Essential Actions 1-3

As mentioned last week, Colorin’ Colorado created a list of 15 essential actions to help English Language Learners improve at a more drastic rate. This week, we will examine the first three a little more closely.
  1. CAPITALIZE on the resources and experiences that ELLs bring to school to build and enrich their academic language.
    Remember not to work in the vacuum of your own worldview. Students, especially those who come from other countries, have the ability to share the unimaginable. For example, in a social studies class, discussions comparing and contrasting local and international environments, cultures, and perspectives can bring about engaging conversation. 
    Ask students to bring in realia, like a show and tell event. Allow students to talk or write about what they are more familiar in. You can use this to make connections to important concepts that you are trying to introduce or provide further insight. 
    For this Easter weekend, did you ask what your students do? Did they have an Easter bunny? Did they go hunting for eggs? How do they celebrate the holiday if they do? What new words might teach them during such a discussion? How might you help local students learn more about the greater world in such a discussion?
  1. ANALYZE the academic language demands involved in grade-level teaching and learning.
    Make sure that you know what words your students need to know when they enter your class. Also make sure you know what words the students should know when they finish your course.
    Share this information with the ENL/ESL program at your school so that they will be better able to serve your students.
    Also, consider going back to more basic concepts when considering what vocabulary is necessary. For example, if your student does not understand the word "multiply", then how will the student learn to understand "exponents"? (Also be wary of assuming that your students already understand the basic concepts. Make sure to take the time to work one-on-one with a student to help diagnose areas of weakness.
  1. APPLY the background knowledge of ELLs, including their language proficiency profiles, in planning differentiated language teaching.
    This goes back to #1 and combines it with #2. As you get to know your student better, you can more easily differentiate based on your knowledge of their capabilities. In one surprising example this year, we discovered a student struggled with basic addition and subtraction, but was expected to perform algebra. There is no overnight solution, and it is one that will require communication and cooperation.
    However, this example creates serious questions in relation to differentiation. Do we toss out the class outcomes in order to catch the student up? Do we require resource classes to help the student? Helping these students is a shared responsibility that we must all work to address.

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