English Learner Notebooks: Using Data in Your ELL/ESL Classroom

I'm so excited that I FINALLY got latest product, English Learner Notebooks, posted in my store yesterday!  I've been working on it for several weeks now, but the back-to-school days had me like WOAH!  I really hope that it will be a useful tool for other ELL/ESL/ELD teachers across the U.S. whose schools/states are members of the WIDA consortium.  I decided to include a few highlights here on my blog so you can see what it's all about!  Click through the image below to check it out in my TpT store.

Please note that I am not affiliated with WIDA in any way.  I do not and have not worked for them at any time.  This product is not approved nor endorsed by WIDA.  It is simply a product created to use in conjunction with your students' teacher reports to better help students understand their English development.

It occurred to me a few years back that, while ESL teachers in my state are expected to meet predetermined percentages of growth and exit students from ELL/ESL services each year, we never actively discussed those results with our English learners.  (Or, at least that wasn't happening that I had seen.)  So I thought in the "data age" it would be beneficial for students to see their scores and understand what they mean.  After all, setting goals and understanding one's own progress can help any student better conceptualize their current situation and the goal toward which they're working.

I began data tracking my students' ACCESS scores with them that year, and I've continued to do that since then.  Every year we talk about growth and goals and why we look at our results (so we can know our strong areas and areas where we need to work harder).  We use that data to set our language goal for the year and establish a plan of action for how we will get there.  Here are a few of my precious students in action!

After reflecting, I realized that this was a tool that many other ELL/ESL/ELD teachers would probably like to incorporate in their own classrooms, so I took those resources and created a product to share on TpT.  I'm including a few sneak peeks below so you'll see what all is included in the product.

You get a very thorough "How to Use" guide that walks you through the initial set-up of data notebooks in your classroom and includes suggestions for introducing the concept to your students.  I've also included a page of example graphs (with a fictional student's information...no real data included so as to protect my students' privacy) so you know what the finished products should look like. 

And you get all the blackline masters for these graphs including graphs for the current year's scores for Tier A students, as well as another that matches assessment results for Tier B & C students.  You also get two graph blackline masters for year-to-year self-comparisons for students who have at least one previous year's data.  I've also included a "Teacher's Guide" page for each of those graphs with information and ideas on how to guide your students through a data analysis of their reports.

As a bonus to help your students' data notebooks look extra fabulous, I included some full-color and some B&W covers for your notebooks.  There are also vocabulary cards for your word wall (with visuals) to help your English learners learn and use the proper vocabulary when analyzing their data.

I hope this is a useful tool for you!  If you like what you see, grab your own copy from my TpT store by clicking here.