Suggestions for Supports for ELL Students

  • Level 1 Entering and Level 2 Beginning

    Instruction should:

    • Be based on student’s current level of English language proficiency
    • Differentiate for pre-literate Ells and literate Ells
    • Encourage higher order thinking skills
    • Include differentiated rubrics
    • Allow for silent period and nonverbal responses
    • Connect to background knowledge
    • Identify and assist with cultural differences and school procedures
    • Provide repeated opportunities to learn the same information
    • Provide repeated opportunities to practice oral language
    • Provide accessible texts and materials
    • Build a basic vocabulary of English words and conversational terms and phrases
    • Emphasize cognates
    • Use gestures to provide meaning
    • Print important concepts on the board
    • Increase wait time
    • Provide direct instruction in literacy
    • Incorporate graphic organizers
    • Provide objects from real life used in classroom instruction by educators to improve students' understanding of other cultures and real life situations
    • Provide an affective environment that is positive and secure to practice oral language and listening skills
    • Include self-advocacy skills.

     

    Level 3 and 4: Developing/Expanding

    Instruction should:

    • Be based on student’s current level of English language proficiency
    • Encourage higher order thinking skills
    • Include differentiated rubrics
    • Provide direct instruction on story elements and structure
    • Provide direct instruction on parts of speech, roots, prefixes, and suffixes
    • Provide direct instruction on the Internet and various types of media for research
    • Provide direct instruction on cause and effect relationships
    • Teach explicitly reading and comprehension strategies
    • Provide visual clues and explicit meanings of idiomatic expressions and figurative language
    • Provide accessible reading selections
    • Incorporate graphic organizers
    • Allow for individualized oral or written reading responses
    • Give direct instruction on identifying semantic clues related to fact and opinion
    • Provide direct instruction and model basic reading stragegies for specific genres
    • Provide an environment that is positive and secure to practice oral language, listening skills, and literacy skills
    • Identify and assist with cultural differences and school procedures
    • Provide multiple and different opportunities to learn new language skills
    • Continue to increase academic vocabulary
    • Provide reading materials at the student’s reading level
    • Connect to background knowledge

     

    Level 5- Bridging

    Instruction should:

    • Be based on student’s current levels of English language proficiency
    • Continue direct instruction
    • Provide support in writing process through classroom assignments
    • Continue to increase academic vocabulary
    • Continue to increase complexity of syntax
    • Provide support for content reading through the use of graphic organizers and other scaffolds
    • Assist students in developing learning strategies useful in various academic contexts
    • Provide opportunities for developing critical thinking skills
    • Include self-advocacy skills
    • Continue to provide graphic and visual support as needed

     

    Monitored

    Teachers needs to:

    • Continue to monitor English and academic progress

    Adapted from www.hbgsd.k12.pa.us/cms/lib/PA01000004/Centricity/...