Elementary English: High School Students Create App for ELL Students
Stacy Brown, Oklahoma City Public Schools, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA
Three Carrollton High School students in Carrollton, Georgia, USA, came together this past school year to develop an app to support English learners in their language development journey. The idea began with then tenth-grade bilingual student Merssy Larios-Bejarano. Merssy had previously exited the EL program. She saw there was a need for a tool to support newcomer EL students and their families. Together with classmates Makynna Goodman and Mason Scoville, with the support of their computer science teacher Robby Blakemore, the students developed an app called ELLementary English.
“Merssy is a former EL student who progressed out of the program a few years ago. She has a great understanding of what it is like and also how to be successful in the program,” shared Mr. Blakemore.
Content is continually added to the app, which is currently available on Apple devices. “ELLementary English is created to help new English learners with very common words used on a daily basis with the English words and definitions, and also the Spanish words and definitions. Equipped with speech to word, it has over 50 adjectives used daily and family names such as mother, brother, grandma, etc. We have also included words that are usually used in a classroom to help be able to navigate school.” (Goodman et al, 2024)
The students also provided a more in-depth description of the app experience. “When you first open the app, you see that there is a scroll wheel of different categories, such as adjectives, family words, and school words. Once you choose the desired category, a random word and its definition in English and Spanish from that category is generated. There is a button below the words and examples that generates a new random word. There is also one more button that you can click to hear the word. We know that there are several translators and services available, but we wanted to develop something based on the needs of our local teachers and students. We have been communicating with our teachers and students in the program to see what they need and want. From there we hope others could find it useful as well. Being an ELL student is difficult, because you may not understand what the teacher is saying. We hope this app can help bridge the gap.”
Mr. Blakemore exposed his students to multiple prototypes to help them initiate, build, and enhance their creations. The students gained experience in collaboration and many other life skills in the process while learning more about their school community and themselves as leaders and creators.
“Makynna Goodman (12th grade 2023-24): My job was to design the structure of the app and to enter the English version of the vocabulary words.
Merssy Larios-Bejarano (10th grade 2023-24): My job was to enter the Spanish definition of the words as well as ask our ELL teachers about what they wanted in the app.
Mason Scoville (9th grade 2023-24): My job was to enter English versions of the vocabulary words as well as design the look of the app.
We used an Iterative Design Process to build this app. We started with drawing our ideas on paper. Originally, we wanted to create a homepage that would link to other pages for each type of word list. But it was going to be too much work to grow the app. So we decided to use a list picker instead. That will allow us to grow the app more efficiently.” (Goodman et al, 2024)
Mr. Blakemore encourages his students to work toward solving problems they witness or have experienced in the real world. “I'm always encouraging students to use computer science to solve problems that are authentic to them. We have made apps to teach sight words, quick math, SAT prep, as well as apps that try to assist with homelessness, addiction, and other real world problems,” said Mr. Blakemore. These three students not only found a way to support students and families with a real world challenge. They also continuously serve as an inspiration to other youth and adults to consider the needs of English learners.
The class has created a website to make their created content more accessible to students and families in their district and beyond. Student-created apps and games for Android and Apple devices can be found throughout the site, many of which help support language and literacy development.
“Our Trojan Sight Words was created by a student whose sister was a 3rd grader and was behind on sight words. The app lists all of the suggested Fry Sight Words K-3,” shared Mr. Blakemore. “Our teachers break the words into groups of ten to study as a unit. Students can select the grade level and week number to get the set of words. The words can be spoken, kind of like an interactive flash card. Also, our teachers mentioned an interesting side effect that you may be interested in. They reported that ELL students who didn't have English-speaking parents were able to use this to hear the spoken word at home.” Trojan Sight Words was named after the school’s mascot, the Carrollton Trojans. It can currently be accessed on Apple and Android.
Mr. Blakemore was Carrollton High School’s 2021-2022 teacher of the year and he also serves as the esports coach. He enjoys empowering students, helping them to explore their own potential, problem-solve, and connect with the world around them in creative ways. Through his program, they experience what it is like to make an impact through technology, but he credits the students for their successes. “...it would be foolish to claim these as my accomplishments alone, because I am simply the conduit that helps students unlock their potential." (Carrollton, 2021)
Special thanks to all of these students and Mr. Blakemore for their creativity, hard work, and dedication to helping others.
Reference
Carrollton City Schools News. (2021, September 17). Meet Carrollton High School's Teacher of the Year – Robby Blakemore. https://www.carrolltoncityschools.net/about-us/newannouncements/featured-news/~board/2021-2022-school-year/post/meet-carrollton-high-schools-teacher-of-the-year-robby-blakemore
Goodman, M., Larios-Bejarano, M., Scoville, M. (2024). ELLementary Education Project. Carrollton Public Schools.
Stacy Brown is a trauma and policy specialist and international emergency case worker, currently serving in the U.S. and 58 countries in the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Additionally, she serves as an EL administrator in Oklahoma. She has served in leadership for TESOL International Association and affiliates for 16 years and volunteers with multiple local and international organizations dedicated to protecting and advocating for forcibly displaced families.