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The strategy that I think would work best for my emergent bilinguals is getting to know them. It's important to know who the student is and what their individual needs are. Building a relationship and trust is important for students to be responsive to our instruction.

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The strategy that I think would work best for my emergent bilinguals is getting to know them. It's important to know who the student is and what their individual needs are. Building a relationship and trust is important for students to be responsive to our instruction.

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Resources for English Language Learners and Teachers | Pearson English

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Confident students are often the most successful learners. In this post, Lindsay Warwick explains how we can inspire our ESL learners to be more sure of themselves and do better in their learning.

She examines the importance of confidence in the English language classroom, shows us why some learners are more self-assured than others, and takes us through five key confidence-building strategies.
You can also join Lindsay for a practical webinar about building learner confidence with Roadmap. There will be one session at 9am and another at 2pm (UK time) on Thursday 19th September.
How does learner confidence affect student achievement?

A learner who has belief in their abilities will set themselves challenging goals, be motivated to achieve them, put in an effort, and use appropriate strategies to perform well.

On the other hand, a learner without self-efficacy (self-confidence) will set themselves low-level goals, not put in effort (why try when you think you'll fail?), not use appropriate strategies and not perform well. As a result, their confidence and motivation levels will continue to fall.

This is backed by a body of research, which suggests that high self-confidence can positively affect motivation and effort, the ability to set goals and performance. Conversely, it suggests that low self-confidence can negatively affect them (Raoofi, Tan & Chan, 2012).

What affects learner confidence?

It's also important to understand what affects learner confidence. Albert Bandura's theory claims that there are four sources of self-efficacy:

Mastery experiences: When you achieve one goal, it makes you believe you can achieve another.

Vicarious experiences: When you see people similar to you working hard and achieving goals, you believe you can too.

Verbal persuasion: When influential people (e.g. a teacher) reinforce the view that we can achieve our goal.

Emotional and physiological states: When we feel tired, stressed or depressed, our self-efficacy will be low.

These are all key things to bear in mind when managing your classroom, providing instruction, giving feedback, and reflecting on individual and group progress.

So, how can we help to build our learners' confidence?

Here are my top five strategies for developing learners' confidence.

1. Establishing learning goals

It's key that every lesson has a clear learning goal. This helps us to stage the lesson logically and ensure that learners make progress. For example:

It's also important to convey this goal to learners so that they know what they're trying to achieve. Note that learners don't generally pay much attention to a goal simply written on the board. There needs to be some kind of engagement with it.

You can do this by asking learners to read the goal and say why it's useful and how confident they currently feel about achieving it (1=not confident, 5 =confident). You can then repeat this activity at the end of the class and (hopefully) they'll give a higher score.

You can read more about goal setting our article Back to school: 5 ways to establish SMART goals .

2. Staging the lesson appropriately

Once we know what we want our students to achieve, we can stage the lesson so that learners have the best chance of achieving it. Each activity should build on the last, leading up to the final task that allows learners to achieve the goal.

If, for example, the goal is to compare two places , then our lesson might include these things:

Listening task: Students listen to a model conversation where people are choosing between two cafés for brunch.

Language clarification:Students recognize how we use, form and pronounce comparative adjectives.

Language practice: Students practice using comparative adjectives, with personalized practice.

Speaking task preparation:Students prepare to compare two cafés.

Speaking task: Students have a conversation where they decide which of two cafés to visit.

3. Providing the right support

Not everyone in the class will be able to work through lesson activities with the same level of ability. When a task is challenging, less confident learners are likely to think back to past failures and give up more quickly. To avoid this, we can add support to help weaker learners to complete the task successfully.

Some examples of support include:

A gap-fill exercise providing two possible answers to choose from

A listening multiple choice where students must take one option away

A speaking task that supplies useful phrases

Extension tasks that stronger learners can complete, so slower learners can finish a task

We can give learners the option to use the support or not.
How did you prepare for the test? What was helpful? What wasn't helpful? What stages did you follow when you wrote your article? What did you do to get the answers to the exercise right?
4. Working with peers

Regular pair and group work gives learners the opportunity to see how the effort from their peers results in good performance and progress. We can also encourage learners to share strategies through discussion. For example:

Learners can discuss questions like these in L1.

5. Feedback and reflection
How confident do you feel at the end of this lesson? (1-5) Why? What are you proud of in this lesson? Why? What do you need to do to improve next time?
Rather than focus solely on error correction, it's really important that we also point out what learners did well and should keep doing, as well as what progress they've made.

We can encourage peer feedback and self-reflection that focuses significantly on what went well as well as next steps. This doesn't need to take long. We can ask one or two questions at the end of a lesson or a series of lessons. For example:

Again, learners can discuss these in L1.

Building learner confidence with Roadmap

In Pearson's new general English series Roadmap , all lessons have a clear learning goal, carefully staged activities, and a task that shows learners that they've achieved their goal.

What's more, learners have the opportunity to develop and practice sub-skills and strategies to help them develop their listening, speaking, reading and writing skills. There are also reflection tasks which focus on confidence, and suggestions in the Teacher's Book on how to add support for learners who need it. All of these things are designed to help learners build confidence alongside competence.

Want to find out more?

You can join Lindsay on Thursday 19th September for a practical webinar about building learner confidence with . There will be one session at 9am and another at 2pm (UK time).

References

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Raoofi, S, Tan, B, Chan, S. (2012). Self-efficacy in Second/Foreign Language Learning Contexts, English Language Teaching; Vol. 5, No. 11; 2012 https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1080058.pdf

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Inspiring confidence: 5 ways to help students succeed

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Confident students are often the most successful learners. In this post, Lindsay Warwick explains how we can inspire our ESL learners to be more sure of themselves and do better in their learning. She examines the importance of confidence in the English language classroom, shows us why some learners are more self-assured than others, and takes us through five key confidence-building strategies.

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Exploring Graphic Organizers?

Graphic organizers integrate both text and visuals. This has been scientifically proven to be an effective way of teaching and learning. Using them can be extremely useful for both teachers and students as they will make lessons more engaging as well as easily comprehensible.

We have listed below multiple types of graphic organizers you can use during various scenarios, whether you are reading, writing, doing research or studying for exams. Each tool is accompanied by a template that you can use right away.
1. What are Graphic Organizers 1.1. Benefits of graphic organizers 2. Types of Graphic Organizers 2.1. Graphic Organizers for Writing 2.1.1. 1. Persuasion map 2.1.2. 2. Sequence Chart 2.2. Graphic Organizers for Reading 2.2.1. 3. Story map 2.2.2. 4. Biography graphic organizer 2.2.3. 5. KWL chart 2.3. Graphic Organizers for Teaching 2.3.1. 6. Learning map 2.3.2. 7. Analogy graphic organizer 2.3.3. 8. Vocabulary graphic organizer 2.3.4. 9. Problem-solving organizer 2.3.5. 10. Math Graphic Organizer 2.4. Graphic Organizers for Learning 2.4.1. 11. Timeline graphic organizer 2.4.2. 12. T chart 2.4.3. 13. Hierarchy chart 2.4.4. 14. Star diagram 2.5. Graphic Organizers for Brainstorming 2.5.1. 15. Cluster diagram 2.5.2. 16. Lotus diagram 2.5.3. 17. Cause and effect graphic organizer 2.5.4. 18. Mind map 2.6. Graphic Organizers for Compare and Contrast 2.6.1. 19. Double bubble map 2.6.2. 20. Venn diagram 2.6.2.1. Add to Our List of Graphic Organizers for Teachers and Students
What are Graphic Organizers

A graphic organizer is a teaching and learning tool that is used to organize information and ideas in a way that is easy to comprehend and internalize. By integrating text and visuals, graphic organizers show relationships and connections between concepts, terms, and facts.

Graphic organizers can be used in all grade levels, and have proven to be effective learning tools for gifted children and students with special needs. And with adult learners, graphic organizers can help enable the connection between what they already know and newly acquired knowledge.

Benefits of graphic organizers

Different types of graphic organizers can be used across the curriculum for teaching, learning, and note-taking. They are easy to create and impactful in simplifying information.

Help visualize or present information in a way that is easier to comprehend, by breaking down larger or complex concepts or ideas into smaller and simpler parts.

Provide students the opportunity to actively contribute and participate in the learning process through the creation of graphic organizers.

Help develop cognitive skills such as brainstorming, critical and, categorizing and prioritizing content, reflection, etc.

Help recall prior knowledge about a subject and quickly connect it to new information

Promotes self-learning. By using graphic organizers for note-taking, analyzing, studying, etc. students can familiarize themselves with a lesson far more easily.

Types of Graphic Organizers

Here we have listed 19 types of graphic organizers for teaching and learning. Based on their varied purposes, you can utilize them in reading, writing, researching, brainstorming, and analyzing.

Graphic Organizers for Writing

1. Persuasion map

The persuasion map is an interactive graphic organizer that helps students familiarize themselves with the process of persuasive writing . It assists them with outlining and preparing arguments for their essays, speeches, debates, etc.
How to use it
Step 1: Choose a topic of interest for your essay/debate. Do proper research around it to collect enough information.

Step 2: Define the claim that you want to make with your essay. Persuasive writing by writing this down first.

Step 3: Next to it, write down the reasons for making that claim.

Step 4: Then write down facts, examples, and information to back up your reasoning.

Step 5: End your persuasion map with the conclusion of your essay.

2. Sequence Chart

A sequence graphic organizer is a tool that helps visualize the order of steps of a process or a timeline of events, etc. It can also be used for note-taking, lesson planning, and essay writing.
How to use it
Step 1: Identify the steps in the process or event.

Step 2: Using a sequence chart arrange these steps in sequential order.
Template
Graphic Organizers for Reading

3. Story map

A story map can be used to identify the different elements such as characters, character plots, themes, techniques, etc. in a book students are reading. It's a useful tool that teachers can integrate into the lesson to improve students' comprehension.
How to use it
Step 1: Read the book and understand it well.

Step 2: Discuss the different significant elements that were involved in the story. These could be the characters, setting, problem and solution, etc. You can fill the story map during the discussion.

Step 3: Once the map is complete you can discuss each element individually.

4. Biography graphic organizer

This is a tool that assists with understanding a character from a novel, autobiography or movie or a historical figure more in-depth. It brings attention to various important factors about a person's life.
How to create it
Step 1: Gather as much information you can about the character you are studying. You can also refer to online resources, or ask from teachers or experts.

Step 2: As you analyze the information you have gathered, isolate the facts that stand out or you think are important.

Step 3: Use your biography graphic organizer to lay out the information in a presentable way. You can add images to make it more comprehensible as well.

5. KWL chart

KWL chart is used for gathering information from student's prior knowledge or experience. This 3 column chart captures the before (what the reader already knows), during (what the reader wants to learn) and after (what the reader learned) stages of reading.
How to use it
Step 1: Get students to brainstorm around the selected topic and write down everything they know about it in the K column.

Step 2: Ask them to generate a list of questions about what they want to know in the W column of the chart.

Step 3: During or after reading the book/ lesson get them to answer these questions in the L column.

Graphic Organizers for Teaching

6. Learning map

Learning maps visually depict the key takeaways - skills, ideas, knowledge - students should get from a lesson. It usually provides a high-level view of the lesson/ unit/ course that is to be studied and the connection between its different components. Students can also use learning maps in the classroom for note-taking.
How to use it
Step 1: At the center of the map, write down the topic (i.e. name of the lesson or unit)

Step 2: Brainstorm ideas and information related to it. Write these down on branches emerging from the center. Make sure that you place them in a way that makes sense to teach or in a logical sequence around the center.

Step 3: Add connectors between these elements and add labels to highlight the kind of relationship between them.

Learning map template (Click on the template to edit it online)

Learning Map Template (Click on the template to edit it online)

7. Analogy graphic organizer

The analogy graphic organizer uses analogy to help students identify similarities and differences between a new topic and a topic that they are already familiar with.
How to use it
Step 1: Select a topic/ concept that the students already know and is analogous in certain aspects to the new topic

Step 2: Introduce the new concept and get the students to read and discuss it

Step 3: Using an analogy graphic organizer, ask the students to brainstorm and write similarities and differences between the two topics.

Step 4: Based on the completed graphic organizer, ask the students to write a brief description of the new topic

Analogy Graphic Organizer (Click on the template to edit it online)

8. Vocabulary graphic organizer

This tool can be used to assess the vocabulary knowledge of students. You can create graphic organizers including various elements to help students learn new words, and learn antonyms and synonyms.

9. Problem-solving organizer

Problem-solving graphic organizers can be used to improve the problem-solving skills of the students. It helps students identify and evaluate solutions to problems.
How to use it
Step 1: Identify the problem and write it in the problem box

Step 2: Ask students to then write down why they think it is a problem in the first place

Step 3: Get them to brainstorm all possible solutions along with the pros and cons relates to them.

Step 4: Once they select the best possible solution, ask them to list down all its possible consequences

Step 5: Students can then make suggestions to improve the selected solution further

10. Math Graphic Organizer

Math graphic organizers are used to describe math concepts graphically to students. It helps with simplifying and solving complex math problems.
How to use it
Step 1: Select the math problem you want to identify and a relevant graphic organizer that you can use to solve it.

Step 2: Invite your students or colleagues to collaborate as you wish.

math graphic organizer template (Click on the template to edit it online)

Graphic Organizers for Learning

11. Timeline graphic organizer

Timeline diagrams are a type of graphic organizer that shows a sequence of events in chronological order.

They come in handy when studying history as you can use it to display major historical events that occurred during a period of time along with important details such as dates and locations in which they took place.

In addition, timeline charts can also be used to show the progress of something (i.e. growth of a business) or changes.
How to use it
Step 1: Identify the different events and the sequence of order in which they took place.

Step 2: Use a research on your target audience to arrange them chronologically

Step 3: Include significant details such as dates, locations and other additional information as needed.

12. T chart

T charts allow students to study two facets of a topic. For example, disadvantages and advantages, pros and cons, differences and similarities, etc.
How to use it
Step 1: Draw a T chart and write down the two areas you want to brainstorm around on each column head.

Step 2: Write down facts on each column as you carry out your brainstorming.

13. Hierarchy chart

Hierarchy charts visualize the elements of a system, organization or concept from its highest position to the lowest. Students can use this tool to understand the superordinate and subordinate categories of a topic and the relationship between them.
How to use it
Step 1: Identify the most important element under the topic you are studying. Write this down at the top of the hierarchy chart.

Step 2: List down the second layer of sub-elements stemming from the first component you have identified. Add a third and fourth as necessary.

Step 3: Connect these with lines to show how they are connected to each other.

14. Star diagram

Star diagrams are used to organize the characteristics of a chosen topic. It can also be used to brainstorm around new topics.
How to use it
Step 1: Select the topic you want to study and write it down in the center of the star diagram.

Step 2: Write down the characteristics or attributes related to the central topics on each point of the star. Adjust the points of the star depending on how many traits you write down.

Graphic Organizers for Brainstorming

15. Cluster diagram

Cluster diagrams can be used to facilitate a brainstorming session or structure idea generation and even to help with exploring new topics.
How to use it
Step 1: Pick your topic of interest to explore. This should be placed in the middle of the diagram.

Step 2: Brainstorm around this main idea and come up with sub-topics related to it. Place them around the center.

Step 3: Brainstorm around each of the sub-topics and write down related ideas around them.

Step 4: Add as many layers as you want. However, use color-coding to emphasize each branch of thought. This will make it easier for you to read and understand the cluster diagram.

16. Lotus diagram

Lotus diagram is an analytical tool that can be used to breakdown broader and more complex topics into smaller components for easy understanding. It can be used for brainstorming and studying new topics.
How to use it
Step 1: Draw a 3×3 grid in the center. On the square in the center, write down the main topic to be explored.

Step 2: Write down the related sub-topics around it as you brainstorm.

Step 3: Draw 8 more 3×3 grids around the one in the center. Each of these can be used to write down facts that you brainstorm around each subtopic.

17. Cause and effect graphic organizer

This type of graphic organizer shows the causes and effects of an event. The cause is the reason why something has happened, and effect is the result of what has happened. Visualization helps clearly understand the different cause and effect relationships.
How to use it
Using a cause and effect graphic organizer, identify the causes and effects related to the problem you are studying or writing about. There could be several models of cause and effect events, such as one cause leading to one effect or multiple effects, or multiple causes leading to one effect or multiple effects.

One cause leading to several effects

Several causes leading to one effect (You can use a fishbone diagram here)

Each cause having one related effect

One cause triggering another cause that leads to another

18. Mind map

A mind map is a tool that helps capture the free flow of thought and is widely used for brainstorming around topics. Additionally, it can also be used to organize and group information about a topic.
How to use it
Step 1: Write down the topic you are brainstorming around in the center.

Step 2: On branches emerging from the middle, write down brainstormed ideas/ thoughts.

Step 3: Expand each sub idea with more facts. You can keep on adding more information to your mind map until you have enough.

Graphic Organizers for Compare and Contrast

Here we have listed 19 types of graphic organizers for teaching and learning. Based on their varied purposes, you can utilize them in reading, writing, researching, brainstorming, and analyzing. Best of all you can use our Compare and Contrast Chart Maker to draw them.

19. Double bubble map

The double bubble map is one of the popular thinking maps. It is much like a Venn diagram and is used to identify similar and different qualities between two things.
How to use it?
Step 1: Write down the two ideas/ topics you are comparing in the two bubbles in the center.

Step 2: As you brainstorm and analyze the topic, write down the differences in the bubbles radiating from the center.

Step 3: Write down the similarities in the bubbles that are common to both topics.

20. Venn diagram

Another graphic organizer that helps you visually represent a comparison of differences and similarities between two subjects, is the Venn diagram. What makes it different from the is that it can include more than two topics and one common area.
How to use it
It works similar to the double bubble map.

Step 1: Write down the topics being compared on the top of each circle.

Step 2: Writ down the differences or unique characteristics inside its own sector avoiding the overlapping area.

Step 3: List the similarities in the common area.

Add to Our List of Graphic Organizers for Teachers and Students

Although we have covered 19 types of graphic organizers in this post, there are plenty more that can be useful to our users. Know more? Mention in the comments section below to keep expanding the list of ultimate graphic organizers.

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The Ultimate List of Graphic Organizers for Teachers and Students | Creately

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19 types of graphic organizers for reading, writing, teaching, learning and brainstorming. Explained with editable templates for graphic organizers."

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Translanguaging is when a multilingual person’s full linguistic repertoire is used and honored, instead of trying to keep narrowly focused on a single language.

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My first-grade son deems dual-language books magical.

" I can read them with both my grandmas in Virginia and Panama," he says, and-more importantly-he adds, " These are my favorite books to read in Spanish."

It was not always like that.

Born in Virginia when his sister was already in elementary school, my son struggled with wanting to speak Spanish, and I was desperate for resources that would make Spanish fun and accessible.

I know I am not alone.

Despite a growing awareness of the benefits of bilingualism and a surge in the English learner (EL) student population, parents are still searching for ways to promote their heritage language, the language their children speak at home with them.

It is no easy task because, as many immigrant parents know, students can lose their heritage language skills soon after starting school.

Studies show that if the heritage language is not supported in school and at home, children can lose their ability to communicate in their first language within two to three years of starting school.

So, what can parents do if they would like to boost bilingualism and biliteracy when kids spend most of their time at school?

Studies -backed by my first-hand experience- show that bilingual books are a critical tool.

Why does being biliterate matter?

Literacy is important, period.

On an economic level, biliteracy translates into employment opportunities and differential pay.

On a personal level, it promotes multicultural understanding and deepens one's cultural roots.

And, last but not least, on a neurological level, it promotes executive brain function such as the ability to organize, plan, and concentrate while blocking out irrelevant information.

The tangible benefits of being bilingual and biliterate are now recognized throughout high schools in the United States.

High school students can obtain the Seal of Biliteracy in their transcripts or diplomas for attaining high levels of mastery of reading and writing in two languages.

4 Benefits of Bilingual Books

Here are four ways in which bilingual books, also known as dual-language books, help develop biliteracy in young children:

By providing access to the lesser-known language.
When a story is presented in two languages, it makes the lesser-known language less intimidating. An English learner can read a bilingual book with their parents at home and then use the same book to learn English at school with a story that is already familiar. On the other hand, a child who prefers to read in English will be more open to the idea of reading a picture book in another language if it is also in English. Young children love reading and re-reading, demonstrating a preference for familiarity in the early stages of the learning process. Bilingual books give the lesser-known language the advantage of increased familiarity and comprehension.

By developing vocabulary in both languages.
It has been well documented that literacy in one language increases literacy in another language. Books provide children with the right words and phrases to express themselves. When the same story is read in two languages, the child gains a deeper understanding of language and how to use it effectively. In this way, bilingual books provide a connecting bridge between the child's new experiences and the heritage culture. A child that has shown an interest in basketball in gym class can choose a bilingual book on basketball and discover the right words to explain their new athletic skills to their parents and grandparents.

By increasing the perceived status of the heritage language.
The side-by-side format of bilingual books helps children identify both languages as equally important. This will make English learners feel included, as well as elevate the status of the heritage language. This empowers the student. A bilingual child who can read or understand the book will acquire confidence in their personal identity as a bilingual, and receive positive reinforcement as they share the book with their monolingual family and friends.

By encouraging parental involvement.
Parental involvement increases the chances that a student will succeed academically, and bilingual books are another tool for parents to be involved in their child's learning. It also encourages parents to read to their kids in their heritage language, fostering bilingualism and biliteracy. Bilingual books can be used to involve parents in a variety of ways and encourage community participation. For example, a classroom teacher can involve parents by asking them to read a bilingual book to the class, perhaps one that the class has already read in English.

How to Choose the Best Bilingual Books

The benefits of bilingual books depend entirely on the quality of the books. The best bilingual books will have:

Quality translation:
First and foremost, the books have to be properly written in both languages. A bad translation in a bilingual book will only be a disservice to the reader and the heritage language. Parents, librarians, and educators looking to acquire bilingual books should do their research. A quick Google search on the translator will usually provide important information, such as where the translator is from and whether they are members of credible professional organizations such as the American Translators Association .

from Argentina should probably depict protagonists who look and sound, well, like they are from South America. Authenticity is needed for a reader to connect and learn about other cultures. In 1990, scholar Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop wrote, "Multicultural characters:
For a bilingual book to represent the bilingual, bicultural child, the characters must be as diverse as the readers. A bilingual book about abooks are mirrors, reflecting our own lives at us." But according to US publishing statistics, in 2018 there were more children's books featuring animals and other non-human characters (27%) than all types of visible minorities combined (23%). Meanwhile, half of all children's book protagonists were White . A good bilingual book should be committed to representing diversity and elevating other cultures.

Equal display of both languages:
Following the same logic of representation, a good bilingual book should display both languages equally. Some bilingual books in the market choose a smaller or cursive font, or even parentheses to present the heritage language. This not only makes the heritage language less accessible to the reader, but it also makes it seem less important than the primary language. For a bilingual book to properly empower the bilingual reader, both languages should be displayed with equal status. Different fonts are encouraged for ease of reading, but both languages should be legible and displayed prominently on every page.

The availability of books enables voluntary reading. And an abundance of dual-language books elevates the status of heritage languages and celebrates bilingual children.

If you are a parent raising bilingual children or an educator teaching children from multicultural backgrounds, make sure dual-language books are provided at school, in your local libraries, and on your child's bookshelf.
About the Author

Gabriella Aldeman is an English-to-Spanish translator for children's book authors and education nonprofits. She is a member of SCBWI (The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and is part of the Public Relations Committee of the American Translators Association . Follow her on Instagram where she plays with words and obsesses over coffee.
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The Case for Bilingual Books: 4 Ways Dual-Language Books Can Boost Biliteracy in Young Children

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My first-grade son deems dual-language books magical. " I can read them with both my grandmas in Virginia and Panama," he says, and-more importantly-he adds, " These are my favorite books to read in Spanish." It was not always like that.

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5 Creative Ways to Use Books in Spanish - First Book

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Guest post by Camila Rios, First Book intern Spanish-language books are a versatile and valuable resource. Use them with Spanish speakers, Spanish learners, bilingual students, and English language learners in any setting where you’re working with kids and families. Use Spanish-Language Books To… Fo…

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5 Creative Ways to Use Books in Spanish

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This blog post was written by NCTE member Dorian Harrison. It's part of Build Your Stack,® an NCTE initiative focused exclusively on helping teachers build their book knowledge and their classroom libraries. Build Your Stack® provides a forum for contributors to share books from their classroom experience; inclusion in a blog post does not imply endorsement or promotion of specific books by NCTE.
As a literacy and language professor, I know from my own research that bilingual books offer both a cultural and a linguistic experience for all readers. Children experience the joys of learning about cultures and languages that are near to and distant from their own.

As educators, we know that our classrooms embody a repertoire of languages that are not often privileged in curricula. However, we have the power to invite and challenge these curricula by exposing our students to the exciting world of bilingual books.

There is a wide range of complexities when considering bilingual books in your classroom. In my teaching of K-6 and preservice teachers, I provide examples of Spanish-English texts to use.

If you are just entering the world of bilingual texts, I suggest authors such as Duncan Tonatiuh, who offers in-text pronunciations.

Yuyi Morales uses multiple cognates and writes in such a way that readers can easily infer the meanings.

Adam Rubin, in El Chupacabras (illustrated by Crash McCreery), challenges readers' knowledge of two languages, both Spanish and English, with mid-sentence language shifts.

Bilingual books build engaged readers who feel at home and challenged by the texts. They offer students a richer literary experience when readers can immerse themselves in the language of others. Dr. Rudine Sims-Bishop writes that we must seek to include literature that shapes and forms windows onto the world. The move toward bringing bilingual books into the curriculum is one way to accomplish this goal.

Bilingual books are not about simply placing the books in your library and hoping they will get utilized by your students. Likewise, the books are not an answer to diversity issues in your classroom teaching. Bilingual books deal with the same issues that monolingual books address: colorism, gender, and more. These social issues are global, so similar themes may be observed within these texts as well. However, when bilingual books are woven into the classroom in authentic and critical ways, the classroom culture and environment grow in ways that cannot be measured.

There are several ways you can use bilingual books in your classroom.

Library Section: You can highlight having a bilingual text set in your classroom library. Make use of the books during read-alouds or shared reading. Then make sure you highlight where students can locate the books after you are finished.

Multiple Perspectives: Bilingual books can highlight historical journeys in American history from new perspectives and often add authentic voices to your classroom. In other words, build a text set that includes Sylvia and Aki as well as Separate Is Never Equal: Sylvia Mendez and Her Family's Fight for Desegregation.

Home-to-School Connection: Bilingual books can be used as a bridge between your classroom and your students' homes. Families whose first language is not English may appreciate the bilingual books being used and your highlighting of those texts. However, note that not all families want their children focused on the home language while in school.

Cultural and Global Knowledge: Bilingual books can be used to enhance your students' cultural and linguistic knowledge of languages around the world. From the alphabetic systems to characters, students learn various modes of communicating across countries and continents.

A Love of Language: While every school cannot be a dual immersion program, students can still be exposed to various languages and begin to learn those words and phrases. This could spark a continued love and passion for a particular language that could last a lifetime.

Empathy Building: At times, students are not aware of the struggles our English language learner (ELL) students experience learning English. When you use bilingual books that connect to your ELL students' home languages, you place them in a position of power and expertise. They know how the language should sound and how to assist others with pronunciation. This creates an environment of understanding for all involved.

Many of these suggestions and benefits come with the understanding that culturally responsive teaching efforts must be paired with these texts. Before you can assign books that are relevant, you must first learn what is linguistically relevant in the lives of students and the community.

Below are some additional resources for creating your own book stack in various languages:
Colorín Colorado Worlds of Words Libros ALA Bilingual Booklist School Library Journal's Fuse 8 Production Blog (featuring a Spanish-English booklist)
Bringing bilingual books into your classroom is an application of culturally and linguistically responsive teaching to your everyday activities for students and their families. In this way, students feel valued and respected and grow in their knowledge of the world.
Dorian Harrison is an assistant professor in the Department of Teaching and Learning at The Ohio State University at Newark. Her research interests focus on equity issues in literacy education, paying particular attention to how race, class, and language impact teaching and learning. Harrison is a member of the NCTE Committee Against Racism and Bias in the Teaching of English. Currently, she teaches literacy courses aimed at developing students' awareness and use of diverse literature in their classrooms and theories of comprehension and writing for K-8 teachers. Twitter: @dr_dorih It is the policy of NCTE in all publications, including the Literacy & NCTE blog, to provide a forum for the open discussion of ideas concerning the content and the teaching of English and the language arts. Publicity accorded to any particular point of view does not imply endorsement by the Executive Committee, the Board of Directors, the staff, or the membership at large, except in announcements of policy, where such endorsement is clearly specified.

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Build Your Stack: Bilingual Books for Emergent Bilinguals

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This blog post was written by NCTE member Dorian Harrison. It's part of Build Your Stack,® an NCTE initiative focused exclusively on ...

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The Home Language: An English Language Learner’s Most Valuable Resource

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In this article written for Colorín Colorado, Dr. Fred Genesee discusses the research supporting the importance of a child’s home language. In addition, Dr. Genesee explores the question of why an approach that is well-supported by research has been largely ignored in the era of “research-based” policy.OverviewWebcast: ELLs and ReadingLearn more about using the home language to support ELLs’ reading instruction in our Teaching ELLs to Read webcast featuring Dr. Genesee!The education of English language learners (ELLs) is one of the most important issues facing U.S. educators. ELLs are a large and growing proportion of the school-age population — according to National Center for Educational Statistics, in 2007, about 10.8 million (or 20%) school-aged children in the U.S. spoke a language other than English at home (Planty, Hussar, Snyder, Kena, Kewal Ramani, Kemp, Bianco, & Dinkes, 2009). This situation is not likely to change because ELLs are currently the fastest growing population in U.S. schools (National Center for Education Statistics, 2004), with the number of ELLs expected to increase another 50% by 2025 (Passel & Cohn, 2008).The importance of the issues goes beyond the sheer number of ELLs, however. It has been shown in numerous national studies and surveys that, on average, ELLs under achieve in comparison to their English-speaking peers in academic domains and that the achievement gap tends to increase the higher the grade level (e.g., Fry, 2007; Rumberger, 2007; McNeil et al., 2008). As we consider ways to help ELLs increase their academic achievement, then, it is clear that educators need all the resources at their disposal to meet these challenges.Policy and Home LanguageUntil recently, significant efforts were made to enhance the educational outcomes of ELLs by offering alternative forms of education that incorporate use of ELLs’ home language (Genesee, 1999, for a review). These programs were justified on the grounds that educating ELLs in English only posed a triple threat to their educational success since it would require that they simultaneously:learn academic English to high levels,master challenging academic skills and content taught through English,adopt new social skills that would permit them to integrate with their English-speaking classmates and teachers.However, in recent years, recent political and legislative initiatives that disfavor bilingual education have made these educational options difficult to access, despite evidence of their success (Goldenberg, 2009). Along with these politically-motivated changes, it would appear that educators and policy-makers no longer recognize the native language skills of ELLs as an important educational resource and, indeed, it would even appear that they discredit it having any role in the education of ELLs.What does the research say?At the same time that the role of the home language is diminishing in public education policy, there have been growing political and legislative expectations that educational policies and classroom practices be backed up by scientific, empirical evidence. With respect to ELLs, there is undeniable and growing evidence that the home language of ELLs is of considerable benefit to their overall academic success. There are multiple sources of such evidence. First, recent meta-analyses have shown that educational programs that systematically incorporate use of ELLs’ home language result in levels of academic success, including achievement in literacy and other academic subjects, that are as high as and often better than that of ELLs in English-only programs (Genesee & Lindholm-Leary, in press). In a review of these meta-analyses, Goldenberg (2008) notes “Readers should understand how unusual it is to have five meta-analyses on the same issue conducted by five independent researchers or groups of researchers with diverse perspectives. The fact that they all reached essentially the same conclusion is worth noting. No other area in educational research with which I am familiar can claim five independent meta-analyses based on experimental studies — much less five that converge on the same basic finding.” (p. 15).Second, in a study of ELLs in two-way immersion programs, Lindholm and Aclan (1991) found a significant positive relationship between individual student’s level of bilingual proficiency and their achievement in math and reading in English. Furthermore, the students who were classified as “high bilinguals” were able to attain grade level results by fourth grade in English reading and by third grade in English math.Third, a growing body of evidence from researchers around the world has shown that bilingual children exhibit significant cognitive advantages in comparison to monolingual children (e.g., Bialystok 2006; Chin & Wigglesworth, 2007; Kovaacs & Mehler, 2009). These advantages have been demonstrated in executive control processes related to selective attention and inhibition and monitoring of attention when, for example, children are engaged in problem solving.Fourth, and finally, extensive research, again from around the world, has found that children who are learning to read in a second language are able to transfer many skills and knowledge from their first language to facilitate their acquisition of reading skills in the second language. The best evidence of this comes from studies showing that students with strong reading skills in the home language also have strong reading skills in their second language. Much of this work has been done on ELLs in the U.S. (August & Shanahan, 2006; Riches & Genesee, 2006).What we see in the U.S., then, is a push for research-based policy but the creation of policies that contradict the research. Debate concerning the value of using ELLs’ home language in specially-designed programs, such as two-way immersion, will undoubtedly continue, and so it should since it makes little educational sense to diminish U.S. students’ opportunities to become bilingual in an increasingly globalized community.Back to topHome Language in the ClassroomIn the meantime, teachers and students can’t wait for these policy debates to be settled before deciding how or whether to draw upon ELLs’ home language. The question arises how can schools and teachers, even those who are monolingual, act on evidence that clearly shows the personal, cognitive, linguistic and educational value of using the linguistic resources that ELLs bring to school. There is no simple or single answer to this question, but a number of options are worth exploring that, at the moment, are often overlooked and discounted. Cloud, Genesee, and Hamayan (2009, Chapter 3) offer a number of suggestions:To encourage students to see connections between their languages and, thus, to better understand how languages are structured and organized, talk to ELLs about their home language — ask them:How is the home language the same and how it is different from English?Are there words in the home language that sound the same and mean the same thing in both languages?Are there words in the home language and English that sound the same but mean different things?As part of phonological and metalinguistic awareness exercises to facilitate reading acquisition, ask students:to say words that start with the same sound(s) in English or the L1.how words are changed and formed in the home language — singular and plural forms, present tense and past tense forms of verbs — to enhance their word knowledgewho are new to your class, to read books in their home language to show you what they know about reading.By using the collective skills and knowledge of all students (both ELL and English-L1 students) in the classroom, even a monolingual teacher can tap into these valuable language resources that ELLs have and do so with the confidence that these methods will promote their language development — in English as well as the home language.Back to topEducation for AllA hallmark of public education in the U.S. is respect for and appreciation of the individual skills and backgrounds of students as a foundation for furthering their education. Taking advantage of ELLs’ home language resources is asking no more than the same respect and appreciation for this group of learners. At the same time, parents, teachers, educational leaders in local school districts, and politicians should discuss how best to provide all students in the U.S. with high quality educational programs that promote competence in additional languages. At stake is not only the competitiveness of individual students once they enter the work force but, indeed, the ability of the U.S. itself to compete in an increasingly multilingual and multicultural world.Back to topVideo: Using the Home Language as a ResourceDearborn Public Schools ELD Director Rose Aldubaily discusses the value of using students’ home language as a resource. About the AuthorFred Genesee is Professor in the Psychology Department at McGill University, Montreal. He has conducted extensive research on alternative forms of bilingual and immersion education for language minority and language majority students. His current research interests also include language acquisition in pre-school bilingual children, internationally-adopted children, second language reading acquisition, and the language and academic development of students at-risk in bilingual programs. He is the recipient of the Canadian Psychological Associate Award for Distinguished Contributions to Community or Public Service and the 2-Way CABE Award of Promoting Bilingualism. Publications include:Genesee, F., Paradis, J., & Crago (Eds.) (2010). Dual Language Development and Disorders: A Handbook on Bilingualism and Second Language Learning, 2nd Edition. Baltimore, Maryland: Brookes Publishing.Cloud, N., Genesee, F., and Hamayan, E. (2009). Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners: A Teacher’s Guide to Research-Based Practices. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.Back to topAcknowledgementsOur policy section is made possible by a generous grant from the Carnegie Corporation. The statements and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the authors.

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ELD Director Rose Aldubaily: Using students' first language as a resource

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Martin Luther King taught us that the color one's skin is not important. Rather, it is what kind of person you are that matters. I think a correlation of this belief is that it does not matter where you come from or what language you speak -- what's important is that if you make your life in the United States, you should be able to speak whatever language you prefer.

Today, on the holiday marking the birth of the civil rights icon, I would like to talk about using students' native languages in school. This has been a controversial topic and I'd like to discuss why I think it is to ELLs' benefit to allow them to use their first language.

Reasons for Using the Native Language in School
You can explain things faster and consequently get more teaching done
* You can explain things in more depth and therefore your students will comprehend the material better
* It helps your students feel comfortable in the classroom, which enhances their learning
* It lets your students communicate with their classmates, and possibly you and other staff people, from the very start
* It lets your students demonstrate their understanding of concepts even when they don't know the English words for them
* You can get a better sense of what students know and don't know about the topics being taught
* It lets your students keep up with their native English-speaking peers while learning the English language
* It lets other students know that ELL students are valuable members of your class community because they are integrated into all class activities from the beginning of their arrival in the class
* It gives other students the chance to see an ELL as just another student and not as the "other"

It's worth pointing out some disadvantages to using the native languages of students, although I do not think they outweigh the advantages.

Reasons for Not Using the Native Language in School
* The teacher may not know the native language of all ELLs in the class so it can appear as if s/he is playing favorites with one language over another
* It can take time away from instruction to stop and explain things in another language
* It can foster dependency by ELLs on their native language instead of learning English
* Other students may think ELLs are talking about them when using their native language, even though that's rarely the case
* It can be time-consuming to create instructional materials in other languages
* It can create divisions or cliques in class or a lack of community if students sit together based on the languages spoken

However, all the disadvantages listed above can easily be obviated by good classroom management. Even if you don't know all the languages of your students, it's not that difficult to learn a few words in each one, such as hello, thank you and good-bye. If you need to explain something in a student's first language, you can do that by taking the student aside while the rest of the class is working on something. To avoid creating dependency by waiting for translations, just translate judiciously, teach students how to figure out the meaning of unknown words, and use time-tested strategies for teaching academic concepts to ELLs. Make it clear to the whole class that when students are speaking a language other than English, it's not because they are secretly talking about their classmates -- it's because they want to learn and that makes it easier for them. You don't have to create all your instructional materials in other languages! There are lots of resources available online and you can utilize other students to help convey concepts. And be proactive about seating assignments; placing students who speak different languages together will foster English language learning but you may want to let students who share a language occasionally do small group work together, especially if there are lower proficiency level ELLs who would benefit from scaffolding like that.

I kept a shelf of dictionaries in my classroom. They included English language dictionaries at various proficiency levels and also bilingual dictionaries in the languages of my students. I let students use them whenever they didn't know a word in English. I also used them if, after several attempts at explaining what a word meant, my students still didn't understand. In addition, they were really useful in helping me communicate with my students' families. Below are some of the dictionaries I used.

(This post contains affiliate links. That means that I make a small commission if you make a purchase but it's at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!)

This Spanish dictionary was a life-saver!

My Japanese students found this dictionary really helpful.

My Turkish students and I all liked this dictionary.

(Pictured below is a newer version than the one I had.)

I wished this dictionary included how to pronounce the Vietnamese words since it does that for the English words but otherwise, it was good.

I only ever had 1 Filipino student but I bought this dictionary and it was useful.

I love this dictionary! It's a larger version of the dictionary I carried with me everywhere when I worked in China. This one has over 600 pages so it really isn't pocket-sized but it is comprehensive. (Pictured below is a newer version than the one I had.)

My conclusion is that a sensible use of the native languages is most helpful for ELLs. Bilingual dictionaries support your students learning of English and they help you establish connections with your students and their families. So don't hesitate to let your students use their native languages because doing so will actually facilitate their acquisition of the English language.

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9 Reasons for Using ELLs' Native Languages in Class

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Issues, ideas, and resources for teaching English Language Learners in PreK-12th grade in schools in the U.S. & around the world.

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Rooted Linguistics: Serving Teachers of Multilingual Learners

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What kind of word wall is on your walls? Does it support your learners or is it just there as part of the wall paper creating wall pollution?
Let me tell you first hand...I used to have a traditional word wall and I wholeheartedly thought I was doing what was best for my students. It was alphabetical and I put words on it that were Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III (thinking that I was supporting everyone). I tried playing games with my students using the word wall and I even let them add their own words to it so they could take ownership of the wall.
But as a lifelong learner I embrace new information and when I find something that is better for students, I recognize it. Recently I learned about Interactive Word Walls from Dr. Julie Jackson. She is a professor at Texas State University and travels to deliver professional development regarding these amazing word walls. Her expertise is in the field of science but I think the word walls can work in any content area. ​

The idea is that the word wall is not alphabetically organized, rather is it structured by theme or unit of study. In addition, these word walls can take many shapes. They are in the form of various graphic organizers (only really large on our walls). Students interact with them and add visuals, realia (real objects), sketches, or pictures to the categories. The word walls usually have a sentence stem or frame as well to support comprehension and synthesize meaning.
​
Why is this type of word wall better than a traditional word wall?
Research shows that our brains work better when information is organized and categorized, connected and attached to a visual or real object. All of this is embedded in Interactive Word Walls. If you still aren't buying it, take a look at the two pictures below. Imagine that you are a student learning both content AND language in this classroom. How much would you learn from this traditional word wall?

Probably not much. Now take a look at this Interactive Word Wall. Are you able to gather any language from it and synthesize information from the word wall?

Even though this is a language that you (probably) don't speak, chances are that you are able to connect meaning from this type of word wall. Because of it's organization and use of visuals, the Interactive Word Wall allows our knowledge from L1 (first language) to transfer to our target language. So useful! Plus if there are any words that you did not know in your L1, you will be able to learn them easily since there are visuals to help you.
Let's take a look at the fist column. Did you initially think this column was electric energy and then when you looked more closely at the last few pictures (sun and fire) you thought...no, it can't be electric, it must be heat energy? Think of the high level of processing that your brain had to go through to come to that conclusion.
​
Make it Even More ELL Friendly
One way to make it EVEN more ELL friendly is to add some Total Physical Response (click to learn more). When introducing the key words on the word wall, teach students a physical movement to go along with the meaning of the words. For example, if we were learning about heat energy, I might have my kids fan their faces because heat is hot. Or for sound energy we might put our hands around our mouths like a megaphone or cup our ears like we are listening.

Steps for making your own Interactive Word Wall:
​
1. Select critical vocabulary based on grade level essential skills.
2. Sketch a map or graphic organizer that will best display the topic (Venn Diagram, Bubble, T Chart, Content Frame, etc.)
3. Create the graphic organizer frame on your classroom wall.
4. Allow students to add to the wall during class as learning grows.
5. Students can have their own copy of the graphic organizer to complete as well.
​
Like I mentioned, I learned how to make word walls more interactive and accessible from Dr. Julie Jackson. She taught me. Who will you teach? Pass this knowledge along. It will only make teaching and learning better for the greater good of our students.
​
Like George Bernard Shaw said, "If you have an apple and I have an apple and we exchange these apples then you and I will still each have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea and we exchange these ideas, then each of us will have two ideas."

​For more about interactive word walls, watch the short YouTube video below or visit the resources down here. Link to the Google Slides.

Resources:
http://www.thesciencetoolkit.com/about-me/
www.thesciencetoolkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Interactive-Word-Walls-Science-Scope.pdf
http://www.thesciencetoolkit.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Interactive-Word-Walls-Science-and-Children.pdf
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zuaOjtk9QoM

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Is Your Word Wall Really Supporting the Learners in Your Classroom?

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What kind of word wall is on your walls? Does it support your learners or is it just there as part of the wall paper creating wall pollution? Let me tell you first hand...I used to have a...

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One of the biggest topics that educators are thinking about this year is the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL). Building relationships with students is a key aspect of SEL for students of all ages.

The good news is that there are a lot of ideas educators can try now and throughout the year. You might think of it as "going slow to go fast" - a process that not only builds confidence and community but increases engagement and supports students' later academic success.

What's in this article

We have compiled some of these ideas and resources for building relationships with English language learners (ELLs) and their classmates below in the following strategies:

Before getting started

As you read, keep in mind that many of the following activities can be differentiated for varying language proficiency levels. These strategies offer opportunities for:

And we encourage you to keep in Kristina Robertson's popular piece of advice: try just one new thing at a time!

Note: This article was originally written for online and hybrid settings. For tips on using these strategies in distance learning, see our recommendations at the end of the article.

Essential Question

As you read this article, consider the following essential question:
In what ways can I build strong relationships with multilingual students this year?
Strategies: Getting to Know Students

Share your stories!

If you try any ideas from this article, we'd love to hear how it went! Post your story on social media here:

Show respect for your students by taking time to learn how to pronounce and spell their names correctly. Ensure that students' names are written correctly in student databases, especially as schools move to more online systems. A misspelled name can impact the services and instruction a student receives.

When you ask students to say their name, listen carefully and repeat it until you get it right.

Ask students to record their names for you so that you can hear their pronunciation. (You can ask them to send you a voice recording or use an online platform like NameCoach.) Share recordings with colleagues who work with the students so that they also pronounce the students' names correctly.

Model the correct pronunciation of students' names to the class so that all students can say it correctly.

Use students' names when greeting them each day.

Consider asking students to share examples of how people mispronounce their name and how that makes them feel.

Learn more about different naming conventions in your students' cultures and languages.

Refrain from coming up with a nickname or a version of the name that's easier for you to say.

Project ideas:

Assign a multimedia or written project in which students share:

If your students are using technology, this is a good way to introduce online platforms they will be using this year.

You might also read aloud books from our booklists on names for children and young adults. After listening, students can record, write, or draw stories about their own names.

Using tech: SeeSaw can be used with primary grades. SeeSaw has related activities already prepared in their "Activity Bank," such as " Your Name is Everything You Are."

For older students, consider using:

What are your students' experiences, interests, hobbies, talents, goals, and strengths? Tapping into these " funds of knowledge" can:

foster relationships, friendships, and student confidence

make students' strengths more visible to peers and educators

engage students across the curriculum.

For example, the children of migrant farmworkers might have a wealth of knowledge about agriculture, seasonal harvest, and different regions of the country. (You can learn more about " funds of knowledge" from this helpful guide.)

Bring these topics into the class by:

giving students a chance to share their interests or strengths in surveys, peer interviews, writing prompts, and art projects

encouraging students to express themselves by decorating a virtual locker or bringing in something they can hang on the wall of the classroom

talking with family members about their child's interests and talents

talking with members of the students' communities about their insights

providing time for students to discuss current events of interest

learning more about culturally responsive practice (and what it looks like during a pandemic).

Note: See some great strategies from Judie Haynes and Carol Salva that incorporate these ideas into activities to start this coming new school year.

Project ideas:

Ask students to share a photo or drawing of themselves that is important to them and to explain why. (You can learn more about this strategy that ELD Team Lead Cindy Close in Douglas County, CO shared with us from Education Week.)

For a more in-depth assignment, ask students to create a project focused on one of their hobbies, interests, or talents that they can share with the class. Some examples might include a collage, a short presentation, poem, or a short video.

Using tech: The platforms mentioned under strategy one will work well for these ideas. You might also consider:

a digital photo album site, such as Google photos

a digital collage site, like PicCollage

a photo finding mission app, like Plum's Photo Hunt

Flipgrid, where students can post their digital picture while they talk about why that picture or object is important to them.

You can welcome students' languages by learning a few words or phrases, such as a greeting or how to say "thank you," or asking them to teach you and their peers some words. They will appreciate the gesture and enjoy being the teacher (and the expert) for a change!

This not only highlights the language skills that your student has, it celebrates the gift of multilingualism and gives other student a chance to think about what it is like to go through the day learning in a different language. (Learn more in our section on what it feels like to be a language learner.)

You might also look for places where you can display flags from students' countries or other photos that are meaningful for students.

Project ideas:

Create a classroom bulletin board, either online or on the wall, where students and families can add homemade signs to a world map with important words such as "hello," "friend," and "thank you." (Thank you to Amanda Goman for sharing this idea on Twitter!)

Tech ideas: Look for ways to create and decorate a shared virtual space or virtual bulletin boards with tools such as Padlet, Corkulous, or Bitmoji. (Note that some of Bitmoji's avatars are not appropriate for students, especially of younger ages.) Various Google Classroom tools include places to save images as well.

Provide opportunities for students to share important traditions throughout the year. You may wish to ask students early in the year what their favorite holidays are and then plan a lesson on that holiday with their family. Look for these opportunities throughout the year and across the curriculum, as well as including them as a part of family outreach events.

Project ideas:

Invite students and families to prepare a presentation or respond to a writing prompt about:

a family story, folktale, or local legend

a favorite saying, poem, or song from their native language

a recipe

a family or holiday tradition.

Tech ideas: Any of the creation tools mentioned above could be used for these projects.

The demands on teachers of ELLs this year will be many; however, making time for regular personal interaction with students will strengthen your ability to deliver effective, meaningful instruction and keep in touch with them during a fluid situation. To help carve out this time:

talk with colleagues and administrators about ways to fit that interaction into instruction, office hours, or family engagement

look for opportunities to co-teach or collaborate with colleagues or paraprofessionals to use time efficiently

consider using phone calls, blogs, messaging, or other forms of written communication with students as a way to check in

collect examples of success and share them with administrators to advocate for more time if needed.

Project ideas:

Ask students to prepare 3-5 (appropriate!) questions they would like to ask you in an interview, such as your favorite food, a favorite toy from childhood, or a book you enjoyed reading. After reviewing and approving their questions, schedule time for them to interview you, in person or online, which they can share with the class through a written summary, video, or presentation. If time allows, you may wish to interview them as well!

Tech ideas: Brainstorming questions would work well in small groups on Jamboard, a digital whiteboard that is a Google extension. Interviews could be done orally asynchronously via Flipgrid or Voxer, a voice messaging app for phone or desktop. Final video could be posted on any of the creation apps listed above (Seesaw, Nearpod, Peardeck, Buncee, etc.)

Strategies: Connecting Experiences to Learning

Once you get a better sense of your students' life experiences, you can connect them to learning by:

looking for ways to connect these interests to the curriculum

asking students to brainstorm ideas on what they would like to study

using an inquiry-based or project-based learning approach that allows students to take the lead in identifying a question or problem to solve/research

assigning students research projects that focus on issues or concepts that apply to their own community

identifying community assets, guest speakers, or local organizations that can support this learning

offering students opportunities to present their work in public, whether to classmates, parents, or community members.

Project ideas:

Consider taking on a classwide project (or group projects) that students help plan and design to address a topic or concern of interest.

Tech ideas: Use Jamboard to brainstorm questions students want to answer in their project or inquiry. Once the questions are posted on Jamboard, they can sort and categorize the questions. Jamboard allows students to post a sticky note and see what others are posting in real time. This can be used in break out groups and/or asynchronously.

Sharing personal stories can be powerful experiences for students and their classmates as well. Provide opportunities for students to share their stories both privately and publicly, whether through artwork, in writing, or in conversation. If a student shares some difficult experiences, consider whether more support is needed through follow-up conversations with families or counseling.
Notes of caution
If you do invite students to share personal stories:

Attend to student cues on whether they wish to share their personal experiences with classmates: Many students have endured traumatic experiences that they may not wish to share. Explain at the beginning of any storytelling activity that it is voluntary and provide alternative assignments as needed. Some students may be willing to share their experiences with their peers or in a more public format such as school assemblies, the school newspaper, or self-published books.

Be aware of the "dangers of a single story": Be mindful of what Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls "the danger of a single story" in her 2009 TED talk; in other words, when learning about a student's life story, remember that your own experiences and assumptions, as well as the stories of other individuals, may not reflect your student's life. In addition, students who have the same racial background, speak the same language, or who hail from the same country may not have much in common, and in fact may experience some tension if they come from different groups with histories of conflict.

Don't single students out because of their identity: Never put students on the spot as a "representative" of their race, gender, ethnic group, gender identity, country of origin, experience, or other aspect of their identity. Honor students' experiences and perspectives for what they are, especially if those experiences and perspectives challenge your assumptions.

Project ideas:

Work with students to present a brief personal story they want to share in writing, artwork, video, or audio. This small project may grow into a larger, longer project, such as an autobiography project or yearbook project (which could work well online!).
Tech ideas:

Storybird is an easy to use digital storytelling platform that allows students to create stories with characters and elements provided by dragging, dropping, and writing in your story.

Make Beliefs Comics is a comic strip storytelling platform.

Book Creator is an iPad app that can be used with young students.

StoryBoard makes storyboarding easy for students.

There is a lot of attention on social-emotional learning right now for good reason. All students have experienced disruption to some level in their social and academic lives, and many students have also experienced hardship, loss, illness, trauma, and deep levels of stress and anxiety. As district leader Nathaniel Provencio notes in the video below, creating a supportive, nurturing environment for your students, regardless of setting, is a critical step in helping them navigate the uncertainty of the coming year.

Some ideas include:

keeping a calm and predictable environment

preparing students for transitions

giving students sensory and stretch breaks

teaching tools for mindfulness and stress relief, such as breathing exercises or visualizations

sharing resources such as this "virtual calming room"

encouraging students to show kindness, develop empathy, and share appreciation for each other

encouraging your students to identify and focus on their strengths and resilience, as discussed above.

In addition, keep an eye out for situations in which students may need additional support from counselors. You can prepare for the year by learning more about the impacts of COVID-19 on immigrant families and these trauma-informed school strategies during COVID-19 from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Project ideas:

Ask students to share an experience through writing or discussion about a time that they overcame a difficulty or reached a goal. Ask them to reflect on what made that achievement possible.

Tech ideas: Use one of the storytelling platforms above so that students can share this experience as a story or their own superhero comic.

Connecting with Secondary Students Through Advisory

One theme we have heard from middle and high school educators during COVID-19 is that advisory periods have been powerful opportunities to connect with students. One ELL educator shared that her colleagues at the high school level were reluctant take on advisory periods. However, in a survey at the end of the year, the overwhelming majority favored keeping the advisory periods as a way of getting to know students better throughout the year.

Another teacher, Jorge Bermudez, shares his alternative high school's experience with rethinking their advisory periods in the video below.

Closing Thoughts

There will be a lot of trial and error in the coming year. As Kristina Roberston says below, if something doesn't work, go back to the drawing board and try again! Don't let those bumps discourage you from continuing to build the critical connections that you, your students, and your families need this year. They may just be what helps everyone get through a school year like no other!

Discussion/Reflection Questions

What is one takeaway that resonates with you from this article?

What is one activity you might try?

What strategies have you used in the past to build strong relationships with students? How might you adapt them this year?

What will be hardest about building relationships this year with students and families?

What are you feeling nervous about year?

What are you looking forward to this year?

More Recommended Resources

Social-emotional resources

Interactive strategies for building relationships & distance learning

Recommended blogs

Getting to know your ELLs and their families

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Kristina Robertson, Becky Corr, Susan Lafond, Areli Schermerhorn, and Beth Skelton for their contributions to this article.

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8 Strategies for Building Relationships with ELLs

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One of the biggest topics that educators are thinking about this year is the importance of social-emotional learning (SEL). Building relationships with students is a key aspect of SEL for students of all ages. The good news is that there are a lot of ideas educators can try now and throughout the year.

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Here are a few strategies that we use to build and maintain positive student-teacher relationships.

1) Regular Check-Ins

The simplest way for teachers to get to know their students is by talking with them on a daily basis. This can easily be done by "checking in" with a few students each day, either before class, while they are working at their desks, or after class. Taking this time to ask students about their experiences, both inside and outside of school, helps to build a genuine relationship, one where the students feel that their teacher takes an interest in their lives.

2) Reading Student Writing

Another simple way for teachers to learn about their students is by reading what students write. Sometimes they feel more comfortable sharing through writing, and a quick note from their teacher can mean a lot. There have been many times we have learned about our students' feelings, problems and successes by reading their weekly written reflections.

3) Teachers Writing About the Classroom

Students can also read what the teacher has written, especially when this writing is about the class and about the students. In today's world, many teachers already blog and write about their teaching experiences. However, they may not take the extra step of sharing this writing with their students. This can be powerful on a number of levels, but in terms of relationship building, it shows students that the teacher thinks about them outside of the classroom. Taking a few minutes to write about the class (whether it is a simple reflection on how a lesson went, how a student demonstrated an exceptional insight, or sharing a few successes and challenges from the week) and then sharing this writing with the class can increase trust and respect between the teacher and the students.

When students feel that they "matter," their levels of motivation and achievement are more likely to increase. Joanne Yatvin explains this idea in the context of the "Hawthorne effect" -- the results of a well-known study of workers in a Michigan manufacturing plant where lights were dimmed so workers had a hard time seeing, and production actually increased. Yatvin argues that this study is often interpreted as illustrating "the fact that human subjects who know they are part of a scientific experiment may sabotage the study in their eagerness to make it succeed." However, she points out a deeper meaning which reflects the importance of students feeling valued in the classroom: "When people believe they are important in a project, anything works, and, conversely, when they don't believe they are important, nothing works." In other words, when students believe they are an important part of the educational process, then they will act like it! Having students see that teachers are writing about their insights and their successes publicly, whether on blogs or in emails to other teachers, is just one more way to show them they are an important.

4) Teacher/Student Letter Exchange

A good way for teachers to introduce themselves is by writing a brief letter to the class during the first week. This letter can serve as a model for students to follow as they write back to the teacher. The teacher's letter could be simplified depending upon the level of the class, and the teacher could give beginning students sentence frames to scaffold their letter. (My name is _______. I am ______years old. I was born in _______.) This activity helps teachers learn more about their students and also provides a quick sample of each student's writing. It can be helpful to keep on hand copies of both the teacher letter and the instructions for the student letter to give new students as they enter the class later in the year.

5) Weekly Reflections

One way for teachers to stay connected to students is by having them write a weekly reflection. This reflection could simply be a journal or responses to questions. The teacher can structure the journal prompt or questions as an invitation for students to share their feelings, concerns and questions about the class and about their lives outside the classroom. (What classroom activity did they like the best this week and why? What are their weekend plans?) Reading student reflections can help teachers "take the pulse" of the class -- which activities are being enjoyed, areas of confusion, pacing issues, etc. Teachers can immediately make adjustments, offer feedback, and address any concerns. Teachers also gain important information about what is going on in their students' lives, and can use this information as "talking points" when they speak one-on-one with students. These reflections can also function as a formative assessment.

6) Evaluations

A teacher can build trust with students by asking them to anonymously "evaluate" his/her teaching and use the results to reflect on his/her practice. This could be done by distributing a quick survey or set of questions about class activities, the teacher's style, the pace of the class, etc.

7) "Talking and Walking"

Having one-on-one conversations with students about their goals, interests, struggles, etc. can be difficult to do during class time. One way to quickly connect with students is to take a brief walk around the school campus. This five-minute conversation could take place before or after school, or even during a teacher's prep period (if they make prior arrangements with the student's teacher for that time). These talks can strengthen the teacher/student relationship and can also be helpful when getting to know new students or when dealing with students who are having behavior challenges.

This is not a comprehensive list of ways that teachers can develop positive relationships with English-Language Learners and other students. What are suggestions that you would add?

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7 Tips for Building Positive Relationships with English-Language Learners

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Teachers Larry Ferlazzo and Katie Hull Sypnieski share seven suggestions for reaching out to and gaining the confidence of English-language learners in the classroom.

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If you've ever struggled to speak another language in a foreign country, then you have an idea of how nerve-wracking school can be for English learners. The stress you experience creates what experts call the affective filter - an emotional response that can lock down the mental processes of learning a new language.

Stephen Krashen, a leading second-language learning scholar, developed the theory of the affective filter, which combines people's emotional and physical states to impede learning processes. To reduce the affective filter in English learners, we need to create a supportive learning environment that helps them feel as comfortable as possible.

What elevates the affective filter

When English learners struggle in your class, it helps to pinpoint what's increasing their affective filter. This may vary somewhat from student to student, but these factors are among the most common:

Anxiety: Some students feel extremely anxious about reading out loud and answering questions while peers are listening.

Judgment: It's difficult to participate if students constantly worry that their peers are judging them because of their accent, grammar, spelling, reading pace, etc. If your English learners don't feel your class is a safe space where they won't be judged or made fun of for taking a risk, then they probably won't feel motivated to contribute much. For some, taking a risk might be simply raising their hand to ask a question or to volunteer an answer.

Low self-confidence: Whether your students are struggling with English in a history class or an English language arts class, low confidence can make it extremely hard to improve their reading, writing and speaking skills in English. If they feel they do not know enough to make a valuable contribution, then they'll also feel inadequate and alone from the moment they walk in the door.

Adjusting to the unknown: English learners who are new to this country or to a particular region of the United States must adapt to a raft of unwritten rules and societal norms. They're getting used to a different climate, picking up on different social cues, learning slang and idioms, and understanding different expectations. For example, in some cultures direct eye contact with a person of authority is considered disrespectful, while in American culture that is often expected as a way of showing you're paying attention.

Four ways to lower the affective filter

Try these practical strategies for overcoming the affective filter in your English language learners:

Tap into their prior knowledge

Getting to know your students' backgrounds, interests and strengths can not only help you form connections with them, it can enable you to use their unique knowledge to boost their comfort level. For instance, assigning them a project on their family's holiday traditions helps them realize they have something to teach others - possibly even you. They might still feel a bit intimidated at the idea of explaining it in English, but they're starting with something to share in an encouraging environment, which can boost self-confidence.

Try SDAIE strategies

SDAIE (specially designed academic instruction in English) offers a wide range of strategies for teaching any subject to English learners. It includes incorporating learning games, manipulatives, hands-on activities and visual aids such as graphic organizers. You might already be using these strategies in your classroom, but the key here is using them consistently to create a comfortable yet structured approach where English learners become familiar with these methods. This helps them feel less anxious and more supported on a daily basis.

Modify your methods

There are many ways to modify assignments and assessments to help English learners, including using sentence frames, sentence starters, and vocabulary banks. These modifications provide support structures that allow them to better articulate their thoughts and opinions without having to nervously struggle with every single word. Modifications can also help reduce the fear of judgment because they have tools to guide them to the correct way to verbalize or write their responses. Once they become more advanced, those sentence starters and vocabulary words will become second nature, and you can build on that support structure to push them further.

Create partnerships

Putting English learners in pairs or collaborative groups with students who are proficient or native speakers can help them learn from their peers' different backgrounds. These valuable partnerships can decrease fears and feelings of judgment, and give English learners a sense of belonging over time.

It's important to approach each English learner with an open mind because every student will respond to your methods differently. Just remember that lowering the affective filter can determine how well - and how fast or slow - an English language learner will progress.
Want to learn more ways to help English learners? Discover other strategies in a TESOL or ESL-focused degree program. Kara Wyman has a BA in literature and a MEd from the University of California-Santa Barbara. She has worked with adolescents for a decade as a middle school and high school English teacher, the founder and director of a drama program, and a curriculum designer for high school and college courses. She works with 13- to 19-year-old students as a project manager of a non-profit organization.

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Help English Learners by Reducing their Affective Filter | Resilient Educator

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If you've ever struggled to speak another language in a foreign country, then you have an idea of how nerve-wracking school can be for English learners. The stress you experience creates what experts call the affective filter - an emotional response that can lock down the mental processes of learning a new language.

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CARLA Graphic Organizers

The CoBaLTT project, funded through the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition ( CARLA) at the University of Minnesota from 1999-2006, created a series of customizable graphic organizers with detailed instructions for editing them as well as examples for each organizer and teacher and student templates. These graphic organizers can be found on CARLA's website as well as below. Visit CARLA's website if you are a teacher of Chinese or Japanese as they have templates specific to inputting Japanese or Chinese character fonts.

ACTFL partnered with CARLA to make these graphic organizers more accessible to teachers and students. ACTFL has recreated the CARLA organizers using the G Suite, for easy use with Google Classroom, for example, as we know many school districts across the country rely on Google products for teacher and student collaboration. Below, you will find links to each of CARLA's graphic organizers as editable PDFs with an example for use, as well as a Google Slide version and Google Drawing version of the graphic organizer.

The Google Slide includes the graphic organizer structure as a locked background to the slide (so students cannot accidentally modify or delete any portion) and textboxes already in place for students to fill in.

The Google Drawing includes an editable version of the graphic organizer structure, where teachers can easily add to, remove portions of, or otherwise modify the existing graphic organizer to meet their needs.

Graphic Organizers by Purpose

ACTFL consultant Dr. Donna Clementi describes a variety of ways to use graphic organizers within a thematic unit of instruction. Provided here is a recording of Dr. Clementi's webinar Graphic Organizers: Visualize - Simplify - Connect, a PDF of the presentation slides, and a Q&A summary. Dr. Clementi contributed her own graphic organizers as well and has grouped all the graphic organizers by purpose in the classroom.

Below, click on the title of the graphic organizer for the downloadable file for each original CARLA or Clementi organizer. Click on this icon

to acquire the Google Slide version and this icon

to acquire the Google Drawing version (these will prompt you to create a copy ready for use in your own Google Drive). If you have any questions regarding the recreated Google Slides or Drawings, please contact pdworkshops@actfl.org for assistance.

Click on the categories for the relevant graphic organizers:

Capturing Key Ideas: Interpretive Mode

Planning: Presentational Mode

Participating in Discussions: Interpersonal Mode

Acquiring Vocabulary

Checking for Learning

Capturing Key Ideas: Interpretive Mode

Take Notes When Reading or Listening/Viewing

Sequence Events, Timelines

Identify Cause and Effect (Problem and Possible Solutions)

Compare and Contrast Information from Two or More Sources

Highlight Key Ideas as Pre-Reading, Pre-Listening, or Pre-Viewing

Planning: Presentational Mode

Participating in Discussions: Interpersonal Mode

Generate Questions to Facilitate Idea Exchange

Acquiring Vocabulary

Checking for Learning

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Graphic Organizers for Language Learning

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The CoBaLTT project, funded through the Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition ( CARLA) at the University of Minnesota from 1999-2006, created a series of customizable graphic organizers with detailed instructions for editing them as well as examples for each organizer and teacher and student templates.

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Graphic Organizers | Teaching Strategies # 7

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Graphic organizers are a great tool to use when teaching English language learners (ELLs). Visual illustrations allow ELLs to better understand the material while learning important vocabulary.

Graphic organizers are most useful to ELLs when presented in small group activities. During the activities ELLs benefit from opportunities to work cooperatively - students are able to discuss and share their thoughts as they begin to contribute to the group effort. When ELLs use graphic organizers, they show achievement benefits across a variety of content areas, in all grade levels.

Ideas for Graphic Organizers

When teachers begin to use graphic organizers they need to follow some simple steps to make sure ELLs gain knowledge from such a simple yet reliable tool (Merkley & Jefferies, 2001). For example as a teacher begins to present a new topic, such as the solar system, an organizer can assist introducing the new idea.

Teachers should also begin to verbalize the relationship between the ideas, and the information that will be taught. Students or adults can write/draw the information provided by other students using a K-W-L chart. Graphic organizers should be tailored to reinforce the relationships between concepts, reminding students that this is just a quick preview of the material that will be taught next.

Secondly, teachers need to provide the opportunity for students to participate in discussions. ELLs need to have numerous pauses to process language in order to participate. For instance, classroom activities can be tailored to let students create graphs such as a concept definition map. Students can create a list of familiar terms to these maps.

Once students had the opportunity to share their thoughts and understand the topic that it is to follow, teachers can start to connect new material to their prior knowledge. Lessons need to guide ELLs to activate prior knowledge as they recollect earlier taught content to be able to retain new material (Merkley & Jefferies, 2001). In other words, graphic organizers provide a visual summary as they describe information - introducing ELLs to new technical vocabulary as they reinforce decoding skills of key words for an upcoming lesson.

Graphic organizers facilitate ELLs' comprehension through visual illustrations of key terms, vocabulary, ideas, and the relationship among them. Improving student's reading comprehension can be challenging, but such progress is necessary when focusing on students who are learning English (Kim, Vaughn, Wanzek, & Wei, 2004).

Note: When using graphic organizers with ELLs, be sure to explain how to use them and check back to ensure their understanding.

Strategy: K-W-L Chart

K-W-L charts are graphic organizers where students can share:

Here are some examples:

Video: Using a K-W-L Chart for background knowledge

ELL high school teacher Christine Rowland explains how to use a KWL chart to identify students' existing background knowledge.

Recommended Resources

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Graphic organizers are a great tool to use when teaching English language learners (ELLs). Visual illustrations allow ELLs to better understand the material while learning important vocabulary. Graphic organizers are most useful to ELLs when presented in small group activities.

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Graphic organizers are effective tools for teaching and learning since they are equally helpful for both teachers and students. Graphic organizers simplify teaching by putting content into a more interesting, visual format, while making the learning more interactive for students. These visual tools can help students tackle challenging vocabulary or help them organize and show connections between new concepts.

Graphic organizers are especially helpful in assisting English Learners (EL) grasp and master content in their second language. A dense piece of text can be overwhelming for ELs to tackle, but when a graphic organizer accompanies a text, the information becomes more accessible and easier to comprehend. By creating a visual representation of facts and information, graphic organizers support student learning by explicitly showing the relationship between concepts and ideas. The organizers help students to make their thinking visual and take a metacognitive approach to their learning.

Furthermore, graphic organizers can increase student engagement by encouraging them to interact with the content through conversation with peers. Have students complete a graphic organizer in pairs or small groups, and notice how the graphic organizer lowers stress while simultaneously requires students to collaborate and discuss the material together.

For ELs who need extra support, provide sentence stems/frames or a word bank to facilitate the use of academic language as they use the graphic organizer. If using a more complex graphic organizer, fill out some of the sections in the organizer to give students a scaffold for them to successfully complete it.

Below, I've provided a list of graphic organizers and how they can help ELs. They work across all grade levels and subjects.
Vocabulary Instruction

Vocabulary Instruction Chart - A super valuable pre-assessment to check how well your students understand new vocabulary words. It allows you to tailor the vocabulary instruction based on their needs and prior knowledge.

Frayer Model - An effective graphic organizer for teaching vocabulary. It has a section for an image representation, definition, examples, non-examples and a sentence. Students can complete the model with a partner and then present it to other students.

Compare and Contrast

Venn Diagram - A classic graphic organizer that is extremely useful for comparing and contrasting in any subject area. Two overlapping circles show students a clear visual representation of how two items or concepts are similar and different.

Top Hat Graphic Organizer - Students will organize their comparisons effectively with this chart in the shape of a top hat. Similarities go on the bottom while differences go on the top two sections.

Categorize and Organize Information

Bubble Map - A terrific general concept web, perfect for brainstorming, that can be used with ideas or information in any genre or subject area. Perfect for group exploration.

Timeline Organizer - Information is easier digested if it follows a sequential order. Use this timeline to help students make meaning of a story or a historical event.

T-Chart with 3 Columns - Sometimes a simple t-chart can go a long way. Use this graphic organizer to help students describe characters, explain solids, liquids, and gases, or discuss different groups of people during a particular time in history.

By Sarah Zegarra (M.Ed), educator and teacher leader who taught K-5 bilingual education (Spanish-English). She is passionate about project-based, whole-child, culturally responsive teaching, and integrating the arts into learning.

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Using Graphic Organizers with English Learners - Education.com Blog

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Graphic organizers are effective tools for teaching and learning since they are equally helpful for both teachers and students. Graphic organizers simplify teaching by putting content into a more interesting, visual format, while making the learning more interactive for students. These visual tools can help students tackle challenging vocabulary or help them organize and show connections between new concepts.

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Using prior knowledge is an essential strategy for reading comprehension.The more knowledge students have on a topic, the easier it will be for them to understand, and make connections to, new texts.Prior knowledge is also part of the building blocks for more difficult reading strategies, such as making inferences.

Below are 8 ways you can teach and practice the using background knowledge reading strategy in your classroom

1. COLLABORATIVE CLASS VISUAL:
Having group/class discussions along with some kind of recording visual is a great way to access background knowledge before reading. You can switch up your visuals, as a basic KWL chart can only be engaging so many times.One great way to build background knowledge is to first draw a shape that represents what you are learning about on an anchor chart or on the white board.For example, when reading a book about ants, I would draw an ant with 3 large body parts.Each student gets a post it to record what they already know about ants in the first segment, questions they have in the second segment, and what they learn in third segment.I would then have some students share their post-its and then quickly go through any non-repeats we might have as part of a class discussion.

Another, even simpler, way to do this is to just have students fill in their background knowledge on the entire picture.After reading, we could go back to this visual with new information.I might place a post it on each of the legs of the ant with questions we have or new pieces of information that we learn.

2.BUILD ON SMALLER TOPICS WITHIN ONE BROAD TOPIC:
To continue building background knowledge in students, I find it effective to stick to texts on one broad topic.For example, after reading a text on ants I would focus on another insect.Bees would be the next insect I would read about as they have similarities to ants in how they work in a colony, etc.This helps students continue to build more knowledge and vocabulary, as well as make deeper connections.

3. CLASS GALLERY WALK:
This works especially well for a larger unit.The teacher chooses different sub-topics to write on chart paper along the wall.For example, if you were preparing for an insects unit you could write body parts, types of insects, fireflies, bees, etc.Each student gets to walk around with a marker (or pencil) and fill in information they already know about these sub-topics.A more organized way to do this is to have students rotate to each chart in groups of 3-4 students.They can choose one group member to write on the chart while discussing. You can also build off of this gallery walk throughout the unit or at the end, placing the charts back up on the walls for students to add information.

4. PICTURE WALK:
This simple activity works for texts that include visuals, such as photos or illustrations.As you reveal each page of a picture book, discuss background knowledge, student connections, and predictions they have as to what is happening or what the book is about.

5. DISPLAY STRATEGY VISUALS:
Reading strategy posters are such an important reference to have on the walls of a classroom filled with growing readers.One example of how to display these can be seen in the reading strategies word wall below. One strategy can be highlighted at a time in a larger anchor chart.

All of the information found in the anchor chart is also on a background knowledge bookmark that readers use independently.The back of the bookmark has a place for students to record how they use the strategy on sticky notes.

6. PROVIDE REALIA OR VISUALS & DISCUSS:
I especially like to do this with text heavy articles or books.I will find images about a topic and place them on a PowerPoint Presentation, but you could also print out visuals to discuss.This is especially helpful for ELLs.

Providing visuals and realia also lends itself to having students ask questions, so you could record questions that come up during the discussion.This helps set authentic purpose for reading, and you can refer back to the questions during and after reading.

7. FRONTLOAD WITH LOWER LEVELED TEXTS:
Along the same lines providing visuals, reading a picture book or text with a lower readability on a topic we are going to read a more difficult book on can be extremely beneficial in building background knowledge.Frontloading, or pre-teaching, information in guided reading groups can prepare students for reading a more challenging text in a whole class setting. This is also a very helpful strategy for reading with ELLs.

8. INDEPENDENT PRACTICE:
Beyond supporting students in accessing their prior knowledge on a topic, students then need to practice engaging in this strategy completely on their own. Graphic organizers are helpful for students to take ownership of their individual thinking and learning.

Another idea for a way that students can practice showing their thinking and visually see the importance of building background knowledge are through these background knowledge crafts.

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Teaching Students to Use Background Knowledge in the Elementary Reading Classroom

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Using prior knowledge is an essential strategy for reading comprehension.The more knowledge students have on a topic, the easier it will be for them to understand, and make connections to, new texts.Prior knowledge is also part of the building blocks for more difficult reading strategies, such as making inferences.

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Are You Tapping into Prior Knowledge Often Enough in Your Classroom?

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Blogger Rebecca Alber explains why using students’ prior knowledge to guide instruction is key to learning.

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What are some other ways you can tap into background knowledge if it's very different from your own? You can start by choosing a single topic to research that you think might be relevant to your students. These might include learning about:

your students' native countries, cultures, or educational systems

historical figures, musical and artistic traditions, geography, or biodiversity from your students' countries so that you can connect your lessons to something that the students already know.

Family liaisons are an excellent source of information here and can also guide you to choose examples that are likely to be appropriate and meaningful to students.

Helping students make connections

You can also find ways for your students to contribute their own cultural experience, funds of knowledge, talents, and interests in the classroom. You can do this by asking students to:

show how a topic connects to their lives

give an example of a particular idea as they would experience it in their native country

bring music or art from their culture and describe its significance and meaning to their classmates.

Another activity is to ask students to interview their family members in order to learn more about their memories and experience. ELLs may find interviews valuable because even if they speak their native language at home and are surrounded by their culture, they may not have had an opportunity to learn about their family members' life experiences and values.

Note: These strategies will work in mainstream classes as well as students may engage more deeply with content when they can relate it to historical and cultural information shared by family members.

Proceeding with care and sensitivity

If you plan to ask students to contribute their experiences to the class, it is important to keep a few things in mind. First, Dr. Cynthia Lundgren and Giselle Lundy-Ponce remind teachers to consult with multiple sources and not to expect students to be the sole 'ambassador' for a culture. They write, "Do not put a particular student on the spot without asking them beforehand if they are comfortable sharing information with the whole class. Each student is an individual and their experiences may or may not be similar to that of the group they represent."

It is tempting to view your students as the experts, and it is certainly important to draw on what they have to offer to the class, but it is also important to discuss whether they feel comfortable doing so beforehand, and to avoid putting them on the spot - particularly about cultural, political, or religious subjects that might be particularly sensitive.

This is also important because students may not feel comfortable sharing their culture or prior experiences for a wide range of reasons, including trauma or stigma. For example, some Indigenous students from Latin America "hide" their culture and identity because of the persecution (sometimes violent) that they have faced in their home countries. Be patient with your students, and look for ways to increase their confidence in the classroom as you get to know each other. They may share information with you privately that they do not wish to share with the class. Honor their confidence and look for other ways for them to contribute.

Related resources

Video: Getting to know your students

Teacher Omar Salem talks about the importance of getting to know your ELLs, their interests, and their concerns.

Go beyond the textbook

Look for resources that go beyond the textbook that will engage students and involve them in the learning process so that they find elements they can connect to and learn from. These may include:

Artwork

There are many ways to bring educational content to life through art, and to use art as a starting point for discussing different cultural traditions. For example, in a history class, you may offer students a couple of different artistic representations of historical events from different perspectives, and ask whether a particular perspective resonates with their experiences.

Or you might want to compare artwork depicting similar kinds of events as they occurred in different countries, such as revolutions, battles, the signing of a famous document, inaugurations, elections, protests, and major milestones. Perhaps students can share depictions of those kinds of events in their country as a way to open up the discussion and connect their experience to the content as well. Students can examine artistic style, theme, the artist's intent, and the materials used while comparing artistic works from different cultures as a way of applying what they learning about the content.

Finally, be sure to invite students to share artwork and traditions from their own cultures and look for ways to connect what they share with the curriculum.

Using artwork that depicts day-to-day events and celebrations can also be a provocative starting point for a discussion about the similarities and differences between other cultures, and a way of affirming the students' daily lives, traditions, and lifestyles in the classroom. You may find that these connections are even more powerful than you expected, as seen in the student story below.

Video: Why an indigenous student hid his identity

ESOL resource teacher Manuel Portillo Gomez shares the story of an Indigenous student who kept his cultural identity hidden for much of the year until Manuel planned a lesson plan about Guatemalan basket weaving.

Music & dance

Students are a great resource for sharing music, and older students especially like to share music, discuss the meaning, and connect it to content. If the song is in a language some students do not understand, ask the student to translate it and discuss the meaning. Songs from other countries often describe political events or re-tell folk stories in poetic form.

When it comes to dance, students may enjoy sharing videos of traditional dances from their own cultures and talking about when certain dances are performed. You never know - you may just have a performer in your midst who would like to share some talent with the class, as teacher Omar Salem discovered below!

Video: My students' many talents

Teacher Omar Salem describes a student who sings, dances, manages her own YouTube channel, and edits all of the video.

Culture kits

I got this idea from the Dakota County library system in Minnesota. They have a learning resource called "Bifolkal Kits" that patrons can check out. The kits have themes such as the "The Fifties," "Work Life," or "African American Lives." Each kit contains items relevant to the topic, reading materials, and questions that can be asked of a person who has experience in that area. It would be a wonderful addition to a curriculum if students created their own Culture Kits with special items that would bring culture alive as a way of sharing their cultures and discussing what can be learned from different multicultural traditions.

Special traditions, celebrations, and recipes

Invite students to share special traditions, holidays, and foods from their cultures throughout the year and across the curriculum. For example, students could describe a favorite recipe in writing or in a presentation (with plenty of practice beforehand). Ask students early on in the year what holidays they celebrate and what those celebrations look like, and invite families to share their own experiences with the class.

Video: Thirty kinds of "mole"

Juan Felipe recalls a conversation with a student who comes from the town of Hidalgo, which is famous for having many different kinds of mole, a Mexican sauce.

Realia

Using concrete objects, often called "realia," is a great way to build background knowledge and tap into students' existing background knowledge. Some objects may be very familiar, while others may be to new students. Other objects may have particular significance for students. Students can share what they know about particular objects through drawing, writing, or native language discussion groups before sharing a summary with the class.

Video: Using "realia" to build background knowledge

Albuquerque teacher Ali Nava describes the "realia" activity she used to introduce Burro's Tortillas and some of the items she brought into the classroom for the lesson.

Note: You can also see materials related to this lesson plan in our classroom module created in collaboration with Dr. Diane August.

Use things that are familiar

In addition to making important cultural connections, look for ways to tie learning to everyday objects that students are likely to have seen and used (without making assumptions, as discussed below). For example, ESOL specialist Katy Padilla prepared her ELLs for a lesson about vascular plants by pre-teaching the concept with straws - an even more relevant example since they were previewing the content in their special Secret Science Lunch Club!

Video: Making the connection between vascular plants and straws

Katy describes the challenge of the week, which is designed to increase ELLs' use of the target vocabulary.

Look for "mirror books" for your students

Using books, stories, and poems where students can see themselves, also called " mirror books," is a powerful way to tap into their experiences. Culturally relevant books are a great place to start. However, finding books about broader experiences, family traditions, or familiar situations that students recognize and relate to can be powerful as well.

Middle school teacher Anna Centi, who teaches newcomers in Dearborn, Michigan, also notes that her students dig in more deeply when they feel that connection and that she has been able to push them with more rigorous texts. You can see Miss Centi's students, most of whom come from Yemen, reading A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park in an excerpt from our award-winning film, You Are Welcome Here below.

Note: It is critical for teachers to be sensitive to what students have been through and not to ask a lot of direct questions about personal stories, especially in front of others; training in trauma-informed instruction is essential in order to lead conversations about students' experiences safely. Yet figuring out how to do this with care is worthwhile as it gives students a chance to connect more deeply with content and share their own stories if they wish. You may wish to request that training be offered to staff since it can benefit all adults in the school community.

Use literature, stories, and folktales from across cultures

By reading texts from different cultures, you can encourage students to connect what they are reading to their own experiences. While this seems like a simple and logical place to start, it will take some research to find just the right additions for an educational unit, as well as to find literature that is authentic and culturally relevant. If you are working with bilingual colleagues or cultural liaisons, ask them if they have recommendations or can help you make the best selections for your students.

Libraries across the nation have increased the amount of multicultural literature available from a wide variety of countries and cultures. Some of the material is written in other languages, and some of it is translated into English. There are also many publishers who have focused on increasing multicultural literature in the classroom, and Language Arts series often will have a multicultural connection with suggestions of books to read with the class. To read about one high school teacher's use of multicultural literature in the classroom, read Time is Not on Our Side: Literacy and Literature for High School Language Learners, on our sister site, AdLit.org.

In addition, you can also look for connections across stories. For example, many cultures have a story version of "Cinderella", as seen in the video below.

Video: Introducing different versions of Cinderella

In this classroom video, Albuquerque teacher Clara Gonzales-Espinoza introduces a character study of Cinderella by sharing a number of diverse versions of the Cinderella story, chosen to reflect the cultures of her students.

Note: You can also see materials related to this lesson plan in our classroom module created in collaboration with Dr. Diane August.

Use storytelling in the classroom

Many cultures have a rich tradition of storytelling that often gets lost in the U.S. with the focus on developing literacy skills. Many of the common stories in cultures have been translated and written in story form, but children also enjoy telling and acting out stories. There are many resources to help build storytelling skills, and some students may also have a relative who is a great storyteller and would be willing to visit the class and tell a story. The class can have great discussions about what made the story interesting, what the story was trying to tell them, and if they know other stories that are similar.

Asking students to share folk tales

In addition, you can ask students to share popular folk tales or legends from their own culture or bring them to life through writing, artwork, or a digital storytelling activity. You may find that many cultures have similar stories based on a certain theme, or that students have heard different versions of the same story. This is also an excellent way to engage families - who also will have strong opinions about the "right" way to tell a certain story!

Video: "How many of you have heard that story?" Teaching folklore through students' cultural experiences

Juan Felipe describes a project he oversaw for a Chicano folklore class in which students interviewed their families and compiled stories, jokes, and legends they had grown up hearing.

Video: My favorite section in the library

Storyteller Lucía González describes how family stories led to an important discovery in the library.

Avoid assumptions

Just as it's important not to put students on the spot, it's important not to make assumptions about the experiences they may (or may not) have had. For example, Dr. Ayanna Cooper shares a story in the video below about U.S. history teachers who mistakenly thought their Haitian students were African American students who had a deep knowledge base about U.S. history. As mentioned above, the better you know your students, the better you can plan lessons that will give all students access to grade-level content.

Finding resources for culturally responsive instruction

Teachers spend a lot of their own money to add to the school curriculum in order to meet the needs of their students. Adding culturally relevant curriculum and materials shouldn't be an additional financial burden on the teacher. Many schools are willing to fund the purchase of culturally relevant items if the teacher has researched the purchase and can explain how it will enhance student learning. If the school does not have resources, there may be funding at the district level or diversity grant funding available to teachers. You can find additional researched-based information in our resource collection about culturally responsive instruction.

Closing thoughts

Accessing students' background knowledge is a powerful way to make your instruction more culturally responsive and meaningful for all students. In the end, the efforts that teachers make to add a rich, cultural dimension to the curriculum will enhance student learning and comprehension, and create excitement in the classroom. The most wonderful thing about adding diverse cultural perspectives to the lesson is that it is a way of letting your students know - particularly ELL students - that their diverse experiences and backgrounds are valued in your classroom. Students may also be motivated to explore content and deepen their understanding of material.

As students share insights with you and with each other, they will develop appreciation for other cultural perspectives and they may find that there are more similarities than differences among them - and that might prove to be the greatest lesson of all.

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How to Connect ELLs' Background Knowledge to Content

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What are some other ways you can tap into background knowledge if it's very different from your own? You can start by choosing a single topic to research that you think might be relevant to your students.

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Introduction

ELLs of diverse backgrounds may struggle to grasp content and may approach the content from very different perspectives. Drawing on your students' background knowledge and experiences, can be an effective way to bridge gaps and to make the content more accessible. This article offers a number of suggestions to classroom teachers as they find ways to tap into the background knowledge that students bring with them.

1. Learn about your students' backgrounds and find culturally relevant resources to teach content

One of the important steps of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol model (SIOP) of teaching content to ELLs is to build students' background knowledge before teaching content by linking concepts to students' personal, cultural, or academic experience. Dr. R. Cipriani-Sklar, Principal of the Fairview School in Corona, NY, offers this suggestion in Random House's RHI: Reaching Reluctant Readers magazine:

"Tap into Students' Background Knowledge. Students need to connect with literature on three basic levels: text to text, text to self, and self to the world. All students bring something to the classroom. Becoming familiar with the backgrounds and/or prior knowledge of ELL students allows a teacher to engage students in literacy experiences that connect with their diverse backgrounds, thereby building on this knowledge."

How to tap into this background knowledge if it's very different from your own? You can start by researching your students' native countries, cultures, and educational systems. You may even want to study the historical figures, musical and artistic traditions, geography, and biodiversity of these countries so that you can connect your lessons to something that the students already know.

You can also find ways for your students to contribute their own cultural experience in the classroom. This may mean asking students to show how a topic connects to their lives or to give an example of a particular idea as they would experience it in their native country. Students can bring music or art from their culture and describe its significance and meaning to their classmates. Students can also interview their parents in order to learn more about their memories and experience. ELLs may find this valuable because even if they speak their native language with their parents and are surrounded by their culture at home, they may not have had an opportunity to talk to their parents about their parents' life experiences and values.

These strategies will work in mainstream classes as well. For example, if U.S. students are studying civil rights in the 1960's, they may remember information better if they relate it to historical and cultural information shared by family members.

One word of caution if you plan to ask students to contribute their experiences to the class, as noted by Dr. Cynthia Lundgren and Giselle Lundy-Ponce in a recent article about culturally responsive instruction:

" Consult more than one internet or library source and do not expect a student to be your sole "ambassador" or resource for finding out about a whole culture or ethnic background. Multiple sources are always a good idea for formulating knowledge about a particular subject.

More importantly, do not put a particular student on the spot without asking them beforehand if they are comfortable sharing information with the whole class. Each student is an individual and their experiences may or may not be similar to that of the group they represent."

It is tempting to view your students as the experts, and it is certainly important to draw on what they have to offer to the class, but it is also important to discuss whether they feel comfortable doing so beforehand, and to avoid putting them on the spot - particularly about cultural, political, or religious subjects that might be particularly sensitive.

2. Look for resources that go beyond the textbook

Try to find materials that will engage students and involve them in the learning process so that they find elements they can connect to and learn from. These may include:

Art

There are many ways to bring educational content to life through art, and to use art as a starting point for discussing different cultural traditions. For example, in a history class, you may offer students a couple of different artistic representations of historical events from different perspectives, and ask whether a particular perspective resonates with their experiences.

Or you might want to compare artwork depicting similar kinds of events as they occurred in different countries, such as revolutions, battles, the signing of a famous document, inaugurations, elections, protests, and major milestones. Perhaps students can share depictions of those kinds of events in their country as a way to open up the discussion and connect their experience to the content as well. Students can examine artistic style, theme, the artist's intent, and the materials used while comparing artistic works from different cultures as a way of applying what they learning about the content.

Using artwork that depicts day-to-day events and celebrations can also be a provocative starting point for a discussion about the similarities and differences between other cultures, and a way of affirming the students' daily lives, traditions, and lifestyles in the classroom.

Music

Students are a great resource for sharing music, and older students especially like to share music, discuss the meaning, and connect it to content. If the song is in a language some students do not understand, ask the student to translate it and discuss the meaning. Songs from other countries often describe political events or re-tell folk stories in poetic form.

Culture Kits

I got this idea from the Dakota County library system in Minnesota. They have a learning resource called "Bifolkal Kits" that patrons can check out. The kits have themes such as the "The Fifties," "Work Life," or "African American Lives." Each kit contains items relevant to the topic, reading materials, and questions that can be asked of a person who has experience in that area. It would be a wonderful addition to a curriculum if students created their own Culture Kits with special items that would bring culture alive as a way of sharing their cultures and discussing what can be learned from different multicultural traditions.

3. Use literature, stories, and folktales from other cultures as a way of encouraging students to connect what they are reading to their own experiences

While this seems like a simple and logical place to start, it will take some research to find just the right additions for an educational unit. However, libraries across the nation have increased the amount of multicultural literature available from a wide variety of countries and cultures. Some of the material is written in other languages, and some of it is translated into English. There are also many publishers who have focused on increasing multicultural literature in the classroom, and Language Arts series often will have a multicultural connection with suggestions of books to read with the class.

(To read about one high school teacher's use of multicultural literature in the classroom, read Time is Not on Our Side: Literacy and Literature for High School Language Learners.)

4. Use storytelling in the classroom

Many cultures have a rich tradition of storytelling that often gets lost in the U.S. with the focus on developing literacy skills. Many of the common stories in cultures have been translated and written in story form, but children also enjoy telling and acting out stories. There are many resources to help build storytelling skills, and some students may also have a relative who is a great storyteller and would be willing to visit the class and tell a story. The class can have great discussions about what made the story interesting, what the story was trying to tell them, and if they know other stories that are similar. For example, many cultures have a story version of "Cinderella."

One final note: Teachers spend a lot of their own money to add to the school curriculum in order to meet the needs of their students. Adding multicultural curriculum and materials shouldn't be an additional financial burden on the teacher. Many schools are willing to fund the purchase of multicultural items if the teacher has researched the purchase and can explain how it will enhance student learning. If the school does not have resources, there may be funding at the district level or diversity grant funding available to teachers.

[A good starting point for researching grant funding opportunities is the Teach Diversity website.]

In the end, the efforts that teachers make to add a rich, cultural dimension to the curriculum will enhance student learning and comprehension, and create excitement in the classroom. The most wonderful thing about adding a multicultural perspective to the lesson is that it is a way of letting your students know - particularly ELL students - that their diverse experiences and backgrounds are valued in your classroom. Students may also be motivated to explore content and deepen their understanding of material that they had not previously shown interest in. As students share insights with you and with each other, they will develop appreciation for other cultural perspectives and they may find that there are more similarities than differences among them - and that might prove to be the greatest lesson of all.

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Accessing Students' Background Knowledge in the ELL Classroom

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As you teach content areas to ELLs of diverse backgrounds, you may find that they struggle to grasp the content, and that they approach the content from very different perspectives. Drawing on your students' background knowledge and experiences can be an effective way to bridge those gaps and make content more accessible.

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A word wall is a collection of words which are displayed in large visible letters on a wall, bulletin board, or other display surface in a classroom. The word wall is designed to be an interactive...

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Anchor charts are more than educational tools around the classroom. These posters hang on walls or clips on boards helping students and teacher with information.

You might use them in your classroom or homeschool group to explain procedures. Whether you are organizing a bilingual literacy station or giving instructions to read, anchor charts help you develop various instructional techniques.

Bilingual literacy centers benefit using them because they design, model, and remind students of many language skills.

General uses in bilingual literacy centers

A key component of these charts in bilingual literacy centers is displaying information. Students can help put together essential information on them that everyone can use.

For instance, students can suggest ways to signal to use the bathroom or to sharpen a pencil. Besides procedures, anchor charts also display transition words or phrases.

Regardless how simple an activity might be, creating a smooth, concise transition suggests to students to move from one area to another. The directions displayed on a board or near bilingual literacy centers assist students with the next step.

Along with the written instructions come pictures. Images with instructions create a clear view for students to understand the next phase. Many bilingual classrooms dedicate an area for classroom management and these type of charts.

An exposition of classroom rules is vital for any bilingual class to function. With straightforward information, you can rely on anchor charts to show specific language skills.

Display of language skills for bilingual learners

Many different materials make up anchor charts. For example, you can use butcher paper, construction paper, sticky chart paper, or even plain poster board.

Using a hanging diagram serves the purpose to communicate instructions and reminders. In a bilingual literacy center, you might want to use them as bilingual reminders to turn on a computer, put away supplies, or how to begin a paragraph.

Anchor charts easily display bilingual language skills to identify letters, pronunciation, or vocabulary. These posters are also reminders for cause and effect, compare and contrast, and Venn diagram instructions.

As students begin to work on different tasks, it is useful to display a set of instructions. A display of information around the classroom shows how to approach a specific assignment.

In bilingual literacy centers, you might want to have plenty of anchor charts to model how to fill out worksheets, the basics of a paragraph, or what to look for in the expository text.

Anchor charts as visual indicators during reading time

Developing rhyming activities does not have to consume your time. Take a moment to create a few hanging diagrams with pictures associating directions and the learning material.

Next, use those charts to exhibit literacy components of the story or relevant text information. With the help of anchor charts, students can make predictions about stories.

That is, the displayed information supports the reading comprehension of bilingual learners in an easy visual reminder. Anchor charts assist with more than procedures, instructions, and reminders.

For bilingual learners, posters around the class are reliable pieces of information. While you might not be everywhere in the classroom, exhibition of instructions helps students when you are not available.

In turn, students develop strategies to look for information in more than one way. Seeking information in anchor charts indicates a pathway for students in becoming active readers and learners.

Comment below. How do you use anchor charts in your classroom?

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Anchor charts to supercharge your bilingual literacy centers * Spanish4Kiddos

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Anchor charts are more than educational tools around the classroom. These posters hang on walls or clips on boards helping students and teacher with information. You might use them in your classroom or homeschool group to explain procedures. Whether you are organizing a bilingual literacy station or giving instructions to read, anchor charts help you develop various instructional techniques.

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Rooted Linguistics: Serving Teachers of Multilingual Learners

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Anchor charts should be an imprint of our teaching. They should be remnants we leave behind to remind students of the important parts of the lesson. They should serve as mini-teachers so that as we work with small groups, our independent readers and writers can rely on the anchors to guide them instead of interrupting the small group. (Below you can find a poem to place on bare walls that explains to parents why the walls are empty. Great for beginning of the year.)

If anchor charts are not being used by students, then they are simply wallpaper.

For English learners, anchor charts can pose big problems. Not only can they be overwhelming wallpaper, they can be confusing due to the amount of words. They can cause more confusion than assistance. Here's how we can make sure that our anchor charts serve our English learners and all students and are all not a waste of space and time.

The first thing we have to consider when working with English learners and anchor charts is that the anchor charts should be made in front of the students. English learners (and all students) benefit from seeing and hearing the process that happens live in action. Seeing and hearing while making the chart in front of the students helps with brain imprinting. Modalities of visual and auditory are reached.

Second, anchor charts should be explicit. Here's how to___. Step one, step two, step three. Be direct and clear. Don't use a lot of unnecessary words. Just stick with the most essential parts of what students need to know. For example, if I want to teach my students how to talk with partners about nonfiction, my anchor chart might look like the one here.

Third, include graphics, icons, or pictures to support comprehension. Notice in the Nonfication Partner Talk anchor chart, I included specific visuals for my students to help them later when they use the chart without me. The pictures will remind them of what we discussed.

Last, location, location, location! Put your most important, most valued charts where students can see them and use them. Think about the real estate in your classroom. Where you place your anchor charts means something. Think about that ocean front property. It has value. Once they no longer need a chart, put it away where students can find it but it's not taking up prime real estate. Many students, especially English learners, benefit greatly from having their own small copy of important anchor charts. I achieve this by either making person copies on sticky-notes or taking pictures of my anchor charts and printing them out small for students who need them. They keep them in a section of their reading or writing notebooks.

Your students should know how to use the anchor charts in the class, why they are on the walls, and where to find them. If they can't answer those questions, then it's time to reflect on that chart.

Resources used:
Units of Study for Teaching Reading
Meredith Alvaro

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​ Have you ever walked into a classroom and looked around in awe at the beautiful charts and posters? The beautifully decorated boarders and store bought matched sets? But when you ask the students...

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Doesn't it feel good? You're implementing the Bridge! Your students have experience transferring vocabulary across languages! They are applying their academic vocabulary from one unit in one language to literacy in the other language. They are even consciously comparing and contrasting their two languages through your guided contrastive analysis! (OK, maybe you're just doing parts of this, but remember every step toward full implementation is a good step!)

Getting the process of the Bridge going in your classroom is such a satisfying - and important - part of teaching for biliteracy. And then comes the question of "HOW DO I KEEP THIS GOING?"

Our beautiful anchor charts and the Bridge lists, the evidence of Think Alouds, student participation, bilingualism, and biliteracy....what happens to them AFTER the Bridge extension for that unit closes?

One of our goals is to keep those anchor charts alive! Don't let them become wallpaper! Your kids own them - and with some thoughtful placement, gentle encouragement, and intentional referencing, those charts will stay alive in your classroom all year long.

Let's talk first about placement of your Bridge anchor charts. I wish I taught in a gymnasium where walls were gigantic and beckoning for more student-created posters to plaster on every square inch (plus one of those rolling ladders they have in libraries to access those extra high books!).... Alas, I have a very standard-sized classroom that - because of the program design at my school - is shared by two grade levels (I teach first grade in the morning while kindergarten is in the Spanish medium classroom, then switch for the afternoons). One wall is consumed by school and district mandates (math Number Corner, schedule, objectives, Activboard), one has cubbies and my desk, another has cabinets and the bathrooms and sink, three have doors interrupting the flow, and one is consumed by dramatic play and our Word Wall (Perhaps I should rethink the Word Wall? Definitely keeping dramatic play!). Wait, how many walls is THAT? And how do I find space for my Bridge??

Well, I MAKE space for that Bridge. Remember, when setting up for your bilingual classroom, you need to plan for three linguistic spaces: English, Spanish, and the Bridge. Because I am the English medium teacher, I really only need to plan for TWO spaces. A majority of my classroom is dedicated to the English content, and I must make a space for the Bridge. My Spanish teaching partner also has two linguistic spaces in her classroom: a majority for the Spanish content and a space for the Bridge.

When you dedicate a space for the Bridge, keep in mind that the children need to have the ability to access it throughout the year!! When they cannot physically access the charts, the charts will become the wallpaper that we are trying to avoid. Remember: Keep those charts alive! On just a few occasions I have moved a Bridge list to a spot where the kids cannot reach it - but that's actually because they access it ALL THE TIME. They need to be able to see it from wherever they are sitting in the classroom. For example, when we Bridged colors, my students wanted to see that list on a daily basis, so I put it in a spot in the classroom where everyone could see it all the time so they could use it in their daily writing and reading.

Why do my kids need to have access to the other charts? Remember: they are keeping them ALIVE! We are constantly adding to the lists through the year - them more often than me. The kids need to be able to touch them, move them around, write on them, and find what they need from past lists and charts.

I keep my Bridge lists above my metalinguistic charts because the Bridge lists are accessed for vocabulary and often spelling, and students know they can grab a chair to find the list they need. It's not ideal, and next year I would like to make a more efficient change here so that both the Bridge list and the metalinguistic charts are at lower levels.

The important part about having the metalinguistic charts so accessible is that my students are CONSTANTLY adding to them! I get interrupted regularly:

During Interactive Read Aloud: Student: "I saw and heard the word apple! Can I add it to the Sounds "A " Makes chart under /a/?"

During Independent Reading: Student: "Look, Mrs. Hardt! This word _______ looks exactly the same in English as it does in Spanish! Can I add it to our cognate list?"

During Dictation: Me: "I'll give you a hint, boys and girls. When we spell the word place it would have a spot on one of our metalinguistic charts."

Student: "C-e!! C-e!! Place is spelled p-l-a-c-e because the c sounds like an s and the a is a long a! Can I add it to the list?" (I'm serious. This really happened. Teacher win!)

Of course they want to add to the list! They are aware of how completely awesome they are as developing bilinguals. Plus I let them use the Mr. Scents markers - green for Spanish, purple for English (because that's what our school agreed on). AND THEY LOVE IT! Do what works and what motivates them. The point is, the charts are ALIVE.

What's awesome about having charts that are alive and that the kids have ownership of is that they REMEMBER to use them. I see students head over to the charts during independent writing to check on how to spell a word. In my classroom they can choose to write in either English or Spanish during journal writing, and because my classroom does not have as many Spanish resources to help them, they will access the Bridge lists to help them with some Spanish vocabulary to enhance their writing.

When the "place" hint came up during dictation that week (see above), we promptly added it to the chart that week (we also had "decide" in our dictation that week, so we added that one too). When we practiced dictation later that week, I had a student get up from her table and head over to the chart with her dictation paper in hand.

Me: "What do you need, Carlye?"

Carlye: "I want to double check place and decide."

Me: "Oh! You're headed to the Sounds C Makes Chart! Good for you! Let us know what you find!"

I had a student this year bug me incessantly for the purple and green markers so that she could add pizza to the cognate lists ("When can I add it? When can I add it?"). She was even willing to stay in at recess to add them! I realized I needed a better system for chart additions. Now when students have ideas for the lists, I have them write them down on a sticky note with their name on it so that I can check them for accuracy. Once I have a chance to look at it, I place the sticky note on their table along with the markers, and when they have a moment they can go fill out the appropriate chart.

Usually the cognate list is the most popular because it's easy to find examples and it's empowering to find examples of your bilingualism. I had a first grade class one year fill up two large chart papers with cognates throughout the year. This year, for some reason, that Sounds C Makes chart has been the most popular, and I think it is because it is so useful! The kids LOVE that the spelling patterns and corresponding sounds are the same in English and Spanish. (The hard c and the soft c follow the same rules in English and Spanish!) It also helps that am remembering to reference it throughout the year; for example, when we have tricky words in our dictation.

One difficult part of having a two-teacher model is that our Bridge lists and metalinguistic charts are not the same in both classrooms, so students don't have access to everything all the time either for their reference or to add to. We've solved the "adding" issue with the post-it system. If they come across something in Spanish when they are in the Spanish medium classroom that they would like to add to the charts we have in my classroom, they simply take a post-it, write down their idea, and share it with me when they are in my classroom.

As for the reference challenge, the best we can do at this moment is to have our Bridge wall easily accessible to our adjoining door. If the kids are in the Spanish medium classroom and need something from a list in my room, they can quietly come over, check the list, and head back to Spanish. However, most of the Spanish vocabulary is accessible other places in that classroom, and they are never writing in English in the Spanish classroom, so interruptions are rare. Ideally we would have a copy of all Bridge lists and metalinguistic charts in both classrooms.

I hope this helps you wrap your head around the Bridge space and charts a little bit more. It's not just one week and done. Remember: Keep those charts ALIVE! It takes time and intentionality to weave it in, but soon enough your students will take over for you. ¡Buena suerte!

Are there any other biliteracy systems you'd like to know about or questions you have about the English side of a two-teacher model? Please feel free to leave your thoughts and questions in the comments below, and for my next blog I will choose some to answer!

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Keep the Charts Alive! | Teaching For Biliteracy

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Doesn't it feel good? You're implementing the Bridge! Your students have experience transferring vocabulary across languages! They are applying their academic vocabulary from one unit in one language to literacy in the other language. They are even consciously comparing and contrasting their two languages through your guided contrastive analysis!

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Pictured above (left), is an example of a content-area word wall. The purpose of a mathematics word wall is to identify words and phrases that students need to understand and use to make progress in mathematics. Mathematical language is crucial to children's development of thinking. If students do not have the vocabulary to talk about math concepts and skills, they cannot make progress in understanding these areas of mathematical knowledge. Students also need to be familiar with mathematical vocabulary and mathematical terms to understand written and spoken instructions.

References: ​Intro and Word Walls. (2014, April 29). Retrieved October 7, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uh0HWdHgaY
Interactive Word Walls. (2010, November 1). Retrieved October 8, 2015, from http://www.springisd.org/docs2/ci/special/Word Walls 2010.pdf

Reading Rockets - Word Walls. (n.d.). Retrieved October 7, 2015, from http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/word_walls
Teaching Vocabulary using Word Wall. (2011, April 11). Retrieved October 7, 2015, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tEjDdFoB2k
Ten Great Word Wall Strategies for Classrooms. (2008, August 29). Retrieved October 7, 2015, from http://www.k12reader.com/10-great-word-wall-strategies-for-classrooms/
Wagstaff, J. (n.d.). Word Walls That Work | Scholastic.com. Retrieved October 7, 2015, from http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/word-walls-work
​Wright, W. E. (2010). Foundations for teaching English language learners: Research, theory, policy, and practice . Philadelphia: Caslon Pub.

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Pictured above (left), is an example of a content-area word wall. The purpose of a mathematics word wall is to identify words and phrases that students need to understand and use to make progress in mathematics. Mathematical language is crucial to children's development of thinking.

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Ep 38. Dr. Margaret McKeown - Robust vocabulary instruction

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@margaretmckeow2, one of the authors of Bringing Words to Life (https://amzn.to/2KBe8i3), shares a framework for effective, robust vocabulary instruction! I'm so excited to share this conversation with you! To learn more about one of Tan's courses, go to https://www.empoweringells.com/courses/ You can connect with Tan on Twitter at @TanKHuynh

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The importance of names and saying them correctly

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Teachers’ Strategies for Pronouncing and Remembering Students’ Names Correctly | KQED

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A mispronounced or forgotten name can have a lasting impact on students on how they feel about school. Teachers provide tips on how to make those names stick.

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Background

Students come from a wide range of ethnic, racial and religious backgrounds. In some cases, students' names may sound unfamiliar to their teachers or peers. If school community members fear mispronouncing a student's name, they may inadvertently exclude or marginalize that student in social or academic spheres. In this project, students learn about each others' names, explore name meanings and related family stories, and brainstorm strategies for respectfully approaching unfamiliar names. Finally, students create artistic plaques to display their names within their cultural or personal contexts.

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In this elementary, school-level grant, students learn about each others' names and their meanings, and they brainstorm strategies for respectfully approaching unfamiliar names.