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https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k8EM88QLqomkTT7dXcKPfq1PTAYfHrwG/view

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https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1UrDuiao0CUTAqxK0b51LgAcPm3l2O-GhqGeQ6f5bQTc/edit#gid=0

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Indiana English Learner PD Opportunities Calendar

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K-12th grade

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Skill: Main Idea
Find the sentence that does not fit with the main idea of the paragraph.

This webpage makes extensive use of JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript in your web browser to view this page.

Each story has a main idea to it, yet one of the sentences does not belong. Read carefully do determine which sentence does not fit with the story. If you have trouble, use one of your three hint buttons to help you narrow down what the correct answer might be. Oh, and we're sorry, no money is actually earned in this game...

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Find the sentence that does not fit with the main idea of the paragraph.

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A bilingual site for educators and families of English language learners

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The term English Language Learner (ELL) indicates a person who is in the process of acquiring the English language and whose first language is not English. The government sometimes refers to ELL students as Limited English Proficient (LEP) students.

Found in: Teaching Strategies

Main Issues

Achievement gaps between ELLs and non-ELL students are deeply rooted, pervasive, complex, and challenging for the National Education Association affiliates and members. The good news is that NEA is actively addressing the complex issues by engaging in research and advocacy and proposing strategies that we can pursue individually and collectively to help eliminate those gaps.

Strategies

Schools need the following to effectively address ELL students:

A research-based process for the effective teaching of ELLs

Curriculum design and lesson planning based on sound pedagogical principles, practices, and high standards

Strategic methods to employ for making grade-level materials and resources comprehensible for ELLs

Research-based training on theory, culture, diversity, social status, and policy of language acquisition

Training, technical assistance, and/or funding for programs and services for ELL students

Advocacy that will increase awareness as to the coalitions that support educators who work with ELLs

Resources that will help educators learn more about effective, differentiated teaching strategies specifically addressing ELLs.

NEA's English Language Learners: Culture, Equity & Language Training Module for Closing the Achievement Gaps is a resource with research-based and classroom-focused instructional and advocacy strategies to help educators:

Engage English Language Learners in academic learning and English language development

Recognize and build on cultural and equity assumptions and culturally relevant instruction

Create classroom and school environments that facilitate language learning

Absorb, understand and capitalize on language acquisition theory

Recognize language development stages and promising instructional practices for teaching in the classroom and school

Identify appropriate ELL instructional strategies aligned and differentiated to lessons, objectives, and goals

Find innovative ways to motivate ELLs to practice academic language skills that are carefully structured and require students to demonstrate growing proficiency.

For more information, contact the NEA English Language Learner Program.

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Diversity Toolkit: English Language Learners (ELLs)

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The term English Language Learner (ELL) indicates a person who is in the process of acquiring the English language and whose first language is not English. The government sometimes refers to ELL students as Limited English Proficient (LEP) students.

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Pear Deck is on a mission to help teachers create powerful learning moments for every student, every day - using the tools you already know and love.

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The evidence is in the practice

ESSA Level 3 correlation evidence in math and ELA, earned by teachers running frequent formative assessments.

When teachers run 30+ formative questions a week, the research is clear: they get more data-driven, their students get more engaged. Wayground is built to make that practice enjoyable ot run, attainable to fit a class period, and habitual enough to last past September.

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Quizizz is now Wayground | Teacher AI and Resources

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Find standards-aligned resources that engage every student. Wayground (formerly Quizizz) helps teachers differentiate instruction with AI and track student progress.

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Formative assessment has never been faster.

Plickers is the free card activity your students will love.

Join millions and play in your next lesson.
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Used by K-12 teachers in over 100 countries

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Formative assessment has never been faster. Plickers is the free card activity your students will love. Join millions and play in your next lesson. Sign up for free Used by K-12 teachers in over 100 countries

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Kahoot! | Learning games | Make learning awesome!

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Kahoot! is a game-based learning platform that brings engagement and fun to 1+ billion players every year at school, at work, and at home.

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Use Word Spokes within Word Study & Vocab Development

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According to literacy expert Timothy Rasinski, knowing the meaning of one root word can generate the meaning of 5-20 new content-area academic vocabulary words.

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Vocabulary, Sentences, Verb Tenses, Sequence

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Marzano's Six Step Process Teaching Academic Vocabulary

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Marzano's Six Step Process Teaching Academic Vocabulary

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Use the ABC Chart with students as a pre-writing technique. Brainstorm details. Encourage multiple details per letter and don't force all letters to have a detail.

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Instantly access over 40,000 of the best books & videos for kids on Epic

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Starfall Education: Kids Games, Movies, Books & Music for K-5 and above

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At Starfall, children have fun while they learn - specializing in reading, phonics & math - educational games, movies, books, songs, and more for children K-5 and above.

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Grammar, Listening, Reading and Vocabulary

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Grammar, Listening, Reading and Vocabulary

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Free English Language Learning Resources

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Seesaw | Elementary Learning Experience Platform

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Seesaw | Elementary Learning Experience Platform

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Elementary Learning Experience Platform | Seesaw

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Seesaw is a Learning Experience Platform with 25M+ users, enhancing elementary education, engagement, and school culture while improving academic success.

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Put away your flashcards and workbooks and log on to see the new way to master educational skills! Top educators worked exclusively with Turtle Diary to create game after game with superior content and maximum fun for every child.

The concepts reviewed parallel those taught in the everyday classroom for grades K4 through 5th grade. Students focus on mastering the concept on their own with consistent and repetitive review. They won't even realize they're reviewing thanks to incredibly fun graphics, sounds, and interactive games.

These games will keep your kids coming back for more day after day. You can rest easy knowing they're working towards their future.

With skills backed by top educators, parents know that Turtle Diary is giving their kids the best they have to offer. The games help to solidify the necessary skills needed for their specific grade levels.

Turtle Diary's games are not only educational, but incredibly fun. They can even be a bit competitive at times when you choose a multiplayer option.

Students can also link up with kids in their classes and play games specifically recommended by their teacher. This helps them master the exact concepts they are working on in their classroom. The possibilities are endless, and the fun is never-ending.

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Educational Games | Educational Games For Kids | Turtle Diary

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1000+ Free Educational Games for kids in Grade K to 5. Play Online and learn math, science, language arts, geography & much more only with our award winning educational website.

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Tes provides a range of primary and secondary school teaching resources including lesson plans, worksheets and student activities for all curriculum subjects.

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Welcome to Dave's ESL Cafe, the leading destination for all things ESL. From job opportunities and teaching resources to grammar guides and community forums, we're here to help you navigate the world of ESL. Whether you're a teacher, learner, or employer, explore a universe of possibilities with us.

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Ereading Worksheets provides teachers, parents, and motivated students with high-quality reading worksheets, activities, and resources aligned with Common Core State Standards. This website uses a skill focused approach where each activity targets a specific skill set, but you can also browse the reading worksheets by grade level.

The resources on this website cover a broad range of reading, writing, and language arts skills. And this site has a growing collection of online reading activities. Everything on here is free for home and classroom use. I am committed to expanding and improving the content on this site and making it easy to access for learners around the world. Subscribe now to receive emails about new content and big updates to this site.

Some Useful Pages

Reading Resources

Figurative Language Resources

Language Arts Resources

Writing Resources

This site is a labor of love. It has grown tremendously over the years, and I am still working diligently to continue to update and improve this website.

Send comments, questions, corrections, or feedback to mortonteaches@gmail.com or post in the comments below. I'm just one person, but I try my best to reply to vistors, meet requests, and offer help when I can. Thanks for visiting!

Still looking for something?
Search here.

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Click here for the best FREE reading worksheets on the internet. These worksheets are skill focused, great for differentiated instruction.

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Log in to access free reading comprehension and writing exercises sure to improve your critical thinking skills.

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ReadWorks | Award-Winning, EdTech Nonprofit Organization

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ReadWorks is an edtech nonprofit organization that is committed to helping to solve America’s reading comprehension crisis.

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Reading A-Z: The online reading program with downloadable books to print and assemble | Reading A-Z

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Award-winning reading solution with thousands of leveled readers, lesson plans, worksheets and assessments to teach guided reading, reading proficiency and comprehension to K-5 students

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Uses Know, What, How, Learned, Action, Question

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3-5
It Says - I Say - And So...

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Resources | Florida Center for Reading Research

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Gr K-1
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Gr 4-5
Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Fluency, Vocabulary, Comprehension

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Great when teaching idioms, metaphors, similes, and other figurative language

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Customizable map to brainstorm about a topic in any content area

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ELA.L.11-12.4b

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

L: Language Standards 6-12

11-12: 11th & 12th Grades

4b:
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and
phrases based on grades 11-12 reading and content, choosing flexibly from a
range of strategies.

a. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a sentence, paragraph, or text; a
wordâ\x80\x99s position or function in a sentence) as a clue to the meaning of a word
or phrase.

b. Identify and correctly use patterns of word changes that indicate different
meanings or parts of speech (e.g., conceive, conception, conceivable).

c. Consult general and specialized reference materials (e.g., dictionaries,
glossaries, thesauruses), both print and digital, to find the pronunciation
of a word or determine or clarify its precise meaning, its part of speech, its
etymology, or its standard usage.

d. Verify the preliminary determination of the meaning of a word or phrase
(e.g., by checking the inferred meaning in context or in a dictionary).

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. What scaffolds does Ms. Wessling put into place to get her students using new vocabulary?

2. Which words are best suited for paint chips?

3. How could you use paint chips in your classroom?

School Details

Johnston Senior High School
6501 Northwest 62nd Avenue
Johnston IA 50131

Data Provided By:

Teachers

English Language Arts / 10 11 12 / Teacher

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High School ELA teacher Sarah Brown Wessling uses paint chips to teach her students about related words. Sarah writes related words and synonyms on the different parts of the paint chips. Students read the paint chips and practice pronouncing the vocabulary words.

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I can't help it. There is something about those multi-hue swatches that is so appealing. I used them when I taught a scrapbook class on colors. AND I love the commercials from Sherman-Williams using animated paint chips.

I can't help it. There is something about those multi-hues that is so appealing. I used them when I taught a scrapbook class on colors. AND I love the commercials from Sherman-Williams using animated paint chips. Here are a few ideas for using them in your classroom.

1. Vocabulary Gradients

I love this idea. It's a play on "Said is dead!" If you want your students to stop using "generic" adjectives like cold, hot, small, and big, give them other ideas. True text gradients, show words on a scale...icy is colder than cold, but arctic is colder than icy. However, using smaller or shortened paint chips, even kindergarten can use it to describe "small" as tiny, little, or itty-bitty. Vocabulary gradients can be alternative adjectives. Students can also be given a mentor text to hunt for words on the gradient. In the book "Shiver Me Letters: A Pirate ABC," students can work in pairs in a word hunt to find words for said and write them on the paint chips. They can find roared, cried, yelled, questioned, and moaned.) Later, when they are writing you can encourage them to make their writing "colorful."

2. Word Family Fluency Flips

As a word family is introduced, this is fun way to practice changing the onset. Write several words from a single family on a colored strip and secure them with a ring. Providing the students with word family words on a ring can create a fluency activity for independent reading.

3. Fill in the Blanks

I would suggest laminating these cards and allowing students to use a dry erase marker, but make sure they know they can't erase until someone checks their work. You can even tell them to write it with dry erase first, then copy the strips to a piece of paper. This could also be adapted for several math activities, including filling in the missing addend, counting by 2, 5, or 10's, multiplication facts, and patterns.

4. Compound Words

This is a "newfangled" (it's a word) paint chip is great for anything that needs to be constructed or deconstructed. Again, laminate and use dry erase. They set above is for compound words, but it could be used for prefixes, suffixes, contractions, and...who knows what else. Again, this can be used for math with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts (to name a few).

5. Summary Bookmarks

This activity combines three of my favorite things: The Magic Tree House, SWBSA, and paint chips. Providing students with a bookmark for their summary is the perfect way to create a reading response activity. If you'd like a full description of the summary strategy Somebody, Wanted, But, So, And, CLICK HERE. These can also be laminated for extended use.

6. Classroom Fun

Finally, this is just a fun one. I loved making these ornaments at our Winter Party.

Want more?

Be Fair

Don't clean out any paint supply section. Get what you need here and there...and laminate when you can. For those of you who don't have access to paint chips, I made a sample pack of things to do. If you'd like a copy, CLICK HERE or click the picture below.

SO this is my mini-obsession. Do you use these differently?

Although I posted this originally on my blog, Cathy Collier's The W.I.S.E. Owl, I thought iwas definitely worth the re-post. I hope you agree.

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I can't help it. There is something about those multi-hue swatches that is so appealing. I used them when I taught a scrapbook class on colors. AND I love the commercials from Sherman-Williams using animated paint chips. I can't help it. There is something about those multi-hues that is so appealing.

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Preview, predict, make inferences using vocabulary from an upcoming chapter, lesson, unit of study.

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ELA.L.7.4a

Common core State Standards

ELA: English Language Arts

L: Language Standards 6-12

7: 7th Grade

4a:
Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and
multiple-meaning words and phrases based on
grade 7 reading and content, choosing flexibly
from a range of strategies.

a. Use context (e.g., the overall meaning of a
sentence or paragraph; a word's position
or function in a sentence) as a clue to the
meaning of a word or phrase.

b. Use common, grade-appropriate Greek or
Latin affixes and roots as clues to the meaning
of a word (e.g., belligerent, bellicose, rebel).

c. Consult general and specialized reference
materials (e.g., dictionaries, glossaries,
thesauruses), both print and digital, to find
the pronunciation of a word or determine
or clarify its precise meaning or its part of
speech.

d. Verify the preliminary determination of
the meaning of a word or phrase (e.g., by
checking the inferred meaning in context or in
a dictionary).

Download Common Core State Standards (PDF 1.2 MB)

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Discussion and Supporting Materials

Thought starters

1. According to the teacher, what are the interdisciplinary connections in this lesson?

2. How do the word and inference walls help students anticipate what they will read?

3. How does the teacher engage students in a discussion using the word and inference walls?

School Details

Mount Baker Middle School
2310 East Section St
Mount Vernon WA 98274

Data Provided By:

Teachers

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Preparing Students to Read: Word & Inference Walls

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Students in Cathy Farrell's 7th grade English Language Arts class prepare to read a new chapter of "The Outsiders" by reviewing vocabulary and making predictions. The teacher uses a word wall and an inference wall to help students predict what will happen in the chapter.

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Teaching Channel Top 5 Vocabulary Strategies

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Teaching Channel Top 5 Vocabulary Strategies

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That's the challenge English Language Learners (ELLs) face if they want to catch up to their native English-speaking classmates. That's almost 4,000 new words a year if a student begins school as a kindergartner!

But what about the English Language Learners who don't enroll until middle school or high school? For these students, the vocabulary challenge is even more demanding. To meet it, teachers must learn and use the most effective strategies. Over the years, I've tried many different approaches and techniques and compiled the following list of my top five favorite vocabulary strategies for ELLs.

Previewing Unfamiliar Vocabulary

In preparation for my lessons, I scan the chapters we'll be reading together as a class to identify words that might slow down student comprehension of the text. I limit myself to no more than five words per chapter since research has shown that students acquire new vocabulary faster if teachers focus in on five to ten words a week instead of overwhelming students with lengthy lists. Before adding a word to my list, I ask myself how important the word is to the overall comprehension of the chapter and whether it will be difficult for the students to figure out the meaning of the word using context clues. Then, before we read each chapter in class I preview the new vocabulary words I've selected and discuss their meanings and uses.

In Preparing Students to Read: Word and Inference Walls, Cathy Farrell previews words that are essential for students to make meaning from the story they're reading. She adds a visual element by posting important words on a word wall and extends student comprehension by creating an inference wall of images, artifacts, and evidence to help them make predictions based on prior knowledge and context.

Using Visuals

Remember the old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words? Well, for English Language Learners this expression is especially true. Visual Cues in the classroom can be an important tool for language development. In my classroom, visuals play two important roles in helping ELLs comprehend and internalize new vocabulary.

First, I use visuals when introducing new terms to the class. These visuals help to clarify the meaning of new vocabulary if the written definition for the word is confusing or contains unfamiliar words. For example, we recently discussed the following definition for the word "hand" -- "a person who engages in manual labor." Since I knew some of my students might be unfamiliar with the term "manual labor," I included a picture of a man working in a field to help explain the meaning.

So how do I find visuals to use in the classroom? The internet provides educators with access to dozens of free, searchable databases of images. Pixabay, Morguefile, Flickr, Classroom Clipart, and Openclipart are some of my favorites for locating great visuals.

In addition to the visuals, I also require students to draw their own picture to help them remember the meaning of new words. Since ELLs sometimes have difficulty expressing their thoughts in words, drawing a picture is an alternative that allows them to demonstrate their understanding and apply their knowledge of the new vocabulary. For a fun twist, students can even trade pictures with a classmate to see whether or not they can identify the vocabulary term they have drawn.

Providing Student-Friendly, Fill-in-the-Blank Definitions

Instead of asking students to look up vocabulary words in the dictionary, I provide them with fill-in-the-blank definitions to ensure they all have accurate and comprehensible information for new terms. I do this because in the past, students were in such a hurry to complete their assignments they wrote down the first definition they came across. And since many words have multiple meanings, they would often write down the incorrect variation of the word when asked to look it up on their own. For example, if students were asked to look up the word "table" in the dictionary, they would find many different meanings for the word, including a piece of furniture, a type of chart, and to put off discussing something until a later time.

Not all online dictionaries have been designed with the student learner in mind and contain definitions filled with college-level academic vocabulary that are inaccessible to the younger learner. In order to avoid this problem, I use Merriam-Webster's Learner's Dictionary as my primary resource for locating student-friendly definitions. It contains simple, clear definitions specially written for K-12 students.

I've also found that it's equally important to use the fill-in-the-blank format rather than requiring my students to copy down the entire definition I provide them. This format is especially beneficial for English Language Learners for a couple of reasons.

First, the fill-in-the-blank format allows my students to listen and think about the new vocabulary as we discuss it in class, without being sidetracked by trying to quickly copy down every word.

Second, it allows me to call attention to keywords in the definitions that will help them to remember the meanings. I intentionally leave a couple of the most important keywords as blanks so the students will pay careful attention to them as we're discussing the definitions. Below is an example of a recent vocabulary word we discussed.

Highlighting Vocabulary Words in Context

It's not only important to preview unfamiliar vocabulary before reading a text, but also to draw students' attention to the vocabulary as the text is read aloud or discussed in class. Whenever I come across a vocabulary word that's being used in a textbook, article, novel, or short story we're reading, I pause, point out the word to students, and ask them to recall its meaning. If possible, I also encourage them to mark it with a highlighter. It's critical for ELLs to see multiple examples of how new words are used in context -- rather than just studying them in isolation -- to be able to commit the words to long-term memory and add them to their working vocabularies. The more repeated exposures students have to new words, the more likely they will be to define them, comprehend them, and remember them.

As a teacher, you can even turn finding words in context into a game by challenging your students to find examples of their vocabulary words on their own in other books they're reading, internet articles, advertisements, etc. You can reward students for every example they locate, turn it into a class competition, or even set a class goal.

Practicing With Graphic Organizers

In addition to having repeated exposures to new words, English learners must also be given the opportunity to organize information and ideas about the new vocabulary. Graphic organizers are a tool that allow students to visualize and make connections with new material.

One of the my favorite graphic organizers for vocabulary instruction is called the KIM Strategy. KIM is an acronym that represents the three columns of the graphic organizer.

"K" stands for key idea or the vocabulary word the students are studying.

"I" stands for information or the student explanation of what the vocabulary words means.

"M" stands for memory clue or the drawing or example of the word that will help the student remember the meaning.

I used the KIM Strategy as inspiration for the graphic organizer I created to better fit the needs of my students. I added a page number reference for the vocabulary word so that students can see it in context while working through the meaning. I also added a fill-in-the-blank definition of the word to ensure they had access to an accurate and student-friendly definition. Below is an example of the graphic organizer I made for my students:

Nichole Niebur uses a similar strategy in Learning Difficult Vocabulary, in which she asks students to restate or paraphrase the definition of a vocabulary term and connects the vocabulary to students' everyday lives.
VIDEO: Preparing Students to Read: Word and Inference Walls VIDEO: Vocabulary Paint Chips
Although I've listed my top five favorite vocabulary strategies for English learners, there are many other excellent approaches out there that work equally well. The internet gives educators the ability to connect with other teachers from all over the world and share strategies, especially when we start to feel like we've run out of fresh ideas. Teaching Channelhas a number of useful strategies for teaching vocabulary. Check out Sarah Brown Wessling's Vocabulary Paint Chips.

In this video, students use paint chips as a fun and interesting medium to help them explore new vocabulary and relationships between words. How might you adapt or modify this strategy for your ELLs?

When it comes to vocabulary, don't be afraid to try something new. You may discover an approach that's just the right fit for the students in your classroom.

What strategies do you use with English Language Learners?

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Top Five Vocabulary Strategies for English Language Learners

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That's the challenge English Language Learners (ELLs) face if they want to catch up to their native English-speaking classmates. That's almost 4,000 new words a year if a student begins school as a kindergartner! But what about the English Language Learners who don't enroll until middle school or high school?

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Resource Guide for Content Area Teachers

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Resource Guide for Content Area Teachers

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5c Common Modifications & Accommodations

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low level ELs, adjectives/nouns/verbs

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Every Teacher Is a Language Teacher Tips from Education Week

# data[].attributes.subject
Every Teacher Is a Language Teacher Tips from Education Week

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Education Week - Classroom Q&A With Larry Ferlazzo

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This week's question is:
What are the best strategies to use when teaching English Language Learners in content classes?
The question above is my simplified version of the actual one sent by a teacher who requested anonymity. Here is what was submitted:
I'm at my start of second school year teaching 8th grade social studies which is tested! My population of Spanish dominant students is the majority. Social studies was never taught at the elementary level. I feel hopeless. I'm using different strategies that include foldables class discussions essential questioning visuals primary sources ...etc etc!! I cant reach them! Sometimes I wonder if its me..other teachers say I work too hard. But I really want my student to learn about history but I have to be both a English teacher and social studies teacher at same time. I need help!
Part One in this series shared responses from four experienced educators: Judie Haynes, Mary Ann Zehr, Bárbara C. Cruz and Stephen J. Thornton. You can also listen to a ten-minute conversation I had with Judie and Mary Ann on my BAM! Radio Show.

Today's guests are Margo Gottlieb, Maria Montalvo-Balbed, and Tracey Takuhama-Espinosa. In addition, I've shared responses from readers.
Response From Margo Gottlieb
Margo Gottlieb is lead developer for WIDA at the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and director, assessment and evaluation, at the Illinois Resource Center, Arlington Heights. Her latest publications include co-authoring and co-editing a compendium of books by Corwin on Academic Language in Diverse Classrooms; a foundational book, Definitions and Contexts, and six others, Promoting Content and Language Learning, English Language Arts and Mathematics for grade-levels K-2, 3-5, and 6-8:
Around the country, linguistically and cultural diversity is becoming part of the classroom mosaic. For English language learners to succeed academically, teachers must interweave the academic language of each discipline into their instruction. As educators begin a new school year, here are some tips for content teachers.

Partner with a language teacher in co-planning, co-constructing, and co-teaching as you share instruction, engage in classroom assessment, and assume joint responsibility for your language learners.

Incorporate the students' linguistic and cultural resources and expertise into lessons and units of learning so that all students can engage in authentic and meaningful learning experiences.

Use college & career readiness standards in conjunction with language development standards to gain a better understanding of the developmental and linguistic pathways to student achievement.

Pair the standards-referenced skills and concepts of a topic or theme with the academic language required of those understandings.

Formulate content and language targets to guide teaching and learning for a unit for all students. These targets provide a global view of key learning and guide the creation of objectives for individual or related lessons.

Maintain grade-level rigor of the content while differentiate language according to the students' levels of language proficiency. Differentiation includes consideration for the students' literacy in their home language as a scaffold for English language development and as a means to communicate conceptual knowledge.

Center on academic language use within and across language domains, such as during interpretative listening, interactive reading, academic conversations, and writing across the curriculum.

Plan, collect, analyze, interpret, and act on evidence for student learning through performance assessment that occurs within and across lessons.

Rely on students as contributors to and evaluators of their own learning as they engage in self-reflection and peer assessment.

Don't forget that school is a unique place where every teacher is a language teacher and every student is a language learner.

Response From Maria Montalvo-Balbed
Maria Montalvo-Balbed has developed and taught numerous professional development classes in the areas of diversity, cultural literacy development, and authentic engagement of English learners. She is a member of the ASCD Faculty and the Fisher and Frey Cadre, where she works with schools and districts to implement customized, research-based curricula and instructional strategies:
Of course, it goes without saying that strategies are only the best strategies when they are aligned to the learning purpose. To learn more, see ASCD FIT Model authors Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey. I do think the following areas of support are critical to a high functioning classroom that supports the needs of ELLs:

Systematic practice of the academic and social discourse. See Jeff Zwiers work for specific strategies on Academic Conversations.

Students need to be engaged in continuous and strategic practice of listening, speaking, reading and writing in all courses; not just in Language Arts.

The classroom teacher must be highly aware of how to set up social and metacognitive supports for ELLs. Teachers can easily do this by modeling behaviors, think-alouds, and processes, strategies for reading and writing and speaking in different contexts and to different audiences. The language overload of any course for ELLs requires that teachers use language scaffolds intentionally (See Virginia Rojas' toolkit for great ideas). Teachers must be very strategic about teaching ELLs (See ASCD Whole Child Education tenets).

The systematic use of visuals/non-linguistic supports.

Response From Tracey Takuhama-Espinosa
Tracey Tokuhama-Espinosa, PhD, is Dean of the Faculty of Education at the Universidad de las Américas in Quito, Ecuador. She serves on an expert panel for the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development to determine Teachers' New Pedagogical Knowledge, including the influence of neuroscience and technology on education, and is professor of a course on the "Neuroscience of Learning and Sustained Change" at Harvard University. She is the author of Making Classrooms Better: 50 Practical Applications of Mind, Brain, and Education Science (W. W. Norton; 2014) and Mind, Brain, and Education Science: A Comprehensive Guide to the New Brain-Based Teaching (W. W. Norton; 2010). Visit her at traceytokuhama.com:
While activities are important and this teacher is determined to find the right activities to reach her ELL 8th grade social studies students, activities are only as effective as the planning context in which they are devised. Great ELL teachers are simply great teachers. A great teacher knows how to identify desired results before choosing an activity. The teacher should identify the objectives of each class and then try to express these objectives as competencies, or the combination of knowledge (dates, facts, formulas, people, places, etc.), skills, and attitudes (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). Once clear and concise objectives have been identified, the teacher can then decide what she will accept as evidence that she is reaching these objectives, otherwise known as her evaluation criteria. Finally, she can then consider what activities to undertake. Choosing the activities ("foldables, class discussions, essential questioning, visuals, primary sources" or others) should depend upon the objectives of the class and cannot be chosen in a vacuum. It is likely that this teacher is not meeting the success she hopes for and is working harder than her students because she has not yet identified the main objective of each class and aligned her activities accordingly. Language skills can be learned through content. Actually, the best way to go about improving English is by teaching it through meaningful content (Snow, Met & Genesee, 1989). One key way to teach is to focus on authentic lesson planning in which the context of objectives coincides with students' own interests. The great challenge of U.S. state curricula is its focus on heavily content-based ideas ("Analyze how the American Revolution effected other nations, especially France"; "Describe the nation's blend of civic republicanism, classical liberal principles, and English parliamentary traditions" [California State Curriculum, Grade 8, 2009, p.33]), rather than on greater, global, yet personal concepts ("Why do nations go to war?"; "What's worth fighting for?"; "How does being free as a person differ from a nation being free?"). For example, devising a debate on "what's worth fighting for?" and then relating it to the American Revolution would be a far more effective way to approach the 8th grade curriculum than through "foldables" or "visuals." Depending on the objective, different activities will be most appropriate.
Responses From Readers
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Response: 'Every Teacher Is A Language Teacher'

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This week's question is: What are the best strategies to use when teaching English Language Learners in content classes? The question above is my simplified version of the actual one sent by a teacher who requested anonymity. Here is what was submitted: I'm at my start of second school year teaching 8th grade social studies which is tested!

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

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

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

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

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

1. Make it Visual

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

2. Build in more group work.

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

3. Communicate with the ESL teacher.

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

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

4. Honor the "silent period."

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

5. Allow some scaffolding with the native language.

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

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

6. Look out for culturally unique vocabulary.

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

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

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

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

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

8. Pre-teach whenever possible.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12. ...but always take them seriously.

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

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

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

Further Reading

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

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

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12 Ways to Support English Learners in the Mainstream Classroom

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

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Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced