English Language Learner

Garcia and Godina
ESL students are a growing sector of your country.  Teachers and districts need to be equipped and prepared to teach these types of learners.  The article gives very specific instructional ideas and approaches.  It is important to remember, as a teacher, to get to know your students and their background.  Understand where they have come from and their educational experiences.  It may sound strange but ESL students at times need instruction in their own language.  Collaboration with all school personnel to ensure appropriate material are being introduces, taught, and repeated.  Teachers need to be using the same type techniques to reiterate learning ideas. These students do better with an inquiry-based learning approach.  Small group or one on one instruction allows for ELS to feel comfortable and open to ask questions.  Cooperative learning environment help scaffold instruction.  Student can ask peers questions they might not feel comfortable asking a whole group.  Lectures and teacher centered classrooms do not foster a great learning environment for ESLs.  Content areas should be the main focus of instruction which include reading, writing, listening, and speaking activities.  By offering language arts as an ESL course, this allows students to learn at their own level.  These teachers can focus more on ESL specific problems that native English speakers might not have.  It also helps teachers focus on strategy instruction.  By following some of these approaches ESLs will begin to find mastery in the English language.  

Hinchman and Sheridan-Thomas
This chapter outlines how diverse an EAL can student look.  EALs come from all different backgrounds.  They hold varying English abilities.  Some students were born in the US, but have non-English speaking parents.  Others come to the US being fluent in many languages.  The chapter goes on to explain several instructional strategies that would benefit EALs regardless of their diverse background.  CCSS emphasizes the importance of using high level text that requires student to practice by speaking, listening, and doing. With this kind of emphasizes on language EALs are engaged.  By placing language at the forefront of content instruction, this allows for conversations to be thoughtful and highly engaging.   Another strategy this chapter talks about is fostering the home and school relationships.  Teachers must be in constant communication with their student's families.  Close readings allow for students to track their own thinking and writing.  Students take ownership of their learning.  By shifting the conversations in classroom to be more student centered, teachers do not take over the conversations.  Students need to be speakers and writers.  By speaking they are practicing some of the concepts they are learning in writing.  The chapter then goes on to talk about examples of these strategies used by an 8th grade class.  Four mini lessons are described with the content objects, strategies,  and activities.

Text to Text
These chapters both talk about strategies that can be beneficial to ELLs.  I found it interesting the chapters had similar finding.  Explicit instructions is important to use with students.  Also getting to know your students and their background.  Another similarity was the idea of content areas helping teach language.

Text to Self
Having taught at a school with a high ELL population, I found these strategies to be very accurate.  One thing I always emphasized was the home-school connection.  I knew I had to earn the parents trust and once I did we were open to discuss ideas.  I thought reading about how the Hispanic and American cultures are very different.  It explains why some of my hispanic parents seemed disengaged.  Which wasn't the case, they just culturally did things differently.  They were very involved, but maybe not how I would have expected.

Text to World
America's ELL population is quickly rising.  Teachers need to understand that just teaching these students like native students will not be a fix all.  Their are many factors to take into account.  I feel sometimes teachers just assume this idea of immigrant students is going to go away, but it's not.  Teachers need to get on board and begin learning instructional strategies that will help them and their students be the most successful they can be.

Question
Have you worked with ELLs in your classroom?  Any strategies you have found  particularly helpful that were mentioned?