Strategies & Tips for teachers and parents

Classroom Tips for Content Area Teachers of Newcomers

1. Simplifying Text

• Reduce the grammatical complexity, while keeping all essential information.
• Shorten the sentences.
• Change the verb tenses to simple present, present progressive, or past tenses.
• Change the passive voice to the active voice.
• Delete unessential information-but retain key vocabulary!

2. Highlighted Text

Teachers and parents preview text to be read by the students and highlight

• Key Terms
• Concepts
• Summaries
• Other Important Information

3. Sentence Frames & Starters

Sentence frames provide an opportunity for students to use key vocabulary while providing a structure that may be higher than what they could produce on their own. For example, if students are to compare two ocean creatures, they might say something like "Whales have lungs, but fish have gills." In the preceding sentence, the simple frame is "______ have ________, but _______ have _______.

To increase the complexity of the sentence, we can change the frame to incorporate a different structure and higher-level academic terms. Note how the following examples increase the level of language used:

• ___________ have ___________, however ____________ have _______________.
• Whereas __________have ___________, _________have ______________.
• Despite the fact that _____________ have _____________, _________ have ____________.

Similar to sentence frames, sentence starters provide a partial frame for students to begin their sentence or idea. However, sentence starters only begin the idea, and students must complete the idea from there. For example, students sequencing a series of events might use the following sentence starters in their oral or written summaries:

• The first thing that happened was ...
• After that ...
• The following important event was ...
• Earlier in the story ...
• Immediately following that ...

4. Cognates

Provide ELL students with a list of words related in meaning and form to a word in another language; also by roots; include English word, native language word & meaning.

Here is a link to a helpful English to Spanish Cognate chart: http://www.colorincolorado.org/pdfs/articles/cognates.pdf

5. Building Background

• Show two pictures- one that represents the content concept and one that represents something they might be familiar with- and have them compare and contrast them.
• Make explicit links for students. Be familiar with their experiences and make connections for them.
• Have students brainstorm what they now about a certain topic before teaching a content concept.
• Ask specific questions to provide students with opportunities to make their own connections.

6. Other Tips for Teaching ELLs

• Utilize visuals (real-life objects, photographs, drawings)
• Use gestures for added emphasis
• Adjust your speech: Speak slowly; enunciate; use longer natural pauses; repeat words or phrases
• Allow for sufficient response time
• Model for students
• Simplify Complex Directions
• Indicate pages numbers in text where answers to questions can be found

ELL Vocabulary Instruction

Key Vocabulary for English Learners

ACADEMIC VOCABULARY & EXAMPLES

Content Words: "Graph, axis, y-intercept"

Process or Function Words: "Locate, determine, identify"

Words and word parents (i.e. affixes, roots) that teach English structure: "Graph (Related words: photograph, geography, pictograph)

Multiple Meaning Words: "Table, multiple, difference"

Connectives: "And, but, because"

RESEARCH-BASED TIPS FOR VOCABULARY INSTRUCTION:

• Direct instruction of words (provide student-friendly definition)
• Presenting the word in context.
• Visual support (pictures, definition in glossary)
• Translation of word.
• Using the words in the context of the lesson.
• Student interaction with words (activities and questions that make students use the words)
• Student internalization of definitions (retelling the definitions in their own words)

Scaffolding Matrix for ELL's

Provides practical ideas and suggestions of how you can scaffold instruction to meet the needs of the ELLs in your classroom.

ELL Student Accommodations for Basic and Low Intermediate Students

______ Give tests orally

______ Give instructions/directions in writing and orally

______ Simplify complex directions

______ Reduce the number of essay responses

______ Assign a peer tutor, same language or English speaking

______ Allow use of bilingual dictionary

______ Provide summaries of text or study guides of particular chapters

______ Shorten reading assignments

______ Highlight key vocabulary (Recommended for all assignments)

______ Reduce amount of work required

______ Assess comprehension through demonstration or other alternative means (gestures,

drawings, retelling)

______ For each question, indicate page number in textbook where answer is found

______ Rephrase questions, directions, and explanations in a simpler form

______ Use group projects rather than individual work

______ Reduce multiple choices to two

______ Provide study guides and/or outlines and word banks

______ Provide video on subject

______ Allow extended time for test/project completion (Recommended for all assignments)

______ Use books on tape/CD

______ Use reduced text, so that print is not dense

______ Adapt homework to reflect language proficiency

______ Adapt homework to reflect home support

______ Provide hands-on activities and explanations (Recommended for all assignments)

______ Allow extended time to answer questions, and permit drawing, as an explanation

______ Accept participation at any level, even one word

______ Use Graphic Organizers (Recommended for all assignments)

______ Use story retellings to assess comprehension

______ Use anecdotal records as a form of assessment

______ Keep portfolio of work as a form of assessment

______ Use visuals/pictures throughout lesson/unit/assignment (Recommended for all

assignments)

______ Use fill-in-the-blank tests/worksheets with vocabulary list provided

______ Reduce the number of matching options

______ Answer questions on test; avoid use of machine scored answer sheets

______ Give test over several days or in sections

______ Present test questions in same phrasing as used in learning/review

______ Use stories, read alouds, and use gestures, objects, or drama

______ Use choral reading and cloze reading

______ Use partner/cooperative learning groups when writing paragraphs,

synthesizing, or summarizing

______ Use content specific bilingual glossaries

______ Provide sentence frames or sentence starters

______ Remove idioms and figurative language from assessment questions

______ Provide a model of a process, task, or assignment

______ Slow speech, increase pauses, and speak in phrases

Assessment Strategies