Differentiating Instruction

How can we differentiate instruction to support our ELLs? 

Appropriate adaptations to the instructional program include: 

• modification of some or all of the subject expectations so that they are challenging but attainable for the learner at his or her present level of English proficiency, given the necessary support from the teacher; 

• use of a variety of instructional strategies (e.g., extensive use of visual cues, graphic organizers, scaffolding; previewing of textbooks, pre-teaching of key vocabulary; peer tutoring); 

• strategic use of students’ first languages; 

• use of a variety of learning resources (e.g., visual material, simplified text, bilingual dictionaries, and materials that reflect cultural diversity); 

• use of assessment accommodations (e.g., granting of extra time, oral interviews, demonstrations or visual representations, tasks requiring completion of graphic organizers or cloze sentences instead of essay questions and other assessment tasks that depend heavily on proficiency in English). 

While the degree of program adaptation required will decrease over time, English language learners continue to need some level of program support in order to experience school success. 

The teacher needs to adapt the program for ELLs as they acquire English proficiency. For English language learners, in the early stages of language acquisition, the teacher needs to modify the curriculum expectations, in some or all curriculum areas. Most ELLs require accommodations for an extended period, long after they have achieved proficiency in Everyday English.