Marco is an ELL at WIDA’s Beginning level of proficiency. He has age-appropriate reading skills in Spanish, his home language. His teacher, Ms. Farrell, has planned ways to help Marco participate in a lesson on the mythology of ancient Greece. The class will be reading portions of a Percy Jackson novel and comparing them to the classic myths, but the novel and the material on myths are both far above Marco’s reading level in English.
Ms. Farrell worked with the media specialist to get a copy of the Percy Jackson book in Spanish. She also asked the media specialist to locate a book on Greek myths in English, but at a lower reading level. Ms. Farrell reviewed the myths book to make sure that it was not too hard for Marco to understand—but not so easy that it would not provide any challenge.
Before giving Marco the Percy Jackson book, Ms. Farrell spent a few minutes with him to make sure that he had key background knowledge to understand the text. The concept of a summer camp is important to the story, so Ms. Farrell used photos to explain what a camp is like.