As a classroom teacher, one of your roles is to provide sheltered instructional techniques to support your English Learners' development of language and content knowledge. In order to ensure that the EL's in your classroom are receiving the most effective English language support in all subject areas, it is important to consider the ways in which sheltered instruction is impacted by students' cognitive, affective, and linguistic domains.

The cognitive domain is knowledge. Teachers support this domain by becoming familiar with their students' current background knowledge, along with any gaps in vocabulary or content acquisition. Educators use this information to tailor their instruction, ensuring that the delivery is both comprehensible and grade-appropriate to their individual learners.

The affective domain is emotion, stress, and engagement. Teachers support the development of a healthy affective domain by becoming familiar with their students' concerns about participating in class or with making progress. Educators look for ways to provide an engaging and safe learning climate that is tailored to their classroom population.

The linguistic domain is language proficiency. Teachers encourage the growth of language by getting to know their students' current listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills. Educators then draw explicit connections between new academic language and any basic vocabulary that the students already use with proficiency.