Oral Language | Reading | Writing
Meet Enrique
Enrique is a 16 year old 11th grade student in a medium sized Midwest town. Born in the Midwest, he, his sister Stacy, and their family moved to Mexico when he was 4 years old to embark on a new life.
Enrique and his family lived in different parts of Mexico for two years. Missing some of their family and friends, they came back to the United States for a wedding, and then stayed for six months. This allowed him to develop his English speaking skills. After their stay in the United States, the family returned to Mexico and stayed for six years. Not long after, Enrique and his family returned to the United States to settle in the Midwest.
When Enrique is not studying, he enjoys spending time with his friends and cheering for his favorite soccer team, the Chivas. With all the traveling to and from Mexico, his family is extremely close. They plan many gatherings and celebrate each other’s accomplishments.
In comparison to the American schools, Enrique enjoyed that his private school in Mexico was very spacious and it had outside corridors. Although Enrique was required to take English classes in Mexico, he felt that those classes were too basic and did not challenge his proficiency. Sometimes he felt that his English was better than his teachers’. However, in Mexico, Enrique did not use English to communicate with anyone, including his sister Stacy, and thus his English proficiency declined.
Because of Enrique’s experience as a transnational student moving back and forth from the United States to Mexico, he is able to speak both English and Spanish. He enjoys continuing to learn both languages because it makes him more marketable as he plans on becoming an engineer. He believes that this hard work will pay off and will make him a better student.
Enrique receives 1 period of ESL instruction a day, and all other courses are mainstream courses taught by teachers without any specialized training or certification in working with ELLs. His official English Language Proficiency level is 3.9 (WIDA).
Oral Language Samples
Directions: Review the oral language samples below. Then, review and complete the SOLOM-R Google Form below. You may also open the form in a new link if you want to complete it as you view the videos. Note, Enrique was interviewed and also co-presented with his sister Stacey. For these samples, just focus on Enrique’s oral language comprehension and production.
Oral Language Sample 1: Interview
Oral Language Sample 2: Oral Presentation
Reading Samples
Directions: Download and print the Running Record Forms below. Complete the form as you view the videos of the student’s reading below. Review the comprehension Q&A’s. Then complete the Running Record Evaluation Google Forms below.
Reading Comprehension Questions and Answers
1. Where is this story taking place?
[Correct Answer: Jurassic Park]
Enrique: The land, Jurassic Park land.
2. What are they seeing for the first time?
[Correct Answer: dinosaurs]
Enrique: Dinosaurs.
3. How do they react?
[Correct Answer: shocked, amazed.]
Enrique: Oh, they cannot believe it. They thought they weren’t real.
4. How did Gennaro react?
[Correct Answer: Amazed. Shocked into silence.]
Enrique: He couldn’t believe it either. He had never seen dinosaurs before, even though he knew it was going to happen, what to expect.
5. Gennaro thought to himself, “We’re going to make a fortune on this place.” What does that mean?
[Correct Answer: They can make a lot of money charging people to come to the park.]
Enrique: They are going to be rich. They are probably going to show a lot of people and make a lot of money out of it.
Reading Comprehension Questions and Answers
1. Based on this description, where do you think this story takes place?
[Correct Answer: A rural area, a small town]
Enrique: In some kind of city. A small city.
2. How can you tell its a small city?
[Correct Answer: no street vendors like New York, dairy trucks driving by, ]
Enrique: Because he said like, in New York, they have like hot dogs, and stands, and they don’t have it over there.
3. What kind of truck drove by them?
[Correct Answer: dairy truck]
Enrique: A diary truck?
4. What is a dairy?
[Correct Answer: a farm with cows to produce milk, cheese.]
Enrique: Oh, dairy? Um, like a milk company? Oh yeah, I think I know what it is.
5. “I felt like Dorthy plopped down in Munchkin Land.” What does that passage refer to?
[Correct Answer: Wizard of Oz. Ending up in a place that is completely new and very different.]
Enrique: I don’t know.
WRITING SAMPLES
Directions: Read the student’s writing samples below. Then complete the writing evaluation Google Form for the samples below.
Writing Sample 1: “Going to School After Vacation”
Writing Sample 2: “To Do Homework or Not to Do Homework”
Writing Sample 3: “If I Were a Teacher for a Day…”
