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Continental. (2023). How to use technology to help ELLs achieve language mastery. https://www.continentalpress.com/blog/how-to-use-technology-to-help-ells/?srsltid=AfmBOopR5RmarqdFcpB-_TXjiKDv5TjGewYvlLDd9ddLIkq7kq9i9q9g

This article explores the benefits of technology for Multilingual learners, using tools like Duolingo, Google Translate, and Epic! to support individualized growth, engagement, collaboration, and differentiated learning. It also provides practical recommendations for integrating edtech into classrooms to enhance language acquisition and communication. Digital tools provide tailored supports, such as translation, text-to-speech, and interactive lessons, which align with the scaffolding strategies proven effective for MLs.

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How to Use Technology to Help ELLs Achieve Language Mastery | Continental Educational Publisher

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Struggling with how to use technology to help ELLs in your classroom? Check out these nine effective edtech tools for English learners!

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Kaplan, E. (2019). 6 essential strategies for teaching English language learners. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/6-essential-strategies-teaching-english-language-learners.

This article offers simple and practical tips for supporting multilingual students in the classroom, making it a quick and helpful read for educators.

This source offers strategies such as building relationships and being culturally responsive, integrating language skills into all subjects, focusing on productive language, speaking slowly with extended wait time, using differentiated, multimodal approaches, incorporating students’ native languages, and embracing technology as a teaching tool.

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

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

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

1. Cultivate Relationships and Be Culturally Responsive

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

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

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

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

2. Teach Language Skills Across the Curriculum

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

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

3. Emphasize Productive Language

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

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

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

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

4. Speak Slowly-and Increase Your Wait Time

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

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

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

5. Differentiate-and Use Multiple Modalities

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

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

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

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

Bilingualism is the goal, of course, not replacement.

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

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

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

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6 Essential Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners

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

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Colorin Colorado. (n.d.) How to develop a lesson plan that includes ELLs. https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/how-develop-lesson-plan-includes-ells

This article provides a step-by-step guide for designing lessons for multilingual learners, featuring videos and resource links.

It also includes research-based recommendations such as identifying standards and objectives, building background knowledge, teaching key vocabulary, and supporting academic language development.

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In content-area classes, English language learners (ELLs) face a double challenge: they must learn language and content at the same time. In order to succeed in these classes, ELLs need the literacy, language skills, and background knowledge necessary to master that new content knowledge.

One way to address that challenge is through effective lesson planning. Depending on their different stages of English proficiency and literacy, ELLs will benefit from the skills that a well-designed lesson can address. For additional tips on language instruction, see our tips for mainstream teachers.

This video showcases a 5 th-grade team planning a science lesson. ESOL specialist Katy Padilla plays a key role in advocating for ELLs throughout the lesson planning process.

Lesson planning for the ELLs: Step by step

Effective lesson planning requires a number of steps from initial preparation to the final review of material. This blog post on lesson planning with sheltered instruction offers a general roadmap for that process.

Identify standards and objectives

First, identify your goals for the lesson. What are your target standards? It is helpful to post these clearly so that students know what they will be focused on learning and eliminate unnecessary information that does not meet your objective.

Next, identify your content objectives and language objectives:

The content objectives focus on the content you will be teaching, such as a math, Science, Social Studies, or language arts objective.

The language objectives focus on the academic language functions that students need to master in order to access grade-level content.

It is critical to teach language objectives explicitly so that ELLs (and their peers) can learn the content and language they need.

For example, Jennifer Himmel shares the following examples in her popular article about how to write language objectives for content-area lessons:

3rd grade Science, States of Matter

Content Area Standard

Content Objective

Language Objective

California: Students know that matter has three forms: solid, liquid, and gas.

Students will be able to distinguish between liquids, solids, and gases and provide an example of each.

Students will be able to orally describe characteristics of liquids, solids, and gases to a partner.

Build background knowledge

Background knowledge is the hook that students hang new information on. When planning lessons for ELLs, it is important to both:

access students' existing background knowledge

build background knowledge that students.

To start this process, you need to:

1. Identify key background knowledge needed for the lesson

2. Identify students' existing background knowledge

3. Build background knowledge students need

Teach key vocabulary

Selecting words to teach

Select key vocabulary that students need to understand the content. Dr. Diane August notes that there are different kinds of vocabulary words that may need to be taught across different content areas:

words that are critical to the meaning of the lesson or text

words with multiple meanings ("plot," "table," "key," and "yard")

homonyms ("son"/"sun")

general academic words

academic vocabulary in a particular content area.

You can see additional recommendations on how to choose which vocabulary words to teach in this overview of the ACCELL project that Dr. August led at the American Institutes for Research.

Strategies for instruction

Write an ELL-friendly definition for each and post them where students can see them throughout the lesson.

Try different strategies to teach each word. If there are five words to be pre-taught, use different ways of engaging the students to hear and produce each word in context.

Give students ample opportunities to practice each new word both in oral and written languages.

Look for cognates, or words from different languages that are related. For example, Spanish and English have many cognates ("information" /"información") and they are particularly common in terms related to academic content. Learning how to use cognates can bolster Spanish-speaking ELLs' comprehension significantly.

Discuss word families and how different forms of words are used. ELLs may need explicit instruction in which form of a word to use. Help students look for spelling and usage patterns, such as past tense verbs ending in "-ed." Since English has so many exceptions, this isn't always a foolproof strategy, but a basic knowledge of these patterns, rules, and spellings will help.

Related resources

Support academic language development

Academic language, or the language of schooling, is the language that students need to succeed in their content-area classes. It is important for educators and students alike to understand the differences between social and academic language and why textbooks, tests, assignments, or class presentations may be more challenging for students than social conversations.

There are a number of ways to support academic language development, such as:

previewing the text

teaching grammatical structures relevant to a particular content area ("greater than" and "less than" in math class)

showing how the targeted academic language is used in reading, writing, speaking, and listening in your content area.

For example, what is the difference between the language students use to write a science report vs. the language used in a class message board? Sharing examples and teaching specific phrases or structures, especially when they related to a specific content area, can be a helpful way to help students feel comfortable in multiple settings.

Dr. August also encourages educators to familiarize themselves with some features of academic language that may present challenges such as the following:

visual presenations of information, such as graphs, charts, diagrams, maps, and equations

figurative language

syntax, such as passive voice and complex sentences

nominalization, which refers to using a word that is not a noun as a noun or noun phrase (i.e., "the rich").

Collaborating with an ESL specialist can be a helpful way to start identifying areas of academic language where additional support would be helpful.

Related resources

Video: Instruction of Key Academic Vocabulary with High School ELLs

Video: Pre-teaching concepts and vocabulary before a lesson

ESOL specialist Katy Padilla shares more in-depth information about her "Super Secret Science Club," an informal lunch activity for 5th-grade ELLs where they see a preview of the afternoon's lesson.

Video: Bricks and mortar in language instruction

Dr. Cindy Lundgren discusses the concept of "bricks and mortar" when thinking about effective vocabulary instruction for ELLs.

Learn some additional strategies for scaffolding and differentiating instruction.

Scaffolding instruction means to put in place some supports that can help students access grade-level content. In addition, your students may be at varying levels of English language proficiency, and some differentiation might be necessary. It's ok to start small -- and remember that this is an area where an ESL teacher can provide some helpful ideas!

Some strategies for scaffolding and differentiating include:

If students are having trouble with an activity, try to identify whether a new concept, set of directions, vocabulary word, or other element is causing the difficulty. Identify some different ways that you can help students move beyond those obstacles. These might include providing a book about the topic in the student's native language or reviewing new vocabulary words together.

Video: Pre-teaching concepts and vocabulary before a lesson

Video: Using "realia" to build background

Use peer review and cooperative learning strategies

Using peer learning can be a powerful way to help students master content. Here are some ways to get students working together:

Use graphic organizers. Have students work in collaborative groups and use a graphic organizer as a scaffold for specific tasks, such as identifying main ideas or relationships between information, etc. It gives a purpose while reading while interacting and using the language.

Assign reading partners. Pair ELLs with friendly fluent readers. Ask partners to read aloud to each other, alternating sentences or pages. After partner reading, ask them to summarize what they read. For variety, use choral reading once in a while. Assign different sections to each team, ask them to rehearse, and then ask teams to read chorally.

Use Think-Pair-Share (TPS). TPS is a collaborative learning strategy in which students work together to solve a problem or answer a question about an assigned reading. This technique requires students to (1) think individually about a topic or answer to a question; and (2) share ideas with classmates. Discussing an answer with a partner serves to maximize participation, focus attention and engage students in comprehending the reading material. Read more in the following articles:

1. Increase Student Interaction with "Think-Pair-Shares" and "Circle Chats"

2. AdLit.org Classroom Strategy: Think-Pair-Share

You may also wish to look for ways to engage students through hands-on learning and project-based learning. Learn about other ways to effectively using cooperative learning strategies in these articles:

Consider how to incorporate different language skills into the lesson

When learning a new language, students need to master four key skills:

(Drs. Andrea Honigsfeld and Maria Dove note that they like the acronym SWIRL, which includes "interaction" in the list.)

You can learn more about these skills in What Language Skills Do ELLs Need?, as well as ideas for teaching these skills both in person and online in Teaching ELLs Online: How to Develop Students' Language Skills.

For example, you can support ELLs' writing skills by modeling the kinds of writing used frequently in your particular content area, such as lab reports in chemistry class, or a persuasive essay in social studies. Help students understand what the purpose of different kinds of writing are, and review vocabulary that would be typically used in these kinds of assignments. Be sure to provide examples of the different kinds of writing to your students so they can learn and compare models.

Review and assess what students have learned

There are many ways to review and assess content following instruction. For example, graphic organizers are a helpful way for students to demonstrate that they understood the concepts and content, even if they only use a symbol or write one or two words for each category. Graphic organizers can also be used as a pre-teaching or post-teaching strategy for introducing or reinforcing key concepts and how they are related. The more connections ELLs make to the overall content and organization of the content before reading, the easier it will be to focus on and understand what is important. When teachers and/or students use graphic organizers at the end of a lesson, this helps to reinforce and synthesize lesson content.

For example:

Related resources

Video: Using informal assessment with ELLs

In this video, Ms. Samantha Kirch demonstrates the ways she uses informal assessment to gauge student understanding, as well as the kinds of support offered to ELLs who need some extra practice with the concept of drawing conclusions.

Examples from the Content Areas

For examples of content-related lesson plans and strategies for ELLs, take a look at the following:

Closing Thoughts

Finally, we want to close with some thoughts from expert ELL educator and administrator Kristina Robertson. First, she encourages educators to only introduce one new thing at a time when teaching ELLs. And she reminds educators not to be afraid to go back to the drawing board if it doesn't go well the first time! While your lesson planning process may involve some trial and error, you will start to see positive results when you take ELLs into account in your planning. You will soon be on your way to planning lessons that engage, include, and support the ELLs in your class.

Video: Try one new thing at a time

Video: When new things don't work

Kristina Robertson shares her advice for dealing with strategies that just don't work.

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How to Develop a Lesson Plan that Includes ELLs

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In content-area classes, English language learners (ELLs) face a double challenge: they must learn language and content at the same time. In order to succeed in these classes, ELLs need the literacy, language skills, and background knowledge necessary to master that new content knowledge. One way to address that challenge is through effective lesson planning.

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Gonzalez, V. (2017). Conferring with ELLs. Rooted Linguistics LLC. https://www.valentinaesl.com/blog/conferring-with-ells

This blog offers expert advice from an educational consultant who works with educators across the country to support multilingual learners and their families. It focuses on using student conferences as formative and diagnostic assessments to help teachers tailor instruction to meet their students' needs. This research-based strategy incorporates Fountas and Pinnell's responsive teachings.

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Rooted Linguistics: Serving Teachers of Multilingual Learners

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Confer Often
When we work with students who are learning language and learning to become stronger readers, it's important to confer more frequently than usual. The more time ELLs can get one on one or in small group with their teacher, the better. Now, that's not to say that conferences should be long in length...just more frequent. If you are lucky enough to have a co-teacher, then you and the co-teacher can both meet with ELLs and they can get a double dose of instruction. Conferring with an ELL may look and sound different than conferring with a native English speaker and that's okay!

Lower the Affective Filter
The affective filter is a like a giant brick wall that some students (not only ELLs) put up when they feel scared, anxious, nervous. This wall prevents learning from happening. The students' minds are focused on their fears and not on academics. As teachers, we can bring down the affective filter by making our kids feel comfortable and safe. Smile, let them know you genuinely care, and be careful about correcting grammatical errors. One way to quickly shut down a student who is learning English is to call them out on grammar errors in front of their peers. Instead try "recasting". For instance, if a child says they goed to the mall yesterday. You can respond by saying something like, "How nice that you went to the mall yesterday."
I have found that talking about a student's native language or culture helps lower the affective filter. Asking them questions about their lives sends them a message that we care about them as people. If a student has a book in their native language, I ask them to share a little of it with me and I tell them how awesome it is that they can read in another language. Encouraging bilingualism and valuing the student's native culture tends to bring the walls down and lift student's confidence up!

Respect Language Levels
When conferring with ELLs, refer to their language levels and be respectful of the silent period for newcomers. We never want to force a newcomer to speak in English when they just aren't ready yet. Keep in mind that students' receptive skills (listening and reading) are usually stronger than their expressive skills (speaking and writing). I think of myself as a Spanish learner. I can definitely listen and comprehend Spanish better than I can speak and write it. When conferring with ELLs at different levels of language development, we want to tailor questions to meet their linguistic needs.
Beginners: We may ask questions that require students to point to answers or give students one step commands. Point to the ___. Show me the ____.
Intermediate: Questions might consist of Yes/No and then move to questions that have simple choice. Is this his or hers? Is it a large truck or small truck?
Advanced: Ask open ended questions starting with "why" and "how".
Advanced high: Ask "Why do you think..." What would happen if..."

Scaffold and Support
There are many ways to accommodate a conference to scaffold and support ELLs. Two of my favorites are to use visuals and sentence stems. When discussing reading with an ELL, I have found it helpful to sketch or pull up visuals for words they are unfamiliar with while we talk. Visuals are a quick way to make content comprehensible. As I ask questions during the conference, if my ELL does not respond even after I give ample wait time, I provide a sentence stem or starter to see if that helps give them some inertia to get their thoughts rolling. Often they have the answer in their heads but they just have trouble put it in a sentence grammatically. The sentence stem helps with that.

Teach Students to Self-Advocate
Teaching students to self-advocate gives them power and makes them feel that they can control over their learning. I like to do this be explicitly teaching my students what to say when they don't have an answer. Instead of saying, "I don't know," here's what you can say (see picture of anchor chart)...

May I please have some more information?

May I have some time to think?

Would you please repeat the question?

May I ask a friend for help?​

​
Conferring is a critical piece of instruction in a workshop setting. For me I think of it as diagnostic. Like when I go to the doctor's office and I'm in the room with the doctor alone and she's examining me, asking me questions and assessing my needs. The conference with students is similar. We meet individually to assess students' needs. Where are they in their reading, what are their indidivual needs, where do I need to take them next?
Conferring helps us as teachers build instruction for small groups. Yes, conferring is super important. But working one-on-one is not efficient when you have 20+ students in your classroom. If I have 5 or 6 kids with the same need, it's more efficient to pull them together in a small group and work with them at once rather than to meet individually with each of them and tell them all the same thing.
Conferring is a great for diagnostics. But after conferring, we have to reflect and use that information to guide our next steps in instruction.
Resources:. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
​Fountas, I. C., & Pinnell, G. S. (2017). Guided reading: responsive teaching across the grades
Calkins, L. (2015). A guide to the reading workshop, primary grades
Calkins, L. (2015). A guide to the reading workshop, intermediate grades. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

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Rooted Linguistics: Serving Teachers of Multilingual Learners

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Knutson, J. (2023). How to use technology to support ELLs in your classroom. Common Sense Education. https://www.commonsense.org/education/articles/how-to-use-technology-to-support-ells-in-your-classroom

This article highlights a variety of tools and strategies to support Multilingual Learners, including tech platforms like Newsela, BrainPOP ELL, and Google Translate, creative projects, AI-based tools, and collaboration-focused resources. It also emphasizes personalized instruction, family communication, and integrating multimodal learning into daily routines.

Research suggests that AI-based tools can provide immediate feedback and tailored instruction, which are critical for language growth.

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English-language learners (ELLs) come into our classrooms with a wide variety of specific and unique needs for language acquisition. It's hard to talk about them all as one group -- ELLs represent a diverse range of students in every sense. It's needless to say: Working with ELLs is often challenging and also highly rewarding.

Because there are so many apps and edtech tools available today, you might expect to find lots of them made specifically for English language development (ELD), bilingual, or dual-immersion classrooms. Unfortunately, this isn't the case: Tools designed specifically for English-language learners are few and far between (though there are definitely some out there).

There are, nevertheless, a lot of great edtech tools and strategies you can use with your ELLs, even if the tools themselves aren't ELL-specific. Some might even be tools you've already heard of or used -- with an ELL-specific use case that's been hiding in plain sight.

So, what's the best way to find and use great digital tools with your ELLs? A lot will depend on your students' specific needs, but here are a few things to think about when finding the best tools for your classroom.

1. Look for ELL-friendly supports in the tools you're already using.

Lots of online tools have built-in features to support differentiated instruction for a variety of learners. Newsela offers texts at five variable Lexile levels, many in both English and Spanish. ThinkCERCA offers leveled texts with scaffolding for students reading at different levels, including audio versions of texts. Though ELA-focused tools are most likely to have the best English-learning supports, plenty of other tools support ELLs' learning in other subject areas. Khan Academy is one popular example; the site offers a translated version of its curriculum in 12 languages. As you search, keep in mind that these tools are usually aimed at a more general student audience, so they may be better suited to intermediate or advanced ELLs, and beginning-level ELLs may need more robust support.

2. Build basic online resources and productivity tools into daily routines.

From basic translation to productivity tools for consumers, a lot of everyday apps and websites can be great for supporting ELL-centered learning activities. A note-taking tool with recording features like Microsoft OneNote offers opportunities for speaking and listening practice. Simple English Wikipedia is just like it sounds: an adapted version of the standard Wikipedia site but for ELLs, younger students, or anyone else who might struggle with reading. A translation tool is an obvious choice, and Google Translate is generally thought to be the most accessible free option around.

3. Get creative and repurpose a digital-storytelling tool.

Storytelling is an excellent, interactive learning activity for ELLs and bilingual learners of all ages and language abilities. Even though these apps tend to be aimed at younger kids (and not specifically at ELLs), they still offer opportunities for kids to express themselves while they build new language skills. Don't be afraid to age these tools up; they're great even for older ELLs. And for beginning-level English-language learners, creative projects tend to offer opportunities for low-stakes (yet still high-concept) communication-based activities. Also, keep in mind that lots of other digital-creation mediums can offer fun language-building practice, from video production to podcasting and digital design. Find something that suits your students' ages, language abilities, and interests.

4. Find tools that specifically address your ELLs' needs.

As mentioned earlier, tools designed only for ELLs are somewhat scarce, but there are definitely some options. These ELL-centric tools run the gamut. BrainPOP ELL offers a comprehensive online curriculum aimed at improving kids' language skills from beginning to advanced levels. Read&Write is a helpful text-to-speech app for students with a variety of literacy needs, including English-language learners. On the flip side, a platform like Ellevation is designed for teachers and uses robust data to track and monitor students' progress and language growth. As time goes on, we're bound to see more edtech solutions specifically for ELLs. It will be interesting to see what the future holds in this space.

5. Supplement instruction with an online language-learning tool.

Language-learning tools for travelers and consumers are everywhere and easy to find. Although these tools should never replace quality classroom instruction, for some students they could be a helpful option for extra practice or out-of-class enrichment. Because they're often aimed at a general -- mostly adult -- audience, these won't all be the best choice for kids' learning. Nevertheless, in certain situations, some language-learning apps could be appropriate depending on your students' needs. If you do go this route, look for free options that offer adaptive features that challenge students as their language skills grow. If recommending out-of-class use, keep your students' devices and level of network access in mind.

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How to Use Technology to Support ELLs in Your Classroom | Common Sense Education

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Quality edtech for ELLs isn't easy to find, but great options do exist.

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Corujo, J. (2023). 6 levels of English language proficiency for ELL students. HMH. https://www.hmhco.com/blog/levels-of-english-language-proficiency-for-ell-students?srsltid=AfmBOooWqIpfXMD3xdGhKys2HmZ_SBbbrwHkDTEn-_xlUnniPpvmxPvW

This article reviews multilingual English proficiency levels, using tools like WIDA’s six-level framework, and outlines learner profiles from newcomers to long-term English learners, which helps teachers provide targeted support for effective language development. This is supported by evidence because tools like WIDA's six-level framework are research-based and widely used to assess English proficiency in speaking, listening, reading, and writing. These levels align with best practices in education, emphasizing differentiated instruction based on students' specific needs.

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6 Levels of English Language Proficiency for ELL Students

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Explore the 6 levels of English language proficiency for ELL students to support your multilingual learners.

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WIDA. (2020). WIDA English language development standards framework, 2020 edition: Kindergarten–grade 12. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System.

https://wida.wisc.edu/sites/default/files/resource/WIDA-ELD-Standards-Framework-2020.pdf

WIDA is a research-based framework for assessing English proficiency in multilingual learners. It measures skills in speaking, listening, reading, and writing across six levels, guiding instruction and progress monitoring. WIDA supports educators with tools to tailor teaching strategies, fostering effective language development and alignment with evidence-based best practices.

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Colorin Colorado. (2024). Making students and families feel welcome. https://www.colorincolorado.org/immigration/guide/welcome

This article highlights strategies for schools to foster a welcoming atmosphere for all families. It features practical classroom examples, along with helpful videos and resource links.

It also supports best practices for fostering a low-stress learning atmosphere that promotes effective language acquisition.

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I know of one teacher who called all families of her students just to say 'I wanted to thank you for entrusting your child to our school. We're happy you're here. I love working with your student.' I heard about the phone call from an older sibling, and it was the first time I'd seen this girl smile in two weeks. Small gestures make a difference.

Overview

Schools can use a variety of strategies to get to know immigrant families and let them know they are welcome in the school community. Sharing these messages of support during times of uncertainty can strengthen relationships, make communication and problem-solving more effective, and impact student attendance and family engagement.

Take a look at our ideas below to get started in your setting. For more great ideas, see related strategies on:

Let all families know that they are welcome

Serving Afghan refugee families

If your school is welcoming new refugee families from Afghanistan, please see the following:

Why this matters

The best way to let families know that they are welcome is to tell them. This kind of outreach has always been important for ELL and immigrant families; however, it is even more critical for immigrant families who may:

feel unwelcome in the school, early childhood program, or community

not know if immigration status impacts the right to attend school or early childhood program, or even enter the building

be more likely to keep their children home and avoid educational settings themselves

keep their children home due to local immigration enforcement activity

come from countries where school records are available to all government agencies.

Expressing support signals that you value their place in your community and take those concerns seriously. It is also an important message to communicate to staff who are serving immigrant students and who may be immigrants themselves or have ties to immigrant relatives/communities.

Tips for getting started

Educators and school/program leaders can communicate this message by:

regularly expressing that families are welcome

posting welcome signs and messages of support on doors in multiple languages

making statements of support available online.

Other kinds of outreach

Schools, districts, and early childhood programs can also share welcoming messages through:

parent information meetings

phone calls

public remarks in the community or local press

collaboration with community organizations that have a relationship with families (i.e. houses of worship, community centers, and immigrant rights groups)

Public Service Announcements and interviews with local media outlets in families' native languages, especially for communities with low levels of native language literacy.

Related resources

Create a welcoming school environment

Why this matters

The environment of a school or early childhood program has a significant impact on students and families. There are a number of things that educators can do to create a welcoming environment for immigrant students and families.

Tips for getting started

Make families and students feel welcome by:

Removing barriers to engagement

ensuring that families are greeted warmly at the front office in their language

introducing them to parent liaisons, Family Resource Centers, or other resources

helping families understand the U.S. school system

providing transportation, meals, and child care for family events

identifying specific stressors, such as stimuli that trigger post-traumatic stress

Communicating in families' languages

having access to someone who speaks their language

making information available in their language and format they prefer

teaching staff how to use a language phone line or other services with an interpreter

learning how to pronounce student and family names correctly

learning a few phrases in families' languages

welcoming and using students' home languages in the classroom

connecting students with peers, staff, or volunteers who speak their language

Celebrate students' countries and cultures

hanging flags of students' home countries

displaying artwork, photos, and mementos from students' countries

including culturally responsive books in families' home languages in the library and in classrooms (including books by diverse authors who share students' heritage)

providing opportunities for students and/or families to share songs and stories from their country or culture if they feel comfortable doing so

being mindful that some students may not wish to share information about their home country, immigration story, or place of birth and others may not remember or know much about it (see more on this topic in our related section on immigrant students' silence)

Engaging the school-wide/district-wide community

encouraging students to brainstorm ideas on how to make peers feel welcome

encouraging activities that foster students' empathy

reminding the community, including all students and adults in the building, of existing policies on bullying, bias, and discrimination

taking steps to prevent bullying and addressing bullying incidents when they occur

sharing these strategies and ideas with colleagues.

In addition, consider adding immigration status as a form of difference that merits equitable treatment in your classroom. Any time you engage in conversations with students about why it is important not to discriminate against others due to their race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or other form of social difference, include immigration status (as is developmentally appropriate). If you have signs in your classroom that name different kinds of bullying or hate speech, include immigration status as well (Gallo, 2018).

Addressing bias

For recommendations on how to discuss and address bias, see the comprehensive resource list we put together following the mass shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh, PA.

Recommended resources

Resources from Colorín Colorado

Toolkits

News headlines

Recommended videos

Video playlist: Creating a welcoming environment for ELL and immigrant students

Get to know your students and families

Why this matters

One of the most important steps educators can take is to get to know students and families, developing a personal relationship that establishes trust and rapport. It is much easier to address a difficult situation, such as changes in a student's behavior, when you already have a solid relationship.

Tips for getting started

Learn more about family backgrounds and strengths by talking with families, cultural liaisons, and ELL/bilingual colleagues.

Invite members of the community or local organizations to share their insights.

Look for ways to increase the amount of interaction between staff and families.

Get into families' neighborhoods by planning events in local venues and home visits.

Give students the chance to tell their stories with tips in this Colorín Colorado article.

Recommended resources

Strategies and background information

Books and guides

Student populations

Recommended videos

Video Playlist: Home visits with immigrant students

Video Playlist: Getting to know your ELL and immigrant students

More recommended videos: Documentaries

Learn more about special populations of students

Why this matters

It is critical to learn as much as possible about your students' backgrounds and educational experiences, as well as their talents and gifts, as you look for ways to help them succeed. You may also meet students who have unique experiences, strengths, and needs.

Here are some examples of those experiences:

Refugee students may have experienced trauma, difficult journeys, and lengthy stays in refugee camps or temporary accommodations with little access to schooling.

Students with interrupted education may have little or no schooling, or a patchwork of experiences.

Children of migrant farmworkers may have moved frequently around the country following different harvest seasons. They may not have school records from prior schools. They may be living in poverty and particularly vulnerable to events such as natural disasters.

Unaccompanied children and youth may have endured long, traumatic, and violent journeys and may be reuniting with family they haven't met or seen for a long time.

Students displaced by natural disasters may have gone through traumatic experiences, upheaval, and long separations from immediate family members.

Indigenous students from Latin America may mask their Indigenous identity and language; while schools may provide support in Spanish to these students based on their country of origin, Spanish may actually be a second or third language.

Tips for getting started

Look for clues about your students' experiences without asking direct questions.

Build relationships with students and families.

Find out if colleagues such as ESOL teachers, parent liaisons, or community partners have information about students' prior experiences. If so, invite these colleagues to share their insights with staff.

Learn more about the context for your students' experiences, such as a civil war that caused them to flee or the conditions that migrants face along particular routes.

Keep in mind that some students may be reluctant to share their experiences. See ideas for supportive ways to engage students that don't put them on the spot in our related section and our article on student stories.

Keep in mind that refugees and asylees have different kinds of rights in the U.S.; not everyone that used to live in a refugee camp has resettled through the State Department and has access to the rights and privileges that such a process entails.

You may also wish to look at students' schedules and look for ways to reduce the number disruptions and transitions where possible, particularly for newcomers. See our related section on this topic.

Recommended resources

Identify student and family strengths

Why this matters

All students and families have strengths and assets. Recognizing those strengths can create a foundation on which to build an effective partnership. It is an important shift from a "deficit" approach, in which families and students are defined by their needs and challenges.

Tips for getting started

Be sure to highlight student and family strengths and celebrate them publicly and regularly within the entire school/program community.

Look for families' strengths and successes in overcoming and managing their challenges and caring for their children.

Ask students and families to describe their skills, interests, and talents, and ask for additional input from colleagues and community partners.

Look for ways to do this in the classroom. Encourage teachers to look for students' strengths (using this chart of asset-based language as a starting point), as well as contributions that members of the students' communities have made locally and to American society.

Recommended resources

Recommended Videos

Video: Building upon students' strengths

Video: Getting to know students through parent letters

References

See our complete reference list for works cited in this article.

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Making Students and Families Feel Welcome

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I know of one teacher who called all families of her students just to say 'I wanted to thank you for entrusting your child to our school. We're happy you're here. I love working with your student.' I heard about the phone call from an older sibling, and it was the first time I'd seen this girl smile in two weeks.

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University of Texas at Austin. (2024). 10 key policies and practices for teaching English language learners. https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/english-language-learners/articles/10-key-policies-and-practices-teaching-english-language

This booklet shares 10 simple tips to improve teaching for Mutilingual Learners. These practices focus on recognizing and building on students' strengths and can be easily incorporated into daily teaching routines. It focuses on seeing students' strengths and using their cultural backgrounds and experiences to help them stay engaged and succeed in school, which research shows is very effective.

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10 Key Policies and Practices for Teaching English Language Learners

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Learn about 10 instructional practices for English language learners (ELLs) that research shows to be highly effective. These guidelines emphasize an asset-based approach to teaching ELLs and can be integrated into your regular teaching routines.

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Scott, R. (2015). Practices to welcome and support ELLs. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/blog/practices-to-welcome-and-support-ells-robyn-scott

This article outlines four strategies for creating an inclusive classroom: foster empathy to address feelings of isolation, encourage students to maintain fluency in their primary language, integrate art to honor cultural diversity, and use visuals to support communication. It also highlights best practices for establishing a culturally responsive classroom.

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Through practices that incorporate tolerance, empathy, and perspective, you can engage your English-only students in appreciating and sharing with their ELL classmates.