Observation Of Joaquin

1.) Family/Student history. Joaquin is an emergent bilingual student that came from San Juan, Puerto Rico. Joaquin moved to America about two years ago because his father job was transferred over here. Joaquin is a kindergarten student and has been working on his English proficiency for about a year when he started school here in America. Joaquin lives with both of his parents who mostly speak Spanish inside the home. Joaquin’s parents do know simple English, and use it from time to time. Joaquin’s father works at the Steel Mill, while Joaquin’s mother is a housekeeper at an apartment complex. Both of his parents are taking adult English classes at night, and are working to improve their English profiency as well. It seems like Joaquin’s parents
Students within this stage usually speak using one to two word phrases, have a vocabulary around a thousand words, and can respond to simple questions. (ELL Iris Module) I determined this after observing Joaquin in the classroom with his teacher, Ms. Piper. When Ms. Piper was showing Joaquin how to make the letter M, she spoke to him using very short phrases and body language. Joaquin often understood the short phrases and would provide a short response. For example, when Mrs. Piper was demonstrating how to make a lowercase M, she used the tips if her fingers to trace the M and says, “like this, so you go like this”. Joaquin understands `Mrs. Piper and begins tracing the letter M as told and then responds, “like this?”. Joaquin’s M went above the horizontal line and to correct Joaquin she would say things such as “no taller, no taller.” Joaquin seems to comprehend this, as he stops his self from going above the line. When Mrs. Piper Showed Joaquin how to make the humps of the M, she would demonstrate tracing the humps using her fingers, saying “now go over, now go over” Joaquin understand, and as a result he was able to make the correct M formation, besides the fact that the last leg fell a little short. Mrs. Piper tries to explain this to Joaquin by using a direct sentence, rather than a short phrase. “Make it a little longer there.”. When Mrs. Piper spoke to Joaquin using a direct sentence rather than a short phrase he seemed to be a bit confused. Instead of drawing the leg of the M a little longer like directed, Joaquin takes the leg of the M and curves it upward. My analysis of this lesson would be that Joaquin understands better when spoken in simple two-word phrases, rather than direct sentences. Joaquin also seems to respond to Mrs. Piper only using two-word phrases. Joaquin has yet to develop enough language profiency to speak or comprehend direct