This document provides guidance for teachers on best practices for serving English Language Learner (ELL) students. It discusses the five stages of second language acquisition, the three core elements essential for learning a new language, and strategies teachers can use to help ELL students make connections and engage with content. Visual aids, graphic organizers, cooperative learning groups, and parental involvement are emphasized as helpful tools for ELL students.

1. How Can We Better Serve ELL Students?
By Ginger Hewitt

2. There are 5 steps to Second-Language Acquisition
1. Starting
a. Just beginning to acquire a receptive vocabulary
b. A buddy is immensely helpful
2. Emerging
a. Speaks words/phrases
b. Categorizing information is very helpful
i. Graphic organizers
3. Developing
a. Speaks in short phrases
b. May begin social interactions
4. Expanding
a. Fluency begins but still many errors
b. Some advanced thinking in English
i. analyzing, predicting, creating
5. Bridging
a. Fine-tuning, No longer receiving formal services

3. 3 Core Elements are Essential for
Learning a Second Language
1. A comfortable learning environment with a low threshold for anxiety
2. Meaningful tasks that purposely engage students to learn how to speak,
listen, read, and write in this new language
3. Engagement in tasks that are just a bit beyond the student’s current
ability

4. ELL students will learn best when teachers
help to make connections to all backgrounds:
● Personal
● Cultural
● Linguistic
● Social
● Academic
^ Notice the differences ^

5. Visuals are Important
● Picture Dictionaries can be helpful
● Flashcards are best
○ Student-created
○ Sortable
○ Affordable
○ Portable
○ Can be shared
○ Individualized
○ Helpful for family members
○ Also available for purchase, as shown here -------->
from ESL printables:

6. Graphic Organizers are Very Helpful for ELLs
● These are just a few examples,
there are many more
● They help students identify
important parts of text
● Very helpful for text-to-text
comparisons
● Very helpful as students learn the
writing process
● Actually helpful for all students: ELL,
special needs, tiered intervention, &
regular

7. Text Connections for
Reading Success
● Activate students’ background knowledge
● Important to help connect reading material
to prior experience
○ Schema: prior knowledge that students bring to
the classroom
● 3 distinct types of connections
○ Text to self
○ Text to text
○ Text to world

8. Six Comprehension Strategies of Reading
Important for ELLs at all grade levels
1. Visualizing what is happening in the story
2. Activating background knowledge by making
connections
3. Asking mental questions to self-check
comprehension
4. Learning how to make inferences about what is
read
5. Determining the importance of information in
a text
6. Synthesizing information that is learned

9. Writing Suggestions for ELLs
Calkins’ 4 Stages of the Writing Process
1. Prewriting
2. Writing
3. Editing
4. Revising
Don’t forget about helpful graphic organizers!
Learning to write in English requires students
to be able to do these 4 things well:
1. Communicate meaningfully through
writing
2. Write for a range of purposes
3. Cuse culturally appropriate terms
4. Use correct form and grammar

10. Facilitating Small Groups with Role Assignments
● Cooperative learning is helpful to all learners
○ Especially helpful to ELL learners
● Everyone is valuable
● Everyone is a rich resource
● All ideas are worthy of consideration
● Roles will probably include:
○ Social Facilitator (important!)
■ Ensures equal participation and equity of leadership
○ Scribe
○ Researcher
○ Artist
○ Time-keeper
○ Errand runner
○ Additional roles can and should be assigned as needed

11. Strategies for Engaging Students in Group Work
● Showdown
● Round Table
● 3-Minute Review
● Think-Pair-Share
● Talking Chips
● Fan & Pick
● Numbered Heads Together
● Jigsaw (shown here)

12. Homework & Assessments
● When considering appropriate homework and assessments for ELLs,
teachers need to determine first the English proficiency levels of their ELLs.
● Types of assessments
○ In-the-moment assessments (observations and anecdotal evidence)
○ Routine assessments (quizzes, homework)
○ Summative assessments (evaluation of student work)
● Recommended steps
○ Identify the English proficiency levels of their students
○ Review the curriculum standards
○ Select appropriate performance indicators
○ Design rubrics that reflect students' English proficiency levels
○ Share and provide direct instruction with students
● How to assign homework
○ Introduce the day's lesson by reviewing the unit, day's content & language objectives
○ Model the day's activities
○ Have students engage in the same types of activities that they will do as homework
○ Review the day's content and language objectives
○ Assign homework ONLY after all these have been done

13. WIDA
T
E
S
T
I
N
GACCESS:
Assessing Comprehension and
Communication in English State-to-
State for
English Language Learners
WIDA
DIBELS

14. Parental Involvement Tips
● Communicate frequently
● Schedule meetings when
convenient for them
● Invite them to events
● Make them feel welcome
● Make them feel needed &
create opportunities

15. References
Bilingua. (2017, May 17). How to say hello in 100 languages. Retrieved May 25, 2020, from
https://bilingua.io/how-to-say-hello-in-100-languages
Brame, C. (2020, March 26). Group work: Using cooperative learning groups effectively. Retrieved May 31, 2020, from
https://cft.vanderbilt.edu/guides-sub-pages
ESL Printables. (2011, April 4). Food flashcards for beginners. Retrieved May 26, 2020, from
www.eslprintables.com/previews/526654_1-
FOOD_FLASHCARDS_FOR_BEGINNERS_I_B_W.jpg
Graphic organizer examples. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2020, from www.ncpedia.org/media/graphic-organizer-examples
Haynes, J., & Zacarian, D. (2010). Teaching English language learners across the content areas. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Increase Text Connections With Sentence Frames. (2019, December 06). Retrieved May 31, 2020, from
www.litinfocus.com/increase-text-connections-sentence-frames/
LaRock, H. (2019, January 10). What Is a Benchmark Test in Education?
https://www.theclassroom.com/benchmark-test-education-6038119.html.
Raine. (2014, August 27). Differentiating instruction for English language learners. Retrieved May 26, 2020,
from PPT - Differentiating Instruction for English Language Learners PowerPoint Presentation - ID:3602203