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I chose this because it breaks down the history of policies and legislation related to the Education of ELL students.

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This video gives insight into the history of bilingual education in Texas.

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The History of Bilingual Education in Texas

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I chose this note taking guide because it breaks down all important information about the chapter over Language Principles and the Structure of English.

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I chose this article because it gave insight into what pragmatics are and how to incorporate them into the classroom.

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There are socially constructed rules that guide how individuals interact with each other. The rules guide turn taking, greetings, eye-contact, body language and the way individuals are referenced in conversations.

These rules can be described as the pragmatics of oral language and they are often implicitly learnt. However, not all children develop an understanding of pragmatics by simply being immersed in social situations.

For some children, the explicit teaching of social language and the way language varies according to its contexts is needed. Raban (2014) suggests, "consolidating implicit awareness with explicit understanding" (p. 6). Pragmatics can be thought of in terms of both expressive and receptive language, that is, the social conventions of both speaking and listening, in an Australian context. It is important to remember that cultural differences could result in pragmatic differences.

Teaching pragmatics is important for EAL/D learners

Research in pragmatics in language learning shows 'lower-proficiency listeners have greater difficulty processing both contextual and linguistic information and, therefore, are less able to activate their pragmatic knowledge' (Vandergrift & Goh, 2018, p. 137). Therefore, explicit teaching of pragmatics is important for supporting EAL/D students in developing their listening and speaking skills.

The following demonstrates how pragmatic knowledge is important and where misunderstandings can occur for EAL/D learners.

A: Do you have a ruler?
B: Yes, it's right here.
A: I mean, can I borrow it?

For EAL/D learners, the goal of teaching pragmatics is that students learn:

what can be said in English

how something can be said in English in different situations

to also express what they want to say and how they want to say it.

Cultural information is often inferred in speaking and listening exchanges and may need to be explicitly taught or explained to EAL/D learners. Similarities and differences between English and the linguistic practices of students' home languages can form the basis for discussion, role plays or text creation.

Some examples include:

indirect references to 'soften' requests (e.g. Could you tell me where the park is?)

modifying speech when speaking with a peer or with a teacher, or during a class presentation

who can or cannot be addressed by their first name (e.g. in some Australian schools students address teachers by first names)

forms of address (e.g. addressing strangers as 'sir' instead of 'uncle' as in some other cultures)

when the speaker should express thanks

when and how a person should apologise. In some cultures apologies can be non-verbal, and students may need to learn how to verbalise an apology

appropriate greetings or topics of conversations for a new acquaintance.

EAL/D learners need to learn about the possible social impact of their linguistic choices in different contexts, for example, greeting a friend or the principal. Support EAL/D students to investigate spoken texts by considering the tenor (the relationship between the language users), mode (oral, written or visual) and field (the topic).

For more information see: Teaching EAL/D learners about the pragmatics of language

It is worth considering the tacit factors, related to pragmatics, which promote or prevent effective classroom talk. The grouping of students is one such factor. Teachers need to decide when students self-select their talk partners and when talk partners are selected for the student. Talk that presents a challenge, such as an ethical discussion may be more suited to self-selected groupings, in the initial stages, to help build confidence.

Another factor to consider is the class seating arrangement. A group of students seated on the floor, facing the teacher who is seated on a chair sets up the traditional social structure of the classroom, which may be more conducive to an IRF (initiation, response, feedback) talk pattern, rather than a dialogic one. Seating students in a horseshoe or square pattern with the teacher included in the seating pattern, allows all participants to see each other and sets up a different pedagogical relationship (Alexander, 2008).

A third factor to consider is the amount of time a teacher provides for student responses. Some points in the lesson demand an instant response from students, but opportunities for more thoughtful extended answers might also be provided if students are given time to think before replying (Mercer and Dawes, 2008). The inclusion of think time makes explicit the link between speaking and listening and thinking and learning.

Teaching the pragmatics of language:

Role play. Act out a similar situation in a different context. For example, greeting different people at the airport; telling different people you are feeling unwell; explaining to different people that there is a fly in your meal.

Role play how to greet someone; explain something; complain, and request.

Supporting EAL/D learners

Before the role play, support EAL/D learners by providing a clear sense of audience using images to scaffold discussion about language choices, for example how much to say, how much technical language to use, or whether to use supporting resources such as images. Students can also consider paralinguistic components of communication, such as volume, pitch, intonation, facial expression and body language. Students might discuss and contribute to a dialogue for a scene. When different groups of children perform their own role play around a similar situation (e.g. making friends, stopping bullying, asking for help), comparing the different language choices in each role play draws EAL/D students' attention to language options available, and why a certain response may be appropriate or inappropriate.

Character hot seating.

Character interviews.

Make classroom displays highlighting how to ask for common classroom requests.

Use picture story books that focus on conflict and model what can be said and how it can be said, when solving the conflict.

Create classroom clines to illustrate the degree or intensity of vocabulary. For example: putrid, disgusting, unappetizing, unappealing. Discuss when it might be appropriate/inappropriate to use such vocabulary.

Create a set of classroom agreed rules for accountable talk (Mercer and Hodgkingson, 2008, see: Accountable talk.

Links to the Victorian Curriculum - English

Listen to and respond orally to texts and to the communication of others in informal and structured classroom situations using interaction skills, including listening, while others speak (VCELY174)

Explore how language is used differently at home and school depending on the relationships between people (VCELA165)

Deliver short oral presentations to peers, using appropriate voice levels, articulation, body language, gestures and eye contact (VCELY175)

Engage in conversations and discussions, using active listening, showing interest, and contributing ideas, information and questions, taking turns and recognising the contributions of others (VCELY210)

Listen for specific purposes and information, including instructions, and extend students' own and others' ideas in discussions through initiating topics, making positive statements, and voicing disagreement in an appropriate manner (VCELY244)

Listen to and contribute to conversations and discussions to share information and ideas and negotiate in collaborative situations and use interaction skills, including active listening and clear, coherent communications (VCELY275)

Participate in and contribute to discussions, clarifying and interrogating ideas, developing and supporting arguments, sharing and evaluating information, experiences and opinions, and use interaction skills, varying conventions of spoken interactions according to group size, formality of interaction and needs and expertise of the audience (VCELY366)

Participate in formal and informal debates and plan, rehearse and deliver presentations, selecting and sequencing appropriate content and multimodal elements for defined audiences and purposes, making appropriate choices for modality and emphasis (VCELY367)

Understand that patterns of language interaction vary across social contexts and types of texts and that they help to signal social roles and relationships (VCELA334)

Understand that successful cooperation with others depends on shared use of social conventions, including turn-taking patterns, and forms of address that vary according to the degree of formality in social situations (VCELA271)

Understand that language varies when people take on different roles in social and classroom interactions and how the use of key interpersonal language resources varies depending on context (VCELA235)

Links to the Victorian Curriculum - English as an Additional Language (EAL)

See the Communication and Cultural and Plurilingual Awareness strands under Speaking and Listening in the EAL curriculum.

References

Alexander, R. (2008). Culture, dialogue and learning. In N. Mercer and S. Hodgkinson. (Eds.) (2008). Exploring Talk in Schools. London: SAGE Publications.

Mercer, N. and Dawes, L. (2008). The value of exploratory talk. In N. Mercer and S. Hodgkinson. (Eds.) (2008). Exploring Talk in Schools. London: SAGE Publications.

Mercer, N. and Hodgkinson, S. (2008) (eds.). Exploring talk in schools. London: Sage Publications.

Raban, B. (2014). Talk to think, learn, and teach. Journal of Reading Recovery. Spring, 2014.

Vandergrift, L., & Goh, C. (2018). How listening comprehension works. In J.M. Newton, D.R. Ferris, C.C.M. Goh, W. Grabe, F.L. Stoller & L. Vandergrift (Eds.), Teaching English to second language learners in academic contexts: Reading, writing, listening, and speaking (pp. 125-144). New York: Routledge.

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There are socially constructed rules that guide how individuals interact with each other. The rules guide turn taking, greetings, eye-contact, body language and the way individuals are referenced in conversations. These rules can be described as the pragmatics of oral language and they are often implicitly learnt.

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I feel this checklist is important to ensuring equitable classroom practices.

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This article gives great book suggestions and insight as to why it is important to share multicultural books.

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Diversity in literature goes beyond ethnicity. Diversity may include the various facets of sexuality and gender, cultural, and societal groups. Whether characters in the books we read reflect others or ourselves, what is most important is connecting with them in ways that help us understand who we are today. Sometimes learning about our history through the eyes of diverse characters can be unsettling or even painful, but it also can be an awakening to the unknown. In this collection, I focus on books that reflect multiple cultures in the text or illustrations, sometimes subtle, other times more direct. I believe these books reflect the mosaic beauty of our world.
Ages 4-8
Ada has been an inquisitive child from the time she could crawl. At first, her insatiable curiosity, constant questions, and taking things apart to see how they work frustrate her parents, but soon they nurture Ada's quest for answers instead. As her search for knowledge flourishes, Ada also realizes she might encourage other kindred budding scientists by taking her latest experiment to her classroom. Features reflecting diversity in the rhyming text and expressive mixed-media illustrations include the race of this young girl scientist and the racial makeup of her classroom.

If you need a book to explain airports to children (or adults) who are new to flying this book is perfect because of the range of perspectives Lisa Brown captures through her detailed ink-and-watercolor illustrations, narrative text, and cartoon bubble conversations. Clearly Brown has spent some time coming from, going to, and being in airports. Her depiction of the variety of people (including the featured biracial family going on a trip), movement, sounds, conversations, vendors, crying babies, limited seat space, and more at the airport are impeccable. Her sense of humor comes through in some unexpected details. Look closely!

This delightful picture book describes the life of two people who love ballet: Emma, a beginner, and Julia, a professional. Similarities between these two characters' daily routines and lessons, presented in both the text and softly colored illustrations, provide the perfect staging for the relationship that unfolds at the end of the story. Emma gets to meet Julia backstage, and their encounter is heartwarming. This book is a nice reflection of how two different, yet similar, people come together naturally. A good companion book is Allegra Kent's Ballerina Gets Ready (2016), which also features an African American dancer.

This insightful and realistic story is told through the eyes of Hee Jun, a recent arrival in America from South Korea. Hee Jun, his family, and his grandmother left behind their home and friends. Everything looks, sounds, and feels different in their new surroundings, and everyone is having a difficult time adjusting to living in West Virginia. Things begin to look up when his grandmother visits his sister's kindergarten class to help her transition and he meets a friend. In his new friend's yard, Hee Jun is surprised to find mugunghwa (the Korean national flower that is called Rose of Sharon in the United States). For Hee Jun and his grandmother, the flower is "a piece of home," a remembrance of Korea.
Who We Are!: All About Being the Same and Being Different (Let's Talk About You and Me series). Robie H. Harris. Ill. Nadine Bernard Westcott. 2016. Candlewick. Ages 9-11
Similarities and differences are real among the people in our world. This fifth book in the Let's Talk About You and Me series captures the beauty of diversity within a family and in the broader world. Everything from physical appearance to likes and dislikes, with an emphasis on the importance of accepting-and celebrating-who you are, is clearly presented in the narrative text and cartoon illustrations. A charming companion book is Mixed Me! (2015)by Taye Diggs, a story about a young boy in a biracial family.
Elizabeth Started All the Trouble. Doreen Rappaport. Ill. Matt Faulkner. 2016. Disney/Hyperion.
Following the same engaging format as the original Children Just Like Me, which was published in 1995, this new edition is an engaging visual celebration of children around the world. Each of the six sections (North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Southeast Asia, and Australia) features an abundance of captioned photographs, carefully selected images of children, diverse families, world religions, homes, food, hobbies, and interesting facts, which will hold readers' attention for hours. A cool activity would be to compare the original version with this new book. How have things changed?

Spunk and determination abound in this delightful picture book about the women's suffrage movement. Although Abigail Adams pressed her husband, John Adams, to make sure the Founding Fathers included women in the Declaration of Independence, women were not mentioned. However, the fight for women's rights did not end. Years later, in 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton took up the cause for women's right to vote. Her movement gained a large following of women across the United States. Wyoming became the first state to give women the right to vote in 1869, but it was not until 1920 that women across the nation were allowed to vote. Readers will meet many of the key players throughout history that helped the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which granted women the right to vote. This is a timely book, with the Democratic Party being the first major political party to nominate a woman for president.
Ages 12-14
Determination, patience, and diligence paid off for Mary Garber, who crossed the gender barrier to become the first and longest working female sports writer in U.S. history. She gained her reputation from writing truthfully about the exceptional ability of Jackie Robinson, the first African American major league baseball player. Her sports writing career spanned more than 50 years. Mary Garber was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the National Sportscaster and Sportswriters Association in 2008, just months before she died at age 92.

Given the ongoing occurrence of veteran-related news, the timing of this book is perfect. Robert C. Snyder, a veteran, does a good job of capturing the crux of what it meant to be a veteran in the past and what it means today in a factual, yet gentle, tone. Through expressive watercolor illustrations and accessible text, this book provides a good overview of veterans in the United States, those who served in the military and have returned to civilian life, as well as mentioning those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Imagine traveling to or even living in space someday. Already, more than 200 astronauts from more than a dozen nations, cultures, and religions have visited the International Space Station. With a narrator who represents humanity throughout history, this intriguing nonfiction book presents a chronological survey of what humans have believed and learned about the universe. Reading this book will likely leave readers with an increased curiosity about the future of space exploration. With recent emphasis on science and math in schools, this book has many applications, including aviation, space exploration, astronomy, astrophysics, women in science, and more. This book is also available in a Spanish edition, Yo Soy la Humanidad (2016).
Ages 15+
In this page-turning mystery and humorous tale, Gidwitz remarkably threads medieval history through stories within a story. Unfortunate circumstances and perceived unnatural powers bring an unlikely group of children and a dog together. King Louis IX issues a death warrant, as it is rumored these children may possess supernatural powers considered blasphemous by the church and state. Jeanne, whose life was saved by Gwenforte, the dog, has seizures and sees into the future. William, a well-read, dark-skinned oblate, has Hulk-like strength. Jacob was forced to leave his Jewish community when a group of anti-Semitic teens sets fire to homes. Gidwitz gives readers much to think about in the parallels implied through the racial bigotry and persecution of the past compared with the present.
Stan Steiner teaches Children's/Young Adult Literature at Boise State University. He has had a long relationship with bringing awareness to multicultural literature through his teaching and publications.
Our world has been changed for the better by women. However, most of the time their accomplishments and contributions have been slighted in the history books. This carefully selected and diverse collection of women who paved the way, including such figures as Pocahontas, Sojourner Truth, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Beyoncé, and Hillary Clinton, would be a good addition to libraries and classrooms. Fifty one-page biographies of American women, arranged chronologically, include facts, family status, and major accomplishments that have made an impact on the world. A portrait and an illustration highlight the entry for each woman. An additional sixteen women are listed along with a glossary at the end of the book.

With recent Supreme Court decisions on gay and lesbian rights, this book is a fitting addition to libraries. Historical background and global perspective serve as an awakening to the growing number of voices that were silenced in the past but are now a unified call for equality. Photographs of smiling participants and bystanders flourish in this perceptive nonfiction book, reflecting Pride activism around the world. The book is organized in four sections: The History of Pride, Pride and Identity, Celebrating Pride Today, and Activism Around the World. Back matter includes a glossary, references, resources, and an index.

These reviews are submitted by members of the International Literacy Association's Children's Literature and Reading Special Interest Group (CL/R SIG) and are published weekly on Literacy Daily.

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Diversity in literature goes beyond ethnicity. Diversity may include the various facets of sexuality and gender, cultural, and societal groups. Whether characters in the books we read reflect others or ourselves, what is most important is connecting with them in ways that help us understand who we are today.

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This tookit gives resouces to help families and communities meet goals in regards to ELLs.

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I chose this article because it shows how schools classify studnets as English proficient and how that varies place to place.

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New research indicates that where English-language learners attend school can determine how quickly they are reclassified as English-proficient.

A Michigan State University research team found that schools in Texas-second only to California in total number of K-12 English-learners-vary widely in how they determine if students should be reclassified as English proficient, affecting their chances of success in school and beyond.

Using state data, the researchers estimated reclassification rates for English-learners throughout Texas over seven years. They found that an English-learner in the El Paso metropolitan area, for example is almost twice as likely to be reclassified by the end of 7th grade, compared to a student performing at the same level in the Rio Grande Valley.

"It seems curious to me that we would have students in different parts of the state being reclassified at different rates if they have similar scores on English proficiency and academic achievement assessments," lead researcher Madeline Mavrogordato told Education Week.

Mavrogordato-an assistant professor of K-12 administration at Michigan State-argues that an ELL student's reclassification often determines their educational trajectory. When it occurs too early, English-learners could find themselves struggling without the support services they need. If too late, students may be restricted from taking higher-level courses that would prepare them for college.

The research is timely because the the Every Student Succeeds Act now requires all states to standardize how they identify and reclassify English-learners. That could prove to be a daunting task for many states that don't have the capacity or manpower that Texas does. Even in a place such as Texas, which has had policies in place since the 1990s that seek to standardize ELL reclassification, inconsistencies persist.

As part of their research, Mavrogordato and Rachel White, a doctoral candidate at Michigan State, also observed eight Texas elementary schools while educators conducted annual meetings required to determine the status of English-learners. They observed differences in what happens during the meetings, including how technology, data, and teacher assessments guide decision-making.

The researchers concluded that the likelihood of reclassification appears to be linked to how well educators understand state policies and what role they play in implementation.

"In schools where the teacher's recommendations trumped all other data, we saw lower rates of reclassification," Mavrogordato said. "The people who are involved in this process ... need to be well-versed in the consequences of these decisions."

Mavrogordato spent time as a bilingual teacher of 3rd- and 4th-graders in the Rio Grande Valley as a Teach For America corps member in the mid-2000s and also taught in northern California, where she worked with ELLs.

With the passage of Proposition 58 in California last fall, public schools across the state now have more running room to operate bilingual and dual-language programs. But during Mavrogordato's time as a teacher there, Proposition 227-a measure that led many districts to drop their bilingual programs entirely -was still on the books.

Her varied experience in California and Texas sparked her research interest.

"One of the things that became really apparent was just how differently English-learners were being served in these two different contexts," Mavrogordato said. "That just started making me ask a lot of different questions about the policies and the way that we serve these kids."

Here's a link to the study: //journals.sagepub.com/stoken/default+domain/yIBQ3w8efPhNwg8EPy7e/full

The final, definitive version is available through the Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis at //eepa.aera.net
For Further Reading Photo Credit: Andrew Echeverria, left, gets help from Joel Miller, a veteran educator who teaches a course for long-term English-learners at Fairfax High School in Los Angeles. The course was created to help students who have struggled to become proficient in English. --Emile Wamsteker for Education Week

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English-Language Learners: How Schools Can Drive or Derail Their Success

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Recent changes in federal law require all states to standardize how they identify and reclassify ELLs; a researcher says it may prove difficult.

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I chose these notes because they break down the content and describe methods of L2 acquisition and varying theories.

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I chose this because it gave insight about what language acquistition is and what that may look like in students.

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When I read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, I remember being fascinated by the "babel fish." These were fish, who when dropped in a person's ear, would provide immediate translation of any language, thriving on sound waves and converting them into comprehensible language.

Wouldn't it be just great if learning a new language were that easy (despite the "yuck" factor)? While we do have some technology that provides translation into a variety of languages, it often fails to translate accurately due to the complexity of language. Effective communication requires so much more than just being able to translate vocabulary words - it requires knowledge of intonation, dialect, and intent, and a nuanced understanding of word use, expression, and a language's cultural context. For example, one online translation application I tried translated "Fall Events" as "fall down events" in Spanish because it didn't know that I was referring to events in autumn.

So, without a babel fish or perfect technology, we are left with the old-fashioned way of learning a new language, which requires time, effort, and patience. How much time, effort, and patience depends a lot on the individual who is learning, as well as the learning environment and situation, but language researchers have developed a general outline of language acquisition that helps explain the process that language learners go through to develop skills in a foreign language. In this article, I will provide an overview to the stages of language acquisition, and offer strategies designed to support ELL instruction at different stages of language acquisition.

Stages of Language Acquisition

Researchers define language acquisition into two categories: first-language acquisition and second-language acquisition. First-language acquisition is a universal process regardless of home language. Babies listen to the sounds around them, begin to imitate them, and eventually start producing words. Second-language acquisition assumes knowledge in a first language and encompasses the process an individual goes through as he or she learns the elements of a new language, such as vocabulary, phonological components, grammatical structures, and writing systems.

The Six Stages of Second-Language Acquisition

Pre-production

This is also called "the silent period," when the student takes in the new language but does not speak it. This period often lasts six weeks or longer, depending on the individual.

Early production

The individual begins to speak using short words and sentences, but the emphasis is still on listening and absorbing the new language. There will be many errors in the early production stage.

Speech Emergent

Speech becomes more frequent, words and sentences are longer, but the individual still relies heavily on context clues and familiar topics. Vocabulary continues to increase and errors begin to decrease, especially in common or repeated interactions.

Beginning Fluency

Speech is fairly fluent in social situations with minimal errors. New contexts and academic language are challenging and the individual will struggle to express themselves due to gaps in vocabulary and appropriate phrases.

Intermediate Fluency

Communicating in the second language is fluent, especially in social language situations. The individual is able to speak almost fluently in new situations or in academic areas, but there will be gaps in vocabulary knowledge and some unknown expressions. There are very few errors, and the individual is able to demonstrate higher order thinking skills in the second language such as offering an opinion or analyzing a problem.

Advanced Fluency

The individual communicates fluently in all contexts and can maneuver successfully in new contexts and when exposed to new academic information. At this stage, the individual may still have an accent and use idiomatic expressions incorrectly at times, but the individual is essentially fluent and comfortable communicating in the second language.

How long does it take for a language learner to go through these stages? Just as in any other learning situation, it depends on the individual. One of the major contributors to accelerated second language learning is the strength of first language skills. Language researchers such as Jim Cummins, Catherine Snow, Lily Wong Filmore and Stephen Krashen have studied this topic in a variety of ways for many years. The general consensus is that it takes between five to seven years for an individual to achieve advanced fluency. This generally applies to individuals who have strong first language and literacy skills. If an individual has not fully developed first language and literacy skills, it may take between seven to ten years to reach advanced fluency. It is very important to note that every ELL student comes with his or her own unique language and education background, and this will have an impact on their English learning process.

It is also important to keep in mind that the understood goal for American ELL students is Advanced Fluency, which includes fluency in academic contexts as well as social contexts. Teachers often get frustrated when ELL students appear to be fluent because they have strong social English skills, but then they do not participate well in academic projects and discussions. Teachers who are aware of ELL students' need to develop academic language fluency in English will be much better prepared to assist those students in becoming academically successful. (Learn more about academic language in Colorín Colorado's academic language resource section.)

Instructional Strategies

If you have ELL students in your classroom, it is more than likely there will be students at a variety of stages in the language acquisition process. What can teachers do to differentiate instruction according to language level? Here are some suggestions for appropriate instructional strategies according to stages of language acquisition.

Emphasize listening comprehension by using read-alouds and music.

Use visuals and have students point to pictures or act out vocabulary.

Speak slowly and use shorter words, but use correct English phrasing.

Model "survival" language by saying and showing the meaning. For example, say, "Open your book," and then open a book while the student observes.

Gesture, point and show as much as possible.

More advanced classmates who speak the same language can support new learning through interpretation.

Avoid excessive error correction. Reinforce learning by modeling correct language usage when students make mistakes.

Continue the strategies listed above, but add opportunities for students to produce simple language.

Ask students to point to pictures and say the new word.

Ask yes/no and either/or questions.

Have students work in pairs or small groups to discuss a problem. Have literate students write short sentences or words in graphic organizers.

Model a phrase and have the student repeat it and add modifications. Teacher says, "This book is very interesting." The student repeats it and says, "This book is very boring." Continue with as many modifications as possible.

Avoid excessive error correction. Reinforce learning by modeling correct usage.

Introduce more academic language and skills by using the same techniques listed above, but beginning to use more academic vocabulary.

Introduce new academic vocabulary and model how to use it in a sentence.

Provide visuals and make connections with student's background knowledge as much as possible.

Ask questions that require a short answer and are fairly literal.

Introduce charts and graphs by using easily understood information such as a class survey of food preferences.

Have students re-tell stories or experiences and have another student write them down. The ELL student can bring these narratives home to read and reinforce learning.

In writing activities, provide the student with a fill-in-the blank version of the assignment with the necessary vocabulary listed on the page.

Provide minimal error correction. Focus only on correction that directly interferes with meaning. Reinforce learning by modeling the correct usage.

Have students work in pairs and groups to discuss content.

During instruction, have students do a "Think, pair, share" to give the student an opportunity to process the new language and concept.

Ask questions that require a full response with explanation. If you do not understand the student's explanation, ask for clarification by paraphrasing and asking the student if you heard them correctly.

Ask questions that require inference and justification of the answer.

Ask students if they agree or disagree with a statement and why.

Model more advanced academic language structures such as, "I think," "In my opinion," and "When you compare." Have students repeat the phrases in context.

Re-phrase incorrect statements in correct English, or ask the student if they know another way to say it.

Introduce nuances of language such as when to use more formal English and how to interact in conversations.

Have students make short presentations, providing them with the phrases and language used in presentations ("Today I will be talking about") and giving them opportunities to practice the presentation with partners before getting in front of the class.

Continue to provide visual support and vocabulary development.

Correct errors that interfere with meaning, and pre-identify errors that will be corrected in student writing, such as verb-tense agreement. Only correct the errors agreed upon.

You may want to assist in improving pronunciation by asking a student to repeat key vocabulary and discussing how different languages have different sounds.

Identify key academic vocabulary and phrases and model them. Ask students to produce the language in class activities.

Use graphic organizers and thinking maps and check to make sure the student is filling them in with details. Challenge the student to add more.

Help the student make connections with new vocabulary by instructing him or her in the etymology of words or word families such as, "important, importance, importantly."

Create assessments that give students an opportunity to present in English after they have an opportunity to practice in pairs or small groups.

Introduce more academic skills, such as brainstorming, prioritizing, categorization, summarizing and compare and contrast.

Ask students to identify vocabulary by symbols that show whether the student "knows it really well, kind of knows it, or doesn't know it at all." Help students focus on strategies to get the meaning of new words.

Have a "guessing time" during silent reading where they circle words they don't know and write down their guess of the meaning. Check the results as a class.

Introduce idioms and give examples of how to use them appropriately. For example, "Let's wind up our work." What's another way you could use the phrase "wind up?"

Starting at this level, students need more correction/feedback, even on errors that do not directly affect meaning. They should be developing a more advanced command of syntax, pragmatics, pronunciation, and other elements that do not necessarily affect meaning but do contribute to oral fluency.

It may also be helpful to discuss language goals with the student so you can assist in providing modeling and correction in specified areas.

Students at this level are close to native language fluency and can interact well in a variety of situations. Continue to develop language skills as gaps arise by using the strategies listed above. Although the student may seem completely fluent, he or she still benefit from visual support, building on background knowledge, pre-teaching vocabulary and making connections between content areas.

Offer challenge activities to expand the student's vocabulary knowledge such as identifying antonyms, synonyms and the use of a thesaurus and dictionary.

Demonstrate effective note-taking and provide a template.

Offer error correction on academic work and on oral language. Because students at this stage have achieved near-native fluency, they benefit from support in fine-tuning their oral and written language skills.

Recommendations

Scaffold instruction so students receive comprehensible input and are able to successfully complete tasks at their level. Instructional scaffolding works just like the scaffolding used in building. It holds you at the level needed until you are ready to take it down. Scaffolding includes asking students questions in formats that give them support in answering, such as yes/no questions, one-word identifications, or short answers. It also means providing the context for learning by having visuals or other hands-on items available to support content learning. Also, when practicing a new academic skill such as skimming, scaffolding involves using well-known material so the students aren't struggling with the information while they are trying to learn a new skill. Scaffolding includes whatever it takes to make the instruction meaningful for the student in order to provide a successful learning experience.

Use cognates to help Spanish speakers learn English and derive meaning from content. The Colorín Colorado website has a helpful list of common cognates in Spanish for teachers to reference. Teachers can explicitly point out cognates for Spanish speaking students so they begin to realize that this is a useful way for them to increase their English vocabulary.

Explicit vocabulary instruction is very important in accelerating ELL students' English language development. Textbooks include lists of new vocabulary words based on grade-level content, but ELL students need further vocabulary instruction. There are many words in a text that may affect the ELL student's comprehension of the text that a teacher may assume he or she knows. It is important for teachers to develop ways to help students identify the words they don't know, as well as strategies for getting their meaning. Of course it is also beneficial if teachers reinforce the language structures or common associations of vocabulary. For example, "squeak" is a sound that often goes with "mouse" or "door" and it may be stated as, "squeak, squeaky, squeaks, or squeaked."

Error correction should be done very intentionally and appropriately according to student language ability, as noted earlier in the article. Students who are just beginning to speak English are already nervous about using their new language skills and constant correction will not improve their ability; it will just make them want to withdraw. I inform students in advance of the type of errors I will correct, such as "missing articles" and "third person agreement," and then those are the only errors I check. In my class, I do not correct the errors; I circle the mistakes and return the paper to the student. They are responsible for correcting the errors and returning the paper to receive more points. Most of the time the students can make the corrections themselves when they see the area I've circled, but if they have difficulty, I guide them as they make the correction. In this way, I feel there is a manageable amount of correction information to work with and the student will actually learn from doing the correction.

Learning another language. If you learn the language(s) your students speak, they will be thrilled to hear you try it with them. I learned how to say "good morning" in Somali and had to practice for an hour before I felt comfortable saying it. When I did I was rewarded with the big grins of students as they entered the room. They were excited to teach me other phrases as well, and we discussed how much English they had learned since they arrived in the country. They were very proud to think of how much progress they'd made.

Seek the experts in your building or district who can offer you guidance on effective instructional strategies for your ELL students. There are many teachers who have taught ELL students in your content area, have taught a certain population of students, or are trained ESL or bilingual teachers who have a lot of advice and support to offer. Don't hesitate to look for support when you are challenged to reach students who are learning English. This can be especially true when you have a "pre-production" or "beginning level" student and you are responsible for grade level content instruction.

Visit the hotlinks section for this article for more information on specific research regarding language acquisition and recommended instructional strategies. You can also search the Colorín Colorado educator information for useful information and resources to assist you in meeting ELL student needs.

ELL teachers encounter students with a variety of backgrounds and abilities, and until the babel fish comes into existence, they will need to have flexibility, creativity and skill in order to help ELL students make meaning from the new language and content they are learning. An understanding of the language acquisition process and levels will help teachers tailor instruction to meet the needs of a diverse group of learners. Students will benefit from everything teachers do to support the development of their language skills while teaching them grade level content. Together teachers and students develop their understanding of each other, the world around them, and the language that connects us all.
The Stages of Second Language Acquisition
This chapter from Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners Facilitator's Guide, by Jane D. Hill and Cynthia L. Björk, offers information on the second language acquisition process and effective ELL instruction. It includes a a simplified chart of language acquisition levels and the kinds of language teachers can use to help students at each level.

Simple description of the stages of language acquisition and recommendations for instructional strategies according to level.
Overview of Second Language Acquisition and Strategies
Downloadable booklet from the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory, "Strategies and Resources for Mainstream Teachers of English Language Learners." Includes useful information on language levels, acquisition and 10 things teachers can do today to help ELL students.
Understanding the "Silent Period" with English Language Learners
This article describes some strategies used by two kindergarten teachers to communicate verbally and nonverbally.

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“One generation plants the trees; another gets the shade.”— Chinese ProverbWhen I read The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams, I remember being fascinated by the “babel fish.” These were fish, who when dropped in a person’s ear, would provide immediate translation of any language, thriving on sound waves and converting them into comprehensible language.Wouldn’t it be just great if learning a new language were that easy (despite the “yuck” factor)? While we do have some technology that provides translation into a variety of languages, it often fails to translate accurately due to the complexity of language. Effective communication requires so much more than just being able to translate vocabulary words — it requires knowledge of intonation, dialect, and intent, and a nuanced understanding of word use, expression, and a language’s cultural context. For example, one online translation application I tried translated “Fall Events” as “fall down events” in Spanish because it didn’t know that I was referring to events in autumn.So, without a babel fish or perfect technology, we are left with the old-fashioned way of learning a new language, which requires time, effort, and patience. How much time, effort, and patience depends a lot on the individual who is learning, as well as the learning environment and situation, but language researchers have developed a general outline of language acquisition that helps explain the process that language learners go through to develop skills in a foreign language. In this article, I will provide an overview to the stages of language acquisition, and offer strategies designed to support ELL instruction at different stages of language acquisition.Stages of Language AcquisitionResearchers define language acquisition into two categories: first-language acquisition and second-language acquisition. First-language acquisition is a universal process regardless of home language. Babies listen to the sounds around them, begin to imitate them, and eventually start producing words. Second-language acquisition assumes knowledge in a first language and encompasses the process an individual goes through as he or she learns the elements of a new language, such as vocabulary, phonological components, grammatical structures, and writing systems.The Six Stages of Second-Language AcquisitionPre-productionThis is also called “the silent period,” when the student takes in the new language but does not speak it. This period often lasts six weeks or longer, depending on the individual.Early productionThe individual begins to speak using short words and sentences, but the emphasis is still on listening and absorbing the new language. There will be many errors in the early production stage.Speech EmergentSpeech becomes more frequent, words and sentences are longer, but the individual still relies heavily on context clues and familiar topics. Vocabulary continues to increase and errors begin to decrease, especially in common or repeated interactions.Beginning FluencySpeech is fairly fluent in social situations with minimal errors. New contexts and academic language are challenging and the individual will struggle to express themselves due to gaps in vocabulary and appropriate phrases.Intermediate FluencyCommunicating in the second language is fluent, especially in social language situations. The individual is able to speak almost fluently in new situations or in academic areas, but there will be gaps in vocabulary knowledge and some unknown expressions. There are very few errors, and the individual is able to demonstrate higher order thinking skills in the second language such as offering an opinion or analyzing a problem.Advanced FluencyThe individual communicates fluently in all contexts and can maneuver successfully in new contexts and when exposed to new academic information. At this stage, the individual may still have an accent and use idiomatic expressions incorrectly at times, but the individual is essentially fluent and comfortable communicating in the second language.How long does it take for a language learner to go through these stages? Just as in any other learning situation, it depends on the individual. One of the major contributors to accelerated second language learning is the strength of first language skills. Language researchers such as Jim Cummins, Catherine Snow, Lily Wong Filmore and Stephen Krashen have studied this topic in a variety of ways for many years. The general consensus is that it takes between five to seven years for an individual to achieve advanced fluency. This generally applies to individuals who have strong first language and literacy skills. If an individual has not fully developed first language and literacy skills, it may take between seven to ten years to reach advanced fluency. It is very important to note that every ELL student comes with his or her own unique language and education background, and this will have an impact on their English learning process.It is also important to keep in mind that the understood goal for American ELL students is Advanced Fluency, which includes fluency in academic contexts as well as social contexts. Teachers often get frustrated when ELL students appear to be fluent because they have strong social English skills, but then they do not participate well in academic projects and discussions. Teachers who are aware of ELL students’ need to develop academic language fluency in English will be much better prepared to assist those students in becoming academically successful. (Learn more about academic language in Colorín Colorado’s academic language resource section.) Instructional StrategiesIf you have ELL students in your classroom, it is more than likely there will be students at a variety of stages in the language acquisition process. What can teachers do to differentiate instruction according to language level? Here are some suggestions for appropriate instructional strategies according to stages of language acquisition.Language StageStrategiesPre-productionEmphasize listening comprehension by using read-alouds and music.Use visuals and have students point to pictures or act out vocabulary.Speak slowly and use shorter words, but use correct English phrasing.Model “survival” language by saying and showing the meaning. For example, say, “Open your book,” and then open a book while the student observes.Gesture, point and show as much as possible.More advanced classmates who speak the same language can support new learning through interpretation.Avoid excessive error correction. Reinforce learning by modeling correct language usage when students make mistakes.Early ProductionContinue the strategies listed above, but add opportunities for students to produce simple language.Ask students to point to pictures and say the new word.Ask yes/no and either/or questions.Have students work in pairs or small groups to discuss a problem. Have literate students write short sentences or words in graphic organizers.Model a phrase and have the student repeat it and add modifications. Teacher says, “This book is very interesting.” The student repeats it and says, “This book is very boring.” Continue with as many modifications as possible.Avoid excessive error correction. Reinforce learning by modeling correct usage.Speech EmergentIntroduce more academic language and skills by using the same techniques listed above, but beginning to use more academic vocabulary.Introduce new academic vocabulary and model how to use it in a sentence.Provide visuals and make connections with student’s background knowledge as much as possible.Ask questions that require a short answer and are fairly literal.Introduce charts and graphs by using easily understood information such as a class survey of food preferences.Have students re-tell stories or experiences and have another student write them down. The ELL student can bring these narratives home to read and reinforce learning.In writing activities, provide the student with a fill-in-the blank version of the assignment with the necessary vocabulary listed on the page.Provide minimal error correction. Focus only on correction that directly interferes with meaning. Reinforce learning by modeling the correct usage.Beginning FluencyHave students work in pairs and groups to discuss content.During instruction, have students do a “Think, pair, share” to give the student an opportunity to process the new language and concept.Ask questions that require a full response with explanation. If you do not understand the student’s explanation, ask for clarification by paraphrasing and asking the student if you heard them correctly.Ask questions that require inference and justification of the answer.Ask students if they agree or disagree with a statement and why.Model more advanced academic language structures such as, “I think,” “In my opinion,” and “When you compare.” Have students repeat the phrases in context.Re-phrase incorrect statements in correct English, or ask the student if they know another way to say it.Introduce nuances of language such as when to use more formal English and how to interact in conversations.Have students make short presentations, providing them with the phrases and language used in presentations (“Today I will be talking about”) and giving them opportunities to practice the presentation with partners before getting in front of the class.Continue to provide visual support and vocabulary development.Correct errors that interfere with meaning, and pre-identify errors that will be corrected in student writing, such as verb-tense agreement. Only correct the errors agreed upon.You may want to assist in improving pronunciation by asking a student to repeat key vocabulary and discussing how different languages have different sounds.Intermediate FluencyIdentify key academic vocabulary and phrases and model them. Ask students to produce the language in class activities.Use graphic organizers and thinking maps and check to make sure the student is filling them in with details. Challenge the student to add more.Help the student make connections with new vocabulary by instructing him or her in the etymology of words or word families such as, “important, importance, importantly.“Create assessments that give students an opportunity to present in English after they have an opportunity to practice in pairs or small groups.Introduce more academic skills, such as brainstorming, prioritizing, categorization, summarizing and compare and contrast.Ask students to identify vocabulary by symbols that show whether the student “knows it really well, kind of knows it, or doesn’t know it at all.” Help students focus on strategies to get the meaning of new words.Have a “guessing time” during silent reading where they circle words they don’t know and write down their guess of the meaning. Check the results as a class.Introduce idioms and give examples of how to use them appropriately. For example, “Let’s wind up our work.” What’s another way you could use the phrase “wind up?“Starting at this level, students need more correction/feedback, even on errors that do not directly affect meaning. They should be developing a more advanced command of syntax, pragmatics, pronunciation, and other elements that do not necessarily affect meaning but do contribute to oral fluency.It may also be helpful to discuss language goals with the student so you can assist in providing modeling and correction in specified areas.Advanced FluencyStudents at this level are close to native language fluency and can interact well in a variety of situations. Continue to develop language skills as gaps arise by using the strategies listed above. Although the student may seem completely fluent, he or she still benefit from visual support, building on background knowledge, pre-teaching vocabulary and making connections between content areas.Offer challenge activities to expand the student’s vocabulary knowledge such as identifying antonyms, synonyms and the use of a thesaurus and dictionary.Demonstrate effective note-taking and provide a template.Offer error correction on academic work and on oral language. Because students at this stage have achieved near-native fluency, they benefit from support in fine-tuning their oral and written language skills. RecommendationsScaffold instruction so students receive comprehensible input and are able to successfully complete tasks at their level. Instructional scaffolding works just like the scaffolding used in building. It holds you at the level needed until you are ready to take it down. Scaffolding includes asking students questions in formats that give them support in answering, such as yes/no questions, one-word identifications, or short answers. It also means providing the context for learning by having visuals or other hands-on items available to support content learning. Also, when practicing a new academic skill such as skimming, scaffolding involves using well-known material so the students aren’t struggling with the information while they are trying to learn a new skill. Scaffolding includes whatever it takes to make the instruction meaningful for the student in order to provide a successful learning experience.Use cognates to help Spanish speakers learn English and derive meaning from content. The Colorín Colorado website has a helpful list of common cognates in Spanish for teachers to reference. Teachers can explicitly point out cognates for Spanish speaking students so they begin to realize that this is a useful way for them to increase their English vocabulary.Explicit vocabulary instruction is very important in accelerating ELL students’ English language development. Textbooks include lists of new vocabulary words based on grade-level content, but ELL students need further vocabulary instruction. There are many words in a text that may affect the ELL student’s comprehension of the text that a teacher may assume he or she knows. It is important for teachers to develop ways to help students identify the words they don’t know, as well as strategies for getting their meaning. Of course it is also beneficial if teachers reinforce the language structures or common associations of vocabulary. For example, “squeak” is a sound that often goes with “mouse” or “door” and it may be stated as, “squeak, squeaky, squeaks, or squeaked.“Error correction should be done very intentionally and appropriately according to student language ability, as noted earlier in the article. Students who are just beginning to speak English are already nervous about using their new language skills and constant correction will not improve their ability; it will just make them want to withdraw. I inform students in advance of the type of errors I will correct, such as “missing articles” and “third person agreement,” and then those are the only errors I check. In my class, I do not correct the errors; I circle the mistakes and return the paper to the student. They are responsible for correcting the errors and returning the paper to receive more points. Most of the time the students can make the corrections themselves when they see the area I’ve circled, but if they have difficulty, I guide them as they make the correction. In this way, I feel there is a manageable amount of correction information to work with and the student will actually learn from doing the correction.Learning another language. If you learn the language(s) your students speak, they will be thrilled to hear you try it with them. I learned how to say “good morning” in Somali and had to practice for an hour before I felt comfortable saying it. When I did I was rewarded with the big grins of students as they entered the room. They were excited to teach me other phrases as well, and we discussed how much English they had learned since they arrived in the country. They were very proud to think of how much progress they’d made.Seek the experts in your building or district who can offer you guidance on effective instructional strategies for your ELL students. There are many teachers who have taught ELL students in your content area, have taught a certain population of students, or are trained ESL or bilingual teachers who have a lot of advice and support to offer. Don’t hesitate to look for support when you are challenged to reach students who are learning English. This can be especially true when you have a “pre-production” or “beginning level” student and you are responsible for grade level content instruction.Visit the hotlinks section for this article for more information on specific research regarding language acquisition and recommended instructional strategies. You can also search the Colorín Colorado educator information for useful information and resources to assist you in meeting ELL student needs.ELL teachers encounter students with a variety of backgrounds and abilities, and until the babel fish comes into existence, they will need to have flexibility, creativity and skill in order to help ELL students make meaning from the new language and content they are learning. An understanding of the language acquisition process and levels will help teachers tailor instruction to meet the needs of a diverse group of learners. Students will benefit from everything teachers do to support the development of their language skills while teaching them grade level content. Together teachers and students develop their understanding of each other, the world around them, and the language that connects us all.Hot linksThe Stages of Second Language AcquisitionThis chapter from Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners Facilitator’s Guide, by Jane D. Hill and Cynthia L. Björk, offers information on the second language acquisition process and effective ELL instruction. It includes a a simplified chart of language acquisition levels and the kinds of language teachers can use to help students at each level.Simple description of the stages of language acquisition and recommendations for instructional strategies according to level.Overview of Second Language Acquisition and StrategiesDownloadable booklet from the Northwest Regional Education Laboratory, “Strategies and Resources for Mainstream Teachers of English Language Learners.” Includes useful information on language levels, acquisition and 10 things teachers can do today to help ELL students.Understanding the “Silent Period” with English Language LearnersThis article describes some strategies used by two kindergarten teachers to communicate verbally and nonverbally.

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Linked are some of the video examples of the method/ approaches so I can look back and get an idea of how that specific method works and how effective it can be.

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Language Teaching Methods is a video-based teacher-training series with an accompanying teacher-training guide. The videos show examples of six language teac…

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I thought this was a good article about classroom management.

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Classroom management is a phrase and concept all teachers are familiar with and know intimately.

The concept can be defined in several ways, but essentially refers to the actions a teacher uses to create an environment and climate where effective teaching and learning can take place. If students are not engaged in instruction and are off-task, even the most exciting concepts or topics and the most dynamic instructional techniques will fall short, as students are concentrating on something else or behaving inappropriately.

Teachers get into the business of teaching because they want to help people learn to develop new skills and knowledge, and ultimately to make the world a better place. When asked what the purpose of education is, teachers often report they want to help students become life-long learners and productive members of society.

Employers are seeking students who ...

are self-regulated learners and are motivated to learn about the world

want to improve on their own work in the workplace and learn how to more efficiently implement a process

are creative and critical thinkers

know how to communicate well and collaborate with others

But when inappropriate or disruptive behavior interrupts the process of helping students to develop these skills, frustration may ensue for the teacher and other students.

There are numerous issues that impact classroom management skills, in general terms, but also when working with students who are English learners or who come from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Issues of bullying and lack of empathy impact many students in schools today. Prejudice and perceptions of race or social class can impact student dynamics among students and teachers.

Students from differing cultures may have different experiences and notions of how school works, what the expectations of school are, and how to behave appropriately in school. When to address a teacher, when to talk to other students, gender roles in communication in the classroom, eye contact, and the concept of discipline vary from culture to culture.

As we learn about students' cultural backgrounds and norms, our perspective and strategies to manage the classroom should change to respond to student behavior in a more culturally appropriate way.

When students feel threatened, humiliated, ridiculed or even disliked by the teacher or other students, learning is negatively impacted. When working with students who have experienced some form of trauma in their lives, the "fight or flight" instinct may take over when a student feels as though they are threatened in some way.

For students who have experienced being in war-torn countries or have been refugees, or students who have had harrowing experiences coming to this country, the instinct to initially resist against authority or to rebel when being confronted may stem from past experiences outside of school. It is important that as teachers we recognize that these negative experiences may impact students' negative behavior.

In second-language acquisition theory, the concept of the affective filter states that language learning can be facilitated or hindered based on the emotional variables experienced by the student.

When the student feels stress, anxiety, a fear of failure or embarrassment, the affective filter is "high" and does not allow language (and potentially content) to come through. When individuals feel comfortable and risk-taking is encouraged and celebrated in learning a new language (or content), learning is facilitated.

The affective filter can be raised or lowered depending on the actions of the teacher and other students in the class. Classroom management, in part, plays a part in the facilitation or hindrance of language and content learning.

In Part 2 of this article, we will explore some effective classroom management strategies for working with culturally and linguistically diverse students.

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MultiBrief: Transforming classroom management for ELLs: The issues

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Classroom management is a phrase and concept all teachers are familiar with and know intimately. There are numerous issues that impact classroom management skills, in general terms, but also when working with students who are English learners or who come from diverse cultural backgrounds.

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This gives great information about integrating technology into the classroom, especially with support EBs/ELs.

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Effective in Practices in Science Classrooms 

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Effective in Practices in Science Classrooms 

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This is a great resource for science classrooms.

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This is a great article about how to assess students in a way that actually assess their knowledge and understanding of the content.

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Here I provided information about how to use formative assessments in a way that is beneficial to EB/EL students.

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Planning Sheet for ESL Instructional Strategy_Method Video Presentation with Reflection-4-1

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This is a great resource for understanding the difference between language differences and disabilities.

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Myths Regarding ELLs and Special Education 

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Myths Regarding ELLs and Special Education 

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This is great to make me as an educator aware of the myths that exist regarding ELLs and special education.

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Some Myths Regarding ELLs and Special Education

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Several myths prevail in the area of special education for ELLs. These myths guide us in the way we approach education in general, in the way we interpret students' behaviors, and in how we teach and assess students. The following are commonly held misconceptions regarding ELLs and special education.

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It is important to become familiar with this document to support my students oral language development.

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This guide has information about oral and aural development for EB/EL students.

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This article gives good information about how to support EB/EL students reading and writing development.

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Learning to read is a complicated process. If you teach English language learners (ELLs), however, there are a number of ways you can support their literacy and language development through targeted instruction.

This article highlights ELL instructional strategies based on the five components of reading as outlined in Teaching Children to Read by the National Reading Panel (2000). This report is a study of research-based best practices in reading instruction and it focuses on the following five instructional areas: Phonemic Awareness, Phonics, Vocabulary, Fluency, Comprehension. In addition, the article includes information related to two additional important areas of instruction for ELLs, oral language and the role of the home language.

Each of these topics is explored below, and each section includes:

a definition

an explanation of why the component is important when learning to read

challenges that ELLs may face

strategies for ELL instruction

You will find references to more in-depth information about ELLs and effective reading instruction from recommended resources below.

Note: Since this article includes in-depth information on a number of topics, we encourage you to use it in professional learning communities, jigsaw activities, and other collaborative settings!

What does the research say?

Before jumping in, it's important to note that, in general, what we know about effective literacy instruction for English speakers holds true for ELLs, but modifications and adjustments may be needed (Goldenberg, 2008). Since the original National Reading Panel did not include ELLs' literacy development as part of its research review, a subsequent panel reviewed the research related to language learners and released a report authored by principal investigator Dr. Diane August and panel chair Dr. Timothy Shanahan titled Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth.

Within the executive summary of that report, the authors note that, "Instruction that provides substantial coverage in the key components of reading - identified by the National Reading Panel (NICHD, 2000) as phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension - has clear benefits for language-minority students." They continue, "However, while approaches that are similar to those used with native-language populations are effective, the research suggests that adjustments to these approaches are needed to have maximum benefit with language-minority students." (p. 3)

For example, many practices may need modifications or scaffolds which may not be reflected in different reading programs or materials (August, 2018; Goldenberg, 2008), and in some cases, certain strategies may not be appropriate even with adjustments. In addition, the authors note the important role of two areas that were not addressed in the original National Reading Panel: students' home language and oral language.

Many examples of specific modifications are outlined in the strategies below, along with discussion of home language and oral language. You can find additional research resources at the end of the article, including a recent working paper published by Pivot Learning, Narrowing Down to Find Common Ground: Shared Agreements for Effective Literacy Instruction in California.

An in-depth video book study highlighting Literacy Foundations for English Learners by Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan is also publicly available on YouTube.

When working with ELLs, students' home languages are a powerful tool that educators can use - even if they don't speak those languages or are working in a classroom with students who speak many languages. Drs. August and Shanahan write, "Oral proficiency and literacy in the first language can be used to facilitate literacy development in English" (2006, p. 5). And in hisColorín Colorado article about the value of students' home language, Dr. Fred Genesee writes:

Extensive research, again from around the world, has found that children who are learning to read in a second language are able to transfer many skills and knowledge from their first language to facilitate their acquisition of reading skills in the second language. The best evidence of this comes from studies showing that students with strong reading skills in the home language also have strong reading skills in their second language. Much of this work has been done on ELLs in the U.S. (August & Shanahan, 2006; Riches & Genesee, 2006).

Tapping into students' home languages (also referred to as a first or native language) as a resource can take different forms:

Helping students make connections between their language and English in order to identify similarities and differences, such as English/Spanish cognates

Providing opportunities to use the home language in the classroom for reading, writing, and discussion

Encouraging students to draw on all of their language skills across languages, which is called translanguaging

Promoting biliteracy through bilingual or dual-language instruction, which can support students' future opportunities and family ties (not to mention brain health!), with initiatives such as the Seal of Biliteracy, which has been adopted in many states

It is important to keep in mind that the extent to which a student's literacy skills from their first language transfer depends on many factors, such as how similar the alphabetic systems between the two languages are and whether they share any connection in their origins, such as two languages that both derive from Latin (Nieser & Cárdenas-Hagan, 2020, p. 65). The students' levels of literacy in their home language will also have an impact on their literacy development in their new language. Learning more about the languages students speak can help educators target instruction, notice patterns among speakers of the same language, and help students understand the relationship between their language and English

You can also provide students and families with access to bilingual books and texts and encourage families to continue using and developing the home language through activities such as rhymes, storytelling, and conversation at home. You will also find specific strategies related to home language throughout the key components below.

Recommended resources

In addition, as you will see below, oral language has a role to play across all reading skills, yet it often does not receive much attention as a critical part of ELLs' language and literacy development. Drs. August and Shanahan write, "Instruction in the key components of reading is necessary - but not sufficient - for teaching language-minority students to read and write proficiently in English. Oral proficiency in English is critical as well - but student performance suggests that it is often overlooked in instruction." (2006, p. 5)

Oral language supports students' literacy skills in different ways. For example, students need to be familiar not only with the sounds and letters they are learning but also the words in which they appear in order to support their word recognition and comprehension. Other more global oral language skills, such as facility with English syntax and grammar, and the ability to navigate specific language functions like describing, predicting, and comparing, also contribute to both reading and writing development for ELLs.

In addition, strengthening oral language supports students' ability to participate in peer groups and their proficiency in speaking and writing using academic language. Students need opportunities to practice applying their emerging oral language skills through partner talk and peer work (scaffolded with supports such as sentence frames), activities such as partner reading, and responding to comprehension questions using academic language.

Dr. Carrie Simkin, the director of our sister site AdLit.org, offers the following suggestions related to oral language:

Make it a learning target for lesson planning (e.g. be intentional about planning for it).

Consider how much of the learning time in your classroom is text based vs. discussion. Do students have opportunities to discuss ideas or do they mostly respond in written formats? We want to engage students in lively discussions!

Consider if students have opportunities to work in pairs as well as small groups and not just respond to teacher-generated questions.

Have you modeled how to orally respond to questions using the question as a sentence starter? Do you have sentence starters visible for share-outs?

Our strategies related to oral language are also woven throughout the components below.

Recommended resources

Note: You can read more about the role of oral language in the foreword of Comprehension and English Language Learners.

Phonemic Awareness and ELLs

Keeping the areas of home language and oral language in mind, let's dive into the five key skill areas, starting with phonemic awareness.

Phonemic awareness is an important indicator of how well children will learn to read. Sometimes it is difficult, however, for speakers of a second language to "hear" and say sounds in the language they are learning. If you have had a student who could not master a particular sound in English, the sound may not have been a part of the student's native language.

In her chapter of Literacy Foundations for English Learners, Dr. Virginia Lovelace-Gonzalez notes that, "Phonological awareness skills can transfer across languages when students have opportunities to build these skills in their native language and English" (2020, p. 53).

For example, there are multiple sounds in English and Spanish that will directly transfer between languages, even if the sounds are associated with different letters (p. 50). Dr. Lovelace-Gonzalez writes, "For ELs, phonemic activities in English can be complicated by having to recognize sounds in English that do not exist in their native language...Instructionally, it is important for teachers to determine some of the similarities and differences between English and the student's native language to ensure the opportunity to learn" (p. 53).

Phonemic Awareness: Considerations and Strategies

What: The ability to hear and manipulate the different sounds in our language.

Why it matters: Phonemic awareness is the foundation for spelling and word recognition skills.

Considerations for ELLs

Learn more about the students' home languages.

Start by visiting a resource such as MyLanguages.org or Omniglot.com, which shares an overview of many different global languages.

Ask bilingual colleagues about how their languages are similar or different from English and common areas that need attention when learning English. For example, a group of Ukrainian teachers shared some of the questions that Ukrainian speakers have when learning English in this Colorín Colorado article.

Identify whether there are any sounds that your students' languages share with English. Use these as a starting point in your instruction. In addition, find out which sounds might be new to your students and be sure to include explicit practice of those sounds.

Help students think about the connection between their language and English.

Ask students how their language is the same or different than English in terms of how the language is written, the sounds that letters or symbols make, and words that might be related.

Help students become familiar with sounds, letters, and symbols that are shared between languages, as well as those that are not shared between the languages. (Some examples across different languages are included in Literacy Foundations for English Learners.)

Ask students if they have words that begin with a particular sound, or if there are any words related to a particular word in English. This can work with students who have limited literacy skills in their first language too.

Help beginning readers learn to identify sounds in short words.

Have students practice identifying the sounds in the beginning, middle, and end of these words. You may wish to use words that begin with a consonant, have a short vowel, and end in a consonant (CVC words) such as mat, top, and bus.

One very effective method is having students match pictures of words that have the same beginning, middle, or ending sound.

Use words that students already know in English.

Videos

Learn how to pronounce the 44 phonemes in English.

Phonics and ELLs

Phonics instruction aims to help new readers understand that there are systematic and predictable relationships between written letters and spoken sounds. Students benefit from learning and practicing sounds and symbols, including blended combinations. ELLs often show many strengths in mastering early phonics skills but it's important to remember that decoding while reading and correctly spelling words does not ensure good comprehension.

That's why it's important to ensure that ELLs are familiar with the words they are learning to decode in order to support their comprehension. The authors of Words Their Way with English Learners write, "English learners need structured opportunities to learn many new words to add to their repertoires so that these words can become the material of their literacy learning" (2011, p. 79).

Phonics: Considerations and Strategies

Considerations for ELLs

Use a word study approach.

Word study is a powerful approach that connects letters, sound, meaning, word parts, and usage so that students are learning explicit foundational skills within a meaningful context. For example, ELLs need lots of opportunities to connect the sounds, letters, and words they are learning.

The authors of Words Their Way with English Learners write, "What is key to literacy development for English learners in the emergent stage is that they use language with teachers and peers and see oral language they understand captured in print" (Helman et al, 2011).

Look for opportunities to reinforce phonics in context.

Using literature and content material, you can introduce and reinforce:

letter recognition

beginning and ending sounds

blends

rhyming words

silent letters

homonyms

Vocabulary and ELLs

Vocabulary plays an important part in learning to read, as well as in understanding what is read.

As students learn to read more advanced texts, they must learn the meaning of new words that are not part of their oral vocabulary. For ELLs, vocabulary development is especially important as students' develop academic language - in all subjects and activities! There are numerous ways to support explicit vocabulary instruction, which is essential for developing students' vocabulary knowledge. Dr. Coleen D. Carlson writes,

For EL students, drawing attention to unknown words during the initial presentation of the text, providing appropriate levels of definitions (e.g., providing English labels for words for which concepts and labels in one's native language are understood, quick definitions or demonstrations for simple words) and tying to background knowledge is critical. No amount of simply reading and rereading words will produce knowledge of unknown vocabulary. (2020, p. 97)

Vocabulary: Considerations and Strategies

Considerations for ELLs

Draw upon students' home languages.

You can draw upon students' home languages to build vocabulary by:

It is important to give students as much exposure and experience with new vocabulary words as possible before asking students to use them in a lesson or activity.

Select words that will support the reader's understanding of the story or text, as well as for other phrases and connectors that affect comprehension (even though, except, etc.). You can pre-teach vocabulary by using English as a second language (ESL) methods such as:

Role playing or pantomiming

Using gestures

Showing real objects

Pointing to pictures

Doing quick drawings on the board

Using the equivalent in students' languages and then asking students to say the word in English

Providing a student-friendly definition

Using graphic organizers

Cognates are words in different languages that are derived from the same original word or root. About 40% of all English words have cognates in Spanish (such as the English/Spanish cognate "family/familia"). This is an obvious bridge to the English language for Spanish speakers if the student is made aware of how to use this resource.

Teach students to recognize and use cognates, or words that are related across languages, and encourage students to be on the lookout for cognates from other languages as well.

Give students an opportunity to practice using new words.

As the teacher, you can explicitly teach word meanings to improve comprehension. However, to know a word means knowing it in all of the following dimensions:

The ability to define a word

The ability to recognize when to use that word

Knowledge of its multiple meanings

The ability to decode and spell that word

The ability to use different definitions word accurately in different contexts

Ensure students understand a new word by asking them to produce it themselves either orally or in writing.

I taught a summer school unit on habitats and healthy environments, and every student had to learn the phrase, "Reduce, reuse, recycle." Over the course of four weeks I gave students many opportunities to use those words to describe what we were doing: "We are reusing the grocery bag," or "We reused the scratch paper."

Build students' academic vocabulary.

You can increase students' academic vocabulary by teaching common structures and terms used in a specific content area. For example, sentence frames are a great way to get students familiar with these structures and can be used in writing and speaking:

You can learn more strategies in this related article.

The _____ is ______ than the _____.

I can conclude ______ because _______.

Videos

ESOL Specialist Sheila Majdi: Using sentence frames with ELLs

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

Interactive reading of a story

In this classroom clip, first-grade teacher Albuquerque teacher Ali Nava leads her students through an interactive reading of Burro's Tortillas, a Southwestern adaptation of "The Little Red Hen."

Focusing on language in literacy instruction

In this classroom clip, fifth-grade teacher Clara Gonzales-Espinoza helps her students expand their understanding of the way language is used in a picture book version of Cinderella.

Instruction of key academic vocabulary with high school ELLs

In this lesson, students read a letter that Captain John Smith of the English Army wrote to Queen Anne in 1616. You can see lesson materials and reflection interviews from ELL teacher Anne Formato in our related classroom module.

Fluency and ELLs

Fluency is a tricky area when it comes to ELL reading instruction. For native English speakers, fluency and reading comprehension often share a strong correlation because fluent readers recognize words and comprehend at the same time. This is not always the case for ELLs.

Many ELLs can be deceptively fast and accurate in their reading because they are good readers in their primary language and have strong decoding skills. Yet they may demonstrate little understanding of the text, and hearing the text out loud may not necessarily provide a step towards comprehension as it is likely to do for native speakers. One important factor in the connection between fluency and comprehension is ELLs' oral language skills, which Dr. Carlson describes as "an important foundation that supports the role of fluency as a bridge to comprehension" (p. 93).

Fluency: Considerations and Strategies

Inaccurate indicator of ELLs' comprehension

It is not unusual for an ELL student to read a passage beautifully and then not be able answer more than a couple of comprehension questions correctly. Decoding skills (sounding out words) and comprehending the text are two different skills.

Limited benefit from hearing texts read aloud

Native speakers who are not strong decoders can often comprehend text that is read to them better than text that they read themselves. That's because when someone else is doing the reading, they can focus on meaning without having to struggle to get the words off the page.

With ELLs, however, comprehension problems tend to be associated with limited vocabulary and limited background knowledge. Thus, listening to text read by someone else won't enhance comprehension.

Comprehension and ELLs

Comprehension is the understanding and interpretation of what is read. To be able to accurately understand written material, children need to be able to 1) decode what they read; 2) make connections between what they read and what they already know; and 3) think deeply about what they have read. Comprehension can be the most difficult skill to master, however, and can elude students who have mastered word-level skills. According to the executive summary of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth,

An important finding that emerges from the research is that word-level skills in literacy - such as decoding, word recognition and spelling - are often taught well enough to allow language-minority students to attain levels of performance equal to those of native English speakers. However, this is not the case for text-level skills - reading comprehension and writing. (p. 4)

ELLs at all levels of English proficiency, and literacy development, will benefit from explicit instruction in comprehension skills along with other skills because improved comprehension will not only help them in language arts and ESL classes - it will help them in content-area classes and in daily activities. It will also improve the chances of their interest in reading for pleasure.

Learn more from the following articles:

Comprehension: Considerations and Strategies

Considerations for ELLs

ELLs who struggle with comprehension may read more slowly, have a hard time following a text or story, have a hard time picking out important events, and feel frustrated. They may also have problems mastering new concepts in their content-area classes or completing assignments and assessments because they cannot comprehend the texts and tests for these subjects.

Check comprehension frequently.

As students read, ask them open-ended questions about what they are reading, and informally test students' ability to sequence material from sentences or a story by printing sentences from a section of the story on paper strips, mixing the strips or word order, and having students put them in order.

Use questions after reading.

After the ELLs and/or whole class have completed the reading, you can test their comprehension with carefully crafted questions, taking care to use simple sentences and key vocabulary from the text they just read.

These questions can be at the:

Videos

This video showcases a 5 th-grade team planning a science lesson about the difference between vascular and non-vascular plants. ESOL specialist Katy Padilla plays a key role in advocating for ELLs throughout the lesson planning process and sharing her strategies for engaging and supporting students.

Making Dual-Language Immersion Work

This video provides an introduction to Claremont Immersion School's dual language model and shows how teachers collaborating to develop a language arts language in English and Spanish.

Assessment for ELLs

Learn how third-grade teacher Samantha Kirch uses informal assessment in her classroom to better evaluate ELLs and their progress.

Story setup: Pre-reading strategies for comprehension

Learn about pre-reading strategies that will lay the groundwork before high school newcomer ELLs tackle a new text.

Teaching ELLs in upper elementary, middle school, and high school

Older ELLs bring a lot of valuable experience and interests to the classroom. At the same time, they face the double challenge of needing to learn content and a new language at the same time, which is further complicated if their literacy skills are limited. While they may still need foundational skills work, it can be hard to find materials that are age-appropriate. You can learn more about specific tips for supporting this diverse population from the following resources:

For great classroom videos at the secondary level, see our classroom video library!

Concluding Thoughts

This is a lot of information, but we hope that these resources and recommendations can inform your work with students as well as the conversations about literacy in your setting. The more familiar your team is with best practices for ELLs, the more effectively you can determine which practices and resources will best support your students in their ongoing literacy development - and future successes!

Recommend Resources

This new working paper released by Pivot Learning reflects collective consensus among literacy experts on key topics concerning (1) literacy and multilingual and English learner students; (2) early screening and assessment; and (3) foundational skills.

To learn more about the paper and how it was developed, see Can common ground be found on teaching reading in California? (EdSource)

Research articles and chapters

Books

Literacy Foundations for English Learners by Dr. Elsa Cárdenas-Hagan (You can see the related book study on YouTube.)

Words Their Way with English Learners: Word Study for Phonics, Vocabulary, and Spelling (2nd Ed.) by Dr. Lori Helman, Dr. Donald R. Bear, Dr. Shane Templeton, Dr. Marcia Invernizzi, and Dr. Francine Johnston

Literacy Instruction for English Language Learners by Dr. Nancy Cloud, Dr. Fred Genesee, and Dr. Else Hamayan

Dual Language Instruction from A to Z: Practical Guidance for Teachers and Administrators by Dr. Else Hamayan, Dr. Fred Genesee, and Dr. Nancy Cloud

Webcasts

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Reading 101 for English Language Learners

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Learning to read is a complicated process. If you teach English language learners (ELLs), however, there are a number of ways you can support their literacy and language development through targeted instruction. This article highlights ELL instructional strategies based on the five components of reading as outlined in Teaching Children to Read by the National Reading Panel (2000).

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This is a great source for improving writing skills, as well as making writing enjoyable for students.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

How to differentiate writing activities:

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

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

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

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

Language Experience Approach

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sentence Auction

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Error correction

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

Quick Write

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

Cinquain poems

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

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

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

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

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

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

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This presentation gave great insight and help on scaffolding, translanguaging, vocabulary, and lesson planning.

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This helped me write effective language objectives for my lesson and offers a great guide.

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This gave great condensed information about what methods are helpful in teaching EB/EL students in math and science content areas.

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INST 363 Math & Science Methods for EBsELs Note-Taking Guide Fall 2024

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Using science to develop lanugage skills 

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Using science to develop lanugage skills 

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This is a great resource to show that even in math and science we can develop literacy in these content areas.

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Using Science to Develop ELLs' Language Skills

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"The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka! I found it!' but 'That's funny...'" - Isaac Asimov "Oh, you mean the life cycle." This was my pre-school daughter's response to my long explanation of the metamorphosis of the butterfly.

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Preparing an Engaging Social Studies Lesson for ELLs

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Preparing an Engaging Social Studies Lesson for ELLs

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This provides helpful tips for how to prepare a social studies lesson that is engaging and interesting to ELLs.

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There are many ways to engage English language learners (ELLs) in Social Studies and History instruction, as well as in related subjects, such as Geography, Civics, and Economics. Many of these strategies can also support students' access of grade-level content while drawing on their own unique background knowledge and perspectives. Here are some ways to get started!

Background Knowledge and Key Concepts

1. Assess students' background knowledge

One of the most important areas to prioritize in Social Studies and History instruction for ELLs is the role of background knowledge. ELLs bring their own valuable experiences to the classroom, and their background knowledge may differ than their peers. Students may also still be learning to show and share that knowledge in English.

You may find the following:

Students have relevant experiences and/or knowledge related to the content you are studying - even if the context is different from their peers. For example, students may have experienced elections in their home countries, and that experience may be different from U.S. elections. These differences provide an important opportunity for class discussion and learning as long as they are handled in a sensitive and respectful ways.

Students have limited background knowledge on the content you are studying, including on topics that might seem well-known to their peers.

Note: For students with interrupted schooling, knowledge on certain academic topcis may be limited; however, these students are likely to have important " funds of knowledge" and strengths, such as resourcefulness and resilience.

First and foremost, it's important to determine what your students know about a topic. How? There are several ways, including:

These steps will give you an idea of the connections your students may be already making, as well as areas that you need to fill in.

How To Build Social Studies Background Knowledge

Teacher Amber Prentice Jimenez explains how she builds her ELLs' background knowledge in a lesson about the 50 states.

2. Identify key concepts necessary for understanding the lesson

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

What are the key objectives for this lesson?

What are the key concepts and points they need to learn?

How might you connect this topic to students' experiences?

What references or concepts to history, pop culture, or other topics may need to be explicitly explained?

Are there any tough topics or controversies that might come up in your discussions? If so, prepare for these topics with our in-depth guide, Navigating Tough Topics in the Classroom: Tips for ELL Educators.

Content and language objectives

Another way to focus your instruction is through objectives. Content objectives focus on the material, while language objectives focus on vocabulary or language structures that students should be able to use throughout the lesson (Haynes and Zacarian, 28).

Think about how you are going to:

Introduce these concepts using simple language

Break the concepts down into the most basic elements

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

Translate them if possible into students' languages

Here is an example of content and language objectives together:

4th History-Social Sciences, California

Content Area Standard

Content Objective

Language Objective

Distinguish between the North and South Poles; the equator and the prime meridian; the tropics; and the hemispheres, using coordinates to plot locations.

Students will be able to identify key points on a map or globe.

Students will be able to verbally use key vocabulary to identify specific points on a map or globe.

3. Identify key skills needed to complete the lesson

Think about what students will be asked to do in order to meet their learning objectives. Will they need to read a timeline or a map? Will they need to compare two pieces of text? Will they need to examine a primary source? These skills may need to be taught explicitly in order for students to be successful.

See more ideas in the following:

Language and Literacy

4. Identify key vocabulary and academic vocabulary

Another important element of Social Studies and History instruction is academic language and vocabulary. ELLs must learn the academic language and vocabulary needed to comprehend and produce new content - all while learning the new content and concepts at the same time!

Start by identifying key terms, words, idioms and phrases - TWIPS, according to Dr. Zacarian (19). Choose the vocabulary that your students need to know in order to support their reading development and content-area learning, in addition to key content vocabulary. Remember to prepare student-friendly definitions for TWIPS ahead of time. It may be helpful to look at other Social Studies vocabulary lists as well. (This is also an area where content-area teaches and ELL specialists can work together!)

On the 4th-grade standard above, that might include examples such as the following:

Terms: pole, Equator, meridian, hemisphere, latitude, longitude

Words: map, globe, North, South, East, West

Idioms: on the Equator

Phrases: Degrees North, Degrees South, Degrees East, Degrees West

In addition, look for words that have multiple meanings or homonyms:

Word with multiple meanings: prime, pole, plot, key, degree

Homonyms: pole/poll

Other tips include the following:

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

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

Use visuals and realia when possible: Having a reference for new words is particularly helpful for ELLs, whether through visuals or (real objects).

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

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

5. Draw upon students' home languages

Students' home languages are a valuable resource that you can tap into, even if you don't speak those languages. Using students' home language can give them an opportunity to identify content they already know or master new concepts before transferring those ideas and learning how to express them in English. Ideas include the following:

Use bilingual glossaries, such as these content-focused glossaries from New York University.

Draw on cognates, words that are related in two languages. They have a similar pronunciation, spelling, and meaning. Many academic English and Spanish words are cognates, such as geography/geographía.

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

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

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

6. Prepare to preview the text

It can be helpful to preview the text with students before diving in. Here are some strategies:

Chapter Walk: In a "chapter walk", students predict what the chapter will be about based on pictures and highlighted features of the textbook. An activity like this may take some time at first, but if you use it with regularity, however, it will become easier and quicker, and students will be able to do this on their own at the beginning of a new chapter.

Navigating Textbooks: In addition, at the beginning of the school year, teach your students how to navigate a textbook effectively so that students can pick out and use textbook tools throughout the year.

You may also consider pre-teaching vocabulary or content in mini lessons or small group work before introducing the lesson to the whole class.

Student Engagement

7. Prepare multimedia, visuals, and related readings

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

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

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

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

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

8. Plan plenty of opportunities for students to interact with the content

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

Graphic organizers: Use graphic organizersto review key concepts and vocabulary words.

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

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

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

Samantha describes her approach for checking understanding and offering some differentiated assignments in a third-grade Social Studies lesson about different types of economic resources: natural, capital, and human.

9. Plan to include group work throughout the unit

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

In peer work, use modeling and clear instructions to ensure students understand:

How the activity works

Their role in group work

The objective of the activity

Any key vocabulary or phrases they should be using.

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

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

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

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

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

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

10. Use inquiry- and project-based learning

Look for ways to make learning hands-on through project-based learning (PBL) and inquiry-driven assignments. These avenues can give ELLs different kinds of opportunities to explore a topic that interests them in different modalities and formats.

Assignments and Assessments

11. Be creative and flexible with writing assignments

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

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

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

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

12. Plan to adapt homework and assessment as needed

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Preparing an Engaging Social Studies Lesson for ELLs: 12 Tips for Educators

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There are many ways to engage English language learners (ELLs) in Social Studies and History instruction, as well as in related subjects, such as Geography, Civics, and Economics. Many of these strategies can also support students' access of grade-level content while drawing on their own unique background knowledge and perspectives.

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This sample lesson plan provides a great guide for what an effective lesson plan for EL/EB students should look like.

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This article is great in revealing how linguistic bias affects language evaluations, and how they can often be unfair.

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Linguistic bias can be bias towards speakers of other languages or dialects, or towards bilingual speakers and results in inaccurate assessment of children from linguistic backgrounds other than Standard American English. As a result, minorities are overrepresented in special education programs (IDEA 2004).

Bias is evident both in the examiner and in testing materials. Bias in the examiner is often caused by a lack of the necessary knowledge and skills required by the American Speech Language Hearing Association (ASHA) to assess children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds (ASHA, 2004). Examiners working with speakers of other languages may not have enough fluency in the language or may not be familiar with expectations typical of the child's culture (see cultural bias). Regarding dialects, some examiners may not be familiar with the dialect of the student and mistake typical constructions for evidence of a language disorder. For example, in African American English (AAE) the third person "-s" such as in "he walks to school" is deleted in typical speech, resulting in "he walk to school." This is not the result of a language disorder. In fact, according to ASHA (1983), "no dialectal variety of English is a disorder or a pathological form of speech or language...it is the role of the speech-language pathologist to treat only those features or characteristics [of speech and language] that are true errors and not attributable to the dialect."

Assessment materials can also contain linguistic bias. For speakers of other languages, most standardized tests were not normed on a population representative of the child's linguistic background or they were merely translated from the English version. The New York State Department of Education (NYSED, 1990, pp 8-9) has prohibited scores obtained from translated tests, stating, "Scores obtained from tests translated, but not standardized, on the student's cultural group or translated by the examiner during the assessment processes may not be used as representative of the students' present performance. The information collected and reported should be of a descriptive nature." Even if the normative sample does contain individuals from the child's linguistic background, they are likely not present in numbers sufficient to mean that the standard scores will be accurate for that child. Additionally, almost all standardized tests were written in Standard American English (SAE), which would influence the comprehension of dialect speakers. While most test manuals direct the examiner not to mark dialectal variations as incorrect, examiners may not be aware of this.

English Language Learners (ELLs) present another linguistic challenge to examiners. While the ELL may not yet be proficient in English, he or she may be losing skills in their first language (L1). The untrained examiner could mistake lack of proficiency in both languages for a disorder when it may be a combination of L1 attrition and normal second language acquisition. In fact, research has demonstrated that ELLs present with similar expressive language as monolingual children with SLI (Paradis, 2005). For this reason, it is essential that the examiner be trained in typical bilingual language development and get a full history of exposure to different languages and dialects during the evaluation process as Misidentification affects the student's and others' perceptions of the child's capacities and abilities as well as their expectations of the student's achievement. Harry & Klingner, 2006).
Resources: Why Are so many Minority Students in Special Education? Understanding Race and Disability in Schools Normal Second Language Acquisition References:
American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (1983). Social dialects [ Position Statement]. Available from http://www.asha.org/policy/PS1983-00115.htm

American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. (2004). Knowledge and skills needed by speech-language pathologists and audiologists to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate services [Knowledge and Skills]. Available from http://www.asha.org/policy/KS2004-00215/

Harry, B. & Klingner, J., (2006). Why are so many minority students in special education?: Understanding race and disability in schools. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University.

Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004, H.R.1350,108th Congress (2004)

Paradis, J. (2005). Grammatical morphology in children learning English as a second language: Implications of similarities with specific language impairment. Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools, 36, 172-187.

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Understanding Assessment: How Does Linguistic Bias Affect Language Evaluations?

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Linguistic bias can be bias towards speakers of other languages or dialects, or towards bilingual speakers and results in inaccurate assessment of children from linguistic backgrounds other than Standard American English. As a result, minorities are overrepresented in special education programs (IDEA 2004). Bias is evident both in the examiner and in testing materials.

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This presentation gave good information TELPAS and the criteria for a good test. This also helps understand biases in testing.