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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)​​