2024

2nd December 

ESOL CLUSTER MEETING HELD AT NELSON COLLEGE 2ND DECEMBER 2024 

Present:  Cristina Armstrong, Sylvia Nevin, Jennifer (Garin) Janelle Cockrane and Gaye Bloomfield (Nayland College); Elizabeth Hamilton, Annette Vartha

Apologies:  Rebecca Henaghan, Jen Dalton, 

ESOL PROGRAMMES
Nayland College has had great success with their ESOL students.  Students have both ESOL classes and English classes.  English classes are designed into Thematic Modules which students select based on their interests eg  Heritage Language and Sport  - for the full year.  This ensures the ESOL students have a very good knowledge of the target vocabulary  and the themes run through all the assessments. Teachers decide which standards students are enrolled in.

Enrol

A reminder of the benefit of using Enrol to gain ESOL Learners Reports. The Data Entry return gives latest data on which students have ever had ESOL funding.

MoE Report from Elizabeth

Elizabeth shared the Nelson Marlborough West Coast regional ESOL stats and the National ESOL stats that were shared yesterday. These are from the second funding round in 2024 and published on 25 October 2024.

Level 1 Literacy
We discussed the various ways for students to gain Level 1 Literacy.  We need to ensure that students are taking subjects which offer L1 Literacy credits eg Geography 1.1; Science (Heat Assessment)1.1;  Commerce 1.1;  Agriculture/Horticulture, Religious Studies.  The link below has information regarding the NCEA Co-requisite options during the transition period:
https://ncea.education.govt.nz/standards-approved-ncea-co-requisite-during-transition-period-2024-2027

Note: we can't combine these assessments - it is CAA  (US32403 Reading/US 32405 Writing) or additional assessments.

The link to the textbook that gives tasks that are based on the Reading and Writing CAA exam is:
Literacy Essentials - Jenny Thomas, Diane White & Kathryn Ryan ISBN: 978-0-170-47758-1
Annette found the tasks in the book to be a good gauge as to how ready students were for the exam. It prepares them for the types of tasks they will be doing in CAA. The multiple choice questions for grammar can be used to teach them how to approach these types of questions.

Cambridge Exams
It is a good idea for students to know where they sit on the CEFR framework, it also helps teachers gauge readiness for assessments.  Some links:
The English Profile site has a quick youtube explaining the CEFR framework
Test your English online indicator: https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/test-your-english/  (choose Test for Schools or General English)
Free Resources for teachers:  https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/resources-for-teachers/
Kahoots made by Cambridge at different levels: https://www.cambridgeenglish.org/teaching-english/resources-for-teachers/kahoot/
Mock Tests and resources:  https://cambridge.foleon.com/mock-test-toolkit/mock-test-toolkit/resources
Practice Tests:  A2 Key for Schools exam format | Cambridge English    (Hover over the tab "Exams and Tests" for other levels of tests.

ESOL Mailbox
Copied from the final ESOL Mailbox email:
This message is to let you know that the ESOL Support Mailbox will no longer be open to enquiries after Friday 20 December. Please note, the mailbox for general ESOL related enquiries will continue as usual – info.esol@education.govt.nz  

 After careful consideration of Ministry support channels and platform options for a 

replacement forum, Te Poutāhū has made the decision to close the ESOL Support Mailbox and refer ESOL community members to other support channels and groups. 

The following are some of the some of the ways you can connect: 

• The ESOL, Migrant and Refugee News Bulletin will now be regularly published on the refreshed education.govt.nz website: Bulletins - Ministry of Education 

• This bulletin aims to highlight culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) learners and includes: 

  • information and reminders about events related to supporting CALD learners 

  • stories highlighting school and community initiatives  

  • data insights on CALD learners 

  • Ministry of Education ESOL, Migrant & Refugee team news. 

• The ESOL, Migrant and Refugee team continues to support ESOL Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) around the country and is actively encouraging the development of new communities where they are needed. New members are always welcome. Contact info.ESOL@education.govt.nz if you would like to join a group, or if you are interested in establishing one in your local area. 

• Throughout 2025, content will be migrated from the old ESOL Online to Tāhūrangi. The team is working hard to ensure these resources are shaped so it’s easier for you to find what you need.   

ESOL, Migrant and Refugee News · 1 November 2024 - Ministry of Education

Benchmarks/Exemplars for Assessments
It would be a good idea to have some examples of moderated work in our assessments.  This website could be a vehicle but the settings would need to change to have a password to enter the site - which could be done of course.

ESOL Toolbox
Diffit for Teachers:   an AI tool that will generate activities for multilevelling

Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  :)

15th August 2024

ESOL CLUSTER MEETING HELD AT NELSON COLLEGE FOR GIRLS ON 15TH AUGUST 2024 

Present:  Shellee Hall, Elizabeth Hamilton, Deborah Lindsay, Annette Vartha

Apologies:  Rebecca Henaghan, Jen Dalton, Cristina Armstrong, Sylvia Nevin

ESOL PROGRAMMES
Nayland College has had great success with their ESOL students.  Students have both ESOL classes and English classes.  English classes are designed into Thematic Modules which students select based on their interests eg  Heritage Language and Sport  - for the full year.  This ensures the ESOL students have a very good knowledge of the target vocabulary  and the themes run through all the assessments. Teachers decide which standards students are enrolled in.

Enrol

A reminder of the benefit of using Enrol to gain ESOL Learners Reports. The Data Entry return gives latest data on which students have ever had ESOL funding.

 NMIT Enrolments
Shellee asks Jacob Brown (Sanity) to come to Nayland to help students with their enrolments.  It is recommended students enrol in Trade Courses a year before as they fill up very quickly.  Most courses need Level 2 (not L2 Literacy).  Students are given the opportunity to meet Library staff Learning Services.  Angela Scott in NMIT,  Enrolments Department is very good.   Marianna Denzer is the contact for NMIT Refugees pastoral care.  NMIT enrolments will tell us that refugee students need to do a test – but they don’t have to do the test if they have been enrolled in a NZ school. (not a downer Test)

Working with English Language Learners
Shellee is working with and training teacher aids using the WELLS book.   Teachers at Nayland are encouraged to inform TAs what they will be doing in their lesson, so the TA has the opportunity to use the resources that teacher have made to support the lesson.

Level 1 Literacy CAA Exams
Only the students who had somewhat of a chance did the May session of the external exams – unfortunately no successes with our ESOL students.  This is stressful for both students and English and ESOL teachers.
 
Annette has enrolled all senior students into the Session 2 of the exam coming up in September.  Students may not be in a state of readiness as MoE advise but it gives them a chance to experience the tasks and the format of the exams which helps them with the stress of doing the ‘unknown’ for next time.  NCG students are concentrating on NCEA English Language L1-3 writing assessments and brushing up on audience, purpose and language features of different writing genres.

After the CAAs are over students will be given formative lessons on in-text citations which are required for the Level 3 EAP Writing Literacy exams.  Those who have a chance of meeting the requirements will do the L1 Literacy L3 EAP writing assessment at the end of term. 

Bilingual Glossaries and Cognates/NYU/Steinhardt
Elizabeth recommended this document for mainstream teachers especially English, Maths, Social Studies and Science.  It provides keyword vocabulary glossaries for each subject in several languages.

Farewell to Shellee
Shellee and her husband are leaving sunny Nelson, to live in beautiful Whangamata in the Coromandel Pensinula.  She is having a farewell party and would love to see you there:

25th September - Nayland College Room TPM1 -
4-6pm - Please bring a small plate

 We are so grateful for the experience and expertise Shellee has brought to both the ESOL Cluster and the NATESOL meetings over the years.  The enthusiasm, energy and initiatives she has implemented to assist and enrich her ESOL students has been a real boon.  She will be sorely missed at Nayland College.

Thursday 16th May 2024

Minutes of Meeting for ESOL Cluster held at NCG Room 18 at 3.30pm 

Present: Rebecca Heneghan(Waimea), Shelley Hall (Nahttps://otter.ai/yland), Elizabeth Hamilton (MoE), Annette Vartha (NCG)
Lucy Charlesworth (NCG)
Apologies:  Jen Dalton (Garin) 

Use of AI
There are many benefits for teachers to use AI in the generation of differentiated resources.
https://web.diffit.me/  will take a text and create levelled tasks for students to complete

https://chatgpt.com/ has been used to level a shared class text Seedfolks.   Ask Chatgpt to edit the text to A1 level of the CEFR for ESOL students. 

https://tinywow.com/  offers PDF, video, image and other online tools to make life easier!  

https://otter.ai/  will use this at future meetings - it will record and make a transcript of meetings - so that the minutes can be generated more efficiently.

https://copilot.microsoft.com/ - Microsoft Edge - ask co-pilot any question and it will generate something for you! :)

Together we Heal, Learn and Shine Shelley and Pray did a presentation for the conference.

Texts Promoting Cultures in the Classroom
New to New Zealand Book: 
Cultural Corners TESOLANZ books 2012.
Activity:  Ask students to create a powerpoint about the country they are from which includes a map and explanation of their flag.  They can present their slides to the class.

Monday 25th March

Minutes of Meeting for ESOL Cluster held at NCG Room 18 at 3.30pm - cancelled as availablity was limited.

In lieu of a meeting you might find it helpful to view the video below which was a meeting for Internatioanal Student deans informing them of Level 1 Literacy.  It is particularly good for Senior Management Team to help them be aware of the challenges International and ESOL students have with regards to L1 Literacy. 

SIEBA (International Students):  The Impact of Level 1 Literacy
NCEA Literacy & Numeracy Co-requisites & International (youtube.com) 

2023

8th November 2023

Minutes of Meeting  for ESOL Cluster held at  NCG Staffroom at 3.30pm - 5.45pm

Present: Rebecca Heneghan(Waimea), Jen Dalton (Garin), Annette Vartha (Nelson Girls)

Apologies:  Cristina Armstrong (Nelson Boys);   Shelley Hall (Nayland)

AS2.8 - Advanced Students
We discussed the AS2.8 and how the essay can be further developed to be marked against the US22750 Writing Assessment (5 credits Writing UE).  Rebecca gave feedback on an essay and suggested further development of conclusions by adding recommendations.

Speeches
The Level 3EAP speech which is 5 minutes long is a good lead in to the demands of the Level 4EAP 8 minute speech.  For those students who had passed the Level 3 speechs the previous year.  We spoke about the importance of students not reading their notes and use of cue cards and powerpoint slides (image and subheading/  or quote with author )   Use a text read for wide reading as a starting point for 4EAP adding 2 more sources to have different perspectives and citing available adding depth to the speech at this level.

Grammar Activities:
Rosetta Stone:   Rebecca uses this resource
Teachthis:  ESL Activities Games Worksheets (teach-this.com) costs $50/year.  Has activities and grammar games (board

ESOL Trips:
Whaea Kelly at the Nelson Museum is amazing - Rebecca took her 21 ESOL students via bus to the museum and it was a great success.  They had a great time learning a myth and a short mihimihi.  Whaea Kelly was able to pitch the visit to the ESOL students level.  The trip lead on to a recount in the following lessons.

KAMAR Student Information
Emma Hunter joined our small group to talk about the importance of flagging ESOL students. We also discussed special needs that our ESOL students can have eg dyslexia; autism etc.  Lucid/Lass screening is available at $5 per student at NCG school.  Bilingual testing is also helpful to check that learning issues are not just about language.

NCEA Level 1 Literacy Changes
Zoom powerpoint for this meeting held 7th November (last night) will be in ESOL Online.  Jen was impressed with the ESOL programmes two teachers shared.  Also a teacher who unpacked an ELIP piece of writing every week in a staff meeting and had all teachers focus on that aspect eg past tense in their own lessons across the curriculum  (Good idea as teachers of science don't necessarily know aspects of grammar.)

Placement Tests
Rebecca uses the Paul Nation Updated Vocabulary Level Test B Sasao/Ballamy tests.   She prints this test out so there are paper records of it for evidence; also more control when students can look at other tabs to find out definitions from an online dictionary on their device.

Assessment Resource Bank
Has national tests for English Curriculum - good for cloze tests and listening tests.  NCG uses a School Journal Story about Spiders (L2) and Ko Bakong Cloze (L4) and Finding your Way (L3) Listening assessment.  Good for funding purposes to show that ESOL students need support with their English.  

2023

16 August

Minutes of Meeting  for ESOL Cluster held at  NCG Room 18 at 3.30pm

Present: Shellee Hall (Nayland), Rebecca Heneghan(Waimea), Cristina Armstrong (Nelson Boys), Annette Vartha (Nelson Girls)

Apologies:  Elizabeth Hamilton (MoE); Jen Dalton (Garin)

What standards are we doing for next year?
We discussed the standards that we will be doing next year.  

Intermediate Level students: Annette spoke about the AS2.8 Research assessment which is a L2 reading assessment which, for students who are able to read more academic articles, is good for Level 2 University Entrance.   The resulting essay can be edited to meet the requirements and marked against the US22750 to gain 5 Writing credits. In addition the essay can be morphed into a Level 3 Speech or if the students have already passed it a L3 EAP speech.  One of the articles read could also be used for a personal response towards Level 3 Wide Reading.
 
Literacy Level 1 and the effect on our ESOL students
The goal of  achieving Level 1 literacy will be top priority from next year from the moment students enter our schools.  We commented that it would have been more sensible for the government to start the Level 1 Literacy initiative from preschool and work their way up to secondary school.
Nelson College for Girls have  a set of four posters with literacy goals (Grammar, Punctuation, Paragraph, Essay structure) in each and every classroom around NCG showing and reminding students and teachers alike the importance of these skills.

Upcoming events:
Shellee - let us know about the following activities coming up:

1. Visit to Whakatu Marae for ESOL students   6th September 9.30am- 3.00pm  Bill Huppler   bill.huppler@ncc.govt.nz  Bill is prepared to put a bus on for a school round.   Exams Spanish Nepali Urdu – refugees – all day – bus goes back at 3pm.   Lunch – stories of the area.

2. Bikes and Ride-Ons - free bikes and lessons is overseen by Nelson City Council.  Free for primary – Year 5-6 – bike training.  Is being free bike, helmet, light and lock.  Can make koha donation.  The Bike Hub – Monday 5.30-700  Wednesday 2.30-4.30pm?  Open to the public they are fixing bikes that are donated.

3. Relationships and sexual relationships webinar for ESOL  11th September 2023 

4. Stakeholders Update - 20 Vietnamese coming towards end of Term 4.Richmond is filling up. Quite a few Vietnamese people already in Nelson working at King Salmon or Sealord. It will be a very different.  Teacher aid in Nelson is a qualified interpreter and will say exactly what teacher says – she runs Easyspeak. $30 per hour - could be good for student/teacher conferences.
   Also New Zealand's next biggest group is 110 Columbian people (all ages) from Venuzuela split between four cities. (Humanitarian visa)

5. Welcoming Schools Day - Ministry funded - former refugee  students:  We should have been emailed already for 22nd March 2024.  Free – ministry sponsoring RASNZ to Nelson NCC providing Greenmeadows in Stoke – open for all SLT, Teachers teaching Refugee students, Teacher Aids etc.   They will talk about trauma affects brain, memory etc.   annette@rasnz.co.nz Carolina Millar,   Annette Mortensen, manager.

16 June 2023

Minutes of Meeting  for ESOL Cluster held at  NCG Room 18

Present: Elizabeth Hamilton (MoE);  Annette Vartha; Jen Dalton; Rebecca Henaghan; Deborah Lindsay (NMIT)

Apologies:  Cristina Armstrong, Shellee Hall; Matthew West; Jan Triffard;

CLESOL Conference:  The conference date has been changed to 20-21 April 2024 (due to the WOW Event being on the original dates this year) in Wellington.  Shellee Hall (Nayland) has booked a family room at the James Cook Hotel for next year for a student (who is presenting) and herself. The room costs $500 per night and it sleeps five people.  Are there three people that would like to join her group and share costs?  It is a 10 minute walk to Victoria University from the hotel and conveniently beside Countdown supermarket.

World Refugee Day - 20 June:  There are a lot of Karenni students going to Auckland for a presentation so Nayland is celebrating this on the 27th June. 

Refugee Week 2023 will take place from 20th to 27th June and is a special celebration of the contributions of refugees to the arts, culture and our society. Coinciding with World Refugee Day, the week-long celebration features educational events, as well as media and creative campaigns designed to raise awareness and highlight the importance of refugees.

Reading Resources: 
www.commonlit.org  (free)  levelled readers (lexile) good for wide reading assessment. 
Readworks - set reading at levels American (lexile) 10 minutes every  lesson
Quill -  grammar focus - put right word in gap - online -  initial test given first. (free)
Readtheory -  online reading;  teacher can see student progress;

Purchasing NCEA Assessments:
English Language Resource Centre -  purchase Level 1-4 resources created by Breda Matthews.  Breda has  made assessments that have the same theme eg The Teenage Brain  so that teachers with classes of several levels can  do differentiated assessments at the same time.

www.driveresources.org -   Sue de Lautour has several assessments for purchase.  She has over 20 years'  experience teaching High School English and is also a trained ESL teacher.  Sue lives in Tauranga, New Zealand.  Sue's assessments have a  great injection of humour and student speak in  them which students would appreciate.

EAP L4 US22750 Writing:  Cristina from Nelson College would like some insights into this assessment and exemplars and a moderation buddy.  NMIT have done it.  Annette (NCG) has done this assessment using the research English assessment AS2.8 Information Literacy essay (driveresources.org has a good assessment task booklet) as the starting point for US22750. 

EAP L4 US22749 Writing in Exam Conditions:  Breda Matthews has written a good assessment task for this assessment.  Is worth 6 credits and counts towards L2 UE Literacy.  NCG does it during the mock exams.  Students get two texts to read a week before the exam and are given an exam question to answer in 2 hours on the day of the exam.  No resubmissions - it is achieved or not achieved.  Paper dictionaries allowed and some errors that don't interfere with meaning are also accepted.

Writing Resources:  developing_writing.pdf (state.gov) 

Each of the twenty chapters in Developing Writing is introduced by a topical reading selection incorporating the lesson’s model structures, mechanics, and grammar points. Following each reading are activities designed for students to study composition, vocabulary, and spelling. The goal of this book is to take the student from the mechanics of basic sentence writing to the ability to construct a simple paragraph. Appendices include an irregular verb list, grammar rule index, and answer keys.

Annette's Year 12 students have demonstrated fossilized errors (we are talking capitalisation and fullstops) and getting back to basics before they can move on to assessments successfully, was and is, needed.  The students baulked at first at the work thinking it too easy.  The content is American and the first chapter is about square dancing - negatives - but the students get over it!  It is good for them to learn about different cultures! :) However a round of marking questions as they worked in class and making them think about and fix  the incorrect questions themselves -  made them realise that they need the practice!  They and now enjoy these chapters and see the benefit of noticing and fixing errors and getting to know aspects of grammar well enough to explain them.  We aim to complete one chapter per week.  

24 April 2023

Minutes of TOD Meeting for L1 Literacy at NCG

Present: Elizabeth Hamilton (MoE);  Cristina Armstrong, Shellee Hall, Annette Vartha

Online:  Rosemary Gillies;  Rebecca Henaghan; Janine Joubert; Matthew West 

Apologies:  Jen Dalton, Jan Triffard

We welcomed Rosemary Gillies to our meeting and also our zoom guests from Marlborough and Motueka.

Link to Notes:  TOD 24 April 2023 L1 Literacy & ESOL - Notes.docx
 

29 March 2023

Minutes of Meeting at Nayland College on 30 March 2023 from 9.00-11.00am

Present: Elizabeth Hamilton (MoE);  Rosemary Gillies);  Rebecca Henaghan; Cristina Armstrong;  Jen Dalton; Shellee Hall; Jan Triffard; Janine Joubert; Matthew West and Mark Lower;

We welcomed Rosemary Gillies to our meeting and also our zoom guests from Marlborough and Motueka.  Maree Jeurissen, Manager ESOL Migrant Refugee and International Education at Ministry of Education of New Zealand also joined us.

Rosemary asked what we needed and is happy to do follow up early Term 2. Rosemary has been a secondary English teacher her whole life; 5 years in Hong Kong doing ESOL; International Director.  Rosemary is secondary NZ Verifier and has visited 130 schools checking programmes and provisions made for ESOL students.  If a school has less than 20 ESOL learners then verification will be a one hour zoom meeting.  Schools can ask for ESOL verification if they feel the need as Rosemary can be a source of support and give direction to all parties concerned.
 
  ENROL – Ministry data system – follows and tracks students – students must be enrolled within 5 days.   English Language learners at my school.  Two people in every school a DP or office administrator for data entry.  Can ask to send ENROL report – and can scroll down to bottom and comes out as an excel spreadsheet.  All students who have received funding at primary or intermediate will be on list.  Will show active funding status – also says ceased.  Lots of school think ceased is permanent NZ Born, former refugee – you can see from that if funding is available.  One school had 350 ceased ESOL students which they didn’t know about – increased funding available.   If they meet the funding criteria still – you can apply for funding.  By middle of this year – the Ministry team has made an active, ceased and completed maximum terms available for complete picture.  Will probably come at primary finish at intermediate.  More than 5 years in NZ when talk about might have20 funded explore the completed maximum terms and thosed on ceased enrol list.  What does big picture look like ($1000/year).   Literacy/English – need to be assessed Paul Nation vocabulary test to check level and the Probe and short writing.  At least we can be identifying and spreading message across school about emergent bi-lingual learners.  The issue of behaviour problems and attendance issues can be.
  If there is a legitimate concern – ie students starting at foundation and not moving – then teachers should get a BAS assessment (from RTLB) and then additional funding can be applied for – but it is not common to get more and more funding.
Rosemary mentioned that Intermediate Schools could be asked to  share their ENROL report at the end of the school year at time of transition.
The new ENROL version will have last scores – will throw up alerts for new EL in school to let ESOL teachers know new EL coming in. It will also highlight students who are EL to new school and to ESOL teacher.

Transition Points between Year 6-9: are important with Level 1 Literacy.  Is beneficial to be connected with primary/intermediate schools to have a sense of certainty for young people coming into school.  Cast the net wide.   Young people in primary go back to own country, and come back to NZ – so miss out on funding and support and drop off the radar.  They get to secondary and become invisible – this is a very important thing for the future so that we can assess these students with ESOL diagnostic tools.  Got to put ESOL lens on everything to ensure we don’t have students falling through the net.

How do we effectively differentiate our students? Depends on how many students are you dealing with – add international students to mix – they make a difference as to how the programmes run. Try to cast the net wide - the bigger the group you can differentiate according to ELLP.  If got numbers get juniors together according to ELLP stage. Juniors will need foundational literacy focus.   Senior arrange classes in ELLP levels Y11-13 going Level 1.  Year 13 doing UE literacy.     A lot of our students will never have the goal of university – secondary schools should focus on developing a strong English base.  The chance of international students coming in and leaving in year 13 with l2 literacy will be low.  We need to have conversations with International Directors (Rosemary will send powerpoint) so they are aware of levels and academic pathways.

ELLP pathways can be useful for Year 10 and above.  Even at introduction to ELP. 

Shellee recommended the online “Ready to Read” series.  Type into google the title of book – TKI will read the text to them – can practice, can hear it again.  Elaborate on grammar points, start off at emergent and go all the way through to Gold.   Is a phonic series as well.

Annette recommended hyperdocs (see appendix for a sample of a higher level hyperdoc) – based on a themed unit along with skills based activities. Hyperdoc provides a list of blended learning activities (online & offline)  for each mode that covers a week of lessons at each level.  Students work in small groups/independently/levelled/mixed level. While you do small group instruction/or discussing the other groups are doing quiet tasks (writing/reading/online etc).   Quizlet/Liveworksheets/Commonlit.org/speed reading /reciprocal reading/writing journals/SSR/Editing Skills tasks. This provides variety – repetition without boring.

Reciprocal reading (RR) – in mixed ability groups students read an article and complete comprehension questions verbally.  Each group has a team leader who delegates people to look up words in the dictionary if are not known in group.  The leader also directs each group member to read out loud. Once students do RR a couple of times they get the routine.  This activity then it makes for a quick task to set up and an effective relief lesson.

At senior level – all students work on the same skill - eg writing recounts but their writing is assessed at different levels.

How do I assess for individual ability so needs are met? (Jen)
Almost every school uses different assessments – which seems unefficient.  We should use the same tools.  MoE are currently developing assessment guidelines Breda and Julie Luxton are developing the guidelines and writing it for new ESOL teachers.  Will be valuable for people who are more experienced as well.  This will allow people to get on the same page – finished by this year.

Working with Probe – a reading assessment tool used a lot in primary and intermediate but goes up to reading age of 15 years so developing a set of digital assessment tasks.   Has running records $380 for each kit unless buy 5 or more – need one in a school.  As a cluster we could put in together to get it at a cheaper rate. Probe has an initial diagnostic test.  New kit is 2022 update.  When join up can do it online – 30 hours training session on how to use.  As part of it can do a running record.

The initial diagnostics is designed to be a pre-test and can  be reused at mid and end point to show progress. If students get 80% they move up, if they get below they move down to establish reading age.  Is not exact science but is pretty good starting point.  Is well used in Primary.  Running record in Probe – calculator instantly tells you if at the right level or not.  The next level of assessment is degined to be used one-to-one but it is possible in smaller ESOL class.  A lot of students are simply decoding (are able to work out phonics and pronunciation) but are not able to comprehend what they read. Therefore need to do comprehension tests.

Sonia Millet’s speed reading is free and is being looked at.  

CLESOL conference in Wellington – Victoria University Paul Nation is talking at this conference 29-31 September – there are scholarships to go PPTA.  Paul Nation vocabulary tests can be done online.

What Year 12 needs – pathway -- literacy is low level wants to go to university.
The future will look very different with the new L1 Literacy and we need to develop pathways for Els. We should start talking to different people in school – SMT how to strategize for the future - if start earlier then they have more options.  Tertiary providers will have to provide more English foundation courses.  They are also slowing down the EAP level 3 course and doing it over two years before introducing EAP Level 4.  Secondary needs to be just a part of the journey.

Appendix 1

Hyperdoc differentiation:  Every week I would create a hyperdoc for the 1000; 1500 and 2000 word levelled students.  Below is an example of a 1500 word hyperdoc that is based on the Speed Reading units by Sonia Millet.   I would record myself reading each article in Voicethread and (later I preferred and used Book Creator) so students could listen to it.  The online version of the aticle enabled me to provide extra images which supported the vocabulary in the article.  The hyperdoc was saved into the MS Team Notebook.  (Of course, now I have a resource that can be used with other students.)
It took a while to gather and create resources for each hyperdoc.  However, the templates would remain the same (for consistency and routine) and be updated with new links and colours. The articles provided are supplemented with additional tasks that expand on the topic for each week.  Included in the hyperdoc is the reading programme Raz-kids (which I don’t use now) and Readtheory which provide levelled reading – the links didn’t change for these.  Students are rewarded with a tick as they click on the bullet boxes as  they finish a task.  (Note: we would have lessons on specific aspects of grammar which featured in the articles.)
Accountability for work was meeting the students throughout the week in their various groups and mark the exercise book work done.  The Quizlet, Raz-kids, and Readtheory websites record the work completed by each student along with the scores they get. Flip provided a record of students reading out loud.
I now use Reading Progress (in MS Team Assignment); Kahoot (subscribed); www.liveworksheets.com.   I also have a thematic unit (we are currently working on a Focus on English – Time Section (Measurement Resource) in the junior class.

2022

18 November 2022

This month we joined forces and created the NATESOL Symposium which some wonderful speakers for ESOL teachers across all sectors from the wider Nelson district.

Details and information from the Symposium are also included in the Kete of ESOL Resources

18 July 2022

Present: Elizabeth Hamilton (MoE); Lauren Walton; (Annette Vartha via phone afterward)

Apologies: Rebecca Henagan, Lauren Walton, Shellee Hall,

No Response: ; Sarah Thornton; Emma Gillyon ; Heidrun Berl (left Nayland College)

Trish McGee (left Waimea)

We joined the Bilingual Assessment presentation a couple of weeks ago.  The slides for the presentation in the link  (scroll down to presentation dated 23/06): 

https://sites.google.com/view/southern-esol-and-refugee-need/kete-of-esol-resources?authuser=0

Ideas for spending the ESOL Cluster funds we have accumulated:

a) Welcoming Schools Programme - Wellbeing Needs of refugees. There is separate funding available for refugees. Perhaps the money should be going towards something that will benefit all our ESOL students ie Migrants; International and Refugees?

b) PD (for ESOL cluster & NATESOL) on pathways for our students to gain access to the new Literacy requirements - include translanguaging? Have it run for half a day and make it so implications of literacy for all sectors (ece, primary, secondary and tertiary) are covered and catered for. Speakers could be Rosemary Gillies (Secondary Verifier); Tzitzka, Kirsty MacDiarmad)

Future meetings

To send a poll to members to find out the best time or way to have meetings. It is difficult to find a time that suits everyone.

August 2021

Planning and Unpacking a Senior Unit Plan about Tattoos

Due to lockdown and the time pressures incurred this term, we didn't have a Nelson ESOL cluster meeting for the term.

Annette has passed on resources from an online workshop organised by Sally Hay of Mangere College she attended on 2nd September 2021 via email dated 11th October 2021.

Dr Helen Nicolls  unpacked a senior unit plan on the topic of tattoos using principles and practice.   Helen spoke to the Powerpoint attached (253 KB) throughout the 45 minute workshops.  She kindly supplied the resources attached. Dr Helen Nicholls has worked within the ESOL community for many years as a secondary English and ESOL teacher, a member of the Ministry of Education’s National Migrant and Refugee Education Team, as a secondary ESOL Advisor and as a lecturer in pre-service and post graduate teacher training at the University of Auckland. She has been involved in professional development programmes and resource development, research projects and policy development and implementation.

14 April 2021

Present: Rebecca Henaghan, Heidrun Berl, Corrina Kagaya, Elizabeth Hamilton, Annette Vartha

Apologies: Shellee Hall

Minutes:

Teaching practice we have learnt from 2020 lockdown e-learning that we use in our classrooms now?

• Students working at their own pace

• Rebecca offered a 6 month online prep course for internationals who were stuck offshore which included preparation of life in New Zealand; skills needed; classroom language basics. She is going to continue doing the course with internationals (when things are back to a new normal) adapting it to a 6 week course.

• Teachers are more confident using Teams as a result of the lockdown.

• The Chat facility in Teams was useful in having private one to one discussions and assistance.  They served also as a record of student communications had over lockdown.  Annette is continuing using Chat rather than school email for contacting students.  This leaves school email for teacher/teacher communication

English Achievement Standards:  Does your school offer these to ESL students and how do you assist them with the requirements?

NCG is the only school that offers English Achievement Standards, however, only for those students who have shown they are on the cusp and have a good chance of passing.  The AS2.8 Information Literacy (L2 Literacy for reading) which assesses the research process which  culminates in a 500-600 word essay is good preparation for the L4 US22751 Writing essay.  The lower level students go through the process using the booklet.The AS2.8 essay does not have to be at publication level – however the meaning must be clear. 

The students the have the basis of the writing for US22751; and elaborate on the issue covered to reach the 800 words (if needed) and craft it further for grammar requirements.

How has term one 2021 gone for you?  Share a resource/idea/activity you used during Term 1.

• Rebecca shared an Egg Hunt activity which used modal verbs and provided a lovely treat at the end of the activity.

• Annette shared the Seedfolks Novella Unit she found.  It was adapted to use in MS Teams Class Notebook (a page for each chapter).  Students created collaborative glossary/picture dictionaries for each chapter.  A Team assignment was used for a table of characters which student filled in as they read.   Reading of the novella was done in a variety of ways – teacher read out loud; reciprocal reading in mixed ability groups; individual reading.  It takes around a period to read most chapters – some are shorter and two chapters can be read in a lesson.

• Corrina spoke about the importance of helping students to build their confidence, so they build positive self-perception and a belief that they can learn.  She reported great success with students improving their literacy through meditating and visualising success.
  
  

Professional Development for 2021. 

We have a very healthy balance of $2,278.76 sitting in our Cluster Account.  These funds have been ‘rolled over’ in the ESOL Cluster Account for the years Annette has been coordinator. We are therefore in a healthy position to pay for an expert to run another workshop in Term 4 if there is an area people would like to have PD on.

Elizabeth (from MoE) also told us of the following PD available this year:

10 May:   Symposium Refugee Centre, Mangere – free

17 May:   Multicultural Awareness Workshop

Please find attached a flyer on what will be covered in the Multicultural Awareness Workshop that will be hosted at the Ministry of Education Nelson Office, 19 Haven Road, Nelson from 9:15am to 4:30pm.  There is no cost to attend however participants will need to provide their own lunch.  Please RSVP to Elizabeth at elizabeth.hamilton@education.govt.nz by Wednesday 12 May as places are limited.  Link to brochure: Adobe Acrobat

8-9 Oct:  CLESOL Conference:  Auckland 

A CLESOL scholarship of $1400 covers the registration as well as the flights and accommodation?  Also, may be reiterate that the flights and accommodation will only be covered retrospectively if attendees are able to attend in person (i.e. will not be covered if alert Levels change and attendees end up attending via zoom) however the registration will be covered in either case.  Kirsty MacDiarmid has sent out the email details of this scholarship now so it could be good to include with the minutes.

English Language Learning Evaluation:   The research is an evaluation of the effectiveness of the funding and supports for English Language Learners in schools.  A survey monkey will be sent to all schools. The researchers will also select some schools to visit to gain more in-depth insights.

TESOL has further study awards available – deadline is 14th May.

2020

21 July 2020

The Cluster Meeting was held at Nelson College for Girls, Meeting Room (beside main reception office) at 3.30pm.

Present: Stephen Knoff, Nelson College; Shelley Hall, Nayland College; Annette Vartha, NCG; Emma Hunter, NCG

Apologies: Corrina Kagaya, Garin; Aukje Both, Nayland

Guests: Adele Vorster and Coral De Marco, Mangere Refugee Centre

World Refugee Day 2021: Shelley Hall spoke to us about World Refugee Day 2021 - a biannual event which will be held on Monday the 21st June from 10am to 2.00pm. The event would cover ages 5 years and up - so would have to suit and be relevant for all ages. It will a first in the Nelson District.

To date, Shelley has booked the Annesbrook Church Auditorium at a discounted rate of $650 which includes microphones and stage managing and people to manage these. Shelley is applying for funding from the Nelson City Council or Ethnic Affairs to finance the venue. If funding is not made available then schools would have to contribute towards the cost of the venue.

Shelley is wanting feedback from schools as to the programme of the day. There are programmes from Auckland that could be used to assist with this. The forum available at the meeting suggested the students and parents are asked how and what they would like the day to go so they have ownership of the event and want to attend the event. The event could be run as a concert with students performing on stage; or it was suggested to cater for all ages and relevancy that the programme have activities (round robin) that the audience can select.

Individual schools would organise the performances for their students and any guest speaker or activity to contribute towards the day.

Lunch catering could be pizzas (sponsorship?) or the families could cook traditional foods and sell them at the event.

It is not intended that the World Refugee Day replaces Race Unity Day.

Nelson College and NCG already have events that celebrate/acknowledge former refugees in their schools and wondered if their students themselves would want an extra event. This would be looked into.

Note: Shelley has since sent an email withdrawing the offer for the Nelson Area.

Computers in Homes: Shelley has organised via Elizabeth Hamilton, MoE for her former refugee families to have a computer that they get to keep which can be used at home and school. 1-2 siblings get one device; 3 siblings - 2 devices; 5 siblings get 3 devices. If two siblings go to different schools then they still get one device.

Careers Interview Refugees: Shellee shared that Nayland college interviews their former refugees every year from Y9-Y13 to discuss careers options. Careers staff come and talk to classes.

Coral & Adele: Said that the information we are receiving in secondary school is limited. The Red Cross is given a lot more details about the families. She and Coral were thinking of working on a way to have the information online and shareable with all and between schools.

A big thanks to Coral and Adele for attending our meeting and answering questions we had regarding our students. We look forward to the information they will be sending schools in the future to assist with our former refugee students.

Meeting finished 5.15pm

25 March 2020

Minutes of Meeting held virtually through ZOOM
Present: Stephen Knoff, Corrina Kagaya, Aukje Both, Annette Vartha
Apologies: Emma
Due to the Convid19 lockdown we held our meeting via Zoom. Both as a convenient way to hold a meeting o
Offline Activities

• Reading novels/articles/short stories in preparation for Wide Reading assessments.

• Writing Journal activities - done in exercise book - photoed and uploaded to email/Teams

Online Learning progress thus far: Teachers are spending lots of time creating activities and setting up TEAMS for students but student most have not started realising that online learning is an expectation not an option!

2019

5 December 2019

Minutes of Meeting held 5th December 2019 at 12.30pm at Nelson College for Girls, International House

Present: Heidrun Berl, Nayland College; Aukje Both, Nayland College; Stephen Knoef, Nelson College; Lauren Walton Nelson College; Corina Kagaya, Garin College; Trish McGee, Waimea College; Annette Vartha, Nelson College for Girls.

Apologies: Emma Gillyon, Nelson College; Rebecca Henegan, Waimea College; Shellee Hall, Nayland College

The aim of this meeting was to reflect on our year and present a summary of our appraisal inquiry. We felt the Teaching Inquiry done for appraisal purposes is often not shared with anyone apart from the appraiser and for such a considered and researched document the findings should be shared.

Trish McGee, Waimea College: Te Atarangi Language course

The Te Atarangi Language course is a basic Te Reo course for teachers run by Shino Yonei, a kaiako trained in the Te Ataarangi method. The course was paid for by senior management and attended by two senior management members. Teachers learned basic greetings,numbers, colors, instructions, waiata and how to introduce themselves with a simple paku mihi over a period of 8 weeks for 1-1 1/2 hour sessions.

Trish found that positive links were formed between colleagues and senior management as we had a reason to stop and engage when we met each other around school.

Teachers started using Te Reo in class eg calling the roll "Ko......toku ingoa" and in conversation. Trish took ESOL class to Nelson Provincial Museum and Te Kura Kaupapa immersion school in Richmond as part of "Celebrating Cultural Diversity" unit of work in Term 1. The museum visit was a simple outline of the history of Aotearoa with a focus on migration. The visit to Te kura Kaupapa gave a reason for learning a mihi, waiata, vocabulary and greetings in Te Reo. The ESOL students who were mostly from Japan, Thailand and Vietnam identify with and love to learn about Maori culture.

Corrina Kayaga: How to make an efficient ESOL programme

Corrina concentrated on creating learning pathways for her classes. She worked on building entrance and exit criteria and tests.

Giving students certificates for achieving spelling and grammar goals was a great motivator. She found students wanted to know where they were at level wise and the certificates indicated this. Corrina felt that her teaching practice changed from issuing bandaids in English language acquistion to getting to the root of the problem. Students were happy to see progression.

Once the students reached 'Independent status' by fulfilling the exit criteria of reading and writing they were moved to mainstream classes.

Corrina has found that an overemphasis on technology for learning has not worked for her and she has gone back to books and paper as the main teaching method. Students indicated they wanted more interaction in small groups and the use of exercise books allowed for this more. Technology is used for homework and usage monitored via the teacher page in the website (Raz-kids and STEPS).

Cellphones/computers were pretty much banned and only used in the classroom for quick references if students asked permission.

Lauren Walton: Bilingual tutor training

Lauren's goal was to upskill her two bilingual tutors. She used the MoE booklet "Working with English Language Learners" which has 10 modules. Lauren spent time with the bilingual tutors going through the book.

The course reinforced that it is not all on bilingual tutors to create tasks in mainstream class. Subject teachers need to buy in working with the bilingual tutors to advise them ahead of time what will be covered in lessons so ESOL students are catered for.

The training booklet was rather dated and some website links were not working. Lauren is going to get in touch with the Ministry to ask them to update links.

Stephen Knoef: NCEA Unit standards

It was Stephen's first year of full time teaching in New Zealand and he focussed on getting informed about NCEA Assessments. Nelson Boys is offering unit standards to junior students as a motivator. He feels that teaching to the standard is not what students need. He did professional development of NCEA workshop; the Symposium for Refugees in Auckland. Stephen is completing his last paper for his Masters in TESOL over the summer break at Victoria University.

Aukje Both: International Student Survey

Her international students from the first semester expressed they wanted more room to put in their own ideas and co-construct lessons. Aukje said the programme does allow for a lot of choice as they do offer choice within topics, such as students choose a Maori legend to present and do a research Inquiry on anything that they are interested in related to NZ history and culture, but students were not so much aware of this being part of co-constructing and power-sharing.

In response to the survey Aukje started to inform the second semester students why they were doing things - justifying tasks. She gave them ownership. A unit of work used in her French class was adapted to use with the ESOL classes. The students shared songs - and prepared a presentation of the song, artist, genre and lyrics; meaning of the song and why they chose the song. They chose a variety of activities to work with the lyrics such as Quizlet, Kahoot and cloze for the other students to complete. New for her was the website www.lyricstraining.com that was used by one of the students (this website is free to use, can be used without logging in, but also has a free sign-up teachers' space where in a few clicks songs can be customised and gap fills created).The students were asked to rank the songs and give an opinion about each song. Aukje said the student really enjoyed this interactive song unit as it was relevant to them and also enjoyed that they could "teach the teacher".

Another activity that made students feel and appreciate ownership of the material taught in class were "exit passes" done at the end of a series of lessons where the students had to put a sticky label on the whiteboard under the headings Red 1-2-3- (too difficult) Green 4-5-6-7 (just right) Blue 8-9-10 (too easy). More difficult work, or easier material was offered in consecutive lessons, so students could pick and choose and work at their level but also try out a harder or easier level. This was done over 5 days. The first day had about a third of the students in the blue (and red) zone. A shift to the green zone where people felt they were working at their own level and still challenged enough happened very quickly and students stayed motivated, commenting at the end that they were happy with the teaching material and their progress

Heidrun Berl: Co-Construction/Power thinking

Heidrun was finding her Colombian students were speaking a lot of Spanish which was not helping them learn and also distracting for the Japanese students who felt delayed by the constant interruptions of the Spanish speakers.

Heidrun trialled "Happy Talks" in which students and her sat in a circle - the problem was aired and students were asked to about ideas to solve the issue. This helped them understand why it was not constructive to speak in L2 a lot. Heidrun used positive language "What can we do to keep everyone happy?" Students used "I wasn't happy because...." "She wasn't happy because....". Students came up with not sitting together and collectively they were also keen to use the yellow "withdrawal" cards which Heidrun found surprising.

Her class also made a set of class rules together. By the end of Term 3 her students tried to speak English all the time which is a very positive outcome.

Annette Vartha: Te Reo Course and gaining a Student Perspective on Learning

Annette completed and graduated the Level 1 Te Reo course at NMIT. This comprised 4 hours every week for the year. One of the reasons for doing the course was to gain a student perspective of learning a language. The other was to experience a teaching pedagogy of a Maori tutor and course - to gain insight as to what learning style and tasks was being used in the classroom. Of course the ultimate aim was to learn and use Te Reo.

As expected the oral teaching style was mostly used, and Annette didn't find that this personally helpful for her. Vocabulary was learnt via speaking and songs and no amount of repetition seemed to make the words 'stick' in her head. She quickly felt overwhelmed and stressed. She felt the resulting loss of confidence made it harder to speak Te Reo. Therefore, having faith and confidence in one's ability to learn is paramount - without this - it is very hard to retain the language.

The oral learning style may be really positive for Maori students in general but not for all students. She realised that she was perhaps experiencing why a lot of Maori students are feeling frustrated and disempowered about the way they are being taught. Most NZ school teachers use the mode of reading and writing in their lessons. Therefore ensuring there is a balance of modes (speaking, listening, reading & writing) is important. Furthermore letting students learn using the mode they are most comfortable with is important (recognising that we also need to develop our weaker modes of learning).

One other observation is, for Annette, the need to be able to make connections with vocabulary. It reinforced that thematic learning is helpful - having words (kupu) thrown willy nilly (for pronunciation purposes) eg a sequence of vocabulary "wombat, doctor, swim" [in Te Reo of course] did not help make connections and assist with retention of the three words focussed on for her.

USEFUL WEBSITES

www.readtheory.org

StepsWeb is being used by Waimea College. Subscriptions are cheaper the more students use it - from $30 - $15/student. It helps with phonics, spelling, vocabulary and sentences forming. It has the added bonus that student listen to the language being spoken.

1 August 2019

Minutes of Meeting of the Nelson ESOL Cluster and NATESOL held at International House at 3.30pm 

Present:  Aukje Both (Nayland College);  Stephen Knoef (Nelson College);  Madeline Carroll (NMIT); Annette Vartha (Nelson Girls College) 

Apologies:  Emma Gillyon (Nelson College);  Heidrun Beryl (Nayland College); Trish McGee (Waimea College); Carol Morgan (Waimea); Trish McGill (Waimea) 

 General Business 

The NATESOL AGM is set at Wednesday 30 October. Madeline Carroll is resigning from the position of Chairman of the NATESOL Committee and is  looking for a person that is willing to take on her role. 

It is important that secondary teachers are a member of NATESOL.  The $50.00 subscriptions can be paid by the school and there is a discount for 5 teachers for the price of 4 available as incentive.   

 The TESOL association is an international one - and as such provides a wealth of knowledge and resource sharing.  TESOLANZ - the New Zealand branch is a part of this interational association and NATESOL is a national branch member.  As ESOL teachers we can get a real sense of belonging and kinship in the knowledge we are a part of a whole, through being a member of TESOL. 

Facebook page:  https://www.facebook.com/Tesolanz.assn/ 

TESOLANZ Talk:  https://www.facebook.com/groups/TESOLANZTalk/ 

 A heads up to Stephen who has only one more paper to complete before completing his Masters through Victoria University.  He mentioned the International Student Education paper  was really beneficial.  We will have to have a celebration when he finishes his Masters! :) 

 AKTESOL Auckland Symposium - Emma, Stephen and Lauren are going to the symposium.  Stephen has agreed to look out for an interesting speaker that may be interested in giving a workshop for our AGM meeting.   

 Have had word from Breda Matthews that the presentations will be recorded (which is such a plus) so that the rest of New Zealand ESOL teachers also have the opportunity to glean new information/revise and reflect on our teaching.  Perhaps we can include a recording or two in our next meeting to support our agenda. 

 ESOL Cluster Meeting Theme:  Speaking Skills 

Encouraging Speaking Skills - Suggested activities: Madeline noted some activities for fluency and accuracy she has successfully used.  For some academic reading Madeline has also scanned Chapter 19 from Jeremy Harmer (2001) The Practice of English Language Teaching Longman/Pearson Education Ltd for us. 

 Just Disgusting - Andy Griffiths:  Aukje swears by this book and has her students choral reading and memorising word patterns in a fun way.  She has kindly shared a chapter with us - it will take your students straight back to when they were little kids and trying every trick in the book to not get into bed!  This would be a  good humorous starter to a unit on the importance of sleep for teenagers! 

www.flipgrid.com:  Annette shared her use of Flipgrid (free) giving an opportunity for students to orally demonstrate understanding of a topic that has been covered throughout the week.  As speaking is an immensely important part of their learning Flipgrid provides a platform for students to do an online 'speech' in a safe environment with a video recording.  It gives my students the impetus to make sure their pronunciation is correct and they rehearse with their peers until they confident they can speak about their topic comfortably.   

Flipgrid is a challenge for students at first - speaking is the mode where students feel the most vulnerable.  The good thing is if they are not happy with their first recording they can delete and start again until they are satisfied.  Some students need a lot of encouragement and a little scaffolding.  I allow the students who are not confident to read their writing journal entry (which is the preparation towards their flipgrid presentation). 

One lovely tip learnt at this meeting by Aukje from Nayland is to put a piece of paper over the screen of the student's device (allowing for a hole for the camera lens) so students can't see themselves recording.  They can then concentrate on the speaking aspect without being distracted by how they look.  The result is much more natural! :) 

Formative Assessment opportunties: In listening to the flipgrids teachers can give private feedback on areas of pronuncation, intonation and fluency that may need attention.  A further bonus of Flipgrid is teachers have an evidence of student speaking abilities for ESOL funding purposes.   

More ways of using Flipgrid: 

 4-3-2 Speaking Activity:  Stephen brought to our attention the benefits of the 4-3-2 speaking task which he enjoys using.  We have all these wonderful strategies at our fingertips - and have our favourite methods.  It great to get reminders of these tried true and tested ways to promote speaking.  The link takes you to ESOL online - which provides instructions and a video clip of a teacher demonstrating this method. 

 Reminders:   
NATESOL AGM Meeting:  30 October
ESOL Cluster Meeting:  TBA - In Term 4 after seniors leave! 

20 May 2019

Minutes of Meeting of the Nelson ESOL Cluster and NATESOL held at International House at 3.30pm

Present: Helen McDonnell, David Simoni, Wendy McKenzie, Trish Standring, Grant McAlpine (English Language Partners); Dave Loose, Erin Decker, Aaron Bell (Nelson English Centre); Carol Morgan (Waimea College); Corrina Kagaya (Garin College); Stephen Knoef (Nelson College); Madeline Carroll (NMIT); Annette Vartha (Nelson Girls College)

Apologies: Emma Gillyon & Lauren Walton (Nelson College); Aukje Both & Heidrun Beryl (Nayland College); Trish McGee (Waimea College)

Meeting Theme: Listening Skills

Effective listening skills are essential for learning in school but learners often find this the most difficult skill to develop proficiency in.

“Theory” of how to develop listening skills, resources and teaching experinces were shared. There was discussion of teaching and assessment practice. It was agreed that it is important that learners are able to understand a large proportion of what they hear and strategies for aiding comprehension were shared. Annette demonstrated online reading resources with recordings she has made so that learners can read and listen at the same time.

Participants agreed to share their notes electronically.

A wide range of learner needs and levels were discussed, from beginner to NZCEL Level 3. There was general consensus that this style of meeting was helpful and informative. It was suggested that the next meeting on Thursday 1 August should focus on developing Speaking skills, from Beginner to Intermediate, including a focus on the needs of speaking in a school environment and assessment activities.

Websites for Listening Resources:

Literacy/ESOL readers: https://globalaccess.bowvalleycollege.ca/esl-literacy-readers#section-1264

ESOL readers: multi-levelled ebooks with recorded text www.raz-kids.com

E-Book Creator: teachers & students can record texts to share; extensive library available on site http://www.bookcreator.com

Randall’s Listening Lab https://www.esl-lab.com/

Listening Lessons: http://www.5minuteenglish.com/listening.htm

Miscellaneous Listening Ideas: https://www.pinterest.nz/thinkinengl0000/tefl-listening-resources/

Listen to lyrics cloze: https://lyricstraining.com/

www.breakingnewsEnglish.com Reading and listening from Elementary to Advanced, learners can control the content, the level, and speed of speaking. Suitable for teenagers and adults.

www.bbc.co.uk/learningEnglish/6minuteEnglish Suitable for Intermediate level (NZCEL Level 3-4) for listening with support from a written text. Includes dialogue and monologue.

NCEA Listening Assessment Resources:

This is the last year for Level 3 US28050 and Level 2 US28022 Listening Assessments.

Next year we will need to purchase (or create) new assessments. The English Language Resource Centre (Breda Matthews) has created assessment tasks for Level 3 US30982 (The Festival; Aotearoa or Kakapo) – only one task is needed for the assessment. Breda is developing assessments for Level 1 and 2 this year.

Reminder: Next Meeting Thursday 1 August

12 April 2019

Minutes of Meeting Nelson ESOL Cluster  at International House, Nelson College for Girls at 3.30pm – 5.00pm

Present: Heidrun Berl, Madeline Carroll, Corrina Kayaga, Annette Vartha

Apologies: Aukje Both, Lauren Walton, Emma Gillyon, Stephen Knoff, Carol Morgan

We had a good catchup of what is on top in our departments this term and items of interest we would like to include in future meetings. We discussed the following:

Vocabulary Building: The importance of students making connections with new words so they become easier to remember. Examples of activities:

Word Web:

Pin tail on Elephant: The students write their word on a bit of paper and pin it on a drawing of an elephant. The trick is they have to say why they put the word in that particular place.

Comic Strip: Students use the words from the weekly word list to create a storyboard comic strip. Done in groups of two – they work out a plot (beginning, middle event and ending); work out visuals for comic – separate squares to draw and stick on final poster size paper. Use of speech bubbles/thought bubbles and explanation boxes.

Sonia Millet vocabulary: Create word lists and activities from the articles in the vocabulary books.

Refugees - Red Cross

We discussed it is important to have more information about refugee students. Barb Whittaker is the resettlement coordinator who may be able to give access to relevant files from Mangere Refugee Centre so that we can get to know background and academic grades from the MRC. Megan Riddell is also a person to contact.

New English Language assessments

Breda Matthews is developing tasks for the new versions of existing unit standards and the brand new units.

Next Meeting:

20th May – at Nelson College for Girls, International House. (Combination of ESOL cluster and NATESOL)