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Effectively teaching ESL students in the general classroom is a great challenge to face. Here, teachers of ESL students face are challenged by issues specific to the New Orleans area, one of which being a lack of adequate resources.

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Due to the increase of undocumented ESL students and the lack of resources to support them, James Meza Jr., former superintendent of the Jefferson Parish school system, explains that these students tend to quickly fall behind other students. He describes three main issues with resources for ESL students.

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To effectively teach these students, schools need additional materials, classrooms, and teachers. Having bilingual teachers and paraprofessionals are necessary for effective instruction.

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School staff members need to be able to help ESL students catch up faster. These students need special attention and support because they sometimes are not on the same grade level as their peers and carry the additional burdens of anxiety.

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Schools need funding for this issue because lack of funding causes social barriers. Meza warns of beliefs that funding should be used on non-immigrant students, which creates tension between the two groups and hinders us from attaining the positive and inclusive school culture.

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You can view James Meza Jr.'s article here.

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We want an open and accepting culture at school for all our students, but resentment can build when limited resources are spent on undocumented children.

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How do we effectively teach ESL students and create a positive school culture in which ESL students can thrive?

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We are fighting against the odds daily. Even though our schools may not have all of the resources needed for ESL students, it’s up to us to use our instruction to build them up as much as we can.

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Coming next are some ideas derived from an article by Dorit Sasson, an ESL instructor. You can read the entire article here.

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Conducting ongoing formal and informal pre-tests is crucial for customizing lessons and ultimately making learning fun. These assessments should give an overview of who can read, speak, and write, and to what degree. When teachers can identify key areas of need, they can use that knowledge to plan engaging lessons consisting of language-based tasks.

Use Pre-Test Results to Plan Lessons and Drive Instruction

Pre-test results determine what areas to teach and review. English language learners typically need practice in decoding, vocabulary, and early reading skills. With younger ELLs, oral instruction is the perfect method for creating and sustaining interest -- teachers can use their body language and voice in addition to songs, poems, jazz chants, role-plays, and dialogues.

One way to effectively cater to the ranges of struggling ELLs is to actually find out what students know and can do. If you are under time and curriculum constraints, try to use mini oral assessments (ten minutes) where ELLs read a targeted list of words to test their decoding skills. For deeper recognition, you can also assess their ability to match the word to the picture. Complete ongoing assessments that help you acquire a class profile. Doing this consistently will help you custom design differentiated lessons for those struggling ELLs in mixed-ability classes.

"Get to Know You" Activities

Pre-assessing students with "get to know you" activities helps assess what they actually know, which determines instruction. One type of pre-assessment activity includes five- or ten-minute oral, reading, and writing questionnaires. Teachers might also consider distributing a questionnaire on learning styles and preferences to acquire a more well-rounded class profile. Classroom observations are one form of pre-assessment. By using these results, teachers can also decide which skills are critical for supporting the language-learning needs of ELL students.

Use Results of Pre-Tests to Engage ELLs

Start by deciding on a variety of language-learning tasks that motivate, challenge, and engage students. Expand on some of the textbook activities that may not be so interesting.

Decide what students will need to accomplish the tasks successfully. For example, if the teaching goal is to have students understand a short text on ladybugs, start by pre-teaching some of the targeted vocabulary. If the targeted learning goal is for ELLs to research information on endangered animals, they need to know how to effectively summarize research articles.

Decide also how to engage lower-, middle-, and higher-performing groups using one or more of the differentiated teaching techniques (such as group work, pair work, or individualization) for each of the skills that is applicable to the curriculum and for meeting the needs of students. "In our experience, our teachers have found that coupling ESL and ELL teaching with private, individualized tutoring benefits not only the students' foundational knowledge but also their confidence," says Nathan Arora of SchoolTutoring.com.

A Sample Reading Lesson

The problems the teacher faces when teaching differentiated classes (ranging from mixed ability to ELLs) include how to plan lessons that can meet the needs of all the students, preventing the higher-performing students from getting bored and the lower-performing students from feeling lost.

Reading Tasks for Lower-Performing Students

1. ELLs extract and list all names of people/places/numbers. Classify them into groups.

2. ELLs work only with a specific paragraph, looking for specific information.

3. ELLs underline all the words that they know. Ask them to look up the difficult words. These students become the experts.

4. True/false type questions

Reading Tasks for Middle-Performing ELLs

1. ELLs answer questions that relate to general ideas.

2. Multiple choice type questions.

3. True/false questions where ELLs correct the false questions and/or give evidence from the text.

Reading Tasks for Higher-Performing ELLs

1. Oral reports on a text.

2. Questions for reading between the lines.

3. Answer detailed questions about the text. Make up questions and swap with a partner.

In a differentiated reading lesson, the teacher can adapt the task to two or three different levels, thereby enabling the student to choose the level at which he or she can function. Teachers can provide students with main input before assigning different tasks.

Since many ELLs are still not achieving proficiency in general education classes and across content areas, teachers need to find ways of integrating these students to help them catch up with their native English-speaking peers. By building on the knowledge of what ELLs can do successfully, either individually or in small groups, teachers will have a much easier time customizing instruction so that ELLs can reach their learning potential.

How do you integrate ELLs in your general education class?

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Integrating ELL Students in General Education Classes

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Conducting ongoing formal and informal pre-tests is crucial for customizing lessons and ultimately making learning fun. These assessments should give an overview of who can read, speak, and write, and to what degree. When teachers can identify key areas of need, they can use that knowledge to plan engaging lessons consisting of language-based tasks.

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Use getting-to-know-you activities that require students to tell their own stories. These stories can be shared and displayed to show ESL students that their voices and experiences matter. Another option is to include materials that reference their culture. This could give an ESL student the opportunity to be the expert on a topic and show them that the class has something to learn from them.

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Here’s a clip of a presentation called “The Danger of a Single Story.” Chimamanda Adichie has powerful words to support the importance of a multicultural curriculum.

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Use pre-tests and the results in instruction. Give an assessment, which can be written or oral, and use the results to meet ESL students where they are in their language development. An additional option would be to give a learning style or preference questionnaire to determine what a student needs to learn and how they want to learn.

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Find more inclusive strategies for ESL students here.

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Identify one inclusive strategy that you might use in your classroom or suggest to a classroom teacher.

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My ELLs have varying levels of proficiency but the wider base is beginner and lower intermediate. I also have a few upper intermediate. Several of their on grade-level activities are group work. Each group is composed of at least one or two from each level.  This enables each of them to contribute something to the final product. I also use the K-W-L chart . Everybody can tell what they know about a certain topic and express what they want to know more. Another strategy that I like is the carousel. My students enjoy this kind of sharing and they feel useful and successful that they were able to participate. These are just to name some of them.

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Great padlet! I love how you give us different strategies and Ideas to use! One strategy that would like to use is the inside-outside circle. I like this idea because it gets the kids up and thinking. I also like it because it gives them a funner way to review.

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One inclusive strategy that I use with my ESL student is group work. I pretty much incorporate group work whenever I can. This allows my ESL students to practice their English with their peers. Many times, when the students are working in a group, I  provide them with sentence frames. I usually do this to help guide the academic conversation.

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One strategy that I have found interesting that I would love to try in my classroom when I start teaching again in teacher/student journal. I know it wasn't mentioned in your padlet, but when I read about storytelling, I thought of how you could use storytelling in a number of ways. Yes, storytelling is a great way for students to share with the class, but think about how effective it can be if a student can write their thoughts and feelings in a more private setting (in the journal) until they feel comfortable to share with others. I enjoyed your padlet and the layout

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Thanks for sharing! I also really like to use KWL charts with my students. You bring up a great point by adding that everyone can tell what they know and what they want to know.

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I agree with your inside outside circle strategy. Making review fun definitely makes students more engaged and helps with comprehension. Thanks for commenting!

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Group work really is powerful! Oftentimes, students have think they have a great idea, but feel pressured to share out loud. Group work allows them to build confidence in their thinking and give them the courage to communicate their ideas to the whole group. Thanks for posting!

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Thank you for sharing your great idea! I've heard of this strategy but have never tried it. It sounds like it would be really beneficial for students who need to improve their writing skills. I agree that having a direct and private conversation that is ongoing will help build skills and confidence. Thanks again.

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Response:
I enjoyed your padlet!!  I love the strategies.  One that I would recommend and continue using, is the use of graphic organizers.  Graphic organizers are an excellent way to include Ells in activities and classwork with the rest of their peers.  It is a way to include them, and assess them in a similar way that they do the general ed students.  Graphic organizers are great for every grade and every level of Ells, too.

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An inclusive strategy that I would use in my classroom is "a getting to know you " activity. I prefer to do this in the beginning of the school year because it allows my students and I to get a better understanding of one another. Most times, students may find that they have similar interests while others may be informed about a new idea that they can incorporate in their lifestyles

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Linda Sanchez's reply
Exit ticket question - Identify one inclusive strategy that you might use in your classroom or suggest to a classroom teacher.

I would learn more about their culture and back ground. I can differentiate instruction and incorporate culture based scenarios, vocabulary, art, etc. to their lessons or group work. It will keep them engaged and want to learn the lesson because I took the time to learn more about their specific culture and custom. The kids would appreciate when we acknowledge them or pronounce where they are from rather than somewhere in central or south American or in the middle east.