# data[].attributes.body
ELL Strategies and Best Practices

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This section provides specific ideas and strategies to support ELLs' language and literacy development, such as tips for planning lessons and the use of language objectives, as well as broader approaches such as using informal assessment and differentiation for varying language levels.

What You'll Find in This Section

Learn how educators can support the success of their English language learners (ELLs). They will be useful for a wide range of audiences, including new and veteran teachers of ELLs, paraprofessionals, tutors, and administrators at the school and district level.
Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages

Each student comes to school not only with unique academic needs but also with unique background experiences, culture, language, personality, interests, and attitudes toward learning. Effective teachers recognize that all of these factors affect how students learn in the classroom, and they adjust, or differentiate, their instruction to meet students' needs.

Here are some strategies for differentiating instruction for your English language learners, as well as ideas for taking students' level of English language proficiency into account when planning instruction.

Need some help finding ways to help your English language learners? Read these inspirational stories about English language learners, teachers and paraprofessionals who have overcome obstacles standing to achieve success.

What's even better than a bright idea? A bright idea that works! Educators from across the country have discovered excellent ways to tackle some common classroom stumbling blocks. Below are their step-by-step suggestions on how to handle issues like the fourth-grade slump or the development of critical thinking skills.

Project-based learning (PBL) offers many benefits to English language learners (ELLs), including hands-on activities, peer interaction, rich language use, and a chance to explore personal interests.

ELLs may need some additional support or guidance in order to make the most of PBL, and the following resources share ideas on how to make it a successful experience for all students.

Designing instruction based on student strengths (what the student can do) provides an important foundation for success and offers opportunities to build upon those strengths in order to address areas where the student is struggling. Learn more about this approach from the following resources and videos.

Learn how educators can support the success of their English language learners (ELLs). They will be useful for a wide range of audiences, including new and veteran teachers of ELLs, paraprofessionals, tutors, and administrators at the school and district level.
Photo by Allison Shelley for EDUimages

Each student comes to school not only with unique academic needs but also with unique background experiences, culture, language, personality, interests, and attitudes toward learning. Effective teachers recognize that all of these factors affect how students learn in the classroom, and they adjust, or differentiate, their instruction to meet students' needs.

Here are some strategies for differentiating instruction for your English language learners, as well as ideas for taking students' level of English language proficiency into account when planning instruction.

Need some help finding ways to help your English language learners? Read these inspirational stories about English language learners, teachers and paraprofessionals who have overcome obstacles standing to achieve success.

What's even better than a bright idea? A bright idea that works! Educators from across the country have discovered excellent ways to tackle some common classroom stumbling blocks. Below are their step-by-step suggestions on how to handle issues like the fourth-grade slump or the development of critical thinking skills.

Project-based learning (PBL) offers many benefits to English language learners (ELLs), including hands-on activities, peer interaction, rich language use, and a chance to explore personal interests.

ELLs may need some additional support or guidance in order to make the most of PBL, and the following resources share ideas on how to make it a successful experience for all students.

Designing instruction based on student strengths (what the student can do) provides an important foundation for success and offers opportunities to build upon those strengths in order to address areas where the student is struggling. Learn more about this approach from the following resources and videos.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This section provides specific ideas and strategies to support ELLs' language and literacy development, such as tips for planning lessons and the use of language objectives, as well as broader approaches such as using informal assessment and differentiation for varying language levels. Learn how educators can support the success of their English language learners (ELLs).

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
I teach 5th and 6th grade math to beginning English language learners. This post shares 3 critical strategies that support ELLs in the understanding of math concepts AND in the language of math. These are three "must haves" for any math classroom with ESL students, especially those with newcomers!

"Math is a universal language." Have you heard this saying? I must admit, it's drives me a little crazy! Have you seen "standardized" testing? There is a LOT of language involved in math, and for students who are new to the country, this poses a lot of obstacles. Not only do we teach grade level math concepts to our students, but we also need to teach the language of math.

So how can we best support our beginning ELLs in math? There is a reason I put vocabulary instruction at the top of the list. It simply cannot be ignored if we want our students to be successful.

1 - Vocabulary Instruction
There are three types of vocabulary: tier 1 is basic vocabulary, tier 2 is grade level vocabulary (terms most native English speakers are familiar with), and tier 3 is low frequency content specific vocabulary. ALL students need explicit instruction in the third tier!Being aware of all 3 types is important, and knowing your students is key in deciding which words might need front-loading before a lesson.

Ex. of Tier 1 Basic Vocabulary - tall, short, fast, long, more, less, far, close, heavy, light, around, cover, most, many, about, big, small, fill, full, empty, all, etc.

Ex. of Tier 2 "Grade Level" Vocabulary (math language) - increase, decrease, greatest, least, altogether, replace, combine, random, weight, length, opposite, distance, etc.

Ex. of Tier 3 Content Vocabulary - ratio, probability, quadrilaterals, polygons, equations, diameter, circumference, coefficient, variable, volume, capacity, scalene, kilometer, etc.

In classrooms with beginning ELLs, vocabulary is one of the main focuses of instruction. Terms from all 3 levels need to be explicitly taught. Analyzing the math lesson during the planning phase and looking for terms that need front-loading is vital to providing comprehensible instruction. On days that I'm introducing a new concept, I KNOW that my primary focus is on vocabulary.
---- Vocabulary Building Activities ----
I use the KIM Strategy for direct vocabulary instruction. To read a post about this highly effective vocabulary strategy, click HERE.

Key vocabulary is introduced, a simple kid friendly definition is produced and visual "memory clue" is illustrated.

Make vocabulary fun:)

Write terms on one set of cards and visuals or examples on another set, then pass out cards to students. As an "exit ticket" they must find their matching partner.

The vocabulary terms on this day were "ascending" and "descending." My sixth graders used the KIM strategy in their notebooks at the beginning of class. We practiced putting numbers (fractions, decimals, percents) in ascending and descending order. At the end of class, I passed out index cards with percentages, and their "exit" task was to get into descending order. Then I mixed the cards up and asked them to get into ascending order.

I always add an interactive notebook activity, or a foldable activity, to follow up. This resource provides students with a reference during their independent work time. These also are used as study tools before unit assessments.

To find these math resources, click HERE.

The direct vocabulary instruction always come first, then I find ways to get my students up and out of their seats for fun vocabulary building activities. This physical activity helps to solidify their understanding. An interactive notebook, or foldable, activity usually follows. Then we practice using the vocabulary throughout the unit with sentence frames to support their language acquisition.

2 - Visuals and Anchor Charts
Beginning ELLs do the majority of their learning by watching. Meaningful visuals are key to their understanding. My lessons are loaded with visuals and I am constantly drawing pictures to show what something means. I really wish I could draw!!

It's always a challenge, but my students get a kick out of my efforts. LOL! If only it could be this simple...

It would be so much easier for me, and for them! :)

Color coding is also an effective visual strategy. My students copied this capacity "diagram" in their math notebooks using 5 different colors.

Add visuals to math notebooks for each lesson so that students have a reference.

On the left hand page is a visual chart for the "Types of Lines" vocabulary. To be successful with independent activities, such as centers and homework, they have everything they need in their notebooks.
Use images that relate math to the real world around them.

I often use the"Essential Questions for 6th Grade Math" pages by The Illustrated Classroom. They've been a real life saver to me! The visuals are great and the text is simplified. I print them at 75%, cut the excess edges off, then have my students glue them into their notebooks. It works great!

Create a visual math word wall. I use this word wall, also by The Illustrated Classroom. Another math reference tool with visuals, and a great place to introduce AND review content vocabulary.

Math Videos - I absolutely love using short math videos in class, especially the ones on You Tube by NumbeRock!!

The visuals are spot on, and each video is short, only about 2-3 minutes. My students love them and can see the math concepts in action. These videos are often a part of my introductory lessons.

I also use Brain Pop Jr. videos.

Even though the "Jr." version is for grades K-3, the focus is on vocabulary, and the language is simplified, so compared to the upper elementary BP version, I find that it's a better fit for my beginning 5th and 6th graders.

Creating anchor charts is also invaluable. Pinterest is such a great place to find inspiration for math anchor charts! It's my go-to destination for ideas! As long as we are learning about a concept, the anchor chart stays up for viewing. When we go back to review at the end of the year for state assessments, or spiral back to a concept later, the anchor chart gets pulled out again. Some charts stay up all year!

The most important thing to remember about teaching beginning English language learners, IMO, is that you need to show the concept visually FIRST, along with explicit vocabulary instruction. Even with definitions, adding a visual can be "worth a thousand words." ;)

When I am planning a math lesson, I think to myself, "How can I show this concept to my students?" And... "Where can I add meaningful visuals?" If I'm teaching fractions, I want to show them parts of a whole. Maybe that means breaking a Hershey's candy bar into pieces, or cutting a pan of brownies into equal parts. (I see a chocolate theme happening here!) If I am teaching probability, I want to show the concepts of certain, impossible, likely and unlikely.

It's all about Visuals - Visuals - Visuals!!
3 - Hands On Activities
Manipulative and hands-on activities are a great way for students to see "how" math works. Cubes, tiles, measuring tools, foldable activities, food, tangrams, fraction pieces, dice and games are just some ways we can get our students working on and practicing math skills. When students are using their hands, they are focused on "doing" something, compared to when they are note taking or using receptive skills to understand a lesson or new vocabulary. Here they get to practice and try out their math thinking. It's also a great way for ME to see what they understand, as well as what might need clarifying. When math is FUN, and students have had both vocabulary building and meaningful visuals beforehand, the hands-on activities are where they can dive in and practice what they've learned.

Vocabulary, visuals and hands-on activities are the 3 must-have strategies for any math classroom with English language learners, especially beginners. Here's an example of all 3 in action.

Direct Vocabulary Instruction - term: "Data - a collection of information (facts, numbers, measurements)" Students copy this in their notebooks.

Visuals - Bar Graph Anchor Chart: Question Posed- "Which color do you like best?"

Collecting Data - Students come up and color in their favorite color choice. Then we analyze the the data. I ask questions like, Which color did most students like best? Which color did the least, or smallest, number of students like best? Which color did no students like the best? How many students chose the color red? How many students chose the color green? etc... This is a great time to build that tier 1 and 2 vocabulary.

Next, I want to model how to take this data and show it in a different way using a circle graph. See pics below.

>>> Data and Statistics - Day 2 <<<

We review the data from the circle graph and then convert fractions to percents in a whole group setting.

Hands-On Activity - My students gather data and use it to create their own circle graph. They will also convert fractions to percents.

They each get a baggie of skittles and predict how many are inside. Then they take out the skittles and gather their data. They count and note the amount for each color. Next they write the fraction for each color and convert that number into a decimal. Last, they create the circle graph the same way I modeled with the colored strips the day before. (The M&M Lab Activity by Lisa Tilmon can be found here.) My students all had a firm understanding of data collection after these 2 days. My teacher heart was smiling:)

************************************************

Vocabulary -- Visuals -- Hands-On Activities -- Oh Yea!!

************************************************

I hope that you found some helpful tips in this post. I'd love to hear about a strategy that you find to be a "must-have" when working with beginning English language learners!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Math Strategies for Beginning English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
An educational blog for sharing ideas, strategies and resources that support teachers of English Language Learners.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Math Instruction for English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Several years ago, I met a high school math teacher named Hillary Hansen who had just taught her first Basic Math course for English language learners (ELLs). She wanted so much to provide the students with the good foundation they needed, but she felt unable to engage them in her lessons. 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 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 the following 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.While Hillary still felt challenged and was working hard, the second year was much more successful for her and her students. She felt she was providing them with the foundation they needed not only to understand the mathematical concepts, but also to successfully interact within a math classroom in order to learn more advanced concepts.As a result of more effective instruction, her students:Understood the content better and were working together to find creative ways to learnIncreased their participation in discussions and learned how to use instructional supports in the classFelt more comfortable with math and asking questions to get the help they neededYou can learn more about some strategies that Hillary and other teachers recommend for teaching ELLs math in the information below, along with reflection tips and ideas for getting to know your students’ math backgrounds.ELL Math Resource CollectionThis resource collection features several ideas for teaching math to ELLs.Reflection QuestionsHow much math instruction have your ELLs received in their prior schooling?How much do their levels of math background vary?What are some of their strengths related to math?What are some of their challenges?What are some practical ways your ELLs are using math in their daily lives?What kinds of strategies have supported their success or engagement in other areas?What are some ways that collaboration or co-teaching might support your ELLs?What are some leadership opportunities you might give ELLs in pair work or small group work?Learn About Students’ Math BackgroundsTeaching ELLs: Tips for Math TeachersPrint PDF >It’s important to remember that ELLs’ math backgrounds may vary significantly. Some students may have had consistent schooling where they developed strong math skills. Others may have limited or no formal schooling, but may have practical skills related to time, money, or other daily topics. If possible, find out whether students have attended school regularly and what kind of experience they have had with math instruction and with math in general. Look for ways to tie instruction to student interests (like sports) and responsibilities at home that involve math, such as helping with family finances, working in family businesses, and holding other jobs. For example, students from migrant farmworker families may be using math related to agriculture, such as weighing or selling produce. Also keep in mind that students may use other numeric and measurement systems students, such as metric system, Celsius, military time, etc.In addition, Pennsylvania educators Sally Lopez and Erin Minick also encourage educators to:Look for leadership opportunities for all students in math classProvide students with opportunities to “teach” others, work together, and demonstrate what they know in multiple waysGroup students intentionally and with sensitivity, avoiding the designation of specific students as “needing more help” in their grouping, partner assignments, or placement in the classroom(Ms. Lopez and Ms. Minick conducted a book study focused on Teaching Math to Multilingual Students, which you can learn more about from their website.)Keep in mind that veteran educators of ELLs also stress the importance of getting to know students as a key part of supporting student success. For example, in this NCELA webinar, Dr. Haiwen Chu, a national expert on mathematics education for English Learners at WestEd, recalls that visiting his high school students’ neighborhoods provided valuable insights on their experiences and familiar topics.See additional ideas for getting to you know your ELLs in 10 Strategies for Building Relationships with ELLs.The Language of MathAlthough it is easy to assume that many ELLs will excel in math class because math is a “universal language” and students may have had prior educational experience that included mathematical instruction, that assumption can lead educators astray. While computational skills may transfer, ELLs may still need support with language-focused tasks, such as solving word problems, learning (and using) math vocabulary, and writing explanations. 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), especially when considered along with the demands of college- and career-ready standards.Co-Teaching and CollaborationFor 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. When educators collaborate, however, they can better understand each other’s expertise and combine their expertise for the benefit of students.For example, when planning a lesson, a math teacher and an ELL teacher could collaborate to identify both the target content, such as key standards, concepts, or specific topics, as well as key vocabulary, academic language, and the language-focused tasks students will need to complete the lesson. These tasks might include writing out a proof, reading a math problem, explaining how to solve a problem, or writing out numbers as words. The ELL specialist could walk the math teacher through this process several times so that it becomes a more integrated part of the math teacher’s planning over time. After the lesson, the teachers could identify other areas of focus or clarification needed and share these insights with their colleagues.Another tool content teachers can use is language objectives, which help target the language demands of the lesson. You can learn more about them in the videos featuring Mr. Jesus Ortiz below.Teaching Academic VocabularyVocabulary instruction is essential for 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, as well as understanding the concept a vocabulary word describes.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 they “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.Teach key academic vocabularyAfter you identify your target content, identify the academic vocabulary words that students will need to understand that content. Some of these key phrases or new vocabulary words may also be helpful to pre-teach in small groups or mini lessons. Think about:Academic vocabulary (equilateral)Words and phrases needed to solve a problem (less than, given, arrange)Common words needed to solve word problems (train station, dolphin, favorite)Homophones (eight/ate, plane/plain, one/won, two/to/too, four/for, some/sum)Words that students are likely to encounter in other settings (formula, prove)Words that represent a numerical value necessary for solving the problem, such as measurement words (foot, feet, meter, pounds, kilometers)After you identify the vocabulary you wish to teach, use scaffolds for academic vocabulary, such as: Visuals: These can include visual representations of concepts, photos, and illustrations of key vocabulary words, posters, and number lines.Realia (real objects) and manipulatives: These might include hands-on objects related to a topic or small items, such as coins or small blocks for counting, sorting, weighing, etc.Graphic organizers: Graphic organizers are tools that allow students to organize information in a visual or hands-on way.Anchor charts: Anchor charts are posters that students and teachers co-create to highlight key concepts and vocabulary that students will need for reference.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 ( ).In addition, it can be helpful to ask students which strategies support their learning. Students often can provide valuable information on what is working for them!For examples of how vocabulary can impact students’ understanding of math problems, see the related video with ESL teacher Anne Formato below.Teach words with multiple meaningsDemonstrate that vocabulary can have multiple meanings. Help students understand the different meanings of words, as well as how to use them correctly in a mathematical context. This is also a good opportunity for using visuals and realia. Examples include:YardPlotTableProofAreaEvenPlanePlaceTimesBillQuarterChangeDraw on students’ home languagesUse cognates, which are related words in two languages. English and Spanish have many cognates within academic terms, like fraction/fracción.Use translated words or phrases strategically. For example, New York University has published bilingual glossaries for several topics.Allow (and encourage!) students to use their languages in group work to solve problems, brainstorm, and review material. 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.Increasing Student Language ProductionThe language demands of math are complex. Working with an ELL specialist can be a good starting point for identifying some of the math demands of the lessons you are teaching, as well as for planning how to teach and scaffold those language demands.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. 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.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. (Learn more in our sentence frame and sentence stems strategy.)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, such as entrance/exit tickets or math journals. This is an excellent way for students to process what they’ve learned and what questions they still have. The journal or exit/entrance ticket prompt 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…” “Something that helped me was...“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.Teach students how to read, interpret, and summarize data. Provide students with explicit, step-by-step instructions in how to read charts, graphs, tables, and infographics, as well as how to describe what they observe in visual representations of data.Model the kinds of writing students are expected to complete (e.g., written explanations). Students need to see and understand what they are expected to do and produce, such as explaining how they solved a math problem. This is a great opportunity for the “gradual release” strategy -- I do, we do, you do.Try AI tools. Consider using AI tools to rewrite math problems for students at early levels of proficiency or to generate math problems with familiar vocabulary that achieve your target objective. Bilingual Glossaries in Content AreasNew York University has published several bilingual glossaries in multiple languages that cover different content areas, including elementary math, middle school math, Algebra 1 and 2, Calculus, and related math terms.Reading and Understanding Written Math ProblemsWritten 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, 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.Identify key background knowledge in math problemsIt’s important to identify what kinds of background knowledge students will need to understand a math problem. For example, Ms. Lopez and Ms. Minick used this activity with a conference session: Ms. Lopez chose four math problems from her son’s math textbook and asked session attendees to brainstorm the kinds of background knowledge students might have questions about, some of which were relevant to solving the problem and some of which weren’t. Here are some things that attendees came up with:A math problem about a coupon and sales tax at a dog groomer: What is a dog groomer? Why do people take their dogs to get groomed? What is sales tax? What is a coupon? What is “deluxe”? What is an estimate and a discount?A math problem about people receiving a voucher for a free water bottle at a football game: Is football different from soccer? What is a voucher? Does the water bottle come with water inside it?A math problem about a fishing pole on sale: What is “percent off”? What is a sale? What is “regularly priced”? What steps have to be followed to solve this problem?A math problem about calculating a tip in a restaurant: What does “leave a tip” mean? What is a tip? Does the fact that there are four sisters (Emilia and three sisters) impact the outcome of the problem? Why aren’t they using an app like Venmo?As seen from the example above, this can be a powerful area in which math teachers and ELL teachers can collaborate.The Role of Background KnowledgeWhen it comes to background knowledge that impacts students’ understanding of new concepts, students may have relevant experiences to what you are teaching that just need to be drawn out (as in the vignette below). In other cases, students may not have the needed background knowledge. 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 tapping into and building background knowledge of students.Identify connections to your students’ experiences. When planning the lesson, consider whether they might have relevant experiences, and as you introduce the lesson, find out what they know, giving them an opportunity to make connections. They may come up with connections you never had imagined!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. This may be an area in which you wish to experiment with AI tools that can rewrite problems.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. Classroom vignette: A moment of humilityA middle school math teacher was trying to teach points on a grid and vertical/horizontal axis to her ESL students, three boys from Vietnam. She tried many approaches, including visuals, games, simulations, and manipulatives, and was just about to give up after very little progress. Suddenly, a student said, “Oh, I know — same same you drive a boat!” (“The same as you drive a boat!”) It turns out the child had helped his uncle use the stars to navigate a raft when they were fleeing Vietnam and trying to reach refugee camps in Thailand. He explained the concept to the other boys in Vietnamese with gestures and drawings on the board, who knew exactly what he was talking about. The teacher reflected, “I felt so humble. These boys knew a lot more about math than I had given them credit for. I had failed to activate their prior knowledge, and in the process had almost given up.“Source: This vignette is presented in Chapter 4 of Special Education Considerations for English Learners: Delivering a Continuum of Services. Using TechnologyTechnology can also be a powerful tool in math instruction for ELLs. Here are some 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.Find out what’s available online. Both PBS Learning Media and Vital NY (Video Teaching and Learning for NYS Educators) on Teachers’ Domain offers an online library of free public media resources. 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 calculator or other device, 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, graphing calculator, or math apps on devices such as phones or tablets. 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.Learn more about how to use AI tools in math. AI tools can be used to generate, differentiate, or rewrite a math problem; create a summary of a lesson plan; and many other tasks. Keep in mind that AI-generated content always need a careful review and edit. (See more in Using AI in Math from Edutopia.)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.Books About Math and MathematiciansIn addition, there are lots of books about math and mathematicians that you can incorporate into your classroom and classroom library. You can see a wide range of titles for different ages in our Math Resource Collection.Closing ThoughtsEven 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. You never know — 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.Related VideosHow vocabulary can get in the way of solving a word problemELL Specialist Anne Formato talks about the trouble a student had in understanding a written math problem based on a vocabulary word. Teacher Alejandra Rojas: Why cognates are your “best friend” in math classElementary teacher Alejandra Rojas, who teaches in a dual-immersion program, explains why cognates support vocabulary development in her Spanish-language math class. Teacher Alejandra Rojas: When bilingual students translate for their parentsAlejandra Rojas, a teacher at a dual-immersion school in Arlington, VA, shares some of her experiences as a child and teenager translating for her mother. How to Write Language Objectives: Tips for ELL EducatorsIn this video from Syracuse, NY, Jesus Ortiz, a bilingual teacher, learns how to write a language objective from Areli Schermerhorn, a peer evaluator with expertise in ELL and bilingual education. Teacher Observation Cycle: A Math Lesson on PictographsThis video highlights Mr. Ortiz’s math lesson on pictographs. While the main topic of the video is teacher evaluation, numerous best practices and strategies related to math instruction for ELLs are mentioned in the video. Recommended ResourcesNCELA Teaching Practice Brief: Math (A related podcast is available as well)Supporting English Learners in Math and Science: Effective Instructional Practices and Examples from NCELA’s Teaching Briefs PBS Learning Media: Math LessonsEngageNY: Common Core and MathCommon Core Math and ELLs: Blog PostsDiscovery Education: PuzzlemakerCatherine Snow: Word Generation SMART Notebook Lesson ActivitiesTranslating Word ProblemsColorín Colorado Webcast: English Language Learners in Middle and High School

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
What Does Research Tell Us About Teaching Reading to English Language Learners?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We create practical, timely, affordable professional learning to help educators and instructional leaders provide students with a modern, equitable, and quality education.

# data[].attributes.body
Virtual ELL Math Strategies

# data[].attributes.body
Science and ELLs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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 describe some of the opportunities and challenges that ELLs may face in an inquiry classroom and offer guidelines for identifying important academic language features in a lesson. The approaches described are designed to engage students in the practices outlined in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS).

Introduction

Many factors contribute to a classroom's diversity. These include race, culture, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, learning styles, varied experiences and background knowledge, support from home, skill level, readiness, behavior, and students' proficiency level in English. Because they are among the fastest-growing demographic group of students in the United States, teaching English language learners (ELLs) has become a big challenge for teachers as they try to find ways to make content comprehensible and help students use English to communicate their understanding of the core content areas of mathematics, social studies, and science.

Just as diversity comes in many different forms in the classroom, English learners as a group are diverse as well. ELLs vary widely by level of schooling, parents' level of education, parents' proficiency in English, proficiency and literacy in their native language, and proficiency in English. Some English learners have had limited access to education, and some have experienced war firsthand or lived in refugee camps. Most ELLs are born in the United States, but the level of English spoken in their homes varies considerably (Wright 2010).

The students in Sharon's class are mostly English learners, but they are different from one another in many ways. For example, Diana is a student from Burma who is at the beginning level of English proficiency according to California's English Language Development Test (CELDT). She has had limited access to public education in her home country and struggles with academic content.

Rafael was born in the United States, but his parents do not speak English. Although he is making good progress in school, his proficiency in English is at an intermediate level. Carlos is a gifted student whose English skills are advanced. His parents are bilingual and speak to him in both English and Spanish at home. These three students are examples of the range of experiences, backgrounds, and levels of proficiency that Sharon must consider when she plans and teaches her science lessons.

Challenges Language Learners Face During Inquiry Science

When engaged in inquiry science, children must use language to make a prediction or a hypothesis. They use language when talking to a friend about how they'll set up an experiment. And they use language when they are reading about batteries, reflecting on the outcome of an investigation, writing about the conclusions they draw, or pondering new questions they have.

Language can be a powerful learning tool during inquiry, promoting the understanding of science concepts (Rosebery, Warren, and Conant 1992). But when the language of instruction is unfamiliar to a student, English language learners can experience challenges that may create roadblocks to learning. These challenges are reflected in their scores on science achievement tests, which are well below that of their native English-speaking counterparts (Next Generation Science Standards Writing Team 2012).

English language learners face a triple challenge during science instruction. They must learn everyday vocabulary, content-specific vocabulary, and the language structures that are used when engaged in inquiry, such as formulating hypotheses, drawing conclusions, making inferences, and asking questions.

The language of science can be confusing for English language learners because it uses many words from everyday life that have different meanings. For example, students may know that they eat off of a plate, but in science, plate tectonics has quite a different meaning. The same is true of the words cell (as in cell phone), tissue (something to use when you sneeze), and organ (an instrument). All of these words have meanings in everyday life that are different from the way they are used in science (Wright 2010).

To create an equitable learning environment for English language learners during inquiry, teachers must be aware of their students' proficiency levels in English and determine the language demands of science lessons to plan for appropriate support during instruction. English language learners are entitled to high-quality language and content instruction so that they can use English to learn science and use science as a context for learning English. When we teach science, we are also teaching English, not just teaching in English.

Determining the Academic Language Demands of a Science Lesson

When planning a science lesson, Sharon analyzes the language that students will be reading, writing, listening to, and having to produce. If students have to read from their science textbook or a piece of nonfiction, Sharon reads the text ahead of time, looking for any text features that might pose problems for her English learners. She asks herself many questions as she thinks about the language demands of the reading:

Are there tricky definitions that might need to be discussed or recast in more accessible ways?

Are there grammatical forms that might be challenging to readers, such as the conditional tense: What might happen if an earthquake occurs in a large city?

Are there long, complex sentences that might need to be broken down into shorter sentences for the students?

Are there idiomatic phrases that may be unfamiliar? Are there captions in the text that students might need to pay particular attention to?

Are there transition words used (unless, although, finally, because, consequently, therefore), and will students need to learn what they indicate (Cloud, Genesee, and Hamayan 2009)?

Sharon also thinks about key vocabulary that her students might need to understand and use during inquiry. For example, when planning a unit on energy, Sharon determines what:

everyday words students will need to know and use (such as rubber band, wire, flashlight, Styrofoam, paper, battery)

content-specific vocabulary they will need to learn (such as electricity, conductor, energy, insulator).

As she thinks about when and how she will teach the terms, Sharon draws from a variety of strategies that make the vocabulary accessible and easier to learn. These include:

making use of realia or concrete materials to demonstrate usage (for example, using a real flashlight when introducing the word)

creating an illustrated vocabulary chart to help students visualize the words

using familiar synonyms for academic terms (for example, see-through for transparent)

making students aware of cognates, which are words in English that sound similar in a student's native language (for example, the word atomos is Spanish for atoms).

In addition to using these strategies to explicitly teach vocabulary, Sharon models using the words in context and has her students repeat them for practice.

The academic language that students must learn and use during inquiry science is not restricted to vocabulary. Students must also use the vocabulary in complete sentences to say something about their learning. So if a student is learning about minerals and wants to compare two different ones, she will need to know some describing words ( black, white, rough, smooth) and be able to use them to compare the minerals (mineral A is white and smooth, whereas mineral B is black and rough).

In other words, the student is using the vocabulary for a purpose: to compare minerals. In science, students use language during inquiry for a variety of purposes: to describe, compare, hypothesize, predict, sequence, categorize or classify, explain, analyze, draw conclusions, ask and answer questions, estimate, persuade, and identify. Whenever we ask children to read something, say something, write something, or listen to our directions or a procedure during inquiry science, we are placing a language demand on them for which they may need extra support, depending upon their level of proficiency in English.

Setting Content and Language Objectives

When planning a science lesson, Sharon thinks about content and language as interconnected, because we use language to learn about science concepts, and we use science contexts to develop language. "Just as language (development) cannot occur if we only focus on subject matter, content knowledge cannot grow if we only focus on learning the English language" (Hill and Flynn 2006, 22).

When students use communication to make sense of the world, and when they talk or write about their learning, it gives the teacher a window into their thinking. Are their ideas correct? Do they hold naïve conceptions about a concept? Do their ideas hold merit? Language is an important learning tool and a key assessment tool. When Sharon thinks about the science content she will teach, she considers the language that students will use to show that they have learned the content. To help her provide the right support for students, she first sets a science-content objective (guided by the overall science standard or goal for the lesson), and then she thinks of a language objective that supports the content objective.

Example: Energy lesson

For example, for one of the lessons in a unit on energy, Sharon knew that students would be learning about different sources of energy (the science-content objective). She also knew that students would be thinking about, talking about, and then writing about what they think energy is. Because Sharon knew that her students would need to describe where energy comes from and what it is, she set a language objective: "Students will orally and in writing describe energy and where it comes from."

Setting a language objective focuses Sharon's attention on the purpose for using language in a lesson (in this case, the purpose was describing). Setting a language objective also guides Sharon when she thinks about the support students will need when using language. In the lesson on energy, Sharon offered her students a simple writing prompt- Energy is ...-to help them get started on their writing. The idea for the prompt flowed directly from the language objective.

Example: Pendulum lesson

In another lesson, on pendulums, Sharon's content objective was "Students will conduct multiple trials to test a prediction in a pendulum experiment." Her language objective, which supported the content objective, was "Students will make predictions about the pendulums orally and in writing." Writing a language objective helped Sharon focus on the purpose for using language in the lesson (making predictions), thereby helping her plan for linguistic support.

Example: Mineral lesson

For a lesson on minerals, Sharon had to teach the following big idea or science standard over the course of a week: "Students know how to compare the physical properties of different kinds of rocks and know that a rock is composed of different combinations of minerals." The lesson she was going to teach that day from the rocks and minerals unit engaged students in performing tests.

Sharon's content objective was "Students will perform a variety of tests to learn about the properties of minerals." Her language objective, which supported the content objective, was "Students will use key vocabulary to describe and compare the properties of minerals orally and in writing." The language objective for the lesson helped Sharon focus on what she wanted students to talk and write about during the lesson so that they would meet the content objective. It also helped guide her in creating the support students would need to describe and compare the minerals.

Native English speakers are able to perform the language functions of describing, predicting, and comparing when prompted with questions such as, Can you describe what energy is and where it comes from? What do you predict will happen when you perform the experiment with the pendulum? How does mineral A compare with mineral B? English language learners may understand the content of the lesson, but their inexperience with the language can keep them from articulating what they know.

It is also possible that their struggles with the language of instruction lead them to partial or inaccurate understandings of the content. Until they verbalize their understandings, what they have learned or not learned remains a mystery to the teacher and may even be unclear to the students themselves. Choosing a language objective or language function that matches the science-content objective makes the learning more observable to the teacher and the student (Bresser, Melanese, and Sphar 2009).

Setting a content objective helps the teacher think about the science content she needs to focus on. Setting an accompanying language objective serves to highlight the language students will use during the lesson to indicate whether they are learning the science. Setting a language objective also guides the teacher in planning strategies that will support students when they communicate during inquiry.

This article continues in Part 2, Communication and Language Strategies for the Science Inquiry Classroom.

Citations

Bresser, R. and Fargason, S. (2013)."Supporting English Language Learners in the Diverse Classroom." Becoming Scientists: Inquiry-Based Teaching in Diverse Classrooms, Grades 3-5. Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers. Pgs. 61-74. Reprinted with permission.

References

Bresser, Rusty, Melanese, Kathy, and Sphar, Christine. 2009. Supporting English Language Learners in Math Class. Sausalito, CA: Math Solutions.

Cloud, Nancy, Genesee, Fred, and Hamayan, Else. 2009. Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners: A Teacher's Guide to Research-Based Practices. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Delpit, Lisa. 1999. Other People's Children: Cultural Conflict in the Classroom. New York: The New Press.

Hill, Jane, and Flynn, Kathleen M. 2006. Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners. Alexandria, VA: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Next Generation Science Standards Writing Team. 2012. Next Generation Science Standards. Washington, DC: National Academies Press. www.nextgenscience.org.

Rosebery, Ann S., Warren, Beth, and Conant, Faith R. 1992. "Appropriating Scientific Discourse: Findings from Language Minority Classrooms." Journal of Research in Science Teaching 33: 569-600.

Wright, Wayne E. 2010. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia: Caslon.

Reprints

For any reprint requests, please contact the author or publisher listed.

More by this author

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Opportunities and Challenges for ELLs in the Science Inquiry Classroom (Part 1)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Teaching science to English as a second language students can pose real challenges. ESL students are not only learning English, they are also learning the language of science.

In an academic year, students are responsible for learning hundreds of science vocabulary terms. For English language learners, it can be difficult to navigate the language of science unless a series of scaffolding strategies are put in place.

First of all, every lesson should begin with a "Do Now" activity that activates students' prior knowledge. Keep in mind that ESL students may have different background knowledge compared to other urban students.

ESL students may have first-hand experience with many of the science concepts we teach. After all, our foreign-born students may have lived in a range of climates, in rural areas or may have even lived through earthquakes or hurricanes. Allowing ESL students to access and share their prior knowledge provides them with a sense that they already know science, despite their language barriers.

Visual aids can also help us reach our English language learners. As the saying goes, a picture is indeed worth a thousand words. Abstract concepts such as particles, energy, expansion and contraction can be made easier to understand with visual aids.

For those of us fortunate enough to have a projector and a smartboard, sites such as Fossweb.com and teachersdomain.org have short, animated clips that illustrate concepts in every field of science. When students can see concepts illustrated, they get a better understanding of them.

An inquiry-based approach to science is also effective at reaching ESL students. Hands-on science requires less interaction with the dense language of science textbooks and allows for more meaningful learning of concepts by engaging students in science activities. By developing questions, forming hypotheses and carrying out investigations, students become more versed in the language and process of science. Rather than being told the facts, in an inquiry-based classroom students must draw their own conclusions.

An inquiry-based approach also encourages students to collaborate and communicate as they learn. ESL students can benefit from having to communicate orally as they carry out activities with their peers and work together to record data. Students also need to make claims, back up their claims with evidence and draw conclusions. All of these processes require communication among peers as well as whole class instruction.

While an inquiry-based approach may lessen some of the language demands put on ESL students, at some point all students need to use a textbook to find information. ESL students need additional scaffolds to make their way through the complicated language used in science textbooks. Be sure to preview the key vocabulary words used in the chapter and provide a glossary in the students' native language if possible.

As most science terms have a Latin or Greek origin, students may find that the vocabulary terms are similar in many languages. Use graphic organizers to help students find the main idea and supporting details in a text, and be clear about what key concepts we want students to extract from the text.

Graphic organizers can also help students show what they know. As we assess students with varying levels of fluency and academic literacy, we want to make sure we allow ESL students an opportunity to demonstrate their level of understanding of science concepts.

Students can use graphics such as arrows or numbers to demonstrate changes such as increases and decreases when learning about mass, volume and density. Graphic organizers such as concept maps allow students to develop language skills while showing their knowledge of relationships by making them link vocabulary terms with clauses such as metamorphic rocks -> are formed by -> pressure and heat.

Science is really a way of thinking that involves gathering information, making inferences and then organizing and explaining the information. In other words, science involves all the literacy skills found in every other content area.

Science teachers can be key in helping our English language learners develop the academic literacy they need to succeed in all subjects by providing ESL students with strategies to help them develop their thinking skills.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Teaching science to English as a second language students can pose real challenges. ESL students are not only learning English, they are also learning the language of science. In an academic year, students are responsible for learning hundreds of science vocabulary terms. For English language learners, it can be difficult to navigate the language of science unless a series of scaffolding strategies are put in place.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Understanding the language and concepts used in a social studies classroom provides an enormous challenge to ELs. ELs generally lack prior knowledge of the U.S. history, geography, and current events needed to understand new material in social studies, and even advanced ELs struggle with the language used in social studies texts.

One of my ELs proudly showed me that he had received a B+ on a test given in his general education history class on the three branches of the U.S. government. I could see immediately that the language was way above his English language development level. When I asked him a simple question about the role played by the legislative branch of the government, he didn't know the answer. I found that he had memorized the information from a study sheet without comprehending the material and regurgitated the answers on the test. To my mind, this type of learning is perpetuated by the "teaching to the test" mentality in this age of standardized testing.
Challenges for ELs in Learning Social Studies
I questioned subject-area teachers from Grades 4-12 about the challenges that their ELs face when studying social studies. Here are some of the challenges they shared with me.

ELs lack familiarity with historical terms, government processes, and vocabulary used in the study of U.S. history and social studies.

Social studies text contains complex sentences, passive voice, and extensive use of pronouns.

Concepts that do not exist in all cultures are difficult. Examples are the concepts of privacy, democratic processes, rights of citizens, and free will.

ELs may lack concept of movement within the structure of a society.

Use in U.S. schools of "timeline" teaching vs. learning history by "dynasty" or "period."

Social studies is often taught using lecture-style teaching methods. ELs have difficulty with understanding what the teacher is saying and being able to take notes.

The amount of text that is covered during a single lesson is overwhelming for ELs. They also have an inability to tell what is important in the text and what is not important.

How Do We Help ELs Meet These Challenges?
In a previous blog, I wrote about six strategies for teaching ELs across the content areas. I should like to draw from this blog to remind teachers of the absolute essential strategies when teaching social studies to ELs.

1. It is essential to connect learning to the students' personal, cultural, and world experiences.

2. Teachers need to design lessons that provide comprehensible input.

3. Lecture-style teaching leaves ELs out of the learning in the social studies classroom. Teachers need to make lessons auditory, visual, and kinesthetic. Use cooperative learning strategies, project-based learning, and Makerspaces.

4. Develop vocabulary over the course of the unit and provide plenty of practice. My most recent blog on teaching language to pre-K-12 ELs through picture books provides plenty of opportunities to develop language through picture books about events in American history. Picture books can help ELs develop vocabulary, produce language to go with the pictures, and write about their story.

Scaffolding Helps ELs Meet the Challenges of Social Studies Learning
Another important strategy to help ELs meet the challenges of social studies learning is that teachers provide scaffolding so that students can access the information being taught in the lessons. Here are some online materials that will help ELs learn about a lesson in their own language first.

CNN en Español or CNN in Arabic. When studying current events, ELs can follow the events in either Spanish or Arabic on CNN. (Grades 5-12)

Google supports more than 104 languages or dialects and offers a personalized version of its search engine for more than 115 countries. Have students from Korea, for example, go to Google Korea and search for information in Korean. (Grades 5-12)

Simple English Wiktionary is an online dictionary. It provides definitions for ELs in simple language. It also provides a definition of vocabulary in English in a variety of languages. (Grades 5-12)

Wikipedia and Simple English Wikipedia are available in a large variety of languages and provide native-language access to information for ELs. Teachers may want to check articles for accuracy of content information. (Grades 4-12)

Newsela contains articles in English and Spanish as well as a built-in mechanism to change the reading level in English. (Grades 2-12)

Education Place is a website that provides graphic organizers for students in English and Spanish. (Grades K-12)

Social studies resources from Colorín Colorado provide resources for the teaching of social studies to ELs.

If you have resources to add to this blog, I would appreciate your comments. The more we share as teachers, the more we all learn.

About Judie Haynes

Judie Haynes taught elementary ESL for 28 years and is the author and coauthor of eight books for teachers of ELs , the most recent being "Teaching to Strengths: Supporting Students Living with Trauma, Violence and Chronic Stress" with Debbie Zacarian and Lourdes Alvarez-Ortiz. She was a columnist for the TESOL publication "Essential Teacher" and is also cofounder and comoderator of the Twitter Chat for teachers of English learners #ELLCHAT.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
| Challenges for ELs in the Social Studies Classroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Understanding the language and concepts used in a social studies classroom provides an enormous challenge to ELs. ELs generally lack prior knowledge of the U.S. history, geography, and current events needed to understand new material in social studies, and even advanced ELs struggle with the language used in social studies texts.

# data[].attributes.headline
Preparing Social Studies lessons with ELLs in mind.

# data[].attributes.subject
Preparing Social Studies lessons with ELLs in mind.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Consider the following scenario:

A fifth-grade teacher was preparing her class to learn about the American Revolution. She enlisted the students' help in acting out the events that led to the Revolution with elaborate props and exercises. When the class ended, the students were told they would read more about the Revolution the following day. As they left the room, an ESL student stopped and asked urgently, "But who won?"

This situation highlights some of the challenges that teachers face when helping English language learners, or ELLs, master social studies content:

Background knowledge
ELLs may not have the same background knowledge that their peers have or that textbook authors take for granted, as explained in this video clip with ELL teacher Amber Prentice.

Different perspectives
ELLs bring their own valuable and important experiences to the classroom. Often those experiences can be connected to the content in meaningful ways; however, if different points of view or ideas aren't expressed or identified, students may miss key concepts and ideas in the lesson.

Academic language and vocabulary
ELLs must learn the academic language and vocabulary needed to comprehend and produce new content - all while learning the new content and concepts at the same time!

For content-area teachers with limited experience working with ELLs, planning a lesson that engages them and helps them learn new material may seem daunting. The good news is that there are a number of ways to engage ELLs with social studies content and draw on their own unique background knowledge and perspectives. This article will describe some strategies for planning social studies lessons with ELLs in mind.

In addition, I recommend taking a look at the following resources:

Note: Lesson Planning to Ensure Optimal Engagement of ELLs (Chapter 2 of Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas), is available online and provides a number of helpful resources, including a checklist for modifying lesson plans for ELLs. In addition, Appendix Two of the book (not available online) provides a lesson modification worksheet.

Lesson Planning Strategies

Identify key concepts necessary for understanding the lesson

When choosing your key concepts, keep in mind the following:

Background knowledge
ELLs with limited or interrupted schooling may not have that same level of knowledge as their peers, especially when it comes to historical or cultural topics. When starting a new lesson, look for references or concepts that may need to be explicitly explained.

Language proficiency
Students may already possess content knowledge that they cannot yet demonstrate in English. Look for opportunities to make associations between students' experiences and new content.

Perspective
Students may have a different perspective on the content than their peers. These differences provide an important opportunity for class discussion and learning as long as they are handled in a sensitive and respectful ways.

In addition, plan to find out what students know about the topic you are teaching before getting started. This will help you fill in gaps and build on prior knowledge. A great tool for this activity is a Circle Map, in which you place the main topic in a small circle and add student ideas in a bigger circle around the topic. You may wish to allow ELLs to use their native language with peers for a quick brainstorm before presenting their ideas to the whole class.

Identify content and language objectives

These objectives are a great way to focus on the most important information and language structures you want your students to master. Content objectives focus on the material while language objectives focus on vocabulary or language structures that students should be able to use throughout the lesson (Haynes and Zacarian, 28).

Think about how you are going to:

introduce these concepts using simple language,

break the concepts down into the most basic elements,

keep the objectives visible to students during the unit (i.e., post them on the board or provide a simple outline to keep in binders).

Identify key vocabulary and academic vocabulary

Identify key terms, words, idioms and phrases - TWIPS, according to Dr. Zacarian (19). Choose the vocabulary that your students need to know in order to support their reading development and content-area learning, in addition to key content vocabulary. Remember to prepare student-friendly definitions for TWIPS ahead of time. It may be helpful to look at other social studies vocabulary lists as well.

In addition:

Look for problem areas
Clarify potential areas of confusion, such as homonyms or words with more than one meaning.

Include signal and directional words
Remember that students may also need explicit instruction in signal or directional words ("because" and "explain"), especially those words that are likely to appear frequently in the content materials or activities.

Don't overlook the basic words
There may be many words used through a lesson that native English-speaking students will understand but that ELLs don't know. Keep an eye out for these words, no matter how basic, and make a list of words that your students have questions about so that you can refer back to it when teaching the lesson in the future.

Use visuals and manipulatives when possible
Having a visual reference for new words is particularly helpful for ELLs.

Keep words visible and accessible to students
Post words on a word wall, or try using a "portable word wall" chart that students can put in their binder. The chart might include categories such as new words, old words, people, everyday words, words to review, etc. (Haynes and Zacarian, 59-60).

Remember to include lots of student practice
For students to really know a word, they must use it - or they will lose it. Use new words in class discussions or outside of class in other contexts if appropriate, such as on field trips. Give the students as many opportunities to use and master the new vocabulary as possible, both in writing and speaking activities. You may find this six-step process for teaching academic vocabulary from Dr. Robert Marzano helpful.

Prepare to preview the text

One strategy is a "chapter walk", where students predict what the chapter will be about based on pictures and highlighted features of the textbook.

An activity like this may take some time at first because it's time-consuming to teach. If you use it with regularity, however, it will become easier and quicker, and students will be able to do this on their own at the beginning of a new chapter.

You can also use the "BIG FOX" strategy, published by McGraw-Hill. This graphic organizer helps students pick out important terms and pieces of information before reading. I recommend practicing this strategy with some simple readings about familiar topics before jumping in with the textbook. The students will understand the strategy better if they start out with concepts that they understand.

Prepare multimedia, visuals, and related readings

These resources can be used to build background knowledge and provide context for ELLs, especially when students are learning new concepts and words. Ideas include:

Using photos from books, magazines, or the Internet to supplement textbooks.

Showing brief, focused video clips of history or social studies programs.

Listening to a short podcast or radio clip of an interview or speech.

Discussing additional readings such as related articles, poems, letters, and graphic novels.

Enlist native language support when possible

These strategies can help students identify content they already know, or master new concepts before transferring those ideas and learning how to express them in English:

Collaborate with a bilingual paraprofessional and identify areas where bilingual language support will be most helpful.

Look for related content materials in the students' native language from publishers like Scholastic or National Geographic/Cengage.

Plan group work in which students can use their native language with peers to discuss main ideas or vocabulary words.

Plan to include group work throughout the unit

Peer learning activities such as Reciprocal Teaching and Think-Pair-Share can be powerful tools for engaging ELLs with content learning.

Use modeling and clear instructions to ensure students understand:

how the activity works

their role in group work

the objective of the activity

any key vocabulary or phrases they should be using.

Here are some other tips on group work for ELLs from Haynes and Zacarian:

Assign students group roles that match their language ability (37).

Promote students to new roles as their language skills improve (42).

Make sure that mainstream students understand that they will be working in diverse groups, and that everyone's contributions are important (41).

Keep an eye on the balance of student participation; if some students are speaking more than others, ask them to think of some ways to even participation out (42).

Ask students to reflect on their group work after they have finished an activity. Haynes and Zacarian include a chart in their book with some guiding statements for student reflection (48).

Plan plenty of opportunities for students to interact with the content

Give students lots of opportunities to engage with and review the material in different ways:

Graphic organizers
Use graphic organizers to review key concepts and vocabulary words.

Flash cards
Have students make their own flash cards with pictures, definitions, key facts, etc.

Working with the text
Teach students to underline, highlight, and make notes. You may also find that sticky notes, Wikki Stix, and highlighting tape are a big hit with students (68). According to Haynes, some school districts order extra textbooks for their ELL classes so that teachers can keep a highlighted copy on hand as a student reference.

Use acting
Have the students write skits about the material they are learning, or create an activity in which students provide a physical representation of a particular event or vocabulary word.

Be creative and flexible with writing assignments

Writing can be an important way for students to show what they've learned:

Be creative and flexible
When choosing writing activities for students, be creative and open to different ways for students to express their new knowledge. I have seen students successfully convey what they learned by writing letters, poems, news articles and mosaics with vocabulary key points. Writing an essay may be more difficult for ELLs, and although they need to learn how to write a good essay eventually, they should be allowed to demonstrate their learning through a variety of writing activities.

Look for writing exercises that relate to the topic at hand
This may include a biography or autobiography, a letter from the point of view of a historical figure, or a short news article about a famous event.

Provide models
Give ELLs explicit structures and sentence frames to follow. Frames may vary in complexity and specificity, but they will help students to model correct structures and usage from the beginning.

Plan to adapt homework and assessment as needed

While it's important to have high expectations of ELLs, it is also important to have realistic expectations of the amount of work they can do. Haynes and Zacarian note, "The teacher's goal should be to making learning accessible and meaningful for every student without lowering expectations or sacrificing rigor" (104-105).

They continue in Chapter 7 of their book to provide a number of helpful rubrics and step-by-step procedures for evaluating your homework and assessment activities with ELLs in mind. In Twenty-Five Quick Tips for Classroom Teachers, Haynes suggests that teachers "adjust homework assignment to your ELLs' English language proficiency (and) modify assessment so that your ELLs have an opportunity to show what they have learned."

As you look for ways to help your students learn this new content, remember that you aren't just teaching them required social studies standards - you are helping your students adjust to a new life and country. That preparation has a potentially significant ripple effect because your students may be helping their own parents navigate this new country as well, and they may need to prepare for a U.S. Citizenship exam one day in the future.

Through social studies lessons, you also can prepare your students to be engaged and well-informed participants in our society and democracy, an opportunity they might not have had in their own country due to their religion, gender, or ethnicity. When you think about it that way, teaching ELLs to master new social studies content is so much more than adapting a lesson plan - it's a chance to prepare a new generation of young people to lead us into the future.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Preparing an Engaging Social Studies Lesson for English Language Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Consider the following scenario: A fifth-grade teacher was preparing her class to learn about the American Revolution. She enlisted the students' help in acting out the events that led to the Revolution with elaborate props and exercises. When the class ended, the students were told they would read more about the Revolution the following day.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
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.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
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.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
These lesson plans for The New Americans for grades 7-12 are available on the Web or as PDF documents. The PDF format provides a downloadable printed version of the lesson plan; Adobe Acrobat is required. ( Get Acrobat Reader to view.)

Note: The New Americans Series Guide and Activity Kit for higher education settings, including ESOL and professional development, is available through the Community Connections Project at itvs.org.
LESSON PLAN INDEX
You Have to Live in Somebody Else's Country to Understand >
This activity allows students to explore what it feels like to be an outsider in the United States.

Immigration Debate >
Students state, research, debate, and revisit personal perspectives regarding immigration and immigrants.

Immigration Policy: Past and Present >
Students review the history of U.S. immigration policy and current legislation to make determinations about policies that best serve immigrants and the nation.

The Demographics of Immigration: Using United States Census Data >
This activity gives students an opportunity to review, calculate, and compare and contrast immigrant-related demographic data.

Contributions of Immigrants >
This lesson deepens' students understanding of contributions made by immigrants to the United States.

Of Cultural Riches >
This lesson examines the vast cultural riches immigrants bring to the United States and ways these influence American cultural attributes.

America: The Land of Career Opportunity >
Students explore the challenges new immigrants face when seeking employment in the United States.

The American Mosaic >
Students explore immigration to the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Immigration Oral History >
Students conduct oral histories of first- or second- generation immigrants to learn first hand about the immigration experience.

Reluctant Immigrants >
This activity introduces students to the refugee, an immigrant who does not necessarily emigrate to another nation by choice.

Latinos in America >
Students explore various aspects of the Latino presence in the United States.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
These lesson plans for The New Americans for grades 7-12 are available on the Web or as PDF documents. The PDF format provides a downloadable printed version of the lesson plan; Adobe Acrobat is required. ( Get Acrobat Reader to view.)

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Results: 1-40 of 194   |   Refined by: Part of: Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress   Remove Available Online   Remove

Classroom Material

Abraham Lincoln: Rise to National Prominence A selection of Library of Congress primary sources exploring Abraham Lincoln and his national role. This set also includes a Teacher's Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions. Speeches, correspondence, campaign materials...

Date: 1855

Classroom Material

After Reconstruction Students use Library of Congress primary sources to identify problems and issues facing African Americans immediately after Reconstruction.

Classroom Material

Alexander Hamilton Manuscripts, images, and historic newspapers document the life and accomplishments of Alexander Hamilton. This set also includes a Teacher's Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions. Manuscripts, images, and historic newspapers document...

Date: 1757

Classroom Material

America at the Centennial Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine items and images of the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition of 1876.

Classroom Material

The American Dream Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine 19th and 20th century social life in the United States in order to formulate ideas about the American Dream.

Classroom Material

Around the World in 1896 Students use Library of Congress primary sources to plan, take, and document a trip around the world in 1896.

Classroom Material

Baseball Across a Changing Nation A selection of Library of Congress primary sources exploring baseball and the various ways it was experienced by Americans between the close of the Civil War and the beginning of WWII. This...

Date: 1860

Classroom Material

Baseball, Race Relations and Jackie Robinson Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine race relations in the mid-20th century United States through a close reading of two documents relating to Jackie Robinson's breaking of the racial...

Classroom Material

Billy the Kid: Perspectives on an Outlaw Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine the role that gunfighters played in the settlement of the West and distinguish between their factual and fictional accounts.

Classroom Material

Charts and Graphs A selection of Library of Congress primary sources exploring charts and graphs. This set also includes a Teachers Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions.

Date: 1900

Classroom Material

Child Labor in America Students use Library of Congress primary sources to examine reformer/photographer Lewis Hine's photographs of child labor.

Classroom Material

Children's Lives at the Turn of the Twentieth Century A selection of Library of Congress primary sources exploring Children's Lives at the Turn of the Twentieth Century. This set also includes a Teachers Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions.

Date: 1890

Classroom Material

Civil War Music A selection of Library of Congress primary sources exploring historical perspectives about the American Civil War. This set also includes a Teacher's Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions.

Date: 1861

Classroom Material

The Civil War: The Nation Moves Towards War, 1850-61 Conflict between abolition and slavery marked the 1850s, preceding the election of 1860 and the attack on Fort Sumter that started the Civil War. The Kansas-Nebraska Act, Dred Scott, Harriet Beecher Stowe,...

Date: 1850

Classroom Material

The Constitution A selection of Library of Congress primary sources exploring the United States Constitution. This set also includes a Teacher's Guide with historical context and teaching suggestions.

Date: 1785

Additional Navigation

Teachers Home
The Library of Congress offers classroom materials and professional development to help teachers effectively use primary sources from the Library's vast digital collections in their teaching.

Analysis Tool & Guide
To help your students analyze these primary sources, get a graphic organizer and guides.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Search results from Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress, Available Online

# data[].attributes.body
EdEpiphany Word Wall- Spanish and Arabic

# data[].attributes.body
EdEpiphany Word Wall- Vietnamese and French

# data[].attributes.body
Informational Text Glossary- Spanish and Arabic

# data[].attributes.body
Literary Glossary- Spanish and Arabic

# data[].attributes.body
Bilingual Glossaries and Cognates- multiple languages and subject areas!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
These glossaries are to provide permitted testing accommodations of ELL/MLL students. They should also be used for instruction during the school year.

# data[].attributes.body
Expansive website with articles and tools for teaching ELLs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
A bilingual site for educators and families of English language learners

# data[].attributes.body
Excellent article about developing language skills while teaching online.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
How can educators of English language learners (ELLs) provide students with ample opportunities for language development in online settings?

This article and the related slide deck offers some concrete tips and strategies to continue developing language skills in a virtual setting, including oral language practice and structured literacy development.

These strategies can benefit all students ― not just ELLs ― and can be adapted for use in hybrid and in-person settings as well. Many of these ideas will also offer great opportunities for collaboration and co-teaching on behalf of ELLs as well.

ELL Instruction During COVID-19

Slides for PD

You are welcome to use these slides!

ELLs need to learn content and language at the same time. Yet given how challenging it has been for so many ELLs to access instruction during the pandemic, many students have had limited grade-level content or language instruction ― a situation which further exacerbates the inequities that were in place before the pandemic.

ELLs may also not have had access to regular progress monitoring or assessments of their language skills. That's why embedding instruction focused on students' language skills across the curriculum and in all learning environments is so critical as we think about ELL instruction.

Technology access

At the same time, some ELLs and their families may not have had the technology access they need, including:

devices

internet

tech training

tech support in families' home languages

log-in information.

If this is the case for your students, take a look at this article on how to expand technology access for ELLs and their families for more ideas.

Looking for silver linings

There is some good news, however:

In short, the need is urgent, but progress is possible, especially when instruction takes students' strengths, assets, and interests into the account.

Building Relationships with ELLs in Online Settings

The first step to supporting students' language development is to build strong relationships. One of the most important aspects of teaching in any environment is creating a comfortable, safe learning space. If students do not feel welcome and safe, or if they are experiencing significant stress, shock, or trauma, it will be much harder to learn a new language. No amount of scaffolding or engagement strategies will penetrate what Stephen Krashen calls the ' affective filter.'

Names matter!

When getting to know your ELLs', it's important to get their names right, both in spelling and pronunciation. This strategy list offers tools and activities related to students' names.

Getting to know your students and building relationships with them is an ongoing process that should be a part of every lesson, especially in online and hybrid environments.

For ELLs, those relationships are even more critical in distance learning settings because they allow educators to:

plan more effective instruction

maximize student engagement

identify and draw upon students' interests and strengths

create an environment in which students feel more comfortable in using their new language skills

connect content to students' lived experiences and funds of knowledge through meaningful instruction

look for clues to students' circumstances at home that may impact their access to learning.

Building relationships: Online strategies for ELLs

Some strategies that teachers have found effective for building relationships and increasing student interaction in online environments include the following:

Daily check-ins

'All about me' presentations

Show and Tell opportunities

Have students present their pet, their favorite toy, an important artifact in their home, the meaning of their name, an article of clothing, an important photo, etc.

Provide sentence frames as necessary or encourage newcomers to share in their home language. If you are using breakout rooms, students can discuss their item in their home language and report out to the group in English.

Scavenger Hunts

Have students leave the screen to (safely!) find items related to the day's lesson. For example, find a tool you use for measuring; find something that begins with Z; find something that helps the environment; find an item you wear in the winter; etc.

Ask students to bring the item back to the screen in a given time and explain how the item meets the challenge.

Before and after class open-mics

Small group instruction

Use breakout rooms and small group instruction time to get to know students and create a safe, comfortable learning environment.

Encourage students to make personal connections to the text or content.

For more ideas for building relationships with multilingual learners in an online environment, read:

Video: Showing students you care

Corpus Christi teacher Christine Price talks about the importance of showing your English learners you care as you are getting to know them.

What Language Skills Do ELLs Need?

The next group of strategies is organized by four language skills: speaking, listening, writing, and reading. These are called the four domains of language, and students must master all four domains to attain academic proficiency in a language. Drs. Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria Dove note that they like the acronym SWIRL, which includes "interaction" in the list:

One way to think about the domains of language is "input" and "output:"

Comprehension: Listening and reading are skills related to understanding language.

Expression: Speaking and writing are skills related to expressing, or producing, language.

Image credit: Input and output in language development. WelchEducation.com. Used with permission.

Keep in mind...

Students may be stronger in one domain than another.For example, a student who speaks English proficiently may not be as advanced in writing.

ELLs need explicit language instruction, scaffolding, and modeling across all four domains ― both in person and for virtual learning. You will find multiple examples from each domain in the strategies below.

Students may also need guidance in learning the differences between social and academic language, especially in online settings. For example, what is the difference between the language students use to write a science report vs. the language used in a chat message?

Technology is not a substitute for best practice. Start with your goals for instruction, and then match the tech tool (or tech-free strategy such as these offline ideas for ELLs) to the lesson. For example, a dynamic video will not be useful to ELLs if they don't have the language needed to understand it.

When you can, limit yourself to introducing one new thing to ELLs at a time.

Figuring out what works will take a lot of trial and error! While many educators have tried these strategies with different groups of students at different age and language proficiency levels, not all of them will work in every setting with every group of students. Everyone is learning how to best meet their students' needs in this new environment.

For additional ideas on supporting students' language skills, see our sections on Teaching ELLs and Distance Learning for ELLs.

See related tips from Kristina Robertson in the related videos below:

Comprehension Skills: Listening and Reading

When students feel comfortable in the learning environment, they are ready to understand what they hear or read, even if there are some unfamiliar words or structures in the language. Providing students with " comprehensible input," or language at a level they can understand, is essential for language acquisition. Comprehensible input also gives students the vocabulary and context they need for speaking and writing, or productive language.

In other words, comprehensible input leads to language output. The following listening and reading strategies increase comprehensibility for language learners.

Listening: Online Strategies for ELLs

In a face-to-face setting, teachers rely on the following to assess comprehension during oral instruction:

However, it's harder to gauge a student's listening comprehension in an online or hybrid environment. During the past few months, educators have discovered many strategies that make online instruction more comprehensible and give teachers important immediate feedback from students.

The following tips will support your language learners as you give oral instructions and make your content instruction more comprehensible.

Chunk your instruction.

Whether you are providing directions or new information, break the input into small, bite-sized chunks. These chunks of information in a virtual environment may be as short as 2-3 minutes depending on the age and language acquisition level of your students. To ensure that each chunk of instruction is comprehensible in an online or virtual environment:

Add visuals to slides for key concepts or directions.

Label visuals with key vocabulary.

Add gestures for key vocabulary when appropriate.

Speak clearly and directly avoiding idiomatic expressions, unless you are teaching these phrases.

Teach students to use the captions function of your video conferencing platform.

Give students the opportunity to process.

After presenting a chunk of information, students need time to integrate the new knowledge or understanding. There are many effective ways students can process information in an online or hybrid environment. After presenting for a few minutes, you can ask students in an online or hybrid environment to:

Show what they understood through: Signal their level of understanding through: Extend their learning through: Share their learning with a:

A drawing or image

Notes in English or their L1

A breakout room conversation in English or L1

A question in the chat box

A student poll

A brief written or verbal summary

An icon in the chat

Thumbs up/thumbs down

A scale of 0-5 w/ fingers

A sticky note on Jamboard or Padlet with a question or comment

Looking up a word or concept to clarify understanding

Ask questions.

While orally presenting information, ask frequent questions at varying levels of complexity. These questions will:

When using questions, keep the following in mind:

Give thumbs up or down (w/ fingers or an emoji)

Type Y/N in the chat

Nod or shake head

Stand up or sit down for yes or no

Hold up a yes/no or green/red card to the camera

Type the response in the chat box.

Write the response on paper and hold up to camera

Hold up the response on a prepared vocabulary card

Unmute the microphone and say the response

Post the response on the screen and ask students to point to their response

Write a short answer in English or home language

Draw a quick sketch to show the answer

Talk to a team in a breakout room about the answer

Type the answer in the chat box.

Tell someone in your learning environment the answer, even if that 'someone' is a stuffed animal.

Using Chat Blasts
If students are posting responses in chat, ask them to:

That way, everyone has the chance to type the response before everyone hits the 'return' key

For more ideas on strategies for checking listening comprehension in a virtual environment, see Erick Hermann's article Ways to check for understanding virtually with culturally and linguistically diverse students.

Reading: Online Strategies for ELLs

When students are asked to read a text in an online or hybrid environment, they may need even more scaffolding and support than in a face-to-face environment. Fortunately, there are many online tools and strategies teachers can use to make the text more comprehensible and provide supports for language learners at all proficiency levels. Before asking students to read a text on the screen or in hard copy, support their comprehension with the following strategies.

Build background knowledge: Tips for using video

Teach key vocabulary.

Teaching vocabulary is an important strategy across all four domains, including reading. Here are some strategies you can use for ELLs:

Identify important words that ELLs need to understand the text.

Provide more common or simplified definitions of key words (called glossing).

Provide translations of key words.

If students speak a language related to English, like Spanish, look for cognates (liberty ― libertad) that can support their understanding.

Give students multiple opportunities to read, hear, and use new words in other listening, speaking, and writing activities.

Look for ways to incorporate native language supports.

Students' native languages are a powerful resource when used appropriately. For example, you may wish to:

Learn more about what using students' language can look like in:

Keep in mind that translation tools are not foolproof and may not provide a perfect translation. If you work with bilingual colleagues, talk about what kinds of appropriate and accurate resources are available and whether there are ways to collaborate around content.

Engineer the text for students at intermediate levels of language acquisition.

For an example of engineered excerpt from the Gettysburg Address, see our related slide show.

See additional examples in the following resources:

Support comprehension during online reading.
Read aloud
During the first exposure to the text, read it aloud, track the words on the screen with your cursor, and ask students to follow along. Use voice inflection, strategic pauses, and the highlighter pen to focus students' attention on key parts of the text. Students may also read along with you with their microphones on mute. This gives them practice reading aloud in a safe environment.
Ask questions
Use the questioning techniques described above to check for reading comprehension. If students have difficulty answering questions about the text:
Sketchnote
Have students make quick sketches of what they understand in the text.
Word-Phrase-Sentence Visible Thinking Routine
To use the Word-Phrase-Sentence Visible Thinking Routine with students, follow these steps:

The strategy is adaptable to synchronous or asynchronous virtual classes as well.

After reading, give students additional comprehensible reading input about the text.
Kahoot!
Create a synchronous or asynchronous Kahoot! (an online game platform) that asks students to engage with the content of the text. Provide supports for each question such as visuals, translations for essential words, and clear choices. Students can make their own Kahoot! for their classmates as well.
Sequencing
Use Jamboard, Seesaw, Google Slides, or other platforms to create an interactive sequencing activity. Write sentences from the text in mixed up order. Have students work in teams to drag and drop the sentences into the correct order.
Matching
Use Jamboard, Seesaw, Google Slides, or other platforms to create an interactive matching activity. Find pictures that represent different parts of the text. Have students drag and drop the chunk of text that best fits each picture. Students can find pictures for the next section of text independently and create their own matching challenges.

Production Skills: Speaking and Writing

As noted above, speaking and writing are examples of productive language in which students are producing language independently. This is a challenge to figure out in virtual spaces, but it is critical for language development and student engagement. Here are some ideas to help.

Speaking: Online Strategies for ELLs

When students are no longer in front of us with a partner nearby, it's more challenging to have them 'turn and talk' about the content. However, providing them with an opportunity to discuss the topic, use academic language (the language of schooling) in a structured way, and process content is critical in online and hybrid environments. Comprehension increases when students can process the input from listening and reading through structured speaking and writing opportunities.

Also keep in mind that ELLs may need extra time to speak and share their thinking, especially in online settings where technology, student hesitation, or other factors at home may have an impact on how students respond. ELL expert and blogger Valentina Gonzalez shares strategies for increasing wait time in her blog post Wait Time Can Make or Break Your Lesson.

The following suggestions provide students frequent, structured, and supported speaking opportunities in online environments.

How to organize speaking opportunities
Whole Class Discussions
Facilitating a whole class discussion virtually is possible, but it requires clear structures and protocols to be successful. For example, you might structure a whole class discussion like this, which is described in more detail in this blog post on the QSSSA method (Question-Signal-Stem-Share-Assess) from Valentina Gonzalez:

Pose an open-ended question for the whole class discussion.

Give students time to process their answer individually.

Provide language supports such as sentence starters, labeled visuals, and word banks.

Ask students to process the answer in different ways such as writing a note, drawing a picture, or making a connection to what they already know about the content.

Ask students to give you a signal, when they are ready to respond. Some signals that may work include putting a thumb up, standing up, or turning off (or on) the camera. Randomly call on one student using sticks, dice, or an online randomizer.

Allow the student to ask for help or provide additional language supports, if necessary.

Have that student call on the next speaker and ask the same question or a follow-up question.

Breakout Rooms or Small Group sessions
If your synchronous online video conferencing platform has the option for breakout rooms, you can use this regularly to encourage student-to-student interaction:

Give clear expectations for how students should interact with each other.

Let them know you will join rooms regularly to listen to their discussions before you send them to an unsupervised Breakout Room.

If you don't have an easy breakout option, consider scheduling students into supervised small group sessions to gain the same benefits. In either case, support student-to-student conversations with a shared document that provides scaffolds and guidance for the interaction. This document could contain a labeled visual, sentence frames, and directions on who speaks first. When students return from the breakout room or in the small group session, randomly call on someone to report out.

Example:

Activity: Explain your math process Time Keeper

1. Use mental math to add up the 'favorite' numbers in your group.

1 minute to use mental math to add the numbers

1 minute/person to explain their process

2. Explain your mental math process. Use the word bank and sentence frames below.

3. The person with the highest 'favorite' number goes first.

Individual speaking opportunities
In addition to synchronous discussions in breakout groups, small groups, and whole groups, students can gain valuable speaking practice through asynchronous online platforms such as Flipgrid and Voxer. In both of these platforms, teachers can give a supported speaking prompt and students can record a voice or video message response. Teachers can provide visuals, sentence frames, and word banks to support student responses as needed and students can listen and respond to each other as well.

In addition, you can encourage students to share answers in English or in home language with someone at home ― including a stuffed animal.

For more ideas on how to increase student talk time and different speaking activities you may wish to try, see the following and think about how you might adapt these activities online:

Writing: Online Strategies for ELLs

Teachers tend to require more writing for formative and summative assessments because it's more challenging to assess orally. However, before asking students to write an extended piece or assessment, language learners need regular, supported, and structured opportunities to write during class and build language skills in vocabulary, sentence complexity, and cohesively expressing multiple ideas.

When students have frequent, brief opportunities to write about their ideas, questions, and understanding of the lesson in a low stakes environment, they develop stamina and skills necessary for more formal writing tasks later in the lesson or unit. The following micro-writing activities support language learners throughout the online lesson before they are asked to write a final product.
Paper Chat box Jamboard, Padlet, Seesaw, or other platform
Many platforms allow students to collaborate on writing a response to a prompt. You can provide supports on the Jamboard, Padlet, or Seesaw page and ask students to post a note with their responses. They can respond to each other's ideas by typing questions or comments to another's post. You can share these responses with the whole class on your screen and provide feedback on content and language after each written activity.
Shared documents or slides
Like the platforms mentioned above, a shared document or slide also offers students the opportunity to collaborate on a written response or assignment during class. They can both type into the same document simultaneously and make comments on their collaborative work. As the teacher, you can observe what they are writing in real time and make decisions about which students would benefit from a small group session to focus on an aspect of language development or other skill. Developing all four language domains in an online or hybrid environment is a new challenge for most educators.

What are sentence frames?

ESOL specialist Sheila Majdi explains what a sentence frame is and how she might use this strategy with ELLs.

An Opportunity in Crisis

The challenge of setting ELLs up for success in the midst of difficult circumstances is daunting. However, during this difficult year, many teachers are discovering new strategies, tools, and practices that will be a part of their teaching beyond the pandemic.

As Kristina Robertson notes in her introduction to Colorín Colorado's Distance Learning Guide for ELLs:
Teaching online is like traveling to a new country. You're not really sure where anything is, you are afraid to try new things because you might be embarrassed, and you miss the ease of your old daily life and the ability to connect seamlessly with others. On the other hand, it can be very exciting to see student learning in new and different ways, you can take pride in the growth you experience while learning new instructional strategies, and you will make connections that sometimes can be even more meaningful because you have the opportunity for one-on-one interactions.
We are excited to be part of your journey to support your English language learners' success! Thank you for all you are doing on behalf of your ELLs.

Professional Development Resources

Discussion questions

1. During COVID-19, what examples are you seeing of the following?

Challenges your ELLs are facing

ELL success stories or strengths

2. What is an idea from each section that you can use immediately?

What are some ideas you can use in the coming weeks or months?

3. What are some of the technology tools you already have available that you can use to support language development?

4. Did you hear an example of a new tool you might try?

5. Hold an academic discussion in your breakout group about one of the main ideas of this article. Use academic discussion moves such as:

Adding a new idea

Building on an idea that was presented

Asking a clarifying question

Evaluating how an idea might work in your setting

6. Write a sentence frame for one of the following scenarios:

agreeing / disagreeing with a classmate

presenting the results of a science experiment

explaining how to solve a math problem

7. What kind of projects, texts, or writing assignments are most popular with your ELLs? Which are most challenging?

8. What are your main takeaways from the article?

More activities

Try one of the strategies from the article in a group, such as the Word-Phrase-Sentence Visible Thinking Routine.

Use this article for a jigsaw reading in groups.

Assign groups to breakout rooms to discuss one of the language domains and related strategies.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Teaching ELLs Online: How to Develop Students' Language Skills

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How can educators of English language learners (ELLs) provide students with ample opportunities for language development in online settings? This article and the related slide deck offers some concrete tips and strategies to continue developing language skills in a virtual setting, including oral language practice and structured literacy development.

# data[].attributes.body
Article with a variety of online resources and general suggestion for working with ELLs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Whether you're having school remotely or in person, online learning is a powerful tool teachers can leverage to support English language learners (ELLs). Research shows that ELLs' learning is enhanced by interactive visual aids and access to lessons they can follow at their own pace.

There are many free or inexpensive digital resources that teachers can use to create these learning experiences. Lessons can be recorded as they are conducted online in real time so that students can later access the content without a teacher present. Teachers can also incorporate audio, images, or videos into their lessons. These resources can support ELLs with fun, engaging tools that help them review and build vocabulary and literacy skills.

In a classroom, ELLs can benefit from online learning at a station that the teacher sets up as part of a lesson in which students rotate through centers or stations. A study published in the journal Language Learning & Technology concluded that "tablet computers, as well as other mobile technologies, are ideal tools to foster learner autonomy." Supplemental virtual lessons can help differentiate instruction to meet the needs of ELLs (as well as other students with diverse learning needs) who may be at different language proficiency levels or need additional practice with discrete skills.

I've collected a list of additional approaches and resources I've found especially helpful in my own English as a second language classroom. All of the resources below are helpful for all students, not just ELLs.

Using Videos to Support ELLs

Many computers allow users to record what is happening on the screen in real time, and also have the option to simultaneously record the user's voice. Your recording will be saved as a video file, which you can share with students or upload to your online learning platform. You might also ask students to do this themselves and share their recordings with you. Teachers can use narrated screen recordings for many activities: modeling read-alouds, conducting mini-lessons, editing essays, and showing students how to do effective online research. This Digital Trends article has information on different ways to record your screen.

YouTube Education, which is free and has no ads, curates YouTube's content for educational purposes and allows teachers to create a playlist that can be shared with students. Some of my favorite playlists are Essential Literature, which gives clear and concise summaries of popular texts, and National Geographic, which has videos of varying lengths about topics ranging from plants and animals to geography and history. Both of these playlists allow you to turn on closed captions so that students can read the text as they watch the video, which is particularly helpful for ELLs.

ELL Learning Apps and Websites

Kahoot! is a tool to create interactive audiovisual learning games, reviews, and assessments. Students can compete in games against each other in real time, from any device, by using a simple code. The premium subscription-based distance learning tools are currently free to support distance learning during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Quizlet is a digital flash card program that many students find useful for studying vocabulary. Teachers can use, and customize, premade study sets or make their own. The free version has ads; a paid subscription provides access to the ad-free platform.

Newsela has high-interest current events articles, with corresponding images and questions, that are offered in up to five different Lexile levels. To support distance learning during Covid-19, the entire site is currently free-usually most of the content is available only with a paid subscription.

CommonLit is a free site that has over 2,000 fiction and nonfiction reading passages searchable by title, genre, grade level, literary device, and Lexile level. It also has a growing library of content in Spanish. Texts have guiding questions and assessments, and many are organized into units of study.

Duolingo is a helpful free language learning app that offers English as a second language courses in more than 20 first languages. Its adaptive software is designed to resemble a game and can allow students to compete against themselves-or their friends.

BBC Teach has an extensive collection of free teaching resources in over 30 subjects, including English learning for adults. It also has interactive lessons with rich videos and graphics.

The British Council is the United Kingdom's international organization for sharing British culture and language. Its website has a variety of useful links and mobile apps with activities, games, and audiovisual lessons.

These resources are all available on any computer or mobile device. While some of the video-rich resources require significant bandwidth, many of these resources automatically adapt to slower internet speeds, making them more accessible to all students. In classrooms, it could be helpful to set up a station with a few devices that leverage these digital resources.

For students at home, many internet service providers, including Spectrum Broadband, Mint Mobile, Comcast, Altice and Cox, are currently offering free internet access and mobile data packages to support distance learning-be sure to read the fine print because some providers will automatically charge people after the free period is over.

For students who don't have access to an internet-enabled device, tablets can cost as little as $35. Chromebooks, simple internet-enabled laptops, start at $75.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Helpful Online Resources for Teaching ELLs

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Websites and teacher-created videos make content more accessible for English language learners-whether they're in the classroom or at home.

# data[].attributes.body
Strategies for teaching ELLs in the online classroom.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Center for Teaching and Learning | Wiley Education Services

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
English languages learners (ELLs) can enrich any classroom with their depth of knowledge of other cultures, languages, and traditions. But along with their diverse perspectives, ELLs bring a diverse set of needs to native English-speaking classrooms. ELLs often need additional support to succeed, and as the number of these students continues to rise in American classrooms, it's important that instructors understand the challenges ELLs face. This article explores how you can adapt or enhance typical online best practices with ELLs in mind to support these students with new material they'll encounter and to help them manage the challenges posed by learning in a non-native language.

Frequent Feedback

Studies have shown that lack of personal interaction in the online classroom can negatively impact students' motivation (Costa-Guerra & Costa-Guerra, 2015), and this can be especially true for ELLs. Maintaining frequent contact is beneficial for all students, but it's key to ensuring success for students being challenged to process language and master new content. Below are different ways you can provide frequent feedback beyond traditional graded assignments:

Establish optional office hours. Frequently remind students to take advantage of your "open door."

For larger projects, allow students to submit their assignments in incremental stages so they can receive feedback and make adjustments before receiving a final grade.

In automatically scoring assessments, provide feedback beyond "correct" and "incorrect." Students should learn why an answer is incorrect and receive guidance or recommendations for specific sources that clarify and explain.

Provide an optional peer-review forum as a place where students can interact and edit each other's assignments prior to submitting them to you, the instructor.

By providing several opportunities for feedback, you'll help ELLs feel comfortable asking for assistance when they encounter unfamiliar language or cultural references. In addition, frequently checking for understanding trains ELLs to monitor their own sense of understanding so they will be quicker to spot gaps and seek help when necessary (Ferlazzo, 2016).

Rubrics

Rubrics are essential tools for any instructor, but they're particularly beneficial for instructors who have ELLs in their classrooms. Students unaccustomed to American schooling may have had no experience writing academic papers. For example, you might assign students to write a short reflection or annotated bibliography, which American students will likely understand without additional explanation. However, ELLs may make a good-faith effort at the assignment but produce content that doesn't reflect the proper format, and the resulting low grade may cause frustration and even mistrust toward you, the instructor, for not providing the information ELLs needed to succeed (Rowe, n.d.). Thus, it's important that you specifically state your expectations and break down each part of the assignment on which you'll assess students. Rubrics address this need.

In addition to providing a written rubric, consider going over the rubric and instructions verbally (perhaps via a short video recording) to give students multiple opportunities to understand what you want (Ferlazzo, 2016). A well-designed rubric will make it easier for students not only to refer to your expectations as they work through the assignment, but to learn from mistakes once they receive a grade and feedback from you. In that way, they' be able to adjust their approach on future assignments to earn higher grades and, more importantly, mastery of learning objectives.

Scaffolding to Fill in Prior Knowledge Gaps

Many students who either have moved to the United States or are taking American online courses from overseas haven't had much (if any) exposure to American K-12 school content. U.S. history, English, and literature courses, in particular, can be particularly challenging for such students. When an assignment requires students to connect new learning objectives to previous knowledge, you can't assume students (especially ELLs) have mastered prior foundational content such as American history, literature, culture, and educational standards.

For these students, you'll often need to provide background information that's necessary for understanding the new material. For example, you might compose a preface or provide background information as part of the assignment instructions. When more extensive background reading is necessary, direct students to a resource that imparts information in an accessible way. Providing these resources allows ELLs to explore topics as needed, and will help ensure all students have the opportunity to succeed.

The chart below provides examples of assignments and additional resources to help scaffold instruction for ELLs.

Assignment

Challenge for ELLs

Suggestions for Scaffolding Your Instruction

Choose a prominent person from U.S. history and explain his or her impact on modern legislation.

ELLs may be unfamiliar with most U.S. historical figures.

Provide a list of examples of prominent people relevant to this assignment, along with a brief description of each person.

Provide links to one or two specific resource websites to help ELLs gain a basic understanding of modern U.S. legislative workings.

Encourage students to "check in." Who have they decided to research? Do they seem to have a solid, if rudimentary, grasp of the legislative process?

The environment and the landscape greatly influenced the style of Native American architecture. Select two pieces of Native American architecture and explain how their styles are still relevant.

ELLs may not be able to make connections between architectural forms and landscape without background knowledge of Native Americans.

Provide one or two specific websites that show and describe the land and climate of Native American regions and the various tribes who lived in each.

Link to a Native American glossary so students can quickly reference unfamiliar terms, particularly architectural ones.

Write a four-page paper in APA format about Isaac Newton. Include at least five references in your paper.

APA, MLA, and other style guides will likely be new to ELLs.

Be precise with your wording when giving an assignment. Your description should clarify what students should focus on as they research.

Link to websites that explain what APA style entails.

Provide links for explaining citations.

Provide a link to a plagiarism checker so students can guarantee they have cited their papers appropriately.

Multiple Forms of Assessments

It's important for English language learners to have flexibility in choosing how they'll demonstrate content mastery. After all, assessing language skills is different than assessing content skills, and for most courses, content mastery is the more important objective (Alrubail, 2016). Thus, providing multiple options for assessments-not just written assignments-takes the burden off demonstrating language skills and instead emphasizes demonstrating content mastery. This will not only keep the focus on learning, but also reduce some of the stress of the assessment itself.

Universal Design for Learning principles apply here. For example, instead of mandating that every student write a paper, you could allow students to create PowerPoint presentations with voiceovers, take a screencast of themselves reviewing different online resources, or even draw a mind map or other artistic expression to demonstrate their understanding of the material. Providing these options allows both ELLs and native English speakers to engage in the learning style and domain of language they excel in (Nesbitt, 2015). As mentioned earlier, clear rubrics with expectations stated in a simple, straightforward manner are essential, particularly when you allow multiple options for demonstrating mastery. Be aware of the verbs that you use in your rubric that may dictate the medium in which students demonstrate their mastery.

Conclusion

By enrolling in your class, English language learners have chosen to challenge themselves to learn in a language not native to them. As an instructor, you can ease many of their challenges by taking the time to understand the areas where they might need some assistance and provide additional materials and clarification where needed. If you apply some of the strategies from this article, you can help any ELLs enrolled in your class work toward your learning objectives just as successfully as native English speakers.

References

Alrubail, R. (2016, July 7). Equity for English-language learners [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/equity-for-english-language-learners-rusul-alrubail

Costa-Guerra, B., & Costa-Guerra, L. (2015, March). Do online courses help or hinder English language learners' experience with math credit recovery? Retrieved from http://elearnmag.acm.org/featured.cfm?aid=2745842

Ferlazzo, L. (2016, November 3). Do's and don'ts for teaching English-language learners [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/esl-ell-tips-ferlazzo-sypnieski

Nesbitt, J. (2015, September 9). 4 strategies to help ELLs in the mainstream classroom [Blog post]. Retrieved from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/strategies-help-ells-mainstream-classroom-joylynn-nesbitt

Rowe, E. (n.d.). ESL writing rubrics. In Academic Subjects for English Language Learners. Retrieved from https://study.com/academy/lesson/esl-writing-rubrics.html

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners in the Online Classroom - Center for Teaching and Learning | Wiley Education Services

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
English languages learners (ELLs) can enrich any classroom with their depth of knowledge of other cultures, languages, and traditions. But along with their diverse perspectives, ELLs bring a diverse set of needs to native English-speaking classrooms. ELLs often need additional support to succeed, and as the number of these students continues to rise in American classrooms, it's important that instructors understand the challenges ELLs face.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
SUPPORTING ELLs IN MATHEMATICS

The goal of these materials is to illustrate how Common Core aligned math tasks can be used to support math instruction and language development for ELLs at three grade spans (elementary, middle, and high school). We used or adapted tasks from two publicly accessible curriculum projects, Inside Mathematics and Mathematics Assessment Project.

To learn more, see the annotated lessons below and read our Guidelines for Math Instructional Materials Development.

These tasks all provide substantial opportunities for ELLs to engage in the mathematics, present their mathematical reasoning, develop verbal explanations of their solutions, and develop explanations of their solutions in writing.

Download Supplementary Files

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Understanding Language is devoted to improving education for English Language Learners in light of the new Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards. Based on the latest research, we provide resources to help teachers, administrators, and policy makers recognize the language demands in mathematics, science, and English language arts.