The MTSS teams verify that the student has been provided with:  

• high-quality, research-based instruction at the tier 1 level that is:

  • grounded in culturally responsive instruction and SIOP strategies.

• Ample opportunity within tier 1 for student engagement:

  • Focusing on both practice of content and use of language skills that includes using academic language in speaking, listening, reading and writing. 

• Support and planning through collaboration:

  • Bringing together the expertise of all general educators and specialists who work with these students results in planning based on data-informed problem-solving, instruction, and intervention.

• Exploration of social, behavior and emotional needs:

  • A whole-child approach ensures that we provide support and intervention for the child's social-emotional history (e.g. educational, familial, health, immigration, trauma, etc.)

• Data analysis that compares progress to that of a "true peer":

  • A "TRUE PEER" is another student who can be used for comparison because both students share the following:

• language proficiency, culture, and experiential background

• age and time in the United States and acculturation in adapting to a new environment

• use of L1 and L2 at home, school, and community

• education experience and services such as dual language instruction, transitional bilingual instruction, ESL services, or sheltered-English instruction (Esparza & Doolittle, 2008).

• A team and framework that all educators to make a more precise decision in whether to refer a student for special education evaluation and services. 

I. Preparation & Background (The "Before")

• Contextualize Content (SIOP): Explicitly link new concepts to students’ past experiences and previous learning.

• Front-load Vocabulary: Identify "Tier 2" (high-utility) words in the district curriculum and teach them before the main lesson using visuals.

• Define Language Objectives: Don't just have a content goal (e.g., "Learn the water cycle"); have a language goal (e.g., "Use sequence words like first and then to describe the water cycle").

II. Comprehensible Input & Representation (The "During")

• Multiple Means of Representation (UDL): Offer information in various formats—video with captions, graphic organizers, and hands-on manipulatives—rather than just a textbook.

• Scaffold District Texts: Use "chunking" to break long district-provided readings into manageable pieces with marginal notes or simplified summaries.

• Visual & Non-Verbal Cues (SIOP): Use gestures, "realia" (real-life objects), and pictures to make verbal instructions concrete.

III. Interaction & Expression (The "Active" Part)

• Structured Interaction (SIOP): Use "Think-Pair-Share" or "Numbered Heads Together" to ensure ELLs are talking more than the teacher.

• Multiple Means of Expression (UDL): Allow students to demonstrate mastery of the district's standards through a project, a verbal recording, or a storyboard if their writing isn't yet at grade level.

• Wait Time: Give ELLs at least 10–15 seconds to process a question in their L1, translate it, and formulate an English response.

IV. Integration with District Curriculum

• Analyze the Barrier: Look at the district's unit and ask, "Is the barrier the math or the word problem?"

• Support the Language, Not the Logic: If the student understands the math but not the English, provide a translated glossary for that specific lesson rather than switching to easier math.

• Linguistic Ramps: Add sentence starters directly onto the district-provided worksheets to help students jump into the academic task.

English Language Learners, especially those students with limited or interrupted formal education are often tackling two massive tasks at once: learning a new language and catching up on academic content they may have missed. Intervention for these students may not be just Language or just Academic. There may be a need for both academics AND Language intervention. Here are ideas to get you started.

Foundational Literacy (Phonics & Phonemic Awareness)

Focuses on the "mechanics" of reading—recognizing that sounds make words and those sounds correlate to symbols.

• Systematic & Explicit Phonics Instruction: Directly teaching letter-sound relationships in a logical order.

• Elkonin Boxes: Using visual boxes and tokens to segment individual sounds in a word.

• Picture-to-Sound Mapping: Matching images to their beginning, middle, or ending sounds.

• Cross-Linguistic Transfer Analysis: Identifying sounds that exist in the student's native language vs. English to predict "stuck" points.

• Minimal Pair Drills: Practicing the difference between similar sounds (e.g., "ship" vs. "sheep" or "fan" vs. "pan").

• Tactile Letter Formation: Using sand trays, playdough, or shaving cream to trace letters while saying the sound.

• Visual Phonics: Using hand signals or gestures to represent specific phonemes.

• Multisensory Word Work: Using color-coded magnetic letters to build and manipulate word families (CVC words).

• Phonological Awareness Games: Practicing rhyming and syllable clapping using pictures rather than written text.

• Decodable Readers: Providing high-interest, low-level texts that only include sounds the student has already mastered.

Oral Language & Vocabulary Development

The "bridge" between social chatter and academic success. This is where students learn the "power words" of school.

• Total Physical Response (TPR): Connecting physical movement to new vocabulary (e.g., jumping when saying "accelerate").

• Sentence Frames & Starters: Providing the beginning of a sentence to lower the anxiety of speaking.

• Language Experience Approach (LEA): Having the student dictate a personal story to the teacher, which then becomes their reading text.

• Use of Realia: Bringing in actual objects (e.g., an actual compass) rather than just showing a picture.

• Word Walls with Visuals: Posting academic words accompanied by a "non-linguistic representation" (a picture).

• Think-Pair-Share: Giving students time to process their thoughts in their native language or a draft before speaking to the class.

• Choral Response: Having the whole class repeat key terms or phrases together to build confidence.

• Academic Conversations: Using "Talking Tools" or scripts to teach students how to agree or disagree politely.

• Role-Playing: Simulating real-life or classroom scenarios to practice specific social or academic language.

• Concept Definition Maps: A visual organizer that asks "What is it?", "What is it like?", and "What are some examples?".

Reading Comprehension & Fluency

Focuses on moving from "barking at print" (decoding) to actually understanding and enjoying the text.

• Reciprocal Teaching: Assigning students roles: Predictor, Questioner, Clarifier, and Summarizer.

• Graphic Organizers: Using Venn diagrams, flow charts, or story maps to visualize text structure.

• Choral Reading: Reading aloud in unison with the teacher to model appropriate speed and expression.

• Echo Reading: The teacher reads a sentence, and the student "echoes" it back with the same prosody.

• Paired/Partner Reading: Pairing a more proficient reader with an ELL for supported practice.

• Repeated Readings: Reading the same short passage multiple times to build speed and confidence.

• Metacognitive "Think-Alouds": The teacher narrating their inner thoughts while reading (e.g., "I'm confused by this word, so I’ll look at the picture").

• Text "Chunking": Breaking long district readings into small paragraphs with a "comprehension check" after each.

• Pre-teaching Cultural Context: Explaining the "hidden" cultural info in a story before reading (e.g., what a "yellow school bus" signifies).

• Annotating with Icons: Teaching students to use symbols (?, !, ❤️) in the margins to track their emotional or cognitive reaction to the text.

Writing & Expressive Language

Helping students move from single words to cohesive, academic paragraphs.

• Interactive Writing: "Sharing the pen" where the teacher and student write a sentence together on the board.

• Writing Frames (Cloze Paragraphs): Paragraphs with blanks for key vocabulary and transition words.

• Mentor Texts: Using a high-quality example of writing as a "blueprint" for the student to imitate.

• Sentence Combining: Taking two short sentences (e.g., "The cat is black." "The cat is small.") and learning to combine them.

• Dictation (Speech-to-Text): Allowing the student to speak their ideas into a device to overcome the "barrier" of spelling.

• Color-Coding Parts of Speech: Using highlighters to identify nouns, verbs, and adjectives in their own writing.

• Visual Storyboards: Drawing a sequence of events before attempting to write them in English.

• Personal Pictorial Dictionaries: A notebook where students draw a picture and write the word in both L1 and English.

• Focused Corrective Feedback: Only correcting one type of error at a time (e.g., just punctuation) to avoid overwhelming the learner.

• Quick-Writes with Images: Providing a compelling photo and asking for a 2-minute "brain dump" of words or sentences.

Numeracy & Math (Academic Language)

Bridging the gap for SLIFE students who may have missed foundational math or struggle with the language of word problems.

• CRA Sequence: Moving from Concrete (blocks) to Representational (drawings) to Abstract (numbers).

• Visual Word Problems: Redrawing word problems using simple icons and sketches to remove the "language barrier."

• Math Language Routines (MLRs): Specific routines like "Three Reads" (1st read for context, 2nd for math, 3rd for the question).

• Operational Word Banks: A chart showing that "sum," "plus," and "all together" all mean addition.

• Number Lines & Hundreds Charts: Providing constant visual references for number sense.

• Manipulatives (Base Ten Blocks): Using physical tools to teach place value and regrouping.

• "Show Your Work" via Drawing: Allowing students to draw their mathematical reasoning rather than writing an explanation.

• Labeled Math Diagrams: Providing pre-drawn diagrams where students only have to fill in the numerical data.

• Talking Tools for Math: Specific sentence starters for math (e.g., "I know the answer is even because...").

• Multi-Step Direction Icons: Using small icons (a pencil, a ruler, a calculator) next to instructions to show what tools are needed.