Classroom Strategies to Support English Language Learners

ELL/Dual Language Team
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English Language Learners (ELLs) need instruction in grade-level academic content, but they need that content delivered in a way that is both comprehensible and helps to develop English proficiency.
Fortunately, there are a number of strategies you can build into your lessons to support ELLs. They include:

• activities to build background knowledge and front-load vocabulary
• non-verbal supports like pictures, gestures, and models
• scaffolds like sentence frames or word banks that allow ELLs to practice and apply content area learning in English

Why these specific strategies? Remember that English language learners are, by definition, students who aren’t yet fully proficient in English. These strategies make your teaching easier for them to follow while at the same time developing their level of English. It’s a sort of two-for-one.

Think about it. Classroom activities that build background knowledge and front-load vocabulary also expose ELLs to lots of academic language. That’s good! And the use of non-verbal supports like pictures, gestures and models make it easier for ELLs to follow the content of your lesson, which in turn allows them to process even more English. Finally, the use of sentence frames and word banks can help ELLs to answer class questions while at the same time giving them practice with English grammar and vocabulary. 

Want to learn more? If so, the central ESL/Dual Language team has developed a series of Quick Start Guides to provide you with a fuller overview of these instructional strategies. Each guide includes a topic overview, useful tips, and color photos and illustrations of the strategies in use. You can find them here. 

(And if you want to go even deeper, or if you have a question about a specific ELL, please reach out to your school’s ESL staff member or centrally-based ESL/DL Resource Teacher.)

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