This document provides guidance for differentiating instruction and assessment for English language learners (ELLs) at different proficiency levels. It recommends using visual aids, simplified language, and hands-on activities to assess beginning ELLs. For more advanced ELLs, suggestions include allowing students to role play, use graphic organizers, or answer essay questions orally. The document also offers ideas for classroom teachers, such as building vocabulary banks, using visual teaching methods, and giving ELLs additional support activities to reinforce lessons.

1. DIFFERENTIATING
INSTRUCTION FOR
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
LEARNERS
Michael Goltzman
Derek Noggle

2. Developing Alternative
Assessments for ELLs
 Assessing Beginning ELLs
-Newcomers or U.S. school less than a year
 Assessing Advanced beginners to
Intermediate ELLS
-Basic vocabulary of 3000 words
 Assessing ELLs in Middle and High School
- Often required to take standardized tests

3. Assessing Beginning ELLs
 Ask beginning students to answer yes/no or
either/or questions.
 Accept one or two word responses to
questions
 Allow early elementary students to point or
circle the correct picture in response to
questions
 Have students point, gesture, or act out key
vocabulary and concepts from a science or
social studies unit.
 Supply a word bank so students do not need
to generate English vocabulary

4. Assessing Beginning ELLs
 Use visuals or realia to elicit information
 Give students yes or no items on a list
 Use hands on tasks such as drawings,
dioramas, graphs, maps and charts
 Encourage students to work in groups to
complete class projects
 Use K-W-L charts to record progress

5. Assessing Advanced Beginners to
Intermediate ELLs
 Have students role play to show
understanding of a topic
 Encourage students to complete a graphic
organizer using concepts and vocabulary
 Provide simple study guides and limit
assessment to key vocabulary and concepts
 Allow ELLs to consult books or notes on a test
 All students to answer essay questions orally

6. Assessing Advanced Beginners to
Intermediate ELLs
 Use completes graphic organizers to review
information
 Have students fill in modified outline, story
web, chart, graph or time line
 Simplify essay questions or break them into
managable parts

7. Assessing ELLs in Middle and High
School
 Tell ELLs in advance exactly what to they are
required to study for a test.
 Simplify language and reduce the number of
responses on multiple choice tests.
 Allow extended time or fewer questions.
 Highlight key words or clues on test for ELLs.
 Allow students to use a translation dictionary.

8. Ideas for Classroom Teachers
Before the lesson:
- Experiment with activities to determine level of
ELLs
- Plan ahead!!
- Reflect on how to teach with oral, visual,
auditory and kinesthetic learning modalities
- Add vocabulary word banks to activities
- Adapt textbooks to paraphrase key concepts
in English

9. Ideas for Classroom Teachers
During the lesson:
- Build on what ELLs know
- Use simplified vocabulary and sentence structure
- Use either/or or yes/ no questions
- Teach students to use graphic organizers to
categorize information
- Review and repeat important concepts and
vocabulary

10. Ideas for Classroom Teachers
After the lesson:
- Allow English-speaking classmate to make
copies of their notes
- Provide follow-up activities to reinforce
vocabulary and concepts
- - Encourage students to work in small groups
or pairs to reinforce concepts
- Adjust homework assignments to proficiency
levels