part
of a lesson, give mini-lessons to the whole class, or team teach with
the classroom teacher. This enables ESL students to stay in the classroom and still receive ESL support.
