Supporting English Language Learners

Learning Target

• I can identify strategies that I can use in my classroom to help meet the needs of ESL learners.

Why this is Important:

• ESL students are the fastest growing group of students in the United States.
• Most ESL students are placed into mainstream classrooms before they are proficient in English.

Make it Visual

• Instructions and classroom procedures written.
• Challenging concepts diagrammed or supported with pictures.
• Modeling the steps of a process.
• Show students an example of a finished product.

The Power of Group Work

• Leads to higher levels of engagement.
• Less Teacher/More Student
• Students are able to practice the language in a low-risk setting.

Communicate with The ESL Teacher

• Share what is going on in your classroom.
• Invite each other to special presentations.

Honor the "Silent Period"

• Don't force ELLs to talk if they are uncomfortable.
• Many students will fear speaking if they haven't perfected English.
• This is a normal stage in 2nd Language Acquisition.

Allow for Native Language Scaffolding

• Pair a new ELL with a peer who speaks their native language.
• Allow students to explain and ask questions in their native language first.
• Allow students to pre-write and brainstorm in their native language.

Culturally Unique Vocabulary

• Directly teach vocabulary words related to American or Western culture.
• Show pictures and videos of concepts that may not be represented in their native language.
• Omit non-essential vocabulary not necessary for understanding.

Culturally Unique Vocabulary

• Directly teach vocabulary words related to American or Western culture.
• Show pictures and videos of concepts that may not be represented in their native language.
• Omit non-essential vocabulary not necessary for understanding.

Practice Academic Language

• Use sentence stems to model academic language structure.
• Post in a highly visible place so students can use when speaking and writing.
• Make this a classroom norm for all students.

Pre-teaching

• Provide students with books, articles, videos before they're used in class.
• Increases ESL students ability to comprehend.
• Empowers students and allows them to feel more comfortable with the material.

Cultural Backgrounds

• Learn about the cultural background of your students.
• Sends the message that you respect who they are and where they come from.
• Pronounce their name correctly, learn their country of origin.
• Learn their cultural and religious practices.
• Be the ONE who gets it right.

Encourage Risk Taking

• Learning a new language requires students to be willing to make mistakes.
• Foster a community of learning from mistakes.
• Teach and practice the difference between laughter and ridicule.

Take ELLs Seriously

• When students are trying to communicate focus on the message, not the delivery.
• Lack of language does not mean lack of intelligence or understanding.
• Look past mispronunciations and respect the message.
• "They're doing twice the job of everyone else even though the result may look like half as much." (ESL Teachers Survival Guide)

ESL Scenarios

• With your team read each scenario. Brainstorm some ideas of how you could support the ESL students within your mainstream classroom.

Resources

• colorincolorado.org
• sde.ct.gov
• www.oise.utoronto.ca
• ESL Teachers Survial Guide
• cultofpedagogy.com

Learning Target

• I can identify strategies that I can use in my classroom to help meet the needs of ESL learners.