Level+1

__**CELDT Level 1: The Beginning Stage**__ __**Duration:**__ A few weeks-6 months (Keep in mind that this is only a suggestion, and that the duration within a stage is dependent upon each individual student.)

__**Think of it like this...**__ A great way of understanding the beginning stage of proficiency is the analogy of a traveler who feels lost in another country. The traveler looks for signs to help guide him/her. When interacting with native speakers, the traveler utters one-to-two word phrases, in conjunction with hand gestures, to indicate meaning. Much like a traveler, a student in the beginning level of proficiency may strugle to put words together, due to their absence of a working vocabulary in English.

__**Characteristic Behaviors:**__
 * Remain silent during class lessons and activities, while actively listening for something that might make sense
 * Common behavior of nooding the head in the affirmative or shaking it to say "no"
 * These characteristics are rather obvious, helping the teacher to diagnose the level of proficiency for ELL students.
 * Personally, I have found these characteristics to be very aparent in my interactions with a level 1 student. This student appears to shut off in class, but during our tutoring sessions, the student is able to reiterate some of the things that were taught in class, which shows that the student was activley listening, and that some learning took place.

**__Key Strategies:__**

> the skills necessary to enter the early intermediate level.
 * Because students in this stage rely heavily on modeling, an effective teacher strategy may be to provide //realia// and //visuals//to enhance student comprehension. Level 1 students will follow oral directions more efficiently when modeled.
 * Examples of realia and visuals may include: picture books, stories on video, big books, etc.
 * To further emphasize and model concepts about print, the teacher may want to illustrate writing on charts and provide the student with a journal to practice their own writing and drawing. Having students trace letters and simple works is a wonderful strategy that will encourage students to practice [[image:http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2011/08/27/fmimg3341859300853034782.jpg width="243" height="312" align="right" caption="Educational apps on tablets are a wonderful way to get ELL students to actively participate in their learning!"]]
 * Using tablets with educational "apps" is a great way to integrate technology and engage students. Currently the level 1 student I am working with enjoys tracing letters on the classroom tablet, which further engrains basic alphabetic principle skills.
 * Finally, because students in the beginning level often have a limited lexicon and typically answer questions in yes/no response format, it is important that the teacher NOT force speech, and ask yes/no questions, all while using simple "caretaker" speech.



The teacher must keep in mind the analogy of the traveler, and understand that these scaffolding strategies will provide the most beneficial atmosphere to foster growth in language acquisition for ELL students.

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