Willard Public SchoolsTeacher Professional Development

Teaching Strategiesfor ELL Students

Please click on the link below and watch the short videohttp://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/ell/challenge/#content

What do teachers need to know about students who are learning to speak

English?

➢ English language learners (ELLs) may have good conversational English skills, but they may lack the vocabulary and academic language.

➢ Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) refer to the student’s ability to understand basic conversation English.

➢ Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) refers to the student’s ability to effectively understand and use more advanced and complex language necessary for success in academic endeavors.

➢Students typically acquire CALP in 5 to 7 years.

Second Language Acquisition Stages

➢ Stage 1 - Silent/Receptive or Preproduction

➢ Stage 2 - Early Production

➢ Stage 3 - Speech Emergence

➢ Stage 4 - Intermediate Language Proficiency

➢ Stage 5 - Advanced Language Proficiency

It is important to understand that BICS and CALP develop simultaneously but acquisition of CALP (academic language) takes longer.

What are some general instructional practices that can be beneficial to students who are learning to speak

English?

➢ Activate Background Knowledge

➢ Teach Vocabulary

➢ Teach Comprehension Strategies

➢ Differentiate Instruction

➢ Provide Students Opportunities to Practice

Activate Background Knowledge

➢ Connect new information with background knowledge

➢ Ask students to brainstorm

➢ Make explicit connections between previously learned concepts to new ones

➢ Use graphic organizers and other visuals

➢ Give students time to think, process, and share

Teach Vocabulary➢ Rewrite instructions

➢ Use graphic organizers

➢ Show pictures, diagrams, illustrations, and/or real objects

➢ Dramatize or act out words

➢ Post words on the walls

➢ Use note cards

➢ Connect vocabulary to student’s home language by pointing out cognates

Teach Comprehensive Strategies

➢ Ask student questions

➢ Brainstorming

➢ Teach context clues or word parts

➢ Provide sentence stems (“The main idea of the passage is ….”)

➢ Ask students to retell

➢ Teach students to use or create visuals (charts, diagrams, timelines, semantic web) to improve their understanding

Differentiate Instruction➢ Provide a range of choices to access the content (books, audios, videos)

➢ Make instruction concrete using pictures, charts, realia, demonstrations, graphic organizers, timelines

➢ Model procedures or steps

➢ Provide text at different reading levels

➢ Use flexible groupings

➢ Use hands-on activities

➢ Provide a range of choices for students to practice what they are learning

Provide Students Opportunities for Practice

➢ Allow ELLs to use instructional supports such as word lists or notes

➢ Allow ELLs to work in pairs or small groups➢ Encourage students to discuss what they are learning➢ Focus on content of student’s answer rather than pronunciation

or grammar

What should teachers consider when testing students who are learning to

speak English?

➢ ELL students need to be allowed to communicate what they know in a variety of ways such as using gestures or drawing pictures

➢ Ensure students understand the various test formats (short answer, multiple choice, true/false)

➢ Allow extra time

➢ Refer back to the student’s Language Plan which states the accommodations allowed for the student

Please click on the link below and watch the short videohttp://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/ell/cwrap/#content

Student’s Background and Socioeconomic Status

http://iris.peabody.vanderbilt.edu/module/ell/cresource/q1/p01/#content (scroll down to listen to Leonard Baca)

➢ Because the number of ELLs continues to increase in the United States, it is likely that you will have some in your classroom at some point in time. It is important to familiarize yourself with your students’ backgrounds such as school experience and socioeconomic status. Recognize that family support is another factor that will affect an ELLs chances of academic success.

➢ In the Willard district, we have 13 different languages represented.

Student’s Background and Socioeconomic Status

➢ A cultural difference is some ELLs do not celebrate American holidays but they do celebrate their own countries’ holidays.

➢ Because of their socioeconomic status, ELL students do not have the same experiences with vacations, TV and wifi so it is difficult to pull from background knowledge.

➢ There is usually no support at home because of language barriers and family activities takes precedence to school.

➢ ELLs take words literally and analogies, inferencing, idioms and figurative language are hard to comprehend.

Additional Thoughts

➢ We hope by watching the videos you have gained and better understand how the ELL student’s learning may be enhanced - even though the spoken language may be unrecognizable. (Teacher was speaking Portuguese.)

Thank you for reviewing this presentation.

Videos from The Iris Center, Vanderbilt Peabody College