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Browse our library of strategies that support interactive and engaging learning that helps students make stronger connections and deeper understanding of text and topics.

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Anticipation Guide (Before Reading Strategy)

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Anticipation Guide (Before Reading Strategy)

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PDF templates

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Browse our library of strategies that support interactive and engaging learning that helps students make stronger connections and deeper understanding of text and topics.

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Try an activity with added differentiated to support English Learners' language development!

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Grab students attention with these call & response options: Attention signals, celebrations, & reinforce ideas

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Here are non-verbal and verbal comprehension checks

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PDF templates

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Browse our library of strategies that support interactive and engaging learning that helps students make stronger connections and deeper understanding of text and topics.

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Anticipation Guide (Before Reading Strategy)

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Anticipation Guide (Before Reading Strategy)

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3 Important Considerations for Class Placement, Seating, and Grouping ELL Students in the Classroom - The All-Access Classroom

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Here are some important considerations when it comes to grouping ELL students in the classroom. Some suggested best practices.

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Print and translate as needed.

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Use sentence stems for each mathematical step, TPR, cognates, TRTW (talk, read, talk, write) method, etc.

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Introduction

Chapter 1 - Who Are Newcomers?

Chapter 2 - Welcoming Newcomers to a Safe, Inclusive and Thriving School Environment

Chapter 3 - Supporting Newcomers' Social, Emotional, and Mental Health Needs

Chapter 4 - Providing High-Quality Instruction for Newcomers

Chapter 5 - Establishing Partnerships with Families

To request the toolkit in an alternate format as a reasonable accommodation, i.e. large print, CD Rom or audio, please contact Melissa Escalante by phone, 202-987-1745 or email at: Melissa.Escalante@ed.gov.

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To request the toolkit in an alternate format as a reasonable accommodation, i.e. large print, CD Rom or audio, please contact Melissa Escalante by phone, 202-987-1745 or email at: Melissa.Escalante@ed.gov.

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A checklist for before, during, and after student discourse

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

What You'll Find in This Section

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

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

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

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

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

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Use as a reference sheet for ELs when they write

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Create a new document and edit with others at the same time -- from your computer, phone or tablet. Get stuff done with or without an internet connection. Use Docs to edit Word files. Free from Google.

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Assess ELs by giving amply opportunities to practice in class with the language needed to master for the lesson, differentiation, and setting higher expectations for their language proficiency

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Click the Strategies for Integrated ELD bookmark. It provides general objectives, teaching strategies, additional resources, and examples.

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All English learners have been added to the WIDA writing and speaking rubric. The purpose of the rubric is to provide you with info. where ELs are currently at in their language proficiency which allows you to plan and scaffold language learning.

Use this rubric to build a student friendly rubric for writing and speaking. If you need help to create a rubric, feel free to reach out!

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Check out the Process Outline section to see how to level questions based on ELLs proficiency.

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Include your ELLs in the conversation by using easy modifications, a Consensus Placemat, and a 3-2-1 exit ticket.

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ELL Friendly Student Discourse Strategies

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Use this writing rubric to equitably grade ELLs based on their proficiency level.

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IMPORTANT: Includes a brief description for strategies: listening, visualization, interpersonal, structure, laboratory, demos, reading & writing, instruction, and vocab

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(exerpt from chapter 24)

In 2003, 42 percent of American public school students were of racial or ethnic minorities, up 22 percent from 30 years before. Most of this increase in diversity was due to immigration from Latin America and Asia, and with this increase in ethnic diversity came a corresponding increase in linguistic diversity. For example, in 2002, nearly 42% of students in Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest district in the country, were classified as English language learners.
The Institute of Education Sciences of the United States Department of Education defines English language learners (ELL) as: "Individuals who (1) were not born in the United States or whose native language is a language other than English; or (2) come from environments where a language other than English is dominant; or (3) are American Indians and Alaskan Natives and who come from environments where a language other than English has had a significant impact on their level of English proficiency; and who, by reason thereof, have sufficient difficulty speaking, reading, writing, or understanding the English language, to deny such individuals the opportunity to learn successfully in classrooms where the language of instruction is English or to participate fully in our society." Today's science teachers must be prepared to teach students whose first language is not English. In this section we reference ELL strategies and activities that are found throughout this book.

The science classroom is often a frustrating place for English language learners. Science has a complex vocabulary that is difficult even for native English speakers to learn. Difficulty learning English should not be confused with an inability to think scientifically. Many of the strategies that are useful for English language learners are effective for differentiating instruction for other students as well. Use a variety of methods to see which work best with your teaching style and students.

24.7.1 - ELL: Listening

Speak slowly, distinctly, and write down key terms - Anyone who has learned a foreign language in class, then traveled to a country where the language is spoken, has noticed that it is difficult to understand natives because they seem to "talk too fast". What seems normal speed to a native speaker is extremely fast to a language learner or to a student with a hearing impairment. The addition of the complex terms and concepts of science can make learning even more difficult. Write down key terms so students can see them and connect them to the spoken word.

Closed Captioning - Most science videos are equipped with closed captioning. Turn on the closed captioning so students can see what narrators and actors are saying (16.5.4). This helps English language learners correlate written and spoken English, and helps them see spelling and sentence construction. Closed captioning is also invaluable for the hearing impaired.

24.7.2 - ELL: Visualization

Emphasize visual literacy - It is often said that math and music are universal languages -ones that can be read regardless of one's primary language. Although these claims are debatable, it is clear that an English-speaking student can read and understand an equation in a Swahili textbook, and a Greek musician can play a score drafted by a Japanese composer. Regardless of linguistic background, people around the world can interpret mathematical equations and musical scores. In addition, they can also interpret pictures, and with minimal linguistic skills, can interpret charts and graphs. Visual literacy, or the ability to evaluate, apply, or create conceptual visual representation, is relatively independent of language, and is therefore invaluable to learning science and English simultaneously. Vector diagrams (16.1), scientific diagrams (16.2), pictorial riddles (16.3), photographic analysis (16.4), movie analysis (16.5), and map development and analysis (21.1-21.7), are a few of the many activities that can be used to build visual literacy.

Graphic Organizers - Graphic organizers are a means of introducing and assessing concepts in a manner that encourages meaningful learning. Graphic organizers are diagrams or maps that show the relationship between new and existing concepts, thereby facilitating integration of new and familiar ideas. They require minimal language and are therefore helpful tools when teaching science to English language learners. Conceptual grids (9.1), Venn diagrams (9.2), flow charts (9.3), mind maps (9.4), and concept maps (9.5) are some of the more common graphic organizers.

Use charts, graphs and figures - Scatter and line graphs (20.4), column and bar charts (20.5), pie and area graphs (20.5), and high-low, combination and log plots (20.7) can communicate concepts with minimal use of spoken or written language. The layout of such visual aids should be clear and uncluttered.

Manual video control - Science videos often introduce a variety of new terms and concepts, most of which even native speakers never remember. Pause the video to discuss key concepts. Use the bookmark and video clip features to return to precise sequences for review (16.5.4). Use the step-frame, slow motion, and replay features to focus student attention on key concepts.

24.7.3 - ELL: Interpersonal strategies

Group projects & cooperative learning - Many of the activities in this book employ group work and cooperative learning. Such activities provide opportunities for students to exchange, write, and present ideas. Projects use a variety of skills that work together to increase understanding and retention.

Partner English learners with strong English speakers - The best way to learn something is to teach it. Partnering English learners with strong English speakers benefits both. It may be particularly beneficial to pair English learners with bilingual students who can translate laboratory and activity procedures. Develop your seating chart so English language learners are sitting near the front of class and adjacent to bilingual students who can assist them.

Think/Pair/Share - Students learn to speak English by speaking English, but it is often counterproductive to ask English language learners to read passages or give descriptions to the entire class. Students are often embarrassed by their minimal science knowledge and English skills, and public exposure may make them more uncomfortable and reserved. By contrast, English language learners are often eager to share their ideas in their new language with their peers. The think/pair/share strategy gives all students the opportunity to practice English by explaining science concepts. Provide students with time to write a response to a thought provoking question, then additional time to discuss it with their neighbor before sharing their conclusion with the class. The think/pair/share technique increases student participation and involvement, and is a particularly effective way of encouraging English language learners to express science concepts in English.

Encourage participation- Many English learners come from countries in which student participation is not encouraged. They may be reluctant to speak, not only because of their lack of proficiency in English, but also because of they are uncomfortable in an environment where they are asked to share their ideas. A positive and supportive environment has a significant influence on student comfort level, participation, and success. Requiring English language learners to speak in front of class may be counter-productive and cause great anxiety. Encourage them to express themselves, but don't force them onto the stage prematurely.

24.7.4 - ELL: Structure

Consistent routines - English learners are freer to concentrate on new concepts if they are familiar with classroom routines.

Road map to science - English language learners benefit greatly from a "road map" that shows where they are in the science curriculum. Use organizational structures when teaching earth and space science (8.2), biology (8.3), chemistry (8.4), or physics (8.5) to English language learners.

Outlines - Provide students with a copy of your lecture/discussion outline. This will help ELL students know where you are, and where you are going with your lesson.

Relate to prior knowledge - Make use of student background knowledge of science concepts. Discover what your students already know about a given topic and build upon this knowledge.

24.7.5 - ELL: Laboratory

Hand-on activities - Kinesthetic learning events provide an excellent learning environment for English language learners. Hands-On Chemistry Activities with Real-Life Applications, and Hands-On Physics Activities with Real-Life Applications by Norman Herr and James Cunningham provide numerous hands-on activities of benefit for English language learners.

24.7.6 - ELL: Demonstrations

Clear, procedural steps - The science laboratory can be a confusing and potentially dangerous setting for English language learners. Present procedures clearly using flow charts, pictures, and outlines.

Model laboratory activities - Demonstrate activities in front of class to ensure that English language learners can see the procedures before engaging in an activity.

Pictorial guide - Provide a visual reference to glassware and other materials used in experiments and activities. Review safety symbols and post them in the room and in the lab handout.

24.7.7 - ELL: Reading and Writing

Journaling - Students become better writers by writing. Require English language learners to keep science journals (3.2.1) in which they write lecture notes, new terms, and responses to prompts.

Science reading comprehension activities - Cloze (2.1) and jigsaw (2.2) are two techniques for developing and assessing reading comprehension, and can be used when making formative assessments of language and science learning.

24.7. 8 - ELL: Instruction

Wait time - Teachers are often uncomfortable with silence and either call on the first student to raise their hand, or answer questions themselves, thereby short-circuiting the thought processes of most students, particularly English language learners who are trying to translate terms while formulating an explanation. Let students know that you expect all to be mentally engaged, and for this reason you provide wait-time sufficient for the majority to develop an answer before calling on any individual.

Analogies - Use analogies to relate new concepts to previously learned concepts (10.2, 10.3, 10.4, 10.5).

24.7.9 - ELL: Vocabulary

Language-based science games - Reinforce vocabulary with Science Bingo (13.3), and concepts with Science Pictionary (13.4). These games require minimal spoken language and provide an excellent review of science vocabulary.

Picture glossary - One of the best ways to learn the vocabulary of a new language is with pictorial flash cards. A picture of the concept is on one side while the term (in the language to be learned) is on the reverse. The student learns to correlate concepts directly with words, eliminating the need for translation.

Common lexicon - People construct understanding by integrating new ideas with pre-existing knowledge. Ask students what they already know, then develop a common classroom vocabulary that can be used to develop new understandings.

Root words - A knowledge of Greek and Latin prefixes, suffixes, and roots can greatly enhance student understanding of scientific terms and facilitate a better understanding of English and other European languages. Approximately 50% of all words in English have Latin roots, many of which are shared with Spanish, French, Portuguese and Italian. Learning scientific root words thereby helps one understand the vocabulary of a variety of languages, particularly English (1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.4).

Cognates - Many science terms are used internationally. Identify such terms (2.3, 2.4) and ask your students to notify you whenever they recognize a new term that is pronounced or written similarly in their first language. This helps build your knowledge of cognates (words that are similar in two or more languages) so you can help future learners master science vocabulary.

Mathematics translation - English language learners find word problems much more challenging than symbolic math problems. The English language is exceedingly complex, with numerous nuances that must be learned. Students need to be able to translate common words to math symbols (14.1), natural language to algebraic expressions (14.2), and algebraic expressions to natural language (14.3). The activities in this book help students develop such skills.

Word wall - Post new vocabulary terms on the wall in an organized, grouped manner. For example, you may wish to post new biology terms in columns according to the level of organization (cell, tissue, organ, etc.) (8.3).

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Strategies for English Language Learners

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(exerpt from chapter 24) In 2003, 42 percent of American public school students were of racial or ethnic minorities, up 22 percent from 30 years before. Most of this increase in diversity was due to immigration from Latin America and Asia, and with this increase in ethnic diversity came a corresponding increase in linguistic diversity.

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Want students to remember something? Ask them to draw it.

It's long been known that drawing something helps a person remember it. A new study shows that drawing is superior to activities such as reading or writing because it forces the person to process information in multiple ways: visually, kinesthetically, and semantically. Across a series of experiments, researchers found drawing information to be a powerful way to boost memory, increasing recall by nearly double.

Myra Fernandes, Jeffrey Wammes, and Melissa Meade are experts in the science of memory-how people encode, retain, and recall information. At the University of Waterloo, they conducted experiments to better understand how activities such as writing, looking at pictures, listening to lectures, drawing, and visualizing images affect a student's ability to remember information.

In an early experiment, they asked undergraduate students to study lists of common terms-words like truck and pear -and then either write down or illustrate those words. Shortly afterward, participants recalled 20 percent of words they had written down, but more than twice as many-45 percent-of the terms they had drawn. This experiment helped to establish the benefits of drawing.

In a follow-up experiment, the researchers compared two methods of note-taking-writing words by hand versus drawing concepts-and found drawing to be "an effective and reliable encoding strategy, far superior to writing." The researchers found that when the undergraduates visually represented science concepts like isotope and spore, their recall was nearly twice as good as when they wrote down definitions supplied by the lecturer.

Importantly, the benefits of drawing were not dependent on the students' level of artistic talent, suggesting that this strategy may work for all students, not just ones who are able to draw well.

Across a total of eight experiments, the researchers confirmed drawing to be a "reliable, replicable means of boosting performance"-it provided a significant boost to students' ability to remember what they were learning.

Why is drawing such a powerful memory tool? The researchers explain that it "requires elaboration on the meaning of the term and translating the definition to a new form (a picture)." Unlike listening to a lecture or viewing an image-activities in which students passively absorb information-drawing is active. It forces students to grapple with what they're learning and reconstruct it in a way that makes sense to them.

The researchers also suggest that drawing results in better recall because of how the information is encoded in memory. When a student draws a concept, they "must elaborate on its meaning and semantic features, engage in the actual hand movements needed for drawing (motor action), and visually inspect [the] created picture (pictorial processing)."

At a neural level, the strength of a memory depends largely on how many connections are made to other memories. An isolated piece of information-such as a trivial fact-is soon forgotten in the brain's constant effort to prune away unused knowledge. The opposite, however, is also true: The more synaptic connections a memory has, the more it resists eventually being forgotten.

So when we draw, we encode the memory in a very rich way, layering together the visual memory of the image, the kinesthetic memory of our hand drawing the image, and the semantic memory that is invoked when we engage in meaning-making. In combination, this greatly increases the likelihood that the concept being drawn will later be recalled.

This Is Not About Learning Styles

It would be a mistake to think that drawing is beneficial because it taps into a particular learning style. Research has debunked the idea that students learn best when teachers try to match instruction to a single modality.

Instead, what's happening is that drawing taps into multiple modalities-visual, kinesthetic, and semantic-which is superior to tapping into only one. When students draw something, they process it in three different ways, in effect learning it three times over.

In the Classroom

Student-created learning aids: Instead of buying or printing posters that reinforce learning-maps, anchor charts, or diagrams-have students create them.

Interactive notebooks: Don't let students take notes verbatim-push them to be creative. One side of their notebooks can be used for written notes, the other for drawings, diagrams, and charts.

Data visualization: Asking students to collect, analyze, and present data in visual form can deepen their understanding of a topic. Examples include visualizing concepts in math, analyzing classical literature, and exploring fractals.

Bookmaking: Blending academics and art, students at Symonds Elementary create their own books to visually represent topics in subjects ranging from science to English language arts. Students can also create comics books to tell stories or describe events.

Assessing learning through art: Jill Fletcher, a middle school teacher in Hawaii, uses "one-pagers" to challenge students to show their understanding about a topic through art, making it less about finding the "single correct answer" and more about crafting a response they can stand behind. And students at Normal Park Museum Magnet School create travel journals as a visible record of their learning.

There are several ways that teachers can incorporate drawing to enrich learning.

The takeaway: Encourage students to draw. Doing so is a powerful tool to boost student learning because it improves recall by challenging students to explore an idea in different ways.

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Want students to remember something? Ask them to draw it.

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Photosynthesis-Evolution simulation labs provide students a chance to observe and interact with a simulated lab.

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Photosynthesis and Respiration

Photosynthesis is how plants make food for themselves and for the rest of us! Respiration is how animals and other organisms break down food to release energy that cells can use! This special energy is called ATP!

Photosynthesis and Respiration Video Games, Virtual Labs & Activities

Build molecular models that illustrate key principles of energy transfer through the chemical reactions of photosynthesis and respiration. Also, use a model to show how carbohydrates can be used to build other important biomolecules. This activity was designed for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), specifically HS-LS1-5, HS-LS1-6, and HS-LS1-7 (From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes).

Learn how photosynthesis works by performing the light-dependent reactions and the Calvin cycle yourself. It this interactive, the biochemistry of photosynthesis comes alive! Also, learn about the anatomy of the leaf and where exactly the reactions of photosynthesis take place.

Jump to collect oxygen and glucose to keep the man alive through respiration! Then collect carbon dioxide and water to help the tree do photosynthesis! Don't fall off the screen and watch out for enemy hermit crabs and jumping fish! By the time your done, you'll be an expert on the basics of photosynthesis and respiration!

Test your knowledge of photosynthesis and respiration! These quizzes can be submitted online to your registered teacher. Please note: A quiz will not end until you have successfully answered all questions.

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Photosynthesis and Respiration Photosynthesis is how plants make food for themselves and for the rest of us! Respiration is how animals and other organisms break down food to release energy that cells can use! This special energy is called ATP!

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Interactive Notebook is an effective strategy to retain and recall information

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Here is an example of an interactive notebook. The notes provide bolded vocab, guided questions, and pictures. This is ideal for Newcomers. They can follow along by highlighting.

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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:)

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

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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!

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Math Strategies for Beginning English Language Learners

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An educational blog for sharing ideas, strategies and resources that support teachers of English Language Learners.

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The roving paragraph strategy is low prep and aims to help students build a written paragraph. Something to consider for CERs

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Awesome collaboration with @Willowridge_HS Science Specialist today. We are planning to model #rovingparagraph strategy from @DrCarolSalva #BoostingAchievement with Biology teachers tomorrow!

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Awesome collaboration with @Willowridge_HS Science Specialist today. We are planning to model #rovingparagraph strategy from @DrCarolSalva #BoostingAchievement with Biology teachers tomorrow! https://t.co/EObiFoLL0T

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Awesome collaboration with @Willowridge_HS Science Specialist today. We are planning to model #rovingparagraph strategy from @DrCarolSalva #BoostingAchievement with Biology teachers tomorrow! pic.twitter.com/EObiFoLL0T
— Jacquelyn Kiner (@JacquelynKiner) March 22, 2023

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Awesome collaboration with @Willowridge_HS Science Specialist today. We are planning to model #rovingparagraph strategy from @DrCarolSalva #BoostingAchievement with Biology teachers tomorrow! https://t.co/EObiFoLL0T

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Awesome collaboration with @Willowridge_HS Science Specialist today. We are planning to model #rovingparagraph strategy from @DrCarolSalva #BoostingAchievement with Biology teachers tomorrow! https://t.co/EObiFoLL0T

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Awesome collaboration with @Willowridge_HS Science Specialist today. We are planning to model #rovingparagraph strategy from @DrCarolSalva #BoostingAchievement with Biology teachers tomorrow!

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There is a link to an Algebra 1 Interactive Notebook on TPT.

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This is part of my Unit 1 Interactive Notebook for Algebra 1. You can view the rest of it .
1.2 - Properties of Real Numbers

Properties of real numbers. What a snooze fest, am I right? WRONG!

This set of notes turns that notion upside down and gets students involved in creating their own examples to demonstrate each property to make a lively and memorable lesson.

You might wonder, "why would I want to teach properties of real numbers?" It's a simple way to help students start thinking algebraically and flexibly, especially after having a long summer off from math. These properties demonstrate nice rules for manipulating and moving numbers and variables around in expressions and will help them understand why certain moves are "legal" when we start solving equations. Helping students think flexibly and understand the structure of an expression is a huge step in their journey toward mathematical fluency.

Continue reading

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algebra 1 interactive notebook - Math by the Mountain

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This is part of my Unit 1 Interactive Notebook for Algebra 1. You can view the rest of it . Properties of real numbers. What a snooze fest, am I right? WRONG! This set of notes turns that notion upside down and gets students involved in creating their own examples to demonstrate each property to make a lively and memorable lesson.

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Video tutorials that are tailored to Spanish speaking Newcomers

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9th - 12th Grade - Newcomer ELL Algebra - Graphing Quadratics | Inside Mathematics

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I’ve been teaching for 24 years. Twenty of those I taught at San Leandro High School, which is where this lesson was filmed, and now I’m teaching at a small public school in Oakland.

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Provide word banks to designing sentence frames that are appropriate for ELLs' proficiency level. Proficiency levels (PLs) are important to consider because some sentence frames work for an intermediate student, but will not work for a Newcomer

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Specifically, prep students for Algebra MCAP with this website that includes Spanish verbal tutorials with English documents for most math subjects. Make available on BrightSpace for homework, remediation, independent work, etc.

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Use this speaking rubric to equitably grade ELLs based on their proficiency level.

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Sentence Starters are provided in English and Spanish. This strategy is low prep and helps students create a written paragraph by listening, speaking, and writing.

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ELLs should have the same content and language objective as their peers. We will accommodate by differentiating (instruction, process, products), giving extended time, & adding language supports (audio, Read and Write tool, etc.).

Modifications that are applicable are: reduced vocab load, true/false questions, and 5W's and H questions

Acceptable supports are provided in the EL Plan Template >

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Visual of Modifications and Accommodations

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If you're a teacher who is new to teaching the RACE strategy for responding to literature or looking for a refresher on how to teach this important skill, you've come to the right place. In this blog post, I'll share an overview of the RACE strategy, including what it is and tips for getting your students started.

So whether you're just starting out or are looking for new ideas, read on to learn more about teaching the RACE strategy!

What is the RACE strategy?

In fact, let's look at each step of the RACE framework in more detail!

Restate the question.

The first thing your students will need to do when responding to a question is to restate the question so that the reader knows what they are answering.

Teaching students to restate the question in the form of a complete sentence is the easiest way to do this. Model using examples like this one from , "The author of The Giver makes it clear that..." or "In order for readers to fully understand the main character Jonas, they must look at his relationship with his family members, especially his younger sister."

Teach students to be specific in their sentence starters. In the example above, they wouldn't want to say something as simple as "his relationship with his sister". It won't make sense on its own!

For struggling learners, you may want to provide sentence stems. These help model how to take part of the question and turn it into the main idea or topic sentence.

Answer the question.

For any written response to literature, the most important step of the RACE writing strategy is to answer the question.

It's important to teach students that they need to give a clear answer that matches the question. This will be the statement that students plan to support with text evidence.

A good example would be if the question asks "How does Jonas' relationship with his sister change throughout the novel?", a well-written answer might be "Jonas' relationship with his sister changes from one of competition to one of care and protection."

Cite evidence.

The next step is to cite evidence. This means selecting specific pieces of text that support the answer.

This is where having a close read of the text pays off! Students should underline, highlight, or otherwise mark any relevant passages as they read.

When it's time to write the response, they can go back and easily find the evidence they need.

Remember to teach students that they should always cite at least two pieces of evidence, and more is better. This can include using direct quotes from the text. Just make sure that students understand how to properly format and cite these. This includes how to use quotation marks.

Explain the evidence.

After students have selected their evidence, it's time to explain why that evidence matters.

This is where students need to connect the relevant evidence back to the answer. It is also where they show how it supports their claim. For example, students might write, "The quote on page 47 shows how Jonas' sister becomes an important part of his life, which supports the idea that their relationship changed from one of competition to care."

This is also a good time to remind students to explain the context surrounding the evidence in their own words. What was happening in the story at that moment? What do we know about the characters involved? Answering these types of questions will help students write stronger explanations.

The Benefits of using the RACE strategy for responses to literature

Here are several benefits of using this strategy to help students structure better responses to literature:
The RACE strategy provides an excellent teaching opportunity for introducing students to writing with text evidence.
By practicing using their own ideas and citing specific examples from literature or other informational texts to support them, students will gain confidence in their ability to use text-based evidence in their writing-an essential skill for any student, and one that will be especially helpful as students progress through school and as begin thinking about SATs, AP Exams, and college admissions essays!
The RACE strategy allows teachers to assess students' understanding of a text and where misconceptions may have occurred.
When asked to support their answers with evidence from the text, it becomes immediately apparent whether or not learners have grasped the big ideas.

This is valuable information for teachers, who can then use that data to inform further instruction.
The strategy gives an explicit structure to literature responses to help reduce overwhelm for struggling learners.
Many students become overwhelmed when looking at a blank page and trying to figure out how to start writing their thoughts about what they've read.

The RACE strategy offers a step-by-step guide that takes away some of that anxiety by breaking the task down into manageable chunks.

This can be especially helpful for struggling writers or those with learning disabilities, who may benefit from having a clear template to follow.

RACE can be used with any type of literature or informational text. The great thing about the RACE strategy is that it can be applied to just about any type of literature or informational text, making it an extremely versatile tool for teachers.

How to Teach Students to Write Constructed Responses with the RACE acronym

There are a few different ways that teachers can introduce the RACE strategy to their students. Regardless of how you do this, I would recommend beginning by modeling using a shared text. You'll want to have a pre-developed question that you can respond to, along with the RACE acronym as a guide. You might even consider doing this model using the same question format that students will be responding to for their own reading as independent practice.

As you write, be sure to point out how each element of the response corresponds to one of the steps in the RACE strategy. You can also provide students with a printable handout or graphic organizer that outlines the steps of RACE so that they can refer to it as they write.

Once students are familiar with the basics of the RACE strategy, you can have them practice applying it to various literary texts and even to responses to questions in other subject areas.

Start by providing them with a prompt or question to answer, and then give them time to write their responses.

Afterward, you can go over each student's response and offer feedback on how well they applied the RACE strategy.

Here are a few more tips for introducing this strategy to your learners:

Shorter is better. In the early stages, you'll want to use shorter texts to introduce and practice using the strategy so you don't overwhelm learners. Short stories, picture books, or even short passages offer opportunities to respond to literature that doesn't cause struggling readers or writers to shut down.

Start early. Introduce this strategy early on in the school year using shared texts. This will give you a chance to assess students' understanding and provide targeted instruction and support as needed.

Teach each step individually. In the beginning, it's often helpful to focus on one step of the RACE strategy at a time. For example, you might want to teach students how to restate a question before moving on to how to answer it. This allows students to master each skill before moving on to the next one.

Use sentence starters. Sentence starters can be a helpful way to scaffold student responses, especially in the early stages of learning how to use the RACE strategy. You can provide sentence starters for each step of the process, or even create a fill-in-the-blank template that students can use to write their responses.

Don't overdo it. The RACE strategy is just one tool that you can use to help students respond to literature. Use it when it makes sense, but don't feel like you have to use it for every single literature response.

Teach students a system to check if their answer is complete. There are lots of ways to do this, but my favorite is to have students color-code their responses. They can highlight or underline with one color for the restatement sentence, a different color for citing evidence, and the third color for their explanation.

When students use the RACE strategy they will be able to write a thorough response to literature questions.

Ideal for teaching prior to introducing book clubs or novel studies, this response strategy is a valuable tool for any teacher looking to help their students write constructed responses, including paragraph responses to literature.

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Teaching the RACE Strategy for Responding to Literature

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If you're a teacher who is new to teaching the RACE strategy for responding to literature or looking for a refresher on how to teach this important skill, you've come to the right place.

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AACPS instructional and grading guidance

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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.

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Preparing an Engaging Social Studies Lesson for English Language Learners

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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.

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Spanish Academic Language Scripts (Student Handout) (2)

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Conversations- Academic Language Scripts (1)

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These videos demonstrate how teachers support ELLs in ELA classrooms. View Grade 6-12 supports and comprehension strategies.

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Implementation Support Videos - ELA/ELD Framework (CA Dept of Education)

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A Compilation of Videos Aligned with the ELA/ELD Framework.

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If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website.

If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.

To log in and use all the features of Khan Academy, please enable JavaScript in your browser.

18,200 possible mastery points

1. This unit's exercises do not count toward course mastery.

2. This unit does not include exercises.

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The Algebra 1 course, often taught in the 9th grade, covers Linear equations, inequalities, functions, and graphs; Systems of equations and inequalities; Extension of the concept of a function; Exponential models; and Quadratic equations, functions, and graphs. Khan Academy's Algebra 1 course is built to deliver a comprehensive, illuminating, engaging, and Common Core aligned experience!

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7 Strategies: Model, Be Explicit, Anchor Chart, Proficiency Levels, Sentence Stems, Sample Targets, and Talk.

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

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

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

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

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

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7 Simple Strategies to Support ELs in Writing Instruction

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1. Model Each kid benefits from seeing how to write before they DO the writing. BUT for English Learners this is even more important because language structures may vary from their native language....

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Watch the Pre-Teaching Science Content and Vocabulary video

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Watch the demo videos about teaching academic vocab, building background knowledge, differentiation, and reading non-fiction texts

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

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

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Check out the Process Outline section to see how to level questions based on ELLs proficiency.

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Teaching Math to Newcomers-Advanced ELLs

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Teaching Math to Newcomers-Advanced ELLs

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Create vocab banks, use manipulatives, modify teacher talk, choral responses, etc.

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Amazing linguistic research is provided. Skip to Word Problem Analysis Framework to see a translanguaging approach used for word problems.

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Translanguaging & Word Problems – Teaching Math for Emergent Bilinguals: Building on Culture, Language, and Identity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to differentiate writing activities:

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

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

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

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

Language Experience Approach

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sentence Auction

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Error correction

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

Quick Write

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

Cinquain poems

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

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

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

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

Writing
Fun, creative
Thinking, sharing, revising
Lots of ideas.
Proud
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Improving Writing Skills: ELLs and the Joy of Writing

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

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Comprehensible Input & Student Discourse

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Comprehensible Input & Student Discourse

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This article shows how to create comprehensible input and student discourse opportunities with helpful strategies in a science class.

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

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

Providing Support

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

Making Content Comprehensible

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

the use of illustrated vocabulary banks

highlighting cognates

recasting science terms or using familiar synonyms

providing realia and concrete materials

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

Providing Opportunities for Communication

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

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

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

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

Figure 4.1: Student Conversation

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

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

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

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

Providing Support for Communication

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

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

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

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

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

Makes Content Comprehensible
Provides Opportunities for Communication

Provides Support for Communication

Provide illustrated vocabulary banks Modify teacher talk

Gesture/act out words, phrases, directions

Highlight cognates

Recast science terms

Use concrete materials/realia Connect to prior learning

Use graphic organizers

Use talk formats:

Elicit nonverbal responses

Elicit choral responses

Have students repeat or reword

Use sentence frames/prompts Differentiate questions

Partner talk

Table talk

Whole-group discussion

Use wait time

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

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

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

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

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

Supporting Students at Different Proficiency Levels

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

Native and advanced English speakers

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

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

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

Beginning English speakers

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

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

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

Figure 4.4 * Support for Different Proficiency Levels in Englis

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

Lots of visual and
manipulative support

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

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

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

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

Equitable Access For All Students

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

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

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

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

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Activities to help ELLs read and understand math problems, Jigsaw reading, vocab review, speaking math, & vocab strategies.

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Post and print out Talk Moves to provide ELLs a chance to respond non-verbally and/or with sentence starters/phrases.

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If you could not find what you need or have a resource you'd like to provide, please fill out the request form.

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Access Google Forms with a personal Google account or Google Workspace account (for business use).

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1. Identify the task type: Explain, Recount, Argue, or Discuss for your content objective.
2. Check the WIDA Can Do Descriptors to identify the ELD standards

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This document provides thorough examples of what ELLs can do in explaining, recounting, arguing, and discussing and different proficiency levels. Read pg.4-10

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Read about how ELLs will process, understand, produce or use English based on their proficiency to convey meaning. Read pg.4 and 6-7.

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Language Objectives includes an academic verb, content objective, language function, and scaffold

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How to Write Objectives with a Language Objective and Supports

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How to Write Objectives with a Language Objective and Supports

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How to Write Objectives for Lesson Plans with Embedded Language Support - The All-Access Classroom

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Want some tips on how to write objectives for lesson plans? This guide (and easy-to-use template!) will make this a fun part of the process!

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Tutorial: How to Create a Language Objective

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Tutorial: How to Create a Language Objective

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Creating Language Objectives with English Learner Portal

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Use the checklist to ensure that you have all materials ready and accessible for students.

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These are examples of scaffolded instruction, grouping, and materials.

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Use the scaffolds by proficiency level to determine which supports would be most appropriate for your students

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This document contains the accommodations for a variety of grouped students that includes ELLs

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Which students are taking the Quarterly Assessment, is counted/not counted in the gradebook, or need an alternative assessment? The Cohort & ELLs Background Info. spreadsheet provides this easily than this document, but it is available here as well

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Colorín Colorado is a national multimedia project that offers a wealth of bilingual, research-based information, activities, and advice for educators and families of English language learners (ELLs). Colorín Colorado is an educational service of WETA, the flagship public broadcasting station in the nation's capital, and receives major funding from the American Federation of Teachers and National Education Association.

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Valentina is an Educational Consultant on ELLs and provides amazing visuals, tutorials, and resources for teachers

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Language & Content: Making Content Comprehensible

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​What does it mean to make content comprehensible? Imagine for a moment that you are sitting in a classroom in a foreign country surrounded by new classmates and a teacher speaking a language that…

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This website takes complex language and simplifies it. Students can also use this as a tool to build better vocabulary.

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Rewordify.com | Understand what you read

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Rewordify.com helps you read more, understand better, learn new words, and teach more effectively.

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For more information, follow @DrCarolSalva on Twitter

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This website is for all contents! But it does utilize a science content example which could be beneficial for our Science department

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

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

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

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

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

Provide Hands-on Learning Materials

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

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

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

Provide Activities for Studies to Apply Content Knowledge

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

Other forms of asking students to apply content knowledge include:

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

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

Incorporate Activities that Integrate Various Language Skills

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

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

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

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

Takeaways

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

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

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

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

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

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The 1 minute video shows how a teacher uses sentence frames, vocabulary, and Turn and Talks to assess comprehension

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

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

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

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

School Details

ENLACE Academy

Lawrence, Massachusetts

Teachers

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

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Learn the about how to teach academic vocabulary, word problems, building background knowledge, student discourse, and technology by viewing the checklist.

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Math Instruction for English Language Learners

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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

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

The Problem With Math

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

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

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

Supporting ELLs with Visual Math Instruction

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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My ENL Page - Beginner/ Newcomer Resources

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What ELLs Need on the First Day of School Starting Newcomers on the Right Foot All About Me Printables First Week of Back to School Activities Blog - A World of Language Learners Back to School Ideas Welcome to School Video for ELLs Scaffolding

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Use a modern approach by creating infographics

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

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

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Check out the Process Outline section to see how to level questions based on ELLs proficiency.

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3 strategies: comprehensible input, SWIRL, and structured output. SWIRL means: speaking, writing, interactive, reading, and listening. Students process info in different forms which reaches a wider audience.

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3 Strategies to Support English Language Learners in Social Studies

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Scaffolding such as visual guides and templates can make it easier for ELLs to grasp material in courses with complicated vocabulary.

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Strategies: Picture Word Inductive Model, games, dialogues, Freire’s Learning Sequence, Language Experience Approach (LEA), etc.

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The new question-of-the-week is:
What are effective teaching strategies for newcomers?
Newcomers to the United States often have low-proficiency in English but, depending upon their age, might have had considerable education in their home language.

What are the most effective teaching strategies educators can use with this population, which is certain to grow under President Biden's immigration policies?

Several experienced educators are contributing responses to this question: Michelle Shory, Irina McGrath, Luisa Palacio, Sean McWherter Ed.D., and Ciera Walker. Michelle, Irina, and Luisa were also guests on my 10-minute BAM! Radio Show. You can also find a list of, and links to, previous shows here.

Before we get to today's guest contributors, I'd like to share a few of my favorite strategies:
1. Picture Word Inductive Model (PWIM)
In the PWIM, students and teachers first label an image with words, then categorize them, followed by using the words to write sentences about the picture. They next categorize the sentences, turn them into paragraphs, and finally, write a title.

You can learn more about the PWIM here and here.
2. Games
You can't go wrong with games. In the classroom, zillions of different ones can be played with mini-whiteboards, and they can be modified for online use by using a tool like Whiteboard.fi. Quizizz is also great for online use, and it has countless games already premade for just about any topic you want to teach!
3. Dialogues 4.Freire's Learning Sequence 5. Language Experience Approach (LEA)
Promoting Interaction
Michelle Shory and Irina McGrath are Google Certified trainers and co-creators of ELL 2.0, a website that offers tools and resources for teachers of English-learners. Irina V. McGrath, Ph.D., works for the Kentucky education department as an education recovery specialist. She is also a co-director of the Louisville Writing Project (LWP) and the University of Louisville and Indiana University Southeast adjunct who teaches ESL/ENL instruction as well as assessment, literature, and cultural- and linguistic-diversity courses. Michelle Shory, Ed.S., is a district ESL instructional coach in the Jefferson County public schools, Louisville, Ky. She is passionate about literacy and helped establish Dolly Parton's Imagination Library in Louisville.
Teaching students who are newcomers (students in their first year of enrollment in a U.S school) is a privilege-it changes an educator's outlook, practice, and heart forever; however, working with newcomers requires a lot of cognitive, physical, and emotional energy. But we challenge you to find a more rewarding experience in all of education. Where else do you get to see such incredible growth and change? And you will probably keep relationships with these students long after they leave your classroom.
Research
In order to support newcomers in the most effective way, teachers should do their homework on students-research their cultures, history, language, and education systems. You can find resources here and here.

Learning about newcomers will help you connect with your students and their families, give you ideas on how to make your curriculum culturally relevant, and help you address your own assumptions and misconceptions.
Relationships, Self-Advocacy, and Routines
Before starting with the first "real" lesson, begin with relationships, self-advocacy, and routines.

When focusing on relationships, start with names. Teachers should know how to pronounce student names-and students should know how to pronounce each other's names. Also, students need to be fully seen. Educators must take time to learn about their students' interests, families, and topics they love to study. Teachers should also share about themselves-share hobbies, family pictures, etc. Classrooms (especially newcomer classrooms) need to feel safe because we are encouraging students to be vulnerable each day when they are using a new language.

Dr. Stephen Krashen instructs educators to "lower the affective filter" as a way to increase comprehension. Lowering the affective filter includes helping kids feel comfortable by speaking more slowly, using gestures, and including high-interest materials. All of this is most effective when classrooms are warm and comfortable.

Educators will want to begin by teaching independence on day one. Show students how to use technology like Microsoft's Immersive Reader, Google Translate, or Socratic from Google. Demonstrate planning and organization skills (like using a digital calendar or Google Keep). It is also a good idea to make sure that students know how to ask for help from a teacher when they don't know the answer to a question.
Instructional Supports and Considerations
One last addition is to set up strategies to support interaction. WIDA researchers found that ELs spend on average less than 10 minutes per day speaking in class. This is unacceptable from a social-emotional and academic lens-ELs need to engage frequently in classroom conversations. When thinking about structures, consider Kagan structures or QSSSA from Seidlitz.

When facilitating lessons, always remember to include visuals, gestures, and repetition. ESL consultant and teacher Carol Salva's students report these strategies as the most helpful.

It is also important to consider teaching themes. Krashen's research demonstrates the power of "deep reading" on a topic and how it supports ELs in acquiring language. Themes boost engagement and confidence because students are continually building their expertise about a topic. Additional research (highlighted in Natalie Wexler's work) has proven that reading comprehension is largely based on background knowledge. So, whenever teachers build students' knowledge of the world, they are also supporting comprehension.

Finally, when teaching newcomers, educators should not discount the expertise in the room. Be sure to tap into students' "funds of knowledge," a term coined by Dr. Luis Moll that represents cultural resources and knowledge that students bring to the classroom. Always include at least one entry point for newcomers to bring in their cultural and linguistic expertise. One example might be a unit on religions, holidays, or education systems around the globe.

In conclusion, teachers play an important role in ensuring social, emotional, and academic success of newcomer students. The more effort teachers put into getting to know their students, teaching them self-advocacy skills, and building on their funds of knowledge, the greater chance their students will have of reaching their highest potential and succeeding personally and professionally.

ELLs 'Need to Feel Safe'
Luisa Palacio is an ESL and Spanish teacher from Colombia with 19 years of teaching experience. Luisa holds a bachelor's degree in modern languages: English and French, and an M.A. in TESOL from Greensboro College. Currently, she teaches K-12 at Northampton County schools in North Carolina and Spanish with South Carolina Virtual Education:
We always consider content relevancy, the use of visuals, vocalization, facial expression, among others. However, what ELs need at first is to feel safe, comfortable, and confident in their new environment.

The school system works in a completely different way in every country. I believe one of the first things we need to do with newcomers is to show them how school works, classroom routines, how to sign in and out of school, how to move around campus, how to get their meals, how to login on their technological devices, explain schedules, share possible extracurricular activities in which newcomers could participate, etc. Newcomers need modeling, not only for the language but also for the culture. Newcomers need to be shown what to do and how to do it, what to say and how to say it. As teachers, we need to be aware of the cultural shock newcomers go through so that we can help the process to run a bit smoother.

Every newcomer should have a mentor to shadow him/her during the first days of school, someone who can introduce them to their teachers, who makes teachers aware that this EL is in their class and will need some extra attention. In my opinion, cultural awareness should be the first teaching strategy. Newcomers are facing a new culture, and they also need to feel their own culture is valued. Thus, it is important to generate activities that allow students to share their culture, so they make comparisons and connections by sharing about a subject they master and a subject that is relevant.

'Language-Learning Goals'

Sean McWherter, Ed.D., is the director of restart programs for the Guilford County schools in North Carolina. He is the author of A Road Map to PLC Success published by Routledge Eye on Education, 2017, and Unpacking your Learning Targets: Aligning Student Learning to Standards, published by Routledge Eye on Education, 2020:

With the rapidly increasing population of English-language-learners in many schools across the U.S., it is becoming ever more important for regular education teachers and administrators to know how to support these students and their families.

I feel that oftentimes educators mistakenly believe that ELLs have trouble learning or that they learn differently from native English speakers and that their education is best left to the English as a second language or ELL teacher. This could not be further from the truth; the educational barriers ELL students face are accentuated by language and cultural barriers, not an inability to learn.
Utilize Language-Learning Goals
Many educators are aware that the use of learning targets in the classroom is an instructional best practice and that students learn better when teachers utilize clear daily learning goals (Marzano, 2009; Reeves, 2010; Kareva & Echevarria, 2013). For ELL students, it is especially important to include both lesson and language-learning goals.

The lesson objectives should be focused on the grade-level content while the language objective should align to one of the four domains of English-language development (ELD), which are listening, speaking, reading, and writing. A teacher's experience with creating and using language objectives in their instruction is important to ensure that ELLs have equal access to the curriculum (Hudson, Miller, & Butler, 2006; Short, Echevarría, & Richards-Tutor, 2011; Marcos and Himmel 2016). When planning a lesson, everything should intentionally lead students to mastery of the learning targets while providing students with a variety of meaningful activities and high-quality instruction.
Increase Student Engagement and Interactions
To support student engagement, as well as the lesson and language objectives, liberally employ the use of visuals to reinforce both spoken and written words. Capitalize on the use of gestures, often exaggerated, for added emphasis, speak slower and be sure to enunciate your words, repeat important words or phrases, and be sure to use fewer idioms. Many ELL students have not attended schools in their new county and may be unfamiliar with cultural references. Take the time to thoroughly review texts to identify potentially confusing language and concepts so that you can build the background knowledge of your ELL students prior to exposing them to potentially confusing material (Kareva & Echevarria, 2013).

Incorporate high-frequency vocabulary words throughout all content areas and be sure to provide instructions and other important information in multiple formats. Don't just tell the students what you want them to do, write it, provide an example/exemplar, and act it out or model the activity if possible.

Provide multiple opportunities for ELL students to interact with their peers in small groups where they can practice speaking and listening in low-risk settings that will produce language-learning outcomes (Saunders & Goldenberg, 2010).
Build Positive Relationships and Cultural Connections
Building relationships with your students is the foundational component of successful teaching and learning, and there is a multitude of research that supports this idea. According to a review of 46 research studies, students that feel valued and appreciated are more likely to demonstrate both short- and long-term improvements in academic engagement, attendance, grades, and behavior, while also having a reduced dropout rate (Sparks, 2019).

Begin forming relationships with your ELL students by learning about their individual culture, traditions, religion, hobbies, family dynamic, and background. Stay respectful of their personal boundaries and understand that they may need time to settle into their new environment before opening up. (National Clearing House for English Language Acquisition, n.d.). Having a positive relationship with a student's family can also help support their education.

Remember some of the families may only have very little or even no formal schooling experience in this country, so taking the time to show them what school is like and how they can get involved are critical first steps to forming a parent partnership. (Short & Boyson, 2012)

Stations
Ciera Walker is a sixth-year systemwide ELL teacher in east Tennessee:
Newcomers that might have the same level of English do not necessarily grow and learn at the same rate. This is due to many factors, such as previous schooling experience and the background of the student and their family. I use stations as a strategy to meet the needs of all of my newcomers.

What? Stations provide students with an opportunity to work with a partner on specific skills to boost their language learning and language acquisition.

When? We do stations most Thursdays and every Friday.

How? Students eventually work their way up to a goal of 12-15 minutes per station. The teacher starts a timer, and students rotate through the stations with their partner.

Who? I generally group my students by ability in English (homogeneous groups), but occasionally, if they have a great ,I will let them choose their partners (in more heterogeneous groups).

Why? The purpose of stations is to provide students with practice in skills they are learning in the ESL classroom and the general education classroom. Students have opportunities to practice skills during stations while the teacher provides individualized mini-lessons to help with the language-learning process. Stations are practical and provide teachers with opportunities to use best practices in teaching students a new language. It is extremely important to be purposeful, organized, and use a system to make stations go smoothly! It takes a lot of planning to teach students the stations so they can work independently. I take a lot of time to "front-load" the expectations and provide students time to practice. Students generally start stations independently after fall break.

Each year, I change up my stations depending on my students' needs or new ideas I find. Below are some of my favorites that are easy to maintain and enjoyed by the students. I recommend teachers keep stations simple and choose one activity per station, especially in the beginning. As students become more familiar, you can add on to the complexity of each station.

Teacher: Students meet with the teacher and work on individualized needs (letter work, word work, reading stories, fluency, comprehension, etc.). I like to use Reading A-Z or ReadWorks to help structure this station.

Listening: Students work on EPIC books, Unite for Literacy, or listen to books on tape/cd. You can get a headphone splitter from Amazon for pretty cheap if you have limited devices so students can listen together.

Library: Students read a book and complete a simple graphic organizer about what they read.

Computer Station: Choose a safe website for students to play on. I like starfall.com for my primary students and I am hoping to implement typing websites for my older students next year.

Speaking: I use Vocaroo or Flipgrid. For Vocaroo, I usually have picture cards with vocabulary words students might need; students retell the story. For Flipgrid, I usually have a video for students to watch or I ask them a question and they must respond.

Writing: This station is the one that evolves the most throughout the year. Using picture prompts, sentence stems/frames, and word banks is crucial for the writing station.

Word Work Games: This station has many games that work on foundational reading skills. Eventually, students have different boxes/baggies they pull from (depending on their level).

1. Bang: Have different sets of 10-12 words (letters, sight words, vocabulary words, etc.). Label 1-2 cards "Bang." Students pour cards out of baggies into a box. They reach in the box and grab a word, say the meaning or read the word. If they pull "bang," then all their cards must go back in the box.

2. Roll, read, write: Create a 7x6 table. Type in the target words that correspond with a number on a die. Put the sheet in a pocket protector and have students write the word with an Expo marker when they roll the die.

3. Oodlu.org: Create vocabulary sets. Students answer questions and get to play premade video games. Easy to use and create-a class favorite!

Stations are a versatile and practical way to provide students with practice on new skills they are learning and to differentiate instruction for newcomers with varying levels of language acquisition.

Thanks to Michelle, Irina, Luisa, Sean, and Ciera for their contributions!

Please feel free to leave a comment with your reactions to the topic or directly to anything that has been said in this post.
Just a reminder; you can subscribe and receive updates from this blog via email (The RSS feed for this blog, and for all Ed Week articles, has been changed by the new redesign-new ones won't be available until February). And if you missed any of the highlights from the first nine years of this blog, you can see a categorized list below. I am also creating a Twitter list including all contributors to this column.

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Thirteen Instructional Strategies for Supporting ELL Newcomers (Opinion)

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Five educators share effective instructional strategies to use with English-language-learner newcomers, including using images and games.

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Differentiate Instruction, Process, & Product

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Differentiate Instruction, Process, & Product

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Read pg. 4 for a charted example of how to differentiate instruction, processing, and product for ELLs.

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Differentiated Instruction in Social Studies

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This toolkit has Massachusetts' vision for ELLs, guidance, fundamentals, and tools for lesson/unit planning when considering ELLs in the class.

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Contact Us

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massachusetts department of elementary and secondary education

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Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education

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The goal of the Massachusetts public K-12 education system is to prepare all students for success after high school. Massachusetts public school students are leading the nation in reading and math and are at the top internationally in reading, science, and math according to the national NAEP and international PISA assessments.

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Free teacher resource for lesson plans and games

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

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

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Free videos, interactive activities, lesson plans, etc.

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PBS LearningMedia | Teaching Resources For Students And Teachers

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Inspire your students with thousands of free teaching resources including videos, lesson plans, and games aligned to state and national standards.

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Use this strategy to help students visualize what they learned from the reading and choose important quotes.

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

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