ESL at Shorewood helps the “little UN” learn English

“Jump and rope. Do they rhyme?” Jackie D'Aoust-Trevino, the English Language Learning teacher for Shorewood Hills Elementary School, asks her class of a dozen kindergartners on a Thursday morning.

At first some students are unsure, but after D'Aoust-Trevino points out that while both have a “puh” sound, they have different endings, the class reaches a consensus and moves on to other rhyming words.

Singing songs like “Have you ever seen a pig in a dig?” D’Aoust-Trevino helps the students create simple rhyming sentences.

The exercise is part of the daily ESL class at Shorewood. The students meet at the beginning of each day for an hour before disbursing to their regular classrooms. D'Aoust-Trevino then assists with literacy and writing skills throughout the day in the students’ regular classrooms.

In a school like Shorewood, which has been referred to as a “little United Nations” due to its international diversity, ESL is vital for students whose primary language is not English. The school draws on an attendance area including the Village of Shorewood Hills and University Apartments, home to many UW international graduate students and UW employees.

International students at Shorewood speak over 30 languages, but most students are ready to be fully integrated into their English-only classrooms within a year. According to Shorewood‘s website, half of the contestants in the school’s annual selling bee are former ESL students.

Sigrun Helgadottir, a parent volunteer in the classroom from Iceland, says her children’s experience with ESL at Shorewood has been “a lifesaver”.

Her older daughter attended Shorewood 12 years ago and had trouble understanding the basic structure of the class because of the language barrier. The ESL classes quickly helped her adapt.

“My daughter had a very hard time, she didn’t understand the rules. But after three weeks she was already on track,” Helgadottir says.

Helgadottir’s younger son, Ingvi, knew more English than his sister, but spent three years in Iceland where his English became rusty. Since her daughter had a positive experience, Helgadottir wanted her son to have the same advantage.

The ESL class has helped him become more fluent, and now he is almost too confident in his abilities, Helgadottir says.

“Now he thinks he’s too good, he’s too senior,” Helgadottir says with a laugh.

The English language ability of students in the class varies. Some speak very little English. One girl speaks virtually no English and a classroom aide works extra closely with her to help her catch up. Others, like Ingvi, are more fluent but still need the ESL class to help them improve their literacy.

While the ESL program helps the international students, their international background also helps create a uniquely diverse background in non-ESL classes.

“Virtually every classroom has half of these kids,” D'Aoust-Trevino says, adding that most of the kindergarten and first grade classrooms are almost as international as the ESL classes.

For Ingvi, ESL at Shorewood has been the key to regaining his English and during class he speaks easily with his teacher and other students.

“[The ESL Program] has been a life saver,” Helgadottir says.

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