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Students have increased exposure to print and language.

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Students have increased exposure to print and language.

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Ex. books, reference materials, labels, bulletin boards, word walls, etc.

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These include the alphabet, phonetic sounds, new vocabulary words, sight words, and grammar rules.

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How a language rich classroom should look!

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How a language rich classroom should look!

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How to Create a  Literacy rich environment

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Students' native language will have a strong influence on the way in which the student learns English. A teachers's ability to understand this relationship will benefit the troublesome areas.

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One Tool for Teachers is Sentence Framing

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One Tool for Teachers is Sentence Framing

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ESOL Teacher Sheila Majdi: Using Sentence Frames with ELLs

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Phonetic sounds, pronunciation, grammar, word order, sentence structure, translation, word meanings, and many other ways.

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Educators must be clear and concise when communicating any information in the classroom for all students, but especially ELL's. However, this does not mean you should 'dumb down' your word choice. Introduce ELL's to key terms and let them practice with these terms to gain a better understanding.

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Additionally, another simple strategy to aid ELL's is to talk slowly and clearly. This will give students more time to process what is being said to gain a better understanding of the information being given.

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Give students a word wall that includes symbols they will see to make connections with their meaning.

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This resource provides key terms and visuals for all grade levels and subjects for teaching mathematics.

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Teachers must be careful when correcting language errors so they don't harm the confidence of students. It is best to do this in subtle ways like writing them down and marking errors for students to correct.

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Strategies to support academic language:

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Strategies to support academic language:

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Sentence starters, cognates, and word banks

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To provide support for students who are learning to form sentences in the academic or social context, teachers can give sentence starters to model the way they should communicate information.

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Typically, ELL's develop strongly in this area first and can communicate more effectively in a social context. One strategy to make students feel included in the classroom is to learn their phrases in their native language, like learning to say good morning. This will make them feel proud of their backgrounds and important in the classroom community.

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Collaboration between teachers and parents will increase student outcomes by giving high levels of unified support. This will also provide insight to student background and give more perspective on an individual students cultural experiences.

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1.) Engage with families often
2.) Communicate effectively
3.) Ensure cultural competence
4.) Encourage involvement
5.) Create a plan to boost participation

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Engaging with the parents of ELL students, also known as English Language Learners, is vital to helping these pupils succeed.

Parental involvement is the backbone of a child's education, and this is especially true of ELL students who are challenged by language barriers. These five suggestions should smooth the process:

1. Connect with ELL students' families

One important key to success with ELL programs is actively connecting with families. Waiting around for them to connect with your program will not work. Put in the time to learn about parents' cultural traditions and educational characteristics. Work on developing a personal, one-on-one approach with each family.

You'll need creativity and ingenuity to strengthen the relationship between the school and home environments of ELL students. Work on building a partnership based on mutual respect that empowers parents to contribute their talents and experience to their children's education.

If you become involved in ELL students' neighborhood activities, you may meet unexpected contacts like community leaders who can then put you in touch with more parents of ELL students.

2. Ensure the effective communication of important school information

Make certain that ELL families receive all of the school's scheduling and other important information in their native language-not just in English-to ensure they "get the message."

Some people mistakenly believe that using the family's native language does them a disservice because they really need to learn English. But studies confirm that strong native-language skills actually contribute to the academic success of an ELL student.

When parents understand the school's information, they can more effectively support their children's understanding of it.

3. Tailor your approach to the family's cultural traditions

Use what you learned when you established contact with the family to embrace their cultural norms. For instance, people of Hispanic heritage might have a slightly different interpretation of the role of school.

For example, at teacher conferences, Hispanic parents might seem more interested in their child's behavior than in his or her grades. Don't worry, they are not being insensitive to the child's needs; they are simply expressing their social customs- that education is more about teaching moral and behavioral controls than it is about achieving academic milestone requirements.

The key is seeing that this is a two-way street where both viewpoints are valid. Do whatever it takes to empower them to participate in their child's education.

4. Get parents involved in school activities

For starters, all parents can monitor the completion of their children's homework. But they can also be encouraged to visit the classroom and perhaps even to speak to the class.

They also can volunteer in the lunchroom, the office, the library or wherever there is a need. Involving a child's parents in the school's activities is the clearest message of all that parents are expected to have a large role in their children's education.

5. Formulate a plan to encourage parental engagement

Think about alternative scheduling. Sometimes families of ELL students (and the students for that matter) are subject to scheduling limitations that are not immediately apparent or common to other populations. Students may be working jobs for several hours after class. Parents may be working multiple jobs. Guidelines to keep in mind:

Meet the people. Learn their heritage, their problems, and their strengths.

Schedule conferences and meetings according to the family's available time.

Solicit the ideas of the ELL community.

While you are at it, don't forget to ask the students what their parents need most to become more involved.

Research your community for translation possibilities and input from community leaders.

Formulate your plan around identified strengths as well as needs.

Education is everyone's business, not just that of educators. Encouraging the contributions of ELL families is one more way to help schools work for the betterment of the entire community.
Want to learn more ways to have a successful ELL program? Our ESOL MEd degree concentration gives you the knowledge and best practices to develop helpful instructional strategies for ELL students.

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Five Ways to Engage Parents of ELL Students | Resilient Educator

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Engaging with the parents of ELL students, also known as English Language Learners, is vital to helping these pupils succeed. Parental involvement is the backbone of a child's education, and this is especially true of ELL students who are challenged by language barriers.

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Teacher Tip: Utilize the school's interpreter

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Teacher Tip: Utilize the school's interpreter

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Not only can the school interpreter be used as a translator, but they can also be used to recommend best practices when working with your ELL's in the classroom. They can provide beneficial strategies and resources to address the needs of all students.