Supporting English Language Learners

            There are a variety of skills that students need to master in order to become good readers. It is important to acknowledge what knowledge and experience English learners bring into the classroom. Starting from where students are, utilize a variety of strategies and activities to help students learn about the environment and use literacy skills over time. Understand that the strategies that work best for one group of students may not work for all the students. When considering strategies that may be effective, utilize different grouping opportunities as well as a students current level to choose wisely and help students succeed in the classrooms. Teaching English learners will require understanding and patience. Differentiate and accommodate the students to fit their needs with a willingness to try multiple strategies until you notice progress in students academic performance.  Building Background Knowledge.  Strategy: Brainstorm W...

  Parents of English language learners can utilize many materials to help their child with development of literacy skills. Materials and standards associated with general school curriculum can prove to be challenging for English language learners for a number of reasons, including being written primarily in English, and also often not being relevant to student’s lives. The materials listed and described below are useful for extra practice in developing literacy skills at home that are easily accessible for parents, and can be tailored to a learner’s specific academic needs. Online games, printables, flashcards, and literacy teaching activities are listed to help parents enrich their child’s literacy learning skills outside of school.   ABC Teach This website is an online resource that contains English learning activities for students. On the home page, there is a tab entitled “directory”, under which there is an English as a second language category. There are printable ...

Teachers Continued Learning to Reach English Language Learners Learning how to provide the best possible instruction for students is the goal of all educators. As educators, we should aim to continuously learn how to effectively reach all the diverse students that come into the classroom. Utilizing resources such as books, webinars, websites, and podcasts, can ensure that teachers continuously grow their knowledge and understanding of learners. When considering English learners, educators have to understand the multiple aspects that can go into providing them with consistent interactions and quality instruction. The following ten resources below will help you reach the goal of providing a quality differentiated learning environment that will help students grow in the classroom. As well as provide additional locations to continue further research and learning experiences to grow as an educator. The best way to ensure that students continue to develop and succeed, is to acknowledge that ...

  Teachers of all ages and types of learners strive to use best practices using a wide array of new research, theories, and classroom resources and materials. We know that English language learners can experience difficulties acquiring reading skills for a variety of reasons, and there are many strategies that teachers can employ to prevent their ELL students from falling behind. When possible, alterations can be made to teaching materials to fit the needs of ELLs, but when this is not possible with required reading curriculum, different strategies may be utilized in order to engage students and make reading materials relevant to their lives. Connecting learning to prior knowledge and experiences, encouraging collaboration and scaffolding through peer-mediated instruction, relating learning to real world contexts, and including many visual components during instruction are ways to provide ELL students with deeper learning experiences.   Providing Relevant Teaching Material...