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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. What supports does Ms. Colon have available to students to help them write?

2. Why is it important to give students opportunities to speak before writing?

3. How could you use this strategy in your own classroom?

School Details

ENLACE Academy

Lawrence, Massachusetts

Teachers

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Enjoy your first video for free. Subscribe for unlimited access. Have questions about subscribing? Click Here to learn more. Enjoy your first video for free. Subscribe for unlimited access. Have questions about subscribing? Click Here to learn more. What supports does Ms. Colon have available to students to help them write?

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My dad gave me one dollar bill
'Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
'Cause two is more than one!

- Excerpt from "Smart," by Shel Silverstein

As a student, I struggled with math. I didn't understand why it came so naturally to some students, but not to me. Looking back, however, I realize that I had an advantage that I wasn't even aware of - I understood the language in which the problems were written, even if I didn't understand how to solve them! Although it is easy to assume that many English language learners (ELLs) will excel in math because math is a "universal language" and students may have had prior educational experience that included mathematical instruction, that assumption can lead educators astray.

As I spoke with teachers and did research for this article, it became very clear that making sure that students understand math vocabulary and have ample opportunities to use it are very important. Solving word problems, following instructions, understanding and using mathematical vocabulary correctly - all of these skills require a language proficiency that sometimes exceeds our expectations. We tend to think of mathematics as a subject that does not require a strong command of language. In reality, however, mathematical reasoning and problem solving are closely linked to language and rely upon a firm understanding of basic math vocabulary (Dale & Cuevas, 1992; Jarret, 1999).

For many educators, the challenge of bringing language and math instruction together is a relatively new one. ELL teachers who hadn't taught content areas previously are now being asked to lead or support instruction in the math classroom, and many math teachers who don't see themselves as language instructors are now responsible for providing effective math instruction to ELLs.

High school math teacher Hillary Hansen learned just how big a role language plays in math instruction when she taught her first Basic Math course for ELLs last year. She wanted so much to provide the students with the good foundation they needed, but she felt unable to reach the students or engage them in her lessons, and by the end of the year she was exhausted and frustrated.

That summer she had an opportunity to join a district Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) cohort to receive professional development and support to meet the needs of ELLs in content classes. She learned about the importance of language acquisition, building background knowledge, increasing student language production, and explicitly teaching academic language. She began this school year with a new set of tools and a deeper understanding of the instructional scaffolding ELLs need in order to learn the content while also learning English. I am happy to report that while Hillary still feels challenged and is working very hard, this year has been much more successful for her and her students.

As a result of more effective instruction, her students:

understand the content better and are working together to find creative ways to learn

discuss math more and know how to use the instructional supports their teacher has in place

are comfortable with math and asking questions to get the help they need.

Hillary feels that she is providing them with the foundation they need not only to understand the mathematical concepts, but also to successfully interact within a math classroom in order to continue learning more advanced concepts.

Following are some strategies that Hillary and some of the other teachers I spoke with found helpful this year, and that they recommend as best practices when teaching math to ELLs.

The importance of teaching academic vocabulary

Vocabulary instruction is essential to effective math instruction. Not only does it include teaching math-specific terms such as "percent" or "decimal," but it also includes understanding the difference between the mathematical definition of a word and other definitions of that word.

The following example, used in a presentation by Dr. Judit Moschkovich of the University of California at Santa Cruz, underscores why vocabulary must be introduced within the context of the content (Moschkovich, 2008):

In this problem, the student is instructed to "find x." The student obviously knew the meaning of the word "find" because he/she "found" it on the page and circled it. The student even put a note on the page to help the teacher in locating the lost "x". The student understood the meaning of "find" in one context, but not in the appropriate mathematical context.

I recently helped a math teacher create a Sheltered Lesson, and I was surprised to find that there were some vocabulary words that I didn't understand. My lack of familiarity with the words hindered my ability to do the math problem and gave me a deeper empathy for ELLs who struggle in the same way with vocabulary and comprehending math assignments. Following is a list of tips for explicitly teaching mathematical academic vocabulary:

Demonstrate that vocabulary can have multiple meanings. Help students understand the different meanings of words such as "table" and "quarter," as well as how to use them correctly in a mathematical context.

Encourage students to offer bilingual support to each other. Students will understand material better if they explain it to another student, and the new student will benefit from hearing the explanation in their first language. (Check the hotlinks for a list of bilingual translations of math vocabulary in multiple languages).

Provide visual cues, graphic representations, gestures, realia, and pictures. Offer students the chance to work with objects and images in order to master vocabulary. If there aren't enough items for each student, use manipulatives on the overhead or posted throughout the classroom, and demonstrate the vocabulary in front of the students. For example, Hillary created a Math Word Wall that has three parts: key vocabulary, "in your own words" definitions, and a variety of ways to portray a function. For example, multiplication is portrayed by the following symbols: x, *, and ( ).

Identify key phrases or new vocabulary to pre-teach. This strategy will help students decide which math function they should apply. Example: "more than" means "add." (See hotlinks for more references about math vocabulary.)

The importance of reading and understanding written math problems

Written word problems present a unique challenge to ELL students and teachers alike. In Reading and Understanding Written Math Problems, Brenda Krick-Morales writes, "Word problems in mathematics often pose a challenge because they require that students read and comprehend the text of the problem, identify the question that needs to be answered, and finally create and solve a numerical equation - ELLs who have had formal education in their home countries generally do not have mathematical difficulties; hence, their struggles begin when they encounter word problems in a second language that they have not yet mastered" (Bernardo, 2005).

Teacher Xiao-lin Yin-Croft has encountered this pattern in her classroom of bilingual Chinese students in San Francisco. She has developed a very creative way to use her students' background knowledge of math as a stepping stone for other language learning. She does this by accelerating math instruction at the beginning of the school year and then building on what students have learned in math in reading and other content areas. In Building Bridges for the Future, a Colorín Colorado "From the Heart" article, Xiao-lin explains her strategy:

First, we read math word problems; I demonstrate the logical thinking process while translating words into pictures and, finally, into number sentences. Soon, they start to explain their own thinking after reading complicated word problems that involve several steps. They correct each other, and argue about which number sentences they should use to arrive at the correct final results. As they sharpen their math skills, I capitalize on their enthusiasm to teach them how to extract the most important information from texts, and move them toward the oral and reading fluency they need to understand and discuss more challenging texts.

Even if you aren't accelerating math instruction, however, there are a number of ways to help students master word problems. Krick-Morales offers suggestions in the previously mentioned article, such as explicit instruction of key vocabulary, daily practice of problem solving, repeated readings of the word problem together as a class, and hands-on activities such as movement, experiments, or drawing to help students comprehend the problem. As students become more familiar with math vocabulary, they will be able to solve problems more easily.

The importance of building background knowledge

As the opening quote from the Shel Silverstein poem reminds us, background knowledge plays a critical role in math class! My colleague Hillary found that sometimes her students would get "lost" in a problem simply because they didn't understand the context. Following are some tips to help in building background knowledge of students.

Modify the linguistic complexity of language and rephrase math problems. Students will understand the problem better if it is stated in shorter sentences and in language they understand.

Guide students to cross out the unnecessary vocabulary in word problems. Doing so allows students to focus on the math function required. For example, one problem Hillary's students came across referred to a "school assembly." Even though the meaning of that phrase wasn't important in the solving of the math problem, students didn't know it wasn't important, and the lack of understanding contributed to their confusion.

Build knowledge from real world examples. Try to reinforce concepts with examples that students can picture and talk students through the situation. For example, if you need to paint a room, you need to know how much area will be covered so that you know how much paint to buy. Look for familiar ideas or props that can be used to engage students such as recipes, news stories about the economy, or discussion of personal spending habits.

Use manipulatives purposefully. This is important at all grade levels. Hillary has found math cubes to be very useful in having students represent the numbers in the problems and then manipulate the cubes to get the answer. She used the cubes and the terms "hot" and "cold" numbers when teaching with the concept of negative numbers. Students would use the red cubes as "hot" or positive numbers and the blue cubes as "cold" or negative numbers. As students laid out the number of hot cubes and cold cubes represented, they could easily see if the answer would be a positive or negative number by which color had the most cubes. A problem such as -2 + 1 = -1 would look like this:

The student then removed pairs of cubes - one red, one blue - until they could no longer remove any blocks. The remaining blocks represent the answer.

The importance of increasing student language production in the content area

As I've worked with content area teachers in my district to develop Sheltered Instruction lessons and activities to enhance ELL learning, I've told them, "If a student doesn't say it in your class, they're never going to say it." This is a bit dramatic, but it's true to some extent. When students learn new vocabulary, the opportunity to use it must be presented in class, because students are unlikely to try it out on their own - especially academic words like "parallelogram" or "function"!

Here are some tips to increase student-to-student interaction with academic language in the math classroom:

Have students translate symbols into words, and write the sentence out. Hillary used this strategy to check students' comprehension of problems before they solved them. For example, 3x + 4 = 16 would be written out, "Three times X plus four equals sixteen." This helps students process the operations involved in the question and gives them an opportunity to think through how to solve it. It also gives students a chance to familiarize themselves with important vocabulary words.

Create a "sentence frame" and post it on the board. Write the format of the sentence you would like students to use in discussion and then hold them accountable for using it. For example, "The answer is _______ degrees because it is a _________ triangle.

Have students share problem-solving strategies. This involves asking a simple question such as, "Did anyone else get the answer in a different way?" Then allow enough wait time so students can think through how their problem-solving process was similar or different to the one offered.

Allow students to discuss how they are thinking about math. This is a way of redirecting the lesson from teacher-to-student to student-to-student. For example a student might ask a question, "How do you know what kind of triangle it is?" Instead of the teacher answering and going to the board and pointing out the names and different triangles, the teacher can simply ask, "Does someone have an answer? Or "Would someone like to offer help to Mario?" Allow students to share how they think about the math concept and any tips they have for remembering the information.

Incorporate writing activities like math journals. This is an excellent way for students to process what they've learned and what questions they still have. The journal could start with simple prompts such as, "One thing I learned today..." "One thing I still don't understand..." "One way I can get the help I need..." "The answer to this problem is..." Writing out the answer to a problem is a very important skill to develop because many state math tests require a constructed response to questions.

Challenge students to create their own math problems. This can be a fun activity if students create a problem similar to the ones you have used in class and they exchange problems with a partner. By creating the problem and checking the answer they are reinforcing their own learning.

Using technology

Technology can also be a powerful tool in math instruction for ELLs. Here are some ideas ways you can play with technology in a math lesson:

Look for educational resources that accompany your school's technology tools and programs. There may be online or software programs available for teachers. For teachers who have an electronic whiteboard in the classroom, there are many resources available on links that can be easily accessed and brought into the classroom.

Look for interactive games that offer students a chance to practice their mathematical skills. Nintendo DS has an educational game called Brain Age, which is not language specific. The game provides excellent mathematical training for numbers and tracks results, showing student improvement over time.

Find out what's available online. Vital NY (Video Teaching and Learning for NYS Educators) on Teachers' Domain offers an online library of free media resources from the best in public television. Teachers' Domain resources include video and audio segments, Flash interactives, images, documents, lesson plans for teachers, and student-oriented activities. (Free registration required.)

If students are using a graphing calculator, ensure that they learn how to use it. Based on background and prior educational experience, students might not be familiar with how to use a calculator nor some of the more sophisticated models, such as the graphing calculator. Give students a chance to practice solving problems with their calculators once you have reviewed different functions. Texas Instruments offers numerous activities and product tutorials in their educational materials.

Even if it doesn't come easily at first, there are ways to get ELLs excited about math. By keeping their language skills and needs in mind when planning mathematical instruction (and by helping your colleagues do the same), you will be taking important steps in helping students master mathematical concepts and skills - and who knows? Your students may be the next generation of economists, rocket scientists, and math teachers just waiting for the tools they need!

Note: I'd like to thank my Minnesota colleagues, Hillary Hansen at Burnsville Senior High School and Kim Olson at Hidden Valley Elementary, as well as Xiao-lin Yin-Croft from San Francisco, for providing many of the helpful math teaching tips in this article. It is inspiring to know that there are talented, creative teachers who are always finding better ways to teach and are willing to share the knowledge.
Common Core Math and ELLs: Blog Posts
These posts from our Common Core blog highlight resources that can be used in Common Core math instruction for ELLs.
EngageNY: Common Core and Math
The EngageNY website provides materials focused on curricular examples, standards for mathematical practice, and other materials for professional development.
Discovery Education: Puzzlemaker
Puzzlemaker is a free puzzle generation tool for teachers, students and parents where users can create and print customized word search, criss-cross, math puzzles, and more using their own word lists.
Catherine Snow: Word Generation
Catherine Snow's new website provides information and resources for educators who would like to learn more about Word Generation and how it is implemented. Includes links to comprehensive academic word list that students need to master to comprehend academic content.
Dave's Math Tables: English/Spanish Dictionary
List of English math vocabulary words with the Spanish equivalent.
PBS Teachers: Math Lessons
PBS Teachers offers a database of multimedia math lessons and activities that can be searched by grade or topic.
SMART Notebook Lesson Activities
Browse lesson activities and materials for classrooms using SMART notebook software. Choose the country or region, and search by curriculum standards, subject and grade level.
Colorín Colorado Webcast: English Language Learners in Middle and High School
This webcast features Dr. Deborah Short and discusses effective instructional strategies for teaching English language learner students in middle and high school, such as the SIOP model.
Translating Word Problems
This is a great site for teachers in the elementary levels, as it provides a list of keywords you can teach your ELLs to look for as they read word problems. Also included are useful ideas and tricks to better prepare students to understand written math problems.

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Math Instruction for English Language Learners

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My dad gave me one dollar bill'Cause I'm his smartest son,And I swapped it for two shiny quarters'Cause two is more than one! - Excerpt from "Smart," by Shel Silverstein As a student, I struggled with math. I didn't understand why it came so naturally to some students, but not to me.

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Serving Multilingual Learners of All Ages

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I must confess. I'm not a math specialist. In fact, as a classroom teacher, I've never taught math myself. I have supported math as an ESL Specialist in a co-teach position but never taught my own math class. However, what I can offer are linguistic supports for teaching in a math setting.

The misconception out there is that math is a universal language. This is far from true. Math is supported by language and if students are learning English, then learning math in their target language can be a struggle.
If you take anything away from this document, I hope it's that your ELLs NEED to talk about math using key vocabulary and may need sentence stems as scaffolds for conversation. Talk, or academic conversation, helps students develop language while internalizing learning, negotiating for meaning and cementing learning.

Please feel free to share this document with others as I hope it benefits language learners. If you have other suggestions or comments regarding math and ELLs, they are welcome here.

Resources I leaned upon:. Sausalito, CA: Math Solutions Publications..
Bresser, R., Melanese, K., & Sphar, C. (2009). Supporting English language learners in math class: grades 3-5

Bresser, R., Sphar, C., & Melanese, K. (n.d.). Supporting English Language Learners in Math Class, Grades K-2

​Driscoll, M., Nikula, J., & DePiper, J. N. (2016). Mathematical thinking and communication: access for English learners. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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Math, the Universal Language...NOT (how to support ELLs)

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I must confess. I'm not a math specialist. In fact, as a classroom teacher, I've never taught math myself. I have supported math as an ESL Specialist in a co-teach position but never taught my own math class. However, what I can offer are linguistic supports for teaching in a math setting.

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Science Instruction for ELLs

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Next Generation Science Standards

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K-12 science standards aligned across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally bench-marked science education. The NGSS are a parallel initiative to the Common Core, but are not part of the CCSS.

Teaching Science to Diverse Populations and Related Case Studies

The Next Generation Science Standards include guidance ( Appendix D) on implementation with diverse populations such as English language learners.

The ELL case study focuses on a 2nd-grade classroom learning about soil in an Earth Science lesson. (Read more about each document in our Research and Reports section.)

Recommended Resources

Peep and the Big Wide World: Bilingual Activities & STEM Curriculum

Public television producer WGBH has launched a bilingual website and preschool curriculum based on Peep and the Big Wide World, the Award-winning STEM series for 3-5 year olds following a newly hatched chicken named Peep and his friends Chirp and Quack (a robin and a duck) on their daily adventures. Each half-hour episode contains two stories which highlight specific science concepts, plus two live-action shorts presenting real kids playing and experimenting with these concepts in their own big wide worlds.

The accompanying site includes bilingual games, videos, apps, a 6-unit STEM curriculum, professional development video modules for early childhood educators, and science resources and activity ideas for families. The website is also available in Spanish.

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The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) are K-12 science standards aligned across disciplines and grades to provide all students an internationally bench-marked science education. The NGSS are a parallel initiative to the Common Core, but are not part of the CCSS.

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Opportunities and Challenges in the ELL Science Classroom Part 1

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Opportunities and Challenges for ELLs in the Science Inquiry Classroom (Part 1)

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Good science starts with a question. Using inquiry science, children discover answers to their questions in the same way that scientists do - with experiments, predictions, observations, and conjectures.

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Good science starts with a question. Using inquiry science, children discover answers to their questions in the same way that scientists do - with experiments, predictions, observations, and conjectures.

In this excerpt from Chapter 4 of Becoming Scientists: Inquiry-Based Teaching in Diverse Classrooms, Grades 3-5, Rusty Bresser and Sharon Fargason offer ideas for choosing appropriate language support strategies in the science classroom that will match students' proficiency levels. The activities described are designed to engage students in the practices outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Providing Support

The support that we provide English language learners during inquiry science falls into three categories: strategies that make content comprehensible, strategies that provide opportunities for communication, and strategies that provide support for communication.

Making Content Comprehensible

The strategies that make science content comprehensible include ones that Sharon uses to help students access key vocabulary:

the use of illustrated vocabulary banks

highlighting cognates

recasting science terms or using familiar synonyms

providing realia and concrete materials

Sharon also uses gestures or acts out words, phrases, and directions when teaching. She uses lots of visuals such as graphic organizers and pictures that help children "see" concepts. In addition, she modifies her teacher talk by slowing down and articulating clearly when giving directions, emphasizes key words, and avoids idiomatic phrases or slang. In addition to bridging new vocabulary with students' native languages, Sharon always taps their prior knowledge and experiences so that they can build on their current knowledge about science topics. All of these strategies help English language learners access science content because they allow them to visualize what the teacher is saying and connect what they are learning to what they already know.

Providing Opportunities for Communication

Sharon uses several different talk formats to provide students with the chance to discuss their learning:

Whole-class discussions provide a forum in which there are many opportunities for the cross-pollination of ideas.

Small-group formats create a safer environment in which more students get a chance to talk (See Figure 4.1).

Partner talks give English language learners an even safer place to share ideas and rehearse what they might report in a whole-class setting.

Figure 4.1: Student Conversation

When partnering students during pair-shares, Sharon sometimes places a student with advanced proficiency with a beginning-level English learner so that language modeling or translation can occur.

At other times, she places two students together who are at the same proficiency level in English so that more talk can happen. Sharon might even let the students choose whom they want to pair-share with.

To begin a science discussion, Sharon might ask a question and then give students sufficient time (sometimes up to ten seconds) to gather their thoughts and generate a response before talking to the group or to their partner. Providing wait or think time is crucial for all students, but particularly for English language learners, who may need more time to think before sharing.

The use of wait time and the different talk formats provide opportunities for all English learners to think and then talk about their learning. But what if the students don't have the language (in English) to say something? This is when it is important for the teacher to offer structured support to assist students in communicating.

Providing Support for Communication

Sharon uses a variety of strategies to help her students communicate their science thinking and practice new words and phrases they are learning (see Figure 4.2). Some strategies are easy to use and take little time or effort. For example, Sharon might ask for a thumbs-up or thumbs-down after asking a question such as "Do you agree or disagree with Carlos's hypothesis?"

Eliciting nonverbal responses supports English learners because the responses help teachers check for understanding without requiring students to produce language. English learners can participate and show that they understand a concept, or agree or disagree with someone's ideas, without having to talk. This is especially important for students whose comprehension of English is more advanced than their ability to speak the language.

Another easy strategy to use that supports students is having them give a choral response or echo in unison a new word or phrase. For example, when introducing the phrase conductor of electricity, Sharon had the class echo the phrase to her several times. This strategy exposes students to new vocabulary and serves as a model for correct pronunciation, syntax, and grammar. It also gives them practice using the language of science.

During a science lesson, students are exposed to many important concepts and ideas. These ideas may come from the teacher or from another student in the class. One strategy that holds students responsible for listening is having them repeat or reword someone else's idea. Although repeating may not seem like a high-level task, it is much more active than simply listening to the concepts as they are presented. Rewording encourages students to express a new concept in their own language, a language we know they understand. Students can repeat or reword statements made by the teacher or by other students. The teacher can also repeat or reword statements made by students to emphasize or question information (Bresser, Melanese, and Sphar 2009).

Figure 4.2 Strategies, Activities, and Tools to Support English Learners

Makes Content Comprehensible
Provides Opportunities for Communication

Provides Support for Communication

Provide illustrated vocabulary banks Modify teacher talk

Gesture/act out words, phrases, directions

Highlight cognates

Recast science terms

Use concrete materials/realia Connect to prior learning

Use graphic organizers

Use talk formats:

Elicit nonverbal responses

Elicit choral responses

Have students repeat or reword

Use sentence frames/prompts Differentiate questions

Partner talk

Table talk

Whole-group discussion

Use wait time

Sentence Frames and Prompts
Two effective tools that help students say something about their learning are sentence frames and prompts. Prompts can be oral or written and are used as sentence starters. For example, during an inquiry lesson on energy, Sharon showed the class a video and then had them talk and write about what they learned. She provided the following prompts to jump-start their thinking and writing:

In another lesson on UV beads, Sharon provided the following prompts to help students formulate testable questions:
What if...?
Does...?
I wonder...?
What will happen if...?
Is it possible to ____________?
Sentence frames serve a variety of purposes. They provide the support English language learners need to fully participate in science discussions, serve to contextualize and bring meaning to vocabulary, provide a structure for practicing and extending English language skills, and help students use the vocabulary they learn in grammatically correct, complete sentences (Bresser, Melanese, and Sphar 2009).

During a unit on energy, Sharon wanted the students to make a prediction about a pair of students' hypothesis. To help them make a prediction, she provided the following frames. The first frame is appropriate for beginning-level English learners. Sharon differentiated the second frame for intermediate/advanced English learners. Notice how the second frame includes the conjunction because. This prompts the learners to explain their thinking further but requires more language:
I predict ___________ hypothesis will work/won't work.
I predict ___________ hypothesis will work/won't work because __________.
During an investigation of UV beads, Sharon offered the following frame to help students describe the beads:
The beads are ____________ and made of ____________.
To create sentence frames, Sharon first thinks about what key vocabulary students will need to know and understand. She then thinks about the purpose for using language. Will students be using vocabulary to make predictions about a hypothesis? Draw conclusions about an experiment? Compare minerals? Describe an energy source? Ask questions about UV beads? Explain how they got a toy car to move?

Sharon tries to anticipate what students will say, and this guides her in creating the frames. When structured appropriately, sentence frames are flexible enough to be useful in a variety of contexts and open enough to allow students to give us their own ideas. These frames allow students to use the key vocabulary terms and put together complete thoughts, thoughts that can be connected, confirmed, rejected, revised, and understood. What's important is that the teacher model using the frames and give students practice so that they will actually use the frames during instruction.

The chart in Figure 4.3 includes examples of sentence frames for different topics in science and for different language functions or purposes for using language. The examples also include frames that are differentiated for different levels of English proficiency: beginning and intermediate/ advanced.

Supporting Students at Different Proficiency Levels

As mentioned, the students in Sharon's class represent a wide range of proficiency levels in English.

Native and advanced English speakers

For example, John and Felicia are native English speakers who require little linguistic support during inquiry science, although sentence frames for advanced proficiency levels can push them to use more sophisticated language.

Carlos and Benito are at advanced and intermediate levels of English proficiency, respectively, and with some added grammatical support, are able to perform all of the language functions that John and Felicia can. For example, when Carlos makes a grammatical error, Sharon models correct usage and has him repeat it to her. These two students, like everyone in Sharon's class, also need exposure to and support for using academic terms during inquiry science. They also need practice talking like scientists, since the language they are expected to use during inquiry is more formal than the English they use on the playground.

Students who are native English speakers, and those who are at advanced and intermediate levels of English proficiency, are able to respond to more open-ended questions during inquiry. For example, Sharon might ask, "What do you think will happen when we use the lemon to make a battery?" This is a good question for native English speakers and those at advanced and intermediate levels of proficiency. But a response to this question requires a lot of language for beginning-level English learners. These students must produce so much language just to structure their answer that they might choose not to answer at all.

Beginning English speakers

Jackie, Alejandra, and Dao are at the beginning stages of English language development and need lots of visual support. They understand more English than they can produce, and the questions that Sharon asks them are sometimes different from the questions she poses to students at more advanced levels. For example, to improve his participation, Sharon might ask Dao a question that requires a nonverbal or one-word response. (For example, "Do you agree with Carlos's hypothesis?" or "Thumbs-up if you agree with Carlos's hypothesis.")

Sharon might ask Dao a question that requires only a physical response. ("Point to the materials that make the bulb light up" or "Can you show me how to make the bulb light up?") Sometimes Sharon will build the answer into the question. ("Which works better, the potato or the lemon?")

Figure 4.4 shows what students at different levels of English proficiency can do, what support they need, and the types of questions that are most effective to ask.

Figure 4.4 * Support for Different Proficiency Levels in Englis

One-word or nonverbal
responses, can identify, match, categorize, and produce simple sentences

Lots of visual and
manipulative support

Questions that elicit one-word,
nonverbal, or physical responses, build the answer into the question

Can describe, explain, define,
retell, compare and contrast, justify, and more
Grammatical support

More open-ended questions,
questions that model the structure of an answer

When thinking about support for students at different proficiency levels, it's important to hold high expectations for all students. Just because a student is beginning to learn English doesn't mean he isn't good at science! And just because a student at the beginning stages of English language development typically struggles with responding to open-ended questions doesn't mean we can't ask them. When Sharon asks an open-ended question, she first asks everyone to think about it. If individual students need a more structured or modified form of the question in order to respond, she will provide one. Sharon's goal is for everyone to improve and move forward in their English language development, and she uses inquiry science as a context for them to do so.

Equitable Access For All Students

During inquiry science, Sharon wants all of her students to have access to science content. If language is a barrier to learning, she provides the necessary support. Without support, many of her students might not be able to participate in science discussions or express their learning through the language of instruction. Providing explicit language support is critical to equitable access.

Lisa Delpit frames this idea in her book Other People's Children (1999). She urges educators to explicitly teach those forms of language that will enable students to succeed in school and actively participate in their learning communities. Therefore, when we expect the students in our diverse classrooms to contribute their ideas during science discussions, we need to make sure that they have the skills in English to do so.

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Communication and Language Strategies for the Science Inquiry Classroom (Part 2)

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Good science starts with a question. Using inquiry science, children discover answers to their questions in the same way that scientists do - with experiments, predictions, observations, and conjectures. In this excerpt from Chapter 4 of Becoming Scientists: Inquiry-Based Teaching in Diverse Classrooms, Grades 3-5, Rusty Bresser and Sharon Fargason offer ideas for choosing appropriate language support strategies in the science classroom that will match students' proficiency levels.

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using Science to Develop Language Skills

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- Isaac Asimov

Grade Levels: 1 - 5
Subject: Science

"Oh, you mean the life cycle." This was my pre-school daughter's response to my long explanation of the metamorphosis of the butterfly. Of course, she had an advanced vocabulary at that age, but I never dreamed she would know the term, "life cycle." This has stood out to me as an example of how children can understand advanced concepts and learn advanced vocabulary even though they cannot read about the subject or understand technical explanations. An English language learner may not have an advanced English vocabulary, but with the right kind of curriculum and instruction, teachers may be surprised at the knowledge ELLs can gain. Science lends itself well to developing ELL students' language and content knowledge because there are so many opportunities for hands-on learning and observation.

In my district the elementary summer school ESL curriculum is based on science learning. Each ESL teacher receives a FOSS kit, a tub of science materials that support a theme. FOSS, which stands for "Full Option Science System," is a research-based science curriculum for grades K-8 developed at the Lawrence Hall of Science, University of California at Berkeley. My district uses this science curriculum in classrooms with newcomers, and it has gotten very positive reviews from summer school ESL teachers. Because we use the same curriculum with our non-ESL students, the summer program allows our English language learners an opportunity to access the same curriculum content with strategies to support their language development needs.

There are three ESL summer school science units - Pebbles, the Sound of Music, and the Life Cycle of the Butterfly - that have been developed through collaboration with ESL and Science teachers. The basic materials provided in each kit to support the units include items such as different kinds of rocks, a variety of readable materials on the topic, small chimes, triangles, xylophone, string, caterpillars, sticks, milkweed and blank notebooks. ESL teachers attend an all-day training before summer school starts, and they learn how to use all the materials to enhance students' science and language learning.

The Butterfly Unit

The Butterfly curriculum focuses on the life cycle of the butterfly, and the science kit includes:

monarch butterfly caterpillars

milkweed

jars

sticks

posters of the life cycle

fiction and non-fiction books on butterflies

blank notebooks

Since this curriculum is used with newcomer students, the teacher begins by using pictures to introduce key vocabulary, such as butterfly, eggs, caterpillar, and milkweed. The vocabulary is then reinforced by doing a picture walk through a butterfly book. Some ESL students may have been in the country for a year, and some may have just arrived, so the teacher can ask the students with higher English speaking skills to help model the information being taught.

Graphic Organizers

Students use graphic organizers to increase their comprehension and demonstrate knowledge. One simple organizer is the circle map, which has students give as many words and ideas as they can think of about butterflies.

1. The word, "butterfly" is written in the middle circle, and a large circle is drawn around it.

2. Students offer words relating to butterflies such as "pretty," "caterpillar," "flower," "flying," and "changing."

3. The teacher asks, "How do you know this word is related to butterflies? What is your experience?"

4. Students will give answers such as, "Butterflies are pretty because there are lots of different colors," or "You always see butterflies by flowers."

5. The teacher writes these responses outside of the large circle. Now the teacher has the students' background knowledge to build on.

(For more ideas on using graphic organizers with ELLs, take a look at this Bright Ideas article.)

Activities

Students do a variety of activities, such as drawing pictures of butterflies, labeling the stages in the life cycle, writing in journals, and reading books on butterflies and presenting a few facts to the class. They also set up a "Butterfly Jar," that contains the milkweed, a stick and the caterpillar. Each day in class they observe their caterpillar's progress towards becoming a butterfly and write their observation in their science log. Students with very limited English skills can either write the information in their first language, or copy a short sentence that the teacher writes on the board. It is exciting for the students to see how their butterfly changes over the summer and to discuss it with each other in class. Some students name their caterpillars and write stories about them and where they might go when they are released. When the butterfly finally emerges from its cocoon, the students set it free and discuss what they learned about butterflies and what will happen to the butterfly on its journey.

Reflections on ESL Science curriculum

The hands-on activities in elementary science curriculum lend themselves well to developing language skills. For example in the "Pebbles" kit, students can actually touch and sort a variety of rocks and learn vocabulary such as color names and words like rough, smooth, hard, big, and small. They can use the vocabulary words in meaningful ways when they write in their log book, "The quartz rock is rough and white." The science curriculum combined with language development, reinforces learning. Students are not learning vocabulary out of context, such as when ESL students learn a list of color vocabulary words or adjectives. Students are also exposed to valuable science concepts that they may or may not be exposed to during the year since not all teachers use the science kits.

How to get started

Collaboration between ESL and classroom teachers is a very effective way to begin using science curriculum for language learning. There are a number of different ways that team teaching could be done effectively. Some teachers may want to have a common planning time and then teach together in the classroom during the science lesson. Other teachers may want to take time to plan the unit together and then have the ESL teacher pre-teach concepts and practice similar science activities prior to the actual classroom lesson. If bilingual resources are available, teachers may introduce key vocabulary in the students' native language and post the words on the wall. Finally, if it is overwhelming to think of collaborating on the science unit during the school year, summer school presents a perfect time to use hands-on science materials, the outdoors, and student energy to learn and have fun. However you decide to explore science with your ESL students, it will be a wonderful experience that will be exciting and full of new English words... You may also take the opportunity to teach a new meaning for the phrase, "That's funny..."

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Using Science to Develop ELLs' Language Skills

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An English language learner may not have an advanced English vocabulary, but with the right kind of curriculum and instruction, teachers may be surprised at the knowledge ELLs can gain. Science lends itself well to developing ELL students' language and content knowledge because there are so many opportunities for hands-on learning and observation.

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In well-intentioned but low-quality programs for English learners (ELs), we often see ELs memorizing information and passively rewriting facts. Rarely are they asked to apply what they know. However, we can design learning experiences so that they practice using language while applying content knowledge .

In Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model (5th Edition) (SIOP Series) , Echevarria, Vogt, and Short recommend three things teachers can do to move students from being passive learners of content to active learners who apply language skills and content knowledge:

Provide hands-on materials and/or manipulatives for students to practice using new content knowledge

Provide activities for students to apply content and language knowledge in the classroom

Incorporate activities that integrate all kinds of language skills (e.g. reading, writing, listening, and speaking) (26, 2016).

Provide Hands-on Learning Materials

For many learners, not just ELs, the opportunity to manipulate objects grounds abstract mental concepts. For students who are developing their language skills , demonstrating and synthesizing understanding by manipulating things is particularly effective.

In Mr. A 7th grade school class, the students were learning about food pyramids. After directly teaching the content, Mr. A and I designed an interactive Google Drawing where students were able to manipulate the images, texts, and icons to cement their understanding of food pyramids.

We provided the key vocabulary words (e.g. tertiary consumer, producer, etc), a blank energy pyramid diagram, and a few arrows to show energy transfer.

Provide Activities for Studies to Apply Content Knowledge

An activity shifts from being passive to active when we ask ELs to create or contribute new ideas . This is also when content knowledge is applied . The Google Drawing example from above is just one example of having ELs apply science content knowledge. Mr. A and I simply asked the students to provide their own organisms for the energy pyramid which forced them to apply content knowledge.

Other forms of asking students to apply content knowledge include:

These all require ELs to use their content knowledge in different ways. For example, after having students create the Google Drawing, we also had them create their own marine food web that consisted of real and fictional organisms (mermaids, unicorn seahorses, the Kraken, and Squarespounge Bob). Students had to use their understanding of food webs and creativity to complete the task.

Students then inserted images, added texts, moved the key vocabulary words, and placed the arrows accordingly. The second image below was created by a selectively-mute EL. Though he doesn't like to talk to show understanding, with the Google Drawing, we were able to differentiate for his needs and still offer him an opportunity to synthesize and display his content knowledge.

Incorporate Activities that Integrate Various Language Skills

Gone are the days when we had students do isolated literacy activities: read this text, compose a text, watch a video, talk about a text.

In today's modern world, we now design activities where ELs read a text to find information about a topic, talk about their reading, watch a video related to the topic to learn other perspectives, and write about the topic. Activities like these that integrate all the language domains reinforce language development for ELs. All the language skills are used to learn content, demonstrate understanding, and think critically.

In the marine food web example above, Mr. A and I raised it to the next level by requiring students to integrate all the language domains to complete the task. First, we had students work collaboratively to create their marine food web by working as table groups. This reinforced their listening and speaking skills. After they decided on the organism to include, we had them write a brief description of it. Though reading wasn't used, we could have had students read about marine organisms as part of the process.

In addition to developing their language skills while applying content knowledge , they also worked on their collaboration and thinking skills. Activities that integrate all the language domains naturally foster collaboration skills and critical thinking due to the need to negotiate with others to create and solve problems.

Takeaways

Due to ELs' developing English skills, they often are expected to learn passively. This means simply regurgitating information rather than meaningfully using language to create with content knowledge. But when we design active learning experiences that require them to use language and apply content knowledge , we empower ELs to internalize content knowledge, practice all language skills, collaborate with others, and think critically .

Echevarria, J., Vogt, ME, & Short, D. (2017). Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model. Fifth Edition. New York: Pearson.

Nora, J., & EchevarriÌa, J. (2016). No more low expectations for English learners . Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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#88. Creating with Content: Moving Beyond Memorizing to Applying - TanKHuynh

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Learn to design sheltered lessons that empower ELs to develop all language skills by applying content knowledge.

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5 Elements of a Successful Science Lesson

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5 Elements of a Successful Science Lesson

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Have you found it?

It's that nugget of language gold that comes when you teach content areas!

You know, subjects like social studies, math and science.

Perhaps you have never considered teaching these areas before, but the truth is that teaching content-even when your students have already learned it in their first language-is a highway to the Shangri-La of English language learning.

Science is an all-around hit, with so many brilliant opportunities for engaging activities and hands-on learning.

To make sure these science lessons are successful with your English learners, below are five elements each should have.

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

Why to Use Science Lessons with ESL Students

It's simple: When you teach students content, especially content that they're already familiar with, they have a leg up on the lesson. They can focus on the language you're using because they already know the information you're presenting.

Not only that, but because they already have the information established in their brains, they will be able to link the specific language that you use to that brain area. And those naturally occurring connections in the brain mean your students are moving beyond language learning into language acquisition.

And let's not forget about those kinesthetic learners in your classroom either. Science lessons are great for implementing hands-on education. Students can explore and discover the natural elements of the lesson and the world while learning the vocabulary and grammar that goes with it, even if they don't already know how to measure wind speed.

As if you needed any more reasons, science lessons are also great for getting students out of the classroom. Not every science lesson is conducive to a lab on the playground, but many of them are. Getting your students outside will make your lesson more memorable and exciting. And if you're really lucky, it will let your students burn off some energy so they can sit and pay attention when it's time to go back into the classroom.

If you're interested in teaching science lessons as a regular part of your ESL classes, you might want to check out the book "Making Science Accessible to English Learners" by John Carr et. al. In it, the author stresses five elements of a successful science lesson and how they relate to English learners.

These elements aren't necessarily chronological, though they can be. Students can also move back and forth between the elements as they learn by your prompting or through their natural discovery process. Either way, including these five elements is your guarantee that ESL students will succeed in your science lesson.

1. Engage

In the engage portion of your lesson, the goal is, as you might have guessed, to engage your students. You want to get them interested. This should happen at the beginning of your lesson, but it can also happen as students learn more about the topic they're studying or as they see results of their experiments and want to know more.

At the start of your lesson, you'll want to help students remember what they already know about the topic at hand, so they can make natural connections to that knowledge. You might also ask them questions to get them thinking about the topic.

For example, before doing an experiment on ideal conditions for growing plants, you might ask the following:

Have you ever tried growing a garden?

What did you do to help the plants grow?

Have you ever visited a greenhouse?

Do you have any houseplants?

How do you take care of them?

And of course, when you start a project, you'll want to communicate your expectations at the outset.

There are plenty of ways to engage students and get them thinking about a new topic. One of my favorites is doing a K/W/L chart. It's a simple three-column list.

K: In the first column, brainstorm with your class what they already know about the topic at hand.

W: In the second column, brainstorm any questions they might have, the things they want to know.

L: The third column gets filled in after the unit is complete and is a list of what they learned throughout the unit.

Another great way to engage your students (and get a speaking activity in at the same time) is to ask about past experiences they have with the topic. Let students talk with two or three other students and swap stories.

Other activities you can do in this stage include the following:

Introduce vocabulary with pictures.

Read a book or do some research on the topic.

Explore the topic through a science center or a display that students can use during free learning periods.

Read statements about the topic to students and ask them to agree or disagree and share their thoughts with a partner.

2. Explore

In the explore phase, students are finding out more information. They will pose hypotheses, do experiments and work independently through experimentation and investigation to learn more about the topic. Your role in this phase is to direct your students as they learn.

For ESL students, try to choose hands-on experiments which don't have too many steps (limit it to five if possible) and which are more tangible than theoretical. Try some of these experiments from Science Kids or these from Parenting Magazine.

Especially if you teach younger learners, you may want to look into Little Passports educational products, which include a subscription option for monthly "science kits" with hands-on STEM activities. (These could be adapted for individual and group projects in the classroom or given as a recommendation to parents for kids to continue their science education outside of school.)

You might try giving your students some if/then statements to guide them in their research. If you do this, then what will happen? You might give students directions for an experiment to follow, or you may just have them discuss the topic with other students. It's also possible to let students do some research at this point. ( Reading comprehension, anyone?)

Whenever possible, students should start with a hypothesis and write down their observations as they experiment. These observations can be in either sentences or pictures. You might also encourage students to use the think-pair-share technique, in which students engage in structured discussion.

3. Explain

In the explain phase, students are putting into language what they've learned. You may need to give them some technical vocabulary at this point, if you haven't already taught it and if students aren't able to find it on their own.

A good way to start the explanation process is to have students explain their observations to another student. Together they can come up with the "rules" that they observed (aka scientific laws). For example, students might make this rule: A plant that does not get light will not grow. Or a plant that receives salt water will die. Point out that for any rule they come up with, they should be able to support it with direct observations.

At this point, students might also pose other possible solutions. This is a great time to tie in the conditional form in English, too. For example, if a plant does not get pure water then it will not grow.

4. Elaborate

When students elaborate, we're not talking about using more words to say the same thing. This is where they take what they've learned and apply it to new but related or similar situations.

To do this, they might design new experiments or reimagine the same experiment in a different situation. For example, if they experimented with weather effects on tomato plants, they might make predictions about the same weather effects on cucumber plants.

In this stage, students are engaged in higher-level thinking: comparing and contrasting, synthesizing and making inferences.

They're also using the new vocabulary they've learned, perhaps while writing out a process for a new experiment.

This phase of the science lesson is also a great place to lead into a class science fair in which everyone applies the information they learned in a unique situation.

5. Evaluate

We teachers like to talk about assessment, and evaluation is just another word for taking a test, right? Wrong. The best evaluation comes on many levels.

Throughout your science lesson, your students will be evaluating the information they observe as well as the effectiveness of the process. In addition to this, you'll want to give students evaluation on their performance in both language and scientific knowledge and performance. Here are a few ways to do this:

What was learned. If you filled in a K/W/L chart at the start of your science lesson, now is the time to revisit it. Students will evaluate what they learned and how many of their original questions they're now able to answer.

The good, the bad and the ugly. Another good self-assessment students can use is what I like to call "the good, the bad and the ugly." Students discuss with a partner or small group what worked throughout the process, what didn't work, and what they would change in the future.

Numbered heads together. Here's another technique you can use to see what students have learned, in which students answer questions together in groups, but don't know who will be called on to answer any individual question. You can read more about this cooperative learning strategy here.

I hope I've given you some good reasons to teach science content in your ESL classroom.

I know I've found it one of the most enjoyable ways to teach, and have marveled at its effectiveness in bringing about fluency in my ESL students.

Enjoy!

Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere.Click here to get a copy. (Download)

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5 Elements of Successful ESL Science Lessons

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Have you found it? It's that nugget of language gold that comes when you teach content areas! You know, subjects like social studies, math and science. Perhaps you have never considered teaching these areas before, but the truth is that teaching content-even when your students have already learned it in their first language-is a highway to the Shangri-La of English language learning.

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Building ELLs' background knowledge about the 50 states in a Social Studies lesson

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In this new Private i History Detectives unit, Elementary students analyze primary sources to discover how Constitutional Amendments attempted to address slavery's wrongs, how the courts challenged unfair laws, and how individuals and groups fought for civil rights.

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In this new Private i History Detectives unit, Elementary students analyze primary sources to discover how Constitutional Amendments attempted to address slavery's wrongs, how the courts challenged unfair laws, and how individuals and groups fought for civil rights.

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One of the greatest challenges in helping English language learners (ELLs) master Social Studies content is the role of background knowledge. The resources below provide ideas and guidance for planning effective Social Studies lessons for ELLs as well as for choosing appropriate academic language and vocabulary.

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One of the greatest challenges in helping English language learners (ELLs) master Social Studies content is the role of background knowledge. The resources below provide ideas and guidance for planning effective Social Studies lessons for ELLs as well as for choosing appropriate academic language and vocabulary.

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The Citizenship Resource Center has a collection of helpful resources and free study materials for a variety of users including:

Immigrants who are interested in becoming U.S. citizens. Lawful permanent residents (LPRs) will find information about the naturalization process, eligibility requirements, and study materials to prepare for the naturalization interview and test.

Educators who play a critical role in preparing learners. Educators including teachers, volunteers, and program administrators will find several resources for the classroom. Educators can also search for free USCIS training seminars designed to enhance the skills needed to teach U.S. history, civics, and the naturalization process to immigrant students.

Organizations that are interested in supporting immigrants in becoming citizens and assisting them to integrate into American civic society. Whether an organization is just beginning to help immigrants on their journey towards citizenship or is an experienced service provider, they will find resources to help enhance their overall efforts and programs.

The Citizenship Resource Center is managed by the Office of Citizenship. Learn more about the Office of Citizenship and its mission.

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Tips for Teaching Social Studies to ELLs

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Tips for Teaching Social Studies to ELLs

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Students typically learn about the history of their nation and other nations from the comforting culture of their own country. ESL students who move to the U.S. have the added challenge of learning an additional perspective on history.

Moving from a foreign culture is a historical experience in and of itself, and these students often have a lot to contribute to history and social studies discussions. ESL teachers and social studies teachers need to employ special strategies to effectively reach out to this special population.

Understand the Eurocentric Viewpoint

After working in the discipline for some time, and even from being a student of the subject, you likely have realized that world history in American classrooms is taught from a Eurocentric point of view. History is viewed from the eyes of a European or is centered around European culture and history. Teaching social studies to ESL students requires a teacher to shift to a more worldy viewpoint.

ESL students have not all resided in Europe before coming to the United States, and they do not all hold the same perspective of world history. Recognizing the eyes through which they see history, whether your students are Chinese, Australian, Irish or another culture, should be at the core of your instructional methods.

Cultural Sensitivity

While remaining sensitive to the cultural needs of students should always be a part of your every day approach, this becomes particularly important when you have ESL students in the classroom.

No cultural practice should be belittled. No matter how far back in history your class travels, do not mock a practice.

The ESL student(s) in your classroom may follow those religious or cultural ways. The minute you offend a student, you have alienated him or her from your classroom.
Integrating ESL Students

History courses, much like reading and writing courses, can be particularly overwhelming for ESL students. Unlike their United States-born peers, they have not had the experience of growing up submerged in American culture. Concepts that a United States-born student may have known since birth, such as the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance or the tales of the Civil War or Revolutionary War, may be entirely unfamiliar to an ESL student.

To successfully teach social studies and history, you need to reinforce the knowledge of your ESL students, draw them into the discussion and supplement their knowledge where necessary.

Don't Skip Over the Basics

If you are teaching a course in American history, you might fairly assume that everyone knows who George Washington was or that all of the students are aware of the story of the first Thanksgiving. For a student who has never celebrated Thanksgiving before, this concept can be alien.

Always take the time to go back to the basics and explain the entire story before asking students to picture the events.

Review the Basic Vocabulary of the Subject

With numbers and math, students may be able to quickly translate into their native tongue and to understand the concepts. However, this is often not the case for social studies.

Imagine that you are teaching about the existence of major world religions, and you note that Roman Catholics believe in the Trinity. In your class, you may have an ESL student who comes from an atheist country. He or she is likely going to have no idea what the word "Trinity" even means. Without the basics of the language, the rest of the lesson might not make sense.

Consider providing word lists or reviewing vocabulary with the entire class before beginning a new unit or chapter in the book.

Celebrate Cultural Diversity

As a social studies teacher, you really have the opportunity to celebrate cultural diversity. You can do this in many ways, including:

Assign an activity where all of your students present information about their cultures within their small groups.

Start a culture club.

Have students bring in a food dish from his or her background.

Encourage Learning and Participation

As with all subjects, the ESL student may not have a problem learning the content of the course; but, special care should be taken to help them communicate comfortably with you and their peers. For example:

Remember that just because they don't speak English fluently it doesn't mean that they don't understand the concepts you are teaching.

Simplify your teaching language. Shorter, simple sentences are easier to understand than complex sentences with idioms.

Use visuals whenever possible instead of words. Many times an ESL student will recognize a picture of a famous person in history, even though they don't know the person's name.

Encourage your ESL students to be active members of the class, but do not pressure them into answering questions.

Don't draw attention to the ESL student if the attention seems to make them feel uncomfortable.

Encourage team and group work to encourage participation. Depending on the comfort level of the ESL student, consider making the ESL student the team leader.

These tips for teaching social studies to ESL students can help each student to feel more a part of the class.

Ultimately, social studies classes can provide an arena where students can embrace the differences among themselves. When you have ESL students in the class, encourage their participation and use their experiences to enhance your lesson plans.

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Tips for Teaching Social Studies to ESL Students

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Students typically learn about the history of their nation and other nations from the comforting culture of their own country. ESL students who move to the U.S. have the added challenge of learning an additional perspective on history.

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Supporting ELLs in Writing

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Serving Multilingual Learners of All Ages

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Each kid benefits from seeing how to write before they DO the writing. BUT for English Learners this is even more important because language structures may vary from their native language. For example, if I want my students to write about themselves describing their age, I might show them that in English we write: " I am nine years old." This is different from other languages like my native language where a person might say, "I have nine years." Modeling what we expect from students gives them a clear goal for their writing.
2. Be Explicit

Don't beat around the bush and hope that kids discover what you want them to learn. Literally tell me what the goal is and what the expectations are. Leave nothing up for guessing. Content and language objectives are a great way to start when being explicit. For instance, "Today we are going to revise our writing for word choice. We will do this by reading our draft to a partner and discussing sound words." Then use an anchor chart that supports these objectives. Show students how you to do it using simple steps and let them try. ​
3. Anchor Charts
Anchor charts that are made with students, clear, and interactive are best for all students. If kids can go back to the anchor chart while you are working with a small group and they use the anchor to support their independent learning, then you know it's a good one. The best anchor charts have minimal text and are supported with sketches, pictures or graphics. An anchor chart is like a finger print of the teaching that took place. In some cases, students need their own mini-anchor chart to keep in their writing journal for easy reference. Taking a picture of the chart and printing it small or making a copy of the chart on a sticky note is a way to give the student an artifact from the lesson.
4. Language Level
Keeping each students' English language level in mind while they learn to write in English is critical. Second language learners may not be on grade level YET. But they will if we support them using language scaffolds in writing. As beginners in language, they may first need to use pictures in their writing. Labeling, copying, and talking about the pictures will support their language and writing growth. The use of leveled sentence and paragraph frames will also benefit students as they continue to learn English. Remembering that even students who are near grade level in English will still benefit from support in writing. Academic writing and grammatical structures can pose a struggle for students who are learning content and language simultaneously.
5. Sentence Stems
The use of sentence stems has become more common. And that's a great thing. However, we can do better if we tailor the use of sentence stems to meet the specific needs of ELs. Beginner ELs have extremely different writing needs than Advanced ELs. Both have needs and we want both of them to grow in proficiency, but if we prescribe the same sentence stem to them, we are doing a disservice to them. It would be like if a doctor prescribed the same treatment to each patient that walked into his door. Instead, we need to assess each student and prescribe what they need at the time (not all year because if we do a great job, they won't need the same supports all year).

This seems pretty obvious but it's often forgotten. We all need targets. When I decided to go back to college to get my Master's Degree, I had to complete an Action Research Project. I had never heard of one before, so in my mind it was a vague project. It was totally new to me. I couldn't imagine how long it needed to be, what sections it had to include, what it looked like in general, etc. I needed examples of Action Research Projects in order to be able to hit the mark. Our kids need the same and these examples need to be attainable 6. Targets for them. They should be peer examples and not adult authors. Yes, mentor texts are great and I love reading them to my students, too. But I can't possibly expect my ELs to write like Kate DiCamillo right now. I need them each to feel successful and them I continue to lift the bar. Success and lift the bar and repeat.

Enough cannot be said about the value of student discourse in the classroom. Talk is vital for ELs. In the early stages of language development, they may be reluctant and that's okay. However, the opportunities for talk should always be present. Structured conversations don't have to take long (35 seconds to 2 minutes) but their value is tremendous! My favorites are using talking heads or Q Triple S A. We know that the person who does the talking is the one who is doing the learning. Unfortunately if the talk is mostly coming from the teacher, then the teacher is probably learning more about the subject than the students are. I have to be honest here and tell you that in my early years of teaching I was very guilty of being center-stage in my classroom and talking more than my students. I thought it was my job to deliver the content TO them. It was only after I realized that my talking was preventing them from uncovering the content that I had a mind-shift. I had to let them do the talking. I had to restructure the classroom environment and provide the students a way to discuss, negotiate for meaning, evaluate their thinking, and clarify by holding structured conversations. When students talk before they write, their writing becomes more solid and definitely greater than without talk.

Writing is not just a way to checking for understanding. Writing can help students to build on their existing knowledge. It can help them dig deeper into their thoughts and understandings.
​Writing is a powerful way to support learning. ​

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7 Simple Strategies to Support ELs in Writing Instruction

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Each kid benefits from seeing how to write before they DO the writing. BUT for English Learners this is even more important because language structures may vary from their native language. For example, if I want my students to write about themselves describing their age, I might show them that in English we write: " I am nine years old."

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Supporting ELLs in Writers' Workshop PDF

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Supporting ELLs in Writers' Workshop PDF

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SIOP Plan Templates

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English Language Learners (ELLs) can have a wide variety of needs in their reading and writing instruction. Some students may read and write fluently in their native language while others will enter the classroom with little or no prior literacy instruction. This resource section covers many topics, including grade-level strategies and ideas for teaching more advanced reading and writing skills such as those required by the Common Core State Standards. With the right supports and opportunities for engagement, ELLs can become successful, life-long readers as seen in this section.

What You'll Find in This Section

For English language learners (ELLs) in upper grades, reading needs may vary greatly. Some students will read fluently in their native language, while others may come in with very limited literacy skills and will require creative approaches for teachers and literacy coaches. These resources include ideas for creating a safe, comfortable setting where adolescent ELLs can begin to catch up and increase confidence over time. For additional ideas, visit our sister site about adolescent literacy, AdLit.org.

What does it take to help English language learners (ELLs) become successful writers? This section offers a number of ideas and resources from veteran educators and researchers for students of all ages and proficiency levels. For examples of student writing projects, see our Student Voices section.

For English language learners (ELLs) in upper grades, reading needs may vary greatly. Some students will read fluently in their native language, while others may come in with very limited literacy skills and will require creative approaches for teachers and literacy coaches. These resources include ideas for creating a safe, comfortable setting where adolescent ELLs can begin to catch up and increase confidence over time. For additional ideas, visit our sister site about adolescent literacy, AdLit.org.

What does it take to help English language learners (ELLs) become successful writers? This section offers a number of ideas and resources from veteran educators and researchers for students of all ages and proficiency levels. For examples of student writing projects, see our Student Voices section.

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English Language Learners (ELLs) can have a wide variety of needs in their reading and writing instruction. Some students may read and write fluently in their native language while others will enter the classroom with little or no prior literacy instruction.

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August, D., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.). (2006). Executive summary. Developing literacy in second-language learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. Available at: http://www.cal.org/natl-lit-panel/reports/Executive_Summary.pdf

August, D., & Shanahan, T. (Eds.). (2006). Developing literacy in second-language learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Collier, R., ∓ Thomas, W. P. (1997). School effectiveness for language minority students. Resource Collection Series #9. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education.

The Education Alliance at Brown University. (n.d.). The knowledge loom: Spotlight on elementary literacy. Available at http://knowledgeloom.org/elemlit/index.jsp

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. (2000). Report of the National Reading Panel: Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. (NIH Pub. No. 00-4769). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Available at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/nrp/smallbook.cfm

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What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners?

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In this article, a seasoned ELL teacher synthesizes her own classroom experience and the findings of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth to make recommendations for effective literacy instruction of ELL students.

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"The meaning of even a single word is rather more complex than one might imagine."

- Editors of the American Heritage Dictionary, 1980, p. viii

"Teacher, do we need our pencils today?" my Puerto Rican elementary students would urgently ask when I came to their classroom to escort them to my English as a Second Language classroom. I was a student teacher in a Massachusetts elementary school, and it took me awhile to figure out the correlation between the pencil and hallway behavior. If I replied, "Yes, you should bring a pencil," the walk to my classroom took 15 minutes and involved a lot of disruptions, student squabbles, drifting students and other various misbehaviors. As a student teacher, I was very focused on keeping order and creating a challenging learning environment. If I replied, "No, you don't need a pencil today," the walk to my classroom took about five minutes, even with a stop at the drinking fountain.

So, what was the correlation? Writing. The students knew that if they had to bring a pencil they would have to do writing in the class, and they dreaded it. If they didn't need a pencil, we would be working on projects or doing more verbal work, and they liked that. What they weren't expecting was that half-way through my student teaching, I bought 10 boxes of pencils and kept them in my classroom, so they never had to bring a pencil to class - I had plenty to go around. This improved the hallway behavior, but still left me with the question of how to improve ESL student writing when they were frustrated by the practice and went to great lengths to avoid it.

I have been teaching ESL for many years and there is no perfect solution to this problem; however, I do believe I have added quite a few writing activities to my bag of tricks and improved my ability to differentiate writing tasks based on student ability. As I improved my ability to ensure that each student would be successful in the writing activity, their confidence increased, and they were less likely to engage in disruptive behavior. You know what I'm talking about - the long, dramatic search for a pencilâ€¦ and then paperâ€¦ or the meandering walk about the room to get yesterday's writing draft, or the ever popular, "15 minute pencil sharpening" session. I hope some of the writing activities I share with you will help you to reduce anxiety in your ESL students and increase their language and writing skills.

There is a very important correlation between writing and language development. As students develop language skills, they often develop listening skills first (lots of input they can understand), then speaking (they begin to formulate their ideas in the second language), then reading (they can understand the sound/symbol correspondence of the new language and make sense of the words) and finally writing (they have enough language to express their own ideas in writing). This is not true for 100% of language learners, but it is true for the majority of them. Why is writing often the last skill to emerge? It almost seems that reading would be more difficult because the student needs to sound out words and understand the author's message. It would seem writing might be easier because students are sharing their own ideas already in their heads and simply putting them on paper. However, writing requires a lot more processing of language in order to produce a message.

First the student must have an idea, then think of the appropriate way to say it, then start to write it and spell it correctly, and then create another sentence to continue to communicate the idea. If we add the students' worry that they are making huge, embarrassing errors or that their ideas aren't very good in the first place, then we begin to understand the complexity involved in writing in a second language. In fact, the way we communicate, or the way students put their ideas on paper, is largely influenced by their culture. In some of my classes, my Asian students were very confused when I told them to revise their writing because this was a "first draft." In their experience they had always written an item once and submitted it as "the final," and then the teacher would correct it. The idea that they had to write it over again didn't make sense to them. Students from other cultures may have developed a storytelling style that involves laying out a lot of background information and detail and takes quite a while to get to the point. In most western writing, we expect a topic sentence or a lead paragraph that will tell us what the point is, and then everything written after that leads to a direct conclusion. Many of my students had great difficulty connecting their ideas this way.

With that said, teachers have a big task in improving ESL student writing skills, but the payoff for instructional dedication can be great. A researcher on adolescent literacy at the University of Minnesota, David O'Brien, did a study on improving the reading skills of adolescent students. All of the students were involved in a six week study and during that time they were responsible for creating brochures and other types of communication on computers. They had criteria to input a certain amount of text and graphics to create a final project. This required lots of thought and revisions to achieve the final result. At the end of the six weeks the students took a reading test and the majority of them had improved their reading skills significantly. This was a very interesting result, considering that the teachers had not focused on teaching reading skills. The conclusion was that students used meta-cognition to process language and work with it in a more meaningful way, so that consequently their reading skills improved even though they were mostly working on writing.

Additional positive academic results have been seen in the "90 90 90 Schools." These are schools that researchers have identified as 90% poverty, 90% students of color and 90% achieving standards. This is a most remarkable combination in the educational world. The researchers examined these schools and found one common denominator among them - they all focused on developing writing skills. Each school had an agreed upon writing curriculum and methodology that was used at all grade levels, and student writing was prominently displayed throughout the building and in classrooms. Students used writing in all content areas to demonstrate academic concepts learned. In the end, 90% of the students in these schools were able to pass state grade-level tests based on the academic standards.

Now that I have hopefully convinced you that all your hard work will pay off, I would like to introduce some effective writing activities. I would like to acknowledge that there are many types of effective writing instruction used in classrooms today, including process writing, graphic organizers as writing planning tools, vocabulary stretchers, etcâ€¦ and all of those are beneficial to ELL students. For the purpose of this article, I will focus on a few writing activities that I think are particularly useful when working with students with a wide-range of English language skills.

How to differentiate writing activities:

With some pre-planning, a teacher can create a writing assignment that will allow every student to be successful. For example, the teacher may give a writing assignment that has A, B and C levels (or they can be number or color-coded).

ELL students at Level A copy a sentence or short passage exactly as it is written. This helps beginning-level students who are not very familiar with the language, but may be able to interpret some of the information as they copy it.

Level B students receive a paragraph or two that has blank spaces in the text. The students write the word or phrase that completes the sentence. This allows the student to write an amount that is not overwhelming and helps them comprehend the information.

Level C students write on their own, but perhaps they receive paragraph prompts or are allowed to look in a book, but must put the idea in their own words. After some practice with this system and getting to know your students' English language skills, you will be able to create a system that works best for your class.

Language Experience Approach

The Language Experience Approach draws on instructional techniques used with younger children who have not yet developed literacy skills. In this approach, the teacher presents information to the students, or they have an "experience" of some sort - for example, a field trip, or acting out a scene in a book. Then the students tell the teacher what to write on the board to explain the experience. This may be useful as an activity for a volunteer or teacher's aide to use with a small group of ESL students during literacy time. Here are the steps.

1. Experience something - for example, the students have listened to the story, "The Little Red Hen" and then acted it out.

2. The teacher stands by the board or a large sheet of paper and says to the students, "Tell me the story of the Little Red Hen."

3. As each student tells a part of the story, the teacher writes it down on the board, just as it was stated. For example, a student might say, "The Little Red Hen work so hard and nobody want help her." This continues until each student has spoken or the story is finished.

4. Then the teacher tells the students, "Let's read the story together and listen to see if the story makes sense and if there is anything we want to change."

5. After reading the story, the teacher asks students if they want to change anything. For example, one student may raise her hand and say, "I think it should say, "worked" not "work." The teacher may ask other students if they agree or disagree.

6. If the suggested change is correct, the teacher offers praise and moves on to the next suggestion. If the suggested change is not correct, the teacher should help the student analyze the suggested change. For example, if the student says, "I think it should say, â€˜The Little Red Hen she worked so hardâ€¦." The teacher would ask if others agree and see if there is discussion, then the teacher could point out that the Little Red Hen is the pronoun or "name," so in English we don't need to put it in twice. We can say "She worked so hard." Or "The Little Red Hen worked so hard."

7. When students have analyzed and corrected the whole text, the teacher may either circle a few more spots where students missed corrections and they can be challenged to figure out what the change should be, or the students can be instructed to copy the text with the corrections included.

8. As a final activity, students are instructed to take the story home and read it to three people and bring it back with signatures.

After this activity, usually even beginning-level ELL students are able to read the story to others because it was their experience, it is in their own words, and they have worked with the text in a meaningful way.

Sentence Auction

This activity helps students analyze common writing errors through a personalized activity since they are trying to buy their own sentences. Once a week or once a month, a teacher can hold a "Sentence Auction." The teacher takes sentence examples from student writing - some of which have errors and some that don't, and writes them on a handout or overhead projector. The identity of the student who wrote each sentence is not revealed. To begin the sentence auction, each student is given an "account" of perhaps $300. The students are told to "bid" on the good sentences. The winner is the student with the highest number of "good" sentences.

1. The teacher takes on the persona of an "Auctioneer" and opens the bidding at $10.

2. The teacher reads out the sentence confidently exactly as it is written. "Him want to go to school very bad." Who will give me $10?"

3. The students take turns bidding until the teacher decides who has "won" the bid.

4. Some sentences will not sell because students will know they are "bad." Just leave those sentences and move to the next one.

5. After all the sentences have been sold, the teacher goes through the list and the students say whether the sentence was good or bad. If they agree that it was a bad sentence, then the teacher asks them to explain how they can make it a "good" sentence.

6. Finally the students can count how many "good" sentences they have (since they may have bought some bad ones) and a winner is declared.

7. The teacher may want to give a little prize or certificate to the student. In a variation of this activity students can work in pairs or groups to buy the sentences.

Error correction

I have never "corrected" my students' writing mistakes, at least not in the traditional way. I have always told my students, "If I correct your English, I improve my English; if you correct your English, you improve yours." I handled corrections in one of two ways: either I identified what errors I would be looking for in the writing submission or I told them I would only circle five errors in the whole paper. If I pre-set the errors I would look for, for example correct use of past tense, I would only correct past tense errors, even if I saw other glaring errors in the paper. Sometimes this was hard to do, but I wanted to maintain the students' focus on the writing improvement we were working on. If I set a number of errors I would circle, for example, five, then I carefully chose those five and ignored the rest. When I returned the papers, the students were responsible for correcting their own mistakes. If they weren't sure how to do it, they could check with a classmate, and if no one knew, then I would assist. Invariably the students would ask, "Are these the only errors in the paper?" and I would tell them no. They might be disappointed, but they came to understand the value of correcting their own errors when they submitted a piece of writing.

Quick Write

One of the challenges for ELL students when they approach writing is their anxiety about writing their ideas correctly and writing a lot of information in English. This may feel overwhelming when a student is assigned an essay. In order to get students comfortable with the idea of just putting ideas on paper and not worrying about mistakes, we do regular "quick writes." For "quick writes" I give the students a topic and then tell them to write as much as they can for five minutes. They need to keep their pencils on the paper and even if they can't think of anything to write or they are worried about how to spell things, they are supposed to keep writing. At the end of five minutes, the students count how many words they were able to write and they keep track in a log. The objective is that they will see progress in the amount of writing they are able to do in five minutes' time and hopefully apply this fluency to their essay writing.

Cinquain poems

Cinquain poems offer great flexibility in working with ELL students of a variety of language levels. The basic Cinquain formula is as follows, but teachers can modify it as needed according to the student language level.

One noun
Two adjectives
Three gerunds (words + ing)
A short sentence.
A one-word summary
An example of a Cinquain a student might write:
Home
Warm, happy
Loving, welcoming, helping
People you love.
Family

There really is no wrong way to do a Cinquain, students can put key vocabulary words together any way they like to create the message they desire. Teachers may want to use Cinquains to reinforce new content vocabulary and concepts as well.

With these writing activities to try in your classroom, the only thing left is to buy a few boxes of pencils, hand them out to your ELL students and help them discover the possibility of joy in writing. Teachers who use a variety of activities and strategies to help ELL students become comfortable with expressing their ideas in a new language and finding success with small writing tasks, will give their students' confidence for a lifetime of self-expression. I offer this Cinquain poem to sum it up.

Writing
Fun, creative
Thinking, sharing, revising
Lots of ideas.
Proud
The TESL Reading and Writing Forum
A forum to share teaching tips, handouts, syllabi, lesson plans and more!
Make Beliefs Comix
Make Beliefs Comix, created by acclaimed "Make Beliefs" author Bill Zimmerman, allows kids to create their own comics in English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, or Latin.
LD OnLine: What is Dysgraphia?
This article from the National Center for Learning Disabilities, featured on LD OnLine, discusses dysgraphia and its warning signs, as well as strategies for addressing it for different age groups.
Reading Rockets: Writing Webcast
Reading Rockets webcast featuring Dr. Steven Graham, Dr. Louisa Moats, and Dr. Susan Neuman. These three renowned reading and writing experts address why writing is important, what the latest research tells us, and what educators and parents can do to support our children's development as writers.
Reading Rockets: Teaching Plot Structure with Picture Books
Use picture books to teach young writers how to organize plot logically. This article includes examples of basic plot structures, along with picture books that use those structures.
Reading Rockets: An Introduction to Letter Writing
This article from My Child Magazine, featured on Reading Rockets, offers samples of different styles of letters (from thank-you notes to letters to Santa) and style guidelines that children can follow.
ESL Writing Wizard: Handwriting Practice
This site lets you create your own handouts of words that students can practice writing. The paper is lined and the word is outlined in small dot print. Good for ELL students developing initial literacy skills.
ReadWriteThink: Comic Creator
ReadWriteThink offers a variety of fun, interactive writing activities, including the Comic Creator. Students can fill in comics with their own words and storylines.
PIZZAZ: Cinquain poems
A poetry site designed to assist instruction of ESL students in poetry and other creative writing forms. The site has links and detailed information on poetry such as Cinquain, Diamante, Haiku and Limericks. It also has further information on other types of creative writing and tips for instruction.
TeacherVision: Language Arts Graphic Organizers
These graphic organizers can be used to prepare for a five-paragraph essay, organize sentences in a paragraph, map concepts and events, compare topics with a Venn Diagram, organize notes for a presentation, create a double-entry journal, and much more.

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Improving Writing Skills: ELLs and the Joy of Writing

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"The meaning of even a single word is rather more complex than one might imagine." - Editors of the American Heritage Dictionary, 1980, p. viii "Teacher, do we need our pencils today?" my Puerto Rican elementary students would urgently ask when I came to their classroom to escort them to my English as a Second Language classroom.

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Technology at Home (in Spanish as well!)

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Recommended Resources: Online Safety

Common Sense Media: Parent Information

For more great recommendations on ways to help your kids use technology safely and effectively, take a look at Common Sense Media and its section on Parent Concerns.

KidsHealth: Online Safety Tips for Families

KidsHealth offers a number of articles for kids, teens, and parents about online safety, which are also available in Spanish:

This full-color, two-page brochure for parents and teens from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is available in 9 languages. (See Internet Safety Brochure for links to all languages.)

This resource page from LAUSD includes bilingual activities, guidelines, and PSAs about cybersafety and bullying prevention.

The Internet Keep Safe Coalition (iKeepSafe), established in 2005, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit international alliance of more than 100 policy leaders, educators, law enforcement members, technology experts, public health experts and advocates. iKeepSafe offers videos in Spanish and Arabic on internet safety for parents and children.

Recommended Resources: Cyberbullying

This section offers guidelines for cyberbullying prevention, as well as strategies for addressing problems that arise and for monitoring online activity for potential problems.

KidsHealth: Articles for Families

KidsHealth offers a number of articles for kids, teens, and parents about cyberbullying, which are also available in Spanish:

This federal website is managed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and is fully bilingual. It includes a section on Cyberbullying.

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For more great recommendations on ways to help your kids use technology safely and effectively, take a look at Common Sense Media and its section on Parent Concerns. KidsHealth offers a number of articles for kids, teens, and parents about online safety, which are also available in Spanish: This full-color, two-page brochure for parents and teens from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is available in 9 languages.

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Content Instruction for ELLs

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In order for English language learners (ELLs) to become successful students, they need to learn grade-level content as well as the English language skills needed to access that content. The strategies in this section suggest ways in which you can provide your ELLs with additional language support in learning content areas such as math, science, social studies, and language arts.

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In order for English language learners (ELLs) to become successful students, they need to learn grade-level content as well as the English language skills needed to access that content. The strategies in this section suggest ways in which you can provide your ELLs with additional language support in learning content areas such as math, science, social studies, and language arts.

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Language Dives

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ASCD Express 13.17 - Empowering English Language Learners Through Language Dives

May 10, 2018 | Volume 13 | Issue 17
Kevin Jepson and Anne Vilen

If you step into a language arts classrooms at Lead Academy in Greenville, South Carolina, you'll hear English language learners (ELLs) deep in conversation with small groups of their classmates, both native speakers and other ELLs. They'll be talking about how English works, discussing why an author chose specific words in a key sentence, and trying out their new understanding of syntax and usage in sentences of their own. When we visited the school recently, 3rd grade students were examining how author J. M. Barrie uses pronouns in the following sentence from his novel Peter Pan: If you peer over the edge you can see the trees all growing upside down, and they say that at night there are also drowned stars in it.

One student started out the discussion with a telling comment: "I like looking at stuff and wondering." That spirit of inquiry set the tone for a lively discussion about who Barrie means by "you" and "they" in the sentence. Students figured out that the first "you" means "the reader." By the end of the dive, both ELLs and native speakers realized that in English, "you" and "they" can refer either to a specific person addressed by the speaker or to a general group, depending on the context. This is a sophisticated insight into English, especially when contrasted to many languages that have different words for singular and plural-and for familiar and formal-pronouns.

These conversations, called "language dives", are based on the "juicy sentence" research by Lily Wong Fillmore and Charles J. Fillmore of the University of California at Berkeley. Language dives are an integral part of the transformation in student achievement and culture in Lead Academy language arts classrooms, where as many as 50 percent of students are ELLs. At Lead Academy, K-5 teachers are using EL Education's (formerly Expeditionary Learning) language arts curriculum, which integrates language dives into lessons that include both ELL and native English speakers. But language dives can be designed by any teacher at any grade level in any subject area. When used consistently, these exercises not only equip students to meet required academic standards, but they also have the potential to turn quiet, passive students into curious, empowered, and more proficient communicators. Teachers will need to experiment and practice for language dives to become effective in teaching them, but the benefits for ELLs are worth the effort. Here are a few things to keep in mind as you put language dives to work in your classroom.

Choose a Sentence that Offers Multiple Opportunities for Learning
The first step toward designing an effective language dive is to choose a sentence that you think will be purposeful and meaningful for students. A worthy sentence unlocks the meaning of the text students are reading and fortifies the meaning they are making themselves as writers and speakers. A language dive sentence should meet the criteria below. To explain these criteria, we'll use a sample sentence that 5th graders at Lead Academy study as part of a unit on human rights: Everyone has the right to own property alone, as well as in association with others.
A language dive sentence should

Come from a complex text, often from a primary source, from authentic literature, or a real-world nonfiction text. In this case, the sample sentence presents a main idea in the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is a central text in these students' unit on human rights.

Be relevant to the content and skills of the unit students are studying. For instance, the sample sentence helps students answer the guiding question of the entire human rights unit: "What are human rights, and how can they be threatened?"

Contain language functions (or purposes for using language) that relate to the content and tasks at hand. In their examination of human rights, students at LEAD must discuss a human right as part of a writing assessment.

Contain complex language structures. The complex structures in the example above include as well as and in association with. The sentence also features an implied ellipsis. After as well as, the authors intentionally omitted the structure to own property because readers don't need the structure to understand that the author is still talking about owning property: Everyone has the right to own property alone as well as [to own property] in association with others.

Get Students Talking Purposefully
To become proficient in English, ELLs need lots of opportunities to speak to and listen to other ELLs as well as their native-speaking peers. Teachers can turn the conversation over to ELLs during language dives by using conversation cues that invite students to join the conversation in ways that foster dialogue and extend ideas. Conversation cues, based on Sarah Michaels and Cathy O'Connor's Talk Science Primer (2012), are tied to specific purposes for talking, which include:
To share, expand, and clarify thinking
- "Can you say more about that?"

- "So, what are you saying?"
To listen carefully to one another
- "Can you repeat what X just said?"
To deepen reasoning
- "Why do you think that?"

- "Does it always work that way? Can you think of another example that's a little different?"

To think with others
- "Do you agree or disagree? Why?"

- "Would anyone like to respond to that?"

To explain what someone else means
- "Who can explain what X means when they say XYZ?"

- "How do you think X came up with that answer?"

Sarah Mitchell, instructional coach at Lead Academy, says "conversation cues have been one of the single most important drivers of equity. The neat thing is they are not just something we do when we're doing language dives. Conversation cues promote equity at all grade levels in all subjects. Any teacher-from Spanish to physical education to math-can use conversation cues. They are based on our core belief that all students have something important to say."
Ask Students to Rearrange the Building Blocks of Language
As students deepen their conversations with each other, they become more playful with language and through speaking, discover how English works. You can encourage this language play through a routine we call "deconstruct-reconstruct-practice." This routine begins by breaking the language dive sentence into smaller "chunks" that contain academic language structures, such as noun phrases or prepositional phrases. Then students move the chunks around like a puzzle to alter the word order or substitute alternative words and phrases to discuss any change in meaning.

For example, the 3rd grade language dive at Lead Academy focused on a description of the characters Wendy, the mermaids, and Tinker Bell from Peter Pan. ELLs and native English speakers discussed the meaning and purpose of the comparative phrase in the sentence, "Much to Wendy's disappointment, the mermaids turned out to be as unfriendly as Tinker Bell." ELLs needed to know that writers can use the formula as + adjective + as to compare, and proficient English speakers refreshed their understanding of describing a character through simile. Students then engaged in a rich conversation about how J.M. Barrie used this phrase to help reveal the mermaids' feelings toward Wendy.

Conversations like this one are crucial for ELLs, and native and proficient English speakers also benefit. Through such play, and talking about their new sentences, students learn how to use parts of speech effectively and come to understand what a complete, syntactically sound sentence is. This close attention to syntax is a key to closing the achievement gap.
Create Opportunities to Practice and Apply
Once students become more comfortable playing with language and testing out their new understanding of English through talking, it's important for them to use the chunks of sentences they deconstruct and reconstruct in meaningful classroom tasks where "getting it right" counts. The 3rd graders at Lead Academy practiced their use of the simile "as + adjective + as" to help reveal another character's feelings in Peter Pan for their performance task. For example, one student wrote, "Captain Hook turned out to be as violent as a storm." Students also transferred the comparison to incorporate their own lives: "He was as courageous as an immigrant," remarked another student.

Just as new English speakers are intrigued and empowered by learning a new idiom or slang greeting in everyday conversation, understanding how to use the academic constructions they read during school in their own writing strengthens both confidence and competence. In the process, students begin to lead classroom conversations as inquirers, experts, and collaborators. The rewards for students-and for educators determined to make their classrooms and the world a more equitable space for all students-are profound.

By enabling students to investigate and articulate how writers use language to communicate ideas, language dives boost ELLs up the ladder of text complexity so that they can meet grade-level standards, as well as state language proficiency standards for ELLs. After a year of implementing Language Dives regularly in half of their grades K-5 classrooms, school leaders noticed that those classrooms saw a 24 percent increase in ELA proficiency, as compared with the classrooms that didn't use the dives. Given the school's growing population of ELLs, language dives have helped foster equity in student achievement. In fact, some ELLs have gone from near silence in the classroom to leading conversations about English. Among the many important aspects to consider in teaching and learning a language, language dives should be a priority because they enable students to grasp the peculiarities and subtleties of academic language and to punctuate their own writing with powerful claims. As such, language dives are not just an effective instructional technique, they are a tool for equity.
Anne Vilen is a senior writer for EL Education and the author of Learning that Lasts: Challenging, Engaging, and Empowering Students with Deeper Instruction (Jossey-Bass, 2016). Kevin Jepson was a lead curriculum designer for the second edition EL Education K-5 Literacy Curriculum. Currently a professional development specialist for EL Education, he supports curriculum implementation and English language learner (ELL)instruction. He was born in Korea and lived and worked abroad for 15 years in five countries.
ASCD Express, Vol. 13, No. 17. Copyright 2018 by ASCD. All rights reserved. Visit www.ascd.org/ascdexpress.

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Empowering English Language Learners Through Language Dives

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May 10, 2018 | Volume 13 | Issue 17Kevin Jepson and Anne Vilen If you step into a language arts classrooms at Lead Academy in Greenville, South Carolina, you'll hear English language learners (ELLs) deep in conversation with small groups of their classmates, both native speakers and other ELLs.

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Infographics

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#67. Teaching with Infographics: A Modern Approach to Posters - ELL Strategies | TanKHuynh

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Why you should skip the posters and use infographs even you really want your students to learn the content and engage in the world.

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Some might question the need to create an entire handbook specifically to guide general elementary teachers through issues relevant to English language learners (ELLs), thinking that perhaps the school ESL specialist can take care of any special needs these students have. However, I believe this is an area of significant importance for all elementary teachers and will increasingly become so over time as the United States population continues to grow in diversity. According to the year 2000 U.S. census, approximately 18% of Americans age 5 and over now speak a language other than English at home. Some would argue that most of those Americans live in states like California, Texas, or New Mexico and ask why this census data would matter to the predominantly mono-cultural northeast. However, the 2000 census indicates that ELLs are definitely not confined to southwestern states. The following figures identify the percentage of people over age 5 who speak languages other than English at home in several surrounding states here in the northeast:

Delaware - 9.48%

Maryland - 12.58%

New Jersey - 25.48%

New York - 27.95%

Pennsylvania - 8.42%

Virginia - 11.11%

Clearly there are large numbers of speakers of languages other than English, many of which lie in the school-age population. Based on these demographics, the purpose of this handbook is twofold:

1. To more clearly establish the need for general elementary teachers to take an active role in the education of ELLs;

2. To equip elementary teachers with some initial strategies for modifying instruction and assessment for ELLs.

This handbook should in no way be interpreted as all-inclusive, but rather as an introduction to the policies, instructional models, strategies, and political issues related to elementary ELLs.

English language learners (ELLs) are a diverse population of students who are learning English in school. They come from numerous cultural and economic backgrounds, and they live in all 50 states. They may be:

Immigrants from countries all over the world seeking educational or economic opportunity

Refugees from war-torn countries

Native Americans or other native born Americans

Children with well developed literacy skills in a first language

Teenagers with little prior formal schooling

Migrants

Children of university students

ELLs come from a variety of linguistic backgrounds. After English, the most common languages in the United States are Spanish, Chinese, French, German, Tagolog, Vietnamese, Italian, Korean, Russian, Polish, and Arabic, followed by numerous other languages.

Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the first piece of federal legislation to address the needs and rights of speakers of other languages in public education, asserting that school districts are responsible for providing equal educational opportunities to national origin minority students with limited English proficiency (LEP). Since then there has been additional legislation to further clarify the distribution of funding and the responsibilities of educators in addressing the education of LEP students, the most recent being the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 (NCLB). The overall stated purpose of NCLB is "To close the achievement gap with accountability, flexibility, and choice, so
that no child is left behind."

Challenging Standards for English and Content Area Instruction

NCLB requires states to establish challenging academic content standards for all students, and Title III of this act indicates that ELLs are not exempt from meeting these high expectations. It asserts that English learners must develop English proficiency and skills for high academic achievement in English WHILE SIMULTANEOUSLY MEETING the same challenging State standards that all students are required to meet.

There are numerous resources on the web for learning more about these standards.

Each state creates its own standards documents for all content areas, including English language instruction. Pennsylvania's standards can be downloaded by clicking on Academic Standards on the PDE website: http://www.pde.state.pa.us.

TESOL, the professional organization for English language teachers, has outlined standards for ESL instruction that are also available online at http://www.tesol.org/advance-the-field/standards.

In accordance with the requirements of Title III, Pennsylvania is currently creating a document, the English Language Proficiency Standards for English Language Learners, to complement the existing PA Academic Standards. This document does not replace the Academic Standards, but will help all ESL specialists and general classroom teachers ensure that ELLs have full access to the content curricula during all stages of English language development. It will be available in January 2005 on the PDE website: http://www.pde.state.pa.us.

Accountability through Assessment

CLB also calls for accountability in meeting State standards through high quality assessments. Schools must not only demonstrate improvements in students' English proficiency each school year, but also demonstrate that English learners are making the same "adequate yearly progress" as other students. As a result, ELLs must participate in annual State assessments:

See Appendix 1 for further details on what parents of ELLs should expect from schools under No Child Left Behind.

What kind of Bilingual Education:

The discussion of bilingual education can come from two different perspectives. Additive bilingualism focuses on learning English while preserving use of the mother tongue while subtractive bilingualism focuses on teaching English to replace the mother tongue. Research has shown significant benefits in supporting additive bilingualism.

Social advantages: Bilingual children mature earlier, are more comfortable with diversity, exhibit social adaptability, and identify more with their ethnic group.

Cognitive advantages: Bilingual individuals show higher divergent thinking and increased social sensitivity in situations requiring verbal communication. They also demonstrate clearer thinking and analytical functioning.

Research also indicates that language development in the first language lays an important foundation for second language learning. Students with a high level of proficiency in both languages are likely to have an intellectual advantage in all subject areas when compared with monolingual classmates. For this reason children benefit from instruction in their first language during the early years, and additive bilingual programs are most effective if they provide long term support in both languages. In spite of these research findings, current educational policy tends towards transitioning ELLs to the use of English in school as quickly as possible.

Though elsewhere in the world bilingualism is expected of everyone, current thought in the U.S. often associates bilingualism with poor minority populations. Subtractive bilingualism or immersing students in English only environments is often educational practice. Some states have even passed English only legislation for schools or symbolically declared English as the official language of the state. Legislative attempts in support of both sides of this issue are frequently brought before the United States Congress. See Appendix 2 for samples of recently proposed bills. Turn to Appendix 3 for a look at the continuum of language policies worldwide.

Attitudes Towards English Language Learners:

Mirroring the two sides of public policy, educators may view ELLs through two contrasting lenses. First they may perceive ELLs as language deprived and in need of compensatory education. They see English as the linguistic capital needed to survive and thrive in American society. In a sense this is true; words are central to the activity of schools and a gateway to higher education. Vocabulary is a part of every content area and a major component of standardized tests such as the SAT or GRE. However, this language deficiency view was historically more discriminatory. Prior to the 1960s many researchers set out to prove that bilingualism had negative impacts, actually handicapping students' language growth and intelligence. Though research has since disproved these notions, examination of current educational practice often uncovers an over-referral of ELLs to special education classes, revealing that they are often still viewed as deficient.

A contrasting lens looks more positively. ELLs enter school already having a rich linguistic background. ESL programs provide enrichment in that they help students gain another language. From an even more positive angle, ELLs can provide enrichment for the whole school with the diverse cultures and knowledge they bring to the classroom.

It is beneficial for all educators to examine their own attitudes towards ELLs and work towards a school policy that celebrates the benefits ELLs bring to the classroom.

English language development is a process that occurs over a long period of time. Think about it. Even those who were born into English speaking families continue to acquire new language skills throughout the course of life. English language development occurs at a different rate for every student, and it is easy to misjudge a child's language capabilities because of the seeming variance from week to week or even day to day. There are numerous factors contributing to this variance: the context for language use, the classroom environment, stages of culture shock, age, level of proficiency in the home language, motivation, parent attitudes towards English, and many others. However,
English language development does follow a few predictable patterns.

Beginning ELLs:

Intermediate ELLs:

Intermediate ELLs can understand and speak in face to face interactions with minimal hesitation and few misunderstandings. They are developing skills in reading and writing.

To support intermediate ELLs focus on encouraging communication rather than grammar, spelling, and pronunciation, provide support for academic vocabulary, and teach strategies for processing information.

Another important distinction to make in English language development is between BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills) and CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency). Research shows that it takes students about two years to develop BICS, the oral skills needed to communicate effectively at a social level with teachers and peers. On the other hand, it can take five to seven years or longer for students to develop more advanced academic language skills at a level comparable to the ESL student's native English speaking peers. For this reason, it is important that general elementary classroom teachers provide support to ELLs even after they have formally exited ESL programs.

Although there are numerous ways to describe English language development, often a system of five levels is used. In many cases numbers are used, 1 to indicate the most basic English proficiency and 5 indicating the most advanced. The state of Pennsylvania uses the following terms to designate the same five levels: Entering, Beginning, Developing, Expanding, and Bridging.

Pull Out Model

As with other special services, such as Title I, Speech, or Special Education, ESL programs are often designed as a pull out program where the students leave the classroom to meet with the ESL specialist. Although it is difficult to coordinate schedules around specials and lunch times, this type of model may allow the ESL specialist to group students across classrooms or grade levels who are at a similar level of English proficiency for ESL support. This program model is especially effective for beginning ELLs who need to develop "survival" English skills. As students advance in their English language proficiency the ESL specialist may take responsibility for teaching a specific subject area, providing background information for upcoming lessons, or reviewing difficult content. However, grouping intermediate ELLs across grade levels or even across several classrooms from the same grade level for instruction bring challenges in effectively supporting students in content area learning.

Inclusion or "Pull IN" Model

Rather than pulling students out of their grade level classroom, this program model brings the ESL specialist into classrooms. The specialist may work with students individually at their seats or as a group someplace in the classroom. The specialist may assist ELLs with the same lesson that the rest of the class is doing or modify the lesson or assignment in some way. The ESL specialist could also assist while the classroom teacher instructs the whole class by displaying pictures, keywords, or providing other aids to comprehension. In this type of model the ESL specialist can sometimes even provide an extra set of hands in a way that is useful for the entire class.

Team Teaching Model

They ESL specialist may spend several hours a day in an elementary classroom when this model is implemented. As the name implies, when team teaching approaches are used the ESL specialist and grade level teacher work as a team both to plan and deliver instruction to all students in the class, the classroom teacher as the content expert, and the ESL specialist as the expert on effective strategies for ELLs. Though they could work together to teach the entire class at once or break up the class into two flexible groups, in this model all students receive the same high quality instruction. It is important that the team teaching occur in the curriculum areas in which ELLs would need the most language support. Because this model involves so much time in one classroom, it is most often used in schools with large populations of ELLs.

Other Program Models for Language Instruction

Transitional bilingual education: ELLs may receive instruction in both English and their home language for one to three years, but the goal is to develop English language proficiency as soon as possible.

Maintenance bilingual education: ELLs receive instruction in both English and their home language throughout elementary school and into the upper grades. The goal is to develop full bilingualism and biliteracy for English learners.

Structured English immersion: ELLs learn English through content area instruction in English. The goal is full English language proficiency.

As ESL specialists or schools consider which program model to employ, there are four essential factors for them to consider.

Regardless of the program model chosen, the ESL specialist is not the only individual in the school responsible for the language development and academic achievement of ELLs. The sections that follow will provide some beginning strategies that general elementary teachers can use to modify their instruction and assessment to support ELLs in their classrooms. But, in addition to modifying their own instructional practices, elementary content teachers can work collaboratively with the ESL specialist to optimize student learning both in the grade level classroom and in the ESL program.

Communication is one of the most important elements of this collaboration. Communication is most easily facilitated in a team teaching model and most difficult with a pull out model, but it is always important. The ESL specialist cannot align instruction to support content areas without knowledge of what content the grade level classroom is addressing. Providing support in the content areas does not mean that ESL specialists should take responsibility for explaining all assignments and correcting all misconceptions for ELLs, but they can help students make connections to prior experience, work to build background knowledge for students, support language development in the content areas, and review difficult concepts. General elementary teachers can facilitate this process by providing unit overviews, content-specific vocabulary, or any other information that the ESL specialists request so students receive the best support in both English language development and academic content learning.

Flexibility is another way to support the ESL specialist. Often there are many ELLs in a school at many different grade levels, and the ESL specialist wants to provide the fullest support for each one. The time ELLs are scheduled to leave your classroom may not be the best time for your schedule. Alternately, in an inclusion model the ESL specialist may not be able to schedule time in your classroom that matches your first preference. Ultimately flexibility in your schedule can ensure that the ESL specialist is not underutilized.

Provide a welcoming classroom environment

Creating a positive learning environment is important for supporting the growth of all students. Most elementary teachers try to establish a sense of community in their classrooms and provide structures such as predictable routines, procedures, and expectations. Because beginning ELLs may not initially understand verbal cues, predictable structures are even more significant in order to reduce anxiety, foster feelings of safety and comfort, and orient them to classroom expectations. Classroom patterns and predictable structures also aid language development. Here are a few examples:

In addition to helping a new student feel comfortable through pattern and predictability, it is important to help other students to welcome the ELL into the classroom. Talk to students about the challenges of learning a new language. Help them see that mistakes in English will not mean that the new student is unintelligent. After all, the new student already speaks another language very well. Help the class to look for
ways to include the new student in classroom and playground activities.

Know and include the student

It is beneficial for elementary teachers to get to know all the students in their classes as much as possible, but there may be extra factors to explore for an ELL or student from other cultural backgrounds. Get to know as much of the students' cultures as possible through reading about their culture, speaking with the ESL specialist or parents, and from observation of the students themselves. Though definitely not an exhaustive list, here are a few initial questions to consider:

Though it would be inappropriate to draw unnecessary attention a beginning ELL in front of the entire class, it is equally inappropriate to ignore the child just assuming he or she will naturally catch on to classroom expectations. Seating the student near the front of the classroom or near the teacher's desk can help incorporate the child into the classroom community. Additionally, frequent eye contact with the student can communicate care and inclusiveness. Encourage the student to participate in any way that child feels comfortable, but do not force verbal participation. Assigning the student a buddy, especially a buddy from the same home language, can help an ELL adjust to a new school environment. Though learning and practicing English is beneficial, allowing the child to communicate with others in the home language can help clarify classroom expectations and content knowledge.

Modify your speech

Though it will not guarantee perfect communication, using appropriate speech will help ELLs to comprehend both directions and content.

Speak more slowly, enunciating carefully while still using a natural tone and rhythm.

Use gestures with your speech. Hold up one, two, and three fingers as you list three attributes or give three steps to follow. Use facial expressions to indicate emotion and other kinds of body language or miming.

Provide visual aids in the form of pictures or realia (concrete objects or models) or point to sections of text or materials to be used as you mention them.

Model directions or processes.

Adjust questioning techniques so that students can respond in a way that is appropriate for their stage of English proficiency. The following chart provides some sample question starters appropriate to various stages of English proficiency:

Stage

Appropriate Expectation

Question Starter

Preproduction

Nodding, pointing, demonstrating.

"Show me..."
"Which of these..."

Early production

One or two word responses; make a choice between given options.

"Is it the ____ one or the ____ one?"
Questions with answers of one or two words.

Emergent speech

Phrase or short sentence with likely grammatical errors.

"What happened next?"
"Where did you find the answer?"

Intermediate fluency

Longer sentences with fewer grammatical errors.

"How did you...?"
"What was this character trying to do?"

Provide opportunities for interaction

Children cannot learn to speak English without opportunities to practice speaking English. Providing students with opportunities to interact with other students will naturally enhance English language development while also providing the scaffolding needed to help ELLs achieve in the content areas. Here are a few suggestions:

Use adequate wait time to help an ELL formulate a response in a large group context.

Use a think, pair, share strategy where students first think about a question for themselves, then talk about the question with a partner, and finally share their thoughts with the larger group.

Try conversational role plays in pairs or small groups. Topics could include using polite language (please, thank you, excuse me...), interviewing someone, how to use I-messages, resolving conflict, and others.

Provide time for buddy reading of texts that are a little beyond the ELLs independent comprehension level.

Use learning centers for literacy, math, science, or social studies investigations.

Use cooperative learning projects. Have teams work together to create an artistic display of their names, create an "assembly-line" style craft project where each team member contributes to the final product, have groups work together to complete a puzzle or word search, or do a jigsaw reading activity where each member reads a different text and reports back important information to the group.

Support literacy development

Literacy instruction is one area in which knowledge of the individual student is especially helpful. Depending on culture and life history, an ELL may have solid literacy skills in a language similar to English, in a language that is completely different from English, or very little prior literacy skills at all. The more fully a child's literacy skills in the home language have developed, the better foundation there is for literacy skills in English; and the more similar the two languages, the easier it is to transfer literacy from one to another.

Good instruction in reading and writing looks the same whether you are teaching native-English speakers or ELLs. This section highlights a few areas of best practice that are especially important to keep in mind when working with ELLs.

Reading Instruction

Helping students learn to decode words is important, but helping them make meaning of text is essential. Instruction in phonics and high frequency words is best done in the context of meaningful text. Reading texts multiple times can build fluency in word recognition while concurrently providing an opportunity to focus on comprehension strategies, such as the following examples:

Previewing: Paging through a text ahead of time to look at pictures or headings can begin to activate prior knowledge that helps a reader to both decode words and make meaning of text. ELLs may not bring the same kinds of background knowledge to a text as other students. For example, they may not be familiar with the "once upon a time... and they lived happily ever after" story structure for a fairy tale. They may know a lot about tortillas, but nothing about crackers. Taking time to help students build background knowledge is essential.

Predicting: Making predictions during reading about what will come next is both an effective comprehension strategy and a motivator. It builds anticipation, motivating students to keep reading to check and see if predictions are correct.

Monitoring and Questioning: Help students learn to think about what they are reading to monitor their own comprehension. When a "red flag" pops up during reading, help students ask questions like, "What does this word mean?" "How could that have happened?" or "What are they talking about now?" It is helpful if the teacher models this strategy and then helps direct students to where to find answers: reread, keep reading to see if there is clarification provided in the text, or asking someone for help.

Making connections: Connecting text to personal experience, other texts, or prior knowledge aids comprehension and helps students to internalize a text. Phrases like, "this reminds me of..." are useful for helping students to make connections.

Summarizing and retelling: Putting text into more general words is a great strategy for monitoring comprehension. Summarizing can occur during reading with a technique like GIST (Generating Interaction between Schemata and Text). In this technique, students work in cooperative groups and read sections of text silently. After each section the members of the group work collaboratively to generate one sentence that summarizes the "gist" of the passage. Each member writes the sentence down so that by the end each member of the group has a summary of the text. Summarizing can also occur after reading an entire text. Students can retell a story in a beginning, middle, and end chart or dramatize it.

Text Structures: ELLs do not always bring the same prior knowledge of story or informational structures to reading since different cultures may commonly use different structures for texts. Using graphic organizers before or after reading to cue students in on these structures can be especially helpful.

Development of Writing Skills

There are three factors that help determine the ease with which beginning ELLs learn to write in English: (1) whether or not they already know how to read in their first language, (2) the extent to which the home language alphabet is similar to the English alphabet, and (3) the number of opportunities they are given to practice reading and writing in English from the beginning.

Supporting students in developing and communicating ideas first and worrying about correct grammar and spelling later is becoming more common as the writing process guides writing instruction in an increasing number of classrooms ( Prewriting, drafting, revising, editing, publishing). Process writing is commonly used in ESL classrooms as well. The interactive process of conferencing provides opportunity for authentic conversation practice in addition to helping to develop a piece of written work. However, full participation in the process may not be possible until an intermediate or advanced level of English proficiency is acquired.

Beginning writers may simply draw pictures and label things. Over time they may begin to write one or two short sentences, though there may be problems with word order and they are likely to write only in present tense. There are a few strategies that can help support beginning ELLs in writing:

Intermediate writers will be able to write a number of sentences in a fairly organized sequence. They may be able to express all their ideas comfortable, but still lack the diverse vocabulary needed for fine shades of meaning. They can usually use several tenses in their writing, but may often make minor grammatical errors, such as leaving off the -s for third person singular verbs. Here are a few strategies that may help support intermediate ELLs in writing:

Help students learn to combine two short sentences into one longer sentence to add sentence variety.

Do mini-lessons focused on using precise vocabulary. Have students create class books on color words, strong verbs, emotions, or other lists of synonyms that can be used as resources during writer's workshop.

Allow students to use computers for their writing. The spelling and grammar functions of word processing programs can help students identify and correct their own errors more autonomously.

Support ELLS in the content areas: Math, Social Studies, Science

According to current educational policy, ELLs must be given full access to all academic content and must prove they can achieve at high levels on state testing. This means that teachers must adapt their instruction to support the language development of ELLs without watering down the content in any way. To make sure that language needs are addressed, all lessons in the content areas should have both content and language objectives. To determine the language objective, teachers should think about what kind of language support ELLs need to successfully meet the content objective. Lessons can be adapted to develop vocabulary, build background knowledge, modify texts, or provide a framework for understanding so that ELLs can access content objectives.

Vocabulary Development

There are four major categories of language support that might be necessary in content areas. (1) All content areas have specialized technical vocabulary that is not a part of everyday spoken English that all students must learn, such as isosceles triangle. (2) There is also language in each content area that English proficient students have mastered, but beginning ELLs have not yet learned, for example, microscope, thermometer, or ruler. (3) Often common English words may be used in a different specialized way in a content area, for example, table as a way to represent data. (4) Students may need a scaffold for everyday language structures or frameworks for reporting their learning, for example "The ____ is __ inches long."

Vocabulary activities can build background knowledge by introducing new terms, review terms that have been introduced previously, or help to organize or classify terms in a conceptual framework.

Word Walls: Content vocabulary of the greatest importance is hung in relevant groupings on a wall of the classroom. Students can each add an illustration to one word for the class wall. This way the wall provides connections to meanings.

Word Sorts: Content vocabulary words are written on index cards and students are asked to sort the words by category. For example, Length: inches, feet, yards, centimeters, meters; Weight: ounces, pounds, grams, kilograms

Concept Definition Map:
What is it? What is it like? What are some examples?

Dramatization: Have students act out content words, either the word itself or a situation in which the word would be used.

Since the focus of content area instruction is learning the content, it is important to provide opportunities for the students to talk about the content in both English and their home language if there are other students who speak the same home language in the class. This will allow students to engage more deeply with the content, clarify any questions they have, and correct any misconceptions that might arise as a result of misunderstandings of English.

Build or Connect to Background Knowledge

Use visuals, realia, and manipulatives whenever possible so that abstract ideas can be made as concrete as possible.

Go on field trips to build background knowledge for a new topic.

Some videos, computer software, and websites are resources that can be used to build background knowledge through their visual or interactive nature.

Modify Texts

Supplemental resources: Find books that cover the same concepts at a lower reading level.

Highlighted text: Reserve a few copies of texts specifically for ELLs. Highlight the overriding ideas, key concepts, important vocabulary, and summary statements in these texts and encourage students to first read only the highlighted sections. This reduces the reading demands of the text while helping students pick out the most important ideas.

Taped text: Record entire texts or highlighted sections so that students can listen as they follow along in the book. Tapes can be available for both school and home use so that students can listen multiple times.

Adapted text: If there are no other resources or adaptations that can be made to give access to ELLs, then adapting a text is appropriate. The teacher rewrites important sections of text in short simple sentences in a step by step manner, defining relevant vocabulary to create an easier read. ("Electrons have negative electric charges and orbit around the core, nucleus, of an atom." Can be rewritten as, "Electrons have negative charges. They orbit around the center. The center of the atom is called the nucleus.") Rewritten paragraphs should include a topic sentence and a few details to provide ease in identifying important information.

Provide a Framework for Understanding

Many graphic organizers can serve as advance organizers to build background knowledge or provide a review of a key concept from a lesson. Creating this type of framework during a lesson can also be useful for helping students to develop connections and understandings in their heads.

Timeline: A timeline helps students to sequence events and see visually how events are related over time.

Venn Diagram: Two things or concepts are compared. Information about each one is written in the designated circle. Any similarities are written in the area of the two circles that overlaps.

Attribute Chart: This type of chart helps students to make comparisons across multiple examples. The students should be actively involved in creating the chart, using resources or prior experience to fill the needed information.

Build autonomy by teaching learning strategies

Students can learn in the content areas more effectively and independently if they know the kinds of learning strategies that can help. Some students may naturally use these strategies, while others will need to be explicitly taught to employ them. There are metacognitive strategies which help students to monitor themselves and their own thinking and understanding; cognitive strategies which help students to organize information; and social-affective strategies which help students interact with others or control emotions to enhance their own learning. Many of these strategies are similar to the types of reading comprehension strategies that good readers learn. A few examples of such strategies are:
Metacognitive Strategies Cognitive Strategies Social-affective Strategies

Questioning: Ask others for clarification, rephrasing, or more information.

Self-talk: Use mental techniques to boost one's confidence or reduce anxiety about a learning task.

Cooperation: Working with peers to solve problems or pool information.

Modify assessments

Creating quality assessments for ELLs can be challenging. Most traditional assessments are very language dependent, requiring students to read and understand both directions and test questions and sometimes to write lengthy responses. Though such tests may provide information about an ELL's reading comprehension and writing composition skills, they may not give an accurate picture of student progress towards attaining instructional objectives or provide feedback to the teacher about the level of success of instructional strategies. For this reason, it is necessary to adapt tests, use alternate forms of assessment, and use as many different forms of assessments as possible so that language will not be an obstacle to obtaining a clear sense of each student's
progress in the content areas.

Adapting Tests

There are a number of different modifications that can be used to create a more approachable testing situation for ELLs, depending on the level of English proficiency:

Have the test translated into the student's home language or allow them to use bilingual dictionaries.

Provide the student with extra time for taking the test because thinking and processing takes longer in a new language.

Read directions and test questions aloud to the student.

Allow oral or pictorial responses.

Simplify the language on the test: use short sentences and easy vocabulary.

Allow students to make lists instead of writing essays or complete sentences.

Provide students with word banks containing relevant vocabulary.

Ask students to fill in graphic organizers similar to those used during instruction.

Using Alternate Forms of Assessment

Alternate assessments may provide more useful information about student progress than traditional tests. Often these assessments are less language dependent, more skill based, or more relevant to real life contexts.

Observations: Keep anecdotal records or skills checklists about what you notice as students are working or participating in class.

Formal Performance Assessments: Have a child demonstrate the mastery of a particular skill. For example, how to solve a math problem or how to read a map.

Sorting activities: Ask students to sort objects or word cards to demonstrate ability to understand a concept. For example, sort objects by initial sound, sort number sentences by sum or difference, sort pictures of animal by classification, sequence pictures of the water cycle.

Models and visual displays: Students create a model to demonstrate understanding of the characteristics of something or an understanding of how something works. For example, use clay to create an insect and a spider to show their differences; create a shoe box model of a habitat with both plants and animals, create a diagram that shows how the digestive system works.

Graphic organizers: Completing a web, comparison chart, or some other type of graphic organizer can uncover student conceptual understanding, especially if the student is already familiar with the uses for the particular graphic organizer.

Self-assessments: Ask students to complete a learning log, circle a number on a continuum to show how well they worked with group members, use a rubric to give themselves a score based on specific criteria, complete a K-W-L chart, tell what strategy they used to solve a problem, or write what was easy or hard about a concept.

Rubrics: Create rubrics along with students highlighting the different components that will be graded and the criteria for attaining each score. A written rubric along with a visual sample or demonstration helps students to understand and meet expectations. This is especially effective for grading writing, oral presentations, or projects. For example, a rubric for a writing sample might look at correct use of past tense verbs, story idea, the amount of detail included, and sequencing.

Differentiated Scoring: When a teacher uses this type of grading, an assignment receives two scores: one that is based on demonstration of content area knowledge and skills and another that is based on demonstration of English language proficiency. In this way progress in both content and English language can be monitored.

Using Multiple Forms of Assessment

To collect the most accurate information about each student's progress, a variety of assessments are best. Different kinds of assessment give different information about student learning, and some types of assessment might match the purpose or objective better than others. Portfolios are one way to collect and organize multiple forms of data. Portfolios can be collections of work that a student chooses to demonstrate best work or areas that need improvement. They can also be a holding place for all pertinent classwork, tests, checklists, self-assessments, rubrics, and projects. Regardless of how portfolios are put together, their ultimate purpose is the same as that of any assessment: to highlight student achievement and to create goals for continued learning.

Sample Assessments for an Insect Unit:
Original Unit Test
1. Describe the life cycle of the following:

Mantis
Honeybee

2. How do you know an animal is an insect?
3. What foods do insects eat?
4. Why are insects important?
Unit Test Modified for ELLs: A partially completed graphic organizer

Insect Name

Life Cycle

What it eats

How it looks

Why it's important

Interesting facts

Monarch butterfly

Milkweed leaves (larva)
Nectar from flowers (adult)

Head -- eyes, antenna
Thorax -- legs and 4 wings
Abdomen

Help to pollinate flowers

They do not fly at night

Alternate Assessments for a Unit Portfolio

Keep an observation log of the life cycle of real monarch butterflies in the classroom. Given a diagram of the life cycle of another insect, create one drawing to show the four stages of the butterfly's life cycle.

Create a drawing or clay model of two adult insects including three body parts, legs, wings, eyes, and antenna. Verbally tell how the insects are the same or different.

Work with a strong English speaker in a cooperative learning jigsaw reading to learn and share interesting facts about insects and why they are important. Complete a self-assessment on learning, participation, and contribution to the group.

The information presented in this handbook gives evidence to support the need for all elementary teachers to gain awareness of the needs of ELLs and take an active role in supporting their learning. Though it can take five to seven years or longer for students to acquire a level of academic English proficiency equivalent to that of their peers, legislation requires that these students maintain the same adequate yearly progress toward the highly challenging academic standards as their peers. Most ESL program models include ELLs in the mainstream classroom for a majority of content instruction, so it is the responsibility of the classroom teacher to implement strategies that can support these high expectations. Through creating a welcoming environment, getting to know each student, attending to communication patterns, planning language objectives for content areas, and modifying assessments, elementary teachers can support, instruct, and monitor the progress of ELLs effectively.

Becker, H. (2001). Teaching ESL K-12: Views from the Classroom. Boston: Henle & Henle.

Corson, D. (1999). Language Policy in Schools: A Resource for Teachers and Administrators. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Diaz-Rico, L. & Weed, K. (2002). The Crosscultural, Language, and Academic Development Handbook. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Herrell, A. & Jordan, M. (2004). Fifty Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners, Second Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill Prentice Hall.

Maitland, K. (1997). Adding English: Helping ESL Learners Succeed. Torrence, CA: Good Apple.

O'Malley, J. & Valdez-Pierce, L. (1996). Authentic Assessment for English Language Learners: Practical Approaches for Teachers. Longman

Opitz, M.(ed.) (1998). Literacy Instruction for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students. Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Peregoy, S. & Boyle, O. (2001). Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL. New York: Addison-Wesley.

United States Congress (2002). Public Law 107-110 (No Child Left Behind Act). Retrieved April 22, 2004, from the United States Department of Education website, http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/index.html.

Valdez-Pierce, L. (2003). Assessing English Language Learners. National Education Association.

Under No Child Left Behind, parents of English language learners can expect:

1. To have your child receive a quality education and be taught by a highly qualified teacher.
President Bush and Secretary of Education Rod Paige believe that the key to a quality education is a highly qualified teacher. The new education act requires that all teachers of the core academic subjects be highly qualified by the end of the 2005-2006 school year, including teachers of English language learners.

2. To have your child learn English and other subjects such as reading and other language arts and mathematics at the same academic level as all other students.
Schools must provide English language learners the same educational opportunities to meet the same high academic standards as their peers. The No Child Left Behind Act does not require schools to use a particular method for teaching English language acquisition nor does it prohibit a child from learning another language.

3. To know if your child has been identified and recommended for placement in an English language acquisition program, and to accept or refuse such placement.
A parent or guardian must be notified when his or her child is identified and recommended for placement in a program for English language instruction. Notification must include the reason for placement, the method of instruction and what is required for the child to exit the program, and it must be in a language or manner that the parents understand.

4. To choose a different English language acquisition program for your child, if one is available.
Parents may choose from among the various English language acquisition instructional programs in the school, if more than one is available. If the child is placed in a program that is not meeting his or her educational needs, the parent may have the child transferred to another available program in the district.

5. To transfer your child to another school if his or her school is identified as "in need of improvement."
Once a school has been identified as "in need of improvement," the public school choice provisions of the law provide parents with children in these schools the option of transferring them to another public school in the district, including a nearby charter school, if one is available, and the district will pay for or provide transportation.

6. To apply for supplemental services, such as tutoring, for your child if his or her school is identified as "in need of improvement" for two years.
A supplemental service is extra educational help provided to students, such as tutoring and other afterschool services. Students from low-income families who are enrolled in schools that are "in need of improvement" for two years are eligible to receive these services.

7. To have your child tested annually to assess his or her progress in English language acquisition.
Testing is used to assess how students are performing and what they have learned. The No Child Left Behind Act requires yearly assessment for English language proficiency (K-12). Schools must provide student assessment reports to parents that will, among other things, let them know how well their child is learning English.

8. To receive information regarding your child's performance on academic tests.
Under No Child Left Behind all children in grades 3-8 will be tested yearly, and those in grades 9-12 will be tested at least once in math and reading-language arts. No Child Left Behind requires that parents be notified of their child's academic progress in these subjects in a language or manner that they understand.

9. To have your child taught with programs that are scientifically proven to work.
English language learners can become fully proficient in English and master challenging content when enrolled in high-quality programs with a highly qualified teacher. No Child Left Behind requires that programs for English language learners funded under the act use curriculum and instructional methods that reflect scientifically based research.

10. To have the opportunity for your child to reach his or her greatest academic potential.
For the first time in the history of public education, there is a federal law that specifically addresses the educational achievement gap between minority children and their peers by implementing strong accountability measures. A quality K-12 education will assist every child who aspires to a college education so that he or she can be academically prepared to enter an institution of higher learning upon
graduation.

No Child Left Behind--a new era in public education.
www.ed.gov--1-800-USA-LEARN
Office of English Language Acquisition-January 2004
www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oela
(January 2004)

Legislation of the 108th Congress
Concerning Foreign Languages and International Education
Proposed 2003-2004
Retrieved from http://thomas.loc.gov/
H.Con.Res. 5 - English Plus Resolution
Introduced: January 1, 2003
Sponsor: Representative Jose E. Serrano (D-NY)
Co-Sponsors: None
Latest Action: February 21, 2003 Referred to the Subcommittee on Education Reform

Purpose: (CRS [Congressional Research Service] Summary)
Expresses the sense of the Congress that the U.S. Government should pursue policies that: (1) encourage all residents of this country to become fully proficient in English by expanding educational opportunities and access to information technologies; (2) conserve and develop the Nation's linguistic resources by encouraging all residents to learn or maintain skills in a language other than English; (3) assist Native Americans, Native Alaskans, Native Hawaiians, and other peoples indigenous to the United States in their efforts to prevent the extinction of their languages and cultures; (4) continue to provide services in languages other than English as needed to facilitate access to essential functions of government, promote public health and safety, ensure due process, promote equal educational opportunity, and protect fundamental rights; and (5) recognize the importance of multilingualism to vital national interests and individual rights, and oppose "English-only" measures and similar language restrictionist measures.

H.R. 931 - National Language Act of 2003
Introduced: February 26, 2003
Sponsor: Representative Peter King (R-NY)
Co-Sponsors: 51
Latest Action: March 17, 2003 Referred to House Subcommittee on Educational Reform

Purpose: (CRS Summary)
Makes English the official language of the U.S. Government. Requires the Governments to: (1) conduct its official business in English, including publications, income tax forms, and informational materials; and (2) preserve and enhance the role of English as the official language of the United States of America. Provides that no person has a right, entitlement, or claim to have the Government act, communicate, perform, or provide services or materials in any other language, unless specifically stated in applicable law.

Provides that this Act shall not apply to the use of a language other than English for religious purposes, for training in foreign languages for international communication, in school programs designed to encourage students to learn foreign languages, or by persons over age 62.

Repeals the Bilingual Education Act. Terminates the Office of Bilingual Education and Minority Language Affairs in the Department of Education.

Repeals provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 regarding bilingual election requirements and regarding congressional findings of voting discrimination against language minorities, prohibition of English-only elections, and other remedial measures.

Amends the Immigration and Nationality Act to require that all public ceremonies in which the oath of allegiance is administered pursuant to such Act be conducted solely in English.

Specifies that this Act shall no preempt the law of any State.

In his book, Language Policy in Schools: A Resource for Teachers and Administrators, Corson identifies six different approaches or orientations that are exhibit in national or school language policies and notes that in the United States typical policy focuses on levels 1 or 2.

1. New language group lacks English and needs to rapidly transition into English usage.

2. The minority groups' need for English is linked to family status, so aids, tutors, social workers, and other helps are provided.

3. The need for English is linked to disparities in esteem between group culture and majority culture: multicultural curricula, eliminating racial stereotypes, and sensitizing teachers are added to English instruction.

4. There is a belief that the premature loss of the first language inhibits develop of majority language, so the first language is at least occasionally or in early years a medium of instruction.

5. The minority language is seen as threatened with extinction so the policy is to provide the minority language exclusively as the language of instruction in early years.

6. Minority and majority languages are seen as having equal rights or status in society, so the minority language may be recognized as an official language; separate school systems may be provided; all children may be given the opportunity to learn both languages; and language support exists beyond the school system.

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Resource Guide for Working With ESL Students | College of Education at Penn State

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Some might question the need to create an entire handbook specifically to guide general elementary teachers through issues relevant to English language learners (ELLs), thinking that perhaps the school ESL specialist can take care of any special needs these students have.

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Deeper Learning and Math: ELLs

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By Kelsey Skaggs
From classroom teacher to district leader, all educators continue to search for innovative ways to provide empowering learning environments for their English language learners (ELLs)-especially when it comes to math.
Instruction that leverages visual learning and conceptual understanding is a great start. Scroll through for some of our favorite reads on how visual learning can provide ELLs a path for math success.

The Problem With Math

Get a glimpse of the particular challenges ELLs face when it comes to mathematics in this excerpt from the short film, "Immersion," written and directed by Richard Levien. The full version of the film is worth watching as well to help understand the obstacles teachers and faculty encounter when trying to support ELLs.

NPR shares a general overview of the different types of approaches most schools take when teaching ELLs.

This infographic on Math Success for ELLs shares some of the challenges facing ELLs when it comes to learning math and ideas on how to maximize technology in math instruction.

Supporting ELLs with Visual Math Instruction

Stanford mathematics professor Jo Boaler offers a variety of research and visual math activities to take into the classroom.

English language learners at Wilson Elementary school in Sanger, Calif. are getting hands-on with math and science in makerspaces. Makerspaces, where students use technology tools and materials to solve problems, offer ways to build confidence as well as practice STEM topics and English conversation.

What would math look like if it could be taught (at first) completely without language of any kind? Dr. Matthew Peterson shares how in this TEDx talk:

With a little innovation and creativity, math can be engaging no matter what language you speak!
For more, see:

This post was originally published at MIND Research Institute.
Kelsey Skaggs is the Engagement Specialist at MIND Research Institute. Follow them on Twitter: @MIND_Research.
Stay in-the-know with all things EdTech and innovations in learning by signing up to receive the weekly Smart Update

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The Scoop on Deeper Learning and Mathematics: English Language Learner Edition

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By Kelsey Skaggs From classroom teacher to district leader, all educators continue to search for innovative ways to provide empowering learning environments for their English language learners (ELLs)-especially when it comes to math. Instruction that leverages visual learning and conceptual understanding is a great start.

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Preparing ELLs to be 21st Century Learners

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Preparing ELLs to be 21st Century Learners

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Preparing ELLs to be 21st-Century Learners

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A colleague of mine was recently asked to observe a media technology class for English language learners (ELLs). The teacher of the class had been struggling a great deal to help the students "get" the lessons, and so he asked my colleague for her observations and input.

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ELLs and Technology

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Responsive Reads

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IRIS Vanderbilt Cultural Awareness Module

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IRIS Vanderbilt Cultural Awareness Module

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This module examines the ways in which culture influences the daily interactions that occur across all classrooms and provides practice for enhancing culturally responsive teaching (est. completion time: 1 hour).

Work through the sections of this module in the order presented in the STAR graphic above.

Related to this module

Copyright 2023 Vanderbilt University. All rights reserved.

The IRIS Center Peabody College Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN 37203 iris@vanderbilt.edu. The IRIS Center is funded through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) Grant #H325E220001. The contents of this Website do not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government. Project Officer, Sarah Allen.

Copyright 2023 Vanderbilt University. All rights reserved.

* For refund and privacy policy information visit our Help & Support page.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Cultural and Linguistic Differences: What Teachers Should Know

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This module examines the ways in which culture influences the daily interactions that occur across all classrooms and provides practice for enhancing culturally responsive teaching (est. completion time: 1 hour). Work through the sections of this module in the order presented in the STAR graphic above. Copyright 2023 Vanderbilt University.

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Supporting ELLs Living in Trauma and Violence

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Using a strengths-based approach allows educators to draw upon students' internal strengths and capacities, and it can be a particularly powerful practice for English learners who have experienced trauma, violence, or chronic stress. In this article adapted from Teaching to Strengths: Supporting Students Living with Trauma, Violence, and Chronic Stress (ASCD, 2017), ELL experts Debbie Zacarian, Lourdes Álvarez-Ortiz, and Judie Haynes offer some concrete strategies for shifting to a strengths-based approach in the classroom, as well as numerous student examples.

Overview

Who are the nation's students experiencing trauma, violence and chronic stress?

One in every two of the total student population in the U.S. come to our schools having experienced or still experiencing some type of trauma, violence, or chronic stress - many of them at a very young age. This startling statistic presents a challenge to all of us as educators - especially since the available professional literature focuses almost solely on the therapeutic aspects for providing counseling supports and services to students who have experienced one or more of the following:

Physical, sexual, or verbal abuse;

Physical and emotional neglect;

A parents who is an alcoholic (or addicted to other drugs);

Witnessing a mother who experiences abuse;

A family member in jail;

Loss of a parent due to death or abandonment, including abandonment by parental divorce; or

Mental illness or a depressed suicidal person in the home

Source: (Data Resource Center for Child and Adolescent Health, 2011/2012).
What make these realities particularly relevant are the distinct circumstances of many English learners who experience violence, trauma, and chronic stress. Consider the following:

In 2015, U.S. Department of State reported that 69,930 refugees were admitted to the United States, with the largest groups coming from African, South Asian, Asian, and Latin American countries.

4.1 million children born in the United States have at least one parent who is undocumented (American Psychological Association, 2016).

Many of the nation's children of undocumented immigrants experience high levels of chronic stress from fear of deportation, living in extreme poverty, and being isolated from peers (Yoshikawa, 2011).

60 percent of English learners' families had incomes that were 185 percent below poverty level (Grantmakers in Education Report, April 2013).

In addition, very little professional literature has been written about teaching this particular population and doing so from a strengths-based perspective.

Why use a strengths-based approach?

The absence of any formal training in this area, understandably, has led many educators to feel quite unprepared to teach and work with the epic numbers of students, including English learners, who experience trauma, violence and chronic stress. Further, many teachers believe that some students' experiences are so extreme that there is little hope for them, despite all of their efforts and good intentions. This perception often puts limits and restrictions on them in terms of how they teach and interact with students as well as how they work with families. In a real sense, it has almost forced many teachers to look at students and their families as "broken" instead of as individuals who already possess inherent strengths and who can make great contributions to their classrooms, their communities, and the world. Indeed, for too long, teachers have found themselves using language to name their perceptions in terms of what they believe are impossible situations for students living with trauma, violence, and chronic stress.

Student vignette: Javier

Here is an example from Chris Homiak, a middle school English and mathematics teacher of English learners in Kansas City, Missouri. He tells us about Javier, a 7 th grade student.

Javier is a 7th grade student who joined our class after being out of school for six months. He is a n English learner whose home language is Spanish. Prior to enrolling in our school, he had recently moved across the country and was in transition, living in homeless shelters with his large family. At first, Javier answered questions very quietly, and his eyes often looked toward the floor or quickly around the room. Also, he often got out of his seat without permission and walked in a small circle near his desk.

In this example, it would be easy to pinpoint the adverse conditions and behaviors that would make Javier's ability to learn and our ability to teach him to be very difficult. However, it is important to take it a step further and look beyond "what is lacking" to find "what is already there". To accomplish this, we need to begin with a shift in mindset from what we believe is not happening and impossible to what is happening and possible. To do this we must take time to:

Identify students' existing strengths.

Honor, value, and acknowledge these strengths.

Help students become aware of their strengths.

Build instructional programming that boosts social ties and networks by drawing from students' strengths.

Let's take a look at Javier's story. What strengths can you see in Javier? At first glance, getting out of his seat without permission may seem to be an unacceptable behavior and, indeed, difficult to view as an asset. But adopting an asset-based perspective requires us to find evidence "in what students do; in what they don't; and in their intentions, hopes, successes, and even failures" ( Grove and Glasser, 2007). In this example, Javier didn't disrupt class by yelling or screaming, or by going to other students to talk to them. He contained himself in a small area, trying not to disrupt the class. This is the behavior we focus on, and the one that we want to acknowledge and reflect back to him to make it visible and transparent. Among Javier's assets is his ability to understand what he needs to turn his classroom environment into a favorable learning experience for him. In this case, it is an environment that will allow him the opportunity to engage in movement like standing, stretching, and moving his body. (Think of yourself during those long professional development trainings!) It is also evidence of Javier's good judgment, consideration, and respect for other people's spaces and time for learning because his behavior was contained and not disruptive. The goal is for Javier to see his strengths, value his own self-worth, create a personal account of his strengths, and begin to operate by drawing from it.

Let's look at what Chris Homiak did to identify Javier's strengths and what this understanding led to:
Observing him during independent work time, I saw that he had a deep capacity for abstract thinking and that he was strong in algebra. I shared my observation by saying: "Javier, you are such a strong problem-solver and algebra-thinker! I noticed that you can see patterns and break down the parts until you solve the problem." As his trusting relationships grew in our small group, I pushed him to explain his answers in more detail and to explore alternative ways for solving the same problem. Initially, he wanted to share his answers first and fast; I supported him to wait for others to catch up, and to see if he could help find their mistakes. I often turned to him to provide constructive feedback or error correction, handing over the document camera or whiteboard for him to play the teacher role.
It is greatly helpful to take time to identify students' strengths and teach by drawing from this understanding.

What strategies support a strengths-based approach?

In this article, we discuss some strategies for using a strengths-based approach in our classroom practice so that English learners, like Javier, and all students living with trauma, violence and chronic stress experience a real sense of being safe, valued, capable of learning, and worthy contributory members of their classroom communities. We consider these four essential experiences to be the basis for creating a strengths-based classroom that is inclusive and responsive to all students, and particularly to those living with trauma, violence and chronic stress.

Take time to build positive, asset-based student-teacher relationships

Working with students living with trauma, violence, or chronic stress requires us to be empathetic educators who care about our students and seek to support them. Nevertheless, we must take it a step further and strive to be asset-based teachers as well. That is, seeking, reflecting back, and honoring the many inherent attributes, values, and qualities our students (and families) possess. But it doesn't stop there. We must support them in drawing from these strengths and capacities to develop the skills, competencies, and confidence to be active learners, independent and critical thinkers, and contributory members of their learning community.

Gather as much information as we can about our students.

Use this background information to build and strengthen our relationships with students by personalizing our interactions using the strengths and assets that we continuously identify.

In Javier's story, his teacher was able to cultivate a positive relationship by helping Javier see his intrinsic assets and strengths and by capitalizing on them to engage Javier in learning. He observed Javier's curiosity and eagerness to solve problems and drew from these qualities to cultivate self-monitoring and leadership skills.

Use consistent positive, asset-based language when communicating with students.

There are many strategies that we can use to identify students' strengths and assets and build trusting relationships with them based on these, including:

An example, that can be adapted with support in a students' home language, is a high school teacher who asks students to complete questions on an index card during their first day of school. The front of the card asks them to write their name and nickname. The back asks the following, "What activities, such as sports, music, and work, are you involved or would like to be involved outside of our high school?" He meets first with individual students who leave the activity question blank and supports them in joining an after-school club, obtaining work, and/or engaging in an activity of their interest. He also takes time to visit students after school where they are participating in a sport or are at work. His sole goal is to help them see that they belong to a classroom community and that they are valued and capable individuals who have many personal strengths and assets worthy of recognition.

An example is a teacher who greets a student with personalized messages such as "Good morning, Lilliana, great to see you after that tough basketball game last night. I heard you were very determined on the court" shows that he understands what is important to the student, and at the same time, he's naming the attribute she is demonstrating (determination) which is one of her strengths. Or, in the case of Javier, his teacher took the opportunity to observe him during independent work and noticed that he had a solid capacity for abstract thinking and that he was strong in algebra. The way he reflected back these personal assets to Javier was by saying, "Javier, you're such a strong problem solver and algebra thinker! I noticed that you can see patterns and break down the parts until you solve the problem." This type of positive energy and language is one of the biggest assets that those of us that work with English learners and all students living with trauma, violence and chronic stress can bring to the classroom.

Create a physical environment that encourages students' sharing, participation and ownership of their physical classroom space.

Co-create (with students) an environment that facilitates their empowerment and voice and reinforces the skills necessary to be successful in a global society that demands constant communication, collaboration, teamwork, and innovation.

Foster unconditional acceptance, a sense of being safe, and of feeling valued and capable of learning.

Construct a physical environment that is conducive for communication and cooperation

Learning spaces have the ability to positively or negatively affect students' learning and morale. From the selection and arrangement of desks, tables and chairs, to the attention we pay to what we place on the classroom walls, every detail counts toward our efforts to keeping students engaged and maximizing their cooperation and creativity. To do this, we have to consider how to:

Students living with traumatic situations, including those who may be English learners, are likely to experience loss of control and sense of powerlessness to various degrees. As such, regaining control is crucial to coping with traumatic stressors ( Perry & Szalavitz, 2006). In the classroom, this translates to implementing practices that value and encourage all students' participation in decisions that matter to them.

For example, some groups of students may wish to work at their desks in the corner of a room, others may prefer to work on the floor, and others may want to stand at the white board. What's key is co-creating a space where students have a voice in arranging their desks, tables, and chairs and displaying (e.g., on classroom walls or tablemats) their shared ideas, opinions, and concepts to demonstrate a shared ownership of learning.

Classroom environments that promote this type of empowerment do so by building the confidence and capacity of English learners and all students to speak up, to present and address issues of their concern, to make changes, and to take risks. Students are more likely to encounter success in this process when adults become partners and provide active support.

Use predictable classroom routines and practices

What time does school actually start and should they arrive?

What should students do if there is a delayed opening or closing of school (e.g., a delay due to inclement weather)

If there is a delay, should students go directly into the school or wait on the playground?

Where should students go if they arrive at school late?

Where do they put their coats and backpacks when they enter their classroom? Where does their homework go?

What should they be doing while they are waiting for the rest of the class to arrive?

Who will be my teacher and what's his/her name?

Using routines and practices that are consistent and predictable have been found to be essential when working with students living with trauma, violence, and chronic stress ( Blaustein, 2013).

Start class

Start the lessons

Sequence the lessons

Transition students from one task to the next during the lesson

End the lessons

Support students during non-instructional time

The following questions help to form the routine responses that students need at the beginning of the school year or when a new student enrolls in our schools:

Welcome students positively by letting them know that they are welcomed and valuable members of our classroom community.

Engage students in a sharing activity about special news such as the arrival of a new sibling, an event, and/or occasion such as a birthday or a school event or sports, performance, or curricular activity. Create routines for this sharing activity to help it to be a predictable social activity.

Provide information about the day or class' schedule so that students know what to expect during the school day or class period.

Conduct a short academic or social learning experience. For example, during one meeting, a teacher asked for a student volunteer to share with his/her peers the process that students should follow when leaving from and returning to the classroom for small group instruction. His teaching goal was to support his students in making transitions and empower students in making good choices.

Support students to transition from the opening meeting to the next classroom activity by noticing and acknowledging those who show readiness.

According to Blaustein (2013), using the same routines and rituals in our classroom activities allows students living with trauma, violence and chronic stress to downshift from a fearful state where unpredictability takes control, to a calmer and more positive one where events happen in a predictable manner. These include the ways in which we:

Here are some suggestions:

Listening skills

Empathy

Social and emotional language that is needed to express their feelings to their peers and others

Attention to their own and their peers' values, assets, and strengths

Mediating their own emotions

Resolving conflict in a productive way.

Apprentice students in social and emotional communicative skills

While paired and groupwork are important methods in any classroom, an important means to support the method working more successfully is the level of trust that we create with and among all of our students. Classroom settings are ideal places for students to acquire the social and emotional communication skills that they need to work cooperatively. All students need this type of instruction so that everyone feels safe, competent, valued, and a sense of belonging. Our instruction must involve supporting students in the development and use of the following:

Design pair and group work with plans that explicitly and intentionally support students in the development and strengthening of these skills. Look for opportunities within these groups to recognize the many ways in which students, overtly or covertly, demonstrate their personal assets. Some examples of the type of language/communication that is helpful to acknowledge students' efforts and help them acknowledge others is the following:

Asset-Based Language to Describe Students' Qualities

Focusing on student strengths: Sample feedback

That is excellent use of logic.

You are being wise. That is a great quality that is coming across in your responses.

That was a very insightful thought you just shared.

That was a solid educated guess. That is an important skill.

I appreciate your willingness to collaborate.

You seem to be getting the picture after showing so much hard work analyzing this idea!

That was a great deduction you just made to figure out a possible answer. Well done!

You are showing great curiosity, which is a great way to learn.

The way you put these two ideas together shows how you are using great analytic skills in your problem solving.

I can see how much you are enjoying sharing and defending your unique ideas.

I really like how you are showing respect to your partner by listening carefully to what he is saying.

You are using your great mind to figure out an answer. Well done!

Student attributes, strengths, and values

Many English language learners who have experienced or are experiencing trauma, violence, or chronic stress are demonstrators of great tenacity and determination. Despite the many horrendous and traumatic experiences that many have experienced, living through civil strife, natural disasters, war, extreme poverty and more, they still find the energy to show up in our schools and classrooms every day. This energy reflects one of the many attributes, strengths, and values that they possess. How many other intrinsic qualities and values hidden under adversity can you identify in the students and families you serve? Although not an exhaustive one, this list can help you identify them.

Adapted from Glasser, 2011, p. 64-65.

Final Thoughts

Adopting a strengths-based approach allows us to draw from our students' internal strengths and capacities. It also supports the academic and social-emotional growth of all students - including English learners like Javier.

The strategies and the ideas found in this article are a small sampling from our book Teaching to Strengths: Supporting Students Living with Trauma, Violence and Chronic Stress. It is our hope that by using these our classrooms can be transformed into safe, productive, and positive places where all students can see their many strengths and unlimited human potential.

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Using a Strengths-Based Approach with ELs: Supporting Students Living with Trauma, Violence and Chronic Stress

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Using a strengths-based approach allows educators to draw upon students' internal strengths and capacities, and it can be a particularly powerful practice for English learners who have experienced trauma, violence, or chronic stress.

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How to Help a Traumatized Child in the Classroom

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According to the Children's Defense Fund, one in three African-American boys and one in six Latino males born in 2001 will end up imprisoned sometime in his lifetime. These staggering numbers are tragic beyond words. But in order to change them, we have to change how we perceive the children behind the statistics.

One of us (Joyce) helps teachers and administrators do just this. Joyce works with the San Francisco Unified School District's Student, Family, Community Support Department and several underserved San Francisco schools through her award-winning UCSF Healthy Environments and Response to Trauma in Schools (HEARTS) program. While educators sometimes see a misbehaving child as a bad kid or a mean or oppositional kid, Joyce helps them to see that this is a scared kid. In other words, the child's behavior is the result of chronic exposure to traumatic events beyond their control.

© bobbieo

In addition to impacting behavior, trauma can wreak havoc on a student's ability to learn. Scientists have found that children who have been subjected repeatedly to trauma suffer from other social, psychological, cognitive, and biological issues, including difficulty regulating their emotions, paying attention, and forming good relationships-all of which make it very difficult for a child to succeed in school.

But trauma exposure does not seal one's fate. As the UCSF HEARTS program teaches, there are things that educators and other caring adults can do to mitigate the effects of trauma-and help at-risk students flourish rather than fail.
The scourge of complex trauma
Most of us have experienced some kind of traumatic event in our lives when a situation so overwhelmed us that our brain and body were unable to cope with it. Depending on our internal and external resources, most of us were probably able to recover. However, children who live in under-resourced communities-where domestic and neighborhood violence, racial discrimination, and poverty are more prevalent-can develop post-trauma difficulties after experiencing what is called complex trauma.

Complex trauma occurs through repeated and prolonged exposure to trauma-inducing situations, most of which take place in a care-giving situation. When a child can't rely on a close caregiver for comfort and safety-whether due to the caregiver's own emotional suffering or because the caregiver is the source of trauma-that young person's ability to metabolize and recover from toxic stress gets seriously hampered.

The metaphor Joyce uses in her work with schools to explain the effects of complex trauma is that of a vinyl record. When a song is played again and again, a groove is worn into the record. If, when playing a different song, someone accidentally knocks the record player, the needle will skip across the record and land in the deepest groove, playing that song yet again. Even when you reach the end of the song, sometimes the groove is so deep the needle skips back to play it once more.

Like a needle on a record player, complex trauma wears a groove in the brain. So when something non-threatening happens that reminds us of a traumatic incident, our bodies replay the traumatic reaction-mobilizing us to either run from or fight the threat, while shutting down other systems that help us think and reason. If this happens over and over, we become more easily triggered into that fear response mode, never giving our bodies time to recover. After awhile, as we adapt to this chronic triggering, our behavior can seem crazy or rude when taken out of the context of trauma.

For a child in a classroom, something as simple as the teacher raising their voice to get everyone's attention or accidentally getting bumped by another classmate can steer that child into this groove. When triggered, the child's out-of-proportion emotional and sometimes physical reaction often makes no sense whatsoever to the teacher, making it difficult for the teacher to respond appropriately.
Strategies for teachers
So what can teachers do to help students in their classrooms who have experienced complex trauma? In her work with educators, Joyce offers the following four strategies.

1) Recognize that a child is going into survival mode and respond in a kind, compassionate way. When you notice that a child might be having a difficult time, start by asking yourself, "What's happening here?" rather than "What's wrong with this child?" This simple mental switch can help you realize that the student has been triggered into a fear response, which can take many forms. For example, the student might:

Get a "deer-in-the-headlights" look

Turn red and clench their fists

Breathe more rapidly

Begin moving because their body is getting ready to run or react

Burst into tears or look as if they are about to cry

It's worth noting that not all kids will act out. However, for those who do, once you recognize the trigger, kindly and compassionately reflect back to the child: "I see that you're having trouble with this problem," or "You seem like you're getting kind of irritated," and then offer a couple choices of things the child can do, at least one of which should be appealing to them. This will help the child gain a sense of control and agency and help them to feel safe once more. Over time, if a student who is experiencing something that is frightening or harmful sees that you really care and understand, then they will be more likely to say, "I need help."

2) Create calm, predictable transitions. Transitions between activities can easily trigger a student into survival mode. That feeling of "uh oh, what's going to happen next" can be highly associated with a situation at home where a child's happy, loving daddy can, without warning, turn into a monster after he's had too much to drink.

Some teachers will play music or ring a meditation bell or blow a harmonica to signal it's time to transition. The important thing is to build a routine around transitions so that children know: a) what the transition is going to look like, b) what they're supposed to be doing, and c) what's next.

3) Praise publicly and criticize privately. For children who have experienced complex trauma, getting in trouble can sometimes mean either they or a parent will get hit. And for others, "I made a mistake" can mean "I'm entirely unlovable." Hence, teachers need to be particularly sensitive when reprimanding these students.

To use Rick Hanson's words in his presentation at the GGSC Summer Institute of Educators: "Nurture the hell out of these children." Capture those moments when the student is doing really well and point it out to build their self-worth: "Wow, I love how you sat at your desk for a whole five minutes" or, "Thank you for helping your classmate." When you need to re-direct the behavior, do so privately and in as calm a voice as possible.

4) Adapt your classroom's mindfulness practice. Mindfulness is a fabulous tool for counteracting the impact of trauma. However, it can also be threatening for children who have experienced trauma, as the practice may bring up scary and painful emotions and body sensations.

If you use mindfulness in your classroom, you might consider using the following adaptations that the UCSF HEARTS program and Mindful Schools created:

Tell students that, if they wish, they can close their eyes at the beginning of the practice. Otherwise, they should look at a spot in front of them so that no one feels stared at.

Instead of focusing on how the body feels, have students focus on a ball or other object they're holding in their hands-what it feels like and looks like in their palm.

Focus on the sounds in the room or of cars passing outside the classroom-something external to the body.

By breaking mindfulness practice down into these elemental components, the child is more likely to have a successful experience-and thus be more willing to practice in the future.

5) Take care of yourself. This actually should be number one! The metaphor of putting on your own oxygen mask first before putting it on the child is very true in this situation.
Next week's article will focus on what both teachers and administrators can do to take care of themselves and build a healthy school environment in the face of chronic trauma.
Greater Good wants to know: Do you think this article will influence your opinions or behavior?

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How to Help a Traumatized Child in the Classroom

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Exposure to chronic trauma is having tragic effects on some of our students. How can educators help?

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Technology and ELLs: Educator Toolkit

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Addressing Student Trauma, Anxiety, and Depression

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It really helps to understand post-traumatic stress disorder. Things that we might not notice could be very upsetting to a child, keeping them in that part of their brain where it's 'fight or flight.' So it's a reminder every now and then that we just need to check ourselves and think, "What are some things that we can control that could be helpful to a child in distress?" - Susan Stanley, Principal, Salina Elementary School, Dearborn, MI
Overview

Many immigrant students are currently living with high levels of fear, anxiety, stress, and depression. To better understand the reasons why, take a look at our section on how immigration issues impact students.

Building relationships with students and families can provide opportunities to identify students' needs, while providing professional development on a variety of topics in a respectful setting can help increase awareness across the staff. Here is some information to get started.

Immigrant students' social-emotional distress

In a UCLA survey studying the impact of immigration enforcement on schools, almost 90% of administrators surveyed "indicated that they have observed behavioral or emotional problems in immigrant students," and 25% indicated that it was a significant problem (Gándara & Ee, 2018b, p. 2). One administrator notes,
"Several students have arrived at school crying, withdrawn and refusing to eat lunch because they have witnessed deportation of a family member. Some students show anxiety symptoms...All of this impacts their ability to focus and complete work, which further affects them academically." (p.9)
Pediatricians serving immigrant families are noticing the same thing, according to a December 2017 Kaiser Family Foundation report, as well as negative effects on health such as problems sleeping, headaches, stomachaches, and mental health issues.

Loss of motivation

In addition, students' loss of motivation is another challenge. In this Education Week article, Principal Nedda de Castro of the International School at Prospect Heights in Brooklyn observed that, "Some of the students are assuming that they're just going to be deported anyway and starting to talk about how there's really no point in coming to school anymore. It's a lot of lost potential."

According to the UCLA research, administrators and educators across the country also reported that high-achieving students are giving up on their plans for college. After a nearby raid, a teacher in the Midwest observed the following:

"I noticed those students behaving so differently. They don't sit or stand tall. They do not want to participate in presentations. They do not want to be called. They seem disconnected or uninterested now...I serve in an academically advanced setting where students are selected and good performers" (p. 10).

Another teacher from Oregon observed,

"I have students who were college-bound now questioning if it's worth it, because they don't believe that they could get a job in their field after graduating" (p. 12).

And in our own travels to Dearborn, MI, we met teachers and community members who spoke about the toll of lengthy separations on students and families from countries such as Yemen and Syria.

Identify resources for addressing student anxiety and depression

Why this matters

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has publicly stated their expectation that the current climate will likely increase students' toxic stress level, particularly if students experience trauma. (The AAP also released a statement on the impact of family separations at the border.)

Researchers at the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) documented the impact of this anxiety on children as young as three, including an increase in finger biting and toilet accidents (Cervantes, Ullrich, & Matthews, 2018, p. 9), while teachers of older students report an increase in severe depression and a decrease in motivation and engagement. See more on the impacts of this anxiety on young children in our section on supporting young children in immigrant families.

Tips for getting started

Learn about the impacto of anxiety on students in your age group, such as impacts on behavior, as well as strategies for strategies for supporting students' social-emotional health.

Consider pulling together a team of educators, cultural liaisons, mental health professionals, administrators, parents, students (as appropriate), and community partners to identify (a) the types of challenges students are facing and (b) culturally appropriate approaches to social-emotional health for your families.

Determine which supports are currently in place and what else might be needed, such as more professional development, community outreach and family engagement; extra time for discussion in peer groups; or creating new community partnerships that can address specific issues.

As a group, determine your priorities and next steps to implement those priorities.

Continue to revisit these topics, particularly if new immigration policy changes are announced.

Keep in mind that students may be keeping these concerns quiet out of fear for their safety.

Remember that any training or discussion should always respect student/staff privacy; nothing personal should be shared without explicit permission.

Recommended resources

Recommended videos

When immigration status impacts young children: Lori Dodson, ESOL Specialist, MD

Trauma-informed instruction for immigrant students

Why this matters

More and more educators across the country are learning about the impacts of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) on students. Researchers estimate that half of the U.S. student population has experienced or is still experiencing some type of trauma, violence, or chronic stress (Zacarian, Haynes, and Alvarez-Ortiz, 2017). One teacher wrote in our 2017 survey on how schools are supporting immigrant students, "Staff need training in trauma-informed education and supporting students who've experienced many kinds of trauma. We brought in the Center for Victims of Torture to train our staff to support our specific refugee populations."

For immigrant students, the sources of trauma may be complex and may be related to:
Immigration experiences

the reasons the family left their home country (such as war or wide-spread violence)

difficult conditions, violence, sexual assault, or casualties during the journey to this country

forced separation from a parent or sibling on the journey

Experiences related to immigration enforcement

witnessing a loved one's arrest

being separated from a parent during interrogation

a forced separation for an extended period of time

detention in an immigration detention center

coming into contact with immigration enforcement officers

a lengthy separation from families or siblings

Current stresses

stressful situations such as economic stress and homelessness

other challenges at home, including domestic abuse.

Note: See the resources on addressing trauma in our resource section about family separations at the border.

Related news headlines

Take a look at our section on how trauma and anxiety can impact students' behavior and the importance of getting a complete picture of the source of the issue before taking steps that can have long-term consequences for the student.

Tips for getting started

Learn more about the impacts of trauma and signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for students the age group you work with.

If possible, look for clues and try to learn a little bit more about your students' backgrounds, keeping in mind that every individual's situation is unique, even within a family, and protecting student privacy. Start with a trusted colleague, parent liaison or community partner. If appropriate, give students opportunities to share their stories privately, or, if they wish, with classmates.

Discuss ideas for addressing students' needs with colleagues and identify next steps to implement those ideas.

Learn more about trauma-informed instruction in the following resources.

Recommended resources

Trauma-informed instruction

Strategies and toolkits

In the news

Recommended videos

Video playlist: What educators need to know about trauma

Video: When loud noises cause post-traumatic stress in schools

Video: A superintendent recalls a distressing journal entry from his teaching days

Video: Why not all changes in behavior require a special education referral

References

See our complete reference list for works cited in this article.

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Addressing Student Trauma, Anxiety, and Depression

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It really helps to understand post-traumatic stress disorder. Things that we might not notice could be very upsetting to a child, keeping them in that part of their brain where it's 'fight or flight.'

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Immigrant and Refugee Children: A Guide for Educators and School Support Staff

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Immigrant and Refugee Children: A Guide for Educators and School Support Staff

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This guide was created for educators, school support staff and service providers who teach, mentor and help open the doors of opportunity for undocumented youth and unaccompanied and refugee children currently living in the United States. Educators, school support staff and service providers are often the first individuals a student and/or family comes out to as undocumented.

Moreover, they are often the first ones to witness the impact of increased enforcement measures on students and their families.

Schools should be safe havens that embrace all students and families, regardless of citizenship and national origin, and that includes unaccompanied and refugee children. The 1982 U.S. Supreme Court case Plyler v. Doe ruled that undocumented children have a constitutional right to receive a free public K-12 education, which provides the means to becoming a "self-reliant and self-sufficient participant in society," the court wrote, and instills the "fundamental values necessary to the maintenance of a democratic political system." However, today's increased enforcement measures by the Department of Homeland Security and campaign promises made by the incoming administration threaten that right for thousands of undocumented youth and the 4.1 million U.S.-born children who live in mixed-status households with at least one parent or family member who is undocumented.

Facts About Undocumented Students

An undocumented student is an aspiring citizen who came to the United States without legal documentation or who has overstayed his or her visa. These students:

Often don't know they are undocumented until they begin the college application process;

Don't qualify for federal grants or loans, even if they are in financial need and their parents pay taxes;

Are racially and ethnically diverse, from all corners of the world, and are part of the 11.5 million undocumented immigrants in the United States.

Educator's FAQ About Immigration Raids

What impact do raids have on children and youth?

Research consistently shows that immigration enforcement actions have a harmful impact on the health, safety, academic performance and overall well-being of children, including U.S. citizen children living in mixed-status families. According to a 2010 report by the Urban Institute, children who witnessed parents or family members apprehended in a home raid were much more likely to experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder than children whose parents were arrested in other settings, including greater changes in sleeping and eating patterns and much higher degrees of fear and anxiety. Several teachers in North Carolina also reported significant behavioral changes and increased absenteeism among students following a local community raid, including among U.S. citizen students.

Are there places where raids are prohibited?

Yes, with exceptions. According to a policy memorandum released by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency in 2011, commonly referred to as the "sensitive locations memo," ICE officers and agents are to refrain from enforcement actions at least at the following locations and events:

schools (including preschools, primary schools, secondary schools, colleges and universities, and other institutions of learning, such as vocational and trade schools);

hospitals;

churches, synagogues, mosques and other institutions of worship, such as buildings rented for the purpose of religious services;

funerals, weddings and other public religious ceremonies; and

public demonstrations, such as a march, rally or parade.

Note: The sensitive locations policy memorandum may be reversed. School leaders should stay informed about possible changes.
Is there a federal law that prevents schools from sharing student information?

Yes. Under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), schools are prohibited, without parental consent, from providing information from a student's file to federal immigration agents if the information would potentially expose a student's immigration status. If ICE agents present a school with a removal warrant (deportation order), the school is still permitted to refrain from providing student information, as the warrant is administrative, not judicial. Under FERPA, schools may disclose directory information without consent, but they are required to allow parents and eligible students a reasonable amount of time to request that the school not disclose directory information about them. Some schools [and the Southern Poverty Law Center] have also interpreted the Plyler decision as prohibiting them from requiring students to provide Social Security cards or birth certificates as a condition of enrollment, test taking or participation in school activities. For more on FERPA, see familypolicy.ed.gov.

What Educators, School Support Staff and Communities Can Do

Issue a statement-in English and in other languages spoken at the school-articulating that the school supports immigrant students/parents and affirming publically that it is a welcoming site.

Stress the importance of taking proactive steps to ensure the safety and well-being of children and entire communities.

Distribute "know your rights" materials to students, families and communities about what to do if a raid occurs or an individual is detained.

Identify a bilingual person at your school who can serve as the immigration resource advocate in your building or on your campus.

Work with parents to develop a family immigration raid emergency plan.

Provide a safe place for students to wait if a parent or sibling has been detained.

Provide counseling for students who have had a family member detained by ICE.

Work with your school board to pass a resolution affirming schools as welcoming places of learning for all students, distancing the schools from enforcement actions that separate families.

Strengthen relationships with local institutions of higher education and community-based organizations that can support the needs of unaccompanied children and students with interrupted formal education.

Maintain-in English and in other languages spoken at the school-a list of resources, such as the names of mental health providers, social workers, pro bono attorneys and local immigration advocates and organizations that can be shared with your students and their families.

Partner with a pro bono attorney, legal aid organization or immigrant rights organization to schedule a "know your rights" workshop on campus to inform students and families about their rights.

Find out if there is a local immigration raid rapid response team. These teams usually consist of attorneys, media personnel and community leaders who may be able to provide support.

Participate in National Educators Coming Out Day, held annually on November 12, and "come out" in support of undocumented students.

Participate in National Institutions Coming Out Day, held annually on April 7.

For additional tools and model resolutions to create safe, welcoming environments for all students, visit aft.org and see the toolkit for this story.

Taking Action Beyond The Classroom

Advocate to stop raids and halt deportation proceedings.

Unaccompanied children and youth should be in school, not in detention centers awaiting deportation. Educators can play an important role in protesting raids and halting deportation proceedings. For example, if a student has been detained by ICE, you can send a letter of inquiry to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, asking for prosecutorial discretion to be exercised or considered, or you can file a formal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights.

You can also distribute the United We Dream deportation defense guide, which was published to inform members of Congress and other elected officials about the role they can play in stopping the deportation of their constituents and other community members.

Elected officials have successfully advocated for individuals in removal proceedings for years and continue to employ this process to help immigrant communities even today. The guide is also a useful resource for community advocates and people in deportation proceedings seeking support from their elected officials. Download the guide here.

Adopt resolutions.

School districts are responsible for ensuring the safety and well-being of all their students while they are in school. One way to create a welcoming school environment and protect undocumented students while in class and on school grounds is to pass a resolution that restricts ICE agents' access to school property, similar to the one the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) passed in February 2016. The LAUSD resolution:

Forbids immigration enforcement agents from going on campus without approval from the superintendent and the LAUSD law office.

Forbids school staff from asking about a student's immigration status or that of family members.

Provides teachers, administrators and other staff with training on how to deal with immigration issues and how to notify families in multiple languages of issues.

Asks all schools to treat students equitably, including those receiving free and reduced price meals, transportation and other services.

Requires the superintendent to come up with a plan to provide assistance and information for students and families "if faced with fear and anxiety related to immigration enforcement efforts."

Such resolutions can also improve protections for students by affirming that the schoolhouse doors are open to all students, no matter their prior academic attainment or their language proficiency. For additional information about what actions cities and counties can take to protect immigrants and make communities welcoming places for all, visit Cities for Action.

Make public statements.

Educators, administrators, students and community allies can make public statements denouncing immigration enforcement raids to reassure students and families that their local school remains a safe haven.

Create an online petition to prevent a student's deportation.

Online petitions are powerful tools for building public awareness and community support. See the NotOneMoreDeportation.com petition for 19-year-old Kimberly Pineda Chavez, who was detained in the United States after escaping violence in Honduras.

Organize a rally or walkout opposing ICE raids and deportations.

In February 2016, educators and community allies in Durham, North Carolina, organized a rally in support of a high school student detained by ICE. Actions like this help to support individuals fighting their deportation cases. The student's teachers even mailed school assignments to his detention facility to help him stay on top of his work. "There is nothing that will hold me back from giving a kid his classwork and finish their education and graduate," teacher Ellen Holmes told a local news station.
Editor's note This content was originally published by the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and its partners: United We Dream's Dream Educational Empowerment Program, the National Immigration Law Center and First Focus. This excerpt was adapted and reprinted with generous permission from the AFT.

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Immigrant and Refugee Children: A Guide for Educators and School Support Staff

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This guide was created for educators, school support staff and service providers who teach, mentor and help open the doors of opportunity for undocumented youth and unaccompanied and refugee children currently living in the United States. Educators, school support staff and service providers are often the first individuals a student and/or family comes out to as undocumented.

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Trauma in Refugee and Immigrant Students

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Making It Real:Teaching Pre-literate Adult Refugee Students

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Making It Real:Teaching Pre-literate Adult Refugee Students

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TONS OF RESOURCES! Great for Online and for speaking and listening activities!

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TONS OF RESOURCES! Great for Online and for speaking and listening activities!

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https://globalaccess.bowvalleycollege.ca/our-resources/publications-resources/esl-literacy-readers

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Forty theme-based readers, along with an instructor guide, that will support ESL literacy instructors to create comprehensive, theme-based lessons for adult ESL literacy learners.