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Culturally Responsive Teaching for Multilingual Learners: Tools for Equity

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Welcome to the Companion WebsiteChapter 1Video 1.1: Why Culturally Responsive Teaching MattersChapter 2Video 2.1: What It Means to Value Diversity

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Americans speak a lot of languages.

Using individual-level census data, we found the most commonly spoken language at home other than English and Spanish in each state and Washington, D.C.

German, French, and Vietnamese are common in several states.

Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Americans speak a ton of languages, and this map shows which languages other than English and Spanish are the most common in each state and Washington, D.C.

The US Census Bureau's American Community Survey annually asks more than 1 million Americans questions about their lives, families, and backgrounds. One question asks respondents what language they mainly speak in their homes.

Using individual-level responses from the 2017 American Community Survey assembled and published by the Minnesota Population Center's Integrated Public Use Microdata Series program, we found the most common language spoken at home in each state, excluding English and Spanish.
Read more: 50 maps that explain how America lives, spends, and believes
English is, unsurprisingly, the most commonly spoken language across the US, and Spanish is second most common in 46 states and the District of Columbia. So we excluded those two languages in the above map.

The map shows a wide variety of languages. German is the most commonly spoken non-English, non-Spanish language in nine states, with French most common in six states and D.C. Vietnamese was the most common language in six states. Pennsylvania stands out for the prevalence of an archaic offshoot of West Central German known as Pennsylvania Dutch, spoken predominantly by Amish and Mennonite communities.

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This map shows the most commonly spoken language in every US state, excluding English and Spanish

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Americans speak a lot of languages. Using individual-level census data, we found the most commonly spoken language at home other than English and Spanish in each state and Washington, D.C. German, French, and Vietnamese are common in several states. Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

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by Valentina Gonzalez

Primary language support (PLS) is the use of students' first languages to build on the development of their target language. For example, if a child first learned Italian at home and then begins school in America, the primary language of Italian would be used as a leverage to build the English language.

Primary language support is not the same as bilingual instruction. Bilingual instruction differs from PLS because in bilingual instruction, content is taught in the student's primary language. On the other hand, PLS is used in English instruction to make content comprehensible and to lower the linguistic load. Students' primary languages are used as a leverage to support the acquisition of English.

For many decades in the United States, primary language support has been a highly controversial topic in education. Some argue that the use of primary language may delay ELs' English language development. However, Claude Goldenberg states in a 2013 article for American Educator that, "there is an inherent advantage of knowing and being literate in two languages."

Primary language support benefits English learners because it promotes an assets-based stance. PLS views students from a strengths-based lens and makes us ask, "What literacy do students come to us already having? How can we use their primary literacy in order to grow literacy in a new language?"

PLS also lives under the premise that language is tied to a student's identity. And if we believe that, then we honor students' identities by making room for all of their native languages. We make connections to their linguistic repertoire and teach them how to do the same.

Primary language support is easily given when a teacher or paraprofessional speaks the same language as the student. However, it can still be provided if you don't speak the languages your students speak. As an ESL teacher, I had students who spoke various languages including Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Urdu, Telugu, Egyptian, Japanese, and many others. There's a common misconception that, when you have many students that speak a variety of languages, it's too difficult to use primary language support. Here are some ways to use PLS even when you don't speak your students' primary language.

1. Bilingual Dictionaries: Bilingual dictionaries can be an excellent resource for students who are literate in their primary language and are able to use them effectively in mainstream classrooms. However, for students who have difficulty reading in their primary language, they are of little use. It's important to find out how well your students listens, speaks, reads, and writes in their primary languages. You can find out by asking the children, asking parents, and making observations. If you have access to a book in the child's primary language, ask him or her to read to you. Even if you can't understand the language yourself, you can make observations about the student's reading and speaking. Does the student sound fluent or are they reading word for word? Are they sounding out words and getting stuck? Are they pointing to the words? Do they seem to be exhausted by the text? If they selected the text, does it look age appropriate? All of these observations will help you determine if a bilingual dictionary will be an appropriate PLS for your student.

2. Label the Classroom: Label the room in English and in the students' primary languages. Students can help with this. The labels are a great source for reading materials during transition times of the day, such as lining up for lunch or recess or at the end of class. Teachers point to the labels and students chorally read or echo read the words in English. Some teachers play reading games with the labels, such as asking students to find the object in the room that ends with "ER." The primary language support provided by the labels in students' primary language helps make the new vocabulary comprehensible.

3. Encourage Primary Language Use: Encourage students to continue reading, writing, speaking, and listening in their primary language at home. , Goldenberg asserts that many experimental studies show that "learning to read in their home language helps ELs boost reading skills in English." Sometimes parents will ask if they should speak English at home with their children, and it is recommended that parents communicate with their children in the language they feel most comfortable with. According to Wayne Wright , "reading or being read to at home in the home language promotes literacy development and allows parents to participate in their child's education." One way to support students with primary language literature is to begin purchasing it for your classroom or school library. Many popular books come translated in various languages. When you have extra funds, start buying books that reflect your students. They will love seeing their language represented.

4. Preview-Review: In its essence, Preview-Review is done with a teacher or paraprofessional who speaks the same language that the student speaks. You begin by previewing a lesson with the student in his/her primary language. Then the lesson is taught in English. Finally it is reviewed in the primary language. So what if you don't speak the students' languages? You can modify Preview-Review by offering students an avenue to explore the content ahead of time in their primary language. Then teach in English. And finally express themselves (orally or in writing) in their primary language for the review. Some teachers share upcoming units of study with parents and recommend that parents talk to their kids about the topics in their primary language before they are taught in class. This is another way to modify Preview-Review.

5. Cognates are words that are related in two languages. For example, (English) and (Serbian). Whenever possible, explicitly teach cognates. Even though cognates may seem obvious to us, for some students they are not obvious. As students begin to see the relationship between the two languages, they will become attuned to cognates.

It is not uncommon to hear teachers say that they want students to only speak in English during their class period. Often they are well intentioned. They want students to learn English. They want them to practice English. They want them to be successful not only in their class but in their future, too. However, if we acknowledge that language is central to our identities but we tell someone they can't use their native language, then what message are we conveying? Keeping in mind that learning happens when we feel that we belong - that we are safe, that we are valued - how can we convey a message that creates a safe, comfortable, accepting environment?

There is no way to turn off a language that is already within someone. If you were a second language learner in a classroom, your primary language would be there whether your teacher allowed you to use it or not. By inhibiting students, we are blocking their cognitive ability to grow as learners and thinkers in the content area. This also breeds assimilation rather than acculturation. Assimilation is the process of becoming like everyone else, similar, and erasing one's identity. Assimilation a subtractive approach, while acculturation honors both cultures and represents bicultural living, an additive approach.

As you move forward from here, think of where you are in using PLS with students. Perhaps you were on the fence about it before. Maybe you used to think that it wasn't an option in an ESL setting, or you didn't think it was important. Think about what your next steps will be from here. How will you support English learners as they continue to acquire language and content without losing their own native language and culture?

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Primary Language Support in General Education Classrooms

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by Valentina Gonzalez What is Primary Language Support? Primary language support (PLS) is the use of students' first languages to build on the development of their target language. For example, if a child first learned Italian at home and then begins school in America, the primary language of Italian would be used as a leverage...

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Growing Language and Literacy Blog Article

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Growing Language and Literacy Blog Article

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Translanguaging

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This past month I participated in a book study for Growing Language & Literacy as part of #EllChat_BkClub. One of the biggest take-aways was the idea of translanguaging. Multilingual students use &...

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Bilingual Vocabulary Quizzes (English Study Materials, ESL, EFL)

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Study foreign language vocabulary. Study English. Study Spanish. Study Korean. Study Japanese. Other languages, too.

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Encyclopedia of Language Systems

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Translations of useful phrases in many languages

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How to say things like Hello, How are you? and My hovercraft is full of eels in many different languages

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

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

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

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

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

1. Make it Visual

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

2. Build in more group work.

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

3. Communicate with the ESL teacher.

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

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

4. Honor the "silent period."

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

5. Allow some scaffolding with the native language.

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

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

6. Look out for culturally unique vocabulary.

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

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

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

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

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

8. Pre-teach whenever possible.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

12. ...but always take them seriously.

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

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

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

Further Reading

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

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

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12 Ways to Support English Learners in the Mainstream Classroom

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

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Sharing my language matrix that I've used for newcomers. I can display this on the board/ipad + translate in real time or print to use in class. https://t.co/oXfOOxwqn6
 @AndreaHonigsfel @MsSalvac @ValentinaESL @emilyfranESL @carlota_holder @MrsGill_ @kruu_justin @TanELLclassroom

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Sharing my language matrix that I've used for newcomers. I can display this on the board/ipad + translate in real time or print to use in class. https://t.co/oXfOOxwqn6
 @AndreaHonigsfel @MsSalvac @ValentinaESL @emilyfranESL @carlota_holder @MrsGill_ @kruu_justin @TanELLclassroom

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Sharing my language matrix that I've used for newcomers. I can display this on the board/ipad + translate in real time or print to use in class. https://t.co/oXfOOxwqn6
@AndreaHonigsfel @MsSalvac @ValentinaESL @emilyfranESL @carlota_holder @MrsGill_ @kruu_justin @TanELLclassroom
— Mr. C 🌎 (@MrC_A2) March 26, 2019

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Sharing my language matrix that I've used for newcomers. I can display this on the board/ipad + translate in real time or print to use in class. https://t.co/oXfOOxwqn6
 @AndreaHonigsfel @MsSalvac @ValentinaESL @emilyfranESL @carlota_holder @MrsGill_ @kruu_justin @TanELLclassroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
Sharing my language matrix that I've used for newcomers. I can display this on the board/ipad + translate in real time or print to use in class. https://t.co/oXfOOxwqn6
 @AndreaHonigsfel @MsSalvac @ValentinaESL @emilyfranESL @carlota_holder @MrsGill_ @kruu_justin @TanELLclassroom

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
Sharing my language matrix that I've used for newcomers. I can display this on the board/ipad + translate in real time or print to use in class. https://t.co/oXfOOxwqn6
 @AndreaHonigsfel @MsSalvac @ValentinaESL @emilyfranESL @carlota_holder @MrsGill_ @kruu_justin @TanELLclassroom

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Wonderful list of translanguaging strategies picked up in Maria Cieslak’s workshop at WIDA 2018.  This is how we do assets-based teaching! #WIDA2018

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Wonderful list of translanguaging strategies picked up in Maria Cieslak’s workshop at WIDA 2018.  This is how we do assets-based teaching! #WIDA2018 https://t.co/1dKrs434cn

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Wonderful list of translanguaging strategies picked up in Maria Cieslak’s workshop at WIDA 2018. This is how we do assets-based teaching! #WIDA2018 pic.twitter.com/1dKrs434cn
— Renae Skarin (@renae_skarin) October 26, 2018

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Wonderful list of translanguaging strategies picked up in Maria Cieslak’s workshop at WIDA 2018.  This is how we do assets-based teaching! #WIDA2018 https://t.co/1dKrs434cn

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Wonderful list of translanguaging strategies picked up in Maria Cieslak’s workshop at WIDA 2018.  This is how we do assets-based teaching! #WIDA2018 https://t.co/1dKrs434cn

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Wonderful list of translanguaging strategies picked up in Maria Cieslak’s workshop at WIDA 2018.  This is how we do assets-based teaching! #WIDA2018

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A2) These are the cards we use for our Newcomers to communicate,as well as, learn English words. #boostingachievement

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A2) These are the cards we use for our Newcomers to communicate,as well as, learn English words. #boostingachievement https://t.co/cplqc1J4z7

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A2) These are the cards we use for our Newcomers to communicate,as well as, learn English words. #boostingachievement pic.twitter.com/cplqc1J4z7
— Sheniqua Johnson, M.Ed. (@SHENIQUAJ0HNS0N) October 19, 2018

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props_source.data.text
A2) These are the cards we use for our Newcomers to communicate,as well as, learn English words. #boostingachievement https://t.co/cplqc1J4z7

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
A2) These are the cards we use for our Newcomers to communicate,as well as, learn English words. #boostingachievement https://t.co/cplqc1J4z7

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A2) These are the cards we use for our Newcomers to communicate,as well as, learn English words. #boostingachievement

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Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Haitian Creole are the top five home languages for English-language learners in the nation's K-12 public schools, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Education.

"The Biennial Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Title III State Formula Grant Program" offers an in-depth look at the prevalence of the languages among the nation's K-12 English-learner population.

Altogether, more than 80 percent of the nation's English-learners are native speakers of one of those languages, but there is lots of linguistic diversity among the nation's English-learners: 44 languages were represented among the individual states' top five most commonly spoken languages during the 2013-14 school year, the report found.

The study, delivered to Congress at the end of September, uses data from the 2012-13 and 2013-14 academic years to examine the state of English-learner education in the United States.

Here's an overview of the data on the most common native languages of English-learners:

In the 2013-14 school year, 10 states reported that at least 80 percent of the English-learners enrolled in public K-12 schools were native Spanish speakers. Here's a look:

All but five states reported Spanish as the most common language for English-learners. Those five states, along with the most common languages in each, are: Alaska (Yup'ik languages); Hawaii (Iloko); Maine (Somali); Montana (German); and Vermont (Nepali).

The number of English-learners reported as speaking Arabic increased by 157 percent between the 2006-07 and 2013-14 school years. The 2006-07 school year marked the first time the biennial report listed the number of Arabic-speaking English-learners. Even with the growth, Arabic speakers represent just about 2.5 percent of all English-learners.

Overall, Arabic is among the top five native languages for English-learners in 36 states and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Here's a look:

The number of English-learners reported as speaking Chinese increased by 195 percent between the 2006-07 and 2013-14 school years. The 2006-07 school year marked the first time the biennial report listed the number of English-learners with Asian or Pacific Islander languages. Here's a look:

Overall, native Chinese-speaking students represent about 2.4 percent of all English-learners. The report does not distinguish between Cantonese and Mandarin speakers.

The percentage of English-learners whose native language is Vietnamese is 1.9 percent, the same percentage as it was in the 2006-07 school year. However, the overall number of Vietnamese-speaking English-learners has declined over that period, dropping from nearly 86,000 to about 80,000-a more than 5 percent decline.

The decline of English-speakers of Hmong, another Asian-Pacific Islander language, took an even more dramatic drop, falling by 57 percent. (See the chart above for more detail)

5. Haitian Creole

Haitian Creole replaced Hmong in the category of five most common languages spoken by English-learners nationwide in the 2012-13 school year. The Haitian Creole-speaking English-learners are largely concentrated in four states, Florida, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York, and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Here's a look:

Haitian Creole remained among the top five languages during the 2013-14 school year, despite a 4 percent decline from the previous year that brought the population down to roughly 35,500.

What About American Indian and Alaska Native languages?

A declining number of states identify an American Indian or Alaska Native language among the five most common native languages of English-learners, dropping from 10 in 2012-13 to seven in 2013-14.

The seven states where an American Indian or Alaska Native language were among the most common languages are: Alaska, Arizona, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, and Utah. The states that dropped from the list are: Idaho, North Dakota, and Wyoming.

The biennial report captures data on eight American Indian and Alaska native languages or language groups.

Here's a copy of the full report:

Biennial Report to Congress... by on Scribd
Related Stories Schools Are Ill-Prepared to Educate 'Superdiverse' English-Learners English-Learners Are a Diverse Group. How Can Schools Meet Their Needs? Few Aspiring Teachers Aim to Work With English-Learners, Report Finds Most States Failing to Meet English-Learner Academic Targets Images: Photo Credit: Kindergartner Ava Josephine Mikel and teacher Priscilla Joseph dance to Haitian music during a game of "freeze dance" at Toussaint L'Ouverture Academy, a Haitian Creole dual-language program at Mattahunt Elementary School in Boston. More dual-language programs are cropping up in districts around the country. --Gretchen Ertol for Education Week U.S. Department of Education, office of English-language acquisition

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The Five Most Common Native Languages of English-Learners

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Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Haitian Creole are the top five home languages for English-language learners in the nation's K-12 public schools, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Education. "The Biennial Report to Congress on the Implementation of the Title III State Formula Grant Program" offers an in-depth look at the prevalence of the languages among the nation's K-12 English-learner population.

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To better serve students, the College Board is offering testing supports for English learners (EL) during SAT School Day, the PSAT 10, and the PSAT 8/9. Testing supports include:

Translated test directions

Use of bilingual word-to-word glossaries

50% extended testing time

EL students who use supports during SAT School Day will receive scores they can send to colleges.

Who's Eligible

Students who meet the following criteria at the time of testing can use EL supports:

They are enrolled in an elementary or secondary school in the U.S. or U.S. territories.

They are an English learner as defined by their state or by federal policy.

They use the same supports in class or for other assessments.

Details About Testing Supports

EL students can use as many of our testing supports as they need.

Translated Test Directions

Directions are available in 13 languages each for SAT School Day, the PSAT 10, and the PSAT 8/9. Download the translated directions below and give them to students on test day. It is not necessary to request these in SSD Online.

Word-to-Word Glossaries

The bilingual word-to-word glossaries students use on test day must be from the College Board's approved list, available below. Schools will provide the necessary glossaries to students on test day, collecting them when testing is complete. It is not necessary to request these in SSD Online.

50% Extended Time

To ensure that student scores are processed correctly and on time, SSD coordinators must go to SSD Online's EL Supports tool to request extended time. Follow the tool's instructions to submit requests. Schools don't need to submit documentation, but the use of supports should be based on the students' documented need.

After requests are approved, students' names will be listed on the school's Nonstandard Administration Report (NAR) so that coordinators know the correct room assignments.

When EL students use 50% extended time on test day, time is added to each test section.

Students using 50% extended time for EL purposes will test in the same room(s), and use the same test materials, as all other students using 50% extended time for Reading.

Extended time for EL students can only be used on the test date for which it was requested. Unlike accommodations for students with disabilities, EL supports are temporary.

Note: Requests aren't needed for PSAT 8/9, unless approval is required by your state.

2019 Deadlines to Request Extended Time

About four weeks before testing, schools must have all extended time requests for EL students submitted into SSD Online. Specific deadlines are below.

Note: If you're offering assessments as part of a state contract, your deadlines may be different. Contact your state with questions about the deadlines for your school.

Tests That Don't Use EL Supports

Supports aren't available for weekend SAT administrations, SAT Subject Tests, or the PSAT/NMSQT.

FAQs

Does my school need a contract with the College Board to use EL supports?
No. Contract and non-contract schools can offer supports to EL students.

Which languages are covered by EL supports?
Translated directions are available in the following languages:
Spanish, Albanian, Arabic, Bengali, Gujarati, Portuguese, Polish, Chinese, Haitian-Creole, Hindi, Russian, Urdu and Vietnamese.

Our word-to-word glossaries list includes over 100 languages.

How do schools submit requests for EL students who also have disabilities?
All requests can be made via the SSD portal. EL supports should only be requested if they are above and beyond what a student is already using as part of an accommodation for disabilities. For example, if a student is already approved for 50% extended time in Reading as part of an SSD accommodation, a request for extended time for EL should not be submitted.

Do schools need parental consent?
Schools should have consent from a parent or guardian to share student information with the College Board and request EL supports for students under 18. Students over 18 can grant consent.

If a school does not have documentation of parental approval through other processes (IEP, 504 Plan, EL classification, etc.), a consent form is provided in the EL Supports tool on SSD Online. The school should maintain the form with the student's records; it does not need to be sent to the College Board.

Resources
SAT School Day Translated Test Directions PSAT 10 Translated Test Directions PSAT 8/9 Translated Test Directions

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To better serve students, the College Board is offering testing supports for English learners (EL) during SAT School Day, the PSAT 10, and the PSAT 8/9. Testing supports include: Translated test directions Use of bilingual word-to-word glossaries 50% extended testing time EL students who use supports during SAT School Day will receive scores they can send to colleges.

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Now available (free online): 
California Practitioners’ Guide  
for Educating English Learners with Disabilities
https://t.co/o20zRCiCCT

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Now available (free online): 
California Practitioners’ Guide  
for Educating English Learners with Disabilities
https://t.co/o20zRCiCCT https://t.co/uUitmOg1CS

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Now available (free online):
California Practitioners’ Guide
for Educating English Learners with Disabilitieshttps://t.co/o20zRCiCCT pic.twitter.com/uUitmOg1CS
— ELnetworkSDCOE (@ELnetworkSD) July 5, 2019

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props_source.data.text
Now available (free online): 
California Practitioners’ Guide  
for Educating English Learners with Disabilities
https://t.co/o20zRCiCCT https://t.co/uUitmOg1CS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
Now available (free online): 
California Practitioners’ Guide  
for Educating English Learners with Disabilities
https://t.co/o20zRCiCCT https://t.co/uUitmOg1CS

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
Now available (free online): 
California Practitioners’ Guide  
for Educating English Learners with Disabilities
https://t.co/o20zRCiCCT

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Using the SIOP Model to Promote the Acquisition of Language and Science Concepts with ELs (Article from the Bilingual Research Journal)

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Using the SIOP Model to Promote the Acquisition of Language and Science Concepts with ELs (Article from the Bilingual Research Journal)

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Research Evidence for the SIOP® Model (Blog post by Dr. Jana Echevarría)

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Research Evidence for the SIOP® Model (Blog post by Dr. Jana Echevarría)

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Reflections on Teaching English Learners

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The SIOP Model is an empirically-tested, research-based model of sheltered instruction that serves as a framework for planning and delivering instruction in content areas such as science, language arts, history, and mathematics. It also helps ESL (English as a second language) and ELD (English language development) teachers incorporate content topics and classroom tasks into their language lessons. SIOP reflects best practices from the research literature, each of its components are grounded in research, and it has a solid research base from empirical studies conducted on the SIOP Model itself. Some of the findings include the following:

The observation protocol has a 5-point scale for each feature on the SIOP Model which measures its level of implementation. A study was conducted to establish the validity and reliability of the SIOP protocol and found the SIOP instrument to be a highly reliable and valid measure of sheltered instruction (Guarino, et al., 2001);

A professional development process was developed including training materials and videotapes, and it has been shown to be effective in improving teachers' practice as they work with English learners (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2000; Short, Fidelman, & Louguit, 2012);

When the features of the SIOP Model are implemented to a high degree, the achievement of English learners improves (Echevarria, Short, & Powers, 2006; Echevarria, Richards, Chinn & Ratleff, 2011);

The features of the SIOP Model provide the language accommodations that English learners need to improve literacy skills. When teachers applied the features effectively, student reading scores in English improved (McIntyre, Kyle, et al., 2010);

Students in middle and high school classes (mathematics, science, social studies, language arts, ESL, health, and computer) with SIOP-trained teachers outperformed comparison students (those without trained teachers) on the IDEA Language Proficiency Tests (IPT) to levels of statistical significance in oral language, writing, and overall mean scores, indicating that the SIOP Model had a positive impact on the development of English language proficiency (Short, Fidelman, & Louguit, 2012);

There are multiple schools and districts that report increased student performance when teachers implement the SIOP Model (Echevarria, 2012; Echevarria, Short & Vogt, 2017);

English-speaking students as well as English learners in SIOP classes outperformed similar students in control classes (Short & Himmel, 2013).

These and other ongoing studies show that the SIOP Model is a scientifically validated way for teachers to provide effective instruction to second language learners (referred to as English learners in the research studies). Findings show that English learners benefit academically when the features of the SIOP are part of everyday teaching.

Research evidence for SIOP's efficacy is followed by articles describing SIOP research applications in practice.
Research Evidence for the Efficacy of the SIOP Model
Al-Aloom, L.B. (2019). Effective sheltered instruction observation protocol (SIOP) model strategies among Arab ELLs. Capella University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 27544311.

Al Fadda, H. A. (2020). Implementation of the Sheltered Instructional Observation Protocol (SIOP) Model in the Saudi Classroom: EFL Teachers' Perspectives. Arab World English Journal, 11 (2) 339- 360. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol11no2.24

Alfaro, Y. (2020). The effect of elementary teachers trained in the SIOP Model on the achievement of English language learners in the English reading domain. University of St. Francis, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 28149422.

Batt, E. (2010). Cognitive coaching: A critical phase in professional development to implement sheltered instruction. Teaching and Teacher Education 26, 997-1005.

Bertram, R. L. (2011). Sheltered instruction: A case study of three high school English teachers' experiences with the SIOP Model (Doctoral dissertation). Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 3486471)

Bose, D. (2012). Effects of just-in-time online training on knowledge and application of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) model among in-service teachers. Available from Idaho State University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 3536205

Boughoulid, M. (2020). The SIOP Model as an empowering teaching method for English language learners: A study case. European Journal of English Language Teaching, 6 (2), 39-53.

Calderon, C. T., & Zamora, E. (2014). Factors affecting the implementation of sheltered instruction observation protocols for English language learners. National Forum of Educational Administration & Supervision Journal, 31 (3), 20-32.

Chen, C-T, Kyle, D. & McIntyre, E. (2008). Helping teachers work effectively with English language learners and their families. The School Community Journal, 18 (1), 7-20.

Chen, G., Ling, W., Li, L. & Shi, Y. (2020). A research of digital integrated circuit design curriculum's bilingual education based on methodology of SIOP. Advances in Social Science, Education and Humanities Research, 412, 484-488.

Daniel, S. & Pray, L. (2017). Learning to teach English language learners: A study of elementary school teachers' sense-making in an ELL endorsement program. TESOL Quarterly, 51 (4), 787-819.

Dodici, A. (2011). The relationship between teachers' multicultural attitudes and their instructional practice with English language learners: A mixed method study. (Doctoral dissertation). Doi 10.15760/etd.141

Echevarria, J., Richards-Tutor, C., Canges, R., & Francis, D. (2011). Using the SIOP Model to promote the acquisition of language and science concepts with English learners. Bilingual Research Journal, 34 (3), 334-351.

Echevarria, J., Richards-Tutor, C., Chinn, V., & Ratleff, P. (2011). Did they get it? The role of fidelity in teaching English learners. Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, 54 (6), 425-434.

Echevarría, J., & Short, D. (2004). Using multiple perspectives in observations of diverse classrooms: The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP). In H. Waxman, R. Tharp, & S., Hilberg (Eds.), Observational research in U.S. classrooms: New approaches for understanding cultural and linguistic diversity (pp. 21-47). Boston: Cambridge University Press.

Echevarria, J., Short, D., & Powers, K. (2006). School reform and standards-based education: An instructional model for English language learners. Journal of Educational Research, 99(4), 195-210.

Eggington, K., Eggington, W., & Zeichner, K. (2010). Teacher research used to evaluate sheltered instruction in a science classroom setting. Electronic Journal of Literacy Through Science, 9.

Friend, J., Most, R., & McCrary, K. (2009). The impact of a professional development program to

improve urban middle-level English language learner achievement. Middle Grades Research Journal, 4 (1), 53-75.

González, M. (2016). Preparing teacher candidates for the instruction of English language learners. Networks, 18 (2). DOI: 10.4148/2470-6353.1005

Gruver, J. & Bowers, J. (2020). Evolution of inquiry questions in a cyclic professional development program. Canadian Journal of Action Research, 20, 3, pp 3-18.

Guarino, A.J., Echevarria, J., Short, D., Schick, J.E., Forbes, S., & Rueda, R. (2001). The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol. Journal of Research in Education, 11(1), 138-140.

Guzman, R. (2015). A study of the impact of English language learners: Literacy development through the SIOP Model. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 3701484.

Hayden, R. (2019). English proficiency in classes using Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) compared to classes not using SIOP. Capella University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 22616011.

Himmel, J., Short, D.J., Richards, C., & Echevarria, J. (2009). Using the SIOP Model to improve middle school science instruction. Washington, DC: Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners. Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/create/publications/briefs/using-the-siop-model-to-improve-middle-school-science-instruction.html

Honigsfeld, A., & Cohan, A. (2008). The power of two: Lesson study and SIOP help teachers instruct ELLs. Journal of Staff Development, 29 (1), 24-28.

Inceli, O. (2015). The perceptions of English teachers to the SIOP Model and its impact on limited English proficiency. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 2 (1), 15-28.

Ingram, S. (2018). An analysis of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol Model on academic performance of English language learners. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 0355555247.

Li, J., Steele, J., Slater, R., Bacon, M., Miller, T. (2016). Teaching practices and language use in two-way dual language immersion programs in a large public school district. International Multilingual Research Journal, 10 (1). 31-43. DOI: 10.1080/19313152.2016.1118669

Kang, A. (2005). How to promote comprehension and participation in CBI courses: The SIOP Model. English Teaching, 12, 159-196.

Kareva, V. & Echevarria, J. (2013). Using the SIOP Model for effective content teaching with second and foreign language learners. Journal of Education and Training Studies, 1 (2), 239-248.

Koura, A. & Zahan, F. (2017). The impact of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol Model on student teachers' teaching skills and self-efficacy. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 8 (4), 704-714. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0804.09.

Merritt, E.G., Palacios, N., Banse, H., Rimm-Kaufman, S.E., & Leis, M. (2016). Teaching practices in Grade 5 mathematics classrooms with high-achieving English learner students. The Journal of Educational Research. DOI: 10.1080/00220671.2015.1034352

McIntyre, E., Kyle, D., Chen, C., Muñoz, M. & Beldon, S. (2010). Teacher learning and ELL reading achievement in sheltered instruction classrooms: Linking professional development to student development, Literacy Research and Instruction, 49 (4), 334-351.

Mundo, K. (2011). Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) implementation by K-12 mainstream teachers. (Master's thesis). Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/e840/9fb2c48205e1a90209b13e67d5d1675a4dd8.pdf

Nakagawa, H. (2017). The Teacher Perception and Receptiveness of Sheltered Instruction Observation

Protocol (SIOP) Model within a Japanese University Context. Northcentral University, ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 10608145.

O'Neal, D., Ringler, M. C., & Lys, D. B. (2009). Skeptics to partners: University teams with district to improve ELL instruction. Journal of Staff Development, 30 (4), 52-55.

Owen, S. (2018). The Effect of Emphasizing Key Vocabulary On Student Achievement With English Learners. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/etd/5021

Piazza, S., Williams, C., Protacio, M.S., David, V., Tigchelaar, M. & Kuo, H-C. (2020). Improving instruction for English learners: A professional development study using SIOP. Journal of Teacher Education and Educators, 9 (3), 283-405.

Polat, N. & Cepik, S. (2015). An exploratory factor analysis of the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol as an evaluation tool to measure teacher effectiveness. TESOL Quarterly, 50 (4), 817-843. Doi 10.1002/tesq.248.

Portillo, C. (2015). Teachers' perceptions on the use of Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol as a districtwide professional development reform. (Doctoral Dissertation) Available from ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 3723058)

Reyes, J. & Gentry, J. (2019). Pre-service administrators' experiences with effective research-based learning strategies for English language learners. In K. Young, C. Brown & S. Harris (Eds.) Educational Research Review, 20, 23-38.

Rivera, E. (2019). The impact of the sheltered instruction observation (SIOP) on the achievement of English language learners (Order No. 27736339). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global: The Humanities and Social Sciences Collection. (2377940533).

Rodriguez Moux, S. (2010). Teacher's perceptions of sheltered instruction observation protocol for teaching young English language learners: A qualitative case study. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 3398868.

Short, D., Cloud, N., Morris, P., & Motta, J. (2012). Cross-district collaboration: Curriculum and professional development. TESOL Journal, 3 (3), 402-424.

Short, D., Echevarria, J., & Richards-Tutor, C. (2011). Research on academic literacy development in sheltered instruction classrooms. Language Teaching Research, 15 (3), 363-380.

Short, D., Fidelman, C., & Louguit, M. (2012). Developing academic language in English language learners through sheltered instruction. TESOL Quarterly, 46 (2), 333-360.

Short, D., & Himmel, J. (2013). Moving research on sheltered instruction into curriculum and professional development practice. Paper presented at American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA, April 2013.

Song, K. (2016, February). Systematic professional development training and its impact on teachers' attitudes toward ELLs: SIOP and guided coaching. TESOL Journal. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/tesj.240/full doi: 10.1002/tesj.240

Song, K. (2016). Applying an SIOP-based instructional framework for professional development in Korea. TESL-EJ, 20(1).

Song, S.Y. & Samimy, K. (2015) The beliefs of secondary content teachers of English language learners regarding language learning and teaching. International Journal of TESOL and Learning, 4 (1), pp. 3-19.

Suweken, G., Waluyo, D., & Okassandiari, N. L. (2017). The improvement of students' conceptual understanding and students' academic language of mathematics through the implementation of SIOP Model. International Research Journal of Management, IT & Social Sciences, 4 (4), 51-60. DOI: 10.21744/irjmis.v4i4.519

Torres, N. (2006). Administrative support for English language learners: How the SIOP Model empowers teachers, administrators, and English language learners. (Doctoral Dissertation) Available from ProQuest Dissertations Publishing. (No. 3231250)

Üzüm, B., & Petrón, M. (2018). Glocal experiences in your own backyard: Teacher candidates developing understanding of equity, diversity, and social justice. In A.F. Selvi and N. Rudolph (Eds.), Conceptual shifts and contextualized practices in education for glocal interaction, intercultural communication and language education. Singapore: Springer Nature. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6421-0_6

Üzüm, B., Petrón, M., & Berg, H. (2014). Pre-service teachers' first foray into the ESL classroom: Reflective practice in a service learning project. TESL-EJ, 18(3), 1-15.

Vidot, J. L. (2011). The efficacy of sheltered instruction observation protocol (SIOP) in mathematics instruction on English language learners. (Doctoral dissertation) Available from http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/943/

Watkins, N. M., & Lindahl, K. M. (2010). Targeting content area literacy instruction to meet the needs of adolescent English language learners. Middle School Journal, 41 (3), 23-32.

Welsh, L. & Newman, K. (2010). Becoming a content-ESL teacher: A dialogic journey of a science teacher and teacher educator. Theory Into Practice, 49; 137-144.

Whittier, L. E., & Robinson, M. (2007). Teaching evolution to non-English proficient students by using Lego Robotics. American Secondary Education, 35 (3), 19-28.

Ye He, W.J. & Faircloth, J. (2018) Preparing teachers for English learners: Integrating academic language and community service projects, The Social Studies, 109:1, 13 26, DOI: 10.1080/00377996.2017.1403874

Zito-Nash, J, (2017). Impact of Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) Strategies on reading achievement of English language learners in the primary grades. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing, 0355139677.
Research Application Of SIOP
Balconi, A. & Spitzman, E. Content area teachers' challenges writing language objectives: A document analysis. TESOL J. 2020; 00:e530. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.530

Colburn, A. & Echevarria, J. (1999). Meaningful lessons. The Science Teacher, 66 (2) 36-39.

Coppersmith, S., Slapac, A., & Song, K. (2018). Infusing linguistically and culturally responsive practices for English learners in social studies methods. Social Studies Education Review, 8 (1) 45-66.

Dumas-Landisi, M. & Honigsfeld, A. (2010). ELL instruction that works for all. Educator's Voice, 3, 74-81.

Echevarria, J. (2006). Helping English language learners succeed. Principal Leadership, 6 (5) 16-21. Reston, VA: National Association for Secondary School Principals.

Echevarría, J. (2012). Effective practices for increasing the achievement of English learners. Washington, DC: Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners. Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/create/resources/pubs/

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., Frey, N. & Fisher, D. (2015) What it takes for English learners to succeed. Educational Leadership, 72, 6, pp. 22-26.

Echevarria, J. & Hasbrouck, J. (2009). Response to intervention and English learners. Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners (CREATE). Retrieved from www.cal.org/create/resources/pubs.

Echevarria, J., Powers, K. & Elliott, J. (2004). Promising practices for curbing disproportionate representation of minority students in special education. Issues in Teacher Education, 13 (1), 19-34.

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 (pp. 250-321). Sacramento, CA: CDE Press.

Echevarría, J., & Short, D. (2011). The SIOP Model: A professional development framework for comprehensive schoolwide intervention. Washington, DC: Center for Research on the Educational Achievement and Teaching of English Language Learners. Retrieved from http://www.cal.org/create/publications/briefs/professional-development-framework.html

Echevarria, J., Short, D., & Powers, K. (2008). Making content comprehensible for non-native speakers of English: The SIOP Model. The International Journal of Learning, Volume 14, Issue 11, pp.41-50. Article: Print (Spiral Bound). Article: Electronic (PDF File; 639.531KB).

Echevarria, J. & Vogt, M. (2010) Using the SIOP Model to improve literacy for English learners. New England Reading Association Journal (NERAJ). 46 (1) 8-15.

Holly Hansen-Thomas (2008) Sheltered Instruction: Best Practices for ELLs in the Mainstream, Kappa Delta Pi Record, 44:4, 165-169, DOI: 10.1080/00228958.2008.10516517

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). Retreived from www.cal.org/create/resources/pubs.

Nora, J. & Echevarria, J. (2016) No More Low Expectations for ELLs (N. Duke & E..Keene, Eds.) Not This But That series. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Prabjandee, D. (2016). Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP): Overview, misconceptions, and considerations for implementation. Journal of Education, 27 (3), pp.1-17.

Qabaja, Z. M.M., Nafi, J.S., & Abu-Nimah, M.I. (2016). The effect of using the "SQP2RS via WTL" strategy through science context to 10th graders' reading comprehension in English in Palestine. Journal of Education and Practice, 7 (26) p137-151.

Shanahan, T. & Echevarria, J. (2019). Policies the suppoer inproving the literacy levels of English learners. State Education Standard. Alexandria, VA: National Association of State Boards of Education.

Short, D. (2017). How to integrate language and content learning effectively for English language learners. EURASIA Journal of Mathematics Science and Technology Education, 13 (7b), 4237-4260. doi 10.12973/eurasia.2017.00806a

Short, D. (2000). What principals should know about sheltered instruction for English language learners. NASSP Bulletin, 84 (619), 17-27. doi:10.1177/019263650008461902

Short, D. (2013). Training and sustaining effective teachers of sheltered instruction. Theory Into Practice, 52 (2), 118-127.

Short, D. & Echevarria, J. (December 2004/January 2005). Promoting academic literacy for English language learners. Educational Leadership. 62 (4) 8-13.

Short, D., & Echevarria, J. (1999). The sheltered observation protocol: A tool for researcher-teacher collaboration and professional development. (Educational Practice Report No. 3). Santa Cruz, CA and Washington, DC: Center for Research on Education, Diversity & Excellence.

Vogt, M. & Echevarria J. (2015) Reaching English Learners: Aligning the ELA/ELD Framework with SIOP. The California Reader, 49 (1) 33.

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The SIOP Model is an empirically-tested, research-based model of sheltered instruction that serves as a framework for planning and delivering instruction in content areas such as science, language arts, history, and mathematics. It also helps ESL (English as a second language) and ELD (English language development) teachers incorporate content topics and classroom tasks into their language lessons.

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Teacher Skills to Support ELLs by Dr. Deborah Short and Dr. Jana Echevarría 

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Teacher Skills to Support ELLs by Dr. Deborah Short and Dr. Jana Echevarría 

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ERIC Identifier: Publication Date: Author:
Source:

Communicative Language Teaching: An Introduction and Sample Activities. ERIC Digest.

This digest will take a look at the communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages. It is intended as an introduction to the communicative approach for teachers and teachers-in-training who want to provide opportunities in the classroom for their students to engage in real-life communication in the target language. Questions to be dealt with include what the communicative approach is, where it came from, and how teachers' and students' roles differ from the roles they play in other teaching approaches. Examples of exercises that can be used with a communicative approach are described, and sources of appropriate materials are provided.

WHERE DOES COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING COME FROM?

Its origins are many, insofar as one teaching methodology tends to influence the next. The communicative approach could be said to be the product of educators and linguists who had grown dissatisfied with the audiolingual and grammar-translation methods of foreign language instruction. They felt that students were not learning enough realistic, whole language. They did not know how to communicate using appropriate social language, gestures, or expressions; in brief, they were at a loss to communicate in the culture of the language studied. Interest in and development of communicative-style teaching mushroomed in the 1970s; authentic language use and classroom exchanges where students engaged in real communication with one another became quite popular.

In the intervening years, the communicative approach has been adapted to the elementary, middle, secondary, and post-secondary levels, and the underlying philosophy has spawned different teaching methods known under a variety of names, including notional-functional, teaching for proficiency, proficiency-based instruction, and communicative language teaching.

WHAT IS COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING?

Communicative language teaching makes use of real-life situations that necessitate communication. The teacher sets up a situation that students are likely to encounter in real life. Unlike the audiolingual method of language teaching, which relies on repetition and drills, the communicative approach can leave students in suspense as to the outcome of a class exercise, which will vary according to their reactions and responses. The real-life simulations change from day to day. Students' motivation to learn comes from their desire to communicate in meaningful ways about meaningful topics.

Margie S. Berns, an expert in the field of communicative language teaching, writes in explaining Firth's view that "language is interaction; it is interpersonal activity and has a clear relationship with society. In this light, language study has to look at the use (function) of language in context, both its linguistic context (what is uttered before and after a given piece of discourse) and its social, or situational, context (who is speaking, what their social roles are, why they have come together to speak)" (Berns, 1984, p. 5).

WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF COMMUNICATIVE EXERCISES?

In a communicative classroom for beginners, the teacher might begin by passing out cards, each with a different name printed on it. The teacher then proceeds to model an exchange of introductions in the target language: "Guten Tag. Wie heissen Sie?" Reply: "Ich heisse Wolfie," for example. Using a combination of the target language and gestures, the teacher conveys the task at hand, and gets the students to introduce themselves and ask their classmates for information. They are responding in German to a question in German. They do not know the answers beforehand, as they are each holding cards with their new identities written on them; hence, there is an authentic exchange of information.

Later during the class, as a reinforcement listening exercise, the students might hear a recorded exchange between two German freshmen meeting each other for the first time at the gymnasium doors. Then the teacher might explain, in English, the differences among German greetings in various social situations. Finally, the teacher will explain some of the grammar points and structures used.

The following exercise is taken from a 1987 workshop on communicative foreign language teaching, given for Delaware language teachers by Karen Willetts and Lynn Thompson of the Center for Applied Linguistics. The exercise, called "Eavesdropping," is aimed at advanced students.

"Instructions to students." Listen to a conversation somewhere in a public place and be prepared to answer, in the target language, some general questions about what was said.

1. Who was talking?

2. About how old were they?

3. Where were they when you eavesdropped?

4. What were they talking about?

5. What did they say?

6. Did they become aware that you were listening to them?

The exercise puts students in a real-world listening situation where they must report information overheard. Most likely they have an opinion of the topic, and a class discussion could follow, in the target language, about their experiences and viewpoints.

Communicative exercises such as this motivate the students by treating topics of their choice, at an appropriately challenging level.

Another exercise taken from the same source is for beginning students of Spanish. In "Listening for the Gist," students are placed in an everyday situation where they must listen to an authentic text.

"Objective." Students listen to a passage to get general understanding of the topic or message.

"Directions." Have students listen to the following announcement to decide what the speaker is promoting.

"Passage." "Situacion ideal...Servicio de transporte al Aeropuerto Internacional...Cuarenta y dos habitaciones de lujo, con aire acondicionado...Elegante restaurante...de fama internacional."

(The announcement can be read by the teacher or played on tape.) Then ask students to circle the letter of the most appropriate answer on their copy, which consists of the following multiple-choice options:

a. a taxi service

b. a hotel

c. an airport

d. a restaurant

(Source: Adapted from Ontario Assessment Instrument Pool, 1980, Item No. 13019)

Gunter Gerngross, an English teacher in Austria, gives an example of how he makes his lessons more communicative. He cites a widely used textbook that shows English children having a pet show. "Even when learners act out this scene creatively and enthusiastically, they do not reach the depth of involvement that is almost tangible when they act out a short text that presents a family conflict revolving round the question of whether the children should be allowed to have a pet or not" (Gerngross & Puchta, 1984, p. 92). He continues to say that the communicative approach "puts great emphasis on listening, which implies an active will to try to understand others. [This is] one of the hardest tasks to achieve because the children are used to listening to the teacher but not to their peers. There are no quick, set recipes.

That the teacher be a patient listener is the basic requirement" (p. 98).

The observation by Gerngross on the role of the teacher as one of listener rather than speaker brings up several points to be discussed in the next portion of this digest.

HOW DO THE ROLES OF THE TEACHER AND STUDENT CHANGE IN COMMUNICATIVE LANGUAGE TEACHING?

Teachers in communicative classrooms will find themselves talking less and listening more--becoming active facilitators of their students' learning (Larsen-Freeman, 1986). The teacher sets up the exercise, but because the students' performance is the goal, the teacher must step back and observe, sometimes acting as referee or monitor. A classroom during a communicative activity is far from quiet, however. The students do most of the speaking, and frequently the scene of a classroom during a communicative exercise is active, with students leaving their seats to complete a task.

Because of the increased responsibility to participate, students may find they gain confidence in using the target language in general. Students are more responsible managers of their own learning (Larsen-Freeman, 1986).

WHERE CAN I LEARN MORE ABOUT COMMUNICATIVE TEACHING?

All of the following documents on communicative language teaching are in the ERIC database. They can be read on microfiche at any library housing an ERIC collection or purchased in microfiche or paper copy from the ERIC Document Reproduction Service (EDRS), 7420 Fullerton Road, Suite 110, Springfield, VA 22153-2852 (1-800-443-3742).

REFERENCES

Ben-Barka, A. C. [1982]. "In search of a language teaching framework: An adaptation of a communicative approach to functional practice." (EDRS No. ED 239 507, 26 pages)

Das, B. K. (Ed.) (1984). "Communicative language teaching." Selected papers from the RELC seminar (Singapore). "Anthology Series 14." (EDRS No. ED 266 661, 234 pages)

Littlewood, W. T. (1983). "Communicative approach to language teaching methodology (CLCS Occasional Paper No. 7)." Dublin: Dublin University, Trinity College, Centre for Language and Communication Studies. (EDRS No. ED 235 690, 23 pages)

Pattison, P. (1987). "The communicative approach and classroom realities." (EDRS No. ED 288 407, 17 pages)

Riley, P. (1982). "Topics in communicative methodology: Including a preliminary and selective bibliography on the communicative approach." (EDRS No. ED 231 213, 31 pages)

Savignon, S. J., & Berns, M. S. (Eds.). (1983). "Communicative language teaching: Where are we going? Studies in Language Learning," 4(2). (EDRS No. ED 278 226, 210 pages)

Sheils, J. (1986). "Implications of the communicative approach for the role of the teacher." (EDRS No. ED 268 831, 7 pages)

Swain, M., & Canale, M. (1982). "The role of grammar in a communicative approach to second language teaching and testing." (EDRS No. ED 221 026, 8 pages) (not available separately; available from EDRS as part of ED 221 023, 138 pages)

Willems, G., & Riley, P. (Eds.). (1984). "Communicative foreign language teaching and the training of foreign language teachers." (EDRS No. ED 273 102, 219 pages)

Readers may also wish to consult the following journal articles for additional information on communicative language teaching.

Clark, J. L. (1987). Classroom assessment in a communicative approach. "British Journal of Language Teaching," 25(1), 9-19.

Dolle, D., & Willems, G. M. (1984). The communicative approach to foreign language teaching: The teacher's case. "European Journal of Teacher Education," 7(2), 145-54.

Morrow, K., & Schocker, M. (1987). Using texts in a communicative approach. "ELT Journal," 41(4), 248-56.

Oxford, R. L., et al. (1989). Language learning strategies, the communicative approach, and their classroom implications. "Foreign Language Annals," 22(1), 29-39.

Pica, T. P. (1988). Communicative language teaching: An aid to second language acquisition? Some insights from classroom research. "English Quarterly," 21(2), 70-80.

Rosenthal, A. S., & Sloane, R. A. (1987). A communicative approach to foreign language instruction: The UMBC project. "Foreign Language Annals," 20(3), 245-53.

Swan, M. (1985). A critical look at the communicative approach (1). "ELT Journal," 39(1), 2-12.

Swan, M. (1985). A critical look at the communicative approach (2). "ELT Journal," 39(2), 76-87.

Terrell, T. D. (1991). The role of grammar instruction in a communicative approach. "Modern Language Journal," 75(1), 52-63.

REFERENCES AND RESOURCES

Berns, M. S. (1984). Functional approaches to language and language teaching: Another look. In S. Savignon & M. S. Berns (Eds.), "Initiatives in communicative language teaching. A book of readings" (pp. 3-21). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Gerngross, G., & Puchta, H. (1984). Beyond notions and functions: Language teaching or the art of letting go. In S. Savignon & M. S. Berns (Eds.), "Initiatives in communicative language teaching. A book of readings" (pp. 89-107). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

Larsen-Freeman, D. (1986). "Techniques and principles in language teaching." Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Littlewood, W. (1981). "Language teaching. An introduction." Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Savignon, S., & Berns, M. S. (Eds.). (1984). "Initiatives in communicative language teaching." Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

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Communicative Language Teaching: An Introduction and Sample Activities. ERIC Digest.

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ERIC Identifier: Publication Date: Author: Source: This digest will take a look at the communicative approach to the teaching of foreign languages. It is intended as an introduction to the communicative approach for teachers and teachers-in-training who want to provide opportunities in the classroom for their students to engage in real-life communication in the target language.

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English language learners (ELLs) have been getting more attention in educational research than ever before. They face unique challenges in the classroom, but there are proven programs and techniques that can boost their achievement and help them reach the same benchmarks as their native English-speaking peers.

Here you will find the latest reports and research-based recommendations on reaching, teaching, and assessing ELLs. Many reports also address areas where more research is needed. This section may be especially useful for researchers, graduate students, policymakers, curriculum developers, and school administrators.

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English language learners (ELLs) have been getting more attention in educational research than ever before. They face unique challenges in the classroom, but there are proven programs and techniques that can boost their achievement and help them reach the same benchmarks as their native English-speaking peers.

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Teaching ELLs-What Does the Research Say?

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Teaching ELLs-What Does the Research Say?

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Nearly 3 in 4 American classrooms now includes at least one English-language learner, and these students make up roughly 1 in 10 public school students.

While their numbers continue to rise quickly, the evidence on what works best to help non-native speakers become proficient in English-particularly the more formal academic language needed for school success-has been harder to come by.

What does the federal law say about how schools should approach ELL instruction?

The federal requirement stems from the landmark 1974 case Lau v. Nichols, in which the U.S. Supreme Court found that Chinese-American English-learners in California who were not given educational accommodations to help them learn English did not receive equal access to education.

In essence, this was discrimination due to their language and national origin, a violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Lau 's mandate has been preserved in subsequent versions of the main federal K-12 law, including the version approved by Congress late last year which states that school districts must take "affirmative steps" to counter students' language barriers and ensure ELLs can "participate meaningfully in schools' educational programs."

In 2015, the Education Department's office for civil rights issued a letter updating how districts should approach ELLs. Districts must use instructional practices and programs that are backed by scientific evidence and effective in helping students speak, listen, read, and write English and meet challenging state content standards.

What are the most common types of instruction for students learning English as a second language?

Most U.S. schools use variations on one or all of the following:

Pullout/push-in tutoring: English-learners attend core academic classes in English, while being provided separate instructional support in the language either by an ELL specialist during the class or in a separate session outside of class. This method is most often used for English-learners with at least some proficiency in the language.

Sheltered English instruction: English-learners, particularly those with low English proficiency, are taught in a stand-alone classroom. The teacher may focus several hours of the day on direct language instruction as well as academic content. Within a classroom, students often are grouped by their English proficiency so that lessons can be tailored for different levels. Most of these programs are designed to be short-as little as a single year-but some critics have argued that such programs can delay ELLs' access to regular content. Among the most common versions of this is the Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol, or SIOP. Three states-Arizona, California, and Massachusetts-have laws requiring sheltered English instruction and limiting the use of bilingual instruction. (California voters will have an opportunity to overturn the restrictions on bilingual education later this year.)

Bilingual instruction: Students receive ongoing language and subject matter instruction in both their native language and English. These programs may serve ELLs only, in a multiyear "developmental" program or a short-term "transitional" program. By contrast, dual-language immersion programs include both native and non-native speakers. These often begin with most of the content taught in the target, or non-English language. Gradually, the time spent teaching in both languages is evenly split, with the goal of making all students exit the program proficient in both languages. This is most commonly used for programs with a high percentage of ELL students of a single native language, such as Spanish or Chinese.

What does research say about the effectiveness of different ELL instructional methods?

While all three main types of ELL instruction have been in use for decades, there is relatively little rigorous research on the general effectiveness of each method, and evidence is particularly scarce on the most effective methods for specific ELL populations, such as young versus older ELLs, or those of different language groups. This is particularly concerning since federal civil rights law requires districts to take into account an ELL's English-proficiency level, grade, educational background, and in some cases, native-language background to determine appropriate services.

A series of Stanford University studies, including a 2015 study in the journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, found that English-learners in bilingual programs had language arts and math scores that grew as fast or faster than those of ELLs in sheltered English immersion, but students in developmental bilingual programs showed slower growth in math than those in other types of bilingual and sheltered-English instruction.

Moreover, in 2015, a four-year randomized controlled trial evaluation of the Portland, Ore., dual-language immersion programs found that students who participated in the programs outperformed their other English-learner peers in English-reading skills by a full school year's worth of learning by the end of middle school.

A rigorous federal research review in 2013 found that no evaluations of sheltered English immersion met its quality standards. There have been a few studies since then, including a cluster-randomized study of Project GLAD, a version of sheltered immersion, which found mixed results for the approach, in part because teachers implemented it very differently from school to school.

"It would be hard right now to do a good [randomized controlled trial] of SIOP because of its broad spread in schools," said Theresa Deussen, a co-author of the Project GLAD study. "Most teachers don't use [structured immersion] as a coordinated package of integrated strategies. ... Instead, they think of it as [individual] 'tools in the toolbox.'"

What instructional practices help ELLs learn academic content?

Regardless of the overall program structure, the Institute of Education Sciences, the Education Department's research agency, has identified rigorous evidence that the following teaching practices are effective in teaching academic content to ELLs:

Teach a set of academic vocabulary words intensively, over several days and a variety of activities.

Integrate instruction in spoken and written English into content-area teaching, such as using science laboratory reports to teach writing in English.

Provide ongoing, structured chances to develop writing skills.

Provide small-group interventions for students struggling with specific problems in literacy or language development.

How long does it typically take for English-language learners to become proficient in English?

A landmark study of California ELLs in 2000 found students in both bilingual and sheltered English programs typically took three to five years to become proficient in oral English and five to seven years to become proficient in academic English. This timeline is still generally considered standard by ELL educators, but the new version of the federal K-12 law gives districts three years to bring students to full proficiency and allows them to include former English-learners in the ELL accountability subgroup for up to four years.

A 2015 study by Education Northwest of ELLs entering kindergarten in Washington state found that half reached proficiency in 3.8 years, but 18 percent of the students were not proficient within eight years. The timelines varied significantly by the English level students had upon entering kindergarten, and also by their home language.

For example, Korean-speaking students reached proficiency on average in less than three years, while Spanish-speaking students took on average more than four years. However, the study did not have enough data to suggest why ELLs of different language groups had different rates of learning English.

"It seems like it would be more difficult for a Chinese speaker to learn English than a Spanish speaker, but it doesn't always hold true," said Jason Greenberg Motamedi, an Education Northwest senior researcher and the author of the study.

"It may be less the fact that they speak a particular language than other characteristics we can't see here. 'Spanish' may be just standing in for a whole host of other things [such as low income or immigrant status]. Half of the Spanish speakers are second or third generation in Washington. They've grown up there, but clearly there are structural barriers that are preventing them from [reaching English proficiency]."

How long it takes students to reach proficiency has a huge bearing on longer-term outcomes.

A 2013 study found English-learners who reached proficiency by the end of kindergarten showed no academic gap with native English speakers, while students who did not reach proficiency by the end of 1st grade showed significant gaps in reading and math compared to native English speakers. While these gaps narrowed in reading over time, they grew in math.

Is effective ELL instruction the same for immigrant and native-born students?

While many English-learners do arrive as immigrants, the vast majority-some 80 percent-are born in the United States and enter U.S. schools at the beginning of their academic careers.

For ELLs who enter the United States before the start of their school years, the instructional approach is generally the same, though Motameti and other researchers' studies have found that students who enter kindergarten with very low English proficiency take longer to catch up. There have not been significant studies looking at whether particular instructional approaches are more effective for immigrant versus native-born ELLs who start in kindergarten or preschool.

Research suggests older ELLs, particularly "newcomers" who enter in middle and high school, have needs, particularly in content-area language and instruction, that are quite separate from those of ELLs who were born in the United States or who came in early grades.

A 2015 case study of so-called "newcomer schools" in Ohio and New York City suggested that they can be more supportive environments for older ELLs, but may be associated with lower academic achievement. An earlier three-year study by the Center for Applied Linguistics found that the most effective "newcomer schools" provided: flexible course scheduling; teachers skilled and regularly trained in ELL supports; basic adolescent literacy interventions coupled with ELL interventions; content instruction designed to fill gaps in academic learning; and ongoing monitoring of student progress.

The most effective programs also provided significant extended-learning time, including before and after school, on Saturdays, and in summer. They connected immigrant students with family and social services, and provided supports to help students transition to college, careers, and practical life after high school.

Do federal civil rights laws related to ELL instruction apply to charter schools, too?

Yes. The Education Department's office for civil rights issued guidance in 2014 confirming that charter schools, like any public schools, must take steps to support students learning English and ensure their admissions, disciplinary, and other policies do not disproportionately affect ELLs or their parents. For example, OCR entered a resolution agreement with the BASIS DC Public Charter School after finding that students who did not speak English at home were not appropriately screened for their English-language skills, and teachers incorrectly believed that only the school's reading lab teacher was responsible for providing ELL services.

Is there a bilingual advantage?

Students who become fully fluent in multiple languages generally perform better academically than either fluent monolingual students or students who are not fully proficient in more than one language. However, researchers are still not sure how much of an advantage there is or what accounts for it.

In the past decade, cognitive and neuroscience studies have suggested that fully bilingual students can switch between cognitive tasks faster than monolingual students. However, a 2014 analysis in the journal Psychological Science found that studies between 1999 and 2012 that found a link between bilingualism and executive control were more likely to be published than those that found either no effect or a negative result. This suggests that journals may be more willing to publish studies that find bilingual benefits.

What can we expect from ELL research in the near future?

More than 45 states now use one of two English-language proficiency assessments: the World-Class Instructional Design and Assessment, or WIDA, or the new ELPA 21 test. Because these two tests have become so common, researchers are in the process of developing crosswalk studies to compare proficiency and achievement across different states. This would enable better comparisons of different state and district approaches to identifying, supporting, and eventually reclassifying English-learners.

"For the first time ever we can get an image of what proficiency development looks like across the nation," Motameti said. "A year ago or two we couldn't do that."

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Teaching English-Language Learners: What Does the Research Tell Us?

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Nearly 3 in 4 American classrooms now includes at least one English-language learner, and these students make up roughly 1 in 10 public school students. While their numbers continue to rise quickly, the evidence on what works best to help non-native speakers become proficient in English-particularly the more formal academic language needed for school success-has been harder to come by.

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Long-term ELs (LTELs) are students who struggle to exit our language services. I place LTELs into two groups. Many LTELs can navigate social interactions and follow instructions, but their grammar is mangled by missing articles, inconsistent tenses, and contorted sentence structures. For others, their spoken social language improves drastically while their written academic language remains in the informal register. Regardless of the types of LTELs you have, they remain in the program long-term because they struggle to be independent.

Categories of long-term ELs

Group 1: Highly proficient listening and speaking skills, but struggles to comprehend academic texts and to produce formal writing; reading below grade level.

Group 2: Able to understand spoken English, but oral and written language is grammatically incorrect; reading below grade level.

Let's analyze a word. What word do you see in the word independent ? Most people say that they see the word . Who are LTELs usually dependent on? Teachers! We are called to this profession because we love helping and supporting ELs. In fact, Haas and Brown found that LTELs are highly susceptible to dropping out of school (2019). However, in our desire to aid them, we might be guilty of doing much for them. Over time, they become dependent on us.

They need to internalize the strategies that we use to help them comprehend content. LTELs also need to utilize the strategies we employ when writing.

In my rush to help students complete a task or to learn content, I miss the real learning opportunity: the chance to teach life strategies.

Metacognitive Students

Metacognition is the academic term for awareness or thinking about thinking (Saaris, 2017). In a school context, metacognition means students thinking about students learn. We all have students who, after receiving instructions, raise their hands to say, "I need help" or "I don't know what to do." Metacognitive students ask themselves such questions as:
When students ask themselves these questions, they become less dependent on us and much more dependent on the strategies that promote learning.
Likewise, metacognitive ELs think about the language they are learning and how to apply strategies to learn a language. ELs can still grow their language skills without having to be metacognitive. However, it takes them a longer time, which is why they are considered long term ELs . For LTELs, learning a language is something done them. For the ELs that develop language more quickly, language is something that do themselves.

Metacognitive ELs ask such questions as:

How is English different than my home language?

How is English similar to home language?

What strategies can I use to understand?

What strategies can I use to communicate?

Hattie's research suggests that students who think metacognitively are more likely to make a year and a half of growth for every year of instruction (2008).

Applying Hattie's research to ELs, we can infer that LTEL students are not as adept at thinking about or reflecting on how to learn a language. They just allow learning a language to happen instead of actively employing strategies to make learning a language more effective.

Teaching metacognitive thinking

Whenever I teach, I make an effort to ask students to reflect on the effectiveness of the strategies they used to learn. This reflection is the main way that I teach metacognition.

For example, I was working with a 5th grader named Long. He has plateaued in his language development because he has not yet been able to make the switch from social to academic language when talking about school content.

During one particular session, I had to pre-teach the carbon cycle to prepare him for tomorrow's class. The teacher provided an article and video as resources. We decided to use the Youtube video first. As I worked with him, I said, "Long, because we're watching a science video, there's going to be lots of facts. What are some strategies we can use to help us watch a science video?"

He mentioned things such as:

pausing the video to think about the information

turning on the subtitles

auto-translating the subtitles from English to Vietnamese, and

slowing down the speed of the video.

He identified pausing the video as the strategy he wants to try. I asked him when we should use that strategy. Long answered that when there is new information or when there's too much information to understand. I praised him for his reflection, and we started watching the video.

When he paused, I asked him what he understood. After Long explained what he had learned, I asked him what he might do to remember it. This led to a discussion about the need for taking notes. Since he is familiar with mind-mapping note taking, I suggested a box method where one side contained a place for him to draw pictures and the other side was reserved for making notes about the drawing.

We continued watching the rest of the video - periodically stopping it to allow him to process the information and transfer his understanding onto his notebook. To develop his metacognition, I had him reflect on how this box-drawing-annotating method worked for him compared to the mindmap. Long said that he preferred this method more because he could draw images and not just take written notes. The last question I asked was, "Why is it important to take notes while watching a science video?", and he gave thoughtful, appropriate responses.

There were two layers to this lesson:

1. Content: the carbon cycle.

2. Process: what strategy he used to learn the content

In the video below, you will see my metacognitive reflection with Long about note-taking.

The Metacognitive Questions

I would argue that every lesson has content and opportunities to think metacognitively about learning. If we teach only content without teaching metacognitive skills, then we've only taught half the lesson. Teaching content without teaching metacognitive thinking ensures that students become dependent on us because they do not have strategy awareness.

Echevarria, Vogt, and Short (2017) suggest in Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners (5th edition) that there are three things we have to teach when teaching a strategy:

In the lesson with Long, I go through each of these phases with him.

When to use the strategy: When watching a science video, we need to use strategies to understand the content.

How to use the strategy: Create two columns, one for images and one for writing.

Why use the strategy: Science content builds on each other, so understanding each part of a process is important to fully understand the whole.

Takeaway

In the future, I will teach Long to ask these questions to himself when he learns new content. However, the first step is to just have him stop and realize that there are strategies we can use to make learning easier. This leads to greater independence and confidence. Strategies empower students and make them feel that they are capable, competent, and intelligent. They start to develop a sense of agency and comfort about school rather than feeling marginalized and struggling.

As he becomes more metacognitive, I can shift his awareness to other strategies that he can use to help him learn a language, to switch from a social to an academic register, and to examine similarities between Vietnamese and English.

Students do not become Long-Term English learners by choice. They are just not aware that there are strategies to choose from to improve their learning experiences. When they develop this awareness, their language won't plateau but will grow towards the sky and beyond.

References

Echevarria, J., Vogt, M., & Short, D. J. (2017). Making content comprehensible for English learners: The SIOP model . Boston: Pearson.

Haas, E., & Brown, J. E. (2019). Supporting English learners in the classroom: Best practices for distinguishing language acquisition from learning disabilities . New York: Teachers College Press.

Hattie, J. (2008). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement . Abingdon: Routledge.

Saaris, N. (2017, February 23). Mastering Metacognition: The What, Why, and How. Retrieved from https://www.activelylearn.com/post/metacognition

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96. Why some students remain long-term ELs? | Empowering ELLs

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Long-term ELs (LTELs) are students who struggle to exit our language services. I place LTELs into two groups. Many LTELs can navigate social interactions and follow instructions, but their grammar is mangled by missing articles, inconsistent tenses, and contorted sentence structures. For others, their spoken social language improves drastically while their written academic language remains in the informal register.

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96. Why some students remain long-term ELs? | Empowering ELLs https://t.co/k28EDMZm3Q

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96. Why some students remain long-term ELs? | Empowering ELLs https://t.co/k28EDMZm3Q

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96. Why some students remain long-term ELs? | Empowering ELLs https://t.co/k28EDMZm3Q
— Leanne Hart (@hartoflearning1) July 6, 2019

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96. Why some students remain long-term ELs? | Empowering ELLs https://t.co/k28EDMZm3Q

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96. Why some students remain long-term ELs? | Empowering ELLs https://t.co/k28EDMZm3Q

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96. Why some students remain long-term ELs? | Empowering ELLs https://t.co/k28EDMZm3Q

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3-Reads Math Problem Strategy (Shared by @G1naTeachLearn on Twitter)

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3-Reads Math Problem Strategy (Shared by @G1naTeachLearn on Twitter)

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#multilinguals #content #math #wordproblems #strategy 3 reads #inquiry #EAL #ESL #sfusdmath https://t.co/8rmGmfAkLM

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#multilinguals #content #math #wordproblems #strategy 3 reads #inquiry #EAL #ESL #sfusdmath https://t.co/8rmGmfAkLM https://t.co/HDQEsmj8FG

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#multilinguals #content #math #wordproblems #strategy 3 reads #inquiry #EAL #ESL #sfusdmath https://t.co/8rmGmfAkLM pic.twitter.com/HDQEsmj8FG
— Gina Ballesteros R.🇪🇨 🇰🇪 🇺🇸 🇨🇳 🇲🇾 🏳️‍🌈 (@G1naTeachLearn) September 13, 2019

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#multilinguals #content #math #wordproblems #strategy 3 reads #inquiry #EAL #ESL #sfusdmath https://t.co/8rmGmfAkLM https://t.co/HDQEsmj8FG

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#multilinguals #content #math #wordproblems #strategy 3 reads #inquiry #EAL #ESL #sfusdmath https://t.co/8rmGmfAkLM https://t.co/HDQEsmj8FG

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#multilinguals #content #math #wordproblems #strategy 3 reads #inquiry #EAL #ESL #sfusdmath https://t.co/8rmGmfAkLM

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Scaffolding Secondary Reading - October 25th, 2019 BCTESOL Conference by Loa Richardson | This newsletter was created with Smore, an online tool for creating beautiful newsletters for individual educators, schools and districts

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Carol Salva just shared a great website that students can access multiple leveled texts.
https://www.newsinlevels.com/

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The Same Text Written for Different Levels

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The Same Text Written for Different Levels

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Larry Ferlazzo

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Having the "same" text written for different levels of English comprehension can be a life-saver for a multi-level class of English Language Learners or for a teacher with a mainstream class that includes some students that are facing other challenges. They can be an important tool for differentiation.

But where do you get these different versions other than creating them yourself?

Here are a few sources, and I hope that readers will suggest more:

Newsela provides several "levels" of the same newspaper articles, along with accompanying online quizzes, that students can read and take. For a small fee, Teachers can create a virtual classroom, assign articles and monitor student progress. However, students can read the articles for free without having to pay anything.

News In Levels offers similar resources, but without the ability to track student progress online. The site is free.

For The Teachers has similar leveled articles available for download. It, too, is free.
Breaking News English
Text Compactor lets you paste text into it and then automatically shares different versions with fewer words. It seemed to work pretty well when I tried it.

Rewordify is like a super-sophisticated Text Compactor on steroids. You can read my previous post about it: "Rewordify" Is One Of The Most Unique Sites Out There For English Language Learners & Others.

Reader Laurie suggests Embedded Reading, which has these kinds of similar "leveled" texts in English, as well as in other languages.

I learned about CommonLit from the amazing educator Suzie Boss at her recent Edutopia post. It's a neat site that doesn't actually provide the "same" text written for different "levels." What it does do, however, is provide leveled readings - with prompts - on the same theme. It's pretty neat. (They've just added many new features - see "CommonLit" Now Lets Teachers Create Free Virtual Classrooms)

Books That Grow has a library of texts that have each been edited to be made accessible to different reading levels. And it has some other unique features - teachers can create virtual classrooms to assign and/or monitor what students what are reading and students can click on words that are new to them to see definitions and hear how they are pronounced. They are also planning on adding comprehension questions. The texts can be read on any device.

Thanks to reader Vincy Murgillo for letting me know about the Smithsonian's Tween Tribune. It provides daily news stories, with the same one edited several times for different reading levels. The stories also have self-scoring quizzes and provide decent "critical thinking" questions that students can respond to in the comments. On top of that, teachers can create virtual classrooms to monitor it all, as well as moderating student comments. And it's all available for free!

You have to pay for it, but Birdbrain Science and History have similar resources (they've changed their name to RocketLit).

Newsela, which is on this list, has now begun to provide Spanish translations of some articles, including providing them at different reading levels. Here is their blog post announcing the feature, and here's a link to their Spanish-language text sets.
The British Council Has Excellent Leveled Reading Resources "TIME/Edge" Could Be Useful For Students Over The Summer
Kids Discover has several levels for social studies instruction - for a price that does not seem to be unreasonable.
"Simplish" Automatically Simplifies And/Or Summarizes Text "ReadWorks" Now Provides "Same" Texts At Different Level
Scholastic has a small number of audio-supported same text at different levels (they also have a few more here). In addition, their Storyworks program has many more, though it costs about $8 per student to use.

Thanks to Christina Cabal's blog (which is on the The Top Blogs and Resource Sites For Teachers Of English Language Learners list), I've learned about a new site called Learn With News. It provides articles about current events, which each one having three versions at different lexile levels. They also provide questions for each article. However, they are not interactive online, so you would need to either print them out or project them. The site also says they will soon be adding audio support for the text.
"Freckle" Provides Hundreds Of Articles In "5 or more different reading levels" "News-O-Matic" Is Definitely A Site I Would Consider Using With Students Right Now "TIME FOR KIDS" NOW OFFERS MATERIALS IN MULTIPLE LANGUAGES, SAME ARTICLE IN DIFFERENT LEXILE LEVELS
Graded listening is a radio program from the British Council that is provided in three "lexile" levels.

Transforming the Resources You Have into Accessible Formats for All Students is an excellent post by Carmen Nguyen.

Brittanica Kids has all of its articles written in three different levels: Kids, Students, Scholars. There is a cost involved, but a lot of their resources are available for free. For example, I found this article on The Compromise of 1850 that I'll be using in my ELL U.S. History class. They also have a small collection of free "read aloud" books for new readers. I'm not sure what the restrictions are about what's free and what's for subscribers only.
The OER Project Offers The Same Social Studies Texts In Different Lexile Levels - For Free!
I think a lot of teachers will find this post from TESOL useful: Create Your Own Leveled Readers.

The Juice offers daily news articles at four different levels. You have to pay for it, though it's not astronomical.

This is a good list-I'd add that Scholastic Action (needs purchasing) is a hit with Middle & High #ELs newcomer to advanced. It includes different lexile versions. With engaging graphics, digital supplements, & access to past issues and it's easy to build high interest units.

- Holly Sawyer (@HollySawyerESL) October 31, 2021

VERY GOOD VIDEO ON "TEXT ENGINEERING" TO MAKE IT MORE ACCESSIBLE TO ELLS & EVERYBODY ELSE
What makes writing more readable? is a really interesting interactive from The Pudding. It illustrates - graphically - how to write in a more accessible way.

News2You provides weekly news articles in four different levels. It costs about $240 annually.
ChatGPT Will Make Different Lexile Level Versions Of The Same Text
Welma simplifies sentences and paragraphs through the use of AI.

HOW TO DIFFERENTIATE TEXTS WITH CHATGPT is from TechNotes.
" Eigo.ai " Is A New Free Site Using Artificial Intelligence To Support ELLs NEWSELA MAKING BIG CHANGES TO THEIR FREE PLAN
Diffit looks likes a nice tool for teachers to use for creating differentiated materials and more.
HOW DID I NOT KNOW ABOUT THE GREAT SITE "DAYS IN LEVELS"?
I'm adding this list to The Best Resources On Differentiating Instruction.

Also, see THE BEST STRATEGIES FOR "ENGINEERING" TEXT SO THAT IT'S MORE ACCESSIBLE TO ELLS.

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The Best Places To Get The "Same" Text Written For Different "Levels"

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Having the "same" text written for different levels of English comprehension can be a life-saver for a multi-level class of English Language Learners or for a teacher with a mainstream ...

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https://sightwords.com
Sight words build speed and fluency when reading. Accuracy, speed, and fluency in reading increase reading comprehension. They also are often a stumbling block to EL students This website provides free games templates, teaching videos and more! All templates can be edited to fit your classroom and student needs.

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Online Reader

Immediately reads out loud any text with natural sounding voices.

Upload or edit any kind of text - pdf, txt, ebooks - click Play and enjoy listening.

Remembers text and position - so you can stop and continue at any time. Supports cloud-sync and more.

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Enhance your Chrome with in-page speech capabilities. Listen to news, wiki articles & more, directly on their websites.

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It's free of course. Click to learn more.

Voice Over Artists List

Since you got here - you were probably looking for text-to-speech services.

So, we thought we can help with one more aspect of it.

Here's a list we compiled of professionals in the field. Contact them directly. We take no fee. We only made the list - and verified each one on it to be the professional he claims.

See All Posts

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Text To Speech Reader. Online, Accurate, Free & Unlimited | TTSReader

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Immediately reads out loud any text with natural sounding voices. Upload or edit any kind of text - pdf, txt, ebooks - click Play and enjoy listening. Remembers text and position - so you can stop and continue at any time. Supports cloud-sync and more. Simple. Beautiful. Completely free.

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Talk Moves - Teaching Students How to Have a Conversation by Loa Richardson | This newsletter was created with Smore, an online tool for creating beautiful newsletters for individual educators, schools and districts

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Not going to sugarcoat this: 
We are never going to close the gaps until teachers let students do most of the talking.

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Not going to sugarcoat this: 
We are never going to close the gaps until teachers let students do most of the talking.

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Not going to sugarcoat this:
We are never going to close the gaps until teachers let students do most of the talking.
— David Kauffman (@david_kauffman) June 14, 2019

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Not going to sugarcoat this: 
We are never going to close the gaps until teachers let students do most of the talking.

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Not going to sugarcoat this: 
We are never going to close the gaps until teachers let students do most of the talking.

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Not going to sugarcoat this: 
We are never going to close the gaps until teachers let students do most of the talking.

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Put sentence patterns first. Humans chunk everything into patterns. The larger the chunk, the lighter the load on working memory as we process language. However, if you put the teaching of single words and conjugations first you will raise a breed of slow and hesitant speakers.

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Put sentence patterns first. Humans chunk everything into patterns. The larger the chunk, the lighter the load on working memory as we process language. However, if you put the teaching of single words and conjugations first you will raise a breed of slow and hesitant speakers.

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Put sentence patterns first. Humans chunk everything into patterns. The larger the chunk, the lighter the load on working memory as we process language. However, if you put the teaching of single words and conjugations first you will raise a breed of slow and hesitant speakers.
— Dr Gianfranco Conti (@gianfrancocont9) March 11, 2019

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Put sentence patterns first. Humans chunk everything into patterns. The larger the chunk, the lighter the load on working memory as we process language. However, if you put the teaching of single words and conjugations first you will raise a breed of slow and hesitant speakers.

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Put sentence patterns first. Humans chunk everything into patterns. The larger the chunk, the lighter the load on working memory as we process language. However, if you put the teaching of single words and conjugations first you will raise a breed of slow and hesitant speakers.

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Put sentence patterns first. Humans chunk everything into patterns. The larger the chunk, the lighter the load on working memory as we process language. However, if you put the teaching of single words and conjugations first you will raise a breed of slow and hesitant speakers.

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What I tell teachers and leaders is to please consider what your expectations are and then to plan supports carefully for students to reach those goals. Language objectives can really help us focus here. If our expectations are that we want students to explain the difference between mitosis and meiosis, do they know how to compare and contrast? Do teachers know what's required to engage in the language function of compare/contrast? (Learn more about language objectives and functions ) If we want students to discuss the causes of the civil war, do they know how to synthesize and refer to evidence in doing so? And backing way up, if we expect students to look eye-to-eye and engage in active listening, do they know how to do that? There is so much involved in interactive discussions, and like any classroom procedure, this needs to be modeled and practiced. And reflected upon. And practiced again. And again.

Academic conversations can create the conditions and to provide the tools for students to go beyond turn and talk into deeper discourse. Academic conversations, when implemented thoughtfully, teaches students the language of specific functions of academic language across the content areas. If students are taught how to explain, infer, summarize, paraphrase, inquire, the list goes on...then they are much more likely to do so successfully, using the language (and content) we want them to use. In schools where the common, systemic expectation is structured yet authentic conversations, I see high levels of student engagement, rich oral language production, and more efficacious teachers (and leaders!) Here is a strategy we created at Confianza, called Paraphrasing Partners, to deepen learning and academic discourse. We use it in our professional learning and promote it in the classroom too! Start by modeling this partner activity using the language function of paraphrase. Then add other more advanced language functions like agree/disagree, challenge others' ideas, evaluate, synthesize, support ideas with evidence, etc.

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Going Beyond 'Turn and Talk': Academic Conversations for ELLs - Confianza

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by Sarah Ottow, Founder of Confianza and Author of "The Language Lens for Content Classrooms Guidebook" A lot of my time as a coach supporting schools is spent observing teachers and providing targeted feedback to help boost language development for their language learners-both multilingual learne

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ELL 2.0: Oral Language Strategies for ELLs

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Teaching Channel

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Monique LaCour explains how she uses sentence frames to support academic conversation in her math classroom. She shares how these frames are especially helpful for English Language Learners.

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Using Conversation in Formative Assessment

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Using Conversation in Formative Assessment

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Jeff Zwiers

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By Aída Walqui, Margaret Heritage

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Consider this interaction between a teacher and his students, most of them English language learners, in a ninth-grade English language arts class:

Teacher: Who wrote The Pearl, Carmen?

Carmen: Steinbeck wrote The Pearl.

Teacher: Very good. And Rosa, who is the main character in this novella?

Rosa: I guess the main character is Kino, although his wife, Juana, is also important.

Teacher: That's right. And why do we say The Pearl is a novella? Jim?

Now contrast it with the interaction other ninth-graders had in their English language arts/English language development class:

Teacher: As we begin to explore this short story, "The Necklace," written by a French author from the 19th century, Guy de Maupassant, I am inviting you to read the first four paragraphs with your partner using types of "Question-Answer Relationships."* We have practiced this process several times, so unless we require some explanation-[students signal they do not]-then, please get started. As you engage in reading and discussing, I would like you to focus on the character Mathilde and think about what kind of person she is. We will then focus on the problem she faces.

Rodrigo (after reading the first paragraph of "The Necklace" aloud to his partner, Martha): OK, I am going to ask you a "think and search" question. Did Mathilde grow up in a rich family?

Martha: I am not sure. I think no, because the paragraph says she could not marry a "rich and distinguished man" and had to marry a little clerk. Is that an employee? [Rodrigo nods his assent.] I guess it is because she is not rich. But she was very pretty and charming, right?

So now I am going to read the second paragraph. [She proceeds to read aloud to Rodrigo, then pauses and thinks.] I am confused, so I guess I will ask you a think and search question. The text says "with women there is neither caste nor rank, for beauty, grace and charm take the place of family and birth." Is the author saying that for women, money does not matter? Why did she marry a clerk then?

Rodrigo: Yeah, I agree. I don't fully understand. You said she was pretty but not rich. Now the second paragraph says that's in place of family and birth, so does that mean richness? Does it not matter if women are pretty? Does it matter or doesn't it matter? [Both students decide to raise these questions later during the whole-class discussion. Then Rodrigo proceeds to read the third paragraph to Martha.]

We have all observed classes resembling the first example, where the teacher already knows the answers to the questions being asked, as do most students. The exchange is just an exercise in reiterating the known using complete sentences. In contrast, students in the second example must actively consider the possibilities related to the text, by asking and responding to questions that reveal their understanding.

How do we ensure that all English language learners have opportunities to productively use oral language in academic settings? And how do we ensure that teachers leverage the power of classroom interactions to simultaneously foster language development, content knowledge, and analytical practices? In this article, we offer answers to these questions-and clarify common misconceptions-by presenting guidelines supported by both research and classroom practice.

A Framework for Oral Language

If English language learners (ELLs) are going to productively engage in classroom discourse and express their thinking related to content learning goals, teachers must create a trusting classroom culture in which students feel that whatever level of language they can produce, their contributions will be valued by their teacher and peers and will never be subject to ridicule, sanctions, or negative comparisons. ² Establishing classroom norms such as close listening to understand the ideas ELLs are conveying and showing respect to each other during their interactions (learning, of course, from the models their teachers provide) is essential for successful oral language use. Students need to know that interrupting their peers as they are formulating ideas and finishing their sentences for them are not desirable classroom norms.

As teachers plan to engage students in oral interactions, the framework shown in Figure 1 below can help guide their support for their students' work and language development. The framework comprises six interconnected levels.
(click image for larger view)
First, teachers need to ensure that students clearly understand the purpose of the interaction they are being asked to undertake. For example, are they supposed to read a text and elaborate their thinking, highlighting what they understand and what they don't? Are they engaged in describing a scene to somebody who has not seen it? Are they being asked to make a prediction after observing phenomena they will later investigate?

Second, teachers need to make sure students have ideas upon which they will elaborate. For example, have they noticed the most important aspects of the scene (the background, main character(s) presented, what they are doing, other relevant details) on which they will center their description?

Third, teachers need to help students organize their thoughts and ensure their language follows specific patterns. For example, descriptions of a scene from a text cannot begin with sentences such as, "He kicks it, it breaks." Students need to first indicate the setting of the scene, then introduce the characters, describe them, and explain what they are doing. This sequence is essential to help participants engaged in a conversation paint pictures in their minds. Organization is marked by phrases that can be provided to students as formulaic expressions (which we discuss later in this article) to use: ³ "The picture we have shows a..." "We can see a..." "Our scene takes place in a..." "Based on my observation..." "The two historical contexts are..."

Fourth, teachers need to consider the types of sentences students produce and judiciously highlight how they may be combined and expanded to produce more complex language. Increasing complexity can be accomplished with the use of connectors and conjunctions, such as "besides," "furthermore," "additionally," "however," etc.

Fifth, teachers must pay attention to the words students use. Is one word repeated several times in an interaction? If so, teachers can take the opportunity to introduce a synonym. Do students incorrectly or imprecisely use a term? Teachers can take a moment to clarify usage and meaning.

Finally, when students are ready to present their work to others, teachers can focus on the pronunciation of carefully selected elements-only those that interrupt understanding.
Traditionally, many educators have been taught to focus on correcting student utterances by zeroing in on form and not on meaning. As a result, our framework may initially feel counterintuitive, but the more educators rely on it, the more it will assist them in supporting students' language growth.

Productive Talk

As a general pattern, we educators often talk too much, no doubt influenced by our "apprenticeship of observation" that began when we were students ourselves. ⁴ However, given the centrality of talk in learning, this pattern needs to change. By some estimates, ELLs spend less than 2 percent of their school day in oral interaction. ⁵ Teachers must find ways to provide students learning opportunities that engage them in productive talk and then listen carefully to the language they use in order to support their continued growth.

By productive talk, we mean speech that has the following characteristics:

Has depth: the specific idea being discussed is central to the theme of the lesson, is presented in interconnected ways, and engages students' analytical thinking.

Is sustained: one student's statement is followed by another student's response, which extends, refutes, or questions what was first said.

Is student controlled: students control what they say, not the teacher. But teachers set up parameters for the interactions, sometimes framing questions that start the conversation. These questions are intended to communicate new related ideas, propose counter ideas or examples, and in general enhance the theme at work.⁶

Now consider these characteristics in an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) class, which comprises students with varied levels of English competence. ⁷ "Language" is the theme of the students' exploration, and this was the third class on the topic. Table 1 below shows the deliberate moves of the teacher, Mr. DeFazio, during the lesson and the students' interactions. The text in the table indicates the multiple instances of productive talk that he promotes with his directions and actions.
(click image for larger view)
Let us look more closely at a specific interaction that occurred in the lesson after a student, Lavinia, reads the beginning of a letter she wrote about animal communication, and another student, Julio, reacts to one of her statements that animals do not have language.

Julio: Animal communication is not a language? It is a language-that's what I think-because they are communicating with each other.

Lavinia: But they don't speak.

Class: [Many students agree with Julio, saying "Yes, they do," or nodding.]

Julio: You said a language can have words, sounds, gestures, and everything.

Class: [Many students are in agreement with Julio's ideas once again.]

Lavinia: But they don't have words. They don't say "mama."

Julio: They don't need to. They have other characteristics. In animal language, some of the characteristics that you said are present-sound, pitch, gestures-so it is a language.

Mr. DeFazio: Julio is arguing very strongly that animal communication is language. Lavinia is saying that it's not. What do you think would be a way to help them resolve that argument in their writing?

Class: [The discussion continues and a resolution emerges. Then Julio reads a section of his letter.]

Mr. DeFazio: A lot is going to depend on how you define language, OK? You can define it in such a way as to exclude what animals do; you can define it in a very broad way, as a system of communication that includes everything. You are going to find linguists and zoologists who disagree, and if you are interested, I can give you some readings that were in the journal Science last year, people arguing back and forth.

Julio (reading his letter): First of all, I think that language is a way to inform others around you, your feelings, or just a simple thing that you want to let people know what is the deal. And it can be expressed by saying it, looking at a picture, or hearing it, you know what I'm saying? I don't know if you have heard about the kangaroo rat that stamps its feet to communicate with other rats. It's really funny 'cause we humans have more characteristics to communicate to each other, but we still have problems to understand other people. Characteristics like sound, grammar, pictures, and body language are some of them, while the rat only uses the foot. [Julio stamps the ground.]

Mr. DeFazio: Excellent! [The class applauds.] I never even heard about the kangaroo rat. Nice job, nice job. [Mr. DeFazio shakes Julio's hand.]

Applying the framework illustrated in Figure 1 to this interaction, we notice that students are clearly aware that the purpose of this exercise is to compare diverse positions on communication and to debate whether animals have language or not, providing evidence for their positions. They have ideas, and they choose which ones to debate based on a diversity of opinions. Mr. DeFazio's opportunity to correct student work, suggest changes, ask for elaboration, and so forth comes in the letters he is asking his students to construct. This written product is intimately tied to oral production. Oral activity feeds into writing, and writing produces oral activity.

In terms of productive talk, in Mr. DeFazio's class, students' analytic thinking is engaged, their interaction is sustained, and they control what they say. Mr. DeFazio has chosen a theme for the lesson that appeals to the students, and he has deliberately planned their active engagement throughout. As a result, the interaction engages students in deep thinking as they compare views on language.

Now that we have seen the characteristics of quality interactions for ELLs in practice, in the next section, we provide guidelines for promoting quality interactions during content lessons.

Six Guidelines for Promoting Quality Interactions

1. Design lessons that involve ELLs' participation in subject-specific and substantive oral practice to accomplish clearly defined lesson goals: Planning a lesson always begins with establishing the destination: Where do teachers need to lead students? Teachers should ask: Are my goals closely related to content standards? What is the knowledge that will be constructed? Which analytic practice will be promoted? What is the language (beyond isolated words or sentences) that will need to be developed? Unless teachers themselves are clear about the goals of a lesson, they will not be able to plan the tasks and activities that support students' language and conceptual development.

2. Construct tasks that appropriately scaffold student participation and growth: Tasks need to be deliberately constructed to engage students in working beyond their current competence. Such tasks should promote worthwhile interactions for students to acquire new conceptual understandings and analytical skills and language. They should also have appropriate scaffolds, which entail teachers closely observing students to ascertain whether the support is working, whether it is still needed, or whether it needs to be modified or replaced.

3. Make sure the task is designed to meet its purposes and the materials used are appropriate to support students working at the edge of their competence successfully: Learning is most effective when tasks are designed to match students' current competencies and also challenge them to move forward, with support.

4. Make sure that activities or tasks follow and precede others logically to build coherent lessons: Leading students to increasingly more complex demands is essential if teachers want their lessons to flow smoothly and to incrementally build ELLs' understanding.

5. Integrate reading and writing into oral development activities: Oral interaction while reading texts not only allows ELLs to understand the text more deeply but also helps them develop awareness of what they understand as they read and what they can do to solve problems in reading.

6. Be selective in addressing errors and intentional in providing feedback: When ELLs use English to develop their understanding of content and their use of analytical practices, often their language will be neither accurate nor fully formed, although the intent of their communication will be apparent. Imagine, for a moment, the impact on ELLs' motivation and self-esteem if teacher responses to inaccuracies constituted a constant flow of error correction. Instead, consider formative feedback to students as invitations to understand how they are progressing in language development and to provide a resource for how they can advance. When feedback is given to students about language while they are learning discipline-specific content, the feedback should focus on language so that students can make sense of the academic content, rather than on correcting errors of language production. As such, feedback can increase the students' awareness and help them troubleshoot their own performance and eventually correct their own language.⁸

There is no hard and fast rule about how much feedback students should receive or how often it should be provided; this is a decision teachers will need to make for themselves, given their knowledge of their students, their language and content goals, and the students' current language use. However, because of the powerful impact that feedback can have on learning, ⁹ we advise teachers to make providing feedback a regular and routine part of their classroom practice.

Common Misconceptions

Designing and facilitating meaningful classroom talk is essential for ELLs-indeed for all students-to develop more extended and sophisticated language use while simultaneously learning subject matter. Yet in too many U.S. classrooms, we find ELLs sitting silently, watching their teachers do all the work, and waiting for opportunities to fully engage cognitively and linguistically.

By way of concluding thoughts, we outline five pitfalls to avoid in thinking about language learning, and we provide suggestions for how teachers can engage students in sustained, high-quality classroom talk.

Misconception 1: Sentence frames that provide students with a way of expressing their ideas about specific situations are helpful to them.

A sentence frame is basically a fill-in-the-blank type of activity that invites only one correct answer. Sometimes it can be open and provide starters for students (also called sentence starters for this reason) to be filled in any way. However, these starters may not provide students with phrases they can use time and time again in academic situations. ¹⁰ For example: "The main character in The Pearl is a modest and loving man, furthermore..." "His wife, Juana, loves Kino and Coyotito, their baby, and because of that..."

In addition to using sentence frames, we suggest teachers use formulaic expressions, which are phrases that help start or link ideas and can be used in many situations. Initially, students learn them as unanalyzed chunks, almost as if they were one word. Later on, as students learn more English, they begin to realize the formulaic expressions are formed by several words. Formulaic expressions are extremely useful in students' development of English and in making their interaction with peers possible and more effective. Examples of formulaic expressions are: "I agree with you, and I can add that..." "May I suggest a couple of other ideas? One example I can offer..."

Misconception 2: Correct mistakes students make as they talk or they will "fossilize."

Historically, correctness has been regarded as paramount in second language learners' use of English. More recently, however, researchers' attention has shifted to the larger components of communication, as discussed before: purpose, ideas, organization, types of sentences, vocabulary, and pronunciation. Fossilization, a concept popular in the 1980s, refers to the inability of second language learners to learn the correct forms of language if they continually misuse them. Our perspective, consistent with that of multiple applied linguists, is that language keeps evolving as a result of continuous practice. It may fossilize if it is no longer used productively or receptively. However, in their schooling, students will be invited to engage in uses of language continuously, and thus, they will have ample opportunities to correct themselves or be corrected by others.

Misconception 3: Rather than correcting students' ungrammatical oral language, it is better to provide them with recasts, which model correct English in response to students' mistakes.

It is common for teachers to believe that rather than correcting a student's mistakes-and putting him or her on the spot-it is better to repeat what a student has said, this time changing the student's utterance into grammatical English. They think that recasting saves a student's face and that it is a less authoritarian approach.

Research, however, shows that these implicit corrections may not be productive. ¹¹ Students do not take teachers' recasts as corrections, but rather as reiterations of the idea and as acceptance of students' comments as being right. When the time is appropriate to focus on selected language forms to study and correct, the correction and expansion activity needs to be made explicit.

Misconception 4: Sustained, focused interactions are possible starting in fourth or fifth grade, but lower elementary students are not mature enough to carry them out because they get too impatient with the task and with each other.

Recently, during an open house at an elementary school in Portland, Oregon, one of us (Aída) had the opportunity to visit three classes. The first one was a kindergarten class. The teacher, Mr. Andanen, was preparing students to read and discuss Julius, the Baby of the World, a book by Kevin Henkes, an author the students were already familiar with because they had enjoyed reading three of his other books in class.

To introduce the book, Mr. Andanen set up nine stations around the room and invited students to walk through them. At each station, a picture illustrating a scene from the book was prominently displayed. Students were asked to rotate around the stations every three minutes. At each station, students needed to stop, look at the picture, and explain what they noticed. The teacher had asked students to use a "talking stick" so that the turns to speak were democratically divided within the group at each station. Peers had to listen attentively to the speaker and agree with, disagree with, or expand on what the student said. Formulaic expressions such as "In this picture, I notice..." and "I noticed that, too, and I want to add..." were familiar to the group. At one station, Aída heard the following exchange:

Student 1: I notice a woman holding a big baby. Her mouth is open. I think she is crying.

Student 2: I also noticed she had her mouth open, but I don't think she is crying. I think she is singing.

Student 3: I also noticed the woman with the big baby, and I want to add that he is very heavy. Perhaps that is why she is screaming.

The exchange shows that Mr. Andanen has created an environment that enables young children to notice and use language in purposeful ways. Although the students were only in kindergarten, they clearly articulated their ideas and listened to others. They showed they will soon be ready to start exploring the book more deeply so that they can eventually write an opinion piece based on evidence from the text about which Henkes book was their favorite.

Misconception 5: All students in a class need to master the same levels of oral development as a result of participating in lessons.

Because not all students in a class will be at the same starting point, a robust activity provides multiple entry points for all students to engage as they learn. The important idea is that they should all be gaining-not that all of them will arrive at the same point, in exactly the same way, developing at exactly the same level. This would only be possible if what is learned is limited, and if the learning demands recall. This is not necessarily what we want in education. Rather, we want to produce individuals who are thoughtful, engaged, and conscious of their own development.

English language learners bring valuable assets and immense potential to school. The role of educators is to realize that potential in deep and accelerated ways. Each classroom teacher must ensure the path to that development is paved with meaningful interactions to help students develop language skills, gain conceptual understanding, and learn academic content. Our students deserve no less.
Aída Walqui is the director of the teacher professional development program at WestEd. Previously, she taught in the Division of Education at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. Margaret Heritage is a senior advisor at WestEd and was previously an assistant director at the National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing at the University of California, Los Angeles.
*Taffy Raphael's Question-Answer Relationships framework ¹ is intended to call students' attention to the kinds of questions that may be asked about a text. In this class, students work in pairs, announcing first the type of question he or she will ask to increase the other student's awareness of the types of meaningful connections the question seeks. ( back to the article)

Endnotes

1. Taffy E. Raphael, "Teaching Question Answer Relationships, Revisited," The Reading Teacher 39 (1986): 516-522.

2. Alison L. Bailey and Margaret Heritage, Progressing Students' Language Day by Day (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2018).

3. See Rod Ellis, Instructed Second Language Acquisition: A Literature Review (Wellington, New Zealand: Ministry of Education, 2005).

4. Dan C. Lortie, Schoolteacher: A Sociological Study (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975).

5. Diane August, referenced in Ivannia Soto-Hinman, "Increasing Academic Oral Language Development: Using English Language Learner Shadowing in Classrooms," Multicultural Education 18, no. 2 (Winter 2011): 21-23.

6. Aída Walqui and Leo van Lier, Scaffolding the Academic Success of Adolescent English Language Learners: A Pedagogy of Promise (San Francisco: WestEd, 2010).

7. Anthony DeFazio and Aída Walqui, Where Do You Want to Go Next? (San Francisco: WestEd, 2001), DVD.

8. David J. Nicol and Debra Macfarlane‐Dick, "Formative Assessment and Self‐Regulated Learning: A Model and Seven Principles of Good Feedback Practice," Studies in Higher Education 31 (2006): 199-218.

9. See, for example, John Hattie and Helen Timperley, "The Power of Feedback," Review of Educational Research 77 (2007): 81-112.

10. For more on sentence frames, see Ellis, Instructed Second Language Acquisition.

11. Ahlem Ammar and Nina Spada, "One Size Fits All? Recasts, Prompts, and L2 Learning," Studies in Second Language Acquisition 28 (2006): 543-574; Ellis, Instructed Second Language Acquisition; and Roy Lyster, "Differential Effects of Prompts and Recasts in Form-Focused Instruction," Studies in Second Language Acquisition 26 (2004): 399-432.

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Consider this interaction between a teacher and his students, most of them English language learners, in a ninth-grade English language arts class: Teacher: Who wrote The Pearl, Carmen? Carmen: Steinbeck wrote The Pearl. Teacher: Very good. And Rosa, who is the main character in this novella?

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12 Fun Speaking Games ffor Language Learners

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12 Fun Speaking Games ffor Language Learners

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Edutopia is a free source of information, inspiration, and practical strategies for learning and teaching in preK-12 education. We are published by the George Lucas Educational Foundation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization.

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In this new series, created in partnership with Oakland Unified School District, we delve into three classrooms where English Language Learners (ELLs) are engaged in academic conversations. From talk moves to participation protocols, these teachers share clear structures that encourage students to talk and learn from each other.

Inspired by Jeff Zweirs and Marie Crawford's book Academic Conversations, teachers at OUSD are working on building the oral language skills of all students.

It's clear that academic discussions benefit all students, with particular benefits for ELLs. As Nicole Knight, OUSD's Executive Director of the English Language Learner and Multilingual Achievement Office says in her blog, "Academic discussion helps all students to develop their reasoning, understand multiple perspectives, and deepen understanding of content."

Watching students engage in academic conversations can seem mystifying: how did the students get to the point where they could independently hold these types of conversations? By hearing the teachers break down their structures and routines, the process becomes much more understandable.

From these videos, we learn five tips for engaging students in academic conversations:

1. Talk Moves: Middle School English Language Development (ELD) teacher Tamica Groves has her students learn and practice various "talk moves" as a way of engaging in academic conversations. In this video, we see students practicing talk moves like adding on to each others' responses, asking questions, and agreeing with what others say.

2. Using and Adapting Socratic Seminars: High School ELA teacher Johanna Paraiso has been using the Socratic Seminar format with her students all year long. After holding numerous Socratic Seminars as a way to discuss complex texts, Johanna adapts the format to have students discuss their senior research projects. It's inspiring to see students reflecting on their performances through discussion with each other.

3. Participation Protocol: Middle School ELA teacher Viet-ly Nguyen uses a participation protocol to structure her students' discussions. This protocol encourages students to actively listen, add onto each others' ideas, and cite evidence for their thinking. In this lesson, students read a chapter from the book One Crazy Summer, and then engage in an academic conversation to analyze characters' actions. The participation protocol helps encourage active participation from every student.

4. Reflecting on Discussions: Using video and scribing helps Johanna Paraiso and her students reflect on their academic conversations. Jo takes video of her students' discussions and then transcribes what they say. By sharing her videos and notes, students are able to think about how they participated and how they can improve their participation. Jo is also able to use these videos to reflect on her teaching and how it impacted student learning: a win-win!

Watch an overview video of this series.

As you watch these videos, think about how you can engage your students in academic conversations. Which strategies can you adapt for use in your classroom?
Lily Jones taught K/1 for seven years in Northern California. She has experience as a curriculum developer, instructional coach, teacher trainer, and is also a contributing writer for Teaching Channel.

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Video Playlist: Engaging ELLs in Academic Conversations

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In this new series, created in partnership with Oakland Unified School District, we visit three classrooms where ELLs are engaged in academic conversations.

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Valentina Gonzalez

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"A picture is worth a thousand words"...Yes, so how we get those words out? Picture Talks to the Rescue! What is a picture talk and how do I use it to help my students with listening, speaking,...

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Speaking Stems for Text-Dependent Questions

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Speaking Stems for Text-Dependent Questions

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Total Response Signals & QSSSA - Based on 7 Steps to Building a Language Rich Classroom by Anita de la Isla | This newsletter was created with Smore, an online tool for creating beautiful newsletters for educators, nonprofits, businesses and more

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#ScholasticAction + Text Evidence sentence stems= an authentic and engaging academic discussion for these learners! 🙌 @scholastic

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#ScholasticAction + Text Evidence sentence stems= an authentic and engaging academic discussion for these learners! 🙌 @scholastic https://t.co/6omEfNW2h2

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#ScholasticAction + Text Evidence sentence stems= an authentic and engaging academic discussion for these learners! 🙌 @scholastic pic.twitter.com/6omEfNW2h2
— Kendra Katnik (@KendraKatnik) September 28, 2018

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#ScholasticAction + Text Evidence sentence stems= an authentic and engaging academic discussion for these learners! 🙌 @scholastic https://t.co/6omEfNW2h2

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#ScholasticAction + Text Evidence sentence stems= an authentic and engaging academic discussion for these learners! 🙌 @scholastic https://t.co/6omEfNW2h2

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#ScholasticAction + Text Evidence sentence stems= an authentic and engaging academic discussion for these learners! 🙌 @scholastic

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Listen to my interview with Jeff Frieden (transcript):
Sponsored by Peergrade and Microsoft Teams for Education

In our dreamiest of teacher dreams, some of us might imagine days when our students spontaneously erupt into complex, nuanced conversations about the things they're learning in our classes. If we borrow the language of the Common Core, they would "engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade-level topics, texts, and issues, building on others' ideas and expressing their own clearly."

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? And maybe the "teacher-led" kind is possible, because we could structure and guide it, but that doesn't give students much ownership of their learning. In groups? That might be a bit harder to accomplish. And one-on-one? Well, how do you even manage that?

Jeff Frieden, a high school English teacher in southern California, wondered the same thing. Wanting a less teacher-centered class, he was looking for ways to get students talking to each other about the content. He'd tried all kinds of techniques- think-pair-share, appointment clocks, groups of four-but none of them gave him the results he was looking for.

When he tried to get the whole class talking in mixer-style activities, they would "poke holes in those systems," he said. "They just kind of work their way around it to end up talking to their friends, and it becomes more social than content-centered interaction." Meanwhile, he also discovered that many of his students, who had gone to school together for years, didn't know each other's names.

Then one morning, just a few minutes before class started, he came up with something new on the fly: A simple system for getting every student in the room to talk with every other student, a way of tracking conversations over time so that students had a reason to reach out to people they never interacted with, and have more meaningful, content-based discussions with each other. Since he started using this method, Jeff says his classroom just feels different. Students are taking more academic risks, diving deeper into the content, and actually getting to know each other.

The Strategy

Here is the Ongoing Conversations system Frieden uses to get his students talking:

Each student is given a conversation tracker, a chart where they keep track of the conversations they've had with other students in the class.

Students are to have conversations with a minimum number of other students (set by the teacher-about 75 percent of the class) over a predetermined period of time (say, 2 to 3 weeks). These conversations can be structured, based on topic prompts supplied by the teacher.

On their tracker, students record the name of the person they talked to, the date of their conversation, and a one-line summary of what they talked about.

Once a pair of students has had a conversation, they may not return to each other until after they have reached the minimum number of unique conversations set by the teacher.

The image below shows one version of a conversation tracker, where Frieden's students were discussing a novel they'd read.

Currently, Frieden scaffolds the conversations by supplying topics for each round of conversation; students are not left to come up with ideas on their own. He projects these topics one at a time on Google Slides: "It might be something as simple as, Explain one thing that really confused you from the chapter to your partner. " Sometimes he'll recycle a topic by having students switch partners, then summarize the conversation they just had with their last partner.

The Benefits

On the first day Frieden tried Ongoing Conversations, "It went surprisingly well," he says. "I was actually shocked by how well it was going. And it was more content-centered talking, too; it wasn't just about their social lives. They were really responding to the prompts that I was giving them and talking about the book."

Now that he's using the strategy on a regular basis, he's found that it delivers several benefits:

More Students Engaged

Before switching to this method, Frieden believes far fewer students were actually participating in his class.

"For years, I was seeing what I wanted to see with student interactions," he says. Although his class discussions felt lively, "I might have like a third of my class really interacting." Moving to Ongoing Conversations gave more students an opportunity to really participate in discussions.

Simple, Actionable Formative Assessment

When he uses Ongoing Conversations, Frieden says, "My check for understanding is by walking around. The other day my sophomores were talking about Animal Farm, and I had asked a question about Clover, and there were way too many of them saying, 'Clover? Who's Clover? I don't know who Clover is.' And so I just went, 'Okay. Time out.' And then we talked about that character and her relevance in the story."

As a formative assessment method, Ongoing Conversations offers two advantages: It lets teachers take immediate action-like in the scenario above-and it gives them less work to take home. "I don't need to do exit tickets, I don't need to do quizzes," Frieden says, "I collect less work, but students do more."

Works with Other Strategies

This method can be blended with other discussion and instructional strategies. For example, if Frieden is having students do a philosophical chairs discussion, he might have them turn and talk with someone on their side of the room, then record that interaction on their conversation tracker.

Not Just for English Class

Ongoing Conversations is a strategy that can be used in any content area. Although Frieden initially structured these conversations around literature, he quickly realized they could be expanded beyond that. When he moved students into an inquiry-based research project, he continued using the conversation tracker, swapping out literature-based questions with prompts that centered on the research students were doing.

Grading and Assessment

Do these conversations get a grade? When Frieden first started using this system, he gave students a small amount of points for these conversations, and that would work in a points-based classroom. This year, however, he's been working toward a modified version of a gradeless classroom, where a student's course grade is determined by a conference in which the student must justify how well they've met the standards.

Frieden has found that knowing these conferences are coming is what generally keeps students motivated to give the Ongoing Conversations a good effort; they know Frieden is paying attention. "I'm watching," he says. "I'm going to hold you accountable to this, and eventually we're going to have a conversation. You're going to have to look me in the eye and say, 'This is what grade I deserve,' or 'Here, I can justify this grade.'"

Tips for Success

Don't "Free-Range" It

Frieden did not just hand students the charts and tell them to start talking: Even though they are in 12th grade, they needed a bit of structure for the strategy to be successful; younger students would need even more scaffolding. In addition to providing questions for discussion, talk with students ahead of time about behavior expectations, how to initiate conversations, how to ask follow-up questions, and even how to record the content on the tracker. You might even want to model a conversation fishbowl-style, with you as one of the participants, so students can see what a good quality conversation looks like ahead of time.

Frame the Discussion Through a Helping Lens

To relieve the anxiety students might feel about these conversations, Frieden launches the conversations by framing them through a lens of mutual support.

"I'm going to come clean that I'm a confused reader," he tells them. "Join the club. When I read something for the first time, it's always confusing, and I need help to understand it. So let's basically form this class-wide support group here for struggling readers, and as we go through this, let's talk about the things that are perplexing to us that we don't get, words we don't understand. Maybe we miss a detail that our partners or our friends figure out, so they can help us."

Setting this tone has helped student relax. "They kind of know, 'Oh, okay. We're just in here to kind of feel our way through this novel,'" Frieden says. "That's what I'm hoping."

The Value of Conversation

Giving students regular opportunities to engage in rich conversations is good for them in so many ways. "There's tremendous benefit in getting past some of the socially awkward stuff," Frieden points out. "And really just learning how to interact with another human being will actually enrich your academic life too."

Students are recognizing the benefits, too. "Even though they're struggling through the discomfort, they say that it's exposing them to ideas they wouldn't have considered had they just been asked to do it alone or respond on a worksheet," Frieden says. "I had one student who actually wrote a lengthy response saying, You know what? I don't know if I've changed my mind, but I just told myself, 'For the sake of this, I'm going to be open,' and it's actually changed the way I think about this issue. "

It was one of those rare moments when you know you're doing something right.

"My teacher nerd heart was singing that day." ♥

You can learn more from Jeff Frieden by following him on Twitter or visiting his website, Make them Master It, where he shares tons of great ideas and insights about teaching. You can read his original post about Ongoing Conversations here.

Come back for more.
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Get Students Talking with Ongoing Conversations

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It's not just a fantasy: This simple system gets every student in your room to have rich conversations with every other student. About content. Really.

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Students Sitting Around Too Much? Try Chat Stations
https://t.co/yeMnf1mf2f
#studenttalk #chatstations #studentcollaboration #k12 #edchat

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Students Sitting Around Too Much? Try Chat Stations. | Cult of Pedagogy

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Your new favorite teaching strategy: This pared-down version of learning stations keeps the movement, interactivity and variety while minimizing the prep work.

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Students Sitting Around Too Much? Try Chat Stations
https://t.co/yeMnf1mf2f
#studenttalk #chatstations #studentcollaboration #k12 #edchat

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Students Sitting Around Too Much? Try Chat Stationshttps://t.co/yeMnf1mf2f#studenttalk #chatstations #studentcollaboration #k12 #edchat
— Cult of Pedagogy (@cultofpedagogy) December 9, 2018

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Students Sitting Around Too Much? Try Chat Stations
https://t.co/yeMnf1mf2f
#studenttalk #chatstations #studentcollaboration #k12 #edchat

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Students Sitting Around Too Much? Try Chat Stations
https://t.co/yeMnf1mf2f
#studenttalk #chatstations #studentcollaboration #k12 #edchat

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Students Sitting Around Too Much? Try Chat Stations
https://t.co/yeMnf1mf2f
#studenttalk #chatstations #studentcollaboration #k12 #edchat

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#7. The Harkness Discussion: Where Everyone Has a Voice at the Table - ELL Strategies | TanKHuynh

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How the Harkness Method works when using ELL teaching strategies. Teaching ELLs to read critically through collaborative discussions.

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Seriously, this is the best way to group your students for multiple opportunities to use language!

I found this idea on a blog many many years ago and recently tried to seek out the instructions to share during a Professional Development session I am providing. I could not find this specific page but shared the link to the general blog above. I found my old sticks and have recreated the steps here for you!

As second language teachers (K-12), we all know that if students do not use the target language on a regular basis, they will not own the language. "Sociocultural theories also emphasize the need for students to have opportunities to speak, with scaffolded as needed, in order to learn to speak in a manner that others can understand." (Wright, 168)

What follows is a way for you to randomly group up to 25 students. Obviously you can remove sticks for smaller class sizes. For larger class sizes you can easily add popsicle sticks as "pick your own group" or "free choice". What sets these sticks apart from simply "numbering off" the students is that the groups that you form using the color, number or shape are three unique groupings of students!

Step 1: Purchase colored popsicle sticks. You should be able to make a classroom set with one $2.99 package of sticks. (I made three sets with two packages if you plan to make them for your whole team!)

Step 2: Sort the sticks in 5 groups of 5 different colors and number the sticks 1-5. I loved the purple color but could not see the numbers or shapes in black Sharpie so I chose to use the "blue" which is more like an aquamarine.

Steps 3-5: Take one stick from each color and assign it a shape. I chose hearts first. (I would follow my color groups exactly so you do not make errors.)

Then I chose circles, triangles, squares and stars.

Step 6: Now you have 5 groups of like shapes.

Step 7: This is where the magic becomes visible! You are quickly able to sort your students into three distinct groups. This means in three separate group arrangements NOBODY in your class will be clustered with the same person. I love this for many reasons! Students who may not have had much to share in the first group formation might borrow some ideas to share with his or her second (or third) group. Teachers can easily provide students with opportunities for thoughtful repetition of target language. Don't forget to scaffold language practice as needed by providing students with the discussion prompt in written form or with sentence starters! The best part of this grouping strategy is that the actual act of forming groups does not take away from valuable teaching time!

Here are the 3 classroom sets I made with 2 stick packages! Share this idea and our blog with your teacher friends!

Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice, Second Edition. Caslon Publishing. 2015

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The BEST Way to Group Students - Read en Espanol

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Seriously, this is the best way to group your students for multiple opportunities to use language! I found this idea on a blog many many years ago and recently tried to seek out the instructions to share during a Professional ... Continued

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I’m guilty of thinking Turn & Talk was enough. 😔 @ELLStanford @WestEd suggest the following guidelines for convos. Works w/Entering-Commanding! I mix these ideas with @nancymotleyTRTW👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

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I’m guilty of thinking Turn & Talk was enough. 😔 @ELLStanford @WestEd suggest the following guidelines for convos. Works w/Entering-Commanding! I mix these ideas with @nancymotleyTRTW👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 https://t.co/QVE1sld4xj

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Something went wrong, but don’t fret — let’s give it another shot.

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I’m guilty of thinking Turn & Talk was enough. 😔 @ELLStanford @WestEd suggest the following guidelines for convos. Works w/Entering-Commanding! I mix these ideas with @nancymotleyTRTW👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 pic.twitter.com/QVE1sld4xj
— Claudia Leon (@MrsLeonENL) November 11, 2018

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I’m guilty of thinking Turn & Talk was enough. 😔 @ELLStanford @WestEd suggest the following guidelines for convos. Works w/Entering-Commanding! I mix these ideas with @nancymotleyTRTW👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 https://t.co/QVE1sld4xj

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I’m guilty of thinking Turn & Talk was enough. 😔 @ELLStanford @WestEd suggest the following guidelines for convos. Works w/Entering-Commanding! I mix these ideas with @nancymotleyTRTW👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 https://t.co/QVE1sld4xj

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I’m guilty of thinking Turn & Talk was enough. 😔 @ELLStanford @WestEd suggest the following guidelines for convos. Works w/Entering-Commanding! I mix these ideas with @nancymotleyTRTW👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

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ESL Rural Mural

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ELL Parent, Guardian and Family Resources.docx

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The 'summer slide' is a real thing. When summer hits, many students digress in learning. Sadly, English learners can become victim to the 'Summer Slide'. We can help our students and their families...

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Thematic Adventure Packs in English and Spanish

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Thematic Adventure Packs in English and Spanish

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Reading Rockets

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Reading adventure packs contain a paired set of theme-based fiction and nonfiction books with related interactive activities that kids can bring home from school to share with their family. Find out how to encourage hands-on, fun learning at home with Reading Rockets' Family Literacy Bags!

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The Remind App is a wonderful too to communicate with families! It translates!

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Stay connected with your classes with free two-way messaging

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Language and Culture Guides - Resources - NYU Steinhardt

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Concise descriptions of the languages and cultures our students bring with them - with great tips for educators. Arabic, NY Arab-American Demographic Sheet, Bengali, Burmese, Burma Facts, Chinese, French, Haitian, Karen, Karen Cultural Tips & Trends, Korean, Native American, Russian, Somal

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Engaged ELL parents bring invaluable dedication and wisdom regarding their children to the school community and can be crucial partners in supporting their children's success. This guide offers twenty big ideas to help school leaders get started on the path towards a strong home-school partnership. An overview of the guide and related video clips are included below. You can also see this guide in an article format.

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A Guide for Engaging ELL Families: Twenty Strategies for School Leaders

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Engaged ELL parents bring invaluable dedication and wisdom regarding their children to the school community and can be crucial partners in supporting their children's success. This guide offers twenty big ideas to help school leaders get started on the path towards a strong home-school partnership.

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English language learners (ELLs) benefit just as much from their parents' involvement in their education as other students. Some Hispanic parents may feel apprehensive about getting involved because of their limited English skills, lack of familiarity with mainstream culture and the public school system in the United States, and other reasons. Below are some ways to reach out to parents of ELLs and increase the likelihood of their participation.

Use their preferred language

This is an essential place to start. Without a common language, very little communication can take place. Here are some ways to build an ongoing relationship with parents by reaching out through their native language.

Find a fully bilingual interpreter.

Whether a school employee, parent liaison, family member, friend, or community member, this person can translate for parent-teacher conferences, back-to-school nights, PTA meetings, and regular communication. It is best to find an adult and not rely on the student as the translator, as this practice can disempower the parent.

Translate the written communications that you send home.

Find a way to send home personal notes and materials in Spanish. This will keep parents in the loop on issues such as report cards, school events, and homework. Try to offer complete translations in a straightforward Spanish that parents can understand.

Learn some Spanish yourself.

Even if it is just some common words and greetings, using Spanish with parents will make them feel welcome. For starters, here are a few common classroom words and phrases in Spanish.

Put parents in touch with bilingual staff.

Give parents a list of names and phone numbers of bilingual staff in the school and district who they can contact to deal with educational concerns. Also encourage them to reach out to other parents who are bilingual or monolingual so they can share experiences and help one another.

Educate parents on the U.S. school system

To support their children's education, the parents of your ELL students need to understand how the U.S. school system and culture work. Listen to parents' concerns, answer their questions, and provide them with written materials in Spanish. Make sure that they understand things like:

How your school works

If necessary, review school hours, school holidays, school rules, school trajectory from pre-kindergarten through high school, and the school's administrative hierarchy.

Your school curriculum, standards, benchmarks, and materials

Consider that in many Latin American countries, the curriculum is very centralized. There is often one set of books. Uniforms are usually required. And rules tend to be the same for all schools across an entire country.

Teacher/school expectations

Explain that teachers hope and expect that parents will help with homework, find tutors, read books, tell stories, take their children to the library, visit the classroom, and become involved in the school.

Parent rights

Make certain that your ELL parents know about their rights regarding access to interpreters and translated materials from your school, free lunch programs, your school's ELL curriculum, supplementary school services that may be available to their children, and anything else that parents at your school have a right to know. If your school receives federal funds, provide information on the No Child Left Behind requirements of schools and the rights of parents. Learn about parents' rights.

Language programs

Work in collaboration with your school social service worker or guidance counselor, and explain the different language program options that your school has, why they work the way they do, and why the chosen program may be most suitable for their children. If parents have doubts, discuss their options and invite them to visit and observe the class.

Arrange home and community visits

Visiting homes and communities is a way to establish a relationship with parents who are working during school and after-school hours or who may feel intimidated by the school setting. Before doing this, however, make sure that parents are receptive to the idea and that your school district and union allow home visits by teachers.

It is often easier to resolve difficult issues face to face as opposed to over the telephone or through written communication. This way, you and the parents can anticipate problems and agree on how to solve them. When organizing home and community visits, try to:

Arrange for an interpreter to be present.

Respect the family's time constraints and choice of location - whether in the home, church, or community center.

Point out ways they can help with their child's language development, reading skills, and homework.

Welcome parents into your school

Here are some ways to involve Hispanic parents at school:

Host a Spanish-language back-to-school night

Host an evening event at the beginning of the school year for Spanish-speaking parents. Make sure ahead of time that a good interpreter will be in attendance. For this important first meeting, try to accommodate parents' requests for scheduling, transportation, and child care. Take this time to get to know them, communicate your expectations, and answer questions. Also find out the best way to maintain regular communication with each of these parents.

Arrange for a "tour" of the school

Within the first semester, organize a general school orientation session for parents of English language learners. With a bilingual facilitator, explain and answer any questions about things such as state standards, assessments, school expectations, language program options, etc. It would be helpful to actually walk parents around the school and introduce them to key people on staff. Some states, districts, and schools already do this.

Benefits of reaching out

Watch children's author and literacy advocate Pat Mora discuss the benefits to reaching out to Spanish-speaking parents.

This video is also available on YouTube.

Recruit volunteers

If parents are willing to volunteer their time, find out what their interests and skills are. ELL parents may be able to help with a variety of activities, such as cooking food for school-wide holidays, telling stories, teaching a dance, teaching a craft, or making a presentation.

Adult learning opportunities

Immigrant families may be unaware of the opportunities available to them. Another way to reach out to parents is to make them aware of learning opportunities for themselves. Somewhere in your community there are likely to be English and/or native language literacy classes for adults, family literacy projects, and parenting classes.

If your school has not compiled a list of these resources, ask your school administrators to do so. They should call your school district, city, county, library, park and recreation center, community college, and community-based organizations. Be sure to verify that families are eligible to receive the services offered regardless of immigration status. To be most effective, this list should be made available in Spanish and English and updated regularly.

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English language learners (ELLs) benefit just as much from their parents' involvement in their education as other students. Some Hispanic parents may feel apprehensive about getting involved because of their limited English skills, lack of familiarity with mainstream culture and the public school system in the United States, and other reasons.

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Four Parent Engagement Strategies for ELLs

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Four Parent Engagement Strategies for ELLs

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Research shows that parental engagement pays off for all students. Regardless of family income or background, students with engaged parents are more likely to:

Earn higher grades and test scores, and enroll in higher-level programs.

Be promoted, pass their classes and earn credits. Attend school regularly.

Have better social skills, show improved behavior and adapt well to school.

Graduate and go on to postsecondary education.

In some U.S. states, one in four students is an English language learner . This statistic reminds us how critical it is to redouble efforts to ensure the success of all our students and to think creatively about ways to collaborate with all parents. Research indicates that when parents of English language learners have more say in their child's education, student outcomes improve.

For educators, engagement with parents of English language learners may look different than it does in traditional classroom settings because of perceptions around language and cultural differences. English as a second language (ESL) teachers must embrace opportunities to create inviting environments that allow parents to participate in their children's education in diverse ways. In the words of one ESL teacher, "It's not just about fundraising and showing up to parent nights."
Below are four suggestions for inviting collaboration and engagement with the families of English language learners.
1. Adopt a growth mindset

Rethinking your own mindset and the ways you view the circumstances of English language learners and their families is an important start. author Carol Dweck explains , "When people... change to a growth mindset, they change from a judge-and-be-judged framework to a learn-and-help- learn framework. Their commitment is to growth, and growth takes plenty of time, effort and mutual support." ESL educators and parents of English language learners share a common goal: their students' success. Adopting a growth mindset is key to achieving this goal.

2. Honor cultural differences

When you get to know the parents of students and learn about and invite cultural diversity into your classroom, you send the powerful message to both students and their families that they are in a safe space in which their cultures are respected and valued. English language learners' diverse cultural backgrounds provide rich fodder for culturally responsive teaching. At the same time, however, cultural differences can pose challenges. Different cultural norms may influence parent expectations about their roles in their children's education. Honor these differences and forge strong relationships with the families of English language learners by:

Getting to know students' parents.

Learning about the different cultural norms of your students.

Directly communicating to parents your support for their children and respect for their cultures.

3. Don't fret over language differences

As students acquire English as a second language, they are developing the competitive advantage of being bilingual. Nevertheless, if you don't speak your students' home languages, it's easy to view communication with their parents as a major challenge. Address that challenge to communicate effectively with parents by:

Using straightforward language and avoiding jargon.

Inviting native-language speakers to join discussions on grading, testing and report cards.

Arranging student-led conferences.

Using community or school resources to support translation needs.

Giving hands-on demos at back-to-school nights.

Encouraging L1 reading in home settings to promote first language literacy and second language acquisition.

4. Be creative about logistics

Child care issues, transportation challenges and work schedules can all get in the way of arranging meetings with the parents of English language learners. A little flexibility and creativity will help in finding ways to connect with parents in person or virtually. Some ideas for solving logistical issues include:

Planning ahead when possible.

Meeting parents at their home or workplace.

Engaging parents virtually through Skype, Twitter or WhatsApp. Arranging for child care at school events.

It takes time and effort to nurture relationships with the families of English language learners. But as parents understand you as an advocate for their child's success, your investment will pay off.
This post is part of a blog series on global education and equitable preparation in the classroom produced in partnership with Stay in-the-know with all things EdTech and innovations in learning by signing up to receive the weekly Smart Update . This post includes mentions of a Getting Smart partner. For a full list of partners, affiliate organizations and all other disclosures please see our Partner page VIF International Education . Join the conversation on Twitter using #globaled . For more, check out ( Global Education and Equitable Preparation

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4 Parent Engagement Strategies for English Language Learners

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Research shows that parental engagement pays off for all students. Regardless of family income or background, students with engaged parents are more likely to: Earn higher grades and test scores, and enroll in higher-level programs. Be promoted, pass their classes and earn credits. Attend school regularly.

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Breaking Down the Barriers with Talking Points

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Breaking Down the Barriers with Talking Points

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My name is Jessica Bell, and I work with ESL students in high school in a large urban district in Indiana. Our High School has 4,000 students, from more than 20 countries speaking 10+ languages. Communicating with families has been difficult and one of my goals for the year is increasing family engagement. I have recently begun using Talking Points to facilitate communication.

What is Talking Points?

Talking Points allows teachers in the U.S. and Canada to enter a message in English in their dashboard. The message is sent and translated into a language you have selected for the family as a text message. They respond in their language, and it is sent back to your dashboard in English.

Why did I choose Talking Points?

Parent communication is the most challenging aspect of my job. I have been thrilled to use Talking Points to make it easier to communicate. The first day I sent a message, I had 20 families respond in three hours. Talking Points allows me to interact with families who previously didn't have a quick way to engage with school. Family engagement is a key factor in student success.

How can I get started?

Go to www.talkingpts.org and sign up for a free account.

Create your account and a class.

There are three ways to add student.

Send an invite code paper home and families can opt to join.

Send a contact form home (translated forms are available that explain what Talking Points is and how it works) and enter the information when returned

Add student and family information in from your school database

Send an introductory message to your parents/guardians.

If a parent/guardian wants to opt out, they get a message that explains how.

What languages are available?

Updated 2020. When I first wrote this post, there were only 20+ languages. Now it is 100+ languages.

What kinds of messages can I send?

Announcements to all families about school/class information

Messages to individual families about student performance

Answers to families when they message you with questions

EL teachers or lead teachers can be point of contact and share information about multiple subjects if needed

Polls - send multiple choice questions and get responses back

Set up a meeting day or time with family input!

Ask how families can be involved

Have I seen any benefits?

Talking Points brings equality to family information - English is an option as well so every family can receive the same information.

Students are more accountable because they know it's easier for me to reach out to their family AND they know their families are more likely to reach out to me.

Families are more informed - they ask more questions about school information, student grades and behavior.

Communication is easier. We are starting a series of family education nights and the poll option allows us to schedule meetings when we will have the most attendees.

Your received messages and sent messages are stored like a text conversation, so you can easily scroll back to look at previous messages.

Individual teacher accounts are free, or districts can request a quote for additional services.

Are there any drawbacks?

Like any translation service, it's not 100% accurate. Talking Points uses machine + human translation, so it's more accurate than just a translation page. To make translation easier, use simple sentence construction.

As messages are sent via SMS text, families need a cell plan to receive messages.

Families receive messages as you send them (unless you schedule a specific time, which is an option) so you need to be cognizant of timing.

Parent Feedback

Through Talking Points, the mother of a student that moved from Mexico two years ago said, "I like the program because I can still communicate through the language barrier. I can still know when something happens. I appreciate your interest." Another family recently moved from Cameroon, and the father said, "I like the program because it keeps us updated."

Takeaways

Talking Points allows me to communicate with all of my families from my computer - without calling a translator or scheduling a bilingual aide to make a family phone call. It also allows families to feel comfortable messaging me with questions or information about their students. Across the US, EL student populations are growing, and that means there are more families that could be disconnected from schools. As educators we strive to engage with all families, and Talking Points equalizes ease of communication.

Interview with Talking Point

Tan had a short interview with Nancy Lee from Talking Points to get a product demo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PDRVDEkRuw

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73. Breaking Down the Barriers: Using Talking Points to Communicate with Families | ELL Strategies | Empowering ELLs

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My name is Jessica Bell, and I work with ESL students in high school in a large urban district in Indiana. Our High School has 4,000 students, from more than 20 countries speaking 10+ languages. Communicating with families has been difficult and one of my goals for the year is increasing family engagement.

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How to Have the Best Parent-Teacher Conferences

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How to Have the Best Parent-Teacher Conferences

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I know...it's about to be summer. You're probably thinking why are we talking about parent-teacher conferences? Well, this is actually a great time to set a plan that will make the most of your time with parents of ELs. Building a team to support your students is like building a foundation. It's either going to be sturdy and strong or it's going to be weak and easily broken. Which do you prefer?

If you're like me, you want the strong foundation. Here are my tried and true suggestions for amping up your parent-teacher conferences.

Creating a welcoming environment is number one. If the classroom, school, and teachers give the "everyone is welcome" vibe, then parents will feel more inclined to come. On the other hand, if the vibe says "stay away" parents will get the message. Creating a welcoming environment cane take many forms. Our non-verbals send messages too. When we greet parents we have to remember that our body language is either inviting or it's not. The front office, in this case, is going to be a big determiner. When parents walk in the front door of the building, how are they greeted? With a smile? A warm friendly face? Is there a helpful hand?

Positive note
As teachers, we are very busy. We have attendance, grades, curriculum to cover. But building a positive relationship with parents and students will go a long way. Stopping to write a kind note, sending an email, or a text message to highlight something great a student did makes a huge impact on the way that parents and students perceive the school. Positive notes home are especially important before parents are met with a struggle at school. If our first contact with them is positive, then if ever there is something less positive, they will be more apt to be understanding and supportive.

Don't assume
When sending home notes or meeting with parents, don't assume the language they prefer. ASK. Simply ask, "Which language do you prefer we speak?" or "Which language do you prefer papers be sent home in?" We could be way off base by assuming a parent's preference.

Send questions ahead of time
Prior to a parent-teacher conference, send home any questions you might have ahead of time. This helps alleviate parents' anxiety and allows them to prepare. This also allows them to reach out to friends for language support or advice prior to meeting with you.

If a translator is necessary find out ahead of time. Secure a qualified adult to translate. Avoid using the child or another student to translate. Though having the student at the conference is not a bad idea, using the student as a translator has some negative affects. The vocabulary and language used during the conference may not be appropriate for the child to translate. This puts stress on the student.

During the conference, avoid using educational lingo or acronyms. Speak clearly and explicitly. Ask if parents need clarification or have any questions.

​Actionable steps
Provide parents with a few actionable steps they can easily implement at home to help support their child. Leave parents with some type of visual or written note regarding their next steps. This will be a way for parents to feel they can contribute to their child's education.

Home visits
If your district allows home visits, do it! Home visits are the most powerful way to connect with families. When you visit a family's home, you are able to see into a child's life in a way that you can't from the walls of your classroom. This opportunity sheds light on the home routines, the family dynamics, and much more. A home visit also tells parents that you care about the student and their family.

Their shoes
Immigrant and EL families have different needs. Each of them is unique. We all are. But immigrant families especially that are not only learning a new language but also learning a new culture and country have a heavy load. Try to understand where they are coming from. Think about how you might feel if you moved your family to a new country for whatever reason. I'm pretty certain that you would not want your children to forget their native language and culture, right? Keep that in mind as you advise and support the EL and immigrant families that you have the honor to serve.

Feel free to make copies, share material or publish this information for noncommercial use as long as you give credit to Valentina Gonzalez and other authors. For commercial use, please contact Valentina Gonzalez.

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I know...it's about to be summer. You're probably thinking why are we talking about parent-teacher conferences? Well, this is actually a great time to set a plan that will make the most of your time with parents of ELs. Building a team to support your students is like building a foundation.

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Partnering with Families and Communities

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Partnering with Families and Communities

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All families want the best education for their children, and ELL families are no different. English Language Learners of all ethnicities cite education as a priority for their children, and for the majority of Hispanics-the largest group of ELLs in the nation-education outranked every other issue on national surveys. ¹

No wonder research continues to link increased parent engagement to better student attitudes, improved academic performance, and a reduction in dropout rates.xiv Although the value of fostering family and community relationships is well documented, many schools still struggle with how to most effectively develop these partnerships. ²

As you advocate for the rights of ELL students, never underestimate families as your most valuable allies. While there may be some constraints, such as language barriers or mismatches in educator and family schedules, everyone wins when educators and families partner in the education of children.

Advocacy Strategies

Use the following advocacy strategies as helpful starting points for partnering with ELL families and communities:

Be open to different forms of parental engagement. Recognize that all families are involved, in varied ways, in their child's education, and offer them a wide variety of opportunities for family involvement. Also, recognize that extended families and community members often play a significant role in the lives of "Advocacy is the art of guiding students and parents in winning their educational rights." ELLs. Welcome extended family into the classroom and at school events, and look for ways to increase families' comfort level with being at the school by providing programs that directly benefit them (e.g., free English classes, information about immigrant rights or community services).

Recognize and eliminate barriers to family involvement. Identify ways the school can support families in participating in school activities and events and provide what is needed (e.g., childcare, transportation to and from events, interpreters, dinner, flexible meeting times, and dual language resources).

Build relationships with family and community. Developing trusting and respectful relationships with parents will go a long way toward helping ELL students succeed in school. Many districts have launched home visit programs as a way to enhance parent-teacher communication, help teachers learn more about their students, bridge cultural gaps, and show parents and students how much teachers care. Participating in local community events also helps show you are invested in the life of the community and helps inspire trust.

Immigration status matters. Recognize that in many instances, families of ELLs are dealing with various factors associated with their immigration status. They may have feelings of dislocation and unfamiliarity with cultural and institutional norms. Take care in the type of information you request, and contact the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights for guidance in navigating this issue.

Communicate in families' preferred language and in multiple ways. If this is not possible, find a trusted, bilingual interpreter who can accompany you to a meeting and whom you feel would be comfortable around parents. Ask families what form of communication works best for them: email, notes home, phone calls, face-to-face school drop-off or pick-up.

Learn about your ELLs' funds of knowledge. Allow your students to do projects that help you gain insights into their family and cultural backgrounds. Encourage families to come to the classroom and share one aspect of their culture. Let the family member and the student be the expert.³

Share resources and your expectations for students with families. Give all parents information about opportunities that will help ensure their children don't make harmful decisions or fall behind academically. Start sharing information "The focus of advocacy is education and empowerment, not rescue." early (e.g., talk about college planning in junior high so families know the type of coursework required). Familiarize parents with your expectations for their child.

Make sure parents know their rights. Rights for parents of ELLs are often an amalgamation of district, state, and federal requirements. Identify and share resources that will help parents understand and exercise their rights in proactive ways, not just when faced with an issue.

Footnotes

1. Pew Research

2. Henderson & Mapp, 2002, Staehr Fenner, 2014

3. Funds of knowledge refers to the various forms of skills, abilities, ideas, and practices that are essential to a students' culture, home, and community functioning and well-being. (González, Moll & Amanti, 2005)

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Partnering With Families and Communities

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All families want the best education for their children, and ELL families are no different. English Language Learners of all ethnicities cite education as a priority for their children, and for the majority of Hispanics-the largest group of ELLs in the nation-education outranked every other issue on national surveys.

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Communicating Important Information with ELL Families

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Communicating Important Information with ELL Families

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It is critical for schools to understand the rights that English language learners (ELLs), immigrant students, and their families have regarding access to schooling and information in their home languages. Learn more about those rights below, as well as some best practices for not only meeting those obligations but building positive partnerships with ELL families in support of their children.

Supporting immigrant families

For related ideas, see the following:

6. Find ways to communicate with ELL parents

Note: ELL families are legally entitled to information about their child's schooling (including enrollment, parent-conference meetings, and any services the school provides, such as ESL or special education) in a language they understand. See more about those rights in the following:

A. What you need to know

One of the greatest challenges for schools and ELL parents is communicating with each other. While educators may feel frustrated that they can't get their message across to parents, parents may be just as frustrated that they can't communicate easily with the school and their child's teacher. Like your other parents, however, ELL parents want to know what's happening with their child. Two important pieces of this puzzle include:

A reliable translation process: In Supporting English Language Learners: A Guide for Teachers and Administrators, Farin A. Houk underscores the importance of establishing two-way communication on both sides, as well as the necessity for a translation process that is "formal, steady, and reliable" (64). What does not work, she says, is sending notes home in English, talking slower or louder, using students to translate, or asking a friend or relative to translate confidential or detailed information. She also underscores the importance of having options for families with limited literacy skills (65-66).

Phone calls: Offer staff training on communicating in simplified English on the phone. Monolingual staff may be reluctant to call the homes of bilingual students because "they won't be able to understand anyway." As a result, the bilingual staff members are frequently called upon to stop what they are doing to translate. With some guidance, however, teachers can learn how to communicate basic information through a simplified conversation or message.

B. Reflection

How would you describe the communication at your school with ELL parents? Have you had some success stories? Have you explored all of your available options? Are you familiar with applicable local, state, and federal regulations regarding translations and parent access to information?

C. Strategies

In order to improve school-home communication, Houk suggests:

Hiring, when possible, staff that matches the linguistic needs of your population

Developing an ongoing relationship with community organizations

Scheduling home-school communication time into the school day for e-mails or phone calls

Using parent phone trees (65-66).

In addition:

Find out what the applicable regulations are that relate to parent communication.

Find out what translation and interpreting resources are available in your district.

Use school staff to help interpret on a rotating or scheduled basis so that the same individuals aren't frequently pulled away from other duties.

Ask parents how they prefer to receive communication (phone, e-mail, text message, etc.).

Ask parents which language they prefer - it may be English.

Inform parents that they can bring an interpreter to the school or that one can be provided.

Avoid using translation websites, which are imprecise and often inaccurate.

Notes: You may have parents with strong bilingual skills that can assist in translating school forms or interpreting. If you do plan on using these parents, however, offer training, provide a list of translated terms, give them enough time to complete the translation, and have other native speakers review written translations (Rodriguez, 48). This is critical because school terms can be complicated and easily misrepresented, especially when translated into varying dialects of the same language.

D. Examples

One educator shares the creative way she used an automated voice message: "Over the entire Christmas holidays, parents heard my recorded voice remind them of the financial aid workshops. That proved very helpful...They just need those reminders. They want our students to go to college, but sometimes that fear about the ability to pay is overwhelming" (Alford and Niño, 88).

The Bilingual PreK-3 Teacher Education Program, a federally-funded grant administered through Pacific Oaks College Northwest, was created to increase the number of certified educators from ELL/minority communities teaching in the public schools. One way they accomplish this mission is by helping talented early bilingual childhood educators in the local preschool programs fulfill the necessary requirements to become certified (Houk, 33-34).

Related resources

7. Make the enrollment process manageable for ELL parents

Note: All students have the right to a free, public K-12 education, regardless of their immigration status or that of their parents. This includes access to services and programs such as free- and reduced-priced meals, English-language development classes, special education, and school activities.

Schools are not permitted to (a) ask about immigration status for purposes of enrollment or (b) ask any questions that would dissuade immigrant students or families from enrolling or have any kind of chilling effect.

See our related guide on supporting immigrant students for more information on:

A. What you need to know

School enrollment is a complicated process for any family. There are forms to be filled out, decisions to be made, policies to be read, programs to learn about, and questions to be answered. For ELL families, a number of other obstacles can arise:

There is no interpreter available.

Parents are unaware of services (such as free- and reduced-lunch) for which they qualify.

They don't understand how bussing works.

They are confused about their rights and their children's rights.

They are reluctant to show any form of identification.

In addition, your ELL families may be coming from:

A school system very different from the U.S. system

A situation with a lot of mobility (as in the case of migrant students)

A situation without any schooling at all (such as a refugee camp).

Yet regardless of how it's done, ELL parents must have access to the same information as non-ELL parents. Sending information home in English will not ensure that it is read and understood. Getting this information doesn't just help the school operate more smoothly - it can make a critical difference in keeping children healthy and safe.

Whether through translated forms or an interpreter, ELL parents need to know about the basics, such as:

Enrollment procedures

The school schedule

Their child's schedule

Attendance policies and procedures for absences

Bussing and transportation

How breakfast and lunch work (such as lunch accounts, codes, or policies)

Free- and reduced-lunch options

Holidays and school closures

Weather delays

Procedures for alerting the school to their child's medical conditions, medication, and allergies.

ELL also parents need information about their child's academic program, such as:

Their child's classes and who their child's teachers are

The school grading system and report cards

Assessments (classroom and standardized)

Parent conferences

Information about the English-language program and placement procedures (121)

Special services, such as gifted programs or special education as needed

Homework help and resources

The school library

Clubs, sports, and extra-curricular activities.

Finally, Debbie Zacarian underscores the importance of sharing information about the following in her book, Transforming Schools for English Language Learners: A Comprehensive Framework for School Leaders:

Student and parent rights

Emergency contact cards and procedures

The student handbook and code of conduct (121).

Additional topics are included in the article Helping ELL Newcomers: Things Your Students Need to Know, an excerpt from The More-Than-Just-Surviving Handbook: ESL for Every Classroom Teacher (3rd edition) by Barbara Law and Mary Eckes.

B. Reflection

Think through your enrollment process step by step. How does it work for ELL families? Do parents get all of the information they need? What might be some possible obstacles to that process? Which steps do you think need improvement?

C. Strategies

There are a number of ways to approach the enrollment process for ELL families, including:

Bilingual staff: When possible, hire bilingual staff to work in the main office.

Translated forms: Many of the more general forms are available in other languages from the state education sites, and there may already be some translations available through your district.

Enrollment night: Schedule an "enrollment night" in which families can learn about the enrollment process and school policies with interpreters on hand.

School liaisons: Assign each family a school contact who speaks their language and guides them through the enrollment process (Houk, 66).

Welcome centers: Having a centralized ELL welcome/intake center managed by bilingual staff may help streamline enrollment and placement procedures.

Welcome kits: Put together a "welcome kit" that includes key information, basic school supplies, and educational activities for your ELL families.

Technology: Consider offering translations of your forms online, such as these from Los Angeles Unified School District, or an automated enrollment form in multiple languages.

D. Example

In the article Lessons Learned from Immigrant Families, Young-Chan Han of the Maryland Department of Education shares the story of a young boy from El Salvador who waited outside the locked school on a cold January morning for an hour until the janitor let him in. It was his first day, and it happened to be the morning of a snow delay.

Video: A warm welcome for immigrant families in the front office

8. Make the enrollment process accessible all year long

A. What you need to know

Keep in mind that your school must be ready to enroll ELLs throughout the school year. Many schools are prepared for enrollment only at the beginning of the year, and anyone who registers after that gets a short-cut "fill and drill," especially if no interpreters are available. Staff may be pulled from their regular duties to translate and help families fill out forms; this is not an acceptable solution.

B. Reflection

How does the experience of a new student enrolling at the beginning of the year compare with a student enrolling in November? January? March? How does it compare for ELLs?

C. Strategies

Ask the staff involved in ELL student enrollment (including the main office staff and the ELL/bilingual departments) for ideas on how the school can make the enrollment process welcoming and accessible all year long.

Make sure all of the information available for parents and staff at the beginning of the year is accessible throughout the year.

Ask parents who enrolled their children after the beginning of previous school years what their experience was like and what could have been improved through a survey or questionnaire.

D. Example

Kristina Roberston shares a creative approach that her school employed in order to limit the impact of new student enrollment on lost classroom time. This involved training paraprofessionals who could be pulled more easily from support work to help enrolling families. The paraprofessionals received training on the packet of information that parents received, and this allowed the school to have more than one person available to assist new families. The school also set up regular testing times after school when teachers would be available, even if a student had already begun classes.

9. Provide opportunities for parents to learn more about important topics and skills

A. What you need to know

For parents who are not familiar with the U.S. educational system, there is a lot to learn - and it's pretty complicated! If your ELL families aren't "involved" in activities and events, one reason may be that they need more background information about our school system in a language they understand.

B. Reflection

Let's return to the hypothetical new country where you are preparing to enroll your child. Imagine that you are handed a thick booklet with information about standardized testing, grading systems, and college applications written a language you don't understand. Where would you begin in order to help your child?

C. Strategies

Whenever possible, offer parents the opportunity to attend workshops in their native language about complex topics such as:

The U.S. school system (The AFTs' bilingual Pathways to Success brochure, also available in Spanish, is a helpful guide.)

Information on how to check school websites to track their child's progress

Parent-teacher conferences

Standardized testing

Gifted programs

Special education services for speech, hearing, learning disabilities, physical disabilities, etc.

The college application process

Information on the benefits of reading at home (Start with Colorín Colorado's reading tips in 11 languages and family literacy outreach toolkit).

Note: Consider enlisting other staff members, parents, volunteers, or community partners to help organize and run these workshops.

D. Examples

At Greenfield Elementary School, ELL parents participate in an ESL class which teaches computer skills in addition to basic English skills. Parents write a bilingual cookbook of recipes as a final project, and each week they attend a potluck dinner together. Children work on their homework with high school volunteers while their parents are in class (Fugate, 50).

A local educator decided to hold a Spanish-language information session about college enrollment at a local church. The meeting was listed in the newspaper, announced at the church, and publicized through personal outreach. The organizer had planned for about twenty parents; instead, more than eighty attended (Alford & Niño, 83).

Another educator at a different school helped organize a "Math Power Path Night," in which class projects were arranged along a guided path so that parents could see the sequence of recommended math classes that their children should take. The principal had expected fifty parents; more than two hundred came (83)!

Related resources

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Communicating Important Information with ELL Families: Strategies for Success

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It is critical for schools to understand the rights that English language learners (ELLs), immigrant students, and their families have regarding access to schooling and information in their home languages. Learn more about those rights below, as well as some best practices for not only meeting those obligations but building positive partnerships with ELL families in support of their children.

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10 Tips for Teachers Using the Station Rotation Model - Dr. Catlin Tucker

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Teachers are already blowing up my Twitter feed with awesome photos taken during their first few station rotation lessons! It's exciting to see so many teachers trying this blended learning model and creating opportunities for small-group instruction, real-time feedback, collaboration, and differentiated learning. 1) Use your teacher-led station for a range of activities beyond differentiated [...]

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ESL Beginner, Elementary, intermediate and Advanced Level Games & Exercises

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ESL Beginner, Elementary, intermediate and Advanced Level Games & Exercises, learn English online through games by levels

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Can-Do-Descriptors, A Free Tool for ELL Differentiation

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Can-Do-Descriptors, A Free Tool for ELL Differentiation

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Every year, in classrooms all over the country, the population of English language learners continues to grow. Depending on where you live and how far along your school's ESL program is, you may have to figure out how to help non-English speaking students participate in your class, even if you have no ESL training yourself.

Sadly, many teachers in this situation will just have these students sit there, watching as their classmates engage in learning activities. Or we might give students a coloring page, just so they have something to do with their hands. It's not even close to ideal-we know this-but with no other tools at our disposal, what else is there?

In an earlier post, I shared 12 strategies regular classroom teachers can use to support ESL students in their classrooms. If you haven't read that, definitely check it out. Since then, I have been shown one more tool that can make a huge difference for these students: the Can-Do Descriptors, downloadable for free from an organization called WIDA.

These descriptors are designed to help classroom teachers understand what students at different levels of English proficiency should be able to do in a regular content area classroom. The tasks are separated into four domains: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The descriptors can help you look at an activity you plan to do with your English-speaking students, then scale it back for ELL students so that they are still interacting with the academic content, just at a simplified level.

How the Can-Do Descriptors Work

Let's walk through an example so you can see the Can-Do charts in action. Take a look at this page of descriptors for grades 9-12:

WIDA Can-Do Descriptors for Reading and Writing, Grades 9-12. Level 1 is the lowest level of proficiency and Level 6 is the highest.

Suppose you want students to write research reports that integrate information from a variety of sources. If you look at the "Writing" row on the chart above, you'll see that this activity is listed as something a Level 5 student should be able to do. Let's assume you have three ELL students in your class: Seda, who speaks almost no English (Level 1), Pavlo, whose English is progressing, but still hasn't reached proficiency (Level 3), and Ife, who is approaching fluency (Level 5).

Ife can most likely do the research report as assigned (see the top bullet in "Writing" under Level 5). She may need a bit of help with some of the vocabulary, but at level 5, her proficiency is strong enough to do the same work as her English-speaking peers. Pavlo, at Level 3, could be given a template or graphic organizer that asks for specific information about his chosen topic. In order to complete this template, he will still need to do research, but he won't need to rely on the advanced English skills required to compose a well-written report. Meanwhile, Seda may only be able to label pictures of items related to a topic similar to those students are researching. If all students are researching careers, for example, you might find out what types of jobs Seda is interested in, have her choose one, then give her pictures related to that job to look up and label.

Here's another example from 3rd-grade teacher Kelsey Davis, using the grades 3-5 descriptors:

What If You Don't Have Access Scores?

The levels in these charts are based on student scores on the ACCESS test, which is given in many states to measure English language proficiency. If your state doesn't use this test, if you are outside of the U.S., or if you are working with a student who hasn't been tested yet, use these charts as a guideline: The point is to use the descriptors to challenge each student as much as possible within their current language abilities, so make your best guess about what the student might be able to do, try it, and adjust as necessary.

It sure beats having them sit and color. ♦

Download a Free Copy of the WIDA Can-Do Descriptors for your target age group HERE. And check back later: WIDA is currently working on additional versions of the descriptors, including a set in Spanish.

Come back for more.
Join our mailing list and get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration that will make your teaching more effective and fun. You'll get access to our members-only library of free downloads, including 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half, the e-booklet that has helped thousands of teachers save time on grading. Over 50,000 teachers have already joined-come on in.

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Can-Do Descriptors: A Free Tool for ESL Differentiation

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If your non-English speaking students aren't ready to do the regular class work, what should you have them do instead? This handy tool can help.

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Every year, in classrooms all over the country, the population of English language learners continues to grow. Depending on where you live and how far along your school's ESL program is, you may have to figure out how to help non-English speaking students participate in your class, even if you have no ESL training yourself.

Sadly, many teachers in this situation will just have these students sit there, watching as their classmates engage in learning activities. Or we might give students a coloring page, just so they have something to do with their hands. It's not even close to ideal-we know this-but with no other tools at our disposal, what else is there?

In an earlier post, I shared 12 strategies regular classroom teachers can use to support ESL students in their classrooms. If you haven't read that, definitely check it out. Since then, I have been shown one more tool that can make a huge difference for these students: the Can-Do Descriptors, downloadable for free from an organization called WIDA.

These descriptors are designed to help classroom teachers understand what students at different levels of English proficiency should be able to do in a regular content area classroom. The tasks are separated into four domains: reading, writing, speaking, and listening. The descriptors can help you look at an activity you plan to do with your English-speaking students, then scale it back for ELL students so that they are still interacting with the academic content, just at a simplified level.

How the Can-Do Descriptors Work

Let's walk through an example so you can see the Can-Do charts in action. Take a look at this page of descriptors for grades 9-12:

WIDA Can-Do Descriptors for Reading and Writing, Grades 9-12. Level 1 is the lowest level of proficiency and Level 6 is the highest.

Suppose you want students to write research reports that integrate information from a variety of sources. If you look at the "Writing" row on the chart above, you'll see that this activity is listed as something a Level 5 student should be able to do. Let's assume you have three ELL students in your class: Seda, who speaks almost no English (Level 1), Pavlo, whose English is progressing, but still hasn't reached proficiency (Level 3), and Ife, who is approaching fluency (Level 5).

Ife can most likely do the research report as assigned (see the top bullet in "Writing" under Level 5). She may need a bit of help with some of the vocabulary, but at level 5, her proficiency is strong enough to do the same work as her English-speaking peers. Pavlo, at Level 3, could be given a template or graphic organizer that asks for specific information about his chosen topic. In order to complete this template, he will still need to do research, but he won't need to rely on the advanced English skills required to compose a well-written report. Meanwhile, Seda may only be able to label pictures of items related to a topic similar to those students are researching. If all students are researching careers, for example, you might find out what types of jobs Seda is interested in, have her choose one, then give her pictures related to that job to look up and label.

Here's another example from 3rd-grade teacher Kelsey Davis, using the grades 3-5 descriptors:

What If You Don't Have Access Scores?

The levels in these charts are based on student scores on the ACCESS test, which is given in many states to measure English language proficiency. If your state doesn't use this test, if you are outside of the U.S., or if you are working with a student who hasn't been tested yet, use these charts as a guideline: The point is to use the descriptors to challenge each student as much as possible within their current language abilities, so make your best guess about what the student might be able to do, try it, and adjust as necessary.

It sure beats having them sit and color. ♦

Download a Free Copy of the WIDA Can-Do Descriptors for your target age group HERE. And check back later: WIDA is currently working on additional versions of the descriptors, including a set in Spanish.

Come back for more.
Join our mailing list and get weekly tips, tools, and inspiration that will make your teaching more effective and fun. You'll get access to our members-only library of free downloads, including 20 Ways to Cut Your Grading Time in Half, the e-booklet that has helped thousands of teachers save time on grading. Over 50,000 teachers have already joined-come on in.

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Can-Do Descriptors: A Free Tool for ESL Differentiation

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If your non-English speaking students aren't ready to do the regular class work, what should you have them do instead? This handy tool can help.

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One of the benefits of the Station Rotation Model is how easy it is to design activities at different levels to meet the diverse needs of a group of students. I spend a lot of time tailoring activities to support students who need additional scaffolds, but it's important to challenge the strong students in our classrooms as well.

One strategy I use to capitalize on my students' strengths is to have them design and lead stations. I have some students who are extremely strong readers or gifted writers and other students who are incredibly tech savvy. These students are valuable resources in the class community, so I will ask them to design and run a station to share their expertise with their peers. I try not to overburden my strong students, but I do want to challenge them to think about how they can present concepts and engage their peers to help support the class in developing particular skills.

Even though some of my students have strong skills, they do not necessarily know how to design a dynamic lesson or activity, so I've created the template above to support them as they think about how to construct their lessons.

Students have a week to lesson plan and during that time, we collaborate on their Station Rotation Lesson Design document. This gives me a chance to provide them with support and feedback as well as connect them with resources that will help them to improve their lessons.

Letting strong students lead the learning and challenging them to design lessons that are interesting, engaging, and effective is a fantastic way to empower them. I'm consistently impressed by the creativity and commitment my students put into these lessons. They know what it's like to be on the receiving end of a poorly designed lesson, and they want their lessons to be fun for their peers!

They do need support during the design process, which is why having a template is helpful. The lesson design document can then be shared with the students moving through the station and serve as a resource during the station. This creates a clear path for the learning.

This entry was posted in Learning. Bookmark the permalink.

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Station Rotation Model: Student Designed & Led Stations

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One of the benefits of the Station Rotation Model is how easy it is to design activities at different levels to meet the diverse needs of a group of students. I spend a lot of time tailoring activities to support

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Kate Kinsella

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Text Project

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Vocabulary in content area can represent key ideas. For example, vocabulary from a study of plants may include photosynthesis, roots, and leaves. Without the understanding of this key vocabulary, a student's understanding of a topic may be deficient. This set of TextProject Word Pictures provides pictures of imagable concepts that are critical to particular content areas.

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3A6 A technique that is rarely used yet can help ELs comprehend is illustrating and annotating a concept!  #EllChat_BkClub #meta @SIOPModel @PearsonPreK12

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3A6 A technique that is rarely used yet can help ELs comprehend is illustrating and annotating a concept!  #EllChat_BkClub #meta @SIOPModel @PearsonPreK12 https://t.co/tXRUsR9O2R

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𝕁𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝔹𝕖𝕝𝕝 M.Ed.

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𝕁𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝔹𝕖𝕝𝕝 M.Ed.

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3A6 A technique that is rarely used yet can help ELs comprehend is illustrating and annotating a concept! #EllChat_BkClub #meta @SIOPModel @PearsonPreK12 pic.twitter.com/tXRUsR9O2R
— 𝕁𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝔹𝕖𝕝𝕝 M.Ed. (@jessbell79) April 10, 2019

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3A6 A technique that is rarely used yet can help ELs comprehend is illustrating and annotating a concept!  #EllChat_BkClub #meta @SIOPModel @PearsonPreK12 https://t.co/tXRUsR9O2R

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𝕁𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝔹𝕖𝕝𝕝 M.Ed.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.original_text
3A6 A technique that is rarely used yet can help ELs comprehend is illustrating and annotating a concept!  #EllChat_BkClub #meta @SIOPModel @PearsonPreK12 https://t.co/tXRUsR9O2R

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.metadata.attachment_props.text
3A6 A technique that is rarely used yet can help ELs comprehend is illustrating and annotating a concept!  #EllChat_BkClub #meta @SIOPModel @PearsonPreK12

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𝕁𝕖𝕤𝕤 𝔹𝕖𝕝𝕝 M.Ed.

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Teaching Vocabulary Across the Content Areas

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Teaching Vocabulary Across the Content Areas

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Nancy Cloud

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Teaching Vocabulary Across the Content Areas in Grades 1-5: Strategies That Work - Resources - NYU Steinhardt

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by Nancy Cloud See The Presentation Additional Resources: Academic Vocabulary List | 30 Word Core Content Vocabulary List Sample Vocabulary Terms (Marzano)Academic Vocabulary Lists for Upper Elementary, Middle School and High School Tennessee Academic Vocabulary List

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Helping ELLs Develop Productive Word Knowledge

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Helping ELLs Develop Productive Word Knowledge

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Dr. Kate Kinsella

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Dr. Kate Kinsella offers evidence-based instructional practices to advance students' verbal and written command of critical words Vocabulary Knowledge and Overall Academic Achievement
Vocabulary plays a crucial role in all aspects of academic competence in K-12 schooling. Certainly, one of the most consistent findings in reading research is the extent to which students' vocabulary knowledge directly supports their reading comprehension (Baumann and Kaméenui, 2004; Graves, 2006). In the primary grades, native speakers of English who have a vast number of words in their oral vocabularies can more efficiently sound out and recognize familiar words as well as comprehend and appreciate text passages. As students progress to the upper grades and tackle more varied and challenging narrative and informational selections, vocabulary range and complexity strongly influence text readability (Chall and Dale, 1995).

Native speakers of English with anemic school-based vocabulary and weak verbal abilities struggle with reading and related writing tasks, contributing to disappointing overall academic achievement beyond the primary grades (Biemiller,1999;

Cunningham and Stanovich, 1998). If words are not in children's verbal repertoire, those children understandably have trouble mapping sounds to words in print and accessing relevant background knowledge as they move from relatively accessible narrative selections to a range of complex texts across subject areas (National Reading Panel, 2000).
Economics and Word Prowess
Research focused on school-age English learners similarly correlates vocabulary knowledge with second-language reading comprehension and other measures of school success, including high-stakes test scores and writing proficiency (August and Shanahan, 2006; Carlo et al., 2005). In fact, depth of word knowledge proves to be the most reliable predictor of English learner academic achievement across grade levels and curriculum (Marzano, 2004; Saville-Troike, 1984).

Economics has an undeniable impact on a preschool youth's early vocabulary enrichment and school readiness. A preschooler entering kindergarten from a college-

educated, professional household is likely to recognize and readily use twice as many words as a classmate from a non-college-educated, working-class family. Of greater concern, the child with parents who have completed an advanced degree typically crosses the kindergarten threshold with quadruple the vocabulary base of a child from a welfare family (Flynn, 2006).
Receptive and Productive Knowledge
Since growing up in under-resourced households can seriously restrict children's daily vocabulary exposure and usage, bolstering their command of words for social and academic contexts is an instructional imperative (Hart and Risley, 2003; Snow, 1991).
What "Owning" a Word Implies
Knowledge of word meanings can be classified as productive or receptive. Productive vocabulary is the working set of words we use comfortably and regularly when speaking and writing. Receptive vocabulary is a broader spectrum of words we recognize in specific contexts or at least partially understand when listening or reading. A person's command of individual words falls on a virtual continuum of understanding. Dale (1965) proposes four levels to characterize the extent of an individual's word knowledge: (1) have never seen or heard the word before; (2) recognize the word, but don't know what it means; (3) have partial understanding of the word and readily associate it with a topic or concept; (4) know the word well and can explain it and skillfully use it. We develop incremental knowledge of a word as we encounter it again with new contexts and word partners-other words that commonly accompany the target word.

To actually "own" a word means, in fact, to know a great deal about it. To perform adeptly on contemporary assessments requiring complex text analysis and evidence-based constructed responses, students must recognize a critical mass of vocabulary and be able to competently deploy a toolkit of high-utility academic words they clearly own. Nation (1990) analyzed the layers of complexity involved consciously or unconsciously in truly knowing-not just recognizing-a word, including its spoken and written forms.
Table 1: In-Depth Word Knowledge: Analysis
To illustrate, review Table 1 and consider what is implied in having an agile verbal and written command of the high-utility academic word analysis. For a middle school team to apply the word analysis in a formal science report in a sentence like the following, the young scholars require a wealth of conscious lexical knowledge: After a thorough analysis of the nutrition label, we determined that the fruit snack was unhealthy because it contained artificial coloring, sodium, and high-fructose corn syrup.

Pronunciation: a * nal * y * sis

Spelling: a-n-a-l-y-s-i-s

Part of Speech: noun

Meaning: a careful study of something to better understand it or find out what it contains

Synonym: study; examination

Antonym: none

Register: It is primarily used in formal academic and professional communication.

Frequency: It is not commonly used in casual conversation or correspondence, but it is frequently used in formal academic and professional contexts.

Collocations (Word Partners): It is commonly used in tandem with the verbs conduct and offer and the adjectives careful, close, in-depth, and thorough.
The Vocabulary Equity Challenge
Derivations (Word Family Members): (Verb) analyze; (adjective) analytical.

Educators serving English learners and economically disadvantaged youths with

vocabulary voids need to simultaneously shore up their receptive vocabulary and build their productive vocabulary toolkit. It is not essential or realistic for students to develop a proficient command of every word that appears within a unit of study. Many topic-focused and technical terms must be understood adequately to grapple with focal-lesson concepts and processes. However, in the grand scheme of linguistic priorities, the fact that a ten-year-old struggling to acquire academic English cannot effectively pronounce or write biome and habitat is less worrisome than the student's inability to discuss similarities and differences between two species or their environments. Being able to compare and utilize correct sentence structure and vocabulary for this critical academic competency will be required across subject areas and grade levels, not just within this particular unit of study.

To propel youths with Swiss-cheese English proficiency to higher levels of vocabulary knowledge, teachers must establish priorities for more robust instruction and meaningful, supported application. Over the past two decades, mounting research has highlighted the benefits of planned, intentional vocabulary instruction to support literacy and content learning for all students, native English speakers and English learners alike.
Explicit Vocabulary Instruction to Build Productive Word Knowledge
According to the National Reading Panel (2000), effective instruction includes opportunities for incidental word learning through wide reading of texts, complemented by intentional instruction of high-priority words aligned with academic success. Increasing reading volume, with a balance of narrative and informational texts, enhances receptive word knowledge (Cunningham and Stanovich, 1998). However, exposure to words through independent reading does not equip students with the productive word knowledge or confidence to hazard applying new terms and phrases on their own. Marzano (2004) asserts that for students with less-developed English language skills, planned, explicit vocabulary instruction has a more pedagogically defensible track record of improving lesson comprehension and communicative competence than indirect or impromptu approaches.

Explicit, interactive vocabulary instruction has a clear goal of guiding students in gaining ownership of critical new words. The process of building productive word knowledge begins with actively involving students in reading, pronouncing, chorally repeating, and accurately copying a target word (Beck et al., 2002). To grasp a new academic word, students require an efficiently explained meaning framed in accessible language such as a familiar synonym, rather than a rambling and exhaustive formal definition (Stahl, 1999). Students whose first language shares cognates with English benefit from having parallel words called out, such as the Spanish and English cognates comparison/comparacíon from the common Latin root (Calderón, 2007).

Teacher-generated pictures and simple drawings help students formulate a mental model of the word meaning (Marzano, 2004), but abstract terms such as perspective or bias are difficult to convey in a single, simple illustration. Evocative example sentences can help students create their own vivid and memorable mental images while also helping them understand how the new word functions syntactically and grammatically in an academic statement. When illustrative example sentences strategically include common collocations or word partners, students are more likely to grasp how the word is actually used in academic contexts. Note how the written examples within the notetaking guide in Table 2 include common academic adjectives ( major, key) that regularly partner with the high-use noun factor.
Moving from Basic Understanding to Capable Verbal Application of a Word Table 2: High-Utility Academic Vocabulary Notetaking Guide Table 3: Sentence Frames for Scaffolded Verbal Tasks
The vocabulary notetaking guide in Table 2 includes key elements that should be addressed when developing precise understanding of a high-utility academic word. Without an opportunity to see and pronounce the target word, explore relevant examples, and take some form of notes for review purposes, few learners will recall the meaning. The blanks provide opportunities for students to focus on engaging in repetition and listening comprehension while taking a few critical notes, including correctly copying the word and its cognate (if offered) and completing example sentences provided by the teacher to deepen understanding. The term factor is used widely in discussions of causes and effects in science and social studies lessons as well as news reports. It is a high-value, portable word for text analysis and constructed responses such as informative and argumentative writing. It therefore warrants more time and attention in terms of its formal introduction.
* Sentence Frame (including the word but requiring appropriate content)
The sample vocabulary notetaking guide is a practical tool to present and reliably facilitate recording of essential information about a word. This reference tool effectively guides notetaking and discussion, but it does not ensure productive word knowledge. Neophyte academic-English speakers deserve carefully crafted opportunities to successfully flex their language muscles using a new word. Simply asking provocative questions will not elicit competent use of the word in a complete sentence. Imagine the following common classroom scenario. After introducing the meaning of the lesson term factor, the teacher strives to deepen understanding by asking "What factors do you consider when you pick out a new book to read at the school library?" After a lengthy pause, one fledgling volunteer offers "the pictures," prompting a classmate to add "the author." While conceptually on task, neither response demonstrates capable use of the word-that is, productive word knowledge. When encouraged to try to reframe a brief contribution in a complete sentence, the puzzled volunteer replies "It's the pictures," failing to comprehend the request for a more thoughtful response in academic register.

Form-focused and carefully scaffolded verbal exchanges equip English learners and reticent readers with the linguistic competence to successfully apply newly taught words (Coleman and Goldenberg, 2012; Dutro and Kinsella, 2010). Interacting with their teacher and peers in structured verbal and writing tasks using response frames enables less-proficient readers and English learners to take careful notice of how the new word operates grammatically. Carefully orchestrated initial practice using a sentence scaffold increases the odds that students develop accurate fluency, the ability to effortlessly produce error-free, contextually appropriate language (Dutro and Kinsella, 2010).

Response frames such as those included in Table 3 also equip the teacher with a concrete mechanism for verbal and written modeling. Simply offering a model verbal response to a lesson question places the burden for auditory processing and analysis on academic English learners. Rarely are they able to hold the modeled response in their short-term memories, deconstruct how it is being utilized, and effectively reconstruct a capable individual contribution. At best, they can recollect some of the content in the response, but not the linguistic elements such as sentence structure and grammatical nuances. If we intend to help them effectively utilize the word on subsequent academic response tasks, we owe it to them to offer more than verbal examples and encouragement.
* Sentence Frame (requiring the correct word form and appropriate content)
Target High-Utility Academic Word: factor

* Not wearing ____________ is often a major factor in

skateboarding injuries.

* The main factor in my decision not to go to the _______________________ was that I had __________________.

* One of the most important __________________when I pur-
Developing Academic Writing Proficiency with High-Utility Words
chase a gift for a close friend is the _______________________.

* One major ____________ that can contribute to a

( positive, negative; high, low) ___________ grade on a test is

____________________.

For many teachers, the phrase teaching vocabulary conjures up an eclectic array of word sorts, matching exercises, crossword puzzles, concept organizers, and picture drawing. These random activities are typically silent, independent, and unmonitored tasks that might reasonably follow, but not replace, intentional instruction in word meanings and carefully orchestrated applications. Our most vulnerable language learners deserve more support in applying new words than a homework exercise requiring an independently drawn picture and related sentence.

As a long-time educator of striving readers and English learners, I have witnessed first hand the outcomes of their neophyte, ill-supported efforts. My own adopted son, John Carlos, joined our family from Guatemala at nearly four years old. With the Spanish and English proficiency of a toddler entering kindergarten, he struggled in two languages throughout primary and upper-elementary grades. I recall vividly and painfully his weekly earnest attempts to utilize a seemingly random array of words from a literary unit in original
Table 4: Scaffolded Writing Tasks
sentences or a paragraph. Every week I resurrected every bit of patience and linguistic acumen I could to help him grasp disconnected words he barely recalled from English language arts lessons.

After helping him develop some basic understanding of a word, our next challenge was applying it in a sentence. When left to his own devices, his default was to write a brief phrase or sentence about our French bulldog, Polo. Polo is immortalized in countless three- to five-word sentences using vocabulary from numerous thematic units, ranging from loyalty and friendship to identity. Invariably, the brief, simple, and often grammatically inaccurate sentences contained no context whatsoever, nor did his recursive default picture of Polo. Table 5 (overpage) includes a couple of classic early writing and artistic efforts from his third-grade experience. My mounting frustration with the dearth of focused, supported academic-language instruction across elementary grade levels prompted me to write curriculum to help fellow educators engage in this crucial endeavor (Kinsella, English 3D, 2016; Kinsella and Hancock, Academic Vocabulary Toolkit, 2016).

I have every confidence that parents like myself of English learners and less-confident readers would welcome homework assignments that provided their children with more clearly scaffolded opportunities to practice new words in speaking and writing. The weekly crossword puzzle and list of words to include in original sentences do little to engender confident parental engagement or academic writing proficiency. Brief sentence-level frames such as those in Table 3 are ideal for initial verbal and written practice.

Writing frames and focused prompts such as those in Table 4 enable the teacher to orchestrate a brief, constructed multiple-sentence response. This scaffolded response can serve as a "we do it" task before students engage in an independent "you do it" comparable task, leveraging the text structure and rhetorical forms included in the preceding guided task. Opportunities for academic English learners to successfully complete brief, supported academic responses build the competencies for longer, independent tasks in ways that unleashed journaling and sentence generation do not.

Target High-Utility Academic Word: factor

* Read the prompt. Construct a thoughtful response that includes relevant examples.
Table 5: A Third-Grade English Learner's Independent Word Study Concluding Remarks
PROMPT 1: What are key factors a parent must consider before leaving a child at home alone?
References
Parents must consider several _______ before leaving a child at home alone. One key _______ is the child's _____________. Another equally important ________________ is how _______ the child is.

* Read the prompt. Construct a three- to four-sentence response with transitions and examples.

PROMPT 2: What are key factors you consider when selecting a book from the school library to read for pleasure?

Since word knowledge is such a potent and undisputed predictor of academic achievement, educators across grade levels and content areas cannot afford to leave vocabulary instruction to chance. Our most vulnerable scholars look to us to build their lexical foundations for the collaboration, text analysis, and skillful academic-response demands posed by our nation's college- and career-readiness focus. With a unified school front to effectively teach critical words and structure competent applications, English learners and their under-resourced classmates can make the linguistic strides that will help them defy the odds and actualize their greatest educational ambitions.

August, D., and Shanahan, T. (Eds.). (2006). Developing Literacy in Second Language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel on Language-Minority Children and Youth. Center for Applied Linguistics.

Baumann, J., and Kaméenui, E. (2004). Vocabulary Instruction: Research to Practice. Guilford Press.

Beck, I., McKeown, M., and Kucan, L. (2002). Bringing Words to Life: Robust Vocabulary Instruction. New York: Guilford Press.

Biemiller, A. (1999). Language and Reading Success. Brookline Books.

Calderón, M. (2007). Teaching Reading to English Language Learners, Grades 6-12. Corwin Press.

Carlo, M., August, D., and Snow, C. (2005). "Sustained Vocabulary-Learning Strategies for English Language Learners." In E. H. Hiebert and M. Kamil (eds.), Teaching and Learning Vocabulary: Bringing Research to Practice. 137-153. New York: Wiley.

Chall, J., and Dale, E. (1995). Readability Revisited: The New Dale-Chall Readability Formula. Brookline Books.

Coleman, R., and Goldenberg, C. (Feb. 2012). "The Common Core Challenges for English Language Learners." Principal Leadership. National Association of Secondary School Principals.

Cunningham, A., and Stanovich, K. (1998, Spring/Summer). "What Reading Does for the Mind." American Educator, 22(1/2): 8-15.

Dale, E. (1965). "Vocabulary Measurement: Techniques and major findings." Elementary English 42, 82-88.

Dutro, S., and Kinsella, K. (2010). "English Language Development: Issues and implementation in grades 6-12." In Improving

Education for English Learners: Research-Based Approaches. California Department of Education.

Flynn, J. R. (2006). Where Have All the Liberals Gone?: Race, Class, and Ideals in America. Cambridge University Press.

Graves, M. F. (2006). The Vocabulary Book: Learning and Instruction. IRA.

Kinsella, K. (2016). English 3D: Course A, B, & C. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Kinsella, K., and Hancock, T. (2016). Academic Vocabulary Toolkit, Grades 3-8. National Geographic Learning - Cengage.

Marzano, R. (2004). Building Background Knowledge for Academic Achievement: Research on What Works in Schools. ASCD.

Nation, I. S. P. (1990). Teaching and Learning Vocabulary. Newbury House.

National Reading Panel Report. (2000). Teaching Children to Read: An Evidence-Based Assessment of the Scientific Research Literature on Reading and Its Implications for Reading Instruction.

Saville-Troike, M. (1984). "What Really Matters in Second Language Learning for Academic Achievement?" TESOL Quarterly 18: 199-219.

Stahl, S. A. (1999). Vocabulary Development. Cambridge: Brookline.

Kate Kinsella, EdD ([email protected]) is an adjunct faculty member in San Francisco State University's Center for Teacher Efficacy. She provides consultancy to state departments of education throughout the U.S., school districts, and publishers on evidence-based instructional principles and practices to accelerate academic English acquisition for language-minority youths. Her numerous publications and programs focus on career and college readiness for academic English learners and under-resourced youths, with an emphasis on high-utility vocabulary development, informational text reading, and writing across subject areas.

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Helping Academic English Learners Develop Productive Word Knowledge - Language Magazine

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Dr. Kate Kinsella offers evidence-based instructional practices to advance students' verbal and written command of critical words Vocabulary Knowledge and Overall Academic Achievement Vocabulary plays a crucial role in all aspects of academic competence in K-12 schooling. Certainly, one of the most consistent findings in reading research is the extent to which students' vocabulary knowledge directly ...

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Roisin Hahesy is an Irish born children book illustrator, currently living in Brazil. After moving there, she also took up teaching the English language to locals and soon faced an interesting problem - translating the common English sayings and funny idioms, staying true to their meaning and wordplay.

Just to be clear, an idiom is an expression made up from words in such a way, that understanding them literally has no particular meaning. We understand what they mean, because of their popular use. Most common examples of idioms would probably be 'over the moon' or 'see the light' just to name a few.

Roisin has illustrated a couple of well known English expressions trying to reveal their meanings or just to show how funny it would look if we'd take them literally. Scroll down to see our pick of funny English idioms illustrated below!

More info: rosha.ie

As Cool As A Cucumber

Hold Your Horses

Kick The Bucket

Blue In The Face

A Storm In A Teacup

Bob's Your Uncle

Head In The Clouds

Dead As A Doornail

A Piece Of Cake

Heart In Your Mouth

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When I stopped to think about some English idioms and their literal meaning, I found some of them very funny and thought it would be a nice idea to pick a few of the most common idioms and illustrate them.

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An idiom is an expression that doesn't exactly mean what the words say.

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English Learners Need to Use Academic Language

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English Learners Need to Use Academic Language

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10 Ways to Get Students Using Academic Language

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District specialist Valentina Gonzalez says English learners need "massive opportunities" to use academic language in class. She shares 10 teaching techniques.

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Rewordify.com | Understand what you read

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Rewordify.com helps you read more, understand better, learn new words, and teach more effectively.

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Larry Ferlazzo

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BICS (also called communicative competence): listening and speaking skills that students tend to acquire quickly in a new language (within the first couple of years) in order to communicate in social situations, such as asking someone for directions.

CALP: academic language and cognitively demanding skills required for classroom success. CALP usually takes between five and seven years to develop -- longer for students with less native language proficiency. Lectures, class discussions, research projects and skills (summarizing, analyzing, extracting and interpreting meaning; evaluating evidence; composing; and editing) require CALP.

More recent research has extended CALP to include the following three dimensions of academic English:

1. Linguistic: knowledge of word forms, functions, grammatical elements and discourse patterns used in academic settings

2. Cognitive: higher-order thinking involved in academic settings

3. Sociocultural-psychological: knowledge of social practices involved in academic settings

Now That We Know What Academic Language Is,
How Do We Help Students Learn It?

We have two main sources for identifying what words constitute academic language that we must explicitly teach. The first source includes words and usage that are required by units we teach. After identifying critical vocabulary in, say, a persuasive essay unit -- convince, reason, counter-argument, etc. -- we will pre-teach approximately 20 words, first by reviewing pronunciation, and then by having students . . .

Act out the words in a skit.

Identify a physical gesture for the word ("opinion" might mean pointing to one's head).

Write definitions of terms using their own words -- in English or in their home language.

Create a "word chart" that we will also replicate on the wall. During the unit, students will periodically note when those words are used, and add new ones that they believe are important enough to recognize and remember.

The other primary source is an academic vocabulary list divided by grade level, like the list created by the Berkeley, California Public Schools or the guide developed by the Tennessee Department of Education (with Robert Marzano's assistance) that categorizes academic words by content area. Of course, other lists are also available on the Web.

An activity that uses words from these lists is one of the most popular lessons we facilitate. For 20 minutes three times each week, we divide students into groups determined by levels of English proficiency. (We support mixed groups and are opposed to tracking by ability. In our multilevel class, we clarify that divisions are based on whether students studied English in their home country, not intelligence.)

Then with peer tutors, student teachers, bilingual aides or instructors alternating as they facilitate an activity with one group -- while other students are doing something else -- we discuss three or four new words aligned with the appropriate "grade level." (The actual grade for the list -- kindergarten, first grade, etc. -- does not appear on the copies we give students. Our learners don't need to be reminded how far away they are from English proficiency.)

After defining words with the same reinforcing activities that we use with word charts for units, we write down "question and answer frames" for each of the words:

"Do you believe that ______________________?"
"Yes, I believe ___________" or "No, I do not believe ___________."

We ask each student questions, and then they question each other, adapting the "frames" to their own interests. Then students review previously learned words with each other.

Reinforcement Through Context

There are a number of reasons why students enjoy doing this activity. One, they teach each other -- both in their practice and by using prior knowledge to complete the question and answer frames. Two, we bring a spirit of fun to the lessons. For example, we might begin by modeling, "Do you believe that Mr. Ferlazzo is the best teacher in the world?" to provoke laughter (and disagreement!). Students will subsequently develop their own questions that apply academic vocabulary to a similarly humorous topic. And third, students can easily quantify how much new knowledge they are learning each day, because knowing they are making meaningful progress is essential for self-confidence (also known as The Progress Principle).

Research suggests that we need to come in contact with a new word many times in various contexts in order to truly learn it. So in addition to the methods already discussed, we reinforce new vocabulary knowledge in other ways, such as regular classroom games, use of Vine and Instagram to create definitions of the words (we show an example below, and you can see more here), and having students use online academic vocabulary exercises (our favorites are Vocabulary Exercises For The Academic Word List, The Academic Word List at UoP and English Online).

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English-Language Learners and Academic Language

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BICS (also called communicative competence): listening and speaking skills that students tend to acquire quickly in a new language (within the first couple of years) in order to communicate in social situations, such as asking someone for directions. CALP: academic language and cognitively demanding skills required for classroom success.

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An awesome tool for creating illustrated word banks and practicing with content vocabulary.

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Quizlet has study tools to help you learn anything. Improve your grades and reach your goals with flashcards, practice tests and expert-written solutions today.

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@BBetz1985 @kbteach26 @douglaspneill @TeachingEnglish @TeachEnglishASU Oh! Wow cool! Word associations are great in so many ways!!

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pic.twitter.com/hRQAyJmdLV
— Kaizen Teaching (@BBetz1985) November 10, 2018

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@BBetz1985 @kbteach26 @douglaspneill @TeachingEnglish @TeachEnglishASU Oh! Wow cool! Word associations are great in so many ways!!

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@BBetz1985 @kbteach26 @douglaspneill @TeachingEnglish @TeachEnglishASU Oh! Wow cool! Word associations are great in so many ways!!

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What a great idea that combines manipulatives and home language! Impressed, Kanako! #Ellchat_BkClub #esl #ela #eal #eld #esol #tesol #educhat

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What a great idea that combines manipulatives and home language! Impressed, Kanako! #Ellchat_BkClub #esl #ela #eal #eld #esol #tesol #educhat https://t.co/WNWw8sicD7

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What a great idea that combines manipulatives and home language! Impressed, Kanako! #Ellchat_BkClub #esl #ela #eal #eld #esol #tesol #educhat https://t.co/WNWw8sicD7
— Tan K Huynh (he/his) 🇱🇦🇺🇸🇹🇭🏳️‍🌈 (@TanKHuynh) September 18, 2018

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What a great idea that combines manipulatives and home language! Impressed, Kanako! #Ellchat_BkClub #esl #ela #eal #eld #esol #tesol #educhat https://t.co/WNWw8sicD7

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What a great idea that combines manipulatives and home language! Impressed, Kanako! #Ellchat_BkClub #esl #ela #eal #eld #esol #tesol #educhat https://t.co/WNWw8sicD7

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What a great idea that combines manipulatives and home language! Impressed, Kanako! #Ellchat_BkClub #esl #ela #eal #eld #esol #tesol #educhat

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Examples of scaffolding by ⁦@SydneySupportEd⁩ and ⁦@DStaehrFenner⁩ during ⁦@CorwinPress⁩ webinar ⁦@MariaGDove⁩ ⁦@biddyra⁩

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Examples of scaffolding by ⁦@SydneySupportEd⁩ and ⁦@DStaehrFenner⁩ during ⁦@CorwinPress⁩ webinar ⁦@MariaGDove⁩ ⁦@biddyra⁩ pic.twitter.com/9mdoBv9TeJ
— Dr. Andrea Honigsfeld (@AndreaHonigsfel) October 29, 2018

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Examples of scaffolding by ⁦@SydneySupportEd⁩ and ⁦@DStaehrFenner⁩ during ⁦@CorwinPress⁩ webinar ⁦@MariaGDove⁩ ⁦@biddyra⁩

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Empowering ELLs

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Larry Ferlazzo invited me to guest post on his Education Week Teacher blog about teaching metacognitive thinking. This post appeared originally in Education Week on October 12, 2016.

Metacognitive strategies develop the ability to independently solve problems, construct meaning, and express ideas because they prompt students to think about how they learn. Metacognitive strategies are particularly effective in empowering English learners (ELs) because they illuminate how literacy skills can be transferred between classes. By using the Q-PIC framework to create metacognitive strategies, for example, teachers can create a simple strategy like What-How Sticky Noting that can be used for any subject.

Considerations When Using Metacognitive Strategies

Quick: Compose a short prompt - just a sentence or two - that elicits a quick student response. An metacognitive strategy should be a gentle pause in learning.

Process-driven: The prompt should ask students to think about the steps they took to solve the problem or describe the strategies they used to learn the content. Reflecting on the process develops transferable skills that empower ELs to be independent learners.

Integrated: Consciously look for opportunities to integrate metacognitive strategies within the lesson cycle, not just at the end of class. For example, ask ELs to pause and think about the process after they read a complex section of text, write an introductory paragraph, or experience an important breakthrough. Using metacognitive strategies when students show progress praises the process rather than the students.

Collaborative: Having ELs share their processes with the class provides other students with more strategies with which to experiment. Additionally, it cultivates a classroom culture that honors how students learn as well as what they learned.

What-How Strategy

In What-How Sticky Noting, ELs recall what they learned during a particular activity on one side of a sticky note. On the other side, they reflect on how they learned the content. This Q-PIC strategy is quick, process-driven, can be used at any time, and can be easily implemented across the disciplines.

Closing Thought

Reflecting on learning cements understandings . Teaching any student to think metacognitively is about growing the capacity to learn. But for ELs, it equalizes educational opportunities because reflective thinking enables ELs to participate in all content areas while developing their abilities to be on par with their native English-speaking peers. Metacognitive strategies shift ELs' self-perception from one of "limited" abilities to one of endless potential.

[ UPDATE, Dec. 2016]:A close Twitter friend shared this article entitled "Do you Pose Questions that Invite Metacognition" which contains MANY metacognitive questions you can ask students. Very helpful because it provides an extensive list of questions. Gracias, @emilyfranESL.

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39. Reflecting on learning: Developing metacognitive thinking with ELs | ELL Strategies | Empowering ELLs

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Larry Ferlazzo invited me to guest post on his Education Week Teacher blog about teaching metacognitive thinking. This post appeared originally in Education Week on October 12, 2016. Metacognitive strategies develop the ability to independently solve problems, construct meaning, and express ideas because they prompt students to think about how they learn.

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ESL students @RCSHartMS make their  thinking visible with a relevant tug of war question @RonRitchhart #Ellchat

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ESL students @RCSHartMS make their  thinking visible with a relevant tug of war question @RonRitchhart #Ellchat https://t.co/KQaXQslmCQ

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ESL students @RCSHartMS make their thinking visible with a relevant tug of war question @RonRitchhart #Ellchat pic.twitter.com/KQaXQslmCQ
— Kendra Katnik (@KendraKatnik) January 12, 2018

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ESL students @RCSHartMS make their  thinking visible with a relevant tug of war question @RonRitchhart #Ellchat https://t.co/KQaXQslmCQ

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ESL students @RCSHartMS make their  thinking visible with a relevant tug of war question @RonRitchhart #Ellchat https://t.co/KQaXQslmCQ

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ESL students @RCSHartMS make their  thinking visible with a relevant tug of war question @RonRitchhart #Ellchat