Five Teaching Strategies for ELLs

         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 Walk

When introducing a new concept allow the students to brainstorm topics, phrases, or events that relate to the concept or theme. This activity can be done in a whole group setting or small group setting. As students begin to recall related themes and concepts, draw their attention to the targeted topic of discussion or activity. Introduce and reinforce the topic by relating their suggestions to details similar to the activity or concept. When relating their suggestion, include academic vocabulary when explaining the relation. Validate each student’s suggestion, experience, or idea. This will encourage students to participate more in expressing knowledge they already know. Make notes of students' suggestions and background knowledge. Utilize this knowledge to adjust the discussion, activity, or learn about the students identity. Help students expand on ideas through open-ended discussion and allowing them to discuss with peers as the brainstorm related topics. There are no materials needed for this activity and the assessment should be done informally to help guide the direction of instruction. A student’s background knowledge is an important component to understand. A student’s background knowledge will allow teachers to build on a student’s prior understanding and help them make connections to academic content. 

Writing, Organization, and Vocabulary

Strategy: Interactive Reading Notebook

Provide students in the entire classroom with a composition book. This strategy can be easily modified to fit the needs of each child in the classroom, differentiating based on the level of each student. When a new concept or story is introduced, provide students with time to write predictions about a story, create anchor charts, glue in graphic organizers, create vocabulary flaps, and write notes related to learned strategies. This notebook will be useful to English learners due to the accessibility and accommodations that teachers can provide. Students can have quick access to reference past literacy skills through notes, review how graphic organizers were used, and take this notebook home for family engagement. 

This strategy combines writing and comprehension because it allows students to practice their organization skills and can help students reference strategies learned to understand the text. An additional accommodation for English learners would be including a language and conversation section in their notebook. This section can be used to help students with academic language and social language. A modification for English learners would also be allowing students to draw pictures or write a representation of the vocabulary in their native language. This strategy will show parents and students that you are aiming to provide them with a resource they can use independently to always feel supported in the classroom. This can be used to assess student understanding as well, providing students with expectations for completed components in the notebook. An additional assessment could refer to the notetaking aspects of the notebook. Use the students note taking to assess a student's current understanding of an instructed concept or story. 

Comprehension

Strategy: Direct Questioning

Before, during, and after reading, provide students with simple detailed comprehension questions. Aim to reach three different types of questioning levels. Provide literal questions that will be easy to answer based on a students prior knowledge or after reading the story. Then move on to interpretive questions that require the students to think of different perspectives and reasons. Lastly aim to reach an applied level of questioning, where students are required to take the knowledge from the story of the topic and apply it towards a different situation. These three types of questioning are beneficial in helping English learners grow their understanding of the topic in a structured format. This will also allow teachers to assess a students understanding and ability to think critically as the questioning gets harder and more detailed. Utilize academic vocabulary when asking the questions and assist students by helping them refer back to the text for clarification. Encourage students to provide an answer even if they may be wrong, maintaining a relationship and giving consistent feedback to students. 

Fluency

Strategy: Oral Read Aloud

It is beneficial for English learners to have adequate time to practice reading out loud. This can be done in whole groups, small groups, or partnered activities. It is important to not make the situation stressful for students and find ways for them to enjoy practicing the skill. Include opportunities for students to read plays or reread books they have enjoyed before. Do not place time limits on oral reading and provide consistent feedback when students are reading to the teacher. Feedback should be directed towards elements of fluency they can improve on, for instance, pausing at a period or noticing the beginning letter sounds of words. Utilize different formats of reading such as choral reading and echo reading to increase student engagement and confidence. This activity will also help with English learners oral language and phonemic awareness development and can be used to informally assess a students words per minute. 

Communication and Vocabulary

Strategy: Sentence Frames

When providing instruction, reviewing content, or checking for understanding, utilize sentence frames to assist students with responses. Ensure that academic vocabulary or common vocabulary words to the students are used in the sentences. The sentence frames will help students focus on the content and learn English sentence structure with proper grammar. Including academic or common vocabulary words allows the students to find use in retaining the meaning of the words and helps grow their knowledge. Sentence frames can also be used to help students repeat instructions and shows them the structure for the response, helping them have a clear understanding of the teachers expectations. When creating the sentence frames, be clear to consider what is the goal of the sentence. Consider if you are aiming for the students to recite information, recall information, or develop a routine for communication in the classroom. 

Examples: 

• The meaning of the word ____________ is ______________________.

• One of my family's traditions is ______________________.

• Step one if the directions says to _______________________.

• I understand ________________________, but I am having trouble with _______________.