Hi Everyone,
Many people are helped when they understand that ELLs/MLLs come to us at different levels of knowing English, and there are many ways to help our students once we know where they stand:
Understanding the Different Levels of ENL Students YouTube
Supporting ELLs in the General Classroom
Answers to Common ENL Questions
ENL Program Overview (Identification & Placement)
How to Write Language & Content Objectives
HELPFUL TIPS
Culturally Responsive Teaching-Why Is It Important?
Resources for New ENL Teachers (Mrs. Knapp Padlet)
ENL Teaching Strategies for General Ed. Teachers with Newcomers
SO WHAT DOES AN ENL TEACHER DO?
Yes, surprisingly this question is still asked by many every school year!
-Many think that ENL is a support service, but ENL is not an intervention. It is an integral part of high quality Tier 1 Instruction.
-ENL is a stand-alone language development program.
The ENL teacher has three main roles in school:
English Language Development (Reading, Writing, Listening, Speaking)
Small group instruction/cooperative learning
Use of bilingual picture dictionaries/glossaries and many visuals
Scaffolding: sentence stems & starters, graphic organizers Differentiation
Academic Language Vocabulary Strategies
Word Walls with graphics & Anchor Charts
Language objectives are posted for students to see
Integrate Literacy with Content
Culturally Responsive Teaching methods Multicultural Books
Gradual Release Method and Extra time for test taking
Provide Meaningful Access to Grade Level Learning ( Ex. Scaffolding, Language Objectives, Activating Background Knowledge, Comprehensible Input, Can-Do Descriptors) Krashen on How We Learn Language
Capacity Building: Advocating and sharing expertise with colleagues and the local community through co-teaching, involvement in teacher groups, sharing ENL websites & Toolkits, articles, posting ENL slide shows & presenting at staff meetings and teacher workshops. Ex. Answers to Common ENL Questions-CANVA Presentation
NOTE: ENL teachers do not translate, but they can suggest several good tech tools that can be used for this purpose, and districts also hire Interpreters who are trained for this task. Best School Communication Programs Here
Learn about your ELL families
Create a welcoming environment
Provide a school orientation for new families
Provide a beginning of school parent meeting Ex. Open House Slide Show (C,E. Riley Elementary, 2020)
Find ways to communicate through an interpreter and a communication service. (Ex. Parent Square)
Learn key words in the home language,
Value the home language by integrating it into lessons and displays.
Make personal connections.
Integrate cultural traditions into classes.
Provide training on ENL teaching strategies to staff at least annually
Provide laptops and other helpful tools
Rooted Linguistics Elementary English Language Learners - Serving Multilingual Learners of All Ages (valentinaesl.com)
ELL Myth : Learning two languages will not confuse your child
Fact: Some bilingual children initially mix grammar rules from time to time, or they might use words from both languages in the same sentence. Supporting Early Language Development for Diverse Learners (ascd.org)
The sooner you expose a baby to a second language, the smarter they will be.The Sooner You Expose A Baby To A Second Language, The Smarter They’ll Be - Big Think
This is a normal part of new language development and does not mean that your child is confused. By age 4, children can separate the different languages but might still mix both languages in the same sentence on occasion.
They will quickly learn to separate both languages correctly.
Six Myths About Emergent Bilinguals Here
A Table of ENL Best Practices My ENL Page - A Table of ENL Best Practices (google.com)
Myths Surrounding ELLs and Literacy Myths Surrounding ELLs and Literacy: Why Student Success Depends on Teachers’ Knowledge Base (voyagersopris.com)
About Me
I am an ENL teacher for the Oswego City School District, Oswego, NY, and have been educating ELLs/MLLs for more than 20 years. I currently teach at C.E. Riley Elementary School. My students and their families are very special and important to me, and I am always seeking the best ways to collaborate with others and serve them, especially during this time!
Since i enjoy being proactive in advocating for ELLs, In 2012 I became leader of the Northern Region ENL PLC, a group of ENL professionals in upstate and northern York. I have written articles (see below) and spoken in both college classrooms and at the NYS Migrant Education Conference about Professional Learning Communities and advocating for ELL success. Later I initiated the ESL Rural Mural website for assisting rural and suburban school leaders in New York State. I was honored to discover that this site, My ENL Page, is included in the NYS ELL Resource Collection on page one. ENL in the News became an off-shoot of the PLC.
I participated in an ENL panel discussion as part of a Regional ENL Symposium at Indian River High School. I also presented at the NYS TESOL Convention in Syracuse. I have written some articles which were posted. In May 2020, My ENL Page was honored to be included in the NYSED Resource Collection for ELLs
My educational background includes receiving a B.A. in both K-12 TESOL and English from SUNY Oswego and holding an M.A. in TESOL from Le Moyne College. I received an additional certification in Secondary English. I am now dually-certified to teach both ENL and English/ELA.
Please contact me if you have any questions!
<lstevens@oswego.org>