ELL
Strategies for Teaching
STRATEGY 1
Create a Welcoming language-Rich Environment with Opportunities for Immediate
Success
Label everything in your classroom
Introduce ELL’s home country/culture to class
Praise ELL for what he/she can do
Assign classroom duties to ELL from the
beginning
Speak slowly and clearly and use simple
sentences but never distort language
STRATEGY 2
Build on ELL Students’ Prior Knowledge and Teach Essential Vocabulary
Use organizational activities to determine where
ELL stands in relation to upcoming content lesson
Provide ELL with essential vocabulary in advance
Help ELL identify prior knowledge about topic
through vocabulary-building
Use pre-reading activities
Allow time for discussion and questioning before
assigning academic reading
STRATEGY 3
Explain Cultural Assumptions and use Culturally Relevant Material Whenever
Possible
Provide information and explanations on cultural
assumptions contained in content material
Use personalized and culturally relevant
examples where appropriate
Start with general concepts needed to understand
larger topic
STRATEGY 4
Use a Variety of Visual Aides and Teach to All Learning Styles
Provide visual clues to help ELL's get meaning
from “context reduced” material
Visual Clues – facial expressions, gestures,
realia, pictures, charts, graphs, maps, etc.
Teaching to learning style is crucial for ELL's
Use graphic organizers to help ELL's visually
plot complex material
STRATEGY 5
Lighten the Linguistic Load by Simplifying Grammatical Structures and
Paraphrasing
Limit sentences to one concept
Use the active voice, not the passive voice
Use concrete examples and contextualize
Use subject-verb-object pattern for most
sentences
Write a summary of the lesson in a simpler form
of English
Simplify vocabulary, retaining key concepts and
essential technical/academic vocabulary
Use repetition, repetition, repetition
STRATEGY 6
Teach Language Along with Content
Model the pronunciation of difficult words in
the lesson
Emphasize word meanings and idiomatic
expressions
Emphasize base grammatical structures as
necessary to understand and discuss content material
Create a classroom climate where students feel
comfortable making mistakes and taking risks
STRATEGY 7
Teach Interdisciplinary Thematic Units Whenever Possible
Thematic units across disciplines help ELL's
make connections and achieve a deeper understanding on concepts
Thematic units help to reinforce new vocabulary
Thematic units can help make curriculum more
accessible to ELL's by offering a variety of learning experiences
STRATEGY 8
Design Curricular Units for Depth Rather Than Breadth
Spending more time on truly learning fewer
concepts enhances the chances of success for ELL's
As ELL's English proficiency develops, so will
their ability to handle more content. Don’t overload beginning- or
intermediate-level ELL
STRATEGY 9
Actively Teach Study Skills and Metacognitive Tools
Help students realize textbooks are organized
differently than literature books. Make them aware that textbooks are written
to inform, not entertain
Point most common patterns of textbooks: cause/effect,
compare/contrast, time order, simple listing, descriptive, and problem/solution
Encourage students to use text features: captions,
glossary, index, study questions, table of contents, footnotes, marginal notes,
use of bold type, and italics
Categorize! Beginner ELL's may not be able to
read the text, but they can look at pictures and pick out certain words
Provide ELL's with a short list of words
pertinent to the lesson and let them categorize the words.
Create an outline of the topic using simple
grammar
Have the ELL cut up the outline and put it back
together to increase familiarity with the topic and help learning sequence
Continually have students reflect on how to find
meaning in textbooks and other reading materials. Teach skills such as
skimming, summarizing, and looking for main ideas
STRATEGY 10
Use Hands-On Activities
Experiential activities are of great importance
to students not proficient in the language of instruction
Hands-on activities allow the ELL to be actively
involved
Present information (and directions) both
verbally and visually
Include experimentation, measurement,
construction, graphing, chart-making, map-making, etc.
STRATEGY
11
Modify the ELL Student’s Assignments, Assessment, and Testing
· Continually monitor the ELL’s progress. Formal and informal assessments are necessary to demonstrate student’s comprehension of the materials being taught
· Vary the levels of the questions being asked according the ELL’s current level of speech production
· Provide as many opportunities as possible for the ELL to demonstrate his skills and knowledge in different ways, including drawings, keyword outlines, graphs, etc.
STRATEGY 12
Use Cooperative Learning!!!
Know the difference between group work and
cooperative learning!
Studies have shown that ELL's benefit greatly
from cooperative learning experiences
ELL's work more efficiently with a buddy or
small group
Include ELL's in heterogeneous groups even if
their comprehension is very limited. They are getting something!
Resources
The Help Kit: A Resource Guide for Secondary
Teachers of migrant English Language Learners
http://escort.org/files/HSc1c12.pdf
Implementing Reading First with English Language
Learners (article) http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/pubs/directions/15.pdf
Scaffolds to help ELL Readers (article) http://www.ncte.org/library/files/Free/Journals/vm/VM0111Scaffolds.pdf
Three Types of English Language Learners
(article) http://www.ncte.org/library/files/Free/Journals/st/ST0094July04.pdf
Help! They Don’t Speak English Starter Kit http://www.escort.org
Six Steps to ELL Lesson Design http://www.gesd40.org/6steps/index.htm
Colorado English Language Development Standards http://www.cde.state.co.us/cde_english/download/ELDStandardsApril2005.pdf
Everything