Learn

Read

WIDA
WIDA advances academic language development and academic achievement for linguistically diverse students through high quality standards, assessments, research, and professional development for educators. Massachusetts is one of 36 states that belongs to the WIDA Consortium. Explore the WIDA site and pay particular attention to WIDA’s Amplification of the ELD Standards. Click here for a tutorial that provides a thorough overview of the standards, the standards framework and matrix, and the new elements of the strands of Model Performance Indicators (MPI’s) for the various language domains. Make sure to watch the entire tutorial and take notes as needed. As part of the RETELL (Rethinking Equity and Teaching for English language learners) initiative, the WIDA ELD Standards will be implemented statewide.

Supporting ELLs in the Mainstream Classroom: Language Tips, Kristina Robertson, ¡Colorín Colorado!
Learn how to support ELLs’ language acquisition by adapting strategies already in use. There are several ideas explained in this resource as well as a significant numbers of links at the end of the page to further explore.

12 Ways to Support ESL Students in the Mainstream Classroom, Cult of Pedagogy
All educators should view themselves as language teachers in order to adequately assist English language learners in learning both content concepts and English simultaneously. Read these ten concrete tips for how to support English language learners in general education classrooms.

Watch

English Language Learners: Culture, Equity and Language
Watch this video by the National Education Association to explore what it is like to be an English Language Learner from the viewpoint of current teachers who reflect on their education as students. Consider how you can support your English language learners in the classroom while also valuing their experiences and culture.

 

The 5 Stages of Second Language Acquisition
Watch a video on the Stages of Second Language Acquisition that illustrates the different levels of language awareness and ability. You can read more about the Five Stages of Second Language Acquisition here.

Apply

Activity 1: Explore WIDA Can Do Descriptors

Explore the WIDA Can Do Descriptors. These are exemplars of what ELLs may do to demonstrate comprehension in listening, reading and production within a school setting. Review the grade level descriptors most appropriate for you. It is important for teachers to refer to the Can Do descriptors often, looking both at the “can do’s” at the student’s proficiency level and also looking forward to the next level so you know how to push the student towards that level.

• PreK-Grade 12 Can Do Descriptors (PDF)
• PreK-K Can Do Descriptors (PDF)
• Grades 1-2 Can Do Descriptors (PDF)
• Grades 3-5 Can Do Descriptors (PDF)
• Grades 6-8 Can Do Descriptors (PDF)
• Grades 9-12 Can Do Descriptors (PDF)

Activity 2: Getting to Know Your ELL Students

The first tip in Edutopia’s 10 Tips for Teaching English-Language Learners is “Know your students.” Based on this tip, consider how you can get to know your English-Language Learners. Refer back to the article for specific examples of important information you might want to gather. Explore this list of creative “Get to Know Your Class” activities for the start of a school year. Considering your students’ limited English proficiency, which activities would be most appropriate? How could some of the ideas be modified for ELL students? You will share your ideas on a collaborative Padlet wall and you will explain how you plan to use this information to improve instruction for your ELL students. (Note: This applet works best using Firefox and Google Chrome.).

To learn how to share your ideas on Padlet, watch this screencast tutorial or learn from the online Help guides.

 

Activity 3: Explore Sample Lesson Plans and Lesson Planning Tools for ELL Students

When planning your lessons, it is important to consider the unique needs of your ELL students. Explore the planning resources and sample lessons below to learn how to plan lessons that best support your ELL students.

• Visual Tool for Planning for Academic Language and Content Integration
  Explore the graphic organizer which can help teachers to analyze academic language demands and the sources of the demands: the written and oral texts students read or listen to, and the tasks and assessments that students need to perform
• Bloom’s Taxonomy: Interactive
  Bloom’s Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching and Assessing is helpful for writing lesson objectives. Explore this interactive tool to help you develop your lesson plan objectives and read this article to learn more about connecting Bloom’s Taxonomy to the unique learning needs of your students.
• Lesson Plan Checklist for The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP)
  Refer to this checklist to ensure that your lesson plans support your ELL students as much as possible.
• Top Five Vocabulary Strategies for English Language Learners, Teaching Channel
  Read this blog post written by Erica Hilliker to learn about several strategies she has implemented to support her ELL students in learning vocabulary. There are also three videos included in this post to further your understanding of the strategies discussed.

Reflect

As a final project for this course, you will note your reflections on the Lesson Plan Template. Download the Lesson Plan Template and save a copy to your computer. You will return to this template throughout the course as you develop your unit plan. Take a moment to review the template components.

Choose a specific lesson plan that you have you have recently taught, observed, or read about to expand upon during this course. You will refer to this lesson throughout the course in order to implement what you have learned to best support your English language learners. You will note your reflections.

Complete Part 1, 2 and 3 on the Lesson Plan Template.

Assess

Earlier in this session, you learned about the various stages of language acquisition. Practice identifying which stage is reflected by the students in the scenarios described in this interactive.

Extend

Read

5 Key Strategies for ELL Instruction, Rebecca Greene, The Teaching Channel
English language learners face the additional challenge of learning academic content as well as the language in which it is presented. ELLs needs to be given frequent, extended opportunities to speak about content material and work through complex texts in English with small groups of classmates. This resource provides links to a six-part video series which highlights how two 7th grade ELA teachers prepare their learners by activating prior knowledge, scaffolding meaning making with complex texts, and developing ELLs’ discipline and academic language practices in ELA classrooms.

Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas: Chapter 2 Lesson Planning to Ensure Optimal Engagement of ELLs, Judie Haynes and Debbie Zacarian
This chapter identifies five steps when designing adequate lesson planning when you have ELL students in your classroom. The authors also share examples of how to best support your English language learners in a variety of subjects areas and classroom activities.

Extending English Language Learners' Classroom Interactions Using the Response Protocol, Kathleen A.J. Mohr and Eric S. Mohr, Reading Rockets
Despite the need to use and develop their English-language proficiency, English-language learners (ELLs) are often quiet during classroom discussions. The Response Protocol was developed to help teachers elicit and support the oral interactions of ELL students.