Sheltered Instruction

Since the early 1980's content-area teachers have looked to sheltered English instruction as a way to make content comprehensible for the English language learners (ELLs) in their classrooms. In the days when the term was first used in connection with ELLs, students were considered "sheltered" because they studied in classes separate from "the mainstream" and did not compete academically with native English speaking students (Freeman & Freeman, 1988). Today, the majority of ELLs study alongside their English-speaking peers, are held accountable to the same curriculum standards, and take the same high-stakes tests. Sheltered English instruction has come to mean a set of practices valuable to all teachers in helping ELLs learn English and, at the same time, learn content material in English.

The Burlington-Edison School District focuses their ELL professional development on GLAD, SIOP, and other language acquisition methods to support teachers with the strategies they need to ensure that ELL students can access the curriculum.

www.projectglad.com

http://www.alliance.brown.edu/tdl/tl-strategies/mc-principles.shtml

http://www.siopinstitute.net/

http://www.cal.org/siop/

http://crosscultured.com/ - Separting Difference from Disability/ Dr. Catherine Collier