ESL Learning Standards - Higher Ed - New York State Education ...

Students learning English as a second language will use English to acquire, interpret, apply, and
transmit information for content area learning and personal use. They will develop and use skills and
strategies appropriate to their level of English proficiency to collect data, facts, and ideas; discover
relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written, and
electronically produced texts.
Performance Indicators: See page 12
Advanced
Students complete Intermediate task. Students choose
additional information about the selected occupation from
texts in library or Internet to find varieties of this job (e.g.,
volunteer vs. salaried firefighter, state police vs. local
police, dentist vs. dental hygienist, small shop owner vs.
supermarket employee). Students summarize information
in a compare/contrast poster for display in classroom or
school corridor.
Performance indicators: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16
English Proficiency Level
Transitional
Students complete Advanced task. In small groups,
students engage in a simulation activity. Teacher tells students,
for example, that the mayor has only enough money
to pay for 10 of the 12 occupations researched. Students
decide which occupations should be eliminated and why.
Each group presents conclusions to class.
Performance indicators: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13,
16
Students complete Intermediate task. Students read or listen
to a fiction book on this topic (e.g., Just a Dream by Chris
Van Allsburg). After discussion of the different environmental
issues and the book’s message, class collaborates on
creating an environmental board game to get this message
across to others. (Small groups work on separate tasks,
developing forward and backward moves based on environmental
problems and solutions.)
Performance indicators: 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 13, 16
Students listen to a variety of texts and take notes about
the life cycle of frogs and salamanders. On the basis of
their notes and readings, small groups create Venn diagrams
showing differences and similarities. Groups research
animals with similar characteristics (electronically or in
print) and share information with class.
Performance indicators: 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 13, 16
Students listen to and read information about the environment,
using multiple sources (e.g., speakers, websites, nonfiction
and fiction books including Just a Dream by Chris
Van Allsburg and The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry).
Students keep notes and use graphic organizers to organize
information. Students reflect in dialogue journals on what
they have learned, distinguishing between the various
sources (e.g., fictional vs. nonfictional), and telling which
they preferred and why. Students then draw their vision of
the planet’s future and describe it, using the writing process.
Students’ work is shared with the class and displayed
on a hallway bulletin board.
Performance indicators: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 16
Working in pairs, students choose two animals (with some
similar characteristics) to read about. Students take notes
and collaborate to create Venn diagrams showing differences
and similarities. Each pair of students prepares an
oral and visual class presentation, including key concepts
and supporting details from the texts. They design a quiz to
check on classmates’ understanding.
Performance indicators: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 13, 16
ESL
1
Elem
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CLASSROOM
TASKS
Sample Classroom Tasks 43