Crapo checks out co-teaching for English-language learners at Lincoln elementary | Southern Idaho Education
TWIN FALLS — Lincoln Elementary is pioneering a program this year to teach students who are learning English in their regular classrooms, rather than taking them out for part of the day. A regular classroom teacher and an English as a Second Language teacher works in each of these classrooms, said Principal Beth Olmstead . The ESL teacher helps with lesson plans to include ESL strategies to ensure students get a boost in vocabulary and language instruction. Then, the two teachers work together to instruct the class. This co-teaching system, Olmstead said, helps children who are learning English to “learn from their peers rather than being isolated.” Middle and high schools in the district have also started to use a similar model to instruct students who are still learning English. It’s significant for Lincoln, though, because all elementary-age English- language learning students in the district are sent there. About 90 elementary schoolers , or about 17 percent of Lincoln’s stud...