Easy Ways to Reach & Teach English Language Learners: Strategies at a Glance
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Picture yourself in a situation where you cannot understand the language being spoken around you. You want to make friends and participate but your limited language proficiency makes you fearful. Helen Keller once commented that not being able to communicate is more difficult than not being able to see. That frustration is likely being felt by the English Language Learners in your classroom.
The following strategies help you support ELLs through this difficult stage of language proficiency. Implementing these techniques will benefit all the students in your classroom and can contribute to differentiated instruction. Much of what the ESOL teacher does is best practice teaching - and you may recognize and already use some of the strategies below. The more you integrate these strategies in your teaching, the more comfortable ELLs will be in your classroom and the more motivated they will be to learn English and the content you teach.
Articles
Teaching ELL: Classroom Setup Strategies
by Valerie SchifferDanoff
Make your classroom ELL friendly and you'll be better able to keep both ELL students and EO students on track.
Teaching ELL: General Instructional Strategies
by Valerie SchifferDanoff
These strategies, excerpted from Easy Ways to Reach & Teach English Language Learners are part good thinking and part best practices. They work for ELLs and EO students.
Teaching ELL: Reading and Writing Strategies
by Valerie SchifferDanoff
Provide opportunities for all students to read, write, listen, and speak in a variety of contexts using these reading and writing strategies that especially help ELL students develop language proficiency.
Teaching ELL: Speaking Strategies
Adapt these teacher-recommended strategies, excerpted from Easy Ways to Reach & Teach English Language Learners by Valerie SchifferDanoff, to help ELLs and all students improve their language development in a supportive, encouraging way.
Teaching ELL: Tips for Helping Beginner ELLs
by Valerie SchifferDanoff
Adapt these teacher-recommended strategies, excerpted from Easy Ways to Reach & Teach English Language Learners by Valerie SchifferDanoff, to help ELLs and all students improve their language development in a supportive, encouraging way.
Resources
ELL Materials That Are Great to Have on Hand
by Valerie SchifferDanoff
See this hand-selected list of teaching references, picture dictionaries, bilingual resources and other materials that will help you and your ELL students communicate more effectively.
