WORKING WITH ENGLISH

L A N G UA G E L E A R N E R S
By Noelle Wasiak

STATISTICS
There were 94,771 English language learners in
CCSD in 2013
That is roughly 30% of our entire school district
CCSD has the 3rd highest number of ELLs in the
United States
75% of Griffiths students are Hispanic

VOCABU LARY AND L ANGUAGE

DEVELOPMENT
Focus on key vocabulary
Use a "picture-walk" for vocabulary
Incorporate new words into discussions and
activities (repeated use of the word)
A-B-C books, word webs, word walls

GUIDED
INTERACTION
Purposeful Grouping
Mixed groups
Pair them with a native speaker of their language

Partner work
Think-pair-share
Rally Coach
Stand up-hand up-pair up

Extended discussions
Readers Theatre

M E TA C O G N I T I O N A N D
AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT
Ensure that assessment tasks are appropriate to
students language development level.
Provide enough time to complete tasks
Rather than having students simply memorize
information, teachers model and explicitly teach thinking
skills crucial to learning new concepts
Pre-reading guides (Anticipation Guides)
KWL charts
Learning Logs

EXPLICIT
INSTRUCTION
Check for comprehension frequently
Incorporate reading comprehension strategies

Story Maps
Retelling/Summarizing
Cause and effect charts
Timelines

MEANING-BASED CONTEXT AND

UNIVERSAL THEMES
Introduce new concepts through familiar resources,
prompts, visuals, or themes.
Research shows that when students can connect
something to their cultural backgrounds they are more
highly motivated!
Activate and build background knowledge
Take students on a tour of the text when introducing a
new book

M O D E L I N G, G R A P H I C
O R G A N I Z E R S, A N D V I S U A L S
Model how to complete tasks
Read-alouds
Peer modeling

Provide graphic organizers & meaningful visuals to

support students recognition of essential
information.
Venn Diagrams
Story Maps
Pictures for basic classroom items/questions

REFERENCES
http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol5/511-breiseth.aspx
http://suu.edu/ed/fso/resources/esl-six-key-strategies.pdf
http://
www.benchmarkeducation.com/best-practices-library/supporting-engli
sh-language-learners-in-reading-writing.html
https://www.teachingchannel.org/blog/2013/10/25/strategies-for-ellinstruction
/
https://
www.unlv.edu/sites/default/files/24/Lincy-EducationSector-ELL-Repo
rtSummary.pdf
http://www.nevadareportcard.com/pdf/2014/02.e.pdf