Intervention programs such as RTI or MTSS are used in most schools to identify and help students who may not be making progress in the general classroom. However, we cannot assume that our usual interventions will always be effective for our English learners. This video and article from Colorin Colorado explains more about how we can make RTI and interventions the most effective for EL students.
Category: Writing Methods
All About Nouns
Understanding nouns and how to use them properly is fundamental to understanding English. While nouns might be the most common type of word in the English language, it’s important not to take your EL students’ understanding of them for granted. Check out these two articles about EL students and nouns. There are some very helpful ideas and activities in both!
Everything Your ESL Students Need to Know about Nouns
All the Exercises Your Students Need to Learn and Practice English Nouns
EL Students Need Visuals – Even in Secondary!
One of the most well-known accommodations for EL students is to use visuals. Elementary teachers, particularly primary teachers, are used to having a ton of visuals in their classrooms since ALL their students are learning to read and understand language, but it is a much lesson common thing to see in classrooms as students get older. However, for EL students visuals are non-negotiable!
This article from Minds in Bloom explains just how visuals can be helpful to EL students of all ages. Visuals can reduce anxiety and help students comprehend language. Check out the article for more information about why visuals are necessary, as well as some ideas for how to incorporate more visuals into your classroom!
More About Language Objectives
Quality language objectives complement the content knowledge and skills identified in content area standards and address the aspects of academic language that will be developed or reinforced during the teaching of grade-level content concepts.
Echevarria & Short, 2010
I have previously posted about the importance of writing language objectives for your EL students during each lesson. Colorin Colorado has a very informative article about what language objectives are, why we need them, and how to write them. I will post the link below. One important thing to consider when writing language objectives is the verbiage used withing the learning goal.
Language Objectives: The Key to Effective Content Area Instruction for English Learners
I also found a very helpful lesson planning template with a checklist to consider when writing both content and language objectives! One important thing to consider when writing language objectives is the verbiage used withing the learning goal.
Vocabulary Instruction
Most teachers understand that vocabulary instruction is critical for English Language Learners, regardless of their ESL background or training. However, vocabulary instruction is so much more than teaching content vocabulary words by themselves. Colorin Colorado published this video about vocabulary instruction that can be very helpful in understanding all the things involved in it! Vocabulary words are like the bricks we use to build a wall, but students need words that act as mortar to hold those bricks together, too.
More Objectives?!
In my last blog post I referenced the SIOP model for lesson planning. One of the hallmarks of this model is that teachers must not only provide content objectives for their students, but also language objectives for their EL students. Many teachers who are new to ESL are probably wondering how those two things are different!
If you have taught EL students before, you know that they are given proficiency scores on the ACCESS test in the four domains of language: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. When you write language objectives, they learning targets aim to improve proficiency in those domains.
To learn about how to write effective language objectives, check out this article. Also, watch this video for some quick tips!
Writing a SIOP Lesson Plan
At first glance making accommodations for your EL students can seem a bit overwhelming. I mean, we’re already expected to make accommodations for our special education students, MTSS kids, gifted and talented kids, what’s one more thing? It seems like so much, but by following a SIOP lesson plan template, making these accommodations can feel much less intimidating.
SIOP is a protocol for teachers to make learning more comprehensible for EL students. This method provides lesson plan templates that can help you ensure you are being mindful of the needs of your EL students as you plan. Most of what’s included in the lesson plan are things you are already doing, you just might not realize it!
Check out this link to find some lesson plan templates and examples for all grade levels, K-12.
Building Background Knowledge – Is it really that important?
All teachers know the struggle of having too much to do and too little time to do it! It’s no secret that we can feel a lot of pressure to fit so much into one lesson, and often think, “What can I cut out to save time?” You might be tempted to take out the first part of your lesson dedicated to building your students’ background knowledge and connecting their schema. That part usually seems like the fun part of the lesson, so sometimes it can feel unimportant, but DON’T DO IT. Building background knowledge is one of the most crucial aspects of a lesson for all students, but especially your ELs. This portion of the lesson can help them connect to concepts they already know in their native language, and it builds their engagement and motivation to the new concepts you’re teaching.
Check out this article from Colorín Colorado about building background knowledge to learn even more about why this is so critical for EL students. Here is a short video from the article as well!
What is Academic Language, and how do you ensure your EL students know it?
Academic Language is often thought to simply be content vocabulary. Most teachers are aware that they must explicitly teach specific content vocabulary to all students, but especially to their EL students. However, academic language encompasses so much more than just vocabulary! It also includes grammar and syntax! Check out this video to learn more about how to teach academic language to your EL students!
ESL and NTI, Oh My!
In this new Covid era world we are living in, schools are in and out of NTI, or virtual learning all across the country. NTI can be so overwhelming for all students and teachers, but it can be even more challenging for EL students and their families! You may have noticed that communication between you and your EL families is difficult, and you may be worried that your EL students could slip through the cracks during NTI. If so, I encourage you to check out this article published by Colorín Colorado (a wonderful EL resource, by the way!). It gives very specific strategies and ideas that can make NTI a little less daunting for you and your EL students.
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