Supporting ELL Students in the

Mainstream Classroom
Eemma Iseman
ELLs in the Education System
(NCES- 2014)

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgf.asp
 Shared Responsibility and the
Need for Differentiation
English Language Learners in Public Schools (NCES - 2014)

2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

USA 4,370,004 4,389,325 4,397,318 4,460,956 4,559,323

Michigan 50,773 52,811 56,865 63,322 70,212

School https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator_cgf.asp

In order to ensure that diverse learners enjoy equal access to the curriculum
and, therefore, and equal opportunity to realize their maximum potential, every
teacher must embrace the notion that she or he is responsible for the learning
of each of her or his students
Differentiating Instruction for
ELL Students
Without ELL specific knowledge even the most willing and eager teacher will
struggle understanding how to implement differentiation for ELLs.

The differentiation process requires knowing and understanding key

cultural and linguistic factors that profoundly and predictably impact each
student's learning and language acquisition.

Effective differentiation for ELLs cannot take place without first knowing the
basic of both intercultural communication and the language acquisition
process, including the characteristics of each stage of language
development, essential for teachers.
Using a Student's First
Language
Research bears out the power of transfer of language and literacy skills from the first
language to the second.

The first language can be a useful tool in instruction and assessment

First language can be far more efficient to explain or clarify a concept than using extensive charges, drawing,
and explanation in simplified English.

Teachers can also use the first language as a springboard to grade-level assignments by
allowing students who share a first language to discuss content or an assignment, or by
allowing a fellow students to provide clarification about concepts or expectations to a
student

Instead of forbidding students to use their first languages in the classroom, teachers are
urges to support students in using this important tool to facilitate learning
Cultural Competency &
Relevant Student Factors
Cultural backgrounds are much more than
easily visible external trappings (attire,
food, music), but the deeper more
meaningful underpinnings of a given
group's way of life are what comprise the
foundation of culture

Cultural competency is to develop the

ability to respectfully maintain ones own
cultural stance while honoring the
perspectives of another and one must
become informed about and sensitive to
the belief systems and experiences of
others.
Relevant Student Factors
Individualism vs. collectivism

Prior difficult situations

Age & Acquisition

Language Distance

Social Distance

Psychological Distance
Jigsaw Activity - Differentiated
Instruction
Break into 5 groups by Level
Each group will read and discuss the descriptors of a level of ELL students
including their descriptors, strategies, and appropriate activities and
assessments

You will have 15 minutes to discuss

Each group will present their level to the staff

Level 1 Descriptors: Listening
Being able to hear and recognize new individual sounds is a precursor to
being able to articulate them verbally

Students will begin to understand words, phrases, and commands that

are commonly used and followed by modeling

They cannot be expected to make sense of lecture or text alone; they rely
on context clues in the environment in order to construct meaning from
classroom-based communication
Level 1 Descriptors: Speaking
Often experiencing the silent period absorbing and processing new input
in preparation for future language production

Students may be able to respond with nonverbal communication, but oral

communication is generally brief or memorized, often characterized by
individual words or memorized phrases

Students at the higher end of Level 1 may also generate chunks of language

During this time, students language development is largely focused on

survival English, an important aspect of basic interpersonal communication
skills (BICS)
Level 1 Descriptors: Reading
The difference between students who can read in their first language and those who
cannot quickly emerges

Students who are pre-literate in any language cannot yet be expected to garner
meaning from print; instead they rely on context clues in order to make sense of
print-based materials

In contrast students who have reading skills in their first language may begin to
transfer those skills to English

Before new English sounds and letters can be matched, however, ELLs must have a
strong foundation and familiarity with the range of English sounds (phonemic
awareness)
Level 1 Descriptors: Writing
Students are very limited, but with appropriate instruction these students can begin to
produce some written language

Lower end of Level 1 their work may take the form of drawing or copying letters, words,
or longer stretches of written text

As writing ability develops, level 1 students may also dictate words and phrases

Level 1 students can also write letters, words, and phrases across the range of Level 1
writing proficiency

Students with limited L1 literacy skills will naturally take longer to progress in the area of
writing than their more L1-literate counterparts
Strategies for Level 1: Listening
Provide sensory support for every lesson (real objects, pictures, hands-on materials and
experiences, nonverbal communication, demonstrations, modeling, simulations).

Listening: teach basic commands by modeling actions (please close the door, Open your
book.).

Use simplified, correct language, repeating or paraphrasing as needed

Allow sufficient wait time (likely several seconds)

Promote high-order thinking processes during oral instruction by simultaneously modeling

the completion of graphic organizers

Employ think alouds to model both processes and language

Strategies for Level 1: Speaking
Encourage participation in discussions by eliciting nonverbal (nodding,
pointing) or brief communication (individual words: yes or no, pencil, friend)
or memorized chunks of language (how are you?)

Prompt and scaffold oral language production by modeling content and

academic language and providing simple sentence examples and models
(e.g., the rabbit has fur. The ____ has scales.)

Concentrate on students meaning rather than on the correctness of

expression

Build confidence by rewarding all attempts to communicate

Strategies for Level 1: Pre-
reading and
For reading-related Reading
activities, use extensive visual support (poster, pictures)
since Level 1 students are typically unable to derive meaning from print
alone

Support grade-level content curriculum with high-quality, age-appropriate,

lower-reading-level books aligned with content curriculum that provide
extensive visual support.

Teach pre reading skills (phonemic awareness, concepts of print, phonics)

Lay a foundation for comprehension: build background and help students

make connections to prior learning and experiences
Strategies for Level 1: Reading
Continued
Read or sing visually supported stories or texts to students, using props
and acting to increase comprehensions and develop oral language skills
necessary for reading

Incorporate share, share-to-guide, and guided reading

Implement language experience stories

Promote the development of higher-order thinking skills by modeling the

use of graphic organizers such as Venn diagrams, T-charts, and concept
maps
Strategies for Level 1: Writing
Ask students to communicate through cutting and pasting images or
drawing

Concentrate on student meaning rather than on the correctness of

expression

Promote the development of higher-order thinking skills by modeling the

use of graphic organizers such as Venn diagrams, T-charts, and concept
maps
Level 2 Descriptors: Listening
Comprehension of simple, contextualized sentences related to social and
academic content

Still becoming familiar with new sound in English, relying on commonly

heard words, chunks, and expressions to construct meaning
Level 2 Descriptors: Speaking
Use simple sentences, may rely on telegraphic speech (incomplete
sentences that communicate complete thoughts) or talk in social and highly
contextualized situations

While vocabularies are expanding to include general academic language,

they often make mistakes that may prevent understanding

Pronunciation might not be accurate, since they are still likely developing
phonemic (sound) awareness and the ability to produce new sounds in
English

Broadening their understanding of academic language functions

Level 2 Descriptors: Reading
Growing understanding of the sounds of the English alphabet

Students who are literate in their first language start to recognize written language more
readily that their L1 pre-literate classmates

Level 2 students who are literate in their first language may even appear to reading full
passages, relying on first-language phonetic learning to read aloud without
comprehensions

The ability to apply sounds to letter does not mean that the student comprehends what
she or he is reading

Only after the student learns vocab, preferably thematically and contextually is s/he able
to comprehend text and actually read
Level 2 Descriptors: Writing
Level 2 writers range from these who can write in phrases using common,
everyday and academic language to those who can create simple sentences

Errors are common and likely to impede meaning

The L1 pre-literate student is likely to continue writing with the Level 2

characteristics for a longer period of time than a student who can write in his or
her first language

The L1-literate student can transfer writing skills from the first language to
English and is likely to move to Level 3 (expanded sentences) with relative ease
in comparison with his or her L1 pre-literate classmate
Strategies for Level 2: Listening
Use simplified, correct language, repeating or paraphrasing, as needed

Allow sufficient wait time (likely several seconds)

Promote higher-order thinking processes during oral teaching by

providing graphic organizers, modeling their completion as needed

Employ think alouds to model both processes and language

Strategies for Level 2: Speaking
Encourage participation in discussions by eliciting phrases or simple
sentences

Prompt and scaffold oral language production by modeling

content/academic language and providing sentence examples and
models (e.g., the rabbit has fur. ____ ___ ___ scales.)

Concentrate on student meaning rather than on correctness of

expression.

Build confidence by rewarding all attempts to communicate

Strategies for Level 2: Pre-
reading and Reading
Continue to implement a high-quality, research -based, culturally and linguistically sensitive reading
development program

Use external visual support (posters, pictures) since Level 2 students are often unable to derive
meaning from print alons

Support grade-level content curriculum with high-quality, age-appropriate, lower-reading-level

books aligned with content curriculum that provide extensive visual support

Teacher pre-reading skills (e.g., phonemic awareness, concepts of print, ponics)

Incorporate shared, shared-to-guided, and guided reading

Promote the development of higher-order thinking skills by modeling the use of graphic organizers,
such as Venn diagrams, T-charts and concept maps
Strategies for Level 2: Writing
Prompt and scaffold written language production by modeling
content/academic language and providing sentence examples and
models

Incorporate modeled, shared and guided writing activities

Accept phrase or simple sentence in lieu of grade-level writing

expectations

Concentrate on student meaning rather than on correctness of

expression

Promote the development of higher-order thinking skills by modeling the

use of graphic organizers such as Venn diagrams, T-charts, and concept
maps
Level 3 Descriptors: General
Generally possess a strong foundation of social language and continue to
broaden and deepen their academic language when supported with
appropriate instruction

Level 3 ELLs still benefit from sensory support to construct meaning from
detailed and complex discourse

These students can speak and write using increasingly complex sentence
structures, though errers sometimes inhibit communication
Level 3 Descriptors: Listening
Can grasp some main ideas of increasingly complex communication
though they rely on sensory supports in order to better comprehend
details

Sentence level communication in both social and general academic

situations is typically established during level 3;

Students will polish and expand their listening ability by building vocab
knowledge of more complex grammatical constructions
Level 3 Descriptors: Speaking
Can generate simple sentences and often attempt high forms of
complexity which sometimes inhibit understanding

Continue to develop vocab and grammatical structures in speech related

to both concrete and abstract topic

Extensive ability to communicate socially, teachers can be fooled into

thinking that they are fully proficient and therefore prematurely cease
differentiation strategies based on language proficiency level
Level 3 Descriptors: Reading
Students continue to make sense of simple text and attempt to construe
meaning from increasingly complex writing, still deriving benefit from
sensory support to solidify understanding

While the importance of background knowledge is consistent across all

level of language proficiency , possessing academic background
knowledge takes center stage as linguistic and content complexity
intensifies
Level 3 Descriptors: Writing
Students can generate various types of writing with increasing complexity
since their writing development tends to mirror their speaking
development

Though these students are prone to making errors that can obscure
meaning, their vocabulary and sentence structure are gaining
sophistication across a range of concrete and abstract topics
Strategies for Level 3: Listening
Prompt and scaffold students language development by using
increasingly complex language, paraphrasing as needed

Allow sufficient wait time (likely several seconds)

Facilitate and support higher-order thinking processes during oral

teaching by providing students with graphic organizers, modeling their
completions, as needed

Employ think-alouds to model both processes and language

Strategies for Level 3: Speaking
Provide opportunities to produce extended oral discourse through
activities such as reporting and presentations

Prompt and scaffold extended oral language production by providing

visually supported sentence-level frames and models for high-quality
academic discourse (e.g., As a result of the interaction of ____ and ____,...)

Concentrate on students meaning to a greater extent than on

correctness of expression
Strategies for Level 3: Reading
Continue to implement a high-quality research-based culturally and
linguistically sensitive reading development program

Use high-quality, age-appropriate, lower-reading-level books aligned with

content curriculum that provide extensive visual support

Lay a foundation for comprehension: build background and help students

to make connections to prior learning and experiences

Incorporate shared, shared-to-guided and guided reading

Facilitate and support the development of higher-order thinking skills

Level 3 Strategies: Writing

Provide opportunities to produce extended written discourse through activities such as journaling,
report writing, and preparing presentations

Prompt and scaffold extended written language production by providing visually supported
sentence-level frames and models for high-quality academic discourse

Incorporate modeled, shared, and guided writing activities

Accept increasingly complex sentences in lieu of grade-level writing expectations

Engage students in writing activities that elicit expanded sentences using a range of complexity

Concentrate on student meaning

Facilitate and support the development of higher order thinking skills

Level 4 Descriptors: General
Students at level 4 are well on their way to proficiency and like some ELLs
at Level 3, could be at risk of stalling language and academic
developmental unless they receive targeted, linguistically differentiated
instruction paired with assessment of the same kind
Level 4 Descriptors: Listening
Students can process increasingly complex social and academic input,
expanding the ability to understand language about both abstract and
concrete topics

Can derive meaning from longer stretches of discourse

While the need for many of the previously supplied supports has
diminished, contextualizing and clarifying supports are still needed at
times
Level 4 Descriptors: Speaking
Students continue to deepen their ability to express language in social
and academic situations

Their language is growing in complexity and in lexical precision;their

occasional errors do not inhibit understanding

Likely appear to be fully fluent in social contexts and approaching fluency

in academic contexts

Though errors occur at times, they do not obstruct meaning

Level 4 Descriptors: Reading
Make sense of texts of varying complexity as they approach grade-level
proficiency

While students are particularly able to comprehend text that deals with
familiar topics, unfamiliar topics require that building of background
knowledge or creating connections to existing knowledge and
experiences

Teachers are reminded to make explicit, persistent efforts to push these

students, who might appear to be fluent, to higher level of reading
proficiency
Level 4 Descriptors: Writing
Level 4 writing ability mirrors Level 4 speaking ability; students are
capable of producing increasingly complex communication with greater
precision in vocabulary and mechanic

Students are increasingly able to write about abstract concepts

As with speaking errors may occur, but do not impede understanding

Strategies for Level 4: Listening
Scaffolded language development by modeling and prompting
increasingly academic and grammatically varied language about both
concrete and abstract topics

Promote higher order thinking processes during oral teaching by

providing students with graphic organizers
Strategies for Level 4: Speaking
Provide opportunities to produce extended oral discourse increasingly
inclusive of abstract thought

Scaffold extended oral language production by providing visually

supported discourse-level frames and models of high-quality academic
discourse

Insist on increasingly correct and precise language

Strategies for Level 4: Reading
Use a combination of grade level texts (with scaffolding) and high-quality
age-appropriate lower-reading-level books aligned with content
curriculum that provide visual support

Provide students with graphic organizers to enhance higher order

thinking
Strategies for Level 4: Writing
Provide opportunities to produce extended written discourse,
increasingly inclusive of abstract thought

Scaffold extended written language production by providing visually

supported discourse-level frames and models for high-quality academic
discourse

Insist on increasingly correct and precise language

Provide students with graphic organizers to enhance higher-order

thinking
Level 5 Descriptors: Listening &
Writing
Listening
Can attend to most grade-level language across contexts
Students are able to comprehend language that is complex and represents both
social and academic discourse
Advanced vocabulary and nearly on par with that of their native English-speaking
grade-level peers

Speaking
Their speech demonstrates high level of complexity and vocabulary attainment
Able to communicate using both social and academic discourse and are nearing
the level of speech production of fully English proficient students in their grade
 Level 5 Descriptors: Reading &
Writing
Reading
Students can read text that covers a wide range of grade-level appropriate topics
and genres
Writing is characterized by linguistic complexity and lexical precision that is nearly
commensurate with that of their grade level contemporaries

Writing
Writing displays a variety of content/academic vocabulary, a range of linguistic
complexity, and representations of social and academic discourse
Writing is not perfect at this level, but similar to the writing of fully proficient
writers at the students given grade level
Level 5 Strategies: Listening &
Speaking
Listening
Scaffold language development by modeling and prompting precise and
grammatically varied language across all grade-level-appropriate topics and
context, expecting and allowing minimal errors

Speaking
Provide opportunities to produce extended discourse using precise and
grammatically varied language across all grade-level-appropriate topics and
texts
Emphasize the use of increasingly complex and precise language
Level 5 Strategies: Reading &
Writing
Reading
Use grade level texts, providing scaffolding as needed

Writing
Provide opportunities to produce extended written discourse using
precise and grammatically varied language across all grade-level
appropriate topics, contexts and genres
Emphasize the use of increasingly complex and precise language
Questions?
ellsupportandresources.weebly.com
Works Cited
Byrd, D. R., Fairbairn, S., & Jones-Vo, S. (2012). Differentiating Instruction and
Assessment for English Language Learners: A Guide for K-12 Teachers.
Chicago

https://nces.ed.gov/