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Encourage your school to run extracurriculars that focus on cultural exchanges or peer tutoring for foreign languages by interested ELL students. This celebrates the diversity in the school and allows ELL students to be the "experts."

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I was the Active Citizenship Team's faculty advisor at a GTA school, and the members of our team were predominantly Chinese ELL students. Many of the students wanted to volunteer and help in the community so badly, but were either afraid to do it on their own or had no idea where to even begin. Providing students with contact information of different charities and organizations that are looking for student volunteers, helping students meet other students who are looking for volunteer in the community, or having an extracurricular group like the one I was the faculty leader for, can help students find meaningful volunteer opportunities that will increase their social interactions with English proficient speakers.

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Reach out to cultural groups and see if they have any volunteer opportunities for ELL students. Several of my past ELL students from Japan enjoyed volunteering for a local Japanese culture fair because they were given an opportunity to meet people from the same cultural background as themselves, teach people about their culture, and practice speaking English.

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Learn about your students' interests and try to find extracurricular activities that line up with them. Even if the basketball team has already been chosen for the year, ask the coach if it would be alright for the new student to join for practices. This will help the student join the school community and provide them with opportunities to interact with peers who have similar hobbies and interests as them.

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ELL students often feel really overwhelmed with school work, especially homework. I knew some ELL students who had no free time in their evenings due to the amount of work that they were doing after school for school. Be aware of the amount of class time you provide students to complete work, limit homework, and encourage ELL students to spend some evenings out in the community, away from their books. Remember that it will take an ELL student more time to complete classwork and homework because they have to translate their work so many times

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I decided to include this section because I was really amazed at how outgoing, confident, and connected my ELL students became when they joined activities outside of the classroom that connected to their interests. For some, this meant extracurriculars provided by the school, but other students became very connected and committed to organizations in the community that gave them opportunities to interact in English with English proficient people. This confidence continued into the classroom, and I realized the real importance of helping students adjust and connect with their community really is.

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Every student is responsible for completing a specific role for their Literature Circle group. Roles can be assigned based on a student's strength or interest. The student becomes the "expert" on their role and is responsible for sharing it with their peers. This provides structured social interactions for ELL students and a rich opportunity to discuss texts with their peers.

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Before students are allowed to move to the corner of their choosing, I always have them write down their answer and why they chose that corner. By doing this, ELLs are given time to write down why they have chosen a specific corner and are prepared to discuss with the other students there.

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Provide ELL students the next day's discussion questions for class. This provides students with an opportunity to think about the answers ahead of time, write down a response, and be prepared to discuss the next day. Before the period begins, ask the student what question they would really like to answer in class that day.

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Icebreakers often provide students with an opportunity to get to know their peers better and to be silly. Interacting with your peers in an informal way when marks aren't on the line can help build an ELLs confidence and provide an opportunity for ELLs and English proficient students to get to know one another better.

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Give students time to think about their answer. Encourage ELL students to write their response down in their L1 first, and if possible, pair them with someone in the class who speaks the same language as them. When they are ready, students can share their answer with the class. This gives ELLs an opportunity to plan what they want to say, interact with a peer, and gradually leads to a share with the whole class.

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Diane discusses the importance of peer interaction for ELLs. See more of the interview: http://www.colorincolorado.org/multimedia/experts/video/august/

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Make sure teaching resources and materials celebrate diversity - different genders, sexual orientations, races, religions, ethnic groups, socio-economic backgrounds, etc.

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Make sure teaching resources and materials celebrate diversity - different genders, sexual orientations, races, religions, ethnic groups, socio-economic backgrounds, etc.

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Encourage students to make connections to the material being taught in class and their culture and experiences

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Encourage students to make connections to the material being taught in class and their culture and experiences

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Have posters and reading materials in the L1 of the students in the class

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Have posters and reading materials in the L1 of the students in the class

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Allow ELL students to speak their L1 in the classroom

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Allow ELL students to speak their L1 in the classroom

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Pair new ELL students with a friendly peer who can show them around, preferably someone who speaks the same language

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Pair new ELL students with a friendly peer who can show them around, preferably someone who speaks the same language

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Teach English proficient students common phrases in the ELLs L1

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Teach English proficient students common phrases in the ELLs L1

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"Hello." "Thank you." "Good bye." "How are you today?"

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What to do first: Creating a welcoming ELL classroom environment

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What to do first: Creating a welcoming ELL classroom environment

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What to do first: Creating a welcoming ELL classroom environment

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My thoughts on why I put these two Guiding Principles together

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My thoughts on why I put these two Guiding Principles together

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I think that in many ways, #3 will not happen unless #5 is already in place. My experience with ELLs in the classroom is that they will try to hide unless they are comfortable in the classroom or school environment. If they're hiding, then they aren't participating in social interactions. As educators, it's important that we create a safe, welcoming environment for all of our students that provides rich and meaningful opportunities for social interaction. Below I will look at ways to make the classroom safe and welcoming, teaching strategies that promotes social interactions, and ways to promote social interaction for ELLs outside of the classroom.

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ELLs will learn more effectively in a safe, welcoming classroom environment that does not generate anxiety about performing in English

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Active participation in social interaction fosters the development of conversational and academic English