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Language or Disability? Identifying English Learners for Special Education Services

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Language or Disability? Identifying English Learners for Special Education Services

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As you transition to using the CCSS for your instruction of ELLs, you are probably hearing quite a bit about the importance of teaching "informational" or nonfiction text to your students. This shift to using more informational text is tricky enough for all students, but it becomes especially challenging for ELLs due to its distinct features such as assumption of background knowledge and use of complex academic language.

This two-part post will focus on some aspects of teaching informational text to ELLs. This week I will share background considerations and strategies regarding informational text, first providing a basic foundation about informational text for all students and then narrowing my focus to include a few specific strategies about teaching informational text to ELLs. Next week, I will highlight the " close reading" of informational text for ELLs.

What the CCSS Tell Us About the Use of Informational Text

The CCSS guiding documents lay out the balance of fiction to nonfiction text, and suggest the use of 50 percent informational text/50 percent fiction in the elementary school years. This percentage increases to 70 percent informational text/30 percent fiction for students by high school. The reason behind this shift to include more informational text at the K-12 level is because college students and individuals in careers are more likely to work with informational text such as research briefs and reports than fictional texts. Due in part to their emphasis on using complex, informational text, the CCSS are said to better prepare students to meet the demands of college and the modern workplace.

However, this mix of informational texts and fiction is meant to occur across English Language Arts (ELA), science, social studies, and the arts - not in ELA alone. That is, ELA teachers can still teach fiction but must collaborate with teachers of other subjects to ensure that all students are reading the recommended balance of informational and literary texts. CCSS guidance documents suggest that informational text can include such genres as essays, speeches, memoirs, and biographies.

If you're interested in reading more about how some teachers are including informational text in their instruction, a recent Education Week article explores a sampling of teachers' and districts' interpretations of how they are infusing informational text into their instruction. You can also find out about Reading Rockets blogger Emily Stewart's experience implementing the CCSS ELA standards in her diverse third grade Washington, DC classroom here. She has been writing about her experiences working with informational text and includes some authentic strategies for doing so.

Which Informational Texts to Use?

The ELA Common Core standards include Text Exemplars and Sample Performance Tasks which provide examples of the level of complexity that the CCSS require of all students at each grade band. The texts were selected by using three criteria: (1) text complexity, (2) quality, and (3) range. This guidance also provides a snapshot of the breadth of texts that students should engage with to meet the standards. The texts listed are not meant to be prescriptive but rather serve as a guide for helping teachers select texts of similar complexity, quality, and range for their own students. In addition, brief performance tasks supplement the text exemplars by providing examples of sample applications of the CCSS to texts of suggested complexity, quality, and range.

What Teaching Informational Text Means for Teachers of ELLs

Knowing what informational text is and how to choose, adapt, and supplement appropriate texts for ELLs will require a certain knowledge base. Judging by the attendance of any CCSS-related presentation at last week's National Association of Bilingual Education (NABE) conference (including standing room only at the American Federation of Teachers' introductory presentation on the CCSS), I am not the only educator trying to gather information on how the CCSS apply to our heterogeneous population of ELLs.

NABE 2013 Keynote: Dr. Diane August

Dr. Diane August, Managing Researcher at the American Institutes for Research, gave a keynote presentation at NABE that focused in part on infusing the use of informational text into instruction for ELLs. You can find her full presentation here. She shared that text is "at the heart of the new standards" and that, under the CCSS, texts will now be categorized at higher grade levels than before the implementation of the CCSS. For example, A Secret Garden is now said to be appropriate for the fourth grade while Tom Sawyer is suggested for the middle grades. In order for ELLs to meet the CCSS, including accessing informational text, Dr. August says these students will need additional instructional support.

Dr. August shared some reasons that make text challenging for all students, including ELLs. Citing Fisher, Frey, and Lapp (2012), she described how text can be especially challenging due to assumed content knowledge, limited use of text features and graphics, distortions in the text's organization such as unexpected time sequences, and multiple levels of meaning. In addition, certain language features can provide a roadblock to students accessing complex text, such as sophisticated figurative language, use of variations of standard English (think Tom Sawyer), archaic language, and unfamiliar vocabulary. Using only the first sentence from the Gettysburg Address as an example, Dr. August highlighted seven (!) ways in which that sentence alone is challenging for ELLs.

Example of How to Scaffold Informational Text for ELLs

Going beyond pointing out challenges of informational text, Dr. August then offered some strategies for how teachers of ELLs at different levels of English language proficiency could work with the Gettysburg Address, an informational text. Naturally, teachers could also apply the strategies she exemplified to instruction using different informational texts. She first gave examples of how to build ELLs' background knowledge about the Gettysburg Address prior to reading it, such as by having students watch a brief video clip of an actor delivering the Gettysburg Address, watching a video clip about Abraham Lincoln, doing an interactive reading about the Civil War, and doing an interactive reading about the Declaration of Independence.

Next, she demonstrated how teachers could provide a selected glossary of the text's vocabulary, answer scaffolded text-dependent questions, and use sentence frames grounded in the text that are adapted for different levels of students' language proficiency. She also provided examples of giving direct instruction in key as well as high frequency vocabulary found in the text (such as the word "conceive") to help unlock the nuanced meaning of the complex text.

She then showed how teachers could have students engage in a functional analysis of the text to help them unpack complex sentences by having students outline the who, what, where, and when of the text, citing the text for evidence.

Drawing Upon ELLs' First Languages

Finally, Dr. August focused on ways in which teachers could draw upon the richness of ELLs' first languages to help them unpack the meaning of the text. For example, she showed how students could read the Gettysburg Address (either in English or in a Spanish translated version) with a partner, noting one thing they learned and one thing they would like to understand better. She also shared a Spanish resource that describes what the Gettysburg Address is and places it into the events of that period in history for ELLs unfamiliar with US history:
El Discurso de Gettysburg es un discurso pronunciado por el Presidente Abraham Lincoln y es de los más conocidos en la historia de los Estados Unidos. Fue pronunciado durante la Guerra Civil Norteamericana, en la tarde del jueves 19 de noviembre de 1863. Lincoln pronunció su discurso en el conmemorativo Cementerio Nacional de los Soldados en Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, en honor a los hombres que murieron durante la Batalla de Gettysburg.
Dr. August also shared how teachers can help ELLs use their knowledge of cognates to increase their comprehension of the Gettysburg Address, pointing out such cognates as "continent," "nation," and "liberty." I encourage you to look through her full presentation to find out more strategies for making informational text accessible to ELLs.

Next Week

Please stay tuned for next week's post, in which I will focus on the close reading of informational text for ELLs.

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This two-part post will focus on some aspects of teaching informational text to ELLs. Part I will share background considerations and strategies regarding informational text, first providing a basic foundation about informational text for all students and then narrowing my focus to include a few specific strategies about teaching informational text to ELLs.

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CA ELA/ELD Framework: Bringing it all together

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CA ELA/ELD Framework: Bringing it all together

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In working with content and ESL teachers in multiple states, I've often found that teachers feel most comfortable using their "own" standards in teaching English Language Learners (ELLs). That is, content teachers may use primarily content standards, and ESL teachers may focus their instruction around their state's English Language Proficiency or Development (ELP/D) standards if they're not co-teaching.

While educators often hear that they should plan instruction for ELLs around both content and language standards, in reality it's often difficult to integrate both sets of standards in planning and instruction without strong and clear guidance.

That challenge has been particularly evident these past few years, since the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were written separately from and not aligned to ELP/D standards. However, one state stands out in terms of providing an unprecedented level of guidance on integrating both content and language standards for ELLs.

"As California goes, so goes the nation." Hopefully that's the case with the state's innovative English Language Arts/English Language Development (ELA/ELD) Framework. This groundbreaking effort, including multiple implementation supports, makes great strides in filling a gaping hole that has made implementing the CCSS for ELLs such a challenging feat.

The California State Board of Education adopted the ELA/ELD Framework in July 2014, and the final, edited digital version was published in July 2015. I first heard about it at the California Department of Education's Accountability Leadership Institute ALI conference in December 2015. I would like to share the framework with a wider audience so that districts and states outside of California can learn from this work.

To that end, in this blog post, I'll provide an overview of the framework and describe its distinctive features, provide five key themes of ELA/Literacy and ELD instruction included throughout the document, and highlight sample guidance and instructional suggestions for each grade level or grade level cluster. I'll end with some ideas on what this framework could mean for you in your work with ELLs.

What Is the ELA/ELD Framework?

The framework's main function is to provide a blueprint for the implementation of the following two sets of standards:

The framework aligns with both sets of standards, which are state-specific. (California modified the Common Core standards in 2013 and has its own state-wide system of ELD standards.)

The framework is also intended to:

Provide instructional guidance and lesson ideas for teachers

Translate research into practice

Guide districts in curriculum development and program design

Guide professional learning and leadership

Direct publishers to provide high quality materials to teachers of ELLs.

Comprised of twelve chapters and an extensive appendix, which total more than 1000 pages of user-friendly text, the framework begins with one chapter each on the Overview of the Standards and Key Considerations in ELA/Literacy and ELD Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. Next, five chapters of content and pedagogy follow that support ELLs in transitional kindergarten (or PreK) through grade twelve. Five additional chapters include:

Assessment

Access and Equity

Learning in the 21st Century

Professional Learning, Leadership, and Program Supports

Instructional Materials to Support the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy and CA ELD Standards.

Distinctive Features of the Framework

While there are many valuable features of the framework, some especially noteworthy pieces are that it's organized around a set of guiding principles and beliefs, which speak to shared responsibility and effective teaching as well as other topics. The framework:

Promotes an integrated and interdisciplinary approach to literacy and language instruction;

Positions cultural diversity, multilingualism, and biliteracy as valuable resources and assets;

Extends the notion of shared responsibility to emphasizing shared responsibility for literacy and language instruction among all educators;

Includes snapshots and vignettes of practice that teachers can adopt and adapt; and

Calls for collaboration among various stakeholders in ELLs' education (e.g., teachers, specialists, administrators, families, and communities).

As an advocate for ELLs, these guiding principles and beliefs are music to my ears!

Five Key Themes of ELA/Literacy and ELD Instruction

There are five cross-cutting themes which the CA CCSS ELA/Literacy and ELD Standards share. To me, these themes are especially beneficial in illuminating how the two sets of standards fit together. The five themes are summarized below:

1. Meaning Making is at the heart of ELA/Literacy and ELD instruction and is the central purpose for interacting with text, producing text, engaging in research, participating in discussions, and giving presentations.

2. Language Development is the cornerstone of literacy and learning. Students enrich their language as they read, write, speak, and listen and as they interact with one another and learn about language.

3. Effective Expression is included in each strand of the CA CCSS for ELA/Literacy and each part of the CA ELD Standards. Students learn how to effectively express themselves as writers, discussion partners, and presenters while gaining command over the conventions of written and spoken English.

4. Content Knowledge contributes to students' comprehension of text and undergirds the ability to produce different types of writing. It also contributes significantly to language development and is fundamental to learning about how the English language works.

5. Foundational Skills enable students to independently read and use written language for multiple purposes. Students who can decode are best positioned to make significant strides in the four key themes of meaning making, language development, effective expression, and content knowledge.

Guidance and Instructional Suggestions

Each of the grade-level chapters includes the following features:

Discussions of content and pedagogy

Descriptions of and suggestions for ELD instruction

Snapshots of practice

Vignettes of practice

Figures that provide information on crucial areas of ELA/literacy or ELD content or pedagogy

Samples of student writing with annotations

Research findings on effective teaching practices for students experiencing difficulty with literacy.

I encourage you to take a look at the grade-level chapter(s) that correspond to the grades of the ELLs you teach for some new ideas, even if you don't teach in California. Also, consider reading other grade-level chapters for even more ideas.

While the five chapters dedicated to specific grade levels provide ample guidance and instructional suggestions to support ELLs during content and language instruction, I've pulled out and summarized a few key examples at different grade levels below to highlight the rich suggestions for instruction.

First Grade

Create word-conscious environments to pique children's interest in words. Talk about word origins and draw attention to interesting words. Highlight the relationships among words (e.g., word, reword, wordy; final, finally, finalized), including words from different languages (i.e., cognates such as 'different' and diferente).

Second Grade

Children learn spelling patterns through direct instruction and through exploration and close examination of words. They can sort selected word cards based on a pattern or principle.

Fourth Grade

Be selective about which words to teach, generally targeting those that require more than a synonym for explanation, are vital to understanding of a concept of text, and have high applicability - in other words, general academic (Tier 2) words. Teach students to use word parts, context, and resources to determine the meanings of words. Create many opportunities for discussions about how language works to make meaning, moving beyond the word level.

Fifth Grade

Provide different types of scaffolds for writing depending on the ELL's proficiency level. For an ELL at the Emerging (beginning) level to be able to write a story, consider providing a graphic organizer that structures the narrative into predictable stages, share a model story, highlight the expected language use, provide sentence frames, and allow ELLs to use bilingual dictionaries as appropriate.

What This Framework Could Mean for You

Even if you don't teach in California or have access to a framework of this scale for your state, you can use some of the content of the framework in your own context. Here are four ways you might consider implementing this work with your own ELLs. I present each suggestion first in an environment in which collaboration is established and then in a context in which teachers might be flying solo:

1. Define the connections between your own content and ELP/D standards - You can highlight ways in which your content and ELP/D standards overlap and describe which themes connect both sets of standards. Discussing the connections between both sets of standards with content and ESOL colleagues will help you chart a clearer course for ways to then integrate both sets of standards in supporting ELLs, both at a school and district level. If you're on your own, you can still define these connections between your content and ELP/D standards for your own use and to share with teachers who are open to supporting ELLs.

2. Develop your own guiding principles for implementing both sets of standards - After taking a closer look at both sets of standards and defining their overlap, you can write your own guiding principles grounded in both sets of standards. These guiding principles should define the framework from which you collaboratively create a vision for supporting ELLs in your school or district. A good place to begin is to look at guiding principles from your state's ELP/D standards and adapt them with input from content and ESOL colleagues. If that level of collaboration has not been established yet, you can still draft your own guiding principles to frame your work with ELLs and look for opportunities to share it wtih colleagues.

3. Create an action plan to integrate both sets of standards - After you complete steps 1 and 2, you are in a position to collaborate with your colleagues to develop an action plan for ways to integrate content and ELP/D standards in your school or context. This integration may mean collaborative curriculum mapping, choosing standards-aligned instructional materials suitable for ELLs, or creating a professional development plan that focuses on integrating both sets of standards. If you're working in a less collaborative environment, you can create an action plan for your own use to integrate both sets of standards. If you're involved in any of the activities suggested here (and if you're not invited, I suggest you invite yourself on behalf of ELLs!), you can share your action plan.

4. Pull out strategies and supports for ELLs at your grade level that are mapped to your content and ELP/D standards - Read through the grade-level chapters to determine which strategies and supports might be effective for your ELLs in moving them toward meeting content and language standards. ESOL and content teachers can collaborate around ways to implement new strategies and supports and evaluate their effectiveness with the support of administrators. If you're in a less collaborative context, you can still pull out and adapt strategies and supports that you can use with your ELLs to meet both sets of standards.

Please let me know other ways in which the ELA/ELD Framework can support your practice with ELLs!

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California's ELA/ELD Framework: Bringing It All Together

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In working with content and ESL teachers in multiple states, I've often found that teachers feel most comfortable using their "own" standards in teaching English Language Learners (ELLs). That is, content teachers may use primarily content standards, and ESL teachers may focus their instruction around their state's English Language Proficiency or Development (ELP/D) standards if they're not co-teaching.

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Bilingualism and Biliteracy in Young Spanish Speaking Low SES children

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Bilingualism and Biliteracy in Young Spanish Speaking Low SES children

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Bilingual and biliteracy skills in young Spanish speaking low.pdf

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Curriculum and Instruction - English Language Learners

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The Office of English Language Acquisition and Academic Achievement ( OELAAA) led the field-based "Next Generation ESL Project: Model Curriculum Units" in a key partnership with the Massachusetts Association of Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages ( MATSOL), along with Northeast Comprehensive Center/ WestEd and the support of other organizations such as the Center for Applied Special Technology ( CAST) and WIDA.

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My dad gave me one dollar bill
'Cause I'm his smartest son,
And I swapped it for two shiny quarters
'Cause two is more than one!

- Excerpt from "Smart," by Shel Silverstein

As a student, I struggled with math. I didn't understand why it came so naturally to some students, but not to me. Looking back, however, I realize that I had an advantage that I wasn't even aware of - I understood the language in which the problems were written, even if I didn't understand how to solve them! Although it is easy to assume that many English language learners (ELLs) will excel in math because math is a "universal language" and students may have had prior educational experience that included mathematical instruction, that assumption can lead educators astray.

As I spoke with teachers and did research for this article, it became very clear that making sure that students understand math vocabulary and have ample opportunities to use it are very important. Solving word problems, following instructions, understanding and using mathematical vocabulary correctly - all of these skills require a language proficiency that sometimes exceeds our expectations. We tend to think of mathematics as a subject that does not require a strong command of language. In reality, however, mathematical reasoning and problem solving are closely linked to language and rely upon a firm understanding of basic math vocabulary (Dale & Cuevas, 1992; Jarret, 1999).

For many educators, the challenge of bringing language and math instruction together is a relatively new one. ELL teachers who hadn't taught content areas previously are now being asked to lead or support instruction in the math classroom, and many math teachers who don't see themselves as language instructors are now responsible for providing effective math instruction to ELLs.

High school math teacher Hillary Hansen learned just how big a role language plays in math instruction when she taught her first Basic Math course for ELLs last year. She wanted so much to provide the students with the good foundation they needed, but she felt unable to reach the students or engage them in her lessons, and by the end of the year she was exhausted and frustrated.

That summer she had an opportunity to join a district Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) cohort to receive professional development and support to meet the needs of ELLs in content classes. She learned about the importance of language acquisition, building background knowledge, increasing student language production, and explicitly teaching academic language. She began this school year with a new set of tools and a deeper understanding of the instructional scaffolding ELLs need in order to learn the content while also learning English. I am happy to report that while Hillary still feels challenged and is working very hard, this year has been much more successful for her and her students.

As a result of more effective instruction, her students:

understand the content better and are working together to find creative ways to learn

discuss math more and know how to use the instructional supports their teacher has in place

are comfortable with math and asking questions to get the help they need.

Hillary feels that she is providing them with the foundation they need not only to understand the mathematical concepts, but also to successfully interact within a math classroom in order to continue learning more advanced concepts.

Following are some strategies that Hillary and some of the other teachers I spoke with found helpful this year, and that they recommend as best practices when teaching math to ELLs.

The importance of teaching academic vocabulary

Vocabulary instruction is essential to effective math instruction. Not only does it include teaching math-specific terms such as "percent" or "decimal," but it also includes understanding the difference between the mathematical definition of a word and other definitions of that word.

The following example, used in a presentation by Dr. Judit Moschkovich of the University of California at Santa Cruz, underscores why vocabulary must be introduced within the context of the content (Moschkovich, 2008):

In this problem, the student is instructed to "find x." The student obviously knew the meaning of the word "find" because he/she "found" it on the page and circled it. The student even put a note on the page to help the teacher in locating the lost "x". The student understood the meaning of "find" in one context, but not in the appropriate mathematical context.

I recently helped a math teacher create a Sheltered Lesson, and I was surprised to find that there were some vocabulary words that I didn't understand. My lack of familiarity with the words hindered my ability to do the math problem and gave me a deeper empathy for ELLs who struggle in the same way with vocabulary and comprehending math assignments. Following is a list of tips for explicitly teaching mathematical academic vocabulary:

Demonstrate that vocabulary can have multiple meanings. Help students understand the different meanings of words such as "table" and "quarter," as well as how to use them correctly in a mathematical context.

Encourage students to offer bilingual support to each other. Students will understand material better if they explain it to another student, and the new student will benefit from hearing the explanation in their first language. (Check the hotlinks for a list of bilingual translations of math vocabulary in multiple languages).

Provide visual cues, graphic representations, gestures, realia, and pictures. Offer students the chance to work with objects and images in order to master vocabulary. If there aren't enough items for each student, use manipulatives on the overhead or posted throughout the classroom, and demonstrate the vocabulary in front of the students. For example, Hillary created a Math Word Wall that has three parts: key vocabulary, "in your own words" definitions, and a variety of ways to portray a function. For example, multiplication is portrayed by the following symbols: x, *, and ( ).

Identify key phrases or new vocabulary to pre-teach. This strategy will help students decide which math function they should apply. Example: "more than" means "add." (See hotlinks for more references about math vocabulary.)

The importance of reading and understanding written math problems

Written word problems present a unique challenge to ELL students and teachers alike. In Reading and Understanding Written Math Problems, Brenda Krick-Morales writes, "Word problems in mathematics often pose a challenge because they require that students read and comprehend the text of the problem, identify the question that needs to be answered, and finally create and solve a numerical equation - ELLs who have had formal education in their home countries generally do not have mathematical difficulties; hence, their struggles begin when they encounter word problems in a second language that they have not yet mastered" (Bernardo, 2005).

Teacher Xiao-lin Yin-Croft has encountered this pattern in her classroom of bilingual Chinese students in San Francisco. She has developed a very creative way to use her students' background knowledge of math as a stepping stone for other language learning. She does this by accelerating math instruction at the beginning of the school year and then building on what students have learned in math in reading and other content areas. In Building Bridges for the Future, a Colorín Colorado "From the Heart" article, Xiao-lin explains her strategy:

First, we read math word problems; I demonstrate the logical thinking process while translating words into pictures and, finally, into number sentences. Soon, they start to explain their own thinking after reading complicated word problems that involve several steps. They correct each other, and argue about which number sentences they should use to arrive at the correct final results. As they sharpen their math skills, I capitalize on their enthusiasm to teach them how to extract the most important information from texts, and move them toward the oral and reading fluency they need to understand and discuss more challenging texts.

Even if you aren't accelerating math instruction, however, there are a number of ways to help students master word problems. Krick-Morales offers suggestions in the previously mentioned article, such as explicit instruction of key vocabulary, daily practice of problem solving, repeated readings of the word problem together as a class, and hands-on activities such as movement, experiments, or drawing to help students comprehend the problem. As students become more familiar with math vocabulary, they will be able to solve problems more easily.

The importance of building background knowledge

As the opening quote from the Shel Silverstein poem reminds us, background knowledge plays a critical role in math class! My colleague Hillary found that sometimes her students would get "lost" in a problem simply because they didn't understand the context. Following are some tips to help in building background knowledge of students.

Modify the linguistic complexity of language and rephrase math problems. Students will understand the problem better if it is stated in shorter sentences and in language they understand.

Guide students to cross out the unnecessary vocabulary in word problems. Doing so allows students to focus on the math function required. For example, one problem Hillary's students came across referred to a "school assembly." Even though the meaning of that phrase wasn't important in the solving of the math problem, students didn't know it wasn't important, and the lack of understanding contributed to their confusion.

Build knowledge from real world examples. Try to reinforce concepts with examples that students can picture and talk students through the situation. For example, if you need to paint a room, you need to know how much area will be covered so that you know how much paint to buy. Look for familiar ideas or props that can be used to engage students such as recipes, news stories about the economy, or discussion of personal spending habits.

Use manipulatives purposefully. This is important at all grade levels. Hillary has found math cubes to be very useful in having students represent the numbers in the problems and then manipulate the cubes to get the answer. She used the cubes and the terms "hot" and "cold" numbers when teaching with the concept of negative numbers. Students would use the red cubes as "hot" or positive numbers and the blue cubes as "cold" or negative numbers. As students laid out the number of hot cubes and cold cubes represented, they could easily see if the answer would be a positive or negative number by which color had the most cubes. A problem such as -2 + 1 = -1 would look like this:

The student then removed pairs of cubes - one red, one blue - until they could no longer remove any blocks. The remaining blocks represent the answer.

The importance of increasing student language production in the content area

As I've worked with content area teachers in my district to develop Sheltered Instruction lessons and activities to enhance ELL learning, I've told them, "If a student doesn't say it in your class, they're never going to say it." This is a bit dramatic, but it's true to some extent. When students learn new vocabulary, the opportunity to use it must be presented in class, because students are unlikely to try it out on their own - especially academic words like "parallelogram" or "function"!

Here are some tips to increase student-to-student interaction with academic language in the math classroom:

Have students translate symbols into words, and write the sentence out. Hillary used this strategy to check students' comprehension of problems before they solved them. For example, 3x + 4 = 16 would be written out, "Three times X plus four equals sixteen." This helps students process the operations involved in the question and gives them an opportunity to think through how to solve it. It also gives students a chance to familiarize themselves with important vocabulary words.

Create a "sentence frame" and post it on the board. Write the format of the sentence you would like students to use in discussion and then hold them accountable for using it. For example, "The answer is _______ degrees because it is a _________ triangle.

Have students share problem-solving strategies. This involves asking a simple question such as, "Did anyone else get the answer in a different way?" Then allow enough wait time so students can think through how their problem-solving process was similar or different to the one offered.

Allow students to discuss how they are thinking about math. This is a way of redirecting the lesson from teacher-to-student to student-to-student. For example a student might ask a question, "How do you know what kind of triangle it is?" Instead of the teacher answering and going to the board and pointing out the names and different triangles, the teacher can simply ask, "Does someone have an answer? Or "Would someone like to offer help to Mario?" Allow students to share how they think about the math concept and any tips they have for remembering the information.

Incorporate writing activities like math journals. This is an excellent way for students to process what they've learned and what questions they still have. The journal could start with simple prompts such as, "One thing I learned today..." "One thing I still don't understand..." "One way I can get the help I need..." "The answer to this problem is..." Writing out the answer to a problem is a very important skill to develop because many state math tests require a constructed response to questions.

Challenge students to create their own math problems. This can be a fun activity if students create a problem similar to the ones you have used in class and they exchange problems with a partner. By creating the problem and checking the answer they are reinforcing their own learning.

Using technology

Technology can also be a powerful tool in math instruction for ELLs. Here are some ideas ways you can play with technology in a math lesson:

Look for educational resources that accompany your school's technology tools and programs. There may be online or software programs available for teachers. For teachers who have an electronic whiteboard in the classroom, there are many resources available on links that can be easily accessed and brought into the classroom.

Look for interactive games that offer students a chance to practice their mathematical skills. Nintendo DS has an educational game called Brain Age, which is not language specific. The game provides excellent mathematical training for numbers and tracks results, showing student improvement over time.

Find out what's available online. Vital NY (Video Teaching and Learning for NYS Educators) on Teachers' Domain offers an online library of free media resources from the best in public television. Teachers' Domain resources include video and audio segments, Flash interactives, images, documents, lesson plans for teachers, and student-oriented activities. (Free registration required.)

If students are using a graphing calculator, ensure that they learn how to use it. Based on background and prior educational experience, students might not be familiar with how to use a calculator nor some of the more sophisticated models, such as the graphing calculator. Give students a chance to practice solving problems with their calculators once you have reviewed different functions. Texas Instruments offers numerous activities and product tutorials in their educational materials.

Even if it doesn't come easily at first, there are ways to get ELLs excited about math. By keeping their language skills and needs in mind when planning mathematical instruction (and by helping your colleagues do the same), you will be taking important steps in helping students master mathematical concepts and skills - and who knows? Your students may be the next generation of economists, rocket scientists, and math teachers just waiting for the tools they need!

Note: I'd like to thank my Minnesota colleagues, Hillary Hansen at Burnsville Senior High School and Kim Olson at Hidden Valley Elementary, as well as Xiao-lin Yin-Croft from San Francisco, for providing many of the helpful math teaching tips in this article. It is inspiring to know that there are talented, creative teachers who are always finding better ways to teach and are willing to share the knowledge.
Common Core Math and ELLs: Blog Posts
These posts from our Common Core blog highlight resources that can be used in Common Core math instruction for ELLs.
EngageNY: Common Core and Math
The EngageNY website provides materials focused on curricular examples, standards for mathematical practice, and other materials for professional development.
Discovery Education: Puzzlemaker
Puzzlemaker is a free puzzle generation tool for teachers, students and parents where users can create and print customized word search, criss-cross, math puzzles, and more using their own word lists.
Catherine Snow: Word Generation
Catherine Snow's new website provides information and resources for educators who would like to learn more about Word Generation and how it is implemented. Includes links to comprehensive academic word list that students need to master to comprehend academic content.
Dave's Math Tables: English/Spanish Dictionary
List of English math vocabulary words with the Spanish equivalent.
PBS Teachers: Math Lessons
PBS Teachers offers a database of multimedia math lessons and activities that can be searched by grade or topic.
SMART Notebook Lesson Activities
Browse lesson activities and materials for classrooms using SMART notebook software. Choose the country or region, and search by curriculum standards, subject and grade level.
Colorín Colorado Webcast: English Language Learners in Middle and High School
This webcast features Dr. Deborah Short and discusses effective instructional strategies for teaching English language learner students in middle and high school, such as the SIOP model.
Translating Word Problems
This is a great site for teachers in the elementary levels, as it provides a list of keywords you can teach your ELLs to look for as they read word problems. Also included are useful ideas and tricks to better prepare students to understand written math problems.

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Math Instruction for English Language Learners

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My dad gave me one dollar bill'Cause I'm his smartest son,And I swapped it for two shiny quarters'Cause two is more than one! - Excerpt from "Smart," by Shel Silverstein As a student, I struggled with math. I didn't understand why it came so naturally to some students, but not to me.

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Unlocking Learning Science: Science as a Lever for English Learner Inquiry

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Unlocking Learning Science: Science as a Lever for English Learner Inquiry

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Project Based Learning in the Era of Reform Standards

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Project Based Learning in the Era of Reform Standards

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Language Objectives: The Key to Effective Content Area Instruction for English Learners

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Language Objectives: The Key to Effective Content Area Instruction for English Learners

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This article provides an overview of how to use language objectives in content-area instruction for English learners and offers classroom-based examples from different grade and subject levels.

This article written for Colorín Colorado provides an overview of how to use language objectives in content-area instruction for English learners and includes:

what a language objective is

steps that teachers can take to create language objectives

how to implement language objectives in a general education classroom

how to align objectives to content and language standards

ideas and resources on how to support teachers as they become familiar with this practice

how to use language objectives in distance learning environments.

Language Objectives: An Overview
Mrs. Shell has been teaching eighth grade math for twelve years. She has deep content area knowledge and wants to provide all of her students with authentic activities and tasks to relate the significance of the mathematical concepts that she teaches to their lives. Mrs. Shell has always felt successful at teaching her classes but this year has been different. Her sections include students with more diverse backgrounds than previous years, particularly more English learners. As Mrs. Shell was beginning to feel frustrated with her inability to reach all her students because of their needs, she learned about one way to make her content more comprehensible to all her students - creating and posting objectives that tell the students not just what content concepts they will learn in each lesson, but also the academic language they will need to learn and use to meet the state's math standards. With this knowledge, Mrs. Shell is now confident that she not only knows what to teach, but also how to teach it so that all her students can be successful.

Generally speaking, academic English is the language of schooling and the language that helps students acquire and use the content area knowledge taught in schools (Anstrom, DiCerbo, Butler, Katz, Millet, & Rivera, 2010).

Teaching content to ELs: The challenge

In my work supporting general education and ESL/bilingual teachers who provide sheltered instruction for English learners (ELs), I have met many teachers like Mrs. Shell. While these teachers want to provide effective instruction for their ELs, often they don't see themselves as language teachers and so they aren't sure where to begin with their students.

These teachers aren't alone, however, and they are facing a challenge shared by teachers across the country. We know that for school-age students, academic language is crucial for school success (Francis, Rivera, Lesaux, Kieffer, & Rivera, 2006). In addition, research allows us to state with a fair degree of confidence that English learners best acquire English when language forms are explicitly taught and when they have many opportunities to use the language in meaningful contexts (Goldenberg, 2008).

Yet while the explicit instructional support that ESL and bilingual teachers provide is essential to English learners' academic language development, English learners receive a majority of their instruction from general education and content area teachers who may not have experience teaching academic language development.

The question becomes then: What do general education classroom teachers need to do in order to support the academic English development of language learners in both face-to-face and virtual environments, especially when English learners are one of many types of students they serve?

Teaching content to ELs: The solution

One principle that teachers of English learners can begin to apply immediately is creating and posting language objectives for their lessons (whether in the classroom or online in a virtual space. Many teachers are familiar with using content objectives to identify what students will learn and be able to do in the lesson. However, they are less likely to include language objectives that support the linguistic development of their students.

Implementing language objectives can be a powerful first step in ensuring that English learners have equal access to the curriculum even though they may not be fully proficient in the language. This is because the second language acquisition process requires opportunities for the language learner to be exposed to, practice with, and then be assessed on their language skills (Echevarria, Short, & Vogt, 2008).

To this end, language objectives:

articulate for learners the academic language functions and skills that they need to master to fully participate in the lesson and meet the grade-level content standards (Echevarria, Short, & Vogt, 2008).

are beneficial not only for language learners but for all students in a class, as everyone can benefit from the clarity that comes with a teacher outlining the requisite academic language to be learned and mastered in each lesson.

Now let's take a closer look at some examples and how to write language objectives.

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Writing Language Objectives

What is a language objective?

Language objectives are lesson objectives that specifically outline the type of language that students will need to learn and use in order to accomplish the goals of the lesson. Quality language objectives complement the content knowledge and skills identified in content area standards and address the aspects of academic language that will be developed or reinforced during the teaching of grade-level content concepts (Echevarria & Short, 2010).

These objectives involve the four language skills (speaking, listening, reading, and writing), but they can also include:

Below are examples of language objectives for different content areas and grade levels. They come from the Common Core State Standards for Math and English Language Arts (2012) and state standards in New York and California.
Sources:
How do I create effective language objectives?

Dr. Cindy Lundgren discusses the process of writing language objectives in this excerpt from her Meet the Expert interview.

Language objectives are directly correlated to content objectives. Once a teacher determines the lesson topic from the appropriate content standards, the teacher will want to begin thinking about the academic language necessary for English learners to complete the tasks that support the content objectives. This identification of the academic language embedded in the lesson's content will become the basis for the lesson's language objectives.

You can use the following guidelines to start thinking about appropriate language objectives for the lesson:

1. Decide what key vocabulary, concept words, and other academic words students will need to know in order to talk, read, and write about the topic of the lesson. Those words might be taught as a language objective. They should include technical terms, such as ecosystem, and terms like distribution that have different meanings across content areas. Other terms to highlight are those that language learners may know in one context, such as family (as in parents, siblings, etc.), but that have a different use in science (e.g., family of elements in the periodic table).

2. Consider the language functions related to the topic of the lesson (e.g, will the students describe, explain, compare, or chart information). See your state English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards for examples of these functions for English language arts, math, science, and social studies for all English proficiency levels and grade-level clusters.

3. Think about the language skills necessary for students to accomplish the lesson's activities. Will the students be reading a textbook passage to identify the stages of mitosis? Are they able to read a text passage to find specific information? Will they be reporting what they observe during a scientific demonstration to a peer? Do they know how to report observations orally? Acquiring the skills needed to carry out these tasks might be the focus of a language objective.

4. Identify grammar or language structures common to the content area. For example, many science textbooks use the passive voice to describe processes. Additionally, students may have to use comparative language to analyze two related concepts. Writing with the passive voice or using comparative phrases might be a language objective.

5. Consider the tasks that the students will complete and the language that will be embedded in those assignments. If students are working on a scientific investigation together, will they need to explain the steps of the procedure to one another? The language objective might focus on how to explain procedures aloud.

6. Explore language learning strategies that lend themselves to the topic of the lesson. For example, if students are starting a new chapter in the textbook, the strategy of previewing the text might be an appropriate language objective.

(Adapted from Short, Himmel, Gutierrez, & Hudec, 2012. Used with permission.)

Aligning Language Objectives and Standards

English Language Proficiency (ELP) standards

Developing appropriate language objectives for lessons involves becoming familiar with a state's content area and ELP standards. Whereas the content standards will provide the topic of the lesson and what exactly the students should be doing with that topic (e.g., solving problems, creating models, ranking ideas), the English language proficiency or development standards help to identify language skills and functions that students should be working on to achieve academic language fluency. These ELP standards can help to identify:

English Language Arts (ELA) standards

Other resources in addition to the ELP standards are a state's English Language Arts standards or the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts and Literacy in History, Social Studies, Science, and Technical Subjects (CCSS). The English Language Arts and Literacy CCSS might be especially useful to teachers of English learners due to its attention to literacy across the content areas.

Additional resources to consult, especially if a state is a member of the WIDA consortium, are the Model Proficiency Indicators (MPIs) outlined in their ELP standards. The MPIs outline what an English learner at a specific level of English language proficiency can do in a language domain (e.g., listening) by addressing the language functions embedded in an example topic for that content area with appropriate scaffolds or support (Gottlieb, Cranley, & Cammileri, 2007). Classroom texts and other materials (e.g., science investigations, primary source documents) are other good sources to consult when preparing a lesson.

Getting Started

How can I get started?

Careful lesson planning

In creating measureable and student-friendly language objectives that support the content objectives, it is important that learner tasks in the lesson are aligned with the objectives. It is not enough to have well-written objectives that promote language acquisition if the lesson is lacking in tasks that support the objectives. If the language objective for a middle school social studies lesson is for the students to orally retell the key characteristics in a historical event using sequential language, it is important that the teacher previews sequential language with the students, such as providing sentence stems or frames, and builds into the lesson some structured pair work so the students have an opportunity to retell the event to a peer. Therefore, careful lesson planning is another essential step in preparing effective language objectives.

Collaboration

It is also useful for content area and ESL/bilingual teachers to plan lessons together, as we saw with the 7th grade science lesson scenario involving Mr. Zhang and Mr. Lewis. In this co-planning scenario, each teacher used his expertise to better integrate content and language instruction for the language learners. This type of collaboration can help a teacher like Mr. Zhang learn more about the second language acquisition process of his students and can help a teacher like Mr. Lewis become more familiar with the grade-level content expectations that his English learners encounter in content area classes.

How do I know which language objectives are best for my students?

The language objective that the teacher selects will depend on what the English learners in the class need most at that point in the year and what language is most important to understanding the content concepts. If the students have already spent a good deal of time working with new vocabulary, then the teacher might consider having students use that vocabulary to develop their writing skill by writing a summary of the process they followed.

Conversely, the teacher might want to help students become more proficient with a particular type of graphic organizer in order to develop more strategic language learning. As all teachers know, teaching is a dynamic and complex process that requires a multitude of decisions to be made. However, the advance planning required in creating language objectives allows teachers to better anticipate the academic English needs of all students thus increasing the comprehensibility of the lessons.

It is important for teachers to realize that even though their lesson may include all four language skills (it is good if they do, since the language skills reinforce one another), they do not need to post a language objective for every language-related item addressed in the lesson. Teachers address many instructional needs in a 50- or 60-minute class period. Rather than highlighting all language uses in a particular lesson, it is important for the teacher to think about what is non-negotiable in that lesson.

In other words, the teacher should keep the perspective of the English learner in mind and ask, "Of all of the skills and functions addressed in my lesson, which is most important for helping students meet the grade-level standard and develop their language proficiency?" These objectives then must be measureable (i.e., can you see or assess the student's mastery of that objective?) and written in language that accounts for the linguistic and cognitive development of the students.

How can I make language objectives "student-friendly"?

Both of the above objectives are measurable, but both also take into account appropriate developmental stages of the students. Teachers of young students (e.g., PK or K) may even want to consider further adapting the objectives. For example, we have seen kindergarten teachers use symbols such as a pencil to symbolize "write" and a mouth to symbolize "talk" when they post their objectives for the children to see. We have also seen teachers of young learners rely on pictures to show the key terms they want the students to use or to convey the topic of the lesson (e.g., a picture of a ruler and of hands to discuss standard and non-standard measurement).

One way that teachers can ensure that their language objectives are measureable and student-friendly is by using appropriate verbs. Because language objectives should provide students with practice in the four language skills of reading, writing, listening, and speaking, verbs related to those skills might include, but are not limited to, the following:

List

Retell

Summarize in writing

Record

Read

It is also important to not equate low language proficiency with limited cognitive ability. Therefore, teachers will want to make sure that the language objectives they create also reflect tasks that fall on the higher end of Bloom's Taxonomy and use verbs (e.g., orally justify) accordingly.

As noted above in the guidelines to creating language objectives, language functions are also a potential source for language objectives. Verbs related to language functions might include:

When should I share language objectives with students?

To help students take ownership of their learning and provide explicit direction to students, especially the English learners who are processing content in a new language, it is important that objectives be stated at the beginning of the lesson and reviewed with the students at the end of the lesson to allow them to assess if they have met the objectives (Echevarria, Vogt & Short, 2008).

How this happens may differ according to the grade level and content area of the class. Some teachers like to have the students choral read the objectives, while teachers of older students sometimes have them record the language objectives in their journal in addition to asking an individual student to read them aloud. Some teachers, such as those who teach science, like to reveal the objectives later in the lesson, perhaps after the warm up or exploratory activity, so that they can maintain an inquiry-based approach (Echevarria & Colburn, 2006).

Should I differentiate language objectives based on my students' language proficiency?

Although all teachers have students of varying language proficiency and skill levels in their classes, it is not necessary to differentiate language objectives by creating and posting multiple language objectives that reflect these proficiency levels. Rather, teachers should have one language objective that is appropriate for all students to meet. To provide the appropriate differentiation, the teacher would provide different scaffolds (e.g., adapted text, visuals, sentence frames) for students to use in order to reach the objectives.

For example, an appropriate language objective for an upper elementary language arts class might be for the students to be able to orally list text features found in a non-fiction book. For lower proficiency language learners, the teacher may give them a word bank from which to choose the text features; therefore, the students are meeting the same objective but with the appropriate amount of linguistic support from the teacher.

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Using language objectives in a distance learning environment

While teachers like Ms. Shell understand that the characteristics of good teaching for English learners does not change in a virtual environment, they do understand that instruction will necessarily need to look different in order to account for the challenges that distance learning presents for many learners.

Accordingly, teachers will need to think through how to:

Presenting language objectives

Many different ways exist for teachers to present language objectives in remote learning. For example, teachers might:

begin every virtual class by orally reading and presenting the content and language objectives in their Google slides and then asking students to briefly summarize in the chat box the activities they will be doing in that lesson to meet those objectives.

post the objectives at the top of a shared digital document that serves as a capture sheet for the lesson. A teacher might then ask learners to self-assess their progress towards meeting those objectives at the end of the document.

use live or recorded videos, especially when working with English learners with lower English proficiency. These videos can include props, for example ears to signify a listening objective.

use realia, such as rocks, if one of the lesson's language aims is for students to orally describe different types of sedimentary rocks.

Monitoring student understanding and engagement

Teachers in distance learning environments must also carefully consider how they will assess learner understanding and engagement throughout the lesson. Given the challenges virtual learning platforms present towards capturing data on learner comprehension (e.g., paralinguistic cues such as facial expressions, gestures, posture) teachers working in virtual environments know that it is more important than ever to ensure that students clearly understand the content and linguistic aims for each lesson.

Using comprehension checks and assessing progress

It is also essential that students understand how teachers will measure their progress towards meeting each objective. Towards this aim, teachers must build in multiple comprehension checks throughout the lesson that align to the lesson's objectives. Teachers can:

At the conclusion of a lesson, teachers can assess student progress towards meeting objectives via:

tickets out that are submitted digitally

the recording of a Flipgrid or use of another video platform where learners respond to a prompt that requires learners to use the academic language highlighted in the lesson's objectives.

Teachers can respond to the submitted tickets out or video with feedback that explicitly targets the students use of the language. When appropriate, teacher can provide learners with additional resources and/or support towards mastering that particular language skill or function. Teachers might also use that linguistic data to inform mini-lessons conducted to small groups of English learners during office hours or intervention time.

Next Steps

How can I learn more?

For more information on the SIOP Model, see Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners: The SIOP Model (Echevarria, Short, & Vogt, 2008).

Although language objectives can be implemented in any lesson design approach, they are especially congruent with sheltered instruction and the SIOP Model. Since language objectives ensure that teachers meet the unique linguistic needs of English learners, they are sometimes easier to implement in the context of instructional practices espoused by the SIOP Model.

Practices that focus on explicit academic language teaching include:

Below are other resources that can help you learn more about creating language objectives and about integrating academic language into content area classes.

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Final Thoughts

We realize that it takes teachers some time to become very comfortable with creating language objectives, but our experience has shown that the implementation of language objectives can bring immediate benefits to instruction. Some immediate benefits include teachers understanding more concretely that they are both a content area and language teacher - as one teacher said in a CAL SIOP Model workshop, "I now see myself as a math teacher AND a language teacher".

We have also observed that when teachers consciously plan to meet the academic English needs of their learners, they end up with better planned learner tasks, and students begin to have more ownership of their content area and language learning. When it comes to building proficiency in academic English, as many teachers in our workshops remind us, "If you want to see it, you have to teach it." Therefore, if teachers want to see language development, language objectives are a great first step in helping teachers explicitly teach it.

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Recommended Resources

Further reading

Short, D., Himmel, J., Gutierrez, S., & Hudec, J. (2012). Using the SIOP Model: Professional development for sheltered instruction. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.

Echevarria, J., Vogt, M.E., & Short, D. (2010). The SIOP Model for teaching mathematics to English learners. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.

Echevarria, J., & Short, D. (2011). The SIOP Model: A professional development framework for a comprehensive school-wide intervention. Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners (CREATE) Brief. http://www.cal.org/create/resources/pubs/professional-development-framework.html

Himmel, J., Short, D., Richards, C., & Echevarria, J. (2009). Using the SIOP Model to improve middle school science instruction. Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners (CREATE) Brief. http://www.cal.org/create/resources/pubs/siopscience.html

Short, D., Vogt, M., & Echevarria, J. (2010a). The SIOP Model for teaching history-social studies to English learners. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Short, D., Vogt, M., & Echevarria, J. (2010b). The SIOP Model for teaching science to English learners. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Vogt, M.E., Echevarria, J., & Short, D. (2010). The SIOP Model for teaching English language arts to English learners. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Jennifer Himmel is the Project Director for the National Center for English Language Acquisition at the Manhattan Strategy Group. She previously served as the SIOP Manager at the Center for Applied Linguistics, a non-profit organization for language education research, policy, and practice in Washington, DC. She has served as a curriculum developer and research associate for the U.S. Department of Education funded project, Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners (CREATE) that is investigating academic achievement of ELLs in grades 4th-8th, and as a language testing specialist for the WIDA ACCESS for ELLs® language proficiency test. She currently manages the SIOP Model professional development service line and provides technical assistance and professional development in sheltered instruction to districts and schools.

Video Clips: Language Objectives

How to Write Language Objectives: Tips for ELL Educators

In this video from Syracuse, NY, Jesus Ortiz, a bilingual teacher, learns how to write a language objective from Areli Schermerhorn, a peer evaluator with expertise in ELL and bilingual education.

Dr. Cynthia Lundgren explains language objectives

In this excerpt from her Meet the Expert interview, Dr. Cynthia Lundgren explains the value of writing language objectives when teaching English learners.

Anstrom, K., DiCerbo, P., Butler, F., Katz, A., Millet, J., & Rivera, C. (2010). A review of the literature on academic English: Implications for K-12 English language learners. Arlington, VA: The George Washington University Center for Equity and Excellence. Education.www.ceee.gwu.edu.

Echevarria, J., & Colburn, A. (2006). Designing lessons: Inquiry approach to science using the SIOP Model. In A. Lathman & D. Crowther (Eds.), Science for English language learners (pp.95-108). Arlington, VA: National Science Teachers Association Press.

Echevarria, J., Vogt, M., & Short, D. (2008). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP Model. Boston: Pearson/Allyn & Bacon.

Echevarria, J., & Short, D. ( 2010). Programs and practices for effective sheltered content instruction. In California Department of Education (Ed), Improving education for English learners: Research-based approaches. Sacramento, CA: CDE Press.

Francis, D., Rivera, M., Lesaux, N., Kieffer, M., & Rivera, H. (2006). Practical guidelines for the education of English language learners: Research-based recommendations for instruction and academic interventions. Portsmouth, NH: RMC Research Corporation, Center on Instruction. www.centeroninstruction.org/files/ELL1-Interventions.pdf

Goldenberg, C. (2008). Teaching English language learners: What the research does-and does not-say. American Educator, Summer 2008, pp. 13-44.

Gottlieb, M., Cranley, E., & Cammilleri, A. (2007). Understanding the WIDA English Language Proficiency Standards: A resource guide. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, on behalf of the WIDA Consortium.

Short, D., Himmel, J., Gutierrez, S., & Hudec, J. (2012). Using the SIOP Model: Professional development for sheltered instruction. Washington, DC: Center for Applied Linguistics.

World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment (2007). WIDA English Language Proficiency Standards. Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, on behalf of the WIDA Consortium http://www.wida.us/standards/elp.asp

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

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Language Objectives: The Key to Effective Content Area Instruction for English Learners

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This article provides an overview of how to use language objectives in content-area instruction for English learners and offers classroom-based examples from different grade and subject levels.

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Response to Intervention in Reading for English Language Learners

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Response to Intervention in Reading for English Language Learners

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A considerable amount of evidence suggests that approaches involving early intervention, ongoing progress monitoring, and effective classroom instruction consistent with Response to Intervention (RTI) are associated with improved outcomes for the majority of students in early reading and math (e.g., Burns, Griffiths, Parson, Tilly, & VanDerHayden, 2007; Fletcher, Lyon, Fuchs, & Barnes, 2007; Haager, Klingner, & Vaughn, 2007; McCardle & Chhabra, 2004). Considerably less information exists, however, about the effectiveness of these approaches with a growing population of students, English language learners (ELLs) at risk for reading problems. We also have considerably less information about the types of interventions that are effective for students who do not adequately respond to the interventions that typically are effective (Vaughn et al., in press; Wanzek & Vaughn, 2007). Such students are likely to be identified as having learning disabilities.

This article briefly highlights the knowledge base on reading and RTI for ELLs, and provides preliminary support for the use of practices related to RTI with this population.

Caveats and considerations about recommendations for teaching English language learners with reading difficulties

ELLs are typically served in bilingual education or English as a second language (ESL) programs. Bilingual education students receive instruction in their native language and a structured program of ESL instruction. Students in ESL programs do not receive native language instruction; they are typically taught within general education classrooms and receive a support program for ESL. How much native language and/or ESL instruction students receive depends on the program model. In planning RTI approaches, it is important to understand the program in which ELLs are enrolled, how their native language and English proficiency is assessed and monitored, and the core literacy program they receive for development of native language and/or English literacy skills.

In implementing RTI approaches with ELLs, a significant challenge is determining students' knowledge and skills in their first language and then understanding their performance in their second language (English). For example, there are subgroups of students whose literacy knowledge and skills in their first language (e.g., Spanish) are adequate, but whose literacy skills in their second language (i.e., English) are low. These students have demonstrated the capacity to acquire reading skills and now require instruction so they can apply those skills to the acquisition of English literacy. Other students may have low literacy in both first language and English because they have not received adequate instruction in either language. Still another group of students, the smallest group, demonstrates low literacy skills in both their first language and English even after receiving adequate instruction.

Further complicating issues related to oral language development and literacy acquisition are situations in which a student's first language is not shared by other students in his or her grade, the student's first is a language without adequate print sources for instruction, or the student cannot receive instruction because a bilingual education teacher is not available to provide it. For these reasons and myriad others, there are no formulas or ready guidelines that can be easily provided for assessment and treatment.

It is also noteworthy that although there are many caveats and considerations involved in decision making about screening, assessment, and intervention for ELLs, parents and educators cannot postpone decision making until a better knowledge base is available. They are eager to make decisions that will be associated with improved outcomes and that will facilitate appropriate early identification and intervention when required. Thus, the following guidelines are provided to encourage educators to promote effective practices related to RTI with ELLs and to acquire further knowledge and skills so that they demonstrate improved confidence in their decision making with these students. Keep in mind, though, that teachers and schools must proceed with the most effective practices possible. Also, please note that these guidelines may be altered as new research evidence becomes available.

What skills must educators have to effectively implement RTI for ELLs?

Many educators, including those providing special education services, are concerned that they do not have the knowledge and skills to appropriately instruct ELLs. In some cases, these personnel are fearful that their lack of knowledge of the student's native language renders them incapable of providing valuable instruction. As a result, they may elect to do the minimum amount needed to intervene and instruct. For this reason, it is essential that educators be provided with the resources needed to support them in this process. Being provided professional development for enhancement of knowledge and skills is essential; in addition, a problem-solving team with knowledge and experience working with ELLs can be a valuable resource to facilitate decision making and to design instructional supports.

Provide ongoing and research-based professional development to teachers and other school personnel.

The more that personnel know about the development of oral language, early literacy, students' home language, contextual considerations, and the cultural background of students, the better informed they will be in making appropriate decisions about interpreting screening and assessment results and in designing appropriate interventions.

Fully credentialed bilingual education and ESL teachers must continuously acquire new knowledge regarding best practices in bilingual education and ESL.

General education teachers should regularly participate in professional development focused on meeting the needs of ELLs (e.g., information about bilingual education, ESL strategies, and the cultural and linguistic characteristics that serve as assets to the academic success of ELLs).

How is universal screening effectively implemented with ELLs?

ELLs can be screened on the same early reading indicators as native English language speakers, including phonological awareness, letter knowledge, and word and text reading (Gersten et al., 2007).

Universal screenings must be conducted using native language and/or English measures that have demonstrated high validity and reliability (see the Research Institute on Progress Monitoring Web site).

Consider the proficiency in the target areas in the L1 of ELLs. Students highly proficient in early reading skills in L1 and low in that proficiency in L2 can be considered instructionally different from students low in proficiency in L1 and L2.

Provide instructional support to ELLs with low performance in reading areas even when oral language skills in English are low. Interventions should simultaneously address development of language and literacy skills in English.

How is progress monitoring effectively implemented with ELLs?

Monitor ELLs' progress as frequently as you monitor the progress of all other students - a minimum of three times per year for students at grade level or above and three to six times per year for students at risk for reading problems.

When ELLs demonstrate low abilities in grade-level target skills in reading, provide research-based instruction.

Consider students' accents and pronunciations when scoring English measures and provide appropriate interpretations when words are mispronounced. Do not penalize students for dialect features.

Consider that students may be acquiring word meaning while acquiring word reading and, thus, oral reading fluency may proceed at an expected rate early (while students are focusing on word reading) and then proceed at a lower than expected rate later when students are focusing more on word meaning.

How is Tier 1 instruction effectively implemented for ELLs?

Set high but reasonable instructional expectations that provide ongoing instructional support to ensure that these expectations are met.

Consider the core instructional program that English Language Learners are being provided for oral language and literacy instruction in the native language and/or in English. Consider all of the knowledge and practices associated with improved outcomes for Tier 1 reading instruction and make sure these practices are in place for ELLs. Although these practices vary by grade level, in general they include consideration of the foundational skills such as phonemic awareness and phonics early in the reading process, with continued emphasis on vocabulary and concept building throughout the instructional process. Reading words accurately and with prosody, as well as reading for meaning and learning, are emphasized through listening comprehension early and then later through reading comprehension.

For students in bilingual education programs, use grade-appropriate measures that match the language of reading instruction. Monitor native language and English language and literacy progress from initial instruction through the transition process, and then in English when students are ready to exit and are no longer receiving reading instruction in the native language.

Do not wait for English oral language to meet grade-level expectations before providing reading instruction. Provide instruction in early reading while also providing support for English oral language development.

Promote language and vocabulary development throughout the day.

Ensure that students are provided ongoing and appropriate instruction in academic language use in the native language and/or in English. Integrate academic language development into core instruction across subject areas.

Scaffold language and opportunities to respond. Scaffolding language includes paraphrasing key words, providing opportunities to extend answers, supporting language by using familiar synonyms (e.g., "that is also like...") and familiar antonyms (e.g., "that is also different from..."), reframing students' responses, confirming aspects of the answer that are correct, and providing language supports to further explain aspects that require refinement.

Provide opportunities for appropriate peer learning, including peer pairing and small-group instruction.

How is Tier 2 intervention effectively implemented for ELLs?

Provide intensive reading interventions to ELLs demonstrating low reading skills immediately when needed. These interventions can be effectively implemented as early as 1st grade, as well as for more mature readers with reading difficulties.

Ensure that interventions are sufficiently intense by retaining small groups (3-6 students) who are provided intervention for a minimum of 30 minutes each day.

When students receiving literacy instruction in English demonstrate weak reading skills or have evident reading difficulties, do not wait for English oral language to improve before providing reading interventions Use appropriate practices for building oracy skills and vocabulary development as well as reading skills.

How is Tier 3 intervention effectively implemented with ELLs?

ELLs who are significantly behind in reading require highly intensive and extensive reading interventions that start immediately (as early as 1st grade) and continue until the student is able to adequately benefit from reading instruction provided within the core classroom instruction.

Tier 3 intervention needs to be provided by a well-trained specialist such as a bilingual education or an ESL teacher with a strong background in literacy, or a learning disability teacher who has a strong background with and understanding of the educational needs of ELLs.

Tier 3 instruction may need to last for a significant period of time when students are making minimal progress; adjustments to instruction may need to be made, with consideration given to the integration of contextual factors (e.g., family, personal, and classroom variables) that may need to be addressed as necessary. A team approach to problem solving may be very useful in interpreting factors that influence progress and provide suggestions for designing instruction.

Students who have been provided research-based reading interventions that are typically associated with improved outcomes may not demonstrate significant gains and may require highly individualized reading instruction that considers other factors such as attention, language and vocabulary development, and behavior problems. A team approach to problem solving that considers many of these factors may facilitate the development of an appropriate instructional plan.

How confident are we about RTI with ELLs?

There are many advantages to using RTI approaches with all learners, including ELLs. These advantages are realized when schools provide appropriate universal screening - at the beginning and middle of the year at minimum to identify students who are at risk for reading difficulties and to provide interventions to meet their needs. Determining that adequate instruction class-wide is occurring for ELLs ensures that students are less likely to fall behind and that they will continue to thrive in the classroom. Using ongoing progress monitoring as a source of data to inform decision making will facilitate both decision making and students' progress. When students demonstrate reading difficulties, the provision of small-group intensive interventions targeting their instructional needs and then monitoring their progress ensures that instruction is modified to meet the needs of students.

ELLs benefit from teachers who are highly interested in ensuring that their students make adequate progress in reading and that they themselves have the knowledge and skills to provide appropriate instruction.

ELLs will be better served if teachers and school personnel do not expect or accept low performance and if they do not view students as undeserving of effective interventions.

ELLs who exhibit learning disabilities may be underidentified and undertreated because school personnel may not have the knowledge and skills needed to identify and treat these students.

Students who are ELLs will benefit from native language instruction and from most of the same instructional practices that are associated with improved outcomes for native English speakers.

This is also the case for ELLs who receive instruction in English providing that appropriate practices for teaching ESL are used. Strategies and instructional routines such as repetitive language, rapid pacing, modeling, time to practice and discuss School personnel do not delay literacy instruction until students' English oracy skills are well-developed, but instead support Students benefit when school personnel are focused on meeting students' educational needs rather than on finding an external source to explain the educational needs.

Readings to consider for further information

August, D., & Shanahan, T. (2006). Developing literacy in second-language learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language Minority Children and Youth. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Francis, D., Rivera, M., Lesaux, N. K, Kieffer, M., & Rivera, H. (2006). Practical guidelines for the education of English language learners: Research-based recommendations for instruction and academic interventions. Available from http://www.centeroninstrution.org/files/ELL1-Interventions.pdf.

Genesee, F., Lindholm-Leary, K., Saunders, W. M., & Christian, D. (2006). Educating English language learners: A synthesis of research evidence. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

Gersten, R., Baker, S. K., Shanahan, T., Linan-Thompson, S., Collins, P., & Scarcella, R. (2007). Effective literacy and English language instruction for English learners in the elementary grades: A practice guide (NCEE 2007-4011). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee.

Copyright 2010 National Center for Learning Disabilities, Inc. RTI Action Network is a program of the National Center for Learning Disabilities. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission. For more information, visit www.RTINetwork.org. Permission to otherwise reprint or electronically reproduce this material in part or in its entirety is expressly prohibited, unless prior written consent is obtained from NCLD.

References

Burns, M. K., Griffiths, A., Parson, L. B., Tilly, W. D., & VanDerHayden, A. (2007). Response to intervention: Research for practice. Alexandria, VA: National Association of State Directors of Special Education.

Fletcher, J. M., Lyon, G. R., Fuchs, L. S., & Barnes, M. A. (2007). Learning disabilities: From identification to intervention. New York: Guilford Press.

Gersten, R., Baker, S. K., Shanahan, T., Linan-Thompson, S., Collins, P., & Scarcella, R. (2007). Effective literacy and English language instruction for English learners in the elementary grades: A practice guide (NCEE 2007-4011). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved from http://ies.ed.gov/ncee.

Haager, D., Klingner, J. K., & Vaughn, S. (2007). Evidence-based reading practices for response to intervention. Baltimore: Brookes.

McCardle, P., & Chhabra, V. (2004). The voice of evidence in reading research. Baltimore: Brookes.

Vaughn, S., Wanzek, J., Murray, C. S., Scammacca, N., Linan-Thompson, S., & Woodruff, A. L. (in press). Response to early reading intervention: A regression discontinuity design examining higher responders and lower responders. Exceptional Children.

Wanzek, J., & Vaughn, S. (2007). Research-based implications from extensive early reading interventions. School Psychology Review, 36, 541-561.

Wanzek, J., & Vaughn, S. (2008). Response to intervention with severely impaired readers. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 41, 126-142.

Reprints

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Response to Intervention in Reading for English Language Learners

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A considerable amount of evidence suggests that approaches involving early intervention, ongoing progress monitoring, and effective classroom instruction consistent with Response to Intervention (RTI) are associated with improved outcomes for the majority of students in early reading and math (e.g., Burns, Griffiths, Parson, Tilly, & VanDerHayden, 2007; Fletcher, Lyon, Fuchs, & Barnes, 2007; Haager, Klingner, & Vaughn, 2007; McCardle & Chhabra, 2004).

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Practitioner Brief Dual Language Education

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CAL Practitioner Brief Dual Language Education Sept2017.pdf

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Challenges of Planning Language Objectives in Content-Based E.pdf

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Content Area Teachers and Scaffolded Instruction for English Learners

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