As an ELL teacher in the classroom, a common question I am often asked from fellow teachers is, “Where do I begin with a student that is not proficient in English?”
Being an English language learner, as well as an English language teacher, I have gathered experiences from both the learning and educating perspective. If students are unable to communicate very well in English, they can very quickly begin to feel excluded due to the language barrier. Until students have a dependable foundation of the English language, it’s difficult for ELL students to engage in conversations and interact freely with their classmates. We have a call to action to ensure that our ELL students have a sense of inclusion and belonging within our classroom walls; what is learned within our classroom walls will allow them to have experiences outside of our classroom, which in turn, creates opportunities for success.
It is imperative for a teacher to know that when learning a foreign language, out of all of the literacy skills, SPEAKING the language comes last. Long before ELL students begin speaking the foreign language in their own words, they are understanding the words that they are hearing. Within your classroom, you may notice that a student appears to be comprehending your instruction before they are actively engaging verbally in instruction. Their silence does not mean that they aren’t learning; they are actively working to understand the sound and structure of the language. Work with the student diligently and patiently, as it may take them some time to feel comfortable enough to speak out loud.
With some modifications to your classroom, the use of adequate resources, and the help of peers and families, you can quickly and effeciently create a welcoming and inclusive environment for your English language learners. You, teacher friend, have an integral part in helping your language learner navigate and progress through their language journey over the next few weeks, months, and years!
Listed below is a compiled list of practical strategies and ways that you can support your language newcomers in your classroom. This comprehensive checklist allows you to inventory the ELL friendliness of your classroom. The printable version of my ELL Classroom Friendly Classroom is currently FREE to you in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!
How ELL friendly is your classroom? Take a walk around your classroom and reflect on your teaching strategies. Utilizing and adapting as needed with this checklist will ensure that you are setting your ELL student up for success!
PHYSICAL NEEDS:
- Environmental print (Posters with Key Survival Vocabulary)
- Bilingual labels
- Graphic organizers
- Visual daily schedule
- Interactive Word Wall with visuals, objects, translation, and academic vocabulary
- Books in the students’ home language
- Technology with Google Translate OR a picture dictionary
- Board games for social interaction
- Sentence Frames (quick, short, helpful sentence starters)
- Multilingual ‘Welcome‘ or ‘Hello‘ classroom display to show appreciation to your students linguistic background
TEACHING STRATEGIES
- Build relationships with students
- Front load vocabulary with photos before reading aloud
- Model fluency and support comprehension as you “think aloud” during reading
- Visual support as you give instruction and teach
- Explicitly teach academic vocabulary (Create opportunities to practice, repeat and retrieve new vocabulary)
- Utilize discussion strategies, such as pulling popsicle sticks with student names or a random generator, to encourage shy students to speak aloud
- Teach idioms explicitly, systematically, and with visuals
- Implement Kagan Structures to promote cooperation and communication
- Create and verbalize repetitive routines so that students can build confident in classroom language
- Check understanding ( thumbs up if you got it, down if not)
- Picture talks (teacher labels what the student sees and says aloud)
- Set language goals for your students
Book Resource:The ESL/ELL Teacher’s Survival Guide
*Pretend each checkbox is worth 1 point! The more points you get, the better prepared you are to serve your ELL students in your classroom! – Ayten *
