ILLINOIS LITERACY IN ACTION
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  • Literacy Leadership
  • Librarians
  • Shift Kits
  • Lesson Study
  • Seeking Feedback Page
ILLINOIS LITERACY IN ACTION
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English Learners (ELs/ELLs/ESL)

Welcome!  We recognize that teaching students who's home language is different than our own can be challenging for both the student and the teacher. 

The following videos contain a very brief look at definitions, school and classroom considerations, and various approaches with accompanying resources for the general education teacher supporting English Learners.

​Select this handout to access the links suggested in the videos.
Part One: Defining Second Language Acquisition 
Part Two: Programming & Quality Instruction
Part Three:  Methods, Strategies and Resources
Professional Learning
​

ISBE Resources: Department of ELL
  • Legislation, Rules and Guidance
  • English Language Development Standards
  • ​English Language Proficiency Assessments​
Research:
  • ILA Position Statement: Literacy Leadership Brief on Second Language Learners
  • ​(6-12) Attending to Language, Engaging in Practice: Scaffolding English Language Learners’ Apprenticeship Into the Common Core English Language Arts Standards
  • UnboundEd: Implementing CCSS with ELL Students (recorded presentation)
  • Fisher and Frey:It's All About the Talk (article)
  • Education Northwest: Parent Guide for English Learners (Spanish and English Versions​
  • What does text complexity mean for English learners and language minority students? By Lily Wong Fillmore and Charles J. Fillmore
Instructional Support
​
  • ​Center for Applied Linguistics: GO TO Strategies
  • IES Effective Literacy and English Language Instruction for English Learners in the Elementary Grades
  • ASCD: Teaching Argument Writing to ELLs
  • Teaching Academic Content and Literacy to English Learners in Elementary and Middle School
  • WIDA Consortium:  Can Do Descriptors (K-12) ​​The Can Do Descriptors highlight what language learners can do at various stages of language development as they engage in teaching and learning in academic contexts.
  • Colorin' Colorado: Blog series on creating text-dependent questions for ELLs
    • Part One Overview
    • ​​Part Two Examples for 2nd Gr​
    • Part Three: Examples for Middle and High School
Learners in Action​​
  • What does text complexity mean for English learners and language minority students? By Lily Wong Fillmore and Charles J. Fillmore
  • Analyzing Texts: Series (3-8)
    • Beginning the Lesson
    • Text Talk Time
    • Brainstorm before Writing
    • Puttting thoughts on Paper​
  • Scaffolding Complex Texts (6-8)
  • Deeper Learning for English Language Learners
  • Citing Evidence from Complex Text​​
  • Essay Structure in Writing (6-8)​​
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