In this section, you will find basic information about English Language Development along with the CA State ELD Standards and video samples of Integrated and Designated ELD lessons.

To read the BUSD Master Plan for English Learners, click on the button below.

Burbank Unified School District Master Plan for English Learners

To get 133 different strategies, scaffolding, and differentiation tips, click below.

The ELL Toolkit

What is English Language Development?

In the state of California, over one million public school pupils, or one in five children in kindergarten through grade twelve (K-12), are identified as English Learners (ELs). Over the last five years, Burbank Unified has served over 1,500 English learners annually, or in other words, an average of 10-11% of our students each year were identified as English Learners (ELs).

EL students speak another language as their primary language. Upon entering school, they are provided with specially designed English Language Development (ELD) curriculum and strategies that assist in developing listening, speaking, reading, and writing proficiency in English sufficient to allow them to participate in the regular program. Classroom teachers use specific strategies to assist these students in learning all subjects, including mathematics, science, and history. READ MORE

How to Develop a Lesson Plan that Includes ELLs

What is Scaffolding? And how is it different from Differentiating instruction?

There are differences between differentiation and scaffolding. Differentiation refers to the idea of modifying instruction to meet a student’s individual needs and learning styles. Scaffolding refers to modifications you make while designing and teaching lessons that allow all students to be successful in learning the same content.

Differentiation is often directed at individual students while scaffolding is done for the entire class. For example, when an individual student can’t answer a Checking for Understanding question and you rephrase your question from open-ended to multiple choice, you have differentiated for that one student. When you pre-read a Learning Objective before having the entire class read chorally, you are scaffolding.

In reality, differentiation and scaffolding strategies overlap, but they have the same ultimate goal: increasing student success.

CDE Integrated and Designated ELD Video Series

The Integrated and Designated ELD Video Series is a collection of videos that demonstrate the distinction between integrated ELD instruction and designated ELD instruction. The videos demonstrate integrated and designated ELD instruction provided to English learners in real classroom settings. The ELD lessons go into and through the subject area content in English language arts (ELA), math, and science content for each grade level while focusing on the language structures necessary for students to engage. The ELD Video Series was developed to identify the key features of integrated and designated ELD instruction that teachers can then utilize in designing and implementing both integrated and designated ELD instruction for English learners.