# data[].attributes.headline
The Office of English Language Acquisition Podcast

# data[].attributes.subject
The Office of English Language Acquisition Podcast

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
The Office of English Language Acquisition

Washington, D.C.

The U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) provides national leadership to help ensure that English learners (ELs) and immigrant students attain English proficiency and achieve academic success. The OELA Podcast Series is based on teaching practice briefs that highlight promising practices in EL instruction related to science, mathematics, and early childhood education. Each episode features an interview between an OELA staff member and the author of the teaching practice brief. New episodes will be released in Summer 2020 on teacher preparation, supporting ELs students with interrupted formal education, and dual language education. Visit ncela.ed.gov for more EL resources.

OELA Podcast Series's tracks

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The U.S. Department of Education's Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) provides national leadership to help ensure that English learners (ELs) and immigrant students attain English proficiency and achieve academic success. The OELA Podcast Series is based on teaching practice briefs that highlight promising practices in EL instruction related to science, mathematics, and early childhood education.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Don’t Just Call Them What You Will: Names

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
by Valentina Gonzalez “A person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” Dale Carnegie Many people take great pride in their names and in naming their childre…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
It is "almost impossible for anyone working in the field of language teaching to have avoided encountering the term translanguaging" (Brooks, 2022, p. 129). As more research is done and more books and articles are published (including those in Language Magazine), "translanguaging" is entering into teachers' collective vocabulary internationally. The benefits and importance of translanguaging are becoming more widely known and accepted in classrooms around the world; in a variety of contexts in numerous countries, educational leaders and teachers are working out ways of putting research into practice to implement translanguaging pedagogies that leverage students' full linguistic repertoires as resources for learning. However, as teachers seek to bring about the shifts in pedagogy, curriculum, and assessment (Huckle, 2021) necessary to enable translanguaging and to embrace the multilingual turn more generally (May, 2014; Conteh and Meier, 2014), they must be prepared to overcome hurdles to implementation. Knowing more about the barriers they will likely face will better equip them to break down those barriers on encountering them. This article will outline some potential barriers in the domains of policy, practice, and personal belief and end with a call for critical self-reflection on the part of advocates of translanguaging to ensure that we ourselves don't get in the way of realizing its full transformative power.

THE THREE P'S: POLICIES, PRACTICES, PERSONAL BELIEFS
A school's policies and practices and the personal beliefs of its various stakeholders have the potential to open up or close down translanguaging spaces. In other words, they can create the conditions in which translanguaging is allowed, then encouraged, and ultimately enabled (Smith et al., 2017, p. 17), or they can become barriers-forces that disallow, discourage, or prevent students from translanguaging. A teacher who tries to develop a more culturally and linguistically inclusive classroom through translanguaging practices might need to find ways to resist and challenge school policies that demand monolingualism, for example. Leaders seeking to redesign policies to promote translanguaging might need to confront parents', students', or faculty's misunderstandings about the realities of multilingualism.

PERSONAL BELIEFS THAT CLOSE DOWN TRANSLANGUAGING SPACES
Probably the most powerful force that acts to close down translanguaging spaces in schools lies in the domain of personal beliefs. Our education systems are, in so many ways, built upon assumptions rooted in a powerful ideology of monolingualism (Fuller, 2018; Alisaari et al., 2019; Przymus and Huddleston, 2021; Chang-Bacon, 2021). This is a bias that views monolingualism as normal and conceives of a multilingual individual as just two or more monolinguals in one body. Languages are seen as segregated, bounded systems that can be switched on and off at will or left at the classroom door. A multilingual's languages are imagined to be "two [or more] solitudes that should be kept rigidly separate" (Cummins, 2008, p. 65). Rather than seeing the potential assets that lie in enabling multilingual students to draw upon their complete linguistic repertoires, the monolingual bias leads many teachers to see multilingualism as a problem that needs to be fixed.

The persistence of this monolingual bias is a barrier to the implementation of translanguaging in schools. Whatever changes we make in the policy and practice domains, it-as Cenoz and Santos (2020) say-"is still difficult for teachers to accept translanguaging because of the strong tradition of language separation ideologies" (p. 3). These ideologies manifest in various ways. We see them behind the belief held by some teachers-despite evidence to the contrary-that use of other languages in the classroom might confuse students or hinder their learning of the language of instruction (usually English), as if it were an either/or rather than an and/with situation. The monolingual bias similarly explains the feeling of discomfort some students and teachers have when others around them are using languages they don't understand: "not only students, but also teachers may feel isolated when confronted with other languages" (Ticheloven et al., 2021, p. 500).

It is clear that, as Yip and García (2015) write, "there continue to be numerous fallacies about language learning and development among educators, and these misconceptions can get in the way of teachers seeing the opportunities for translanguaging practices in their classrooms." For those of us seeking to lead change in our schools, we need to do more than transform policies and practices, as those efforts are likely to be unsuccessful if we don't also seek to change hearts and minds. We need to shine the light of evidence on teaches' shadowy misunderstandings and assumptions; we need to help each other become educators who can interrogate how our own positionalities and prejudices shape the way we conceive of language(s); we need to build monolingual teachers' empathy for the lived realities of their multilingual students and the potentially harmful impact of our beliefs and blind spots.

POLICIES AND PRACTICES THAT CLOSE DOWN TRANSLANGUAGING SPACES
Shifting hearts and minds is not enough on its own, of course. To implement translanguaging approaches, a school needs to scrutinize its policies to identify where they directly or indirectly restrict translanguaging, or where they could do more to enable it. "English only" policies persist in some schools, for example, and even where it's not official policy, teachers might "be instructed by school administrators to prohibit children from using and learning in their own languages" (Yip and García, 2015). Such policies need to be challenged and redesigned with proper respect for diversity, equity, and inclusion; we need policies that, rather than banning use of particular languages, actually prohibit controlling and exclusionary practices that discriminate against multilinguals' natural ways of languaging. Policies should explicitly state why translanguaging is important, what it looks like in that context, and how it will be enabled.

Research into teachers' concerns about translanguaging approaches reveals that they worry about time pressures: they think "translanguaging strategies may slow the lesson down" (Ticheloven et al., 2021, p. 507) or "cut into the curriculum" (Galante, 2020, p. 7) or are "reluctant to give up instructional time to focus on metalinguistic awareness" (Yip and García, 2015). If our teaching practices are leaving us without the time to embrace our students' full linguistic identities, we need to question those practices and ask ourselves whether teaching practices that require students to leave a large part of who they are outside of the classroom, and only access part of their communicative resources, could ever be effective.

Teachers sometimes also feel uncomfortable at the perceived loss of control that comes from translanguaging in the classroom; in Ticheloven et al.'s (2021) study, a teacher "argued that other languages in the classroom prevent teachers from keeping track of what students are doing" and "some teachers described feelings of discomfort when they do not know what students are discussing in class time" (p. 500). In these cases, when "the organizational stress and risk of losing control" is viewed "as more significant than the principle of linguistic inclusion" (Ticheloven et al., 2021, p. 500), we need to question the priorities that underpin our practices. We need to find ways of creating classroom environments in which we feel equipped and confident to hand over control of languaging to the students themselves and to build student agency so we can prioritize linguistic inclusion over our own feelings of discomfort or loss of control.

Another powerful force that gets in the way of translanguaging in schools is assessment. Most assessment practices in most schools, especially when tied to standardized tests, are monolingual (Slaughter and Cross, 2021; García, 2009). Therein lies a contradiction that those of us implementing translanguaging pedagogies in our classrooms will sooner or later have to grapple with; as Galante (2020) writes, "the issue with translanguaging pedagogy and assessment is that the former requires the use of students' entire linguistic repertoire while the latter mandates English only" (p. 7). Assessment practices, therefore, can undermine attempts to promote translanguaging pedagogies and can have a negative washback effect on teaching practices. We should push back against this and join calls for assessment reform in the direction of inclusion and equity; at the same time, for those of us who cannot control standardized testing regimes, we can seek out ways to innovate within the limited assessment paradigm we are required to operate in and implement multilingual assessments within our spheres of control (see, for example, Gottlieb, 2021).

AVOIDING TOKENISM: TRANSLANGUAGING IS NOT A 'STRATEGY' OR 'TOOL'
As well as the policies, practices, and personal beliefs outlined above that might get in the way of translanguaging, we also need to beware that our own approaches to translanguaging do not prevent us from realizing its full potential. Translanguaging is frequently approached in a tokenistic way; it is reduced to a "strategy" or a "tool" that teachers might decide to use every now and then to "support" learners. Translanguaging is not a tool. It's not a support strategy. If we think about it in this way, we stunt its potential for transformation. We need to be wary of translanguaging becoming just a "fashionable trend" (Erdocia, 2020, p. 10) or "buzzword" (Flores, 2014) that will pass when other strategies or tools come along. We should fight against the appropriation and neutralization of translanguaging that "detatche[s it] from any connotation of resistance and transformation" (Erdocia, 2020, p. 10). As Nelson Flores (2014) notes, translanguaging is "a political act"; it is "part of a larger political struggle of linguistic self-determination for language-minoritized populations." Similarly, for Li Wei (2022), translanguaging "is more than a pedagogic or theoretical perspective; it is a political stance, a decolonizing stance" (p. 1). When we approach it from such a stance, translanguaging can, in the words of Cioè-Peña and Snell (2015), create "a space within schools where the practice of social justice can thrive... By creating translanguaging spaces, we create spaces that students experience as empowering, adaptable, relevant, and reflective of their own life experiences."

So, as we attempt to open up translanguaging spaces in our classrooms and schools, we need to be prepared to break down the policy, practice, and personal belief barriers that might get in our way; we also need to self-critically reflect on the way we conceptualize translanguaging to ensure we fully realize its position as part of broader sociopolitical struggles for social justice and its transformative power.

Jacob Huckle is an international school teacher and EdD research student. He is British but has been based in China for the last ten years, where he teaches English to multilingual learners in an international school. His EdD research is focused on multilingualism and interculturality in international schools.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Breaking Down Barriers - Language Magazine

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
It is "almost impossible for anyone working in the field of language teaching to have avoided encountering the term translanguaging" (Brooks, 2022, p. 129). As more research is done and more books and articles are published (including those in Language Magazine), "translanguaging" is entering into teachers' collective vocabulary internationally.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
www.nea.org needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Recommended Resources: Online Safety

Common Sense Media: Parent Information

For more great recommendations on ways to help your kids use technology safely and effectively, take a look at Common Sense Media and its section on Parent Concerns.

KidsHealth: Online Safety Tips for Families

KidsHealth offers a number of articles for kids, teens, and parents about online safety, which are also available in Spanish:

This full-color, two-page brochure for parents and teens from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is available in 9 languages. (See Internet Safety Brochure for links to all languages.)

This resource page from LAUSD includes bilingual activities, guidelines, and PSAs about cybersafety and bullying prevention.

The Internet Keep Safe Coalition (iKeepSafe), established in 2005, is a 501(c)3 nonprofit international alliance of more than 100 policy leaders, educators, law enforcement members, technology experts, public health experts and advocates. iKeepSafe offers videos in Spanish and Arabic on internet safety for parents and children.

Recommended Resources: Cyberbullying

This section offers guidelines for cyberbullying prevention, as well as strategies for addressing problems that arise and for monitoring online activity for potential problems.

KidsHealth: Articles for Families

KidsHealth offers a number of articles for kids, teens, and parents about cyberbullying, which are also available in Spanish:

This federal website is managed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and is fully bilingual. It includes a section on Cyberbullying.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
For more great recommendations on ways to help your kids use technology safely and effectively, take a look at Common Sense Media and its section on Parent Concerns. KidsHealth offers a number of articles for kids, teens, and parents about online safety, which are also available in Spanish: This full-color, two-page brochure for parents and teens from the Washington State Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction is available in 9 languages.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
In the U.S., schools and families work together closely to help children succeed. For example, you can contact your child's teacher if you have questions, or you may be invited to events at the school. These resources describe how you can build a relationship with your child's school.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Schools and Families: An Important Partnership

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
In the U.S., schools and families work together closely to help children succeed. For example, you can contact your child's teacher if you have questions, or you may be invited to events at the school. These resources describe how you can build a relationship with your child's school.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
40 Free Educational Resources for Parents to Help Their Children

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Follow our extensive guide for parent resources for education, support and help with your child’s learning needs.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
50 Great Websites for Parents of Children with Special Needs - CES Schools

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
The following are 50 Great Websites for Parents of Children with Special Needs. This list of resources is great for parents of children with special needs. The list contains links for associations, councils, centers, and societies. It also has links for conferences, financial aid and internships, and helpful websites, articles, and research.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Carol Salva and her guests explore ways to empower language learners and the teachers who teach them. We're not just closing gaps, we're growing leaders.

Carol Salva and her guests explore ways to empower language learners and the teachers who teach them. We're not just closing gaps, we're growing leaders.

Very empowering!

I love listening to this playlist anytime I feel defeated. It gives me so many ideas to try and share with my colleagues.

Teacher

I love this podcast when you get those episodes that offer serious teaching tips and information. Unfortunately, it is sometimes just a looooong commercial for someone trying to sell a book, or a bunch of people fan-girling over one another.

I love this podcast

Brand new to the ELL world (as a literacy tutor) and I am learning SO much from Carol Salva.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
‎Boosting Achievement: The ESL Podcast on Apple Podcasts

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Carol Salva and her guests explore ways to empower language learners and the teachers who teach them. We're not just closing gaps, we're growing leaders.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to use Picture Word Inductive Model & Sentence Patterning Charts in a Distance Learning Setting

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Making the Most of Your Word Wall: Interactive Word Walls

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Serving Multilingual Learners of All Ages

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
While wordless picture books have commonly been used with emergent readers and primary students in elementary grades, they are also useful when developing English in older students. Books that lack words allow for students themselves to produce language needed for each page, think critically about the ideas, and engage in deep inferencing to develop a plot and theme while building language skills.

Wordless picture books are accessible to learners who speak any language, as seen in the example above. No matter the language our learners speak, they can interpret pictures almost instantly in their minds. When we use wordless picture books with students, we are able to communicate with them at many levels.

As an ESL teacher, I had students who spoke several languages all in one classroom at the same time. Each student was unique. They had

various proficiency levels in their native languages and in English,

different background experiences, and

different educational histories.

But all of my students could access a visual representation at the same time. Using wordless picture books allows learners to think and process information using their own linguistic repertoires.
Wordless picture books lend themselves to opportunities for oral and written storytelling. The power of sharing a story and interpreting visuals in multiple perspectives is great with wordless picture books. When books include words, readers are somewhat limited to the ideas and text held by the author. However, wordless picture books give readers freedom to interpret the visuals through their own eyes, thoughts, and experiences.

Using wordless picture books with English learners can support all language domains: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. How Can I Implement Wordless Picture Books With My English Learners?

students listen to a partner or the teacher "read" or interpret the pictures from the book

Speaking/Reading: students share their interpretation of the book with a partner

students write captions or text for wordless picture books, or students create their own wordless picture books

Students love wordless picture books! They are fun because students get to interact with the book by adding their ideas.
Wordless picture books can be shared or interpreted together as a whole group. It's important to begin with ample modeling of the art of storytelling through shared experiences. After much modeling, encourage readers to try with a partner, and then be sure to make these books available for independent reading.

Students can also write captions or text for wordless picture books. This exercise shows learners that each page or picture tells readers something new and expresses main ideas and details. Take time to model for students how to glean the main idea and supporting details. When modeling writing for students, weave in authentic grammar instruction too. "Should we put a capital here? Why?" "Do we need a period at the end?" "Is there a word missing in this sentence?" "Let's read it one more time together to make sure it makes sense."

Once students see many examples of wordless picture books, they can create their own, too. Drawing is an excellent way to process information and is known for boosting memory while increasing recall of information . In addition, allowing students to create provides space for self-reflection and creativity.

Make Space for Nonfiction Not all wordless picture books are fiction. Students can create nonfiction picture books related to information they are learning in specific content areas or to share their own lived experiences. In an
Edutopia article , Kathryn Fishman-Weaver wrote, "Art gave the students I worked with new ways to process and tease out meaning, and to share their lived experiences." The student-created wordless picture books can be used to teach younger students, too.

A Short List of Wordless Picture Books
When considering which books to use with your students, think about not only grade level and content, but also student choice and interest. Allowing students to self-select wordless picture books to read gives them a sense of freedom and autonomy. English learners at earlier language proficiency levels will benefit from reading books that the teacher has already read to the group. The list below is not an exhaustive list but it's a good start for those interested in trying out wordless picture books with students.

Can Wordless Picture Books Be Used in Remote or Distance Learning?
The short answer is yes, they can. Remote or distance learning can be defined as learning situations where the teacher and the student are separated and unable to interact in the same classroom setting. Yet, not all families have access to computers and the internet, so providing instruction that is accessible to all children is important. If your school is using remote or distance learning for any reason, wordless picture books are one way to accommodate English learners because they lean on the total linguistic repertoire and not solely on English. Using a child's whole language repertoire, we can build the target language.

Teachers who have prior notice of school closures have the luxury of pulling together wordless picture books from the public or campus library and distributing them to English learners with choice boards such as .

What Does Reading a Wordless Picture Book Look Like?
Reading is more than decoding words. Wordless picture books provide students with the opportunity to analyze visuals, synthesize ideas, infer meaning, and create language structures to support their thoughts. Students are encouraged to narrate the pages.Older students benefit from being told that this practice will support their English development.

This is where the Gradual Release of Responsibility fits right in. Copious amounts of modeling for students will yield greater gains. Students who know and understand the expectations for reading a wordless picture book will be more successful. Show students exactly what reading a wordless picture book sounds like, then move to guided practice. Read wordless picture books together as a class or in small groups. Some students will need the support of questions such as "What is happening in this picture?" or "What makes you think that?" and "What will happen next?" Finally, have students practice reading wordless picture books independently and with partners.

If students have access to technology, they can record themselves reading wordless picture books on platforms such as Flipgrid and Seesaw. Students can watch their peers read and comment on their videos. Providing English learners with a model and sentence stems for sharing will enhance their experience. For instance, have them introduce the book with a stem like, "Today, I'm going to read a book to you called..." or "This is a wordless picture book I made. It's a (how to/all about/fiction/nonfiction) book. Let me share it with you." And after they read, have them comment with phrases like, "My favorite part was when..." or "I like this book because..." Or, they can ask questions about the book for their fellow students to answer, themselves.

Author
Tanny McGregor recently shared the hashtag #WordlessBookWeekend on a Twitter chat. It's filled with ideas for wordless picture books and how teachers are using them with students.

No matter a student's language, language proficiency level, or grade, and no matter what content area you teach, wordless picture books can support learning. Wordless picture books are fun, engaging, multimodal, and interactive. Give them a try, and be sure to share with us how it goes with your students.

See more articles like this one by Valentina on the Seidlitz Blog and in her recent book, Reading & Writing with English Learners, co-authored with Dr. Melinda Miller.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
While wordless picture books have commonly been used with emergent readers and primary students in elementary grades, they are also useful when developing English in older students. Books that lack words allow for students themselves to produce language needed for each page, think critically about the ideas, and engage in deep inferencing to develop a plot and theme while building language skills.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Serving Multilingual Learners of All Ages

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This article was first published on 6/8/2018 and updated on 8/21/2021.

​When I first saw the graphics below that showed the diversity represented in children's books, I was stunned and appalled. You can learn more about . The statistics were alarming. They reported that the majority of main characters depicted in children's books are either White or Animals/Objects. Seeing these graphics and reading about the study led me to take an audit of my own books and resources. I started by sorting out my books. I made stacks. And honestly, I was shocked and saddened that my bookshelf truly was not as diverse as I imagined. It certainly did not parallel the demographics on my campus either. the article here

This prompted action.​

, Rene Watson, an author and educator, shares how important it is for students to read about about characters that are like them and share similar experiences. Rudine Sims-Bishop calls these books mirrors.
Students benefit from seeing themselves and others in the books they read. Why? For one, because seeing ourselves outside of ourselves makes us feel visible. In this video

On the other hand, readers also need to read about a wide variety of people and experiences. Sims-Bishop calls these windows. Reading about other's lives helps us to find connections and build community. Dr. Brene Brown says, "We are hardwired for connection and without it there is suffering." We also gain much knowledge and learn empathy from seeing others in the books we read. So why aren't our shelves filled with books that have diverse characters? ​

If you've ever questioned why your students aren't interested in the books on your shelves, you might stop to think about the types of books that are there. Do they represent your students? Can the kids connect with them?

I also learned about a non-profit organization called We Need Diverse Books. Check it out. They share a lot of information including lists of diverse books.

In my quest for making my shelf more diverse, I have found some great books. I'll keep adding to this and if you have suggestions, please comment and include a picture if you can.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This article was first published on 6/8/2018 and updated on 8/21/2021. ​When I first saw the graphics below that showed the diversity represented in children's books, I was stunned and appalled. You can learn more about . The statistics were alarming. They reported that the majority of main characters depicted in children's books are either White or Animals/Objects.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Rooted Linguistics: Serving Teachers of Multilingual Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Multilingual learners count on us to provide high-quality, comprehensible, and culturally responsive instruction in each lesson in every classroom.

Here are 22 practical and efficient ways (in no particular order) we can support emergent bilinguals as they climb to become our future global leaders.
​
*The terms multilingual, emergent bilingual, and English learner are used interchangeably in this article and also include the acronyms MLs, EBs, and ELs.

1. Showcase ALL Students and Their Work. Displaying pictures of students and their families on the walls helps each learner to feel seen and validated in the learning space. This creates a sense of belonging and builds community among the class. Hanging student work on the walls, such as writing and art, can also send clear messages to learners that the classroom is for learners and learning.

2. Know, , & Use their Names. That's right. Validating a student's identity with their given name is important. Avoid making an "American" name for a child. If you aren't sure how to a name, ask, repeatedly if needed. Some teachers have students record how they prefer to be called on Flipgrid. This allows the teacher and classmates to replay the video/sound at their leisure as many times as necessary.

9. Have Students Collaborate With Peers. Through peer collaboration, students learn in ways that we, teachers, can't provide. As
4. Provide Access to Grade Level Curriculum. When Emergent bilinguals have access to grade-level curriculum with linguistic accommodations and scaffolds they are less likely to fall behind academically. It's important to remember that acquiring a language is not a deficit, but rather that a first language is an asset that can be used as leverage.

5. Embrace and Love Them. Kids that think their teachers love them and feel they are loved for who they are, achieve more. Even if a child can't speak English yet, they can still think and feel. A smile goes a long way.

7. Value ALL Language and Literacy. Many teachers will say that they value languages and literacy but how can we quantify that belief in our daily work with students? Actions speak louder than words, right?

Learn a few words in students' primary languages

Use students' primary language(s) on the walls

Provide books & resources in L1 when available

Encourage translanguaging and the full use of students' language repertoire

​
8. Provide High-Quality 1st Teach. This is a big one. MLs who receive initial instruction that is insufficient will often fall further behind academically and linguistically. When this happens over an extended period of time, many MLs have difficulty exiting state ESL programs and are often labeled LTELs (or long-term English learners). On the other hand, those that receive high-quality, first teach that amplifies language and is comprehensible, thrive academically and develop language simultaneously.

​ Vygotsky taught us, learning is social. When multilingual collaborate with monolingual English-speaking peers the reciprocal learning that happens among them is invaluable. Group work, approach, literature circles, and book clubs are just a few examples of collaborative settings.
10. Use Visuals. Visuals transcend all languages. When we see a visual representation, no matter the language we speak, we can begin to access our prior knowledge and schema.
​

12. Amplify Listening, Speaking, Reading, and Writing. Years ago, the idea was that when working with English learners we needed to simplify instruction so they could understand it. Now we know that we can "KEEP the content and amplify the language" (listening, speaking, reading, and writing). This was a quote a heard Okhee Lee say during a presentation she did for teachers of ELs. No more watering down curriculum. Scaffold UP!
​

13. Hold High Expectations. Multilingual students are brilliant. We have to believe they CAN DO it! With our support, they can do everything monolingual English speakers can do. We set the ceiling for them. It's a matter of how high are our expectations. What do we believe? Our belief creates potential and that potential builds action. Action creates results. The cycle continues. Believe big!

16. Encourage Drawing & L1. When we look at learners from their assets, we recognize that there are many ways to express ideas, share information, demonstrate knowledge, and be creative. English (or any language) does not determine intelligence. Allowing students to draw, sketch, and use their L1 (or first language) helps them recognize that thinking and learning are valued.

17. Provide Small Group Instruction. Gathering students in small groups helps to lower the student-teacher ratio allowing for more intimate instruction. A small group can be one-to-one like a conference between the student and the teacher or a group of 3-5. It's important that small groups be fluid and heterogeneous to avoid stigmatizing learners. Multilingual learners benefit from small group instruction because it can lower the
affective filter and provide time for direct and explicit instruction with the careful guidance of the teacher.

18. Create Warm & Welcoming Spaces. Classroom environments that capture kids' hearts will no doubt build their minds and allow language to flourish. The goal is for English learners and their families to feel safe to take risks and feel that they belong and are valued in our campuses and our classrooms.
​

20. Collaborate with Colleagues. Collaborating with our colleagues helps our students. We need each other. Our colleagues know things that we don't know and we can learn from one another. As an ESL Co-Teacher and later an ESL Facilitator, I had the honor of going into classrooms and working alongside numerous teachers on my campus/district. That was the best professional learning. Our peers are our greatest teachers!

21. Monitor Progress & Growth. If we want emergent bilinguals to grow in language and content, we need to know where they are and become intentional about the steps to help them get to the goals. Goal setting alongside EBs has become a more common practice too. Many teachers sit alongside students to discuss goals and progress.

22. Stop for Checkpoints with Feedback. Formatively assessing during lessons helps us to form the next steps in instruction. I think of formative assessment (checkpoints) as a thermometer. We take the temperature and then based on the results, we adjust the thermostat (instruction) and provide feedback to students. On the other hand, if we rarely stop to check on students' understanding, we might go for hours or days not realizing that students have missed key understandings. Large gaps may form and by this time it becomes difficult to re-route the learning that has solidified.

So there they are, again, in no particular order. 22 ways to support multilingual learners in everyday instruction.

Scroll down to download and print the full article.

Step 1. Divide educators into 4 groups. Have educators number off 1-4 in their groups. (4 groups of 4 if possible).

Step 4. Have everyone break into groups by their #s to discuss what they read. #1s in one area, #2s in another, #3s, and 4s.
Possible Discussion Prompts
Step 5. Have everyone rejoin their original group (from step 1) to share the main takeaways from the reading & discussion.
Step 6. Debrief the article and the jigsaw routine (which is a collaborative, structured, yet student-centered process). What are your take-aways? What supported you? How might this support MLs?

Step 1. Number off 1-22.

Step 2. Each person reads their respective # from the list.

Step 3. Line up 1-22.

Step 4. Give partners time to share and discuss what they read.
Possible discussion prompts:

Step 5. Direct ONE line to rotate to the right while the other line stays in place. Now each person will have a new partner to share with again.

Step 6. After a few rounds, debrief the article and the speed dating routine (which is a collaborative, structured, yet student-centered process). What are your take-aways? What supported you? How might this support MLs?

Free download for printing:

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
22 Things Educators Can Do NOW to Support Multilingual Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Multilingual learners count on us to provide high-quality, comprehensible, and culturally responsive instruction in each lesson in every classroom. Here are 22 practical and efficient ways (in no...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Serving Multilingual Learners of All Ages

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
This brief post lists 13 instructional practices that reduce the love and motivation for reading in students and then 13 ways to inspire and motivate them.

1. ​Don't give students time for free reading in class.

2. Assign all reading and offer students no choices in their reading selections.

3. Be sure to call on students one at a time to read aloud in front of their peers, for example, popcorn reading or round-robin reading.

4. Assign reading logs as homework and require students to fill them out regularly for a grade.

5. Make reading worksheets a major practice of instruction and grading.

6. Only let students read books at their reading levels.

7. Discourage reading in languages other than English.

8. Don't consider culturally inclusive book selections on your bookshelf and keep a blind eye to what students are reading.

9. Don't let students abandon books even if they aren't connecting with them.

10. Avoid making space for students to talk or write about their reading.

11. Don't meet students where they are as readers.

12. Pull multilingual learners out of class during reading.

13. Don't model reading by reading aloud to students or sharing your passion for reading.

In contrast, here are 13 ways to help students find love, joy, and excitement in reading.

1. Reading is valuable for multilingual learners therefore keep them in the classroom during reading instruction, read-aloud, silent reading time, etc. In our book Reading & Writing with English Learners, Dr. Melinda Miller and I discuss the components of reading and writing and how to effectively scaffold instruction to meet their needs.

2. Read-aloud to students no matter their age or the content area that you teach and talk with them about your own reading life.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This brief post lists 13 instructional practices that reduce the love and motivation for reading in students and then 13 ways to inspire and motivate them. ​Don't give students time for free reading in class. Assign all reading and offer students no choices in their reading selections.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
How can we get our students to naturally refer back to a text for evidence to back up their answers to questions? With habit-building text evidence activities! One of the easiest ways for kids to start this habit is to use the five Ws to teach text evidence. (Who, what, when, where, and why.) The best part about this approach is that you can easily use fiction or nonfiction text!

Model Text Evidence With a 5W Graphic Organizer

Use graphic organizers, like this one included in our Lucky Little Toolkitto introduce the concept of text evidence with the 5W questions: Who? What? When? Where? Why?

1- Start with a short read aloud, and model going back into the text to find answers to the 5W questions.

2- Fill in the text evidence anchor chart with specific information you found in the text. Read THIS POST for more text evidence anchor chart examples.

Repeat this process as many times as needed to show your students how to refer directly to the details in a text to better understand it, and to answer questions in a more specific way.

Guided Text Evidence Activities

When your students are ready to apply this skill to their just right text, practice text evidence using the 5 Ws with short reading passages.

Read the passage one text chunk at a time with each group and search for answers to the 5Ws. Refer to the 5W graphic organizer as needed.

Guided Reading Example Using Fiction

1- Prepare leveled reading passages for each of your groups.
Above 2nd Grade Level Readers At 2nd Grade Level Readers Below 2nd Grade Level Readers
2- Read the first chunk of text.

Note: Scaffold the reading as needed, depending on the reading abilities of each group. For example, you may need to read smaller chunks of text with your below grade level groups. Your higher groups may be able to read silently on their own.

3- Go through the 5Ws one at a time using prompts to help kids search for evidence.

Note: Allow your students to underline, highlight, or circle the evidence directly on the text.

WHO - Who is this chunk of text mostly about?

Get students into the habit of using details from the text to answer the 5W questions. A good way to do this is by asking the follow up question - How do you know?

WHAT - What is happening in this part of the story?

It may help to tell kids to think of the what as story events. What happened first, next, and last?

WHEN/ WHERE: When/ where did these events happen?

By this point, students will be getting the hang of underlining specific evidence to answer questions.

WHY - Why did the character react in this way?

There are many different directions you can go with "why". Different types of text will lend themselves to different "why" types of questions. Scroll to the next section for examples of different "why" questions you could ask your students. For "After School Clubs", a question about why the main character is reacting a particular way will help with comprehension most.

Prompts to Help Kids With the 5Ws

Who ...

...is mentioned most often?

...does the passage mainly talk about?

What ...

...is happening in the passage?

...details help us understand what is happening in the passage?

...is this passage mostly about?

...is this passage teaching us about?

When & Where:

Where and when does the story take place?

When and where did this take place?

Why ...

...is the character acting in a particular way?

...is the text giving this information?

...are things turning out this way?

...did the conflict/ problem happen?

Independent Text Evidence Activities
Reading Passage Comprehension Questions
Ask students to answer the comprehension questions for the same guided reading passage.

The comprehension questions are leveled as well so you can copy them on the back!

Take a look:
Reading Toothy
Reading Toothy helps kids practice grade level reading standards - in a fun game-like format. There are 360 high-interest reading passages and/or scenarios to go with each reading skill - text evidence included!

Your students can also use devices to play Digital Reading Toothy!

Check out the video to see Reading Toothy in action:

Use the image below to save this post to your Pinterest board for future reference.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
How to Use the 5Ws to Teach Text Evidence

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
How can we get our students to naturally refer back to a text for evidence to back up their answers to questions? With habit-building text evidence activities! One of the easiest ways for kids to start this habit is to use the five Ws to teach text evidence.

# data[].attributes.body
These are fun ways to add a little nature into your classroom.

🌱 San Diego Zoo Live Camera Feeds - these are SO COOL! A lot of teachers used them for virtual fields trips last year and they're great for that. You can also use them for animal report writing. Or just a cool thing to project during Friday Fun!

🌱 Google Arts & Culture: Barrier Reef Journey - in the same vein as the live cams. There are a ton of these immersive journeys that can be used as virtual field trips or for research.

🌱 The Hidden World of National Parks -

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
We all know that teaching isn't easy, but it doesn't have to be this hard. Equipping ELLs is a podcast for both ESL specialists and homeroom teachers who are looking for effective and engaging ways to support their English Language Learners without adding to their endless to-do list.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
FREE Funny Animals Picture Prompts for Narrative Writing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
FREE Funny Animals Picture Prompts for Narrative Writing with Word Bank Do your students have writer’s block when it comes to narrative writing? If so, they will love these 5 funny animal picture writing prompts. These picture prompts are sure to get your kids writing with more ease and with more c.…

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Rooted Linguistics: Serving Teachers of Multilingual Learners

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
Phoenix children’s hospital speech therapy

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Using Pictures to Promote Language Development

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
This article was originally posted on 2-25-2017 and has been updated on 9-17-2020 to include information relevant to distance learning. “A picture is worth a thousand words” or so we’ve heard.…

# data[].attributes.headline
Serving Multilingual Learners of All Ages

# data[].attributes.subject
Serving Multilingual Learners of All Ages

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
Rooted Linguistics: Serving Teachers of Multilingual Learners

# data[].attributes.body
Kansas Standards for English Learners

# data[].attributes.body
Bilingual Glossaries and Cognates

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
These glossaries are to provide permitted testing accommodations of ELL/MLL students. They should also be used for instruction during the school year.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Having Students Pronounce Vocabulary

Academic vocabulary words are new to all students, and pronouncing new vocabulary words can be intimidating for many students. This affects their confidence and engagement with the vocabulary. I recommend that the class chorally pronounces each vocabulary word (yes, even in secondary classrooms!) so they become comfortable sharing the word out loud. Two ways to encourage choral pronunciation are:

Parsing Syllables
Separating a word by syllables can help students gain confidence with pronunciation. In the case of sedimentation, for example, students can say each syllable, sed-, -iment-, -ation, after the teacher. For added effect, students can pronounce the full word a couple of times after they say each syllable.

Multiple (Slow) Repetitions
In this strategy, the teacher models saying the vocabulary word several times very slowly, and then the students repeat the word. The number of times the teacher says the word depends on the needs of the class (I repeated the word up to seven times in my classes), but I recommend students repeat the word at least three times.

Having Students Discuss Questions Using Sentence Stems

Structured conversations about academic content is critical for students to share ideas and develop new levels of understanding. Strategies for setting clear expectations and structuring the language of the discussions, such as the Q-SSS-A strategy, are highly effective at engaging students in academic discussions. Below are some strategies to employ if students are not all sharing using the sentence stem:

Proving ample think time by instructing the class to simply "think about the question" without answering it or by having students provide a signal to show readiness (detailed in the Q-SSS-A article linked above) can give students confidence to discuss using the sentence stem.

Having students repeat the sentence stem chorally before they share with their partner can help focus them on the specific academic language to use.

Specifying who speaks first in each group can help students share more equitably and remove any ambiguity about the conversation. For example, students can number off with in a group one through four, and the teacher can randomly choose a number to speak first in each group.

Randomly calling on students promotes a sense of accountability and inclusion for students, and giving students the option of sharing what their partner(s) said reduces anxiety and communicates that there is no one right answer.

Appropriately Targeting Levels of Questioning

The questions and sentence stems in this resource are designed to progressively require students to think and discuss more deeply as they examine and re-examine the visuals. The first level is observational, so that students are simply describing what they see in the visual. The next level is relational, where students are making connections between this word and other words. The final level is inferential: what can they predict or infer about how this concept would play out in hypothetical contexts? These three levels and their alignment to Bloom's Taxonomy are described in the table to the right.

In a heterogeneous classroom environment, it is recommended to start students at the observational level so that they can apply and share their background knowledge about the vocabulary. When questioning students at the relational level, it will likely be important to expose the students to the other vocabulary word(s) the question is relating. For example, when exploring the visual about the word axis with the question, "How is the Earth's axis related to its rotation?," it is important that the students have seen the visual for rotation as well.

Helping Students Explore the Visual

Some students might need support in identifying finer details of visuals. Helpful strategies include:

Having students simply describe the visual to their partner with a sentence stem such as "One thing I notice is..."

Directing students to identify key words in the visual. For example, when looking at a visual for the word double helix, before asking the question, "How is DNA organized into a double helix?" the teacher can instruct students to find the word DNA in the visual.

Explaining What Certain Symbols Mean

There are many symbols repeatedly used throughout The Visual Non-Glossary. While many students can infer the meaning of these symbols as they pertain to the visuals, it may be helpful to create an anchor chart specifying exactly what they mean. To the left is an example anchor chart, which can be referred to throughout the year.

Volume 3: Review/Preview with Discussion

March 30, 2021

Review - or Preview - by Having Students Guess The Word
As a warm-up/bell-ringer/do-now activity, display 3-4 visuals that have either previously been covered or will be featured in the lesson. Cover or crop out the words and questions and ask students to try to identify which words represent which visuals. This can be done with a word bank, without a word bank, or by giving students a word bank after they have guessed the words. It is important to remind students to provide some justification as to why they chose each word for each picture.

After students have brainstormed individually and the class has started, have students share in partners or small groups using a sentence stem such as " I think picture ___ represents ________ because..."

Specify Who Goes First
When having students discuss a visual in groups or breakout rooms, instructing very clearly who will speak first in the group can motivate groups to start talking and ensure equitable discussion within the group. This can be done using superlatives, such as "person with the longest hair" or "person whose name is closest to A in the alphabet."

This can also be done by setting up a lettering system. In an initial warm-up or group discussion, students can be instructed to each pick a letter (A, B, C, D, etc.). In subsequent discussions, groups can be instructed that a specific letter is going to speak first. This system can also be used to randomly call on students after a discussion (e.g., "Let me hear from Person C of each group").

Volume 2: Engaging Students in Discussions

January 26, 2021

Thinking Signal
Having students show a thinking signals is a powerful strategy for providing the right amount of wait time, as well as helping students focus on the question. Classic thinking signals include giving a thumbs up, lowering one's hand, or sitting down when ready. In virtual or hybrid lessons, students can be instructed to type a specific letter into the chat but to not send it until they are ready to answer the question. My favorite thinking signal, in any type of lesson: instruct students to point to the vocabulary word above the visual, or the sentence stem, and to not lower their fingers until they are ready to finish the sentence. This gives them think time while priming them to use the key vocabulary word in their responses!

Interaction without Breakout Rooms
In virtual and hybrid lessons, highly structured breakout room sessions are excellent for students to interact with the visual, processing the content and practicing the language. In addition to breakout rooms, here are some excellent options for online interaction:

Have students post a video on Flipgrid using the sentence stem, then instruct them to respond to other students' videos using stems such as "I agree/disagree with ____ because..." or "My response was different from ____ because..."

Assign partners or groups, then instruct each group to send messages to each other on a specific shared document, Google Jamboard page, or Padlet post.

Have students submit their complete sentences to the chat or a shared document or discussion board, then call on one or two students to unmute and read out loud their favorite response, giving credit to that student.

Note: However the students interact, it is key to follow up interaction with whole-group sharing by randomly calling on one or more students. This signals to the students that their peer-to-peer conversations matter!

Volume 1: Beginning and End of the Lesson

December 1, 2020

Focus on 2-4 Words in Each Lesson
While many vocabulary words will come up in each lesson, we can help students master vocabulary by specifically focusing on 2-4 words in each lesson. For the following activities, think of 2-4 visuals from The Visual Non-Glossary to have students interact with during the lesson.

Warm-Ups/Bell-Ringers/Do-Nows
During the first 2-5 minutes of class when students are entering and getting settled, display the visual for one of the words and have students write down everything they notice in the visuals. When the time is up and everyone is ready, ask the students the first question in the visual and have them share their answers with their partners or breakout groups.

Closures/Exit Tickets
During the last 3-7 minutes of class, have students write an answer to the last question in the visual of one of the day's words. For added elaboration, have students provide examples and encourage students to use all of the day's 2-4 vocabulary words in their responses.

Navigating The Visual Non-Glossary

Navigating The Visual Non-Glossary is as easy as searching for a word! Use the simple guide below or read on.
Click Here to Download the How-To Guide
To search for a word, type a word into the search box on the Home page or the Word Lists page. An autofill filter will help you find your specific word.

To find words by subject area, standard, or grade level, go to the Word Lists page.

If you are simply interested in all words in a subject area, select the subject area and click "Update Results." You will find all words K-12 for that area. For example, searching for Solutions and Fluid Dynamics will show you everything from "mixture" in 3rd grade to "kinetic molecular theory" in Chemistry.

Click on a course and then select the standards you are interested in. If you are interested in all words, click "check all" for either the TEKS or NGSS standards (depending on which standards you use).

If you only want to see the visuals that appear in certain grade levels, select those grade levels in the purple box. For example, an 8th-grade teacher might only be interested in 8th-grade and 7th-grade visuals, so that teacher would uncheck all other grade levels.

Once you find a word, click on the word to see the standards in which it appears and the visual(s) for the word. Click on a thumbnail to view the visual. You will be asked to sign in at this point.

Once you find a visual, feel free to download it, print it, or upload it to your learning management system, as long as you share it only with your students or other licensed teachers.

The Five-Minute Lesson Plan

We know that better planning leads to better lessons, and the visuals and conversation prompts in The Visual Non-Glossary can be cornerstones of those great lessons. And when the stress, pressure, and exhaustion of the school year hits us, we need to be able to efficiently plan engaging, thought-provoking lessons.
Click Here to Download the Lesson Plan Template
This lesson plan works simply by choosing one word you want the students to master by the end of the lesson. Then, plan on asking the three questions associated with that word's visual.

1. Copy and paste that visual (with the guiding questions) into the slides labeled "Discussion Question #1 (Observational)," "Discussion Question #3 (Relational)," and "Discussion Question #5 (Inferential)."

2. What about discussion questions 2 and 4? Find the other vocabulary word featured in the relational (middle) question of your main word. Search for the visual associated with that word and copy and paste the visual into Slide 3 or 4*.

3. If there is another vocabulary word in the inferential (bottom) question of your main word, find the visual associated with that word and paste it into Slide 5.

4. Go back through all slides and adjust the Q-SSS-A instructions you want to give your students so they can show a thinking signal, share with a partner or small group, and be called on randomly.

Example lesson to master the word "pupa" ( click here to see the example lesson):

Slide 1: What is the purpose of a pupa? (pupa image)

Slide 2: What occurs during the process of metamorphosis? (metamorphosis image)

(Slide 3 is hidden)

Slide 4: How is pupa important for metamorphosis? (pupa and metamorphosis images)

Slide 5: What do all animals have in common? (animal image)

Slide 6: Why do you think other animals do not form pupae during metamorphosis? (pupa image)

*When asking the relational question, you might want to the images of both words. You can do this on Slide 4. Alternatively, if both words are depicted in one visual, you can use Slide 3.

Morphemes Posters

Click Here to Download the Morphemes Posters
These posters have been used in numerous science classrooms to help students make predictions and build meanings of words. Display them permanently throughout the year and refer back to them as new words appear in the curriculum.

Pro Tip: When introducing a new word, have the students try to guess its meaning by looking at the morphemes.

Relational Question Templates

Sometimes the relational question, or middle question, is not appropriate for the scope and sequence of your lesson, or you want to ask students to relate a vocabulary word to a different vocabulary word. When this is true, use the following question templates with two key vocabulary words. Simply fill in the blanks with vocabulary words, show students the corresponding visuals, and ask the question!

How is _______ related to ________?

How is _______ different from _______?

How is _______ similar to _______?

What is an example of _______? Why is this a good example?

Why is _______ important for...?

How would _______ change when...?

You can type this question out in Slide 4 of the 5-Minute Lesson Plan Template, as well as paste in the corresponding visuals.

Copyright © 2021 Seidlitz Education, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
https://seidlitzeducation.com/

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Academic vocabulary words are new to all students, and pronouncing new vocabulary words can be intimidating for many students. This affects their confidence and engagement with the vocabulary. I recommend that the class chorally pronounces each vocabulary word (yes, even in secondary classrooms!) so they become comfortable sharing the word out loud.

# data[].attributes.body
Free icons and stickers for your documents/presentations...

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Free Icons and Stickers - Millions of images to download

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Download Free Icons and Stickers for your projects. Images made by and for designers in PNG, SVG, EPS, PSD and CSS formats

# data[].attributes.body
A way to communicate with families

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.provider_name
TalkingPoints - Improving student outcomes through meaningful school-family partnerships.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.authors[].name
TalkingPoints - Improving student outcomes through meaningful school-family partnerships.

# data[].attributes.body
3 Ways to build background

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
3 ways to build background with students who don't have background on that topic.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
I reflect often on what it must be like for a student to arrive in a US school for the first time. Having lived abroad, I have seen what public schools look like in most countries around the world, and the worst school in the US is most likely far better than the best school in other places.

# data[].attributes.body
Ways to use pictures!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Often times in Facebook groups I see teachers asking for help with how to support ELLs, and many times the advice is use pictures. That's great advice because it is definitely the best first step and easiest to put into place, but how exactly do we use pictures to support ELLs?

Today, we are going to walk through 5 ways you can use pictures to scaffold content and unlock your language learners. One reason I love using pictures in my classroom is because it allows the language barrier to be removed for my lower level ELLs, but at the same time it is helpful for all my students to work on academic language, discussion, and thinking. Remember, when we plan with our ELLs in mind, all students win!

Use a picture to create a discussion.

This is the easiest way to use a picture and here's how you do it.

1. Choose an engaging picture that your students can talk about. For newcomers choose a picture they are familiar with, for intermediate ELLs choose a content related picture that they can discuss with their peers.

2. Choose to either give the students prompts, discussions points, sentence stems, or a blank border around the picture to let them brainstorm.

3. Give the students a few minutes to discuss then take it deeper. Give them question spinners to make more meaning to the picture, or provide new vocabulary that they might not have thought of before.

These cards a part of the Monthly Speaking and Writing Cards which provide daily pictures and vocabulary prompts to help authentic conversation. You can find more about it .

Use a picture to work on comprehension skills.
When you remove the language barrier, you are giving your ELLs a fair chance at participating. Imagine how well your students will do during reading comprehension if they have already been working on main idea and detail during listening comprehension practice. Those skills will transfer and will allow the reading activities to not be as intimidating.

In this activity from the Listen and Learn Comprehension Activities, students listen to a short passage and then have to choose which 3 details they heard and which one they did not hear. Practicing this way without words will help them when they practice this skill with words. You can find more about it .

Use 2 pictures to compare and contrast.

Having students look closely at two pictures, pull out information, and pay attention to details is a great way to build language and concentration skills. Let's take a look at this example below.

This activity is a part of my Digital Lesson Plan Templates for the 6 essential parts of an ELL lesson. You can find out more about it !

Use a picture to give them ideas to write.

Let's be honest, writing is usually the last thing our students want to do. But, what if we disguise writing by using a picture and having them take on the role of the person in the picture? Or giving them an engaging picture and having them finish what will happen next. ELLs need to practice writing through small, quick wins, so don't underestimate the power of small writing opportunities.

This writing passage comes from the Everything You Need For Older ELL Newcomers and is just one of the hundreds of activities that cover all 4 domains for ELLs. You can find out more about it .

Use the PWIM model.

What is the PWIM model? The PWIM model stands for Picture Word Inductive Model and is a powerful way to help all levels of English learners explore language inductively through a single picture.

How do you do this?

1. You begin with a single picture that relates to your content. Your first step is to label the words they observe in the picture. You can have them do this in small groups first and then share in the whole group setting, or you can complete this step all together from the start.

2. Next step is to categorize the words that the class came up with. Categorizing is a great strategy for ELLs to work on, so give them some time to come up with categories on their own. It could be categorized by parts of speech, topic, spelling patterns... let them get creative. The more they work on categorizing words, the better they will become at it, so don't give up if this takes some time or you need to spend time modeling how to do this the first few times.

3. Next, the students will create a title for the picture. Use this as a discussion point as they share ideas and defend why they came up with that title or how it connects to the picture.

4. The last step is to have the students first orally create sentences using all the work they've done so far, and then write them down. Again, modeling or other supports like sentence frames might be necessary, but when this strategy becomes more of a routine, your students will surprise you with all that they come up with!

5. Write down your students sentences as examples, and give them more opportunities to use the labels, categories, and titles to create more sentences.

Be creative with how you use this model! What if you tried it for math this week? Or for character traits? This is a simple, go-to that you can use for all subjects.

Where can you find pictures at?

There a lot of free websites that have great stock photos to use for personal use.

Start now and decide what lesson you are going to add pictures to this week!

Want to try out a set of digital samples of using pictures to promote language development?

All you have to do is sign up for my free resource library and the slides will be yours to use!

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
5 ways to use pictures to scaffold content

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Often times in Facebook groups I see teachers asking for help with how to support ELLs, and many times the advice is use pictures. That's great advice because it is definitely the best first step and easiest to put into place, but how exactly do we use pictures to support ELLs?

# data[].attributes.body
Use these for students in conversation with each other...& for students to extend their writing..AND to UP the rigor when we call on students.