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Listen to this post as a podcast:
A note on terminology: The acronym ESL is used less often now in schools than it used to be, because we recognize that many students who are learning English already speak several other languages, so English would not be a "second" language. I use it several times in the post because schools sometimes refer to the teachers as ESL teachers, and the term is still widely used as a search term for this topic. My intent in using the acronym is to make this post easier to find online.

You have a new student, and he speaks no English. His family has just moved to your town from Japan, and though he receives English as a Second Language (ESL) support, he will also be sitting in your room every day to give him more exposure to his new language. How can you be a good teacher to someone who barely understands you?

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, an average of 9 percent of students in U.S. public schools are English Language Learners (ELLs); that number is closer to 14 percent in cities. Although many of these students start off in high-intensity, whole-day English programs, most are integrated into mainstream classrooms within a year, well before their English language skills would be considered proficient.

How prepared are you to teach these students? If you're like most classroom teachers, you have little to no training in the most effective methods for working with English language learners (Walker, Shafer, & Iiams, 2004). So that means we have a problem here: Lots of ELL kids in regular classrooms, and no teacher training to ensure the success of that placement.

Below, three ESL teachers tell us what they know about the things regular classroom teachers can do to improve instruction for ELL students. These 12 strategies are simple, they are not very time consuming, and best of all, they will help everyone in your class learn better:

1. Make it Visual

"Avoid giving instructions in the air," says Melissa Eddington, an Ohio-based ESL teacher. "ELL kids have a harder time processing spoken language." So instructions - even basic directions for classroom procedures - should be written on the board whenever possible. Challenging concepts should be diagrammed or supported with pictures. And modeling the steps of a process or showing students what a finished product should look like can go a long way toward helping students understand. "Sometimes showing our students what to do is all they need in order to do it," Eddington says. Not only will this kind of nonlinguistic representation improve comprehension for ELL students, it will help all of your students grasp concepts better.

2. Build in more group work.

"Kids aren't just empty glasses that we pour stuff into and then at the end of the day they dump it back onto a test," says Kim, an ESL teacher who was the subject of my very first podcast interview. "If you really want the kids to learn, they've got to be engaged." That means less teacher-led, whole-class instruction, and more small groups, where students can practice language with their peers in a more personal, lower-risk setting. And if ELL students attend your class with a resource teacher, make use of that person: In most cases the resource teacher doesn't have to work exclusively with the ESL students; they can work with smaller groups that happen to contain these students, helping to improve the teacher-student ratio and give kids more time to practice.

3. Communicate with the ESL teacher.

Mary Yurkosky, a former ESL teacher in Massachusetts, credits much of her students' success to the strong relationship she had with the regular classroom teachers. "The classroom teachers were always talking to me about what they were doing in their classes," she says. "They made it so easy for me to support them: If a teacher was going to be doing a unit on plants, I could make sure we used some of that same vocabulary in the ESL class."

Ideally, this could be systematized, where ESL teachers could regularly get copies of lesson plans or collaborate with regular classroom teachers to build solid back-and-forth support, but "it doesn't have to be that much work," Yurkosky insists. "Just talk to each other. Talk about what's going on in your classrooms, invite each other to special presentations, share what your students are learning, and the words will naturally find their way into the ESL class."

4. Honor the "silent period."

Many new language learners go through a silent period, during which they will speak very little, if at all. "Don't force them to talk if they don't want to," says Eddington, "A lot of students who come from cultures outside of America want to be perfect when they speak, so they will not share until they feel they are at a point where they're perfect." Just knowing that this is a normal stage in second language acquisition should help relieve any pressure you feel to move them toward talking too quickly.

5. Allow some scaffolding with the native language.

Although it has been a hotly debated topic in the language-learning community, allowing students some use of their first language (L1) in second-language (L2) classrooms is gaining acceptance. When a student is still very new to a language, it's okay to pair him with other students who speak his native language. "Some students are afraid to open their mouths at all for fear of sounding stupid or just not knowing the words to use," Yurkosky says. "Letting them explain things or ask questions in their first language gets them to relax and feel like a part of the class."

And this doesn't only apply to spoken language. If you give students a written assignment, but the ELL student doesn't yet have the proficiency to handle writing his response in English, "Don't make them just sit there and do nothing," Eddington says. "Allow them to write in their first language if they're able. This allows them to still participate in journal writing or a math extended response, even if you can't read what they write." There has even been some evidence that allowing second-language learners to pre-write and brainstorm in L1 results in higher-quality writing in L2 in later stages of the writing process (Yigzaw, 2012).

6. Look out for culturally unique vocabulary.

"For most of these kids, their background knowledge is lacking, especially with things that are unique to American or westernized culture," says Eddington. It's important to directly teach certain vocabulary words: "Show them videos of what it looks like to toss pizza dough, show pictures of a juke box or a clothing rack - things that are not common in their own language."

One way to differentiate for ELL students is to consider the whole list of terms you're going to teach for a unit, and if you think an ELL student may be overwhelmed by such a long list, omit those that are not essential to understanding the larger topic at hand.

7. Use sentence frames to give students practice with academic language.

All students, not just English language learners, need practice with academic conversations. Sentence frames - partially completed sentences like "I disagree with what _________ said because..." - show students how to structure language in a formal way. Keep these posted in a highly visible spot in your classroom and require students to refer to them during discussions and while they write.

For this kind of language to really sink in, though, Kim says it has to become a regular part of class. "They won't do it if it's not the norm in the class, because they'll be embarrassed to use it among their peers," she says. "But if they can put it off on the teacher and say, Oh, well, you know, Miss Kim makes me talk like this, then they don't look as hoity-toity as they would otherwise."

8. Pre-teach whenever possible.

If you're going to be reading a certain article next week, give ESL students a copy of it now. If you plan to show a YouTube video tomorrow, send a link to your ESL students today. Any chance you can give these students to preview material will increase the odds that they'll understand it on the day you present it to everyone else. "That kind of thing is wonderful," Yurkosky says. "The kids feel so empowered if they've had a chance to look at the material ahead of time."

9. Learn about the cultural background of your students...

Our second-language populations grow more diverse every year. Taking the time to learn the basics of where a child comes from - exactly, not 'somewhere in the Middle East/South America/Asia/Africa' - tells the student that you respect her enough to bother. Kim remembers one time when she had to set the record straight about the diverse South American population at her school: "I was listening to the teachers talking about the 'Mexican' kids in our building," she says, "and I was like, 'We don't have any Mexicans.'" Not taking the time to at least correctly identify a child's country of origin, much like not bothering to pronounce their name correctly, is a kind of microaggression, a small, subtle insult that communicates hostility toward people of color. Make a commitment to be someone who bothers to get it right.

Once you have the country straight, take things up a notch by learning about students' religious and cultural practices. If he is a practicing Muslim, he should be told if one of the pizzas you ordered for the class party has sausage on it. If she comes from a culture where eye contact with adults is viewed as disrespectful, you'll know not to force her to look you in the eye when she's talking.

10. ...but don't make a child speak for his entire culture.

In her podcast interview, Kim shared a story about watching a teacher ask a new Iraqi student how he felt about the war in his country, right in the middle of class. "That's not cultural inclusiveness," she explains. "I've seen teachers do this and then pat themselves on the back. The students' English is limited so they can't express themselves very well, and they don't want to 'represent'; they just want to be there." If you anticipate a theme coming up in your class that's going to be relevant to one of your students, have a conversation with them in advance, or check with your ESL teacher to see if they think it's appropriate for in-class discussion.

11. Show them how to take themselves less seriously...

By modeling the risk-taking that's required to learn a new language, you help students develop the courage to take their own risks, and to have a sense of humor about it. "I tried to say the word 'paint' ( pinta) in Portuguese and instead I said the word for 'penis' ( pinto). They all roared with laughter while I stood there with a What?? look on my face," Yurkosky says. "When they explained what I'd said, I laughed so hard! I told them that laughing was fine because sometimes mistakes are really funny, but ridicule is never okay."

12. ...but always take them seriously.

One of Kim's pet peeves about how teachers interact with English language learners is the way they often see students' efforts as 'cute,' missing the whole point of what the student is trying to say. "A student will be desperate to communicate, and the teacher will get distracted by the delivery and miss the message," she says. "That's painful for me to watch." It bothers her when teachers mistake a lack of language for a lack of intelligence or maturity. When a child can't express themselves as well as they would in their native language, it's far too easy to assume the concepts just aren't in their heads.

"It breaks my heart when I hear teachers say (ELL kids) don't know anything," says Eddington. "These are brilliant kids and they know a lot. They just can't tell us in English yet." Make a conscious effort to see past the accent and the mispronunciations and treat every interaction - every student - with the respect they deserve.

"They're doing twice the job of everybody else in the class," Kim adds, "even though the result looks like half as much." ♦

Further Reading

The ESL/ELL Teacher's Survival Guide is one of the highest-rated books on teaching English-language learners available. In addition to offering an overview of the research on second-language learners and best practices in teaching ESL, it also includes a whole section on teaching ESL in the content areas and another specifically geared toward teaching ELL students in mainstream classrooms.
References:
Walker, A., Shafer, J., & Iiams, M. (2004). "Not in my classroom": Teacher attitudes towards English language learners in the mainstream classroom. NABE Journal of Research and Practice, 2(1), 130-160.

Yigzaw, A. (2012). Impact of L1 use in L2 English writing classes. Ethiopian Journal of Education and Sciences, 8(1), 11-27.

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12 Ways to Support English Learners in the Mainstream Classroom

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Advice from three ESL teachers on the things regular classroom teachers can do to help English language learners thrive in mainstream classrooms.

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Essential Strategies for EVERY classroom with ELLs

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Essential Strategies for EVERY classroom with ELLs

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https://www.edutopia.org/article/6-essential-strategies-teaching-english-language-learners/

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Over 10 percent of students in the United States-more than 4.8 million kids-are English language learners (ELLs), and the number is on the rise. Though these students do not learn differently than their native-English-speaking peers, they do have particular educational needs.

To learn about these needs-and best practices for addressing them-I interviewed a range of educators and observers, including Larry Ferlazzo, an educator and author of The ESL/ELL Teacher's Survival Guide; longtime teachers of English as a second language (ESL) Emily Francis and Tan Huynh; and the journalist Helen Thorpe, who spent a year observing a teacher who works with ELLs.

The group emphasized that the strategies listed here, which include both big-picture mindsets and nitty-gritty teaching tactics, can be incorporated into all classrooms, benefiting both native English speakers and ELLs.

1. Cultivate Relationships and Be Culturally Responsive

No surprise here. A successful classroom, our educators agreed, is one in which students feel known, appreciated, and comfortable taking emotional and intellectual risks. That requires intentional planning and consistent messaging by the teacher.

Emily Francis, an ESL teacher in Concord, North Carolina, makes clear that she wants her students to "embrace their culture and their language as a foundation of who they are" and to consider their acquisition of a new culture and language "not as subtractive, but as additive." To help support students who may never have attended school before or may be coping with migration-based trauma, Francis emphasizes that little things make a big difference. "The first thing that I need to think about is, how is my student feeling in my classroom?" she says. "Are they sitting next to a buddy they can ask a question in their home language? Do they feel comfortable tapping me on the shoulder if they have to go to the bathroom?"

But creating a supportive environment is also about cultivating an appreciation of diversity-it's critical that both the curriculum and the classroom environment honor and reflect the lives of the students. For instance, Francis makes certain that her classroom library is reflective of her students' diverse backgrounds and identities.

ESL teacher Katie Toppel, who teaches near Portland, Oregon, champions the value of home visits to get to know students' families and takes care to incorporate the particulars of students' lives, such as pets' names and favorite sports, into lessons. Students are most engaged when they feel a personal connection to a lesson or unit, a connection that's created in part by a teacher's investment in culturally competent relationships.

2. Teach Language Skills Across the Curriculum

English language learners should not be learning the fundamentals of English in isolation; they should be applying their developing language skills to rich academic content in all subjects.

"It is key that in mainstream classrooms, teachers understand their role as language teachers," says Valentina Gonzalez, a district leader in Katy, Texas, suggesting that all teachers should be aware of the specialized idiom they work within. "If we teach math, then we teach the language of mathematics. If we teach science, then we teach the language of science." Math teachers, in other words, should take the time to teach the unfamiliar vocabulary of mathematics- add, subtract, calculator, solve -concurrently with the teaching of math skills.

3. Emphasize Productive Language

The educators I interviewed agreed that productive language skills-hard-to-master dimensions of language fluency like speaking and writing-should be front and center from day one, even if students feel hesitant about them.

Beginning ELLs often develop receptive language skills like listening and reading first. Educators who are unaware of the typical path to fluency may believe that students who can follow verbal or written directions will be able to produce oral or written language, but that's usually not the case.

To support reluctant speakers, Tan Huynh, an educator who blogs at Empowering ELLs, suggests using sentence frames. "For example, when a science teacher wants ELLs to produce a hypothesis, they might offer the sentence, 'If _____ was added, then _____ because _____.' This sentence frame provides clues that empower ELLs to sound and think like scientists," Huynh says.

Andrea Honigsfeld, a professor of education at Molloy College in Rockville, New York, suggests that all lessons touch on every letter of the acronym SWIRL, which stands for Speak, Write, Interact, Read, Listen. The approach intentionally privileges productive language skills "from the beginning," she says.

4. Speak Slowly-and Increase Your Wait Time

Easier said than done. Still, many of the teachers I spoke to said this simple change is vital. You can record yourself speaking in class to measure your cadence, and adjust.

"Adding in an extra three to five seconds after we pose a question offers all students time to think," explains Gonzalez. "However, for English learners, it also gives time to translate, process their thinking, translate back into English, and develop the courage to answer. If we call on students too quickly, many of our students will stop thinking about the answers-or trying to answer at all."

That means undoing some of our own habits, according to Larry Ferlazzo, a high school ESL teacher in Sacramento, California. "Researchers have found that typically most teachers give one to two seconds between asking a question and expecting a student response," he says. "The same researchers have shown that if you wait three to five seconds, the quality of responses is astronomically greater."

5. Differentiate-and Use Multiple Modalities

All kids learn better when they engage with material in multiple ways: Lessons that involve writing, speaking, drawing, and listening, for example, give students four opportunities to deepen their understanding of the work. For ELLs, those additional engagements also provide a little breathing room so they can work through the language barrier.

Helen Thorpe, a journalist who spent a year observing Eddie Williams's classroom in Denver in order to write a book about immigrants called The Newcomers, marveled at Williams's method of differentiation. "Eddie would enunciate very clearly in English multiple times, he would write it on the board, and he would go to the projector to give a visual. And, finally, he'd be asking the kids to verbalize aspects of the lesson themselves," she says, tracing Williams's efforts to move his students from receptive to productive language fluency.

Toppel uses a strategy called QSSSA to scaffold classroom discussions with ELLs. The letters stand for Question (the teacher poses a question, then gives ample think time); Signal (a designated motion like a thumbs-up, a finger on the nose-something that lets students indicate that they're ready to answer); Stem (the teacher provides a sentence starter for the question-for example, for "What is your favorite place to read a book?" the stem might be, "My favorite place to read a book is _____"); Share; and Assess.

6. Incorporate Students' Native Languages-and Don't Be Afraid of Technology

Bilingualism is the goal, of course, not replacement.

Ferlazzo uses a strategy called "preview, view, review," which leverages a student's native language skills as a foundation for learning the new language. He introduces a topic and encourages students to preview it in materials in their home language (often using multilingual videos and other online resources); he then teaches the topic in English, and then has students review the information in their home language.

Ferlazzo also encourages teachers to embrace technologies that students find helpful, like Google Translate. He stresses that the app can be a useful way for students to translate words quickly-but warns that it can quickly "become a dependency" if it's used as more than a handy dictionary.

Thorpe agrees that Translate can take pressure off teachers, who sometimes find that they "just stand at the front of the room and say things over and over. And if the kids didn't know what those words are, they're out of luck." Translation technology means you can say it once (or twice) and let the students use the technology to translate key words and phrases.

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6 Essential Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners

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We interviewed educators with decades of experience in teaching ELLs and tapped a network of experts and observers to find the strategies that work.

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If I was given only 10 minutes to offer EL-best practices , I would share strategies that:

1. require no additional prep time

2. can be used across content areas

Chunking instruction, the act of intentionally pacing instruction to deliver one idea at a time or one step at a time, is a strategy that fulfills these two requirements while significantly improving learning for ELs.

A Metaphor for Chunking Instruction

To explain leading with a metaphor to my fellow teachers, first, I project a picture of a pizza and ask them, "How is a pizza like teaching ELs?"

Pixabay.com

Then, I ask the teachers to discuss the metaphor at their tables. Here, I'm modeling the intentional use of small groups to increase engagement and foster critical thinking.

After a few minutes of talking, I have the small groups share their responses. Some of the responses that I've received before include:

1. Every slice is different from the other

2. There's a diversity of flavors that work together to produce one product

3. Teachers get a warm feeling when they work with ELs

Many times, teachers become overwhelmed thinking of all of the ways they need to differentiate learning for ELs, when some of the best things they can do are also the simplest, like leading with a visual metaphor.

Chunk Instruction

In addition to the thoughtful comparisons the teachers supplied above, I add that when we order a pizza, it comes with pre-cut slices. Humans, no matter how hungry, cannot cram an entire pizza pie into their mouths. Instead, we enjoy the pleasure of eating a pizza one slice at a time.

Similarly, ELs struggle with processing instruction that is unchunked - meaning when learning is presented in one way for the entire lesson. Examples of this include when a teacher lectures the entire period or when students must do one task for the whole class. Instead, ELs strive when instruction is designed with various activities that help them access content.

Here are some ways to chunk your instruction so it's easier for ELs to digest:

1. Add Images

Adding an image to represent an idea is the simplest way to scaffold instruction . For example, when Mr. Arno teaches the concept of "precise" and "accurate", he always uses the image below. As he shows each image, he describes the concept. The image facilitates students' ability to understand this highly abstract concept.

2. Encourage Student Interaction
Design opportunities for students to talk about ideas and process information, such as small group or paired discussions. Their answers probably won't be correct, but the process is a much more active way of allowing them to learn the content by attempting to talk about it.
Instead of describing each image himself when he uses target graphic above, Mr. Arno ask students to discuss at their tables what each image means. Again, he is not asking them to discuss all four diagrams at once - just one at a time. After the students talk, he allows them to share their ideas. Then, students debate back and forth. This negotiating of meaning helps develop critical thinking and communication skills. If the class cannot provide a correct answer through their collaboration, Mr. Arno then explains the correct answer.

Another way of thinking about student interactions is such: To cover content, the teacher talks at students. To learn content, students talk to each other.

3. Incorporate Technology

Students interacting with each other is not the only way that students can interact with the content . Teachers can chunk instruction using technology. After teaching a series of related concepts, Mr. Arno can use technology to have students process the information instead of just going onto the next concept.

Technology aids ELs in engaging with content. I am thinking of apps and platforms such as:

provides teachers with formative data by having students answer multiple-choice or true/false questions

students produce quick, written responses

students design engaging presentations

Adobe Spark: students create animated videos to communicate ideas

Google Draw: students draft an image that represents a concept

Google Translate: students translate keywords to increase comprehension of the topic or task.

students remember vocabulary from content classes by playing different games. Below is an image from a Quizlet I co-created for Mr. Arno's class.

All of these apps and platforms invite ELs to actively engage with the content . Teachers can use technology to chunk information by providing ELs with opportunities to synthesize information with tech before going on to the next concept.

I have an entire series of articles related to meaningfully integrated technology with ELs if you want to inquire more into this topic.

4. Structure the Lesson with Intervals

Teaching with intervals is the concept of designing different learning experiences per lesson so that the content is, by its very delivery, chunked into different segments. Instead of talking at students to deliver content, we can design different experiences for students to process the information.
Some examples include:

Introductions: The teacher presents a problem for students to think about to contextualize the content prior to teaching new information.

Small group talk: Students talk in small groups to process content.

Paired discussions: Students talk in pairs to process content.

Stations: Students rotate between learning stations. Each station provides more information about an aspect of a particular topic.

Quick Write: Students produce a quick written response to process the content.

Reflection: Done at the end of the lesson. Students synthesize what was learned by talking or writing. Students can also reflect on the process of learning, which develops a growth mindset.

What's important is not the activities teachers use to chunk the content, it's the practice of designing a lesson to include multiple opportunities for students to process the content that is most significant.

Takeaways

A teacher doesn't have to be an EL specialist to create instruction that is EL-friendly. Leading with a visual metaphor and using the four simple, easily implementable strategies would significantly increase an EL's likelihood of understanding the content.

These strategies may seem like they take up valuable class time, but we're trying to go slow to go fast. What they really do is divert class time from teacher talk to student engagement.

As ELs engage with content, they internalize it. As a height of a tall building is dependent on its foundation, learning more advanced content and skills is dependent on the foundational knowledge and skills and the strategies they use to develop them.

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#79. How to Chunk Instruction: Making Instruction ML-Friendly - ELL Strategies | TanKHuynh

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You don't need to be a language specialist to design EL-friendly instruction. Just use these four strategies to promote access to content.

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Using WIDA's Can Do Descriptors to guide lesson planning

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Using WIDA's Can Do Descriptors to guide lesson planning

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How to Use WIDA Can Do Descriptors to Plan Effective Lessons for Multilingual Learners - The All-Access Classroom

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Use WIDA Can Do Descriptors to help you understand and support your emerging bilingual students through differentiated lessons.

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Lesson Planning with the SIOP Model Component 1

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Lesson Planning with the SIOP Model Component 1

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Background Knowledge (SIOP Model: Component 2)

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Background Knowledge (SIOP Model: Component 2)

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Practice and Application - SIOP Model Component 6

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Practice and Application - SIOP Model Component 6

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6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students

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Support every student by breaking learning up into chunks and providing a concrete structure for each.

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Kagan Strategies for Cooperative Learning - Effective for ELLs

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Kagan Strategies for Cooperative Learning - Effective for ELLs

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Kagan's FREE Articles - Research & Rationale - Research proves effectiveness of Kagan Structures_

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Lesson Delivery - SIOP Model: Component 7

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Lesson Delivery - SIOP Model: Component 7

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Graphic Organizers to Use in the Classroom 

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Graphic Organizers to Use in the Classroom 

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Help your students classify ideas and communicate more effectively with these free graphic organizer templates, available for download. They can be used to structure writing projects and help in problem solving, decision making, studying, planning research, and brainstorming.

Printable Graphic Organizers

Select a blank graphic organizer from the following categories depending on your curriculum needs.

Sequence of Events

Main Topic and Key Details

Compare/Contrast

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Free Downloadable Graphic Organizer Templates

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Use these free graphic organizer templates to help your students communicate more effectively by classifying ideas, structuring writing projects, and more.

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Review and Assessment: SIOP Model - Component 8

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Review and Assessment: SIOP Model - Component 8

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Flow Chart for ELs and Special Education Testing 

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Flow Chart for ELs and Special Education Testing 

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Consideration of Factors that May Impact Academic Success for ELL's Flowchart

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Welcome to dese.mo.gov. We hope you enjoy the site, and we welcome your feedback.

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Teaching Content-Area Vocabulary to ELs _ TESOL Blog

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DESE's Resource for differentiating language challenges and disabilities

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DESE's Resource for differentiating language challenges and disabilities

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https://dese.mo.gov/media/pdf/curr-eld-sped-contrasting-explanations-academic-difficulties-encountered-els

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English Learners (EL) Contrasting Explanations Academic Difficulties Encountered By ELs | Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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SIOP Lesson Plans and Activities

Our collection of SIOP lesson plans and activities includes exemplary SIOP lesson plans developed by teachers who were involved in the foundational SIOP research study, as well as new updates from our current research and professional development projects. We invite you to read these lesson plans and activities individually or with your colleagues in order to learn more about the SIOP Model. You may want to discuss why these lessons are effective for English learners or how to incorporate the SIOP strategies these teachers used in your own lessons.

All Grade Levels Early Childhood Elementary Middle High GED/Adult
Spotlight

CAL was a partner in the Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners (CREATE). CREATE researchers developed curriculum to build the language and literacy skills of English learners in the middle grades. Lesson plans and materials were infused with instructional features of the SIOP Model including language objectives, explicit vocabulary instruction, student interaction, building background knowledge, and comprehensible input.
Learn more.

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Our collection of SIOP lesson plans and activities includes exemplary SIOP lesson plans developed by teachers who were involved in the foundational SIOP research study, as well as new updates from our current research and professional development projects. We invite you to read these lesson plans and activities individually or with your colleagues in order to learn more about the SIOP Model.

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What are the reasons that English language learners often tend to be under- or over-identified for special education services? Why do the numbers of ELLs receiving special education services vary greatly by state? And what are the myths and misconceptions that result in these trends? Learn more from our related videos and experts in the resource sections below!

For an in-depth look at students who are dually-identified as ELLs and students with disabilities, see Who Are English Language Learners with Disabilities?, published in the Impact Newsletter from the University of Minnesota in 2013.

This resource section was made possible through our partnership with the National Education Association. Additional support was provided by the American Federation of Teachers.

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Special Education and ELLs: Opportunities and Challenges

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What are the reasons that English language learners often tend to be under- or over-identified for special education services? Why do the numbers of ELLs receiving special education services vary greatly by state? And what are the myths and misconceptions that result in these trends?

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Short online articles for tips to use in the classroom. 

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Short online articles for tips to use in the classroom. 

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There are a number of ways to support, or scaffold, instruction for English language learners, even if they are at beginning levels of English proficiency. These ideas from veteran educators can help make content more accessible and provide students with an opportunity to participate in all classroom activities.

For more great strategies, see our popular Bright Ideas section.

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There are a number of ways to support, or scaffold, instruction for English language learners, even if they are at beginning levels of English proficiency. These ideas from veteran educators can help make content more accessible and provide students with an opportunity to participate in all classroom activities.

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Our titles are available in the following languages:

WorldStories is a growing collection of stories from around the world. The collection includes retold traditional tales and new short stories in the languages most spoken by UK children.

We are adding new stories, translations, pictures and sound recordings every week. So keep coming back to enjoy new content!

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Our titles are available in the following languages: WorldStories is a growing collection of stories from around the world. The collection includes retold traditional tales and new short stories in the languages most spoken by UK children. We are adding new stories, translations, pictures and sound recordings every week.

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The Global Storybooks Portal is designed specifically for teachers, parents, and community members around the world. It makes 40 selected stories from the African Storybook available in major national, immigrant and refugee languages of individual countries, regions, and groups.

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Select Books and Narration in Different Languages

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Select Books and Narration in Different Languages

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Unite for Literacy provides free digital access to picture books, narrated in many languages. Literacy is at the core of a healthy community, so we unite with partners to enable all families to read with their young children.

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Free Icons and Images to help provide visuals to learn language

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Free Icons and Images to help provide visuals to learn language

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Noun Project: Free Icons & Stock Photos for Everything

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Noun Project has the most diverse collection of free icons and stock photos. Download SVG and PNG. Over 5 million art-quality icons and free photos.

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TalkingPoints allows you to communicate with parents and / or students about school or classroom activities and events. It has the ability to translate into several different languages.

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TalkingPoints - Improving student outcomes through meaningful school-family partnerships.

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TalkingPoints - Improving student outcomes through meaningful school-family partnerships.

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BridgeUniverse - TEFL Blog, News, Tips & Resources

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By Krzl Light Nuñes
May 16, 2022

As you sort through your ESL class materials, do you sometimes find yourself asking questions like, "Will these flashcards work with beginners?" or "Which activities can I use to teach grammar tenses?" When it comes to designing classes and checking student progress, Bloom's taxonomy is a tool that you can use to give your lesson planning skills a boost. Let's dive in to the benefits of Bloom's taxonomy in the ESL/EFL classroom and how you can use it to teach English more effectively.
For even more information on this topic, watch a recent BridgeUniverse Expert Series webinar, Guiding Your Students From LOTS to HOTS: Bloom's Taxonomy in the ESL Classroom.
What is Bloom's taxonomy?

Bloom's taxonomy is a system that classifies cognitive skills and educational learning objectives. Created by psychologist Benjamin Bloom in 1956, this model arranges six levels of thinking into a hierarchy, from the lowest to the highest level.

Lower-order thinking skills (LOTS)

Level 1: Remembering refers to the ability to recall information. For instance, students can memorize and define vocabulary words they learned in class.

Level 2: Understanding manifests when students are able to explain ideas or concepts. An example of this is when they can answer questions based on a text they've read.

Level 3: Applying happens when students can use facts or concepts in a different context, such as when they can talk about a variety of situations using a grammar tense they've been taught.
Learn how to create ESL lesson plans and get tips for finding free plans online.
Higher-order thinking skills (HOTS)

Level 4: Analyzing means being able to break down information into separate parts, then examine and create connections between these different parts. For instance, learners can compare and contrast the characteristics of two objects.

Level 5: Evaluating refers to the ability to form and express one's opinion. One way students do this is by supporting and defending their views during a class discussion.

Level 6: Creating is the highest level of thinking, wherein students can show proof of their learning by producing something new or original. Students at this stage, for instance, can make a presentation out of the vocabulary, ideas, and concepts they've learned.
Watch a clip from a recent BridgeUniverse Expert Series webinar to hear more about what Bloom's taxonomy is and why it's important:
Why is Bloom's taxonomy important in the ESL/EFL classroom?

Initially developed to promote certain forms of educational thinking, there are many benefits of using Bloom's taxonomy in the classroom.

It defines and organizes learning objectives and classifies human cognition

What would you like your learners to achieve by the end of the lesson? This is the first question ESL teachers need to answer. Aside from helping you understand the specific skills your students should develop, the Bloom's taxonomy model can also provide the framework for setting concrete goals for every lesson. When you teach the present perfect tense, for instance, your lesson's goal can be as specific as your students being able to use and interpret this grammar structure by talking about their life experiences.

In addition, the hierarchy of cognitive skills helps you determine what your students should do and develop next. Being able to remember the numbers in English, for example, could mean that you can prepare learners for telling time next. When you already understand your students' abilities, you'll also be able to choose the complexity of their next task to help them get to higher thinking levels.
Watch a video from the BridgeUniverse Expert Series webinar on Bloom's Taxonomy to learn more about setting measurable objectives in the classroom:
It helps teachers design lessons in line with learning objectives

Are you struggling with looking for worksheets or games suitable for your next class? By aligning the goals of your lesson to the learning stages in Bloom's taxonomy, you can stage your lessons accordingly. With your objectives in mind, you can easily decide which materials or activities work best for your learners, the order in which you want to use them in class, and the assessment tools you'll use afterward.
Learn more about using objectives in ESL lesson planning.
It provides evidence of student progress in concrete/measurable ways

While students can say they were happy about your class, how can you tell if they have actually learned something? In order to determine how effective your lessons are, you need to have measurable learning objectives. Based on the thinking skills you want your students to develop, you can then form your lesson activity, whether it's a simple task like memorizing words or a complex one like having students write their own news stories.

These objectives can also help you come up with the evaluation tools to check your students' progress more effectively. For instance, you can make use of photographs to check your students' understanding of a concept or have them write an essay based on a topic you've discussed in class.
The following infographic, from the Bridge Specialized Certification in Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) courses, sums up how to take your students from lower-order to higher-order thinking skills:
How do you use Bloom's taxonomy in the ESL/EFL classroom?

Although the cognitive skills in Bloom's taxonomy build off of each other, the goal of English teachers is to get students to develop higher-order thinking skills (HOTS). Let's take a look at the different ways you can apply Bloom's taxonomy in language learning.

Let's say you're going to teach different modes of transportation using a video. Here are some activities that you can incorporate in line with each thinking skill in Bloom's taxonomy.

1. Remembering

Introduce words related to transportation using pictures. This way, students can easily recall the vocabulary and will be able to recognize them in the video.

2. Understanding

Students watch the video, and then the teacher can check their understanding of the video by asking comprehension questions.

3. Applying

Afterward, students use the vocabulary and concepts they've learned to talk about the transportation options in their city or those in other countries.

4. Analyzing

The class then examines and discusses the pros and cons of different types of transportation.

5. Evaluating

Students can then hold a discussion on how transportation can be improved in their city.

6. Creating

Based on the previous task, students can write a proposal on improving the transportation system in the city where they live.

By classifying the different levels of cognitive ability, Bloom's taxonomy in teaching English can help you set clear class goals, find the right approach to different types of lessons, and choose the best ways to gauge how your learners have advanced in the language. Through this model, you will also encourage your students to continue progressing and give their best to produce good results.

If you're new to teaching, you'll want to get initial training and qualification with a TEFL certificate. You can explore our online TEFL courses to get started!

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Using Bloom's Taxonomy in the ESL/EFL Classroom - BridgeUniverse - TEFL Blog, News, Tips & Resources

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Bloom's taxonomy is a tool that you can use to give your lesson planning skills a boost. Let's dive in to the benefits of Bloom's taxonomy in the ESL/EFL classroom and how you can use it to teach English more effectively.