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Corwin

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SupportEd

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Corwin

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Acknowledgments About the Authors Introduction Chapter 1: Why You Need This Book to Support ELs What Is the Framework for Equitable and Excellent EL Education? What Is the Sense of Urgency Around ELs' Equitable and Excellent Learning? How Are ELs' Demographics Changing? What Are ELs' Opportunity and Achievement Gaps? What Shifts Have Occurred in Content Standards, and How Do These Affect ELs? What Are the Guiding Principles That We Use to Frame Our Work With ELs and This Book? How Do I Get Started Using All Five Guiding Principles? Conclusion Reflection Questions References Chapter 2: Using a Culturally Responsive Framework to Meet the Needs of ELs What Is Culture? Why Does Culture Matter for ELs' Teaching and Learning? How Can I Begin to Understand How My Cultural Expectations May Differ From Those of My ELs and the Impact This Will Have in the Classroom? What Is Culturally Responsive Pedagogy? What Are the Guidelines of Culturally Responsive Teaching? What Is the Role of Collaboration in Developing a Culturally Responsive Classroom? What Is the Role of Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership in Developing a Culturally Responsive Classroom? Conclusion Reflection Questions References Additional Resources Chapter 3: Scaffolding Instruction for ELs What Is a Scaffold? What Are Different Types of Scaffolds? What Types of Materials and Resources Can I Use to Scaffold Instruction? What Instructional Practices Can I Use as Scaffolding? How Can I Use Student Grouping to Scaffold Instruction? What Steps Should I Take to Scaffold a Lesson? Steps for Developing Scaffolded Lessons Plans How Do I Select the Most Appropriate Scaffold for a Task for Each Modality of Language? What Is the Role of Collaboration in Scaffolding Instruction for ELs? What Is the Role of Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership in Developing Scaffolded Materials? Conclusion Application Activity Responses Reflection Questions References Additional Resources Chapter 4: Academic Conversations: A Tool for Fostering ELs' Oral Language Development Why Is It Important to Focus on ELs' Oral Language Development? How Do I Develop Effective Oral Language Activities for ELs? What Practices Can ELs Engage in to Support Their Participation and Engagement in Oral Language Activities? What Are Some Activities for Supporting ELs' Oral Language Development? How Can I Collaborate Around ELs' Academic Conversations? What Is the Role of Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership in Supporting ELs' Oral Language Development? Conclusion Reflection Questions References Chapter 5: Teaching Academic Language to ELs What Is Academic Language? How Is Academic Language Different From Social Language? How Is Academic Language Structured? What Is the Interplay Between Scaffolds, Errors, and Academic Language? What Is the Word Level? What Is the Sentence Level? What Is the Discourse Level? Why Is Academic Language Important? Why Don't ELs Just Need Assistance With Vocabulary? What Does It Mean That Acquisition of Academic Language Takes Place Within a Sociocultural Context? How Do I Increase My Awareness of the Academic Language ELs Need to Access Challenging Content? How Can I Figure Out What Academic Language Might Be Challenging for My ELs? How Do I Teach Sentence-Level Academic Language to ELs? How Do I Teach Discourse-Level Academic Language to ELs? What Steps Should I Follow When Planning Instruction That Integrates Instruction of Academic Language Simultaneously With Content? How Can I Coplan Instruction of Academic Language When My Time Is Limited? How Can I Infuse Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership to Promote Academic Language? Conclusion Reflection Questions References Chapter 6: Vocabulary Instruction and ELs What Is Academic Vocabulary? Why Teach Academic Vocabulary to ELs? How Should I Select Vocabulary for In-Depth Instruction? How Can I Assess Students' Initial Understanding of These New Words? What Strategies Should I Use for Teaching Academic Vocabulary? What Activities Can I Use to Help My ELs Practice New Vocabulary? How Can I Help My ELs Become Independent Learners of New Vocabulary? How Do I Put All of the EL Vocabulary Strategies Together? What Is the Role of Collaboration in Teaching Academic Vocabulary to ELs? What Is the Role of Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership in Teaching Academic Vocabulary to ELs? Conclusion Reflection Questions References Additional Tools and Resources Chapter 7: Teaching ELs Background Knowledge Reflection: How Do I Feel About Teaching Background Knowledge to ELs? How Can I Raise My Awareness About the Importance of ELs' Background Knowledge? What Does the Research Say About Background Knowledge? What Is the Close Reading of Texts? What Is the Role of Background Knowledge in ELs' Close Reading of Texts? How Do I Match ELs to Texts? What Is a Framework I Can Use for Building ELs' Background Knowledge? Step 1: How Do I Find out My ELs' Prior Knowledge on a Particular Topic or Text? Step 2: How Do I Decide How Much Background Knowledge to Provide to ELs? Step 3: How Do I Activate ELs' Background Knowledge That They Already Possess? Step 4: What Are Some Strategies for Concisely Teaching ELs Background Knowledge? What Are Some Examples of Teaching Background Knowledge? How Can I Apply the Four-Step Framework When Teaching Background Knowledge to ELs? How Do I Build or Activate ELs' Background Knowledge in Mathematics? How Do I Construct Less Biased Mathematics Problems for ELs? What Is the Role of Collaboration in Teaching Background Knowledge? What Is the Role of Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership in Teaching Background Knowledge? Conclusion Reflection Questions Application Activity Responses References Chapter 8: Supporting ELs' Reading for Multiple Purposes Through Using Scaffolded Text-Dependent Questions What Does It Mean to Read for Multiple Purposes? How Can I Specifically Scaffold My Instruction of ELs to Support Their Reading for Multiple Purposes? What Are TDQs? What Type of Questions Should I Ask to Create TDQs for ELs? How Do I Scaffold My ELs' Responses to TDQs? What Steps Should I Take to Create TDQs for ELs? How Do I Apply What I Have Learned About Creating TDQs for ELs? How Do I Collaborate to Create Effective Scaffolded TDQs for ELs? What is the Role of Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership in Creating TDQs? Conclusion Reflection Questions Application Activity Responses References Chapter 9: Formative Assessment for ELs What Is Assessment as, of, and for Learning? What Is Formative Assessment? What Does the Research Say on Assessment for ELs in General? What Is the Role of Formative Assessment With ELs? How Do I Structure the Formative-Assessment Process for ELs? How Can I Interpret Formative-Assessment Evidence to Inform Instruction of ELs? What Is Assessment Validity for ELs, and How Can I Ensure My Formative Assessments Are Valid? How Can I Ensure That Formative Assessments Are Valid for ELs of Varying Proficiency Levels? How Do I Scaffold Formative Assessments for ELs? How Does the Formative-Assessment Process for ELs Unfold in a Classroom? How Can I Support My ELs on Computer-Based Formative Assessments? What Is the Role of Collaboration in Creating and Using Formative Assessments for ELs? What Is the Role of Equity, Advocacy, and Leadership in Creating and Using Formative Assessments for ELs? What Are the Next Steps to Design Formative Assessments Specific to My Context? Conclusion Reflection Questions References Index

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If you’re looking for a single resource to help your ELs meet the same challenging content standards as their English-proficient peers, then dip...

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Colorín Colorado

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In this classroom clip, Albuquerque teacher Marty Dreskin talks about the role of scaffolding for an 8th-grade lesson plan focused on "The Story of an Hour."

Teacher: Ida Demos, Martha Dreskin, Lynne Harper, Deborah Mathen, Maria Padilla-Enyart

School Name: Harrison Middle School, Van Buren Middle School, Kennedy Middle School, Los Ranchos Elementary School, Jefferson Middle School

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Scaffolding for Middle School ELLs: The Story of an Hour

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In this classroom clip, Albuquerque teacher Marty Dreskin talks about the role of scaffolding for an 8th-grade lesson plan focused on "The Story of an Hour," as well as her strategies for removing scaffolding as students showed more confidence with complex text.Things to watch for:Scaffolded lessons to support reading comprehensionSmall group work and group instructionMore Watch & Learn videoStudent engagement and the Common Core

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Virtual "What I Know About My EL" Template

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Virtual "What I Know About My EL" Template

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The link will prompt you to make a copy of the template.

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The Teacher Tool Kit

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The Frayer Model is a graphic organizer for building student vocabulary. This technique requires students to define target vocabulary and apply their knowledge by generating examples and non-examples, giving characteristics, and/or drawing a picture to illustrate the meaning of the word.

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The Difficult Road for Long-Term English Learners

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The Difficult Road for Long-Term English Learners

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Kate Menken & Tatyana Kleyn

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April 2009 | Volume 66 | Number 7
Supporting English Language Learners

Kate Menken and Tatyana Kleyn

With a team from the Research Institute for the Study of Language in an Urban Society, we are currently in our third year of research on long-term English language learners in New York City high schools. The first phase of this research, which we conducted in the 2007-08 school year, consisted of interviews with 29 long-term English language learners and their teachers and administrators to identify the characteristics and education needs of these students. During the second phase, which is currently underway, we are piloting a program of support services specifically targeting long-term English language learners in two New York City high schools. The focus is on English and Spanish biliteracy development and explicit literacy instruction across all content subjects.

From our own research (Menken, Kleyn, & Chae, 2007) as well as others' (Callahan, 2006; Freeman, Freeman, & Mercuri, 2002; Ruiz-de-Velasco & Fix, 2000), several common characteristics emerge that define this student population. Long-term English language learners

Are typically found in grades 6-12.

Speak different languages and come from all over the world.

Are often orally bilingual and sound like native English speakers. However, they typically have limited literacy skills in their native language, and their academic literacy skills in English are not as well-developed as their oral skills are.

Fall into two main groups: (1) transnational students who have moved back and forth between the United States and their family's country of origin and have attended school in both countries; and (2) students who have received inconsistent schooling in the United States, moving in and out of bilingual education, English as a second language, and mainstream programs in which they received no language support services.

Have often not resided in the United States continuously, despite the fact that they may have been born in this country. So the U.S.-born label can be misleading.

Experience inconsistent schooling because of frequent moves or incoherent language programming within and across the schools they have attended. Thus, many have significant gaps in their schooling.

Perform below grade level in reading and writing and, as a result, struggle in all content areas that require literacy. The overall school performance of long-term English language learners is low, with poor grades and grade retention commonplace, making this population at high risk for dropping out.

Have different needs from those of newly arrived English language learners, yet language programming at the secondary level is typically intended for new arrivals. In addition, most educators are unfamiliar with the specialized needs of this population, a problem compounded by poor data about these students in their school records.

What Are Their Stories?

Three students whom we interviewed for our research give a human face to the issue.

José Miguel: Transnational with Schooling Gaps

José Miguel is a 10th grader who has experienced significant transnational and intranational moves (Menken et al., 2007). He was born in Mexico and came to the United States when he was 2 years old. For five years, his family lived in New York, where he began school. His family then moved to Virginia for his 2nd grade year. After completing only part of that school year, he went to live in Mexico for nearly two years. He did not attend school during that time. When he returned to Virginia, "They put me in 4th grade," he said, "because of my age." He spent two years in Virginia before returning to New York City, where he attended one middle school and where he is now in his second year of high school.

Because of his frequent moves, José Miguel has faced considerable inconsistency in the programming he has received. He began in a bilingual program in New York City but received English-only instruction in Virginia. His English acquisition was then interrupted when he moved to Mexico. Since returning from Mexico, José Miguel has only received English as a second language instruction in middle and high school, without native language support. His high school first placed him in a Spanish foreign language class, but his proficiency in Spanish caused the school to quickly move him to French class instead.

As a result of his education experiences, José Miguel believes that his literacy skills are more developed in English than in Spanish. He can read Spanish, he noted, "but not perfectly." His grades average 75 percent.

Sandra: U.S.-Born, with Inconsistent U.S. Schooling

Sandra is an 11th grader who was born in the United States and has remained in this country her entire life. She was born to immigrant parents-her mother came from Ecuador and her father from Puerto Rico. At home, she converses in Spanish with her parents and in English with her siblings. Among her friends, English is her language of choice, with one exception: "When we talk about our parents," she said. Sandra feels equally comfortable speaking both languages.

Sandra's academic career has spanned a total of five New York City schools: three elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. Language instruction has been inconsistent. She recalled how the teacher in an early grade "used to write sentences in Spanish and then do the same sentences in English." As she moved into 4th grade, her teacher and fellow students were bilingual, "But we didn't do no work in Spanish," she explained. In fact, she received no Spanish instruction until her sophomore year of high school, when she began taking a Spanish course intended for those learning it as a foreign language. She easily passed that course because of her oral proficiency and was then placed in a Spanish class for students from Spanish-speaking backgrounds. (These are common in schools with large numbers of Spanish-speaking students.) This class posed new challenges for her because of her limited literacy skills in the language. As she explained, "It's like words that I've never seen before, I've never spoken."

Sandra is also enrolled in an English as a second language class. But she doesn't go to it because it's too easy-"like a baby class," she said. For example, the teacher "takes a paragraph and she does a dictation. And she tells us what to write, and she reads it," or she asks the students to write about a vacation they took.

Her English language arts class, on the other hand, is too challenging for her. One task that the teacher asks the students to do is a critical lens, which requires students to interpret a quotation and write a persuasive essay, drawing on different literary genres. Said Sandra, "And I be stuck, like how am I supposed to write what that means?" Sandra's average grade in 11th grade is 55 percent. She admitted, "I feel embarrassed. I usually get low grades."

Akousa: Foreign-Born, with Inconsistent U.S. Schooling

Akousa is a 12th grader whose family emigrated from Ghana when she was 7 years old. Before arriving in the United States, she only spoke Twi. Akousa experiences rigid language separations in her personal life and schooling. She explains, "I speak Twi the most with my father and stepmother. I have to speak English with my brother because I feel like it's more easier for me. I, like, spit it out." With bilingual friends, she uses both English and Twi, yet she points out, "I'm trying to speak my language to my people who come from where I came from ... because it's my native language and I should be proud of it. I shouldn't let it slip out of my mind." Although her personal life has been bilingual, her schooling has been completely monolingual in English; there are relatively few Twi speakers in New York, and thus no bilingual programs in that language.

Akousa started school in the United States in 3rd grade, although before beginning that year, she was out of school for somewhere between a few months and a full school year. So far, she has attended two elementary schools, one middle school, and one high school. Akousa received English as a second language services in elementary and high school; in middle school, she experienced a three-year absence of any language support.

Although Akousa feels comfortable speaking English and Twi, her schooling experiences have led to English dominance in her literacy skills. She never formally learned to read in Twi, yet English literacy poses a great challenge for her. She explained, "The big words, I don't understand them, you know, so confusing." When asked to specify her greatest weakness, she responded, "Oh! Writing ... Like when they give you an essay to write ... I have to really think deep and sometimes I misunderstood what they say." Akousa's average grade in her senior year is 69 percent.

What Opportunities Have We Missed?

As research has shown, native language literacy ability is one of the greatest predictors of academic performance in school for English language learners (Ford, 2005; Thomas & Collier, 1997). Research is also conclusive that teaching students to read in their native language promotes higher levels of reading achievement in English (Goldenberg, 2008). Students who have the opportunity to develop and maintain their native languages in school are likely to outperform their counterparts in English-only programming and to experience academic success (Baker, 2006; Krashen & McField, 2005; Thomas & Collier, 1997). This is because the literacy skills that students learn in their native languages transfer to English (Cummins, 2000).

However, the long-term English language learners we studied rarely had the opportunity to hone their native language skills. For instance, Akousa has been taught in English only, and she never formally learned how to read and write in her native language. The majority of English language learners speak Spanish, but the rest speak more than 400 languages, which makes it difficult for schools to include less prevalent languages, such as Twi, in their programming. But schools can still focus on developing all students' native language literacy skills through several approaches: by using bilingual paraprofessionals or local volunteers; by implementing after-school enrichment programs; and by providing, when possible, texts in students' native languages for classroom use.

In addition, students like Akousa are often placed in mainstream classrooms for long periods of time without receiving language support. This lack of support is explained by the fact that the majority of mainstream teachers feel unprepared to work with language learners (Nieto, 2002).

José Miguel missed two years of elementary school altogether, a period when literacy is a central focus of schooling. When he returned from Mexico to the United States, he found that the 4th grade curriculum already demanded high levels of literacy and that his peers had a stronger literacy foundation than he did. He is still making up for the time lost.

Moreover, although José Miguel and Sandra were enrolled in bilingual education programs in early elementary school, these programs were not always pedagogically sound. For example, in Sandra's experience, the teacher used to write the same sentence in English and Spanish on the chalkboard. But this concurrent translation approach has proven to be an ineffective pedagogical tool, as students simply wait to hear information in their dominant language and disregard the other language (Crawford, 2004).

Whatever the caliber of these bilingual education experiences, they were not sustained. For Sandra's and José Miguel's remaining years in U.S. schools, instruction has taken place in English only.

In fact, the vast majority of immigrants to the United States receive instruction only in English, the misconception being that doing so will help students learn English better and more quickly. But the English language programming offered to these students in high school is often mismatched to their needs. English classes are either too easy-like a "baby class"-or too difficult, as in English language arts classes that demand high levels of English literacy.

Foreign language classes are a missed opportunity to support long-term English language learners' literacy development. Schools rarely offer foreign language classes targeted to long-term English language learners. Instead, Spanish classes, for example, are usually intended for either native English speakers who do not speak Spanish or for native Spanish speakers who arrive in the United States with high levels of Spanish literacy skills. Spanish classes would have been particularly helpful for José Miguel and Sandra if teachers had used them strategically to develop the students' native language literacy skills and address their gaps in schooling.

What Can We Do?

To ensure that English language learners have the opportunity to build a strong foundation in their native languages and to support their acquisition of English, educators and administrators need to promote bilingualism and biliteracy development in grades K-12. Secondary schools must develop specialized programs for long-term English language learners, tailor English as a second language classes to students' needs, and focus on literacy development across content areas and languages.

Our pilot program for long-term English language learners seeks to support the development of students' literacy skills in English and Spanish through a three-pronged approach:

Spanish language and literacy courses, to help students develop a strong foundation in academic Spanish.

English as a second language courses, in which long-term English learners are taught separately from new arrivals so that instruction can focus on literacy in English rather than on the development of oral language proficiency.

Content-area courses-such as math, science, and social studies-that focus simultaneously on content and literacy learning.

Teachers plan collaboratively throughout the year to develop units with embedded language and literacy skills, which they then teach across all subjects. For example, teachers at one school chose to incorporate into their instruction a focus on comparisons and the academic language structures that comparing entails-descriptors such as larger than, greater mass than, more robust than, and so on. In social studies, students analyze two different time periods, comparing and contrasting them as they familiarize themselves with the terms. In science, students compare asexual and sexual heredity. In all language courses, students may work on nonfiction autobiographies to develop more sophisticated use of language and deeper understandings about the genre. Regardless of the subject matter, all teachers must see themselves as language and literacy teachers and be prepared to teach language through content.

On a wider scale, it is essential that U.S. schools develop more coherent language policies to reduce the movement in and out of bilingual education, English as a second language, and mainstream programs. Schools also need more accurate data about the English learner population so that they can do a better job of both placing and serving these students. For instance, schools need to know not only when the students arrived in the United States, but also whether the students have been here consistently. Because no system like this is currently in place, schools must take it upon themselves to learn about their incoming students by asking them about their previous schooling and the length of time they have attended U.S. schools.

Long-term English language learners are a significant and growing secondary population, so it is of pressing concern that schools take notice of them and meet their needs.

References

Baker, C. (2006). Foundations of bilingual education and bilingualism (4th ed.). Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Callahan, R. (2006). The intersection of accountability and language: Can reading intervention replace English language development? Bilingual Research Journal, 30(1), 1-21.

Crawford, J. (2004). Educating English learners: Language diversity in the classroom (5th ed.). Los Angeles: Bilingual Educational Services.

Cummins, J. (2000). Language, power, and pedagogy: Bilingual children in the crossfire. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Ford, K. (2005). Fostering literacy development in English language learners. Arlington, VA: Colorín Colorado.

Freeman, Y., & Freeman, D., with Mercuri, S. (2002). Closing the achievement gap: How to reach limited-formal-schooling and long-term English learners. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Goldenberg, C. (2008). Teaching English language learners: What the research does-and does not-say. American Educator, 32(2), 8-44. Available: www.aft.org/pubs-reports/american_educator/issues/summer08/goldenberg.pdf

Krashen, S., & McField, G. (2005). What works? Reviewing the latest evidence on bilingual education. Language Learner, 1(2), 7-10, 34.

Menken, K. (2008). English learners left behind: Standardized testing as language policy Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters.

Menken, K., Kleyn, T. & Chae, N. (2007). Meeting the needs of long-term English language learners in high school (A report for the Office of English Language Learners of the New York City Department of Education). New York: Research Institute for the Study of Language in an Urban Society.

New York City Department of Education, Office of English Language Learners. (2008). New York City's English language learners: Demographics. New York: Author.

Nieto, S. (2002). Language, culture, and teaching: Critical perspectives for a new century. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Ruiz-de-Velasco, J., & Fix, M. (2000). Overlooked and underserved: Immigrant students in U.S. secondary schools. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.

Thomas, W., & Collier, V. (1997). School effectiveness for language minority students. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for Bilingual Education.

Endnotes

The Office of English Language Learners of the New York City Department of Education funded our research project. For more information about our research, including information about our pilot program, visit http://web.gc.cuny.edu/Linguistics/rislus/projects/LTELL/.

All student names are pseudonyms.

Critical lens is a task on the statewide English language arts exam required for high school students in New York. The task is linguistically complex and intended to measure college readiness (Menken, 2008).

Authors' note: The following doctoral students at the City University of New York Graduate Center provided valuable help with this article: Nabin Chae, Nelson Flores, Alexander Funk, Laura Ascenzi-Moreno, and Jeremy Rafal.

Kate Menken is Assistant Professor of Linguistics at Queens College and Research Fellow at the Research Institute for the Study of Language in Urban Society, CUNY Graduate Center; kmenken@gc.cuny.edu. Tatyana Kleyn is Assistant Professor of Bilingual Education and TESOL at the City College of New York, CUNY; tkleyn@ccny.cuny.edu.

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The Difficult Road for Long-Term English Learners

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April 2009 | Volume 66 | Number 7 Supporting English Language Learners Kate Menken and Tatyana Kleyn With a team from the Research Institute for the Study of Language in an Urban Society, we are currently in our third year of research on long-term English language learners in New York City high schools.

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Scaffolding Instruction for ELLs Resource Guides

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Scaffolding Instruction for ELLs Resource Guides

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engageNY

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The New York State Education Department is no longer supporting the EngageNY.org website and it will no longer be available for use after April 15, 2022. NYSED encourages educators to download any EngageNY content they wish to use in the future.

All ELA and mathematics curriculum files will be available at the links below, and will remain free and licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA) license.

Archived EngageNY Curriculum Files:

Grades 3-8 ELA and Mathematics Test Materials:
Questions regarding this change may be directed to the EngageNY Help Desk.

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The New York State Education Department is no longer supporting the EngageNY.org website and it will no longer be available for use after April 15, 2022. NYSED encourages educators to download any EngageNY content they wish to use in the future.

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Step 2 Tool: Checklist for Increasing Academic Language Awareness

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Step 2 Tool: Checklist for Increasing Academic Language Awareness

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4-Square Frayer Model Angle Relationships

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4-Square Frayer Model Angle Relationships

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Motivating and Engaging Long-Term English Learners Guide

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Motivating and Engaging Long-Term English Learners Guide

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Motivating and Engaging Long-Term English Learners

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6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students

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6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students

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This articles provides 6 strategies for scaffolding along with multiple examples of activities you can use in the classroom to achieve it.

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6 Scaffolding Strategies to Use With Your Students

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

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Step 3 Tool: Suggested Scaffolds at Each Proficiency Level

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Step 3 Tool: Suggested Scaffolds at Each Proficiency Level

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Staehr Fenner, 2014

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Available Formats

ISBN: 9781452257693

Paperback

Suggested Retail Price: $34.95

Bookstore Price: $27.96

ISBN: 9781452278407

Electronic Version

Suggested Retail Price: $30.95

Bookstore Price: $24.76

Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email sageheoa@sagepub.com. Please include your name, contact information, and the name of the title for which you would like more information. For information on the HEOA, please go to http://ed.gov/policy/highered/leg/hea08/index.html.

1. Need for Advocacy for English Learners

2. Creating a Shared Sense of Responsibility for Teaching English Learners

3. How ESL Teachers Can Collaborate to Expand Advocacy Efforts for ELs

4. Advocacy Overview for School and District Administrators

5. Increasing EL Families' Involvement Through Building Their Advocacy Capacity

6. Advocacy Through Effective Instruction of ELs

7. Advocating for ELs in Assessment

8. Advocacy for ELs' Success Beyond Grade 12

(1) A comprehensive resource which raises educators' awareness of the areas in which ELs need advocacy and offers practical suggestions for EL advocacy
(2) Provides an overview of research that informs EL advocacy in each chapter and tools to apply the research on the ground (3) Focuses on hands-on professional development activities to build a sense of responsibility for ELs' achievement in school and beyond
(4) Includes checklists for schools and districts to use to provide a framework to guide their discussion of ELs' advocacy needs in a number of areas
(5) Contains an abundance of practical examples of EL advocacy in action, taken from a variety of schools and geographical regions
(6) Weaves in voices of EL advocates at the school, district, state, and national levels (including Tim Boals, Catherine Collier, and Margarita Pinkos)

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Available Formats ISBN: 9781452257693 Paperback Suggested Retail Price: $34.95 Bookstore Price: $27.96 ISBN: 9781452278407 Electronic Version Suggested Retail Price: $30.95 Bookstore Price: $24.76 Should you need additional information or have questions regarding the HEOA information provided for this title, including what is new to this edition, please email sageheoa@sagepub.com.

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English Language Learners (ELLs) face the double challenge of learning academic content as well as the language in which it is presented. Teachers have traditionally treated language learning as a process of imparting words and structures or rules to students, separate from the process of teaching content knowledge. This approach has left ELLs especially unprepared to work with the complex texts and the academic types of language that are required to engage in content area practices, such as solving word problems in Mathematics, or deconstructing an author's reasoning and evidence in English Language Arts. ELLs need to be given frequent, extended opportunities to speak about content material and work through complex texts in English with small groups of classmates.

The new, widely-adopted Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards also call for all students, including ELLs, to master an array of academic language practices that are critical to achievement in content areas. Examples of these academic language practices include: argument from evidence, analysis of complex texts, and developing and using models. At Stanford's Understanding Language, we have found that ELLs benefit from instructional approaches that treat language and content in an integrated way that is designed to help them build the language skills that they need to succeed in content classrooms, college and careers.

Working closely with Denver Public Schools teachers Ms. Emily Park-Friend (Bruce Randolph School) and Ms. Katie Langlois (Morey Middle School), we're glad we can show through this video series ways that these 7th grade ELA teachers prepare their learners by activating prior knowledge, scaffolding meaning making with complex texts, and developing ELLs' discipline and academic language practices in ELA classrooms.

The set of six video clipsbegin with this short overview by Understanding Language ELA work group members George Bunch (University of California, Santa Cruz) and Aída Walqui (WestEd). This overview video discusses the key shifts found in the Common Core for ELLs and the opportunities for ELLs to grow their disciplinary knowledge and English language skills in heterogeneous classrooms. Through the classroom videos, we see several key strategies for encouraging English Language Development:

Scaffolding Understanding

The classroom video series highlight how ELA teachers can take account of the language demands that ELLs face in content classrooms andhelp ELLs meet these demands with increasing autonomyover time. As discussed in this video, this means providing ELLs with strategic types of scaffolding, such as graphic organizers, visual aids, peer help, or home language help, and removing these supports as students' skills develop. This way, ELLs can be given the opportunity and the necessary support to meet rigorous academic standards.

Purposeful Grouping

Also, as this videoexplains, ELLs learn best when they are in heterogeneous classrooms. ELLs need to be given ample opportunities to have extended interaction (such as doing 'jigsaw'-type activities) with peers of varying English proficiency levels, who can provide ELLs with a range of models for how to use English words or structures appropriately, as well as abundant, personalized feedback on ELLs' own developing English use. It is best for ELLs if, within their classrooms, teachers sometimes group students heterogeneously according to English proficiency, and sometimes homogeneously, depending on the purpose of the task at hand.

Background Knowledge

Another teaching technique (demonstrated here) that is beneficial for ELLs, is to provide them with relevant background knowledge about a topic to be discussed in class, or activate their existing knowledge of a topic. Besides increasing student interest, this allows students to focus more fully on the instructional goals, rather than being overwhelmed with too much new information at once. It also allows ELLs to bridge new knowledge to old knowledge, increasing understanding, and it helps some ELLs fill in contextual information (such as American political history or cultural details) that they may not have due to coming from different cultural backgrounds.

Extended Discussion

Though teachers have generally attempted to teach ELLs difficult vocabulary before having them read texts, ELLs learn new vocabulary best through extended discussionwith their classmates afterreading or betweenmultiple readings, as this video explains.

Valuing Linguistic Differences

Schools and teachers can help ELLs greatly by learning about ELLs' home cultures and languages, treating cultural and linguistic differences as resources rather than obstacles, and reaching out to students' homes and communities to build learning opportunities together.

Here are more resources for teachers and administrators who are seeking to better support ELLs:

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English Language Learners (ELLs) face the double challenge of learning academic content as well as the language in which it is presented. Teachers have traditionally treated language learning as a process of imparting words and structures or rules to students, separate from the process of teaching content knowledge.

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Examples of lessons

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English Learner Portal

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Strategies for Literacy and Language Development 

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Strategies for Literacy and Language Development 

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Early childhood education can play an essential role in preparing young English language learners (ELLs) for later success in school. Children who have an opportunity to develop basic foundational skills in language and literacy in preschool enter kindergarten ready to learn to read and write (Ballantyne, Sanderman, & McLaughlin, 2008).

But how can early childhood educators know if their programs are providing children with the skills they need? This article will describe some of the methods and strategies that research has proven effective in preparing young ELLs for kindergarten.

Language Development for Preschool ELLs

Essential to any preschool program for ELLs is effective instruction in language development. Children need explicit instruction in English vocabulary, as well as opportunities to hear and speak the language throughout the day. Examples of strategies are listed below.

5 Classroom Strategies: Language

Provide explicit, systematic instruction in vocabulary.

Children require multiple exposures to words in order to develop a rich understanding of their meaning and use. Teachers should make a point of introducing interesting new words for children to learn into each classroom activity (Tabors, 2008).

Presenting vocabulary thematically helps children make associations between words and scaffolds students' learning (McGee & Richgels, 2003).

Read-alouds that include explanations of targeted vocabulary can support word learning (Brabham & Lynch-Brown, 2002; Coyne, Simmons, Kame'enui, & Stoolmiller, 2004), as can dramatic play organized around a carefully chosen theme (Barone & Xu, 2008; Tabors, 2008).

Ensure that ELLs have ample opportunities to talk with both adults and peers and provide ongoing feedback and encouragement.

English language learners need lots of opportunities to engage in social interactions with other children, but they also need support from adults as they develop the language skills they need to negotiate those interactions (Ballantyne et al., 2008). You can use the following strategies to foster social interaction:

For group activities, pair English language learners with children who have strong English language skills, and make sure that all the children who speak the same home language (L1) are not grouped together (Barone & Xu, 2008).

Provide opportunities for self-directed activities so that ELLs can choose activities that match both their interests and their language abilities (Bunce & Watkins, 1995).

Encourage child talk by providing prompts when children need help in expressing themselves (e.g., "Tell Bobby, 'May I have the red crayon now?'").

Use open questions, or questions that can have multiple answers, to help ELLs expand their own utterances (e.g., "Why do you like this doll best?" instead of "What is this doll's name?").

Expose ELLs to rich language input.

Exposure to rich language, whether through shared book reading or through teacher talk, has been shown to enhance children's oral language development (Aukrust, 2007; National Early Literacy Panel, 2008). One effective strategy is for the teacher to provide an ongoing commentary on activities that are taking place in the classroom in order to expose children to language associated with the immediate context (Bunce & Watkins, 1995; Tabors, 2008).

Structure the classroom space and routine to provide scaffolding for ELLs' language learning.

Arrange the classroom in a way that supports each type of instructional activity that will take place, and then keep changes to the physical environment to a minimum. Once ELLs learn which activities take place in various parts of the classroom (e.g., centers, circle), the physical environment will cue them as to what they are to do and how they are to behave in that area (Barone & Xu, 2008).

Predictable classroom routines can also provide scaffolding for English language learners by allowing them to anticipate what will happen each day, including the type of language they will need for each activity (Bunce & Watkins, 1995; Tabors, 2008).

Encourage continued L1 language development.

Strong L1 skills support both language and literacy learning in English:

Encourage parents to talk and read to their children in their home language as a way of strengthening children's L1 language skills.

Incorporate children's home language in the classroom when possible. Songs and videos can be used effectively for this purpose if teachers do not speak their students' language (Gillanders, 2007).

Literacy Development for Preschool ELLs

Research has shown that alphabet knowledge, phonological awareness, and print awareness are early literacy skills that contribute significantly to later reading achievement (National Early Literacy Panel, 2008). English language learners can begin to develop these essential foundational skills in preschool, even before they have developed strong English language skills.

Early Literacy Skills

Alphabet knowledge

Skills appropriate to preschool include recognizing and naming upper and lower case letters and beginning to associate letters with the sounds they make.

Phonological awareness

Phonological awareness refers to the ability to manipulate the sounds that make up language, independent of meaning. In preschool, children benefit from:

learning to recognize rhyming words

listening for syllables within words

learning to recognize beginning sounds in words

matching those sounds to letters

Print awareness

Print awareness is an understanding of the features of books and print. Children should:

be taught to recognize the parts of a book (e.g., front and back covers, top and bottom)

learn that printed letters and words run from left to right and from top to bottom

learn that a book has a title, was written by an author, and has illustrations that were drawn by an illustrator

3 Classroom Strategies: Literacy

Design instruction that focuses on all of the foundational literacy skills.

Activities that promote early literacy skills in preschool include:

interactive storybook reading

"pretend" reading and writing

games and other activities to help children identify the letters of the alphabet

interactive experiences with language and print through poems, nursery rhymes and songs

The emphasis should be on code-based instruction, or instruction that helps children understand the relationship between spoken language and print (National Early Literacy Panel, 2008).

Recognize that many literacy skills can transfer across languages.

A child who has developed early literacy skills in his or her first language will find it easier to develop those same skills in English. Parents who are not proficient in English should be encouraged to help prepare their children for learning to read by using the home language to:

teach rhymes and songs

play word games

share storybooks

Teachers can support parent-child reading by sending home books in the child's home language. This makes L1 text available to parents, and it lets them know that the teacher considers reading to children in the home language to be important.

Accelerate English literacy development by helping ELLs make the connection between what they know in their first language and what they need to know in English.

Similarities between English and the child's home language can be used as a foundation for instruction (Helman, 2004). For example, if L1 has some of the same phonemes as English, start with those phonemes for rhyme or beginning sound activities because those are sounds the child is already familiar with.

Children usually have the most difficulty when they encounter sounds that are present in English but do not occur in their home language. For this reason, Spanish L1 speakers often have difficulty with the "short" or lax sounds of a, e, i, and u and with the consonants j, r, v, and z (Bear, Templeton, Helman, & Baren, 2003; Helman, 2004).

Preparing for the Future

Much attention has been given to the persistent achievement gap between English language learners and their English-speaking peers. Unfortunately, by the time children arrive in kindergarten, differences in foundational language and literacy skills have often already set the stage for this disparity in achievement (Miller & Garcia, 2008).

The good news, however, is that recent research has shown that high-quality early childhood education programs can have a significant impact on children's later academic achievement (Barnett, 2008). Programs that provide research-based, age-appropriate instruction in early language and literacy skills can ensure that English language learners enter school equipped with the tools they need to be successful learners in kindergarten and beyond (Ballantyne et al., 2008).

Aukrust, V. G. (2007). Young children acquiring second language vocabulary in preschool group time: Does amount, diversity, and discourse complexity of teacher talk matter? Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 22, 17-38.

Ballantyne, K. G., Sanderman, A. R., & McLaughlin, N. (2008). Dual language learners in the early years: Getting ready to succeed in school. Washington, DC: National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition.

Barnett, W. S. (2008). Preschool education and its lasting effects: Research and policy implications. Retrieved 6/3/2009, from http://nieer.org/resources/research/PreschoolLastingEffects.pdf

Barone, D., & Xu, S. H. (2008). Literacy instruction for English language learners Pre-K-2. New York: The Guilford Press.

Bear, D. R., Templeton, S., Helman, L. A., & Baren, T. (2003). Orthographic development and learning to read in two different languages. In G. G. GarcÃa (Ed.), English learners: Reaching the highest level of English literacy (pp. 71-95). Newark, DE: International Reading Association.

Brabham, E. G., & Lynch-Brown, C. (2002). Effects of teachers' reading-aloud styles on vocabulary acquisition and comprehension of students in the early elementary grades. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94, 465-473.

Bunce, B. H., & Watkins, R. V. (1995). Language intervention in a preschool classroom: Implementing a language-focused curriculum. In M. L. Rice & K. A. Wilcox (Eds.), Building a language-focused curriculum for the preschool classroom: Vol. I. A foundation for lifelong communication (pp. 39-71). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

Coyne, M. D., Simmons, D. C., Kame'enui, E. J., & Stoolmiller, M. (2004). Teaching vocabulary during shared storybook readings: An examination of differential effects. Exceptionality, 12(3), 145-162.

Gillanders, C. (2007). An English-speaking prekindergarten teacher for young Latino children: Implications for the teacher-child relationship on second language learning. Early Childhood Education Journal, 35, 47-54.

Helman, L. A. (2004). Building on the sound system of Spanish: Insights from the alphabetic spellings of English-language learners. The Reading Teacher, 57(5), 452-460.

McGee, L. M., & Richgels, D. J. (2003). Designing early literacy programs: Strategies for at-risk preschool and kindergarten children. New York: The Guilford Press.

Miller, L. S., & Garcia, E. E. (2008). A reading-focused early childhood education research and strategy development agenda for African Americans and Hispanics at all social class levels who are English speakers or English language learners. Phoenix: Arizona State University, Office of the Vice President for Education Partnerships.

National Early Literacy Panel. (2008). Developing early literacy: A scientific synthesis of early literacy development and implications for intervention. Washington, DC: National Institute for Literacy.

Tabors, P. O. (2008). One child, two languages: A guide for early childhood educators of children learning English as a second language (2nd ed.). Baltimore: Paul H. Brookes Publishing Co.

You are welcome to print copies or republish materials for non-commercial use as long as credit is given to Colorín Colorado and the author(s). For commercial use, please contact info@colorincolorado.org.

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8 Strategies for Preschool ELLs' Language and Literacy Development

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Early childhood education can play an essential role in preparing young English language learners (ELLs) for later success in school. Children who have an opportunity to develop basic foundational skills in language and literacy in preschool enter kindergarten ready to learn to read and write (Ballantyne, Sanderman, & McLaughlin, 2008).

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What is scaffolding and how does it help ELLs?

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What is scaffolding and how does it help ELLs?

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Colorín Colorado

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Scaffolding is a method in which the teacher supports a student to work just beyond the level he could achieve on his own. Psychologist Lev Vygotsky called this area the "zone of proximal development." As the student becomes more competent, the support is gradually removed until the student is able to perform the task without assistance.

The benefits of using scaffolding are numerous. Scaffolds help students build on prior knowledge and internalize new information. The goal of the educator when using the scaffolding teaching strategy is for the student to become an independent and self-regulating learner and problem solver.

In addition to facilitating learning, the scaffolds:

Motivate the child's interest related to the task.

Simplify the task to make it more manageable and achievable for a child.

Help the child focus on achieving the goal.

Clearly indicate differences between the child's work and the standard or desired solution.

Reduce frustration and risk.

Model and clearly define the expectations of the activity to be performed.

For a discussion of scaffolding research and strategies, see the Scaffolding as a Teaching Strategy document from Condor's Scaffolding Website.

For a variety of instructional activities using scaffolding strategies, visit EDTech Projects.

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What is "scaffolding" and how does it help ELLs?

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Scaffolding is a method in which the teacher supports a student to work just beyond the level he could achieve on his own. Psychologist Lev Vygotsky called this area the "zone of proximal development." As the student becomes more competent, the support is gradually removed until the student is able to perform the task without assistance.

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Step 5 Tool: Scaffolding Lesson Planning Checklist

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Step 5 Tool: Scaffolding Lesson Planning Checklist

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Power Point

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Spanish Frayer Model Vocabulary Graphic Organizer

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Spanish Frayer Model Vocabulary Graphic Organizer

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Resources and strategies for how to utilize students' home languages in the classroom

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Four Key Things to Look for in a Classroom That Supports ELLs

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Four Key Things to Look for in a Classroom That Supports ELLs

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Valentinia Gonzalez

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Serving Multilingual Learners of All Ages

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​As a leader in your building, it's important to keep current with all the best practices in education. Knowing what is new and cutting-edge in each content area is difficult yet crucial. As you walk into classrooms and observe teachers, students and the environment, how do you know that all students' needs are being met. ELLs are the fastest growing population in the United States. Are classrooms meeting the needs of their diverse students?
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Cooperative Learning : Cooperative learning is defined as students working together, discussing, and learning from one another. These groups should be heterogeneous in an effort to support the needs of all the students in the group. Cooperative learning benefits all students but ELLs need it to become fluent in academic English. English Learners need to hear native speakers and practice English in an academic setting. Cooperative learning allows students to negotiate for meaning, process their thoughts, and build on background knowledge from other students. You will know if students are practicing cooperative learning when you walk into a classroom. If desks are in groups, it's probable (but not certain) that cooperative learning is taking place. Desks in isolation or rows are not conducive to cooperative learning. When cooperative learning is integrated into classroom culture, students feel free to take risks and the affective filter is lowered. The more opportunities for students to share their thoughts and ideas with one another the more comfortable they become discussing academic topics using the English language. Another great benefit of cooperative learning is that the students are doing most of the talking rather than a teacher doing a great deal of lecturing. We know that the one doing the work and the talking is the one doing the learning.
Word walls with visuals: Word walls are all the rage! Lots of classrooms have them now a days. But that doesn't mean the word wall is actually being used by students or that it is effective. Classrooms that truly supports ELLs will have word walls that are content specific AND include visuals. For example there may be a separate word wall for science and math words. In addition each word will have a picture, graphic or realia (real object) by the word. Word walls may look messy because when they are authentic they are often added to and used spur of the moment when the need arises.
Language rich classroom: This is a loaded one! Language rich can mean so much. For example, a classroom that is language-rich will have shelves bustling with books. Books of all sorts, levels and genres. Books that highlight and showcase cultures from around the world. So that any student can find them self in a book they pick up. A language-rich classroom will have anchor charts that are clear and concise. These anchor charts will not merely be wall paper. They will be functional for student use. Students will refer to them and when asked, students will know what the charts are used for and how to use them. The anchor charts will be supported with graphics and visuals. When the classroom has newcomer students, the classroom might even be labeled. All objects in the room will have a label: door, chair, computer, desk, wall, Smartboard, etc.
Sentence stems/frames: In a classroom that clearly supports English learners, it will be easy to see if students are supported orally. There may be sentence stems or sentence frames posted on charts in the room. Or there may be stems posted on the board by the content or language objectives for the day. Some stems remain the same and are there for long periods of time while others change with the daily objectives. For example, generic stems such as "I agree because..." or "I think...because..." might stay up for a long time. Frames like, "One way the founding fathers were alike is...for example..." will only stay up during a short period of time. One way to see if students know how to use the stems and if explicit instruction has been given for the stems is to ask a couple students. Simply ask, "How do you use that chart?" or "How does that sentence stem help you?" If students have no idea then perhaps the chart or stems are wallpaper rather than a learning tool.

Whether you are an instructional coach, an ESL coach, an assistant principal, or a principal, it's important to know what to look for as you visit classrooms. English Language Learners are diverse and have unique needs. If you aren't observing the things listed above in a classroom on your campus, it may raise a red flag. Talk to the teacher. See if your ESL department or ESL specialist can help. Perhaps professional development training or a book study will benefit the teacher. Unfortunately preservice teachers have very little ESL professional development or training. And a lot of the training current teachers have is on the job training. Be prepared to support teachers as they grow as learners themselves.

Resources: . Boston: Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Echevarría, J., Vogt, M., & Short, D. (2008). Making content comprehensible for English learners: the SIOP® model

​ Brechtel, M. (2001). Bringing it all together: Language and Literacy in the multilingual classroom. San Diega, CA: Dominie Press.

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4 Key Things to Look for When You Walk into a Room That Supports ELLs

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​As a leader in your building, it's important to keep current with all the best practices in education. Knowing what is new and cutting-edge in each content area is difficult yet crucial. As you walk into classrooms and observe teachers, students and the environment, how do you know that all students' needs are being met.

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TeachingEnglish

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Where is it from?

How can I use it in class?

When should I use it?

Why should I use it in the classroom?

A few useful variations

Are there any disadvantages with using TPR?

TPR stands for Total Physical Response and was created by Dr. James J Asher. It is based upon the way that children learn their mother tongue. Parents have 'language-body conversations' with their children, the parent instructs and the child physically responds to this. The parent says, "Look at mummy" or "Give me the ball" and the child does so. These conversations continue for many months before the child actually starts to speak itself. Even though it can't speak during this time, the child is taking in all of the language; the sounds and the patterns. Eventually when it has decoded enough, the child reproduces the language quite spontaneously. TPR attempts to mirror this effect in the language classroom.

How can I use it in class?

In the classroom the teacher plays the role of parent. She starts by saying a word ('jump') or a phrase ('look at the board') and demonstrating an action. The teacher then says the command and the students all do the action. After repeating a few times it is possible to extend this by asking the students to repeat the word as they do the action. When they feel confident with the word or phrase you can then ask the students to direct each other or the whole class.

It is more effective if the students are standing in a circle around the teacher and you can even encourage them to walk around as they do the action.

When should I use it?

TPR can be used to teach and practise many things.

Vocabulary connected with actions (smile, chop, headache, wriggle)

Tenses past/present/future and continuous aspects (Every morning I clean my teeth, I make my bed, I eat breakfast)

Classroom language (Open your books)

Imperatives/Instructions (Stand up, close your eyes)

Storytelling

It can be adapted for all kinds of teaching situations, you just need to use your imagination!

Why should I use it in the classroom?

It is a lot of fun, students enjoy it and it can be a real stirrer in the class. It lifts the pace and the mood.

It is very memorable. It really helps students to remember phrases or words.

It is good for kinaesthetic learners who need to be active in the class.

It can be used in large or small classes. It doesn't really matter how many students you have as long as you are prepared to take the lead, the students will follow.

It works well with mixed-ability classes. The physical actions get across the meaning effectively so that all the students are able to understand and use the target language.

It doesn't require a lot of preparation or materials. As long as you are clear what you want to practise (a rehearsal beforehand can help), it won't take a lot of time to get ready.

It is very effective with teenagers and young learners.

It involves both left- and right-brained learning.

When I use TPR, first I get the students to do the actions and then I do them and drill the students (chorally and individually) to give them an opportunity to practise making the sounds. They are then ready to give commands to each other.

A game I like to play is to organize the students into a circle around me, I say the word and the last person to do the action is out. This person then stands behind me and watches for the student who does the action last. Eventually there is only one student, she is the winner.

You can extend this by playing Simon Says. This time when you give a command, students should only do it if you say "Simon says..." at the start. I might say, "Simon says, 'slice some bread'" or "Simon says, 'chop an onion'" and the students must do the action. However if I say, "Whisk an egg" the students shouldn't do this. If anyone does the action that Simon doesn't say then they are out and have to watch for the mistakes of the other students.

Are there any disadvantages with using TPR?

Students who are not used to such things might find it embarrassing. This can be the case initially but I have found that if the teacher is prepared to perform the actions, the students feel happier about copying. Also the students are in groups and don't have to perform for the whole class. This pleasure is reserved for the teacher.

It is only really suitable for beginner levels.

Whilst it is clear that it is far more useful at lower levels because the target language lends itself to such activities I have also used it successfully with Intermediate and Advanced levels. You need to adapt the language accordingly.

For example, it helped me to teach 'ways of walking' (stumble, stagger, tiptoe) to an advanced class and cooking verbs to intermediate students (whisk, stir, grate).

You can't teach everything with it and if used a lot it would become repetitive. I completely agree with this but it can be a successful and fun way of changing the dynamics and pace of a lesson used in conjunction with other methods and techniques.

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Where is it from? How can I use it in class? When should I use it? Why should I use it in the classroom? A few useful variations Are there any disadvantages with using TPR? Where is it from?

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Elementary ELLs

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by Valentina Gonzalez

Scaffolds are temporary supports meant to be released when no longer needed. Think of buildings that are under construction. When the building is in the early phases, more scaffolding is necessary to sustain the structure. As the building progresses, less scaffolding is needed. Finally, before the construction is complete, the scaffolding is removed.

Scaffolding our instruction for students, English learners or not, is similar in theory. Assessing when and where the scaffolds are needed, and removing them at the right time is critical. Keeping a scaffold for too long can create a crutch for some, and students may become dependent on scaffolds that remain too long. The goal of a scaffold is to support students toward future independence.

These 8 writing scaffolds can be implemented in any grade level or content area:

1. Sentence Frames

Sentence frames are highly structured. They are basically sentences with fill in the blanks that support students at earlier stages of language proficiency. Here are a few examples of frames:

The ___has ___sides.

The ____revolted against the___.

A ___is larger/smaller than a ____.

2. Sentence Stems

Sometimes sentence stems and sentence frames are used interchangeably. However there a difference between the two. As shown above, a frame provides a tight grammatical structure. A stem, on the other hand, is as the name indicates, just the "stem" or base of a sentence and not a whole sentence. Students must continue the thought. Sentence stems give students just enough structure to begin more elaborate writing. Here are some examples of sentence stems:

Based on the experiment, I can conclude that...

In the beginning I thought..., but now I think...

One way that ___and ___are alike is that....

On the other hand, they are different because...

3. Mentor Texts

Mentor texts are also known as exemplars. They are models of high-quality writing for students. While adult-authored books or articles are often a main source of mentor texts, it is also effective to use high-quality student-authored examples. One teacher I know would save the original student samples of writing to use as exemplars. Another made digital copies. (Either way, always be careful to remove any identifiable information such as names.) Mentor texts set students up for success because they show students what the target is, which makes it much easier to achieve. Sometimes using student-created exemplars makes the target seem more attainable for students.

4. Interactive Word Walls

Interactive Word Walls (IWWs) are large, thematic or unit-based graphic organizers filled with rich vocabulary and visually supported with graphics and real objects. IWWs are often co-created with students rather than premade by the teacher. They can be used as scaffolds for writing in all content areas because students can easily take the language from the unit-based word wall and use it in their writing.

5. Model Writing

Model writing is similar to the Read-Aloud; in fact, some call it Write-Aloud. When we write in front of students in real time, we have the opportunity to "think aloud" and model what effective writers do mentally. This helps to make the writing process visible for students. Students see how an idea moves from the abstract to a concrete piece of writing. Modeling writing in all content areas helps students develop the language of the domain. For example, when we model how to write a lab report, we can share with students the language structures and academic vocabulary that scientists use. This modeling process supports students as they go off to write on their own.

6. Quick Writes

Not every piece of writing students do has to be lengthy. In fact, quick, daily writing is an effective way for English learners to practice writing in a low-stress setting. Long essays and pages of writing can be intimidating for students who are learning the structures of the English language. What's the saying? "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time." Breaking a task into small chunks (or "chunking" the task) makes it seem doable. A Quick Write is a short writing task-usually about 3-10 minutes. Author and teacher, Larry Ferlazzo writes about the power Quick Writes, or Micro-writing, holds for ELs here in an article for ASCD. He shows how this type of writing can improve English learners' confidence and language proficiency.

7. Language Experience Approach

The Language Experience Approach has been around for a long time. It is a method of shared writing in which students and the teacher write together after a shared experience. This is actually one of my favorite techniques because it builds community, models writing, and increases student participation and engagement. Students listen, speak, read, and write.

Begin by sharing an experience (like a field trip, science experiment, movie, book, etc). Next, have students talk about the experience with partners or a group, and come up with sentences to share with the teacher. Then lead the class in creating a text about the experience on chart paper (or under a document camera) as students share their sentences with you. After you write each sentence, have the class read it aloud chorally. (This provides tons of reading practice for fluency.) When the shared writing is complete, the class rereads the whole piece. Finally, lead the class in discussing organization, revision, and editing. Students can suggest adding and deleting sentences and decide to change words or punctuation. To see an example of what this can look like, check out Carol Salva's use of LEA here!

8. Mentor Sentences

Think of a mentor in your life. Who did you imagine? Someone you look up to? Someone you try to emulate? Mentor sentences are sentences students try to emulate. Jeff Anderson, author of Mechanically Inclined and Patterns of Power writes about the effectiveness of mentor sentences. The sentences that we choose can come from Read Alouds or we can make up our own sentences using information relevant to our students and our class.

For instance, suppose we had a visit from the fire department and the kids couldn't talk about anything else. So my mentor sentence may have been, " While waiting anxiously to hear all about the apparatus, a crowd of kids huddled around the fire truck ." First I read it aloud, and then we read it chorally. I then invited students to discuss the sentence with their partner or in groups. What did they notice? What did they observe about the sentence? I called on a few students randomly. Some noticed that there was a comma. One student said that the sentence was in the past tense, and we asked how he knew. He said, "Because the word 'huddled' ended with an -ed." Another student said that it looked like two sentences stuck together. We talked more about that and discovered that the first part of the sentence wasn't a complete sentence but a phrase. Finally, the students wrote their own sentences modeled after the mentor sentence. Some students used this frame:

While waiting ______to hear all about the_____, a crowd of ___huddled around the ____.

One student wrote: While waiting eagerly to grab all the kibble, a crowd of dogs huddled around the food bowl. To add to it, he drew a group of dogs around an empty food bowl.

If you have students who struggle with writing, try some of these scaffolds to support them along the way to independence and success!

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8 Ways to Scaffold Writing for English Learners

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by Valentina Gonzalez Scaffolds are temporary supports meant to be released when no longer needed. Think of buildings that are under construction. When the building is in the early phases, more scaffolding is necessary to sustain the structure. As the building progresses, less scaffolding is needed.

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All learners need time to process new ideas and information. They especially need time to verbally make sense of and articulate their learning with a community of learners who are also engaged in the same experience and journey.

In other words, kids need to talk!!

Problem is, sometimes it's hard to stay on subject without a little guidance. That's why structured discussions really work best with children, regardless of their maturity level.

These ten discussion techniques (and a little purposeful planning) go beyond the traditional turn and talk/think-pair-share to give students an opportunity to deepen their understanding while practicing their verbal skills.

1. Double Think-Pair-Share

This technique is great for collaborating and generating many ideas on a topic. Note: Make sure students have paper and pencil handy.

Arrange students into pairs (teacher or student choice).

Pose a question that has many possible answers. For example, what are some ways our school can become more "green"?

Pause for "think time."

Partners do traditional think-pair-share, brainstorming as many ideas as they can in a set amount of time and writing their answers down on a piece of paper.

After the allotted time, each pair then finds another pair to share answers with. As the first team reads their answers aloud, the second team adds new ideas to their list or puts a check mark next to items they also thought of. The second team then shares answers that were missing from first team's list.

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2. Mingle, Pair, Share

A great activity to get kids up and moving and encourage them to interact with all of their classmates.

3. Sticky-Note Storm

This activity is great for brainstorming, reviewing, and thinking outside the box. It's also a great way for students to teach and learn from one another. It works best when kids are seated in small table groups. Note: Have a supply of sticky notes available for each table.

The teacher poses a question, sets a time limit, and gives students a moment to think before writing. For example, "In two minutes, how many math problems can you write down that have the solution 23?" or "In 45 seconds, write down as many adjectives as you can."

Each student writes down as many answers as they can think of-one idea per sticky note-and sticks it to the center of the table.

The goal is to generate as many ideas as possible and cover the table with sticky notes! At the end of each round, students review one another's ideas.

4. Sage and Scribe

In this activity, one student plays the role of teacher, and the other plays the attentive student. Explaining concepts clearly is a difficult skill that requires a lot of practice, and recording information helps students build note-taking skills.

Students work in pairs. One student is the sage (speaker) and one is the scribe (silent writer).

Pose a question and allow a few moments for sages to think. For example: "Explain how the water cycle works."

When the teacher says "go," the sage explains the process clearly to the scribe.

The scribe records the sage's thinking on paper.

When time is up, the sage and scribe switch roles with a new question.

5. Inside-Outside Circle or Parallel Lines

Also called Tea Party, Face to Face, Serpentine, Ladder

6. Detective

This activity is great for reviewing learned material or trying new versions of familiar problems. It can be used for math concepts, science lab follow-up questions, grammar exercises, reading summaries, etc. It is also good as a team-building or getting-to-know-you activity. Students will need a worksheet, a pencil, and a clipboard (if you have them, students can also write on desk surfaces).

7. Quiz, Quiz, Trade

This activity is great for test review. It gets your students up and moving. They get to ask and answer not just one, but many questions. They may even come across the same one more than once, reinforcing the concept. Kids love it because unlike drill-and-kill review sessions, this feels more like a game.

Prepare review cards with questions and answers. (This sounds time consuming, but it can be as simple as cutting up one review sheet into individual cards or having students be involved in preparing the cards.)

Pass out one review card per student.

Students stand and circulate with one hand in the air, searching for a partner.

Once they pair up, partner 1 asks partner 2 the question on their card. Partner 2 answers. If they get the answer correct, partner 1 offers praise. If not, partner 1 coaches partner 2 until the correct answer is revealed.

Partners switch roles and repeat the question-answer process.

After both partners have asked and answered, they trade cards and set off to find a new partner. The process continues for whatever amount of time the teacher determines is appropriate.

Note: The last three activities work best if students are seated in table groups of four.
8. Flash

Another great review activity. Again, you (or you and your students) will need to prepare question and answer cards. Each student will also need a dry-erase board and a marker or scrap paper and a pencil. Explain the concept of "think time" to your students before you begin so that slower processors don't feel anxious. Assign one student in each desk group to be the captain.

9. Write Around

This is a fun activity for creative writing or story summarizing. Each student needs their own piece of paper and pencil.

Ask each student to copy the sentence starter and finish the sentence on their own piece of paper.

After they have written their answer, each student passes their paper to the team member on their right.

Next, the student reads the paper they have received from their neighbor and adds a new sentence to that page.

Again, they pass the paper to their right.

After a few go-rounds, four great stories or summaries emerge.

Give students time to read their final versions add a conclusion and/or edit their favorite one to share with the class.

10. Team Huddle

This a great whole-class activity for team building and relationship strengthening. Each member of the group must cooperate and participate for the team to be successful. This activity is best used with questions that have definite right answers, not opinions. Each team needs a whiteboard and marker.

Have students in each table group to number off in their teams from one to four.

Announce a question and a time limit. For example, "How do you spell the word conservation? You have twenty seconds." or "What are three properties of a rectangle? You have forty seconds."

Students at each table group put their heads together to come up with one answer. Tell the students to speak softly so that other groups won't overhear their answer.

One student will record the group's answer on the whiteboard.

When time is up, call a number (1-4) and ask the student from each team with that number to stand at their table group holding their group's answer sheet.

When you say "reveal," each designated student will turn over their answer sheet, and the students can look around and survey the groups' different answers.

Recognize correct responses and elaborate through rich discussion. If you want to make the activity a competition, you can keep track of team points for correct answers.

We'd love to hear your think-pair-share alternatives! Come and share in our WeAreTeachers HELPLINE group on Facebook. Plus, creative ways to pick partners.

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10 Fun Alternatives to Think-Pair-Share - We Are Teachers

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Kids need to talk to learn. These structured discussion techniques are fun and mix things up from the usual think-pair-share tactic.

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How Every Teacher Can Be A Teacher of Language

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How Every Teacher Can Be A Teacher of Language

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This guest post was written by none other than the legendary, Dr. Katie Toppel who co-founded #ellchat_bkclub.
In her keynote presentation for the #VirtuEL18 Conference, Dr. Jana Echevarria very powerfully stated, "Our English learners are students who can least afford wasted instructional time" (Echevarria, 2018). In other words, instructional time that is not explicitly tied to developing skills in reading, writing, speaking, and listening can be considered a lost opportunity for English learners (ELs) to further advance their proficiency in English.

ELs not only learn of the English language, but they also learn content through English, so their exposure to targeted language instruction throughout the entire school day is paramount. For this reason, all teachers serve an important role in supporting students who are learning English.

Let's take a look at a few compelling ways every teacher can support language development for English learners.

It is common for teachers to identify solely as content teachers because that is their area of expertise (TESOL, 2018) and many content teachers do not feel prepared to support ELs in meeting the Common Core State Standards in their particular content areas (Education Week, 2014).

TESOL (2018) indicates that successful schools for English learners have a shared sense of community and responsibility for ELs, which stresses the necessity of collaboration between content teachers and language teachers in order to meet students' linguistic needs in all aspects of their schooling.

When teachers come together with the shared goal of helping all students achieve at a high level, English learners will benefit. Also, investing time in ongoing professional development, in partnership with colleagues, is fundamental for better serving English learners. Collaboration, co-teaching, and participation in professional learning communities (PLCs) are all effective ways for teachers to share and increase knowledge around best practices for English learners.
Where to start:

Create Community: Connect with colleagues outside of your specialty area and learn a little about what they teach. Ask questions, observe, and/or take a look at the standards in their discipline area. Try to see the bigger picture of what students experience as they go through their school day and look for ways you can support colleagues by sharing what you know and your strengths. Don't hesitate to ask for help in areas where you may need support. Form Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) or take some time in existing PLCs to talk about language development and language instruction.

Collaborate: If you are a teacher who does not feel confident supporting English learners, utilize your colleagues who have specialized training and knowledge around language development and acquisition. Ask for suggestions around what language forms and functions support your content. Language specialists can share information and strategies. They may even be able to model a lesson or team teach with you in order to support your learning.

Find Mentors: Social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter also offer multiple avenues to pursue convenient and free professional development through groups and chats specifically geared toward improving instruction for ELs. These groups and chats are led by experts in the field of language development and involve educators who are both passionate about ELs and more than happy to support other teachers. Advocating for ELLs and Leading ELLs are two helpful groups on Facebook. Additionally, Twitter offers many chats where teachers can share information and ask questions. A few popular chats are: #EllChat, #EllChat_BkClub, #BoostingAchievement, and #CoTeachat.

When language is taught as decontextualized skills, students may achieve proficiency on those particular skills, yet they may not understand or be able to use those skills in the context of connected language. They also may not understand how to leverage their language skills for content learning and demonstrating what they have learned in content classes. If language instruction is embedded within all content areas, the target language is essential and consequently, used, and practiced.
Where to start:

Use Language Objectives: The direct correlation between the content being learned (content objectives) and the language required to demonstrate an understanding of that content (language objectives) not only provides ELs access to the core curriculum, but it also supports them in acquiring more language and provides them more opportunities to practice English. Language practice that aligns with content instruction provides students with a context and a purpose for their language use.

SWIRL: SWIRL is an acronym that stands for speaking, writing, interacting, reading, and listening. The idea behind SWIRLing is to incorporate a connective thread between the language domains and to make sure students utilize all language domains during content area lessons. This will help students improve their skills in those language domains, while also helping them obtain new knowledge and proficiency around the target content.

Design for Language Use, and Provide Appropriate Supports

Too often, English learners remain quiet for the majority of their school day due to a myriad of factors such as confusion around expectations, anxiety/nervousness about speaking in front of peers, or lack of confidence in their language abilities. In many cases, expectations for language production, particularly speaking and writing, are lowered simply because of students' status as language learners.
Where to start:

Provide Time to Talk: Talking about content is a vital strategy to process new learning. ELs need to practice speaking, but they also need additional time to think and process. Additionally, make sure that the grouping configurations allow them to feel comfortable to share their ideas. Partner practice, small groups, and recording functions on technology can all be used to help ELs feel safety and comfort so they are willing to talk in class. Teachers should also make it a habit to build in wait time before asking English learners to respond to ensure they have had time to think and prepare before sharing. English learners also benefit from opportunities to use their native language to process what they are learning.

Provide Clear Expectations/Directions: Provide both verbal and written directions so students can hear and see what they are expected to do. Use visuals to support instruction and directions to help make concepts and expectations comprehensible.

Model: Before asking students to produce verbal or written language, provide a model of what it should look and sound like. This can include modeling expectations for talking with a partner such as making eye contact, leaning in, and using academic language or showing students a sample of a writing piece.

Scaffold: Use sentence starters or sentence frames to support students in their language production. Make sure keywords and sentence starters/frames are posted so students can use them as they speak or write.

Teachers worry that requiring and expecting English learners to produce language in class will heighten their stress and further impede their success, therefore ELs are permitted to remain quiet with the expectation that they will participate when they are ready. It is important to clarify that simply having ELs in content or mainstream classrooms does not ensure that they will develop the academic language needed to engage in rigorous academic tasks.

The success of English learners is dependent upon many factors. Of utmost significance is that all teachers embrace the importance of supporting language development in conjunction with content instruction so that English learners have meaningful and continuous language instruction and practice. Helping ELs succeed is the responsibility of all teachers. All teachers are language teachers because no matter what we are teaching, we rely on language as the medium help students develop content knowledge.

Dr. Katie Toppel is a K-5 English Language Development Specialist in Oregon. She is also an Adjunct Professor at Portland State University in the area of ESOL. Dr. Toppel's instructional background includes experience teaching Kindergarten and First Grade in addition to being a K-12 Support Services Teacher at the Franconian International School in Germany. She is also the co-founder of #EllChat_BkClub on Twitter, which is a virtual book club aimed at improving instructional practices for English Learners.

References

Echevarria, J. [Jana Echevarria]. (2018, May 13). How much should we "push" English learners? [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R49oVkd4MJg&feature=youtu.be

Education Week. (2014). From Adoption to Practice: Teacher Perspectives on the Common Core. [PDF file]. Bethesda, MD: Education Week Research Center. Retrieved from: https://www.edweek.org/media/ewrc_teacherscommoncore_2014.pdf

TESOL. (2018). The 6 principles for exemplary teaching of English learners. Alexandria, VA: TESOL International Association.

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93. How Every Teacher Can Be a Teacher of Language | Empowering ELLs

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This guest post was written by none other than the legendary, Dr. Katie Toppel who co-founded #ellchat_bkclub. In her keynote presentation for the #VirtuEL18 Conference, Dr. Jana Echevarria very powerfully stated, "Our English learners are students who can least afford wasted instructional time" (Echevarria, 2018).

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Carol Salva

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by Carol Salva Is it really a good idea to spend time having students write in content-area classes? The answer is YES! Here are some reasons and a few ideas on how to make writing time practical.
I have been a content-area teacher, both with and without in-class support, and everyone will agree that content teachers have a very heavy load. The stakes are higher than ever, and we could run through a very long list of issues facing teachers today, from grading to insignificant planning time. The issues are real, and time is limited! However, the more I work with teachers, the more I see examples of the value in integrating writing in all content areas.

A Concrete Example from the Field

In our trainings and in our book, Boosting Achievement, Anna Matis and I frequently mention a master teacher, Joseph Maurer. Joseph's math class was an excellent example of how writing and producing language in content areas can boost achievement of all learners. I was fascinated by Joseph's class, not only because he had documented years of impressive standardized assessment scores, but also because this was an anomaly for the area. Joseph taught in an area that was predominantly Hispanic and over 95 percent Free and Reduced Lunch (low socioeconomic status). And yet, he was able to close achievement gaps for so many students.

Mr. Maurer was utilizing several high-impact teaching strategies, but the one that struck me the most was writing. The students in Joseph Maurer's classroom had math journals that were filled with reflective writing about their math learning. There was a great deal of language being used, in class both orally and in writing. I was so thrilled about the learning environment that I requested to have my own son (who is not an English Learner and is gifted in the area of math) placed into Mr. Maurer's Algebra class. Anthony would tell me that Mr. Maurer was a great math teacher and that he let the students talk about math a lot. I noticed that his homework included fewer calculations and more writing reflection with sentence stems such as "I solved this problem by..." "I noticed..."

Mr. Maurer began offering staff development with me, and he strongly recommended that other math teachers incorporate writing into their instructional minutes. In our trainings, he shared that writing is basic to thinking, and according to Fulwiler (1983), writing promotes introspection and speculation. Additionally, in content areas, Fulwiler offers that students can use writing to individualize their instruction. Writing is personalized by nature because the author enters the writing wherever they are in their thinking.

A Practical Approach

Writing to learn in a content classroom need not be time consuming or misaligned with the lesson. For example, students can do a two-minute quick write to reflect or a short journal entry to warm up. Or, a favorite among content teachers is a short writing piece that serves as an Exit Ticket at the end of class. Content teachers have told me that Exit Tickets are valuable for many reasons:

"I get a check for understanding."
"It's a great formative assessment."
"The kids have to think about what we did today."
"I don't care how they write it; I want them to reflect on the science we learned."

YES! These are all great thoughts on how Exit Tickets can be powerful for content-area teachers.

As these comments suggest, writing is already happening as part of many content teachers' pedagogy.

I suggest a simple tweak to the idea of an Exit Ticket to get even more bang for your buck. For any classroom, I suggest that teachers consider framing the lesson so that we begin class by telling students what the Exit Ticket will be and including a sentence stem as part of the Exit Ticket. The sentence starter directs thinking and can help a teacher explain the learning intentions.

If we review the Exit Ticket with the learning targets, now our Exit Ticket is doing "double duty" for content area teachers. Not only will students use writing to reflect, but they also have an opportunity to understand the learning targets from the beginning of the lesson. Reviewing the objectives ahead of time, including the expected Exit Ticket, is a way to communicate the success criteria. It ties to what John Hattie (2009) calls "Teacher Clarity." Hattie describes Teacher Clarity as communicating the learning intentions and success criteria for the learning intentions (Almarode, 2017). His work supports that this effort has a significant effect on learning outcomes.

What About the Student Who Can't Yet Write?

Everyone can reflect. Everyone can put something down on paper. According to Carroll and Wilson in Acts of Teaching (2007), even pre-literate children have intention when they scribble or draw. We want the learners in a safe space to reflect on what they understand, what they wonder, and/or what they are confused about. So allowing any reflections and minimizing corrections of spelling or mechanics can support both content-area learning and writing ability as students internalize the new writing structures they encounter.

The sentence stem we mentioned in the Exit Ticket example above also gives your English learners an opportunity to write a complete academic sentence. If they are just gaining the ability to write (in English or in any language), you're offering them a chance to practice forming English words at the same time. So we allow native language to negotiate meaning, we ask everyone to use the sentence stem, and then we set students off to reflect in a way that most supports their learning.

Am I Supposed to Teach Students How to Write?

Yes, but in a way that makes sense for your subject. Teachers who are unfamiliar with teaching spelling, grammar, and the mechanics of writing need not despair. Spelling, grammar, and mechanics are not the main goal in a content-area classroom. The content is the main goal. Begin with a two-minute quick write, a writing warm up, or the Exit Ticket example above, and be sure to include a sentence stem that includes academic language of your subject. Consider how much language and writing students will produce over the school year if they write just one academic sentence each day. Over 180 days, these structured writing activities will go a long way to teaching the language of any content area...and they should also go a long way in boosting the learning of the entire class.
Read more about writing to learn with emergent English learners.

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by Carol Salva Is it really a good idea to spend time having students write in content-area classes? The answer is YES! Here are some reasons and a few ideas on how to make writing time practical. I have been a content-area teacher, both with and without in-class support, and everyone will agree that content...

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ASCD

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ASCD empowers educators to achieve excellence in learning, teaching, and leading so that every child is healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged.

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Valentina Gonzalez

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A MiddleWeb Blog

No matter the state you teach in, you may have experienced an expanding number of English Language Learners (ELLs) in your classroom.

Over the past few years, ELLs have been one of the fastest growing groups of students in the United States. It's a fresh challenge for many teachers, but we're used to challenges and we have to prepare ourselves to serve students that come with unique and diverse needs.

ELLs are vastly different from one another. They come with such a wide variety of backgrounds. Some are born here and have limited proficiency in their native language. Others are newcomers who have learned English in their home country but struggle with speaking in English. There are even some who enter our schools with limited or interrupted formal education in their own native language.

Serving a variety of ELLs in a class period is a significant task, but it is not impossible if we embrace a key concept. In order to help ELLs learn content and language simultaneously, we have to make content comprehensible and scaffold instruction.

Scaffolding is a term first used by Wood, Bruner and Ross (1976) as they described conversations between young children and their parents. In construction, scaffolding is a temporary structure put up in the process of manufacturing or repairing a building. Temporary is the key word here. The scaffold is temporary yet it is essential.

When we scaffold our instruction for the students who need it, we can provide necessary support as we promote independence. Scaffolding is future-oriented.

Here are a few easy-to-implement yet highly effective instructional scaffolds that will help to make your lessons ELL-friendly and more comprehensible in any content area.

1. Offer sentence stems

A sentence stem can help give a student the impetus to begin a sentence either verbally or in writing. You know when kids are learning to use a swing set, they first need us to give them a few pushes? And once they get the hang of it, they are off...pumping their legs and swinging themselves.

Sentence stems are the push. They help propel language. Many ELLs have the content knowledge in their native language and just need this scaffold to help put the words in motion in English. Offering sentence stems that are tailored to a student's language level for speaking or writing helps to advance their language.

Here are some examples of sentence stems, by language proficiency level:

Beginner: The ___is___.
Intermediate: I can conclude that ___.
Advanced: Based on___, I can conclude___because...
Advanced High: Based on___, I can conclude___because...In addition...

2. Provide visuals

We've probably all heard it said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Pictures are superior! Mountains of evidence exist showing that concepts presented with pictures are more likely to be recalled.

If you do only one of these, this is the one to do. Visuals, in my opinion, are one of the best ways to make content comprehensible to all students but especially for ELLs. Heard information only carries about 10% recall. Adding a visuals lifts recall to 65%! That's powerful.

Not only is recall improved, but pictures also make content comprehensible and promote academic vocabulary. When an ELL sees a picture along with the words that are spoken or written, they are more likely to understand the language. Many ELLs know the terms in their native language and simply need to translate them into English. Pictures can act as that bridge between the native language and the target language. Pictures provide a type of universal, unspoken language.

3. Allow wait time

Research has proven the amazing results of just 3-5 seconds of wait time. Wait Time 1, as defined by researcher and professor Dr. Mary Budd Row, is the period of time between asking a question and calling on students to answer. Dr. Rowe's research concluded that 3-5 seconds of Wait Time 1 after asking questions increases students recall, improves the quality of responses and develops student learning while building self-confidence.
Take this for instance . . .
Teacher: Based on the experiment, what can you conclude?
ELL: (listens)
ELL: (translates)
ELL: (processes)
ELL: (formulates a response in English)
ELL: (builds courage to respond orally)
ELL: (raises hand)
ELL: Based on the experiment, I can conclude that the water evaporated because of the heat applied. (Sentence stems were provided to support the student with this response.)

ELLs need time to listen, translate, process, formulate, build courage, and respond. Wait time is crucial.

Wait Time 2 is the time period after the student responds and the teacher reacts. This wait time allows students to elaborate on their response or complete their answer while the teacher simply nods their head and looks thoughtfully.

Though wait time can seem awkward at first, it does show our students that we not only expect them to answer, we also know they can do it!

4. Slow your speech

This doesn't mean we have to exaggerate how slowly we speak. We just need to be intentional about not speaking quickly. Our ELLs need to hear the clear distinction between words.

Hearing each word clearly helps ELLs capture the word in order to identify it, process it, translate it and comprehend the meaning of the message. This a big job. So avoiding rapid-fire speech helps allow time for ELLs to work through that process.

There is a misconception that speaking loudly helps ELLs. This is not necessarily true. A normal volume will suffice as long as the we don't talk too fast. Personally, I can empathize with this. I can understand Spanish to a certain degree. But if the speaker begins talking too quickly, I lose all meaning. The rate at which we speak affects how it is received by ELLs.

5. Use gestures

When we use our hands and body, our students that are new to English have a better chance of understanding the messages we are trying to send. This technique is so simple, yet highly effective.

Using gestures can come in various forms. For instance, if I want my students to take out their math book, I can model this and pull out the math book to show the students. When the teacher points to objects and talks at the same time, students are more able to comprehend the lesson. This 5-minute video I put together offers a powerful demonstration of how gestures and other comprehensible input make an impact, even when the language is strange to us.

Another way to use gestures and involve students is to incorporate TPR (total physical response) into vocabulary instruction. TPR is an instructional technique that connects physical movements with critical vocabulary words and their meanings.

This research-based technique, coined by Dr. James Asher, benefits all students and is highly engaging. Take for instance the word "decorate." The teacher provides a student-friendly definition of the word, and the class works in groups to come up with a physical movement to demonstrate the definition. Watch how third-graders do it in this brief video.

It's important to keep in mind that once we put scaffolds in place, they are not permanent. A scaffold is meant to be released once a student no longer needs it. If we don't release the scaffold, it becomes a crutch. We want our scaffolds to promote independence. Just like when we teach our kids to swing, we give them the initial pushes and teach them the motions. But we won't be there to push them forever. We have to prepare them to do it on their own.

Instructional scaffolds can be used in all classrooms but are not for every student. Not every ELL will need a scaffold. Being aware of our students' needs will help us make decisions about the types of scaffolds they need to be successful.

These are just 5 of many scaffolds that can be used across subjects to support ELLs. Feel free to share this post with your colleagues who serve ELLs, and share with us how you scaffold instruction to meet the needs of your ELLs.

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ELLs: Five Highly Effective Cross Curricular Scaffolds

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ELL coach Valentina Gonzalez offers five easy-to-implement scaffolds to help make lessons in any content area accessible to diverse English language learners.

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Laura Varlas

At her district's newcomer center, English as a Second Language teacher Barbara Gottschalk would engage parents in a visual exercise: compare a math textbook from 20 years ago to the one in use today. The former, a familiar reproduction of the kind of math newcomers most likely experienced in their home countries, was defined by rows of computation. In the current textbook, however, words abound.

"You could tell just by looking at the two that even a student with a strong background in math will need some language support in a mainstream math class," says Gottschalk, who teaches at Susick Elementary in Troy, Michigan. A student with interrupted or limited schooling, she adds, will need even more language support.

With the Common Core State Standards and, especially, the skills identified in the Standards for Mathematical Practice, mathematics has increasingly emphasized conceptual understanding and reasoning, in addition to procedural know-how. "Language is the entirety of the mathematics classroom," says Megan Rowe, a math teacher at Borah High School in a linguistically diverse district outside Boise, Idaho. "From the language I use when I'm teaching to the language students use when they're reasoning among their peers-I don't know how you could ever teach mathematics now without focusing on language."

Double-Edged Disadvantage

Yet there's evidence across the education sector that many still assume English language learners (ELLs) don't need language support in math, and that belief can create a double-edged disadvantage for such students. ELLs placed in mainstream math courses with little to no language support are more likely to flounder under increased linguistic demands. However, when ELLs are tracked into remedial classes-and researcher Eduardo Mosqueda reports that this is a common and pernicious trend-it severely reduces the likelihood that they will eventually take advanced math courses.

"Once you start looking at math through the lens of language, you see linguistic demand everywhere," says San Diego State University professor Bill Zahner, a former high school math teacher. Without awareness and planning to support ELLs with that linguistic load, language will continue to be a gatekeeper to the advanced courses that lead to in-demand, well-paying careers in STEM fields. For Zahner and others, it's a question of equity: "How do we meet the needs of linguistically diverse students in math?"

Build a Baseline

When working with ELLs, it can be easy to mistake lags in language for gaps in math learning. "Just because they don't have the words doesn't mean they don't know how to do it," says Gottschalk. That's why middle school ESL teacher Beth Morrow's first rule of supporting ELLs in the math classroom is assess, don't assume. Establishing a baseline of where students are in terms of math knowledge and language proficiency helps teachers tailor the content and English supports ELLs receive.

Gottschalk uses a simple, language-free, calculation-based assessment to screen students' content knowledge. But even with pared-down assessments, cultural differences in math notation can make screening students challenging.

"Although there are some common rules that all mathematicians and scientists use, worldwide, they manifest themselves differently depending on the culture," says Cassie Eatmon, math chair at Herndon Middle School in Virginia. For example, long division is set up differently in the United States than in South American countries, and Arabic notation is written right to left. "Subtracting in Arabic looks wrong to us, but it's actually just flipped," explains Gottschalk.

Incorporate Semantic Supports

For newcomers, Eatmon recommends gradually increasing language demands. "Phrase questions that require them to produce a minimal amount of English at the beginning," she recommends. Choice questions (that require a yes/no, true/false, and ways for them to communicate nonverbally via a word card or hand signals) are a good place to start. As newcomers develop confidence with language skills, stretch expectations for discourse.

"Newcomers need special handling for a while," says Rita MacDonald, researcher at WIDA and the Wisconsin Center for Education Research (WCER). "However, students are newcomers for the short term; they are language learners for a long time."

For the long haul, ELLs will need different levels of support to engage in increasingly language-rich mathematics. Visual representations of concepts, word walls, defining word parts (prefix, root, suffix), sentence frames, and note-taking practice-common tools in language arts learning-can be adapted in order to make math-centered conversations more accessible to ELLs. For example, Eatmon recommends adapting the traditional think-pair-share processing strategy to think- write-pair-share so that students will have a script of their thoughts to refer to. "That reduces the burden on ELLs to think and talk [in a new language] at the same time," she explains.

Language in Use

Researchers at WCER have developed six specific moves teachers can make to strengthen all students' reasoning skills in mathematics, especially ELLs ( see Figure 1), as well as seven tactics students can apply when working with ideas in math ( see Figure 2). These strategies develop language through doing mathematics, what MacDonald calls a "language in use" approach. "It used to be a common belief that you had to learn language before you can do stuff. We don't believe that works," she says. "You really only learn language through shared experience, by doing something."

MacDonald recommends introducing and practicing the student moves one at a time and providing prompts and sentence frames to cue students as they clarify, restate, support, challenge, compare, explain, or build on an idea (see http://stem4els.wceruw.org/resources/Student-and-Teacher-moves.pdf for examples). The goal, says MacDonald, is to "get ELLs in the habit [of understanding] that there are so many things they can do when an idea is presented."

Practice with discourse-centered mathematics helps students build the precision that is the cornerstone of math fluency. "In regular conversation, we don't tend to be precise and specific with our language. In mathematics, you need to be, but you don't just jump to that disposition right away," explains MacDonald. You get there through experiences, like needing to explain precisely the constraints of an argument, of having to use a very specific label for something. Those experiences happen in classes where students are practicing math in all four language domains.

Designed for Discourse

In a language-rich, ELL-supporting math class, students learn math through listening, speaking, reading, and writing-the four domains of language. But many classes, not just math, tend to fixate on the listening domain. "Students get all kinds of practice listening," says Gottschalk. "But they can easily go through a whole day of school without ever having to utter a single word of academic English."

"If you set the goal that every single student has the opportunity to speak, every single day," says Rowe, "you start to realize how few opportunities there are-at least there were for me-for students to talk about math."

Rowe has refocused her teaching from "What's the math for today?" to "What's the language for today?" and says that allows her to structure learning that gets to a deeper level of math thinking. "My students aren't just robots that can regurgitate a process or steps," says Rowe. "To learn math, they have to be able to talk about it."

One of Rowe's favorite strategies for eliciting math discourse is the "partner round-up." This strategy can be used to talk through all sorts of mathematical operations. For example, if students are practicing adding fractions, each student receives a card with a different fraction on it. They then find a partner in the class and work together to successfully find the sum of their fractions. Once they do, they trade cards and find a new partner and repeat the process. "This could have easily been a worksheet-20 problems, practice adding fractions on your own," says Rowe. But when it's done as partner exercise, her students get to talk to 20 different peers and hear the different ways they think through and explain a problem. "You go from something that was content-based to language rich, and that makes a big difference especially for ELLs."

Gottschalk's school uses journaling extensively in math class. Language is modeled and practiced as students discuss, and then write about, a problem of the day, she says. Teachers can get creative with how they set up journal prompts. MacDonald suggests, "Here's my favorite wrong answer from the last class. Let's figure out why that was wrong."

Opportunities to develop language, through identifying relationships or making generalizations within sets of problems, are implicit in some of the materials teachers have, adds Zahner, but those opportunities are often not highlighted. Zahner is currently working with a team of 9th grade math teachers on a project funded by a $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation to design secondary mathematics classrooms focused on meeting the needs of ELLs. There's a real urgency, he argues, to provide teachers with resources and supports to unpack the curriculum so that opportunities for discourse and reasoning, not just right answers, are prioritized.

Weeding Wordy Problems

With language at the center of the modern math classroom, it's important to note that not all words are worthwhile in the service of math learning. In fact, there are a lot of nonessential words and distracting or confusing contexts littering math texts. "If you use an example that talks about a horse, it better be the animal and not the gymnastics equipment," Eatmon warns.

Zahner cites a textbook example of a word problem for calculating the slope of a roof. The problem talks about two- by six-inch sized pieces of wood that will be used as vertical supports for the roof. These pieces of wood are unfortunately written as "2×6's." The dimensions of the board are not actually relevant to the rest of the problem, says Zahner. But for a student from Mexico, this aspect of the problem was derailing. "His answers to every other problem were correct except for this one. He got stuck trying to figure out how to use '12,' which is two times six."

Rowe adds that sometimes her students struggle with names. "If there's a Mr. Brown in the problem, they'll wonder who that is and why his name is relevant to the problem." Rowe changes names to simple identifiers: man, woman, or person.

"When we see language complexity popping up, we have to ask, is this necessary to the mathematical development?," says Zahner. "If it's not, can we take it out or plan around it?"

On assessments, Rowe also provides students with a recording of all test questions-audio files saved to Dropbox or Google Drive and represented as a scannable QR code on students' test sheets. This helps because most ELLs' receptive or oral language proficiency is higher than their reading proficiency. Through school-provided devices or students' own phones, students hear Rowe read each question-sometimes word-for-word or paraphrased, with steps to get started, or breaking down the question in ways that they'll understand.

Context vs. Content

In addition to removing unnecessary language, Zahner advises teachers to think carefully about the number and types of contexts used to develop a mathematical concept. Although it may be helpful to use multiple contexts to show students that math concepts are all around them, don't make students master a multitude of scenarios just so they can access the math content. In one text, Zahner's team found 12 different problem contexts used to explain linear functions.

"If you've never driven on a toll road and a problem is asking you to calculate the per-mile toll, but you're stuck on what is a toll?, that's going to stop you from accessing the content," he says. Instead, Zahner suggests focusing on a few relevant, key contexts. One way to do that is to find out what students are interested in and build math problems with those contexts. For example, teachers he works with recently changed a problem about pumping water out of a pool to one about rates for downloading files to your phone. "When the teacher introduced this context, everyone was engaged because all kids have opinions about who's got the good network or good rates."

"Keep in the forefront of your mind, 'What do I want students to do?', and build your question around that," says Eatmon. Simplifying the language doesn't mean watering down the math. Keep expectations high that these kids can do the math you've taught them, she adds.

Equal Signs

Planning for language supports in math helps ELLs communicate their ideas and invites them into STEM, which can have a profound effect on their career and earning opportunities, says MacDonald. "It's this huge, epistemic equity issue."

"If we equitably involve ELLs in math-position them as idea-generators alongside their peers, instead of just passive listeners-their language is going to develop much more quickly because they'll be creating and negotiating meaning together," MacDonald adds.

Eatmon urges educators not to confuse a lack of language for a lack of intellect. With the right supports, it does not take long for their wheels to catch traction and take off, she says. Eatmon has seen ELLs make five to six years of growth over the course of one year. "It's not that they can't do it; it's that they've never been taught."

Figure 1

© 2017 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. Used by permission. Stem4els.wceruw.org.

Figure 2

© 2017 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System. Used by permission. Stem4els.wceruw.org.

Laura Varlas is the managing editor of ASCD Express and a contributor to Education Update.

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Laura Varlas At her district's newcomer center, English as a Second Language teacher Barbara Gottschalk would engage parents in a visual exercise: compare a math textbook from 20 years ago to the one in use today. The former, a familiar reproduction of the kind of math newcomers most likely experienced in their home countries, was defined by rows of computation.

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by Valentina Gonzalez

"Learners who know the language can concentrate on the academic content. But learners who do not know the language, or do not know it well enough, must devote part of their attention to learning and understanding the very language in which the content is taught" ( Goldenberg & Coleman, 2010).

Imagine that for a moment. Let it soak in. If you didn't yet know a language well enough, you would need to spend energy understanding the very words and not just the reading. Maybe you've experienced this before. It's a literal struggle, trying to decode and put together sounds, then figure out and translate the words. This can take a toll on a person!

Now imagine a child doing this daily. Or for that matter, doing this all day long . Picture a newcomer in a high school biology class at the end of the day. If they are new to the language, they will most likely have to translate complicated text word by word after having spent every previous class that day translating each word. To help students, we can adapt and scaffold reading instruction to fit their unique needs.

The National Literacy Panel (2000) identified phonemic awareness, phonics, oral reading fluency, reading comprehension, and writing as the five key components of literacy. With these components in mind, let's look at a few scaffolds (temporary supports meant to be gradually released) for reading that may work to enhance English learners' success with comprehension.

These reading scaffolds can be implemented in any grade level and content area through whole group, small group, or individual settings for differentiation:

Chunking

Chunking is a technique that breaks larger reading texts into smaller portions for students. When texts are dense or lengthy, they can seem overwhelming. By breaking them down into smaller pieces, we help to lower students' anxiety. Think of a large pizza. Would you eat the entire pizza in one bite? Probably not. It's sliced for us to hold a piece at a time. Then we take small bites from that one piece. It's manageable that way. Chunking texts is especially useful in areas like social studies and science, where text has the tendency to be vocabulary heavy.

Adding in opportunities to talk makes content even more comprehensive. For instance, a routine such as Nancy Motley's Talk, Read, Talk, Write offers students chances to access prior knowledge and build background before reading. Students discuss with a group or partner. Then students read a text with a purpose for reading that is given to them by the teacher. Once everyone has signaled that they are finished reading, they participate in structured discussion again. And finally students write about their reading while using the discussions they've had to support their thoughts. Teachers can chunk reading even more for students who are at beginner levels of English proficiency: talk, read, talk, read, talk, read, talk, write.

Shared Reading

Shared reading (Holdaway,1979) is the act of reading together in unison as a group. All students have access to the text. Shared reading is not just for elementary levels. In primary grades, teachers may read from big books, but in secondary classes, shared reading can be poetry, brochures, an excerpt from a chapter, a paragraph, song lyrics, etc. Teachers can provide each student with a copy of the text or can project the text on a screen for everyone to see. First the teacher models expectations by reading the text. Then the teacher invites the class to read together. This oral reading practice provides students with an opportunity to gain fluency in a risk-free setting. Everyone is reading aloud. Shy students can listen and read aloud as they feel brave enough, and more vocal students gain practice, too. Students benefit from practicing intonation and appropriate rate of speed.

Three ways to differentiate shared reading are Echo reading, Choral reading, and Reader's Theater.

Echo Reading is perfect when students need to hear the teacher model each sentence first while they are tracking print. Then students repeat the sentence. This technique is best for students at beginner proficiency levels or when a new language structure is being shared.

Choral Reading is a typical shared reading experience in which students and teacher read in unison, often with the teacher tracking print. English learners gain fluency and benefit from the low-risk environment. They have the ability to listen and join the reading at their comfort level.

Reader's Theater is an excellent method to use with students after they have had a chance to hear a text in its entirety. Reader's Theater can be done by dividing a text into parts and assigning students or groups to read certain lines or paragraphs. English learners benefit from rehearsal time with the lines or paragraphs they will read aloud to the whole group. Some teachers ask students to create props for their characters or parts. Acting out a story is both enjoyable and engaging for students as they participate in listening, speaking, and reading with expression.

Adapted Texts

Adapted texts are texts that have the same content but are at different reading levels. Using adapted texts helps English learners continue to learn content while they are learning English. Many teachers create their own adapted texts, which allows them to control the vocabulary that is embedded. However, creating adapted texts does take time. There are also many online platforms that offer adapted texts such as Newsela, Newsinlevels, and Wordify.

Partner Reading

Providing time and space for students to read together, or partner read, supports English learners with reading comprehension, listening, and speaking. Peer-to-peer interaction is important for English learners' language development. Partners usually read the same text and hold their own copies. In primary grades, and many times in secondary too, students are more successful when the teacher offers explicit modeling of expectations ahead of time. For example:

"During partner reading, I'm looking for partners who are sitting with their knees close to touching. You will take turns reading a page. After your partner reads, you will share what the main idea of their reading was. I'm listening for sentences like: 'The main idea was...' or 'I didn't understand...'"

Primary Language Support

When I was an ESL teacher, the students I taught spoke Korean, Urdu, Japanese, Russian, etc. I was not able to speak all of their languages, but I could still provide primary language supports. I provided my ELs with bilingual dictionaries and taught them how to use them. We also worked hard at valuing all languages. It was important for me to show my ELs that the literacy they had in their primary language was valuable and useful as they acquired English. We labeled the classroom in the students' home languages. I also made it known to them that continuing to read, write, and speak in their primary language was important, and so I encouraged them to read books in their primary language. Anytime we had extra funds, I asked to purchase books in our students' primary languages for the library.

Another way to include primary language support is through preview-review. This technique is sometimes referred to as preview-view-review and takes only a few extra minutes before and after a lesson ( Wright, 2015). It has been found to be effective in increasing comprehension, especially for students at beginning levels of English proficiency. Preview-review includes providing students with primary language support before and after a lesson or a read aloud. Let's look at a classroom example:

The second grade class is preparing to learn about living and nonliving things. The ESL teacher gathers English learners prior to the lesson to preview in their primary language. She asks them what they know about living and nonliving things. They discuss and make a chart in their primary language. The teacher reads a short passage and checks for comprehension, and then they return to the whole group.

The mainstream teacher conducts the whole-class lesson on living and nonliving things in English. The teacher shelters instruction to ensure that ELs comprehend the lesson. She uses repetition, visuals, and gestures. Then she sends them off to read and write with a partner in English.

Following the English lesson, the ESL teacher pulls the ELs back together once again to review what they learned in their primary language. This is an excellent opportunity to clear up misconceptions.
Note that, In this example, the ESL teacher is able to speak the students' primary language. But that is not always the case. It is suggested that if the teacher cannot speak the students' home languages, a same-language-speaking paraprofessional can provide the preview-review.
The bottom line of all this is that, when students enjoy what they are reading and they understand what they are reading, they will feel successful. The more often this feeling occurs, the more they will want to read, and the more their comprehension will increase.

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Teaching Techniques to Scaffold Reading for English Learners

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by Valentina Gonzalez "Learners who know the language can concentrate on the academic content. But learners who do not know the language, or do not know it well enough, must devote part of their attention to learning and understanding the very language in which the content is taught" (Goldenberg & Coleman, 2010).

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Edutopia

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On-the-spot scaffolding is an essential skill for teachers. Check out these three strategies for assisting students when they struggle.

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Using Targeted Interventions for ELLs in Math

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Using Targeted Interventions for ELLs in Math

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(ELL) Using Targeted Interventions When Teaching Mathematics

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Staehr Fenner, 2018

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Browse Educational Resources | Education.com

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Browse Educational Resources. Award winning educational materials designed to help kids succeed. Start for free now!

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Colorín Colorado

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Albuquerque teacher Ali Nava walks her students through a cooperative paragraph summarizing the beginning, middle, and end of Burro's Tortillas and uses the exercise as an opportunity to practice their writing skills.

School Name: Lew Wallace Elementary School, Albuquerque, NM

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Ali Nava is an elementary teacher in Albuquerque, New Mexico and a member of the first-grade cadre in our Common Core in Albuquerque project.In this video, Ali walks her students through a cooperative paragraph summarizing Burro's Tortillas, a southwestern adaptation of the classic folk tale "The Little Red Hen."

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Academic Discussions: Analyzing Complex Texts

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Academic Discussions: Analyzing Complex Texts

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Teaching Channel

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ELA.SL.6.1a

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

SL: Speaking and Listening Standards 6-\x80\x9312

6: 6th Grade

1a:
Engage effectively in a range of collaborative
discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacherled)
with diverse partners on grade 6 topics,
texts, and issues, building on others'\x80\x99 ideas and
expressing their own clearly.

a. Come to discussions prepared, having read or
studied required material; explicitly draw on
that preparation by referring to evidence on
the topic, text, or issue to probe and reflect on
ideas under discussion.

b. Follow rules for collegial discussions, set
specific goals and deadlines, and define
individual roles as needed.

c. Pose and respond to specific questions with
elaboration and detail by making comments
that contribute to the topic, text, or issue
under discussion.

d. Review the key ideas expressed and
demonstrate understanding of multiple
perspectives through reflection and
paraphrasing.

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. How does Ms. Groves support English Language Learners?

2. What are the benefits of using the "Talking Rocks" strategy?

3. How do students use talk moves in their discussions?

School Details

Westlake Middle School
2629 Harrison Street
Oakland CA 94612

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Academic Discussions: Analyzing Complex Texts

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Middle School ELD teacher Tamica Groves supports her English Language Learners to have academic discussions about nonfiction texts. Class begins with a review of how students can participate in academic discussions. As small groups discuss a text, they use talk moves and a "talking rocks" strategy.

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Glossaries for ELLs/MLLs Accommodations 

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Glossaries for ELLs/MLLs Accommodations 

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These glossaries are to provide permitted testing accommodations of ELL/MLL students. They should also be used for instruction during the school year.

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Childrens' Books Online

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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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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. Why are sentence frames an effective strategy for English Language Learners?

2. How do sentence frames empower students?

3. How can you adapt these sentence frames for use in your own classroom?

School Details

Acorn Woodland Elementary School
1025 81st Avenue
Oakland CA 94621

Data Provided By:

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Sentence frames have multiple purposes in supporting academic conversation. Watch a video that shows strategies for using them in the classroom. English Language Learners are empowered when using sentence frames.