Teaching
English languagE
lEarnErs Across the
  content AreAs
Judie hAynes and debbie ZAcAriAnTEACHING
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
LEARNERS ACROSS THE
CONTENT AREASJUDIE HAYNES and DEBBIE ZACARIAN
TEACHING
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
LEARNERS ACROSS THE
CONTENT AREAS
Alexandria, Virginia USA1703 N. Beauregard St. • Alexandria, VA 22311-1714 USA
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Haynes, Judie.
 Teaching English language learners across the content areas / Judie Haynes
and Debbie Zacarian.
  p. cm.
 Includes bibliographical references and index.
 ISBN 978-1-4166-0912-4 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. English language—Study
and teaching (Elementary)—Foreign speakers. 2. English language—
Study and teaching (Secondary)—Foreign speakers. 3. Second language
acquisition. I. Zacarian, Debbie. II. Title.
 PE1128.A2H3836 2010
 428.2’4—dc22
2009040131
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Acknowledgments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xi
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1: Creating an ELL-Friendly Learning Environment . . . . . . 5
2: Lesson Planning to Ensure Optimal
Engagement of ELLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
3: Small-Group Work and ELLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
4: Content Vocabulary Instruction for ELLs . . . . . . . . . . . 49
5: Reading Comprehension Instruction for ELLs. . . . . . . . 71
6: Writing Instruction for ELLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
7: Homework and Assessment for ELLs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
8: Communicating Effectively with Parents of ELLs . . . . 119
9: Effective ELL Instruction in Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Appendix 1: Suggested Verbs to Use When
Composing Language Objectives  . . . . . . . . . 147
Appendix 2: Lesson Modification Worksheet  . . . . . . . . . . 151
Appendix 3: Home Language Survey  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Appendix 4: Glossary  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Bibliography  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
About the Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
v
TEACHING
ENGLISH LANGUAGE
LEARNERS ACROSS THE
CONTENT AREASvii
FOREWORD
By Elizabeth Claire
The worst day in my life was my first day of school in the
United States. I felt like an alien. . . . I didn’t understand any-
thing. I didn’t know anybody at all. I was late to all of my
classes. It was like a nightmare. I just sat down and put my
head down on my desk. I wished for the end of the day, so I
could go home.—C.M., a 7th grade ELL student
Stories like the one above are multiplied a thousand times each
day across the United States as newcomers sit in mainstream
classes at the mercy of their teacher’s patience, sensitivity, and
preparation for their arrival. Whether these newcomers spend
the day bored and frustrated or engaged in meaningful activi-
ties and socializing with their classmates is all up to the subject
area teacher for the greater part of their day. Newcomers form
an increasingly large percentage of our public school popu-
lation. They are tomorrow’s workforce, citizens, and parents.
What happens to them matters deeply to all of us.viii | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
When I was a mainstream teacher, before I became an ESL
teacher, I certainly had plenty of sensitivity, but not much
preparation, and my hands were more than full, so I know
what the problems are from both sides of the table. I was often
guilt-ridden because I didn’t know how to fi  nd time to give the
amount of attention these newcomers needed and still cover
what had to be covered for English-fl  uent students.
Multiply me by 6.2 million teachers across the United States,
most of whom teach classes that include English language
learners.
Judie Haynes and Debbie Zacarian to the rescue.
It would be hard to imagine two more qualifi  ed educators to
help mainstream teachers not only to assist ELLs so that they
participate fully in class, but also to enhance the learning of
the rest of the students at the same time.
I met Judie Haynes as she was giving a workshop for ESL teach-
ers at New Jersey TESOL. We discovered that, by amazing co-
incidence, we had both considered writing a resource book for
mainstream teachers of ELLs. We both were anguished by the
plight of ELLs whose days in mainstream classes were fi  lled
with wasted time, embarrassment, and social isolation. We
could see that these students would be marked for life by their
experiences during their English-learning years. Society would
pay for the absence of attention to their needs. Hoping to pro-
vide what was missing in the fi eld, together we wrote Classroom
Teacher’s ESL Survival Kits 1 and 2 (Prentice Hall, 1995 & 1996).
Now, along with Debbie Zacarian, she has written a book that Foreword | ix
provides practical strategies for school principals, curriculum
directors, supervisors, and, of course, mainstream teachers. 
Judie taught for 29 years and has tirelessly trained the main-
stream teachers both at her school and in other school districts
around the United States. She wrote a column on elementary
ESL issues for TESOL’s Essential Teacher. Her last book, Getting
Started with English Language Learners: A Guide for Educators
(ASCD, 2007), helps classroom teachers and school adminis-
trators learn best practices for incorporating ELLs in school.
That book has become a “must-read” in the fi  eld.
Debbie was also a columnist for TESOL’s Essential Teacher, writ-
ing on issues for secondary teachers. As director of the Center
for English Language Education and founding director of the
Center for Advancing Student Achievement at the Hampshire
Educational Collaborative in Northampton, Massachusetts,
she has extensive experience with training classroom teachers
to work with English language learners.
Now together, Judie and Debbie have joined forces to write
the perfect book for educators—not a how-to from the ivory
tower, but a guide from down in the trenches, with example
after example of experiments and successes by mainstream
teachers and school leaders. This book offers dozens of insight-
ful and simple ways to plan for ELLs participating in a unit,
incor  porating them in groups where they can hear authentic
language and be responsible for a role in the group. I was de-
lighted to see that language in the text is down to earth; he
book reads like a collection of short stories that teachers can
quickly relate to.x | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
The strategies in this book don’t require that you do anything
extra, just differently. The techniques that work with ELLs will
enhance your lessons such that every one of your English-
 fl  uent students will benefi t greatly as well.
If you are a teacher or administrator who has been struggling to
secure ways for ELLs to participate in general education classes
and school activities, you can be relieved. Teachers and admin-
istrators cannot read this book without having their percep-
tions altered or altering the lives of their ELLs. The book reads
quickly, and opens eyes. With hands-on and visual learning a
great part of lesson presentation, reports, projects, and testing,
all students benefi t, and you gain for yourself that remarkable
feeling, remembered for a lifetime, of having made your stu-
dents’ days meaningful and powerful.
Elizabeth Claire
Founder and editor
Easy English Newsxi
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Our book was written with the support of many people.
Several classroom teachers from River Edge Public School in
New Jersey—including Joann Frechette, Julie Mahoney, Patri-
cia Wondra, Susan Meldonian, Laura Menzella, Cathy Danahy,
Monica Schnee, and Nancy Du Bois—generously shared their
expertise.
We spent long hours collaborating on this manuscript and
appreciate the support of our families—especially our hus-
bands, Joe and Matt.  
We thank ASCD acquisitions editor Carolyn Pool for guiding
our efforts during the writing stage, and copy editor Ernesto
Yermoli for helping us with the editing of the final manuscript.
They both contributed greatly to this book.
The adage “many fingers make a hand” speaks to the gratitude
that we wish to express.INTRODUCTION
1
The audience for Teaching English Language Learners Across
the Content Areas is teachers, supervisors, curriculum special-
ists, principals, and superintendents who are working with
English language learners (ELLs) in their classrooms. This
book is the result of our combined experience working with
ELLs: Judie taught elementary and middle school ELLs for
28 years and has been working with teachers of ELLs for the
last 16 years; Debbie worked with high school ELLs for six
years, administered K–12 English language education for over
20 years, and taught at a university for over a decade where
she designed and developed courses for general classroom,
secondary subject-matter, special education, resource, and
English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, as well as for
administrators who taught English to ELLs. Debbie directs a
professional development, consulting, and support center for
teachers and administrators of ELLs.2 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Educators are teaching a rapidly growing number of ELLs in
U.S. schools, yet most public school teachers are not trained
to do so. As a result, they are challenged to find effective ways
to ensure that ELLs are actively participating in content area
instruction. This is particularly so because many ELLs receive
limited instruction in ESL.
We believe that students’ success is highly correlated with their
engagement in the learning process. Although statewide assess-
ments are often used as measures of student success, we worry
about the impact of tests that are given when students are not
yet competent in English. Learning English is a developmen-
tal process that occurs over a period of years. It is dependent
on the comprehensibility, quality, and sustainability of lan-
guage and content learning experiences. Although advocating
for fair testing is important, modifying instruction to make it
accessible to ELLs is at the core of what must occur.
Through our own experience, we know that ELLs need to be
instructed by teachers who create and deliver lessons that
effectively teach both content and the English language while
promoting active student engagement. It is our goal to help
teachers build classroom and school environments where
all students, including ELLs, can flourish. We want to show
elementary grade-level, secondary subject-matter, special edu-
cation, and resource teachers; curriculum directors; adminis-
trators; support staff; and other stakeholders how to involve
their ELL students in content activities with the whole class to
the greatest extent possible. To that end, this book will focus
on how teachers can improve student academic language and
literacy learning in language arts, math, science, and social
studies classes. Introduction | 3
The ideas and tools that we present in this book will help
teachers strengthen students’ capacity to learn content vocab-
ulary and concepts, activate students’ background knowledge,
modify content area materials in ways that specifically address
language and content learning, and communicate content
information to ELLs. The book is organized around strategies
for working with ELLs in a content area class. These strategies
include
• Developing classroom learning environments that
enhance learning for ELLs,
• Writing lesson plans that ensure optimal engagement
of ELLs,
• Planning small-group configurations that include ELLs
in mainstream instruction,
• Teaching vocabulary in a way that helps ELLs under-
stand content area information,
• Designing reading and writing instruction that is at
the appropriate English language level for ELLs,
• Assigning homework and developing assessments that
are linked to instruction, and
• Learning to effectively communicate with the parents
of ELLs.
Each chapter opens with a classroom scenario that depicts a
common challenge in elementary, middle, and high school
content area classes, followed by specific ideas for modifying
instruction for the benefit of ELLs. These opening scenarios
are situated in science, math, and social studies classes. Small-
group configurations can be used in all classes.Creating an ELL-Friendly
Learning Environment
CHAPTER ONE
1
Creating an ELL-Friendly
Learning Environment
CHAPTER ONE
17
Middle school social studies teacher Ms. Morales was
teaching a unit on the settling of Plymouth Col-
ony in the 1620s. She had four ELLs in her class at
varying stages of English language acquisition, all of whom
had the ability to converse socially with their peers in class-
room situations. Ms. Morales wasn’t sure why one of her ELLs,
Tuan Li, was still in an ESL class, as his oral participation was
strong. He spoke well and seemed to follow the lessons.
The goal of the day’s lesson was for Ms. Morales’s students to
be able to demonstrate three differences between the houses
of settlers in 1620 and houses in the present-day United States.
Ms. Morales wrote this objective on the board. Below it, she
also wrote three brief statements about what her students
would do during the day’s lesson: First, they would take notes
about the houses in Plymouth. Second, they would write facts
about the houses. Third, they would synthesize their notes and
write a paragraph comparing the homes of 1620 with those
that exist today.
At the beginning of the lesson, Ms. Morales reviewed the voy-
age of the Mayflower and the first winter of the new settlers
in Plymouth, using pictures to retell the story. She observed
that her ELLs were able to participate in this oral review and
was pleased with their use of the academic language from the 8 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
lesson. Ms. Morales then introduced the vocabulary from the
text that students would read on the Internet. She used pic-
tures to demonstrate the meanings of the words and phrases
that she had identified for this lesson, and showed the students
how to use a graphic organizer to take notes. She noted that the
ELLs in her class appeared to understand the text and were able
to write key words in their organizers. However, when Tuan Li
wrote his paragraph, he did not transfer the academic language
used in the lesson to his writing. Here is what he wrote:
In Plymouth they have small houses with one big rooms.
It was only made from straw for the roof and the wooden
board for the down part of the house. Houses in river edge,
many of the houses is made of brick. The house is big. 
Tuan Li had been in U.S. schools for two years. He spoke
En  glish well, volunteered in class, and worked cooperatively
with classmates. Ms. Morales was pleased with Tuan Li’s par-
ticipation in the oral part of the lesson and with his under-
standing of the material that he read online, but she became
concerned with his writing. She wondered if he really acquired
the academic language and concepts of the lesson. His use of
academic vocabulary, grammar, and sentence structure was
poor. Ms. Morales thought that Tuan Li had been in the United
States long enough to acquire the skills necessary to write in
English.
* * *
Teachers of ELLs, such as Ms. Morales, should routinely con-
sider the following questions: How long does it take to learn Creating an ELL-Friendly Learning Environment | 9
English? What should we expect during this learning process?
What should we do to help students to learn English as they
learn content? Title VI of U.S. federal law describes compe-
tency in English as the ability to do ordinary classroom work
in English and requires schools to provide ELLs with an educa-
tion that is available to all students in the same system (Alex-
ander & Alexander, 1985). Each state draws from this federal
definition to regulate the laws governing the education of ELLs
in public schools.
The phrase “ordinary classroom work”—meaning what we
expect students to be able to learn in English—is a good start-
ing point for us to think about how to modify classroom
instruction. The way we work with ELLs reflects our beliefs
about their ability to perform ordinary classroom work. If
Ms. Morales mistakenly believes that an ELL is defined as a
student who does not speak English, then she might think
that Tuan Li is competent in English because his listening and
speaking skills are strong. However, the capacity to do ordi-
nary classroom work in English includes the ability to com-
municate appropriately in social and academic situations by
listening, speaking, reading, and writing.
Language Acquisition Versus
Language Learning
The term “English language learner” refers to students who
have learned a language or languages other than English dur-
ing their preschool years and are now learning English as an
additional language. School-age ELLs like Tuan Li must learn
English because they cannot succeed in school without it.  10 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Learning a language is distinct from acquiring it (Krashen,
1982). Consider Tuan Li: He was in the 4th grade when
he enrolled in a New Jersey elementary school. He learned
English while also learning math, science, social studies, art,
music, and physical education. By contrast, he acquired his
native language through the process of communicating with
his family and community. Acquiring language is an uncon-
scious process, whereas learning a second language is a con-
scious one (Krashen, 1982). When learning a second language,
students must learn about its structure and appropriate use.
An ELL whose native language is Spanish, for example, will be
accustomed to placing adjectives after nouns, and must learn
to do the reverse in English.
Stages of Second-Language Acquisition
Language learning is a developmental process, each stage of
which represents growth and expansion of the ability to know,
use, and critically think in the new language. The following
descriptions of the stages of second-language acquisition are
intended to help teachers ensure that their lessons comple-
ment the current stage of a student’s English learning. 
Stage 1: Starting
In this preproduction stage, students are just beginning to
acquire a receptive vocabulary. They can listen attentively to
explanations supported by visuals, point to correct answers, act
out information, draw and label pictures, and understand and
duplicate gestures and movements to show comprehension.
Some may even be able to copy words from the board. Choral
reading and Total Physical Response, a teaching method that Creating an ELL-Friendly Learning Environment | 11
encourages ELLs to respond to language with gestures and body
language, will work well with students at this stage, who will
need much repetition of English words and phrases in context.
Students in Stage 1 will also benefit from having a “buddy”
who speaks their language. Teachers should focus attention on
listening comprehension activities and on helping students to
build a receptive vocabulary. It is common for students to lis-
ten much more than speak at this stage and to display under-
standing through body language, such as by pointing to an
object. Remember that the school day is exhausting for these
newcomers as they are overwhelmed by listening to a new lan-
guage all day long.
Stage 2: Emerging
Students enter this early production stage when they have
been learning English for about six months to a year and are
beginning to produce language. During this stage, students
can usually speak in one- or two-word phrases, learn new aca-
demic vocabulary with visual support, answer yes/no or either/
or questions, provide names of items, categorize information,
make lists, and write very simple sentences to go with pictures.
Students in Stage 2 should begin to participate in whole-class
activities. Teachers should aid learning with graphic organiz-
ers, charts, and graphs and begin to foster writing in English
through labeling and composing short sentences.
Stage 3: Developing
At this stage, ELLs will begin to communicate using short
phrases, understand modified content material, match content
area vocabulary to definitions, and comprehend their teacher’s
clearly articulated explanations and directions. They also may 12 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
begin to initiate social conversations with classmates. Students
in Stage 3 will benefit from the use of flashcards and duet and
choral reading activities.
Stage 4: Expanding
English language learners at this stage are becoming more flu-
ent. They can highlight important information in a text, use
graphic organizers independently, and skim material for spe-
cific information; they are also able to analyze, create, debate,
predict, and hypothesize in English. However, the writing of
ELLs in Stage 4 will still have many errors as the students con-
tinue trying to master the complexity of English grammar and
sentence structure. The teacher’s focus at this stage should be
on student comprehension and writing.
Stage 5: Bridging
At this stage, ELLs can perform in all areas close to the level of
their native English-speaking classmates. However, they will
continue to need teacher support with oral and written use
of more complex vocabulary and sentence structure, and may
also need support developing learning strategies and study
skills. It is important to remember that although students
at this stage are no longer in ESL programs, they will still be
learning  English for years to come.
Building Connections
In the mid–20th century, several scholars contributed to what
we know about how languages are learned in the classroom.
Current theories pay particular attention to what occurs in the Creating an ELL-Friendly Learning Environment | 13
brain during the learning process; see, for example, Sylwester
and Cho  (1992), Caine and Caine (1991), and Diaz Rico and
Weed (2006). Most researchers on the subject believe that the
primary function of the brain is to build connections between
new information and what it already knows. This biological
process is the cornerstone of our knowledge about second-
  language learning. It suggests that students are not empty ves-
sels of knowledge; rather, they come to class with a body of
knowledge that is based on their personal, cultural, linguistic,
social, and academic knowledge. When students are engaged
in an atmosphere that helps them to build connections to their
varied backgrounds across the curriculum and in a welcoming,
nonthreatening way, learning is optimized.
According to Krashen (1981, 1982), learning a second language
requires the following three core elements:
1. A comfortable learning environment with a low thresh-
old for anxiety
2. Meaningful tasks that purposely engage students to
learn how to speak, listen, read, and write in the new
language
3. Engagement in tasks that are just a bit beyond the stu-
dents’ current ability
Language Learning and Culture
Learning a language also involves learning the norms of the
culture in which the language is used. Routine tasks can pose
unique challenges for ELLs if they have not learned these
norms. For example, in many U.S. public high schools, students 14 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
elect class officers—a democratic process. The act of voting in a
school election requires students to understand the principles
of democracy and elections, as well as what role each class offi-
cer plays. Teachers must provide explicit instruction for ELLs
to actively understand what it means to be a learner in the
classroom community and to participate meaningfully in it.
Social Language Versus Academic Language
Jim Cummins, a renowned scholar of second-language devel-
opment, believes that language learners engage in social con-
versational skills before they engage in academic skills (1981,
1984). He posits that students develop basic interpersonal
communicative skills through the process of engaging in
informal settings such as the school playground or cafeteria.
However, to perform successfully in school, students must also
attain cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP)—that
is, the ability to manipulate language for academic purposes.
The amount of time it takes for students to become proficient
in a language depends on their backgrounds. Students who
have had prior schooling and rich literacy experiences (includ-
ing a literacy-rich home environment) tend to become com-
municatively competent in three to five years, whereas those
who have previously had limited or interrupted instruction
or a radically different type of schooling may take five years
or more. Learners who are not fully literate in their native
  language will take even longer to acquire CALP in the second
language.
We do not believe that students learn social language before
academic language, as this would imply that learning is a   linear Creating an ELL-Friendly Learning Environment | 15
process. Both types of learning are optimized when teachers
connect new information to students’ personal, cultural, lin-
guistic, social, and academic backgrounds (Diaz Rico & Weed,
2006; Echevarria, Vogt, & Short, 2008).
Teachers of ELLs should be attracted to working with such stu-
dents and create an environment in which students’ personal,
cultural, linguistic, social, and academic experiences are seen
as rich resources. Similarly, ELLs must be attracted to learn-
ing in their new environment and interested in learning about
the culture in which they now find themselves. Consider the
example of Dmitry, a brilliant student who had been at the top
of his class in Russia. When his parents decided to come to the
United States, he felt very angry about the decision but had
no way to express this anger directly to his parents. Instead,
he simply refused to try to learn in school. When pressured,
he had a cousin do his homework. In short, by refusing to
open up to the new language and culture, Dmitry lost a whole
year of English language acquisition when he first came to the
United States.
Designing Socially Relevant
Learning Activities
We believe that students learn best when the curriculum is
socially relevant and when students are given opportunities
to examine their world, such as in the earlier example of
Ms. Morales engaging her students in comparing their lives to
the lives of children from the 1620s. Socially relevant curricu-
lum has been found to be an important element for learning
(Luke, 1994; Vasquez, Muise, Adamson, & Heffernan, 2003). 16 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Lessons that allow ELLs to participate more fully in their
schools and communities should be at the heart of the work
of teaching.
Let us return to the example of Ms. Morales’s class. Once Ms.
Morales began to understand more about the sociocultural
realities of her ELLs as well as their language and content
learning needs, she adjusted her lessons. Most of Ms. Morales’s
students played in community baseball games after school.
Because she knew that her ELLs were not familiar with base-
ball and were not being included in the games, she decided to
expand the study of the Plymouth settlers to include a com-
parison of popular games in the colonial United States with
those that are popular today. She posted the objectives of the
lesson on the board, used a graphic organizer to support her
students’ learning, and engaged her students in a variety of
paired discussions about the two time periods. She also used
class time to ask her English-fluent students to encourage ELLs
to participate in baseball games after school and to support
them when they did.
Characteristics of an Effective
Learning Environment
Learning activities must be based on deliberate and explicit
instruction that allows multiple opportunities for
• Student understanding of the lesson’s key content
goals and activities;
• Teacher modeling of activities before students engage
in them; Creating an ELL-Friendly Learning Environment | 17
• Frequent opportunities for students to practice activi-
ties comfortably; and
• Multiple and repeated connections to student’s personal,
cultural, linguistic, social, and academic experiences.
Posting Core Content Ideas
As Wiggins and McTighe (2005) note, it is important to plan
learning experiences that are based on the core content ideas
that we want our students to learn. It is very helpful to post
these ideas on the board for student reference, as they not only
can provide an anchor for students throughout the course of
a unit but also provide teachers with an important reference
point when designing and delivering lessons. Posting core
content ideas in the form of questions can be particularly help-
ful, furthering students’ interest by encouraging them to seek
answers.
Thinking that the terms “reflect” and “belief system” would
be difficult for students to understand, Ms. Morales revised her
core question to read, “How did the everyday activities of the
settlers show what they believed?” She thought that this core
question would be more easily understood by all of her stu-
dents and serve as an important reference point for learning
the core concepts.
Posting Daily Content and Language Objectives
The Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol, also known as
the SIOP model (Echevarria et al., 2008), points to the impor-
tance of posting daily content and language objectives for
our students. Teachers should inform students of the lesson’s 18 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
purpose by sharing with them what material they hope they
will learn and what they will be expected to do to learn it.
Teachers should inform students of the lesson’s purpose by
posting one or two short, student-friendly statements or ques-
tions (e.g., “What games did the settlers play in 1620, and
what games do we play today? How are they the same and
different?”). These statements are intended to focus student
attention on the content to be learned and its connection to
the overarching unit objective.
Teachers should also provide a list of the key activities that
students will do in class that will require them to listen, speak,
read, and write. We suggest that these activities be described
using action verbs (e.g., “Identify four games that settlers
played”). Suggested action verbs for describing listening, speak-
ing, reading, and writing activities may be found in Appen-
dix 1. Activities should be listed in the sequence in which they
are to be performed. No more than four key activities should
be included. 
Ms. Morales began posting her daily content and language
objectives on the board before each lesson and read them
aloud to her students. She also referred to them throughout
the lesson. Presenting objectives visually is essential when
teaching ELLs.
Teaching Vocabulary Explicitly
Every subject has its own language and includes thousands of
words that are specific to it (Marzano & Pickering, 2005). In
science class, for example, an experiment involves making and Creating an ELL-Friendly Learning Environment | 19
testing a hypothesis, observing the test, and collecting and
analyzing data. Students must learn the academic vocabulary
that is required for each subject. Teachers must explicitly teach
and display vocabulary in class, as well as identify key terms,
words, idioms, and phrases (Debbie calls them TWIPs) that are
needed to learn and engage with the subject matter.
Implementing Participation Structures
That Support High-Level Active Learning
Learning occurs best when teachers provide students with fre  -
quent opportunities to participate and interact with others
(Cohen, 1994; Echevarria et al., 2008; Faltis &  Hudelson,
1998). Paired work and group work are the most effective meth-
ods for engaging students in using language, as they allow stu-
dents to practice using new content vocabulary in the safety of
a small learning community.
In this chapter, we described an effective learning environment
for ELLs. We discussed the ability to do ordinary classroom
work and outlined the states of English language acquisition.
In the next chapter, we will investigate how teachers can plan
lessons that will optimally engage ELLs.Lesson Planning to 
Ensure Optimal
Engagement of ELLs
CHAPTER TWO
223
Mrs. Sokolov, a 9th grade social studies teacher,
began a unit of study that corresponded with her
state’s curriculum standards requiring students to
understand the role of citizens in a participatory democracy.
She introduced the unit by engaging her students in an explo-
ration of the civil rights movement. In planning the first day
of the unit, Mrs. Sokolov gathered several articles that she had
collected about President Obama, most of which mentioned
the fact that he was the first African American to become pres-
ident. Mrs. Sokolov figured that the best way to begin the unit
was to read one of the articles aloud and ask her students to
share their opinions about it. She jotted this idea down in her
planning notebook. She planned to finish the opening lesson
by asking students to identify key words that they would use
to describe the significance of President Obama’s racial back-
ground. This would be followed with a homework assignment
to read a chapter from the course text about civil rights and
prepare a list of related vocabulary words.
Thinking that her first-day lesson plan was complete, Mrs.
So ko  lov went to the teacher’s lounge for a cup of coffee. While
there, she told one of the school’s ESL teachers, Ms. Tedesco,
how she planned to introduce the civil rights unit. In response,
Ms. Tedesco said, “Have you thought about the students who
have never experienced what it means to live in a democ-
racy? Many of your ELLs come from countries that are not
democracies.”24 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
*  *   *
When creating activities to help ELLs connect to content,
teachers should be sensitive to U.S.-specific elements that may
seem unfamiliar to students from different cultures. We often
take for granted that our students have prior knowledge about
various people, places, things, and events. If a teacher has not
activated prior knowledge or built background information
about content material, teaching the vocabulary that is asso-
ciated with the new content will not solve the problem. Just
because ELLs may be able to read words doesn’t mean they
will understand their meaning in the context of the content
being taught. Indeed, many of the ELLs in Mrs. Sokolov’s social
studies class were not familiar with the democratic process, let
alone the specific language and content associated with it. The
essential question that the school faculty had chosen for the
year was, “What does it mean to live in a democracy?”
At first, Mrs. Sokolov thought that teaching her students about
the uniqueness of having the first African American president
was a good plan. However, when she began thinking more
deeply about the key purpose of her task, she realized that it
involved much more than understanding and being able to use
vocabulary associated with fighting for one’s civil rights. She
thought carefully about what it was that she wanted her stu-
dents to learn. She developed a guiding question that she would
post for her students: “How do civil rights affect your life?” By
organizing her unit around this question, Mrs. Sokolov believed
that she would be able to create and deliver lessons that would
require her students to learn about the historical time period of
the civil rights movement, and she felt that her guiding ques-
tion related well to the school’s essential question.Lesson Planning to Ensure Optimal Engagement of ELLs | 25
We believe that adequate lesson planning must include the
following steps:
1. Thinking about what we want students to learn,
2. Identifying methods of assessing student learning,
3. Identifying and addressing ELL-specific challenges inher-
ent to the lesson,
4. Deciding how to activate prior knowledge and build
background knowledge, and
5. Designing ways to explicitly guide ELLs as they prac-
tice using new language and content.
Teachers also need to think about the visual aids that will best
aid comprehension, how to simplify the language of instruc-
tion, and how to deliver instruction that is targeted to both
the English proficiency levels of students and their grade-level
content.
Thinking Backward
Researchers Wiggins and McTighe (2005) point to the impor-
tance of “thinking backward”—that is, considering what it is
that we want students to learn and how to assess it when plan-
ning learning experiences. When Mrs. Sokolov began to plan
her lessons, she decided to change her guiding question from
“How do civil rights affect your life?” to “What is a civil right?”
to ensure that her ELLs understood the concept. Each of the
activities that she designed was for the purpose of helping stu-
dents answer this core question. She also began to think more
deeply about the term “civil rights” and the ways in which
she might modify the language of her lesson for ELLs without 26 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
diluting the material. The more she planned, the more she real-
ized that her lesson would be stronger for all of her students.
Specific Content Area Challenges for ELLs
Here are some of the distinct challenges in different content
areas that ELLs face and that teachers should consider when
planning lessons.
Reading
Many ELLs lack content area vocabulary and have limited
comprehension skills in English. Although they may be able to
sound out words phonetically, they may not be able to ascer-
tain meaning from the context. English contains many idioms
and figurative expressions that may be overwhelming to ELLs.
Furthermore, the cultural background depicted in the text may
be unfamiliar to ELLs.
Writing
Because many ELLs write through the filter of their native lan-
guage, word order, sentence structure, and paragraph organi-
zation in English may be problematic. There are a plethora of
exceptions to the rules in English grammar. In addition, stu-
dents often lack the vocabulary that they need to successfully
write in English.
Mathematics
It is important to remember that mathematical concepts are
not necessarily universal. Math teachers need to validate the Lesson Planning to Ensure Optimal Engagement of ELLs | 27
foreign systems of mathematics and prior mathematical knowl-
edge that ELLs bring to their classrooms. Students may not show
work in addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, or
may show such work in a different way. Concepts such as the
Fahrenheit temperature scale and U.S. currency units may be
unfamiliar to many ELLs. Teachers should also keep in mind
that many cultures use commas where we use periods and peri-
ods where we use commas; for example, “1,067.32” would be
written “1.067,32” in many countries around the world.
Science
English language learners may lack familiarity with the
“hands-on” approach to teaching science that is common in
the United States. Making predictions and drawing conclu-
sions independently may also be difficult for ELLs. In addi-
tion, the vocabulary of science presents a difficulty to students
who speak languages where there are no cognates. Directions
often involve multiple steps and can consequently be difficult
to understand. Science textbooks, which feature complex sen-
tence structures and passive voice, can also prove challenging
for ELLs.
Social Studies and U.S. History
Social studies and U.S. history may be the most challenging
content areas for ELLs, who may have very limited background
knowledge to activate. As with science, textbooks will often con-
tain an overabundance of complex sentences, passive voice, and
pronouns. Students may also be unable to tell what is important
in the text. Even maps have a nationalistic or cultural focus: In
China, for example, the continent of Asia is in the center of the
map and China appears larger than it does on U.S. maps.28 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Language and Content Objectives
Echevarria and colleagues (2008) point to the importance of
coming up with both language and content objectives for les-
sons to let students know what they are expected to learn.
Language objectives refer to the specific vocabulary or use of lan-
guage that teachers want their students to learn and use during
a lesson. An activity related to a language objective might be as
simple as, “Write two key ideas that your partner shares with
you.” For ELLs, the act of writing ideas must be taught explic-
itly. Content objectives refer to the subect matter information
that you want students to know by the end of the lesson.
Mrs. Solokov wrote objectives for the entire unit in her plan-
ning notebook and shared them with students on a handout.
During the unit, she wrote each day’s language and content
objectives on the board. For example:
Content objective:  Today we will understand what a civil
right is by listening to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a
dream” speech.
Language objective: Today we will write down three civil
rights that are mentioned in Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I
have a dream” speech.
Connecting Content to Students’
Prior Knowledge and Experience
To help students to meaningfully understand and express their
understanding of the content, it is important to connect the Lesson Planning to Ensure Optimal Engagement of ELLs | 29
lesson’s core ideas to students’ prior knowledge and experi-
ences. Mrs. Sokolov’s revised plan includes asking ELLs to dis-
cuss with their parents the kind of government and rights that
people have in their home countries. Her plan also includes
modeling the interview process. Modeling the tasks that we
assign and engaging in think-alouds benefits ELLs greatly, as
does guided practice. Many ELLs are not familiar with the step-
by-step process of completing a task in a U.S. classroom. When
Mrs. Sokolov jots down her think-aloud plan in her planning
notebook, she notes the steps that she will model with her
students as she prepares for the interview.
Supplementary Materials
Teachers should identify and compile any supplementary mate-
rials for their lessons in advance. Although Mrs. Sokolov had
many newspaper articles about President Obama, she had not
assembled materials about the various types of inequality that
her students could discuss. She went to the guidance counselor
to learn more about where her students had attended school
and lived, then researched and found several Web sites about
the types of political ideologies common to these areas. She
also selected Web sites that contained news clips from various
important events in the fight for civil rights.
It is important to visually display both the language and con-
tent goals of the lesson. Goals should be written on the board,
on chart paper, or on handouts. If they are written simply, they
can greatly assist students. It is also a good idea to include pic-
tures that realistically depict what is to be learned. 30 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Field Trips
Some teachers take their students on field trips to see and
experience the content, often as a culminating activity at the
end of a lesson. We suggest scheduling field trips for the very
beginning of a unit instead, so that students can draw from
the experience later. A good example is the teacher who takes
students on a trip to a nearby garden, where she helps the
students pick weeds. Upon returning to the classroom, the stu-
dents staple their individual plants onto a piece of cardboard
and begin labeling the parts.
Open-Ended Questions
We believe that turning the core ideas that we want students
to learn into open-ended questions and posting them on the
board is an important aid for learning. Such visual representa-
tions are critical, because spoken language is fleeting; once we
speak, our words can no longer be retrieved. Posting the core
ideas as questions allows students to refocus, revisit, and rethink
what is occurring. Mrs. Sokolov posted the following question
in her room: “Are civil rights important in a democracy?”
Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers offer students an important visual for
examining the lesson’s core ideas. We suggest that teachers use
the same graphic organizer for similar tasks. A flowchart, for
example, is used for describing a sequence of events. We also
believe that all teachers in a particular grade level should use Lesson Planning to Ensure Optimal Engagement of ELLs | 31
the same graphic organizers. Using similar graphic organizers
throughout the school really helps ELLs comprehend the task
at hand.
Planning Assessment
When planning lessons, teachers must think about the forma-
tive and summative assessments that they will use to determine
that students are learning key ideas. In Mrs. Sokolov’s case, she
also needs to ensure that the language that she uses in her
assessments matches the English proficiency levels of her ELLs.
(See Chapter 7 for helpful information on creating effective
assessments.) It is essential to know the level of En glish pro-
ficiency of each ELL in the class and create learning activities
and assessments to match it. As noted in the previous chapter,
these levels range from beginners with little to no proficiency
to students who are nearly proficient.
Providing Multiple Practice Opportunities
Margarita Calderon (2007) suggests that students need mul-
tiple practice opportunities to truly “own” new vocabulary. It
is our experience that students need at least 20 repetitions, if
not more. To this end, Mrs. Solokov included paired and group
work in her lesson plan, which she believed would help her
students to practice the interview skills that they were to use
at home. She wrote the group activities that she had come up
with for the entire unit in her notebook and provided her stu-
dents with a handout of the activities. Here is an example of a
group activity that Mrs. Solokov designed:32 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Each group will
•   Create a short skit about one important event that
occurred during the civil rights movement.
•   Find or draw illustrations depicting this event.
•   Create a list of the key terms, words, idioms, and
phrases (TWIPs) that will be used during the skit.
•   Prepare to teach the vocabulary before presenting
the skit.
•   Present the skit to the class.
•   Listen to other groups’ skits and provide them with
feedback based on whether the event was clearly
  described and key TWIPs were identified and
  displayed.
After completing her lesson plan, Mrs. Solokov reviewed it one
more time to ensure that it was suitable for the various pro-
ficiency levels of her ELLs, ensured that the material would
be explicitly taught, and provided a range of direct examples
of how she wanted her students to use language to express
understanding.
*  *  *
We suggest that classroom and subject area teachers complete
the checklist in Figure 2.1 and the worksheet in Appendix 2 to
help them modify lessons for ELLs. These modifications will
benefit all of the students in the class.
In this chapter, we reviewed various planning strategies that
are essential to teaching ELLs in the content area classroom.
We discussed identifying core ideas and posting them in the
classroom, tapping background knowledge, preparing visuals Lesson Planning to Ensure Optimal Engagement of ELLs | 33
Figure 2.1
Checklist for Modifying Lesson Plans for ELLs
  □ Plan resources, visuals, and vocabulary activities in advance.
  □ Act out vocabulary words and key concepts.
  □ Use visuals (pictures, videos, drawings, maps) to aid comprehension.
  □ Provide a study guide at the beginning of the unit.
  □  Identify content and language goals and write them on the board for
students.
  □ Use graphic organizers.
  □ Simplify your language: repeat, restate, reword.
  □ Arrange for students to work in groups.
  □ Explicitly teach vocabulary and provide students with word walls.
  □ Provide multiple opportunities to practice new vocabulary.
  □ Add a word bank to activities and tests.
  □ Give both written and oral instructions.
  □ Teach ELLs to underline or highlight main ideas in text.
  □ Assign a buddy to ELLs and arrange for tutoring.
  □ Modify instruction so that ELLs can participate in content area lessons.
  □ Tailor assignments to ELLs’ levels of English language acquisition.
  □  Modify tests (e.g., by using word banks, simplifying language, asking
fewer questions).
  □  Allow ELLs to show what they know in multiple ways (e.g., through oral
responses, drawing, labeling, acting out answers).
 
to use during the lesson, using think-alouds, and creating
small-group configurations. We also discussed the importance
of providing students with multiple practice opportunities to
think and learn. In the next chapter, we will further discuss
how teachers can use small-group configurations to help ELLs
learn academic content.Small Group Work 
and ELLs
CHAPTER THREE
337
S
tudents in Mrs. Mahoney’s 6th grade science class were
deeply engaged in their assignment as they worked
together in heterogeneous groups. The class included
six ELLs at various levels of language acquisition and from
several different language backgrounds. The students were
studying the formations of different kinds of volcanoes. Their
assignment was to fill in a chart asking for specific informa-
tion about each type of volcano.
The ELLs held roles in their respective groups (e.g., artist, time-
keeper, errand runner, researcher) that were commensurate
with their levels of English proficiency. In one group, Eduardo,
an ELL at the emerging state, served as the artist, drawing illus-
trations of the various types of volcanoes with the support of
his group members. In another group, Safwon, a new learner
of English, served as errand runner, gathering and distribut-
ing all of the supplies from an illustrated list. It was also his
job to ask the teacher for help when it was needed. In a third
group, Ji Sook, who was at an intermediate stage of English
language acquisition, served as the researcher, tracking down
information and pictures of various types of volcanoes on the
Internet. She printed out the online material and gave it to
her group members. Mrs. Mahoney circulated from group to
group, monitoring student participation and ensuring that the
groups were on task.38 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Throughout the course of Mrs. Mahoney’s class, ELLs were
promoted to more English-intensive roles in their groups as
their language ability increased. Ji Sook, for example, had only
recently been promoted from artist to the role of researcher. In
every case, the ELLs’ designated roles and tasks were integral to
their groups’ assignments.
According to Ji Sook, her experience in Mrs. Mahoney’s science
class was the first time after two years in a U.S. school that she
felt comfortable working with her English-fluent peers. Judie,
the coauthor of this book, taught in the same school at the
time and noticed that all of the students in her 6th grade ESL
class had started to work much more in earnest. They began
bringing their science work to her class for extra help because
they wanted to do a good job in their groups. It seemed clear
to Judie that the ELLs in Mrs. Mahoney’s class had blossomed
and were now much more motivated to learn science.
Not all small-group configurations, however, are created equal.
Just because students are working in small groups does not
mean that they are cooperating. Let’s look at another example
in a classroom down the hall.
Students in Mr. Russell’s 10th grade biology class worked in
small groups to complete an activity sheet with 10 questions
and a chart. The assignment was not modified in any way for
the benefit of ELLs; there were no visuals, and new vocabulary
was not explained prior to the lesson. Many of the ELLs were
placed together in a single group, so the groups were not lin-
guistically balanced. Some students worked with their groups,
but many broke off into pairs. Students had their own indi-
vidual activity sheets but were directed to work together to Small-Group Work and ELLs | 39
complete them. There were no assigned roles, and the native
English speakers often supplied the answers to ELLs without
helping them to understand the information. The classroom
was noisy and disorganized. Mr. Russell did not circulate
among the groups to answer questions or monitor whether the
teams were on task. Students were assessed individually and
consequently did not support each other’s learning, because
they had no stake in the group’s success.
*  *  *
Research has shown how important cooperative learning is
to the academic and social learning of students in general
(Cohen, 1994; Echevarria et al., 2008; Radencich & McKay,
1995; Slavin, 1991; Zacarian, 1996). We believe that coopera-
tive group instruction is especially helpful for teaching ELLs.
Some teachers use cooperative learning minimally because
they are not sure how best to assess individual student perfor-
mance when students work in groups. Other teachers believe
that cooperative learning reduces their authority in the class-
room and makes it harder for them to manage their students.
After all, group work requires students to collaborate effectively
with peers without their teacher directly supervising every lit-
tle interaction. It also requires that teachers believe that their
students need to talk to learn; as such, it requires a high level
of individual and group cooperation (Cohen, 1994).
Group work is based on two premises: that everyone has some-
thing important to say, and that everyone is a rich resource, so
it is important to listen to all ideas. Mr. Russell’s minimal use
of this essential strategy significantly limits student practice 40 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
of English and content; by contrast, Mrs. Mahoney’s maximal
use of practice can open important and much-needed space
for learning language and content. Applying the cooperative
learning strategy well involves paying focused attention to
the elements outlined in this chapter. Doing so will dispel any
concern about assessment and authority.
Taking Cultural Expectations and
Belief Systems into Account
Teachers must consider the cultural expectations and belief
systems of students when planning group work. Whereas the
United States places a high value on individualism—that is,
“individual responsibility for self, independence, self-reliance,
self-expression, self-esteem, and task over process” (Rothstein-
Fish & Trumbull, 2008, p. 9)—70 percent of the world’s cul-
tures value collectivism more (Triandis, 1989). For example,
in many Asian countries, schools place a strong emphasis on
the importance of group harmony. The proverb “The nail that
sticks out is hammered down” represents this value. A belief in
group work requires us to accept that our students learn best
when they learn together.
Arranging the Classroom Space
for Active Student Participation
The seating arrangement in the classroom should facilitate paired
and small-group learning. Students should be able to easily   
interact in a face-to-face manner. Arranging desks so that stu-
dents can see each other in groups of four (or five, if the class is  
odd numbered) helps ELLs to feel that they are integral to the Small-Group Work and ELLs | 41
classroom community. We feel strongly that ELLs should not
constantly be pulled aside for separate instruction. Yes, they will
need more scaffolding and more teacher attention, and they
should certainly receive support from an ESL or bilingual teacher,
but they should not be excluded from group configurations.
Emphasizing the Importance of Group Work
Students benefit from working with classmates from varying
world, personal, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds, so coop-
erative learning benefits both ELLs and native English speakers.
However, teachers should not expect their students to engage
in cooperative learning simply because they are grouped;
rather, they should let the students know from the outset that
they will be expected to work in groups composed of culturally
and linguistically diverse members.
Teaching Students How
to Work Cooperatively
Students need to be specifically taught group work skills as
well as terms and phrases related to group work, such as “share
ideas” and “everyone must take a turn.” The latter should be
posted for student reference. Conflict among group members
should not be viewed as a negative if students are willing to
examine their differences, as this process may help them to
understand the content more deeply.
It is acceptable for a bilingual group member to explain direc-
tions or concepts to a struggling ELL. Indeed, having a student, 42 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
teacher, or other staff member around to clarify instruction in
an ELL’s native language is desirable, as it allows students who
are not yet able to learn in English to better understand the
material and communicate more actively in the future. If there
are a significant number of ELLs in the classroom, the amount
of time given to finish tasks should be extended to account for
the extra explanation time.
Assigning Group Roles
A group’s task is best accomplished by assigning roles to each
member, such as researcher, scribe, or artist. It is important to
determine which roles are most suitable for ELLs during the
lesson-planning stage and to explicitly define and model the
roles for students during the lesson. When assigning roles,
teachers should consider the English proficiency levels of the
ELLs in each group. Students should be made aware that their
group’s tasks can only be considered completed when each role
is enacted. As their English proficiency increases, ELLs should
be assigned more language-demanding roles. Roles should also
be rotated, as each role requires different language functions.
To ensure that all members of a group are participating actively,
the teacher may wish to assign the role of social facilitator to
one student per group. The social facilitator is in charge of not-
ing how many times each member of his or her group speaks. In
her class, Mrs. Mahoney assigned this role to a member of each
group and asked him or her to keep a tally of how many times
each group mate spoke. When the groups were done with their
discussion, Mrs. Mahoney asked the social facilitators to share
their tally marks with their groups. Small-Group Work and ELLs | 43
Although Mrs. Mahoney’s science activity did not require illus-
trations, she felt that assigning the role of artist to Eduardo
was essential for him to participate. Another strategy that Mrs.
Mahoney used was to have ELLs at the early stages of acquisi-
tion shadow a classmate in a role. Eduardo, in his role as artist,
was in reality shadowing the student who was assigned the
role of scribe.
Strategies for Engaging
Students in Group Work
A variety of strategies can be used to engage students in group
work. The following are a few that we have used and found
effective.
Figure 3.1
Social Facilitator’s Tally Sheet from Mrs. Mahoney’s Class
Ji Sook ✓✓✓✓✓✓
Safwon ✓✓
Tom ✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓
Julia ✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓✓
Figure 3.1 shows an example of a social facilitator’s tally sheet
from Mrs. Mahoney’s class. When the members of this group
saw that Tom (the social facilitator) and Julia had spoken much
more than the others, they began to think of ways in which
they might even out the participation.44 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Figure 3.2
Sample Word Bank Responses
central vent crater  Mauna Loa
cinder cones Crater Lake  Mount Fuji
composite volcano lava shield volcano
funnel-shaped magma chamber
Showdown
This activity is beneficial for reviewing information before a
test. Each group comes up with 10 questions about the topic to
be reviewed, and group members collaborate with one another
to answer them. Each group then passes its list of questions
to another group. One student in each group reads the first
question on the list to his or her fellow group members, who
write their responses on a sheet of paper or note card. When
the reader calls out “showdown,” group members show their
responses. Group members congratulate those with correct
answers and coach those with incorrect responses. The list is
then passed on to another group member, who reads the sec-
ond question; this process is repeated until all questions are
answered.
This strategy can be modified so that each group makes up a
word bank for ELLs, so that they can participate more actively
in the group. This word bank provides possible answers to
questions that are written in random order. For example, if the
activity were about volcano formations, a group might create a
word bank such as the one in Figure 3.2. Small-Group Work and ELLs | 45
Round Table
The teacher asks a question or provides students with a direc-
tion (e.g., “Name as many insects as you can”). One student in
each group writes a response, then passes it on to the student
sitting next to him or her, who writes a response as well. The
paper is passed around the group until group members have
written down as many responses as they can think of. En  glish
language learners should be among the first to respond, so
that the more obvious responses are not taken before they can
have a chance. The group with the most correct responses wins
some type of recognition. This strategy is suitable for ELLs at
the speech-emergent stage if the responses do not require too
much writing and spelling does not count.
Three-Minute Review
The teacher stops during a lesson to allow group members
to review the information they have just learned with each
other. This strategy gives ELLs a chance to clarify questions and
review information within the informal setting of their group.
The strategy works best when students are given a particular
task to complete and team members discuss and write down
the most important things they’ve learned so far. The strategy
is suitable for ELLs at the speech-emergent stage if it is modi-
fied to give them more time (e.g., 10 minutes instead of 3).
Think-Pair-Share
This popular cooperative learning strategy can be challeng-
ing for ELLs who are unable to speak fluently enough to share
their ideas. For such students, the strategy may be modified to
include drawing (i.e., Think-Pair-Share/Draw), so that an ELL 46 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
who is paired with an English-fluent student can draw his or
her responses rather than share them orally. When the ELL
shares his or her drawings, the partner can then respond orally
and help label the drawing.
Talking Chips
This strategy encourages ELLs to participate in group discus-
sions. It also keeps one or two students from dominating the
discussion. Each member of the group begins with the same
number of chips or tokens. When a student wants to speak,
he or she puts a chip in the center of the table. After a group
member has used up his or her chips, he or she can no longer
speak. Those who still have chips must finish the activity.
Fan & Pick
The teacher divides students into groups of four and provides
each student with a note card. Every student in every group
writes a question on the assigned topic on his or her card.
Then, students in each group call numbers one through four.
Student #1 holds the cards, fans them out, and asks Student #2
to pick a card. Student #2 reads the question on the card to Stu-
dent #3, who has five seconds to think before he or she must
answer the question. Student #4 then checks the answer and
either praises Student #3 for a correct response or coaches him
or her in the case of an incorrect response. The students then
change roles and move on to the next question. This strategy
is suitable for ELLs at the speech-emergent and intermediate-
fluency stages.Small-Group Work and ELLs | 47
Numbered Heads Together
This strategy is great for all ELLs because students brainstorm
the correct answer to teacher-generated questions together. In
each group, students are assigned a number from one to four.
After the teacher asks a question, students are given 10 seconds
to think of the correct response. They then huddle in their
groups to discuss and agree upon a single answer. The teacher
then calls out a number. The student with that number from
each group must write down the response on a piece of paper.
When the teacher gives a signal, the selected student from
each team shows his or her answer. Groups with the correct
response get a point.
Jigsaw
This strategy helps students become experts in one aspect of a
topic and share their expertise with classmates. In each group,
students are assigned a number from one to four. Those with
the same number from each group are assigned a subtopic and
asked to form an “expert group” to research it and create a
short presentation. The teacher may wish to assign the same
number to ELLs at similar stages of language acquisition and
help their group with the language needed to present their
information to their home groups. Their presentation could
be in the form of drawings with labels and maps. However, the
strategy works just as well if the ELLs are spread out among the
groups. In such a case, ELLs at the early stages of acquisition
can serve as artists, illustrating their group presentations, while
more advanced ELLs can serve as project managers, sequenc-
ing events or researching information on the Internet.  48 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
In this chapter, we have detailed critical aspects of effective
small-group configurations in the content area classroom
and explained why small groups are so important for teaching
ELLs. We have also shown how small-group activities can be
modified to include ELLs. In the next chapter, we will discuss
the importance of explicit vocabulary instruction for ELLs and
discuss activities for providing adequate vocabulary practice.
Reflection and Self-Assessment
At the end of an assignment, students should reflect on how
well their group worked together, how they view their own
participation, how much they helped each other, and how the
group can work even more effectively. When working with
elementary age students, it is helpful to make a chart such as
the one in Figure 3.3.
Figure 3.3
Group Work Self-Assessment Chart
for Elementary School Students
Name:                                                                        Role:
Members of my group:
I contributed to the group’s work by . . .
One problem our group had was . . .
A group member who helped me was . . .
Next time I think we should . . .Content Vocabulary 
Instruction for ELLs
CHAPTER FOUR
451
Each year, the students in Mrs. Clark’s 6th grade class
study natural disasters as part of their science curricu-
lum. Typically, 6th grade teachers launch such lessons
by asking their students if any of them have experienced a
tornado, earthquake, or other such event, and the students
share their experiences. However, because Mrs. Clark’s ELLs
were not familiar with the vocabulary needed to express
themselves clearly in English, she decided to introduce her
lesson in a way that would also provide explicit vocabulary
instruction. Drawing from Echevarria and colleagues’ (2008)
work on how to spark student interest, Mrs. Clark decided to
begin her unit of study by passing out copies of the following
excerpt from L. Frank Baum’s The Wizard of Oz:
From the far north they heard a low wail of the wind and
Uncle Henry and Dorothy could see where the long grass
bowed in waves before the coming storm. There now came
a sharp whistling sound in the air from the south and as
they turned their eyes that way, they saw ripples in the
grass coming from that direction also. The house whirled
around two or three times and rose slowly through the
air. Dorothy felt as if she were going up in a balloon. The
north and south winds met where the house stood, and
made it the exact center of the cyclone. In the middle of
a cyclone the air is generally still, but the great pressure
of the wind on every side of the house raised it up higher 52 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
and higher, until it was at the very top of the cyclone; and
there it remained and was carried miles and miles away as
easily as you could carry a feather.
Before reading the excerpt out loud, Mrs. Clark provided her
students with highlighters and asked them to mark any words
that they didn’t understand. She believed that reading the
excerpt would help her students understand some of the key
concepts and terms for the unit on tornadoes, and she also
knew that many of her students were familiar with The Wizard
of Oz in their native languages.
After reading the excerpt aloud, Mrs. Clark asked her students
to identify the words that they felt they needed to know. Col-
lectively, the students created a word chart and discussed the
meanings of the words using the context, their dictionaries,
and an electronic translator. Students scanned pictures and dis-
cussed the bolded words in a National Geographic book about
tornadoes. They linked the bolded vocabulary to what they
had read in the excerpt. Once this activity was completed, Mrs.
Clark gathered her students around the classroom computer
to watch a video clip of a tornado in progress. Drawing from
what they had learned from their discussion of the excerpt and
the book on tornadoes, the students spoke excitedly among
themselves while watching the video clip, using much of the
new vocabulary that they had learned: “Look at the funnel!”
“Wow, it’s twisting!” “It’s going to touch down!” In a discus-
sion about the video afterward, one student exclaimed, “I have
never seen a tornado. Tornadoes are a scary disaster!” Content Vocabulary Instruction for ELLs | 53
After the students viewed the clip, Mrs. Clark asked them to
write a description of what they had learned from their read-
ing. Several used descriptive words to illustrate the destruc-
tion that they had observed. When this task was completed,
Mrs. Clark asked each student to read his or her observation
aloud to a partner, who in turn was asked to write down the
new vocabulary words that the other student used in his or
her description. Because the students knew that their partners
were going to be listening for new vocabulary words, they
made an effort to use them.
*  *   *
We believe that teachers should use explicit vocabulary instruc-
tion and connect new words to students’ prior knowledge and
experiences. Children become literate as they secure meaning
from the world around them: Context cues, such as the golden
arches of McDonalds or the red octagons of stop signs, can be
understood by children three years old and even younger. The
process of learning from these cues is known as forming an
“environment print” (Hudelson, 2001). Young ELLs have had
many opportunities to build connections among symbols,
words, and meanings, but often in other languages and cul-
tural contexts. Teachers of ELLs must therefore create oppor-
tunities and multiple demonstrations for students to learn
new concepts and vocabulary in English (Crandall, Jaramillo,
Olsen, & Peyton, 2002).
More often than not, ELLs haven’t been exposed to the English
vocabulary and concepts necessary for comprehending content
area material, and teachers tend to draw from materials that
represent U.S. culture. Lesson design and delivery must help 54 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
ELLs to understand English words in the context of their new
culture. For example, ELLs who have never seen snow would
be at a distinct disadvantage when learning about the seasons;
thus, introducing a lesson on seasons by having students go
outside during the first snowstorm of the year or by showing
them a video of children playing in the snow would provide
such students with firsthand experience and better under-
standing of the concept.
Explicit Vocabulary Instruction
There are two kinds of vocabulary acquisition: direct and indi-
rect. Direct learning occurs when students are explicitly taught
vocabulary for a specific purpose. Indirect learning occurs
when students acquire vocabulary by hearing it in school or
at home, or by reading. English language learners don’t learn
much of their vocabulary from indirect learning. At home,
many parents of ELLs either don’t speak English or have a lim-
ited grasp of it; at school, many ELLs don’t understand much
of the conversation that occurs around them. For example,
in Judie’s school, announcements are always prefaced by the
phrase “Please excuse the interruption.” Whenever announce-
ments would come on the loudspeaker, one 3rd grade ESL
group would parrot the phrase by chanting “peasexcustherup-
tion,” having no idea what was being said.
In many kindergarten classrooms, teachers use signals to com-
municate specific actions that they want their students to do.
One time, Debbie and a group of teachers and researchers Content Vocabulary Instruction for ELLs | 55
wanted to see if the signals had the same meaning for ELLs
as they did for native speakers of English. They observed a
group of kindergarten teachers who formed the letter L with
their hands. They also observed a second group who flicked
the classroom lights on and off while holding up a hand. Both
groups stated that these signals were intended for the same
purpose: to have students stop what they’re doing, look at the
teacher, and listen to what the teacher says. Debbie and her
group asked the students what these signals meant. Whereas
most of the ELLs thought that the signals meant simply that
they should stop what they were doing, most of the English-
fluent students understood that the signals meant they were to
stop what they were doing and look and listen to their teacher.
The kindergarten teachers had failed to explicitly introduce
the underlying meaning of their signals in a way that the ELLs
could understand.
Students may appear to pick up words easily, such as when they
sing the lyrics that they are taught in music class. However,
they don’t always understand what they are singing unless
it is explicitly taught to them at their English language level.
Although all students need direct instruction in vocabulary, it
is especially imperative for ELLs. They must be provided with
strategies for figuring out and remembering new words. Also,
they need much more exposure to new vocabulary words than
do their English-fluent classmates (August & Shanahan, 2006).
English language learners need to learn cognates, prefixes, suf-
fixes, and root words to enhance their ability to make sense of
new vocabulary. More importantly, they must be given multiple
opportunities to use new vocabulary and practice it repeatedly.56 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Preteaching Vocabulary and
Key Concepts of a Lesson
There are two schools of thought regarding preteaching vocab-
ulary. Those in favor of it feel that the rhythm of a lesson is
broken if vocabulary words are explained during the reading
of text, whereas those against it feel that they are teaching out
of context if they introduce new vocabulary before the lesson
begins. It is our belief that essential vocabulary should be pre-
taught to ELLs after the key concepts of the lesson have been
explained. Too often, teachers use the lesson’s “big idea” as a
jumping-off point, but it is our experience the ELLs won’t even
understand the big idea if the key concepts and vocabulary
have not been taught.
Teaching Students to Recognize
Context Clues
Understanding context clues, such as embedded definitions,
pictures, charts, and tables, helps ELLs build the blocks (schema)
that they will need to comprehend the text. For example,
learning about exercising one’s right to vote involves learning
about the concept of democracy, as well as learning words and
phrases that have more than one meaning, such as “exercise”
and “right.” Teachers of ELLs must ensure that key words with
multiple meanings are not misunderstood.
In one 5th grade U.S. history class that we observed, the
teacher, Mrs. Dubois, walked her students through a chapter
on the causes of the Civil War before the students read the
text. They talked about the key concepts that were noted in the Content Vocabulary Instruction for ELLs | 57
introduction to the chapter and linked these to information
gleaned from the previous chapter. They read and listed the
bolded words, which Mrs. Dubois asked her students to define
using the context of the text. Students worked on defining the
vocabulary in small groups. They constructed a T-chart with
the headings “North” and “South” and listed vocabulary that
pertained to each heading. The class then studied the pictures,
charts, maps, and timelines in the chapter and discussed how
each of these visuals was tied to the chapter’s main idea (the
widening of the differences between slave and free states before
the Civil War). The visuals and small-group arrangements
helped the ELLs learn their vocabulary more effectively.
Learning words out of context, such as from a list of diction-
ary definitions, is very difficult for ELLs. Words and concepts
can easily be misconstrued in ways that are not at all related to
the intended meaning. When ELLs memorize the meanings of
words on a specific subject matter list, they may not be able to
use the words in their own writing or verbal production.
Building Background Knowledge
Teachers should explicitly link content to concepts that stu-
dents have previously learned as well as to students’ life experi-
ences. To do this, teachers must first know what their students
have previously learned and experienced. In teaching a unit
about natural disasters, for example, teachers might ask ELLs
for information about the kinds of extreme weather condi-
tions that are found in their native countries. In Mrs. Clark’s
classroom, a student from the Philippines found an online
video clip about the 1991 eruption of Mount Pinatubo that his 58 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
grandparents had witnessed. Another student found a video
clip about a tornado that had occurred in her home country of
Argentina. Showing students how the subject matter relates to
their countries of origin leads to a deeper level of exploration
and understanding and also lets students feel that teachers
and classmates are interested in their prior experiences.
The Three Tiers of Vocabulary
It is important to choose the key terms, words, idioms, and
phrases—what Debbie calls TWIPs—that your students need to
learn. Too often, the phrases and idioms that we use to teach
content are implied rather than directly taught. Beck, McKeown,
and Kucan (2002) offer a three-tiered model to teach TWIPs:
• Tier 1 includes basic words or phrases that do not need
explanation, are commonly used in everyday conver-
sation, and are familiar to most English-fluent students
(e.g., blue, pencil, chair).
• Tier 2 includes words or phrases that are used often and
included in a variety of contexts but that need expla-
nation because they are more descriptive or precise—
conductor rather than the Tier 1 driver, for example, or
pleased rather than the Tier 1 happy. Calderon (2007)
also places such linking words as so, at, into, within, by,
if, then, and because in this category.
• Tier 3 includes words or phrases that are not commonly
used, are limited to a particular context, and are not
likely to be used outside the classroom (e.g., photosyn-
thesis, quadratic equation, iambic pentameter). Content Vocabulary Instruction for ELLs | 59
In classrooms composed of both English-fluent learners and
ELLs, teachers must pay attention to all three of the above tiers.
Calderon (2007), Hinkel (2009), and Short, Himmel, and
Richards (2009) claim that learners need at least 12 practice
opportunities using TWIPs in context before they can fully
understand them; mere exposure is not enough.
Using Word Walls
Word walls help teachers visually communicate the words and
phrases needed for more efficient understanding of new sub-
ject matter, and also provide the practice opportunities that
students need to move the TWIPs from short- to long-term
memory. We recommend having two “word walls” in your
classroom to help students practice their words and phrases:
one reserved for Tier 1 and Tier 2 TWIPs and another reserved
for content-specific Tier 3 TWIPs. Students should help create
the Tier 3 wall by selecting key vocabulary from their text-
books by looking at chapter titles, headings, subheadings, and
bolded words. Research shows that learning is more effective
when students help select the vocabulary that they need to
learn (Echevarria et al., 2008). The words on the Tier 3 wall
should change from unit to unit.
Another technique that we have used successfully is the por-
table word wall. Mrs. Clark used a portable world wall with her
students during the tornado lesson (see Figure 4.1). Portable
word walls are simply vocabulary lists that students create and
keep in their binders, thus allowing each individual student to
specifically address his or her particular vocabulary learning 60 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
needs. Students can have the list handy when they are doing
homework and performing a variety of classroom tasks.
Tablemats may also be used as portable word walls during
cooperative work. Small groups composed of both ELLs and
English-fluent students can construct poster-size tablemats of
subject-matter vocabulary. Each tablemat can remain in place
while groups rotate from one table to the next, examining the
differences between the mats, using the words on each mat in
context, and so forth.
Figure 4.1
Example of a Portable Word Wall from Mrs. Clark’s Class
New Words
tornado
cyclone
updraft
Tornado Alley
wall clouds
high pressure
low pressure
weather satellite
Old Words with
New Meanings
funnel
mass
pressure
alley
People
meteorologist
scientist
storm chaser
Everyday Words to Learn
destruction
violent
extreme
damage
Weather Words to Review
cumulous clouds  
cold front
cumulonimbus clouds
warm frontContent Vocabulary Instruction for ELLs | 61
Self-Selecting Vocabulary
(Reader’s Workshop)
Reader’s Workshop is an instructional mode for reading that
fosters a love of reading by personalizing instruction for each
student. In Judie’s school, we observed the Reader’s Workshop
in Ms. Menzella’s 2nd grade classroom, where students col-
lected their own new vocabularies from their reading, wrote
them on a chart in the room, and explained to classmates
what their words meant. Because the reading materials in the
Reader’s Workshop were individualized, ELLs were able to
participate fully in the instruction. Ms. Menzella contributed
some vocabulary terms herself, such as prefixes, suffixes, and
root words. Students made personal dictionaries to note the
words they want to remember.
Reader’s Workshop is especially beneficial to ELLs. Ms. Men-
zella remarked to us, “My classroom represents a class of
diverse learners from various cultural backgrounds and learn-
ing abilities. I have watched these learners successfully apply
the [vocabulary acquisition] strategies as effectively and easily
as any other learner in my classroom. Strategy instruction is
always introduced using the gradual release of responsibility.
In this way, I am able to support any learner who may require
additional support.”
Teaching ELLs to Pronounce New Vocabulary
It is important for students to practice pronunciation. We sug-
gest that teachers take time to pronounce each new word for
their students and have students repeat and practice using the 62 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
words in context. Teachers should point out proper names, as
well. In one class that we observed, during a lesson on the
Civil War, the teacher had students pronounce the names of
historical figures and battles without specifically defining the
words. At the end of the lesson, one ELL asked, “Is Jefferson
Davis a person?”
Students are more likely to use a word in oral discourse if they
feel confident of the pronunciation and understand what the
word means. Teachers should point out pictures of people and
use maps to show places when teaching pronunciation. In
Mrs. Clark’s class, students practiced pronouncing the names
of countries and states as they located them on a map where
natural disasters occurred. They also practiced the names of
volcanoes. This made it easier for them to discuss and retain
the material.
Strategies for Supporting
Vocabulary Instruction
During a lesson on the Civil War in Mrs. Wondra’s 5th grade
social studies class, ELLs could not understand what a blockade
was. Mrs. Wondra selected a student and had him wear a sign
reading, “English Ship.” Then she asked him to leave the room.
Mrs. Wondra explained that the English ship wanted to bring
food into the Confederate states. She then instructed another
student to wear a sign that read, “Union Ship.” She asked him
to try to prevent the English ship from supplying the Confed-
erate states with food. The “Union Ship” student barred his
classmate from reentering the class. Mrs. Wondra told her class
that the Union ship had created a blockade. This enactment Content Vocabulary Instruction for ELLs | 63
helped all of Mrs. Wondra’s students learn the meaning of a
blockade.
*  *  *
According to Howard Gardner’s (1993) theory of multiple
intelligences, there are many different kinds of intelligences,
including linguistic, logical-mathematical, bodily-kinesthetic,
musical, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. Broadly speaking,
linguistic intelligence involves the capacity to use and manip-
ulate language through listening, speaking, reading, and writ-
ing. Gardner notes that this is the intelligence that is measured
on standardized tests. Although many ELLs have linguistic
intelligence in their native language, they cannot demonstrate
it in English. They may not perform well on standardized tests
or in classrooms that do not address their language learning
needs. We believe that such poor performance occurs when
teachers focus solely on linguistic intelligence and emphasize
such processes as lecture-driven lessons, student presentations
in front of the whole class, and essay writing, all of which
require a high level of English comprehension and fluency. In
addition, most of the teaching in U.S. schools is geared toward
students who prefer to learn by listening and engaging in oral
activities and discussions. This type of learning requires skills
that ELLs do not yet have when they are learning English.
We believe that learning occurs best when teachers create
lessons that are targeted to the various learning styles and
multiple intelligences of ELLs. For example, some ELLs are
bodily-kinesthetic learners: they can learn better by touching,
molding, and holding objects than by listening to lectures.
They like to play games, set up experiments, and move around 64 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
the room. It is our experience that, during the early stages of
language acquisition, ELLs are usually visual and kinesthetic
learners. Other ELLs might lean more toward interpersonal
learning: they like choral reading and group activities and
are more likely to act spontaneously and intuitively. In addi-
tion to differences in learning styles, ELLs differ in terms of
learning background: some are highly literate in their native
languages but familiar only with lecture-based lessons; others
have had limited formal schooling; and still others have had
their schooling interrupted many times.
Mr. Martinez, a 5th grade social studies teacher, introduced a
lesson on the growth of cities in the United States by telling a
simple story using basic vocabulary that all his students could
understand. To further help the visual learners in his class, he
illustrated his story as he told it by holding pictures: of a sky-
scraper, of an elevator, of Jane Addams, of Hull House in Chi-
cago, of people living in tenements, and so forth. Then, he
had students retell the story by following the sequence of the
pictures as he held them up. After the lesson, English-fluent
students read the textbook and answered questions, while ELLs
practiced new vocabulary by using the visuals and listening to
a recording that Mr. Martinez had made of the story. 
Graphic Organizers
Graphic organizers are visual tools that help ELLs to under-
stand and organize information. They are like mind maps that
promote active learning and creativity and help students to
develop higher-level thinking skills. Graphic organizers are
important tools for converting complex information into man-
ageable chunks, as content materials often contain text that is Content Vocabulary Instruction for ELLs | 65
too dense for ELLs. We believe that all classrooms should use
graphic organizers such as webs, diagrams, and charts.
Graphic organizers are also excellent tools for helping students
to interpret and summarize text. For example, when Mrs. Lautz’s
6th grade students studied a new chapter in their social stud-
ies book, they first made a list of all the bolded words, section
titles, and proper nouns in the chapter, then categorized them
under headings in a simple graphic organizer. Figure 4.2 shows
an example of this type of organizer used for an assignment
on the Industrial Revolution in the United States. In the first
column, students drew a picture or wrote about an invention
from the early 1800s. In the second column, they wrote the
inventor’s name. In the third column, they stated why it was
important. The students reviewed the information on their
organizers using the following frame:
 invented the   . It was
important because   .
Figure 4.2
Sample Graphic Organizer for
Lesson on the Industrial Revolution
Invention Inventor Why Invention Is Important66 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
When they were done, the students shared their organizers
with a small group of classmates. This small-group activity
gave ELLs have the opportunity to use oral language and review
vocabulary.
Strategies for Practicing Vocabulary
English language learners should practice new vocabulary
every day. During a 6th grade science unit on the solar system,
one ESL teacher we know had students draw and label parts
of a planet that they themselves made up. The students used
their new vocabulary to expand the creation of their imaginary
planets. They then had to present their imaginary planets to
the rest of the class, thus exhibiting their mastery of academic
vocabulary.
Flash cards are particularly helpful for ELLs because they can be
tailored to individual levels of language acquisition. One side of
a flash card should have a word or phrase written on it, and the
other side should have a definition or illustration of the word
or phrase. Students can create flash cards during class time. As
they learn vocabulary, they can sort their cards into two piles:
the words and phrases that they have learned, and the ones that
they have not yet learned. Students can be encouraged to take
their flash cards home and refer to them when engaged in such
tasks as brushing their hair, eating snacks, or riding the school
bus. They can even play different games with their flash cards,
such as word searches or crossword puzzles. Judie has her ESL
students work in small groups to design short vocabulary tests
at the end of a unit. Each group comes up with a different test;
groups then exchange tests with each other and try to answer Content Vocabulary Instruction for ELLs | 67
the questions. Some of the student-generated tests are more cre-
ative and fun for students to take than those a teacher would
have made, and they can even be more difficult. The overall pur-
pose of flash cards is for students to internalize and be able to use
content-related words and phrases independently and at will.
One of the activities in Judie’s school is an annual science fair.
Students traditionally prepare their projects for the fair using
the scientific method, and they must present their projects
via a slide show that includes such scientific terms as question,
hypothesis, materials, procedure, data, results,  and  conclusion.
Here are some other strategies that teachers can use to help
their students practice vocabulary:
• Thumbs-Up! The teacher says a definition of a vocab-
ulary word. If the students know the word, they raise
their hands in a thumbs-up position. The teacher
then counts to three, and the students quietly say the
word.
• Find the Word. The teacher says a sentence but
omits a vocabulary word. Each student has a pile of
cards with a vocabulary word on each and puts the
card with the missing word facedown on his or her
desk. On the count of three, the students turn their
cards over.
• Act It Out. Students take one card each from a pile
of cards, each one of which has a vocabulary word on
it. One student is chosen to act out the word on his or
her card while classmates try to guess what the word
is. Whoever answers correctly gets to act out his or her
word next.68 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
• Bingo. Each student makes a bingo card that features
lines of vocabulary words in place of numbers, writing
the words in random order so that all of the cards are
different. The teacher reads a definition, and students
mark the attendant word on their cards. The first stu-
dent to mark all of the words in a line on the card calls
“Bingo!” and becomes the next caller.
• Beach Ball Vocabulary. The teacher writes the
vocabulary words on a beach ball and asks the students
to stand in a circle. The teacher then throws the ball to
a student, who reads the word that is under his or her
thumb and defines it.
• Word Search Vocabulary. The teacher has students
create a word search game on graph paper using their
vocabulary words. Instead of providing a list of the
words to be found, the students list the words’ defini-
tions as clues. When they are done, the students solve
each other’s puzzles.
• Find the Transition Word!  The teacher asks stu-
dents to find the transition words (e.g., because, how-
ever, so, and, if) that link, break, or contrast clauses in
a discussion.
Making Vocabulary Stick—Literally
We have found that younger ELLs love using sticky notes,
highlighters, Wikki Stix (i.e., wax-coated pieces of yarn), and
highlighting tape in class, so any lesson that includes these
materials stands a good chance of sparking students’ inter-
est. The students in Ms. Menzella’s 2nd grade class collected
new vocabulary by marking every new word they came across
in their textbooks on a sticky note, which they then used to Content Vocabulary Instruction for ELLs | 69
mark the page on which the word is found. We have also seen
students learn the conventions of nonfiction text by marking
and labeling titles, headings, insets, maps, charts, table of con-
tents, index, and glossary.
Highlighting is an essential strategy for ELLs. We have our stu-
dents mark new vocabulary and find the meaning in the text
using a highlighter in consumable books. For this very reason,
we like to use consumable books with our ELLs as much as pos-
sible. If students want to highlight words in nonconsumable
books, they should use highlighter tape or Wikki Stix. Wikki
Stix are reusable, but highlighter tape is not.
Participants in Judie’s professional development workshops
have told her that their districts buy extra textbooks for ELLs
to use. These books are highlighted by the teacher and kept in
the classroom library. This is an immense help to ELLs because
they can immediately see what is important in the text.
Resources for Teaching Key
Concepts and Vocabulary
Teachers may wish to use carefully selected educational TV
programs (such as those found on the Discovery Channel),
videos from school and town libraries, and Internet resources
to introduce units of study. Sixty years of historic news archives
from NBC News are now available free for teachers to use in
their classrooms at http://www.hotchalk.com. Key academic
vocabulary can also be introduced by reading stories aloud,
such as in the case of Mrs. Clark’s read-aloud from The Wizard
of Oz. 70 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
In this chapter, we explored the importance of direct instruc-
tion of vocabulary for ELLs. We examined activities that
teachers can use to provide adequate repetition and practice
of new vocabulary words and concepts, presented visual and
tactile activities that work especially well with ELLs, and noted
resources and activities that can be used with the whole class
while also benefiting ELLs. In the next chapter, we will exam-
ine reading comprehension strategies that are crucial for ELLs
to learn.Reading Comprehension 
Instruction for ELLs
CHAPTER FIVE
573
Ms. Menzella gathered her 2nd grade students on the
rug in her classroom to hear a story entitled The
Doorbell Rang. She explained to her students that
they were going to learn how to make pictures in their heads.
“When we make pictures in our heads of what is happening
in a story, it is called visualizing,” Ms. Menzella explained. In
the story, two children are sitting at the dining room table
looking forward to sharing a plate of 12 cookies that their
mother had baked. At the end of the first page, Ms. Menzella
asked the students to draw a picture of the plate of cookies
and to think about what kind of cookies they were. After stu-
dents made their drawings, they examined the picture of the
chocolate chip cookies that was on the next page of the book
and shared their own pictures with the class. When one of the
ELLs, Soon Ji, showed her picture, she sighed, “I was wrong”—
she had drawn 12 sugar cookies with red sprinkles. Ms. Men-
zella explained to the students that mind pictures do not need
to be correct. “The pictures in your heads can change when
you get new information. A picture is new information,” she
explained. Ms. Menzella believed that it was especially impor-
tant to let her ELLs know this, because they are often product
oriented and focused on having a correct response.
*  *  *74 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
As we noted in Chapter 4, Ms. Menzella used the Reader’s
Work  shop approach in her classroom. What we like about
using Reader’s Workshop with ELLs is that it allows the stu-
dents to read books that they select themselves and apply strat-
egies that they learn in class to their reading. It’s a good idea
for teachers to have short minilessons during which they can
model comprehension strategies, followed by student practice
time (either individually or in pairs) using books at appropri-
ate reading levels. As part of the Reader’s Workshop, students
should hold individual conferences with their teachers two or
three times a week, or more for ELLs.
Teachers should teach ELLs the exact language that they will
need to talk about what they have read. We believe that it is
highly motivating to essentially tell students, “This is what
good readers do, and now you are going to learn how to do it,
too.” English language learners also reap the benefits of partici-
pating in whole-class instruction while also individually prac-
ticing with books that are suitable for their levels of English
language acquisition.
At the heart of Reader’s Workshop are six reading comprehen-
sion strategies that we believe are important to teach to ELLs
at all different grade levels, regardless of whether the Reader’s
Workshop approach itself is used:
1. Visualizing what is happening in the story,
2. Activating background knowledge by making connec-
tions,
3. Asking mental questions to self-check comprehension,
4. Learning how to make inferences about what is read,Reading Comprehension Instruction for ELLs | 75
5. Determining the importance of information in a text,
and
6. Synthesizing information that is learned.
Visualizing What Is Happening in the Story
In the example at the beginning of this chapter, Ms. Menzella
wanted her students to use visualization to help them under-
stand the story she was reading. She checked her students’
comprehension by reviewing the pictures that they’d drawn. If
the drawings didn’t accurately reflect the content of the book,
Ms. Menzella would modify her instructional plans to support
better comprehension. For example, she might separate the
class into small groups of four for the purpose of enacting the
story and dividing up 12 chocolate chip cookies.
When Judie first started to teach visualization to her 1st and 2nd
grade ELLs, she was reluctant to use the word “visualization,”
certain that it was too advanced for her students. One day, when
talking to a group of 2nd graders about the mental picture that
she had in her head, one of her students said, “Oh, you mean
visualize.” We believe that it is important to teach the ELLs
accurate terminology. It is important for ELLs to learn the same
vocabulary for discussing their ideas as their classmates.
Activating Background Knowledge
by Making Connections
Keene and Zimmerman (1997), Miller (2002), and Harvey and
Goudvis (2007) have noted the importance of connecting read-
ing material to background knowledge. Activating students’ 76 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
background knowledge helps students to connect their prior
experience, or schema, to the learning material. Of course, the
schemas that ELLs bring to the classroom may be very different
from those of their classmates. Teachers should help students
make three distinct types of connections: text-to-self, text-to-
text, and text-to-world.
Text-to-Self Connections
A text-to-self connection is a link that readers make between
the text that they are reading and something that has hap-
pened in their own lives. This type of connection helps them
to comprehend the text and to share their unique schemas
with their classmates. English language learners should learn
the phrases that help them to frame their thoughts (e.g., “This
reminds me of when I . . . ,” “My connection helps me to under-
stand the story because . . .”). Drawing text-to-self connections
helps students to better understand feelings and behaviors of
the figures about which they are reading.
Carolina, a 2nd grade ELL, came to the United States from
Costa Rica with very limited English. She received reading
instruction in both mainstream and ESL classrooms. One day,
her ESL class was discussing a passage in the book Pa Lia’s First
Day, in which someone refers to the main character as “Four
Eyes.” Here is what Carolina wrote:
I have a text to self connection. My mom had glasses at
2nd grade. Everyone call her four eyes and they put round
things in their eyes to make fun of her. These make me
understand how Pa Lia feels.Reading Comprehension Instruction for ELLs | 77
Although Carolina had only been in the country for six
months, she was able to make a text-to-self connection that
helped her understand what was happening in the story. By
contrast, Armando, a classmate of Carolina’s, wrote the follow-
ing in reaction to the same passage from the book:
This reminds me of when I got glasses and I broke them.
My mom was mad at me.
Whereas Carolina’s text-to-self connection helped her to under-
stand how Pa Lia felt, Armando’s connection was irrelevant to
the story. His response was a good indicator that additional
supports were needed to help him to understand the text.
Text-to-Text Connections
Text-to-text connections are links that students make between
the text that they are reading and another book that they have
read. It is important to teach students the language of text-to-
text connections. When Judie visits elementary Reader’s Work-
shop classrooms, she hears phrases such as “This reminds me
of another book that I read” and “I have a text-to-text con-
nection.” Teachers may find that they need to prompt the use
of this strategy with ELLs by asking, “Does anyone remember
another book where children had to share with their friends?”
or, “This story is about sharing. What else have we read about
sharing?” Explicit instruction of the strategy accompanied by
a lot of modeling is especially important for ELLs.
Text-to-text connections can be explored by using graphic
organizers to compare different books. This can happen at any 78 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
grade level—elementary school students might chart similar-
ities and differences in different versions of the Cinderella
story, for example, or high school students might draw con-
nections between characters from two different Shakespeare
plays. Graphic organizers build on our core belief that learning
is best accomplished when accompanied by a visual model.
Text-to-World Connections
Text-to-world connections are links that students make between
the text that they are reading and something that has hap-
pened in the world. When students from other countries make
connections with their homelands, they are more likely to
learn. This is an important strategy for ELLs because, as with
text-to-self connections, they are using their own schema to
understand the text. They should be taught to use sentence
starters such as “This makes me think about . . . ,” “I remember
when . . . ,” and “This is what happened in my country.”
Let’s take a look at a student in a 4th grade ESL class where the
teacher, Ms. Hernandez, was beginning a science unit on habi-
tats. To jump-start the unit, Ms. Hernandez had put a pile of
books on forest habitats at the center of a table. Students were
excited to look through the materials: “Look at this!” and “I
didn’t know this!” they shouted as they examined the books.
The students squirmed with excitement as they pointed out
items of interest to their classmates.
Junya stopped and studied a picture of a raccoon. “Ms. Hernan-
dez, you won’t believe what I see on Japanese TV!” he exclaimed.
“They have raccoons in Japan! They make big problem.” Reading Comprehension Instruction for ELLs | 79
“Hey,” said Roberto. “That’s a connection.” He paused and
thought for a moment. “Is it text-to-self or text-to-world con-
nection?” After much discussion, the class decided that Junya
has made a text-to-world connection.
Asking Mental Questions to
Self-Check Comprehension
Good readers are always asking themselves questions before,
during, and after reading. Because many of her 6th grade stu-
dents did not have sufficient background information about
the Underground Railroad before the start of a unit, Mrs. Dan-
ahy developed a question web with her class and provided
her students with picture books and Internet resources, then
helped them to use these materials in groups to generate ques-
tions and write them on sticky notes. In front of the class was
a large chart. Student placed their sticky notes on the left side
of the chart; as they found the answers to their questions in
their reading, they wrote these down on sticky notes as well
and placed the notes on the right side of the chart.
In a 6th grade social studies unit on the Civil War, Mrs. Dan-
ahy introduced a lesson on the Underground Railroad using a
simple book for students on the subject called If You Traveled
on the Underground Railroad.  She questioned them about the
book’s title: “I wonder where people traveling on the Under-
ground Railroad in the story will go?” A student immediately
asked what the Underground Railroad was. Dmitry, an ELL
at the emerging stage of English language acquisition, won-
dered how a railroad could really be underground. He knew 80 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
the meaning of the words “underground” and “railroad,” but
had a lot of difficulty with the concept. By listening to the
questions of other children and reading a book at an adequate
reading level, he was able to understand much of the work in
the classroom.
English language learners will be more likely to ask good ques-
tions if they first read books and practice with a buddy or part-
ner. Here are ways to help your students get started:
• Ask students to predict what the story will be about
based on the title or picture on the cover.
• Explain that a prediction is a guess—it doesn’t have to
be correct; it just needs to make sense. Teach students
that their predictions might change as they read.
• Help students identify stopping places in the text
where they should think of questions or make predic-
tions. Ask them to mark these places with sticky notes
or write about them in their reading notebooks.
Differentiated Expectations
Mrs. Danahy had differentiated expectations for participation
in her class; students were in the habit of reading different
books at different levels about the same topic. For example,
one of Mrs. Danahy’s ELLs, Daniel, read an entire book about
the U.S. Civil War written in Korean. This background infor-
mation gave him the schema that he needed to participate at
some level in the social studies lesson. Because differentiation
was the norm in Mrs. Danahy’s class, Daniel and Dmitry did
not stick out when they read different books about the same
topic. They were able to follow much of the class discussion
and pose simple questions such as “Why is this family running Reading Comprehension Instruction for ELLs | 81
way?” and “Were the people afraid?” In addition, they were
able to participate fully in the ensuing discussion by drawing
from Mrs. Danahy’s modeling and visualizing examples.
Learning How to Make Inferences
About What Is Read
Good readers draw inferences while they read—that is, they
“read between the lines”—as much of what authors convey is
implied rather than directly stated. English language learners
need to learn strategies to infer meaning by making connec-
tions to prior knowledge, visualizing, and predicting. Infer-
ence is very difficult for ELLs, as they are already struggling
with grammar, sentence structure, and vocabulary. Teachers
must therefore explicitly teach their ELLs to infer meaning,
and relay such helpful framing phrases as  “I predict . . . ,” “My
guess is . . . ,” “I think that . . . ,” “My conclusion is . . . , “ “I
infer that . . . ,” and so on.
Mrs. Schnee’s 1st grade ESL students sat on the rug on a cold
winter day. They could see a snow-covered field through a win-
dow. Mrs. Schnee held up a book called The Snowy Day. She
told her students, “When I look at the cover of this book, I
can infer that this story takes place in the winter. I infer this
because I see snow, just like outside my window.”  She then
asked students to infer what happens in the story from the
picture. One student, Karim, said, “I infer that the boy can’t
play outside for a long time.” Karim used the language that
he had been taught to describe what he believed occurred in
the story. When Mrs. Schnee asked him why he made this
inference, Karim replied, “My schema tells me that it is winter
and the snow is cold.” Mrs. Schnee asked Karim to point out 82 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
what in the picture made him think that the book was set in
winter. Karim pointed to the snow and to the snowsuit that
the boy was wearing.
Determining the Importance
of Information in a Text
Good readers can distinguish between important and unim-
portant information in nonfiction text. This ability is key
to understanding the content that students must read. First,
teachers should introduce students to the conventions of
nonfiction text, such as by having them scan chapter titles,
headings, subheadings, picture captions, maps, glossaries,
and indexes. En glish language learners should receive plenty
of support before they even begin to read the text. They
need to understand that reading is not necessarily a front-to-
back task.
Students in Mr. Hopkins’s 10th grade history class learned to
scan the title, table of contents, bolded words, photographs,
captions, maps, headings, subheadings, and labels in a text-
book chapter to preview information for a unit on immigra-
tion to the United States. Even though the text as a whole was
above the reading level of some of the ELLs in the class, they
were still able to access enough information this way to gain
important information about the topic.
Ms. Meldonian was teaching animal adaptations to her 3rd
grade science class. She wrote down the key idea of the chap-
ter that the class was reading on the chalkboard: Adaptations
are important to an animal’s survival. She taught her students Reading Comprehension Instruction for ELLs | 83
Synthesizing Information That Is Learned
Good readers know how to summarize important information
and incorporate it into their schema. As they read, they carry
Figure 5.1
Sample T-Chart of Relevant Versus Irrelevant Information
Relevant Information Irrelevant Information
Animals have different features
and behaviors.
Tigers are big animals.
An animal’s body part can be an
adaptation.
Adaptations help animals live in
their homes.
Adaptations help animals hide
from enemies.
that relevant information is that which is related to the key
idea. She gave several examples of information from the chap-
ter and asked students to practice deciding what is relevant
and what isn’t. Students then read the chapter. When they
were done, Ms. Meldonian divided them into groups and had
them brainstorm what they’d learned. Students in each group
wrote a list of information they’d learned from the chapter
and then placed an R next to facts that they feel were relevant.
Ms. Meldonian made a large T-chart and displayed the relevant
and irrelevant facts from the groups’ lists in front of the whole
class (see Figure 5.1).
Some adaptations are strange.
Vampire bats have a funny name.84 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
on an internal conversation, asking themselves what they
understand or don’t understand, whether they agree or dis-
agree, and what they wonder.
Mrs. Cirigliano taught the students in her 5th grade class to
synthesize the information that they read in an expository text
about nutrition. She had students work with partners to read
the text together. Each pair had to decide how much of the text
to read before stopping to review and synthesize information.
Most pairs decided to stop after each paragraph. Every time
they did so, they took turns sharing one comment about what
they had read and responding to their partner’s comment. This
comment could take the form of a response to the reading, an
interesting fact, or a question about the text. Students were
encouraged to think carefully about each comment, as they
were allowed only one comment at a time. Mrs. Cirigliano
modeled the language students could use to make their com-
ments (e.g., “This reminds me of . . . ,” “I felt that . . . ,” “I
didn’t understand it when . . .”).
Mrs. Dennis tells her 2nd grade students that there are two
voices speaking when they read: The voice that they can hear
is their speaking voice, and the other is the one inside their
heads. This second voice helps them to think about what they
are reading.
When students in Mrs. Dennis’s class synthesize information,
they do more than retell what they have read; they also dem-
onstrate understanding of the reading strategies that they have
used. They retell what they have read from two points of view:
that of their own experience, and that of the authors or of Reading Comprehension Instruction for ELLs | 85
characters in their reading. True synthesis, however, involves
that “Aha!” moment that readers have when they really “get”
the text.
Synthesis cannot occur if the reader does not understand the
key vocabulary in the text. It requires the reader to make many
connections to his or her life in order to find deeper meaning,
create mental pictures of what is happening in the story, listen
to the voice in his or her head, and ask questions about what
the text means.
In this chapter, we examined the six essential reading compre-
hension strategies that should be taught to ELLs in all grade
levels. We discussed how to teach students to visualize what
is happening in the text, activate background knowledge by
making connections, ask mental questions to self-check com-
prehension, learn how to draw inferences from the text, deter-
mine the importance of information in the text, and synthesize
the information. By using these strategies, teachers can help
ELLs to become better readers. In the next chapter, we will dis-
cuss how to provide ELLs with effective writing instruction.Writing Instruction 
for ELLs
CHAPTER SIX
689
Yimin was a 4th grade student from China who had
been in the United States for three years. She was pro-
gressing normally in most content areas but had great
difficulty writing. Her classroom teacher, Mr. Klein, referred
her to Judie’s ESL class because he was concerned about her
writing level. He sent Judie the following writing sample, writ-
ten in response to the question “If you were an animal, what
animal would you like to be and why?”:
I like be eagle becas eagle birds king and he fly very up.
They scard. When they baby, they take off they feather and
they squek they claw.
Judie read Yimin’s school records, which indicated that Yimin
had been exited from a neighboring school district’s ESL pro-
gram after only two years. Judie began to wonder if Yimin
wasn’t exited too soon, before she could become a proficient
listener, speaker, reader, and writer in English.
*  *  *
Learning to write in English is a developmental process that
involves being able to90 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
• Communicate meaningfully through writing,
• Write for a range of purposes,
• Use culturally appropriate terms, and
• Use correct form and grammar.
Teaching ELLs to write in all subject matters is as important as
teaching them to speak, listen, and read in English. Teachers
must offer students direct instruction in how to write for dif-
ferent content areas—and must also understand the writing
challenges that ELLs experience.
Determining the Degree of Writing
Instruction That Is Needed
Writing is a particularly challenging language domain for ELLs
to master, perhaps due to the lack of intensity and intention-
ality that we devote to it. In some schools, students are no
longer considered ELLs when they have acquired the ability to
listen and speak in English. But oral language skills are deceiv-
ing; they may make students appear to be much more fluent
in English than they are. The ability to learn ordinary class-
room work in English means that ELLs must be able to write in
En glish at or near the level of their English-fluent peers.
Teachers should ask the following initial questions to ensure
that they are providing adequate writing instruction:
• Are ELLs given multiple meaningful opportunities for
bringing their prior knowledge into learning   experiences?Writing Instruction for ELLs | 91
• Are ELLs given explicit opportunities to learn how to
write appropriately in the content area?
• What supports are ELLs given for expanding their
knowledge and usage of terms and phrases?
Let’s visit what Sophy Pich had to say about the challenges
that he experienced learning how to write in English. A teacher
in an after-school writing program for high school ELLs that
Debbie led, Pich wrote the following passage to stimulate his
students’ interest in writing:
It was, I believe, in the 3rd grade that I was first taught
to write summaries to books. I was never able to finish the
assignments correctly. Most of the time, what I did was go
to the sections of the books that I thought that I was under-
standing and copy paragraphs that seemed important to be
included in the summaries onto my paper. I would do that
until I felt that I had accomplished summarizing, and then
I would write as the last paragraph, “If you want to find
out more about this book, you have to pick up a copy of
your own.” To this day, now a senior in college, I still suf-
fer from English grammatical/pronunciation syndrome. I
still am unable to be sure of how to use my verb tenses and
structure; is it “has he learnt it?” or “have he learned it?”
Learning to write involves being able to communicate and
convey ideas meaningfully. In Pich’s case, it was critically
important for his teachers to model and conduct a think-aloud
about the summary-writing process, as well as to engage him
in practicing the process. English language learners need this 92 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
type of deliberate instruction about writing to learn how to
become fluent writers.
Using Conventions from the First Language
Students will often translate words directly from their native
language into English using conventions from their native
language. Because different languages have their own rules
of grammar, student writing often results in errors. For exam-
ple, a student translating the term “green apple” directly into
English from Spanish might write, “apple green,” because
adjectives follow nouns in Spanish. Yimin’s writing sample at
the beginning of this chapter is another example of how stu-
dent writing often obscures the student’s intended meaning.
Tips for ELL Writing Instruction
Here are some tips that teachers can use with ELLs at the emerg-
ing stage of acquisition.
• Do not expect ELLs to free-write in English. Why teach
them to write incomprehensibly? If you do engage
ELLs in free-writing, it might be more appropriate to
ask them to write in their native languages and then
translate what they have written for you. 
• Do not have ELLs write journals every night at home
unless you are going to be reading the journals regu-
larly. If translation is available, you may wish to have
emerging ELLs write in their native languages; other-
wise, ELLs should not be writing journals until they are
at a more advanced stage of acquisition. Writing Instruction for ELLs | 93
• Do not assign open-ended topics to ELLs (e.g., “If you
were an animal, what animal would you want to be
and why?”).
• Provide students with authentic reasons to write, as
well as examples of what you expect and a firm idea of
how you will be assessing their writing.
• It is our opinion that ELLs learn to write better if they
begin with nonfiction content area topics, as these
will include specific vocabulary that they must learn.
It is also easier for teachers to differentiate nonfiction
writing assignments than fiction ones in mainstream
classes. We encourage you to teach writing in all con-
tent areas before exposing ELLs to creative writing.
Graphic organizers can be used most effectively for
teaching nonfiction writing, because they provide stu-
dents with language chunks that they can then use.
Calkins’s Four Phases of the Writing Process
According to Calkins (1994), there are four distinct phases of
the writing process: prewriting, writing, editing, and revis-
ing. As we explore each phase, we will be looking again at Ms.
Meldonian’s 3rd grade class, where students were researching
forest animals for their science unit on habitats. This was their
first research project. We will follow the work of Joseph, who
was at the emerging stage of English language acquisition.
Phase 1: Prewriting
Ms. Meldonian first had students brainstorm a list of animals
that they thought lived in the forest. She listed the students’
ideas in sentence form on chart paper. Then, she asked her class 94 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
to look for information on the Internet about an animal that
interested them from one of the habitats that they had studied.
The ELLs in her class could only select articles online that they
were able to read. Ms. Meldonian directed Joseph and other ELLs
to http://www.enchantedlearning.com, a Web site that posts
articles written at levels suitable for ELLs in the emerging stage.
After students printed out their articles, Ms. Meldonian had
them brainstorm questions that they wanted answered about
their animals. To address her students’ various stages of En  glish
language acquisition, she created different graphic organizers
for each, supplying the questions that they needed to answer
on the organizer and modifying the questions for each ELL’s
level of English language acquisition. Figure 6.1 shows an orga-
nizer suitable for Joseph’s level of acquisition.
Name of
animal
What does
the animal
look like?
What kind
of animal
is it?
What is
the
animal’s
habitat?
Is the
animal
nocturnal
or
diurnal?
What does
the animal
eat? Is it a
herbivore?
Carnivore?
Tell an
interesting
fact about
the
animal.
What
enemies
does the
animal
have?
Figure 6.1
Sample Graphic Organizer for ELL
Use During the Prewriting PhaseWriting Instruction for ELLs | 95
Graphic organizers, charts, pictures, photos, films, field trips,
and other visual and auditory experiences are important sup-
ports to include at the prewriting stage. Using complete sen-
tences in graphic organizers greatly helps ELLs to learn the
language of content. Further, encouraging ELLs to copy sen-
tences down is also helpful.
Ms. Meldonian modeled the type of questions that students
should answer in their writing: “The question is ‘What kind
of animal is it?’ Let’s see. My animal has fur and drinks its
mother’s milk, so it must be a mammal.” During prewriting,
teachers should provide many such think-alouds. Using terms,
words, idioms, and phrases (TWIPs) in context is important at
this stage, as it strengthens the link between oral and writ-
ten language. Because many ELLs need to see and experience
what they are going to write, teachers should also model the
type of writing that they expect to see. Ms. Meldonian asked
Joseph the name of his animal and wrote, “This animal is a
hedgehog. It is a mammal.” Teachers should spend a good deal
of time at this stage with new learners of English, showing
them multiple samples of the type of writing that is required
of them.
Phase 2: Writing
Once students’ background knowledge has been activated, the
writing phase should commence. Ms. Meldonian asked stu-
dents to highlight the information in their online articles that
they would need to know in order to answer the questions
in their graphic organizers. Students did this together in small
groups. Ms. Meldonian asked ELLs in the first stage of acquisi-
tion to serve as “art experts”—their task was to collaborate with
classmates to draw or find pictures of their chosen animals and 96 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
As students acquire more language, they will be able to make
their own graphic organizers and write from them. In addition
to the graphic organizer, Ms. Meldonian provided Joseph with
the following frame for writing:
[Name of Animal]
The name of this animal is [name of animal]. It is a [mam-
mal, bird, or reptile]. It lives in the forests of [continent or
country].
Figure 6.2
Joseph’s Completed Graphic Organizer
Hedgehog
Hedgehog
is
mammal.
Hedgehog
live in the
forest of
Europe,
Asia, and
North
America.
Hedgehog
is
nocturnal.
It hunt for
food at
night.
Hedgehog
eat snails,
insects
and
plants? It
is
omnivore.
Hedgehog
roll in ball
when
hedgehog
is scared.
habitats. At this stage, it is important to display a list of con-
tent area TWIPs to which students can refer. Joseph was able to
answer five of the seven questions on his organizer, as shown
in Figure 6.2.Writing Instruction for ELLs | 97
[Name of animal] eats [kind of food]. It is [nocturnal or
diurnal] because it eats food during the [night or day].
Something unusual about my animal is that  
  .
Here is Joseph’s draft report:
Hedgehog
The name of this animal is hedgehog. It is mammal. It live
in North America, Asia, Europe. It live in desert.
Hedgehog eat insects, snails, snakes, bird eggs and grass. It
is omnivore. It is nocturnal because it eat food at night.
Something unusual about my animal is that spines come
out when hedgehog is scared. It roll into a ball. It has ene-
mies like owl, fox, mongoose and wolf.
Ms. Meldonian commented on the draft as follows: “Joseph,
check the s at the end of third-person verbs.”
Phase 3: Editing
Many teachers may ask their students to self-edit because they
believe that students should be given the opportunity to self-
correct their work. However, students who are in the first three
stages of English language acquisition will not be able to self-
edit, as they will have trouble finding most of their mistakes
and may be frustrated in the attempt.
Regularly conferencing with each ELL to discuss his or her
works in progress is an excellent strategy for building writing 98 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
skills. This is particularly true for students at the early stages of
acquisition, as peer editing is not possible for them and may in
fact be counterproductive. When students are fluent enough
to discuss their written ideas and thoughts, the teacher should
provide instruction on how to peer edit using think-alouds
and modeling. For example, Ms. Meldonian had Joseph work
with a partner to check the s at the end of third-person verbs.
Phase 4: Revising
It is important to tie the type of revision that is possible for each
learner to his or her stage of language acquisition. For example,
students in the early stages may not yet have developed the
skills for describing possessives and tenses; they may only just
be learning how to write nouns in the plural form and match
them to the correct verb forms. When reviewing students’
papers, teachers need to provide ELLs with specific details about
what they are supposed to do during the revision process. Sim-
ply stating, “Add more information here” is too vague; a more
appropriate comment would be “Mention something special
that hedgehogs can do here.” If students are a part of the edit-
ing process, the revisions will be more meaningful to them.
Presenting a Finished Document
Teachers should encourage students to share their writing with
classmates and family. Students can display work in the class-
room and hallway or “publish” classroom books. The groups
in Joseph’s class designed habitats for their animals, which
they drew on posters and displayed in the hallway. Writing Instruction for ELLs | 99
In this chapter, we examined the writing needs of ELLs and
Calkins’s four-stage writing process. Writing is an essential com-
ponent of learning English and requires instruction that is
matched to each student stage of English language acquisition.
Homework and assessment must also be targeted to the English
learning levels of students. In the next chapter, we will discuss
how to provide ELLs with appropriate homework assignments
and how to assess their content learning.Homework and
Assessment for ELLs
CHAPTER SEVEN
7103
One of the students in Mrs. McBride’s 6th grade ESL
class, Yeon Jae, rested his head on the table. He closed
his eyes and nearly fell asleep. He had appeared tired
and inattentive during the class period.
Mrs. McBride asked, “Yeon Jae, are you sick?”
“I don’t go sleep until 2:00 a.m.,” moaned Yeon Jae. “I do work
to finish homework for Mr. Fielding.” 
When Mrs. McBride questioned him further, she found that he
had begun his homework at 5:00 p.m.—meaning he had spent
nine hours on one night’s assignments. Yeon Jae assumed that
he was required to complete the assignments written on the
board in his classroom. Mrs. McBride reviewed his homework
planner (Figure 7.1).
When questioning Mr. Fielding about the homework assign-
ments, Mrs. McBride found that he knew Yeon Jae would not
be able to complete the same homework assignments as the
rest of the class and just assumed that his ELLs would do the
best that they could. It didn’t occur to him to modify the
homework, and he was dismayed to learn how late Yeon Jae
had worked.
*  *  *104 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Assigning homework to and assessing ELLs are often viewed
as a dilemma by teachers. Some teachers, like Mr. Fielding, do
not think about the difficulty that students like Yeon Jae will
have with homework assignments or assessments intended
for English-fluent students. These teachers leave it to the stu-
dents to do what they can. Other teachers do not assign home-
work, tests, or quizzes to their ELLs. Still others believe that
ELLs should not be treated any differently from their peers
and should complete the same assignments and take the same
tests. None of these responses effectively address the challenge
of assigning homework to and assessing ELLs.
When considering appropriate homework and assessment for
ELLs, teachers need to first determine the English proficiency lev-
els of their ELLs. The teacher’s goal should be to make learning
accessible and meaningful for every student without lowering
Figure 7.1
Yeon Jae’s Homework Planner
12/7/08
Math Do problems 1−10 on page 50.
Social studies Read pages 71−82 on the causes of the Civil War and
answer questions 1, 2, and 3 at the end of the chapter.
English Read the sentences on page 56 of your English book. For
each sentence, underline the subject phrase with one line
and verb phrase with double line.
Science Read pages 56−74 on refl ection and answer questions
1 and 2 on page 74.Homework and Assessment for ELLs | 105
expectations or sacrificing rigor. Then, teachers must consider
the overarching unit objectives and the day’s content objective
and assign homework that is directly related to both.
Viewing Homework and Assessment
as the Continuation of a Lesson
Teachers usually assign homework to extend the time that
students have to learn content and apply new knowledge. To
help students master new skills, it is important to furnish them
with practice and application opportunities that are not too
far beyond their abilities or respective stages of English profi-
ciency. Mr. Fielding assigned homework without modeling it or
providing his students with practice time. He also did not take
into account his ELLs’ stages of English language acquisition.
Using language to learn content is at the core of appropriate
homework assignments. Because most homework assignments
require students to read and write, they present a unique chal-
lenge to ELLs. For example, students in Mr. Fielding’s class were
required to answer questions in their social studies textbook.
However, he had not taken time to preteach the concepts,
vocabulary, or types of questions that were included in the
chapter, assuming instead that his students would learn what
they needed to as they read the chapter. He did not modify
the homework assignment for Yeon Jae, who was at the emerg-
ing stage of language acquisition and therefore not yet capable
of independently reading text without the necessary preread-
ing activities. Explicit instruction on how to complete the
homework was sorely lacking in Mr. Fielding’s class. Teachers
must select homework assignments that are suitable for ELLs 106 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
to complete independently, but without lowering the expecta-
tion that all students can learn the content objectives.
To begin the process of determining appropriate homework
assignments, it is helpful to think backward about the steps
necessary for homework to be accomplished. We believe that
homework should be the last of the following five steps:
1. Introducing the day’s lesson by reviewing the unit’s
overarching objectives and the day’s content and lan-
guage objectives
2. Modeling the day’s activities
3. Having students engage in the same types of activities
that they will do as homework
4. Reviewing the day’s content and language objectives
to determine if they have been accomplished
5. Assigning homework
Teachers typically provide lessons within the context of a the-
matic unit of study. Daily lessons are intended to help students
achieve overarching objectives. The first step of the day’s les-
son should be to focus student attention on the day’s language
and content objectives and how they relate to the unit objec-
tives. When these three objectives are made explicit, ELLs can
more readily focus on them. It is a good idea to post the three
objectives along with key vocabulary on the board.
Teachers should open their lessons by reviewing the unit objec-
tives and the lesson’s content objectives with students. It is
important to revisit the unit goals often and link them explicitly
to all lessons. Mr. Fielding might have posted the overarching Homework and Assessment for ELLs | 107
objective for his students in the form of the following question:
“How do differences between people lead to conflict?” The day’s
content objective might have been formulated as a question as
well: “What were the five key causes of the Civil War?” Because
Mr. Fielding expected his students to read a chapter in their text-
books about the five main causes of the Civil War, he might
have discussed one of the causes with his students so that they
had an idea of what to look for in the text.
Next, teachers should review the language objectives for the
day. When considering language objectives, teachers must
keep homework assignments in mind. For example, if students
are to solve a word problem as homework, the teacher must
first review the vocabulary that is used in the problem, how
the vocabulary and word problem relate to the unit objectives,
and what the process of solving a word problem entails.
As we noted earlier in this book, it is also very important to
review assignments and ensure that they are connected to stu-
dents’ background knowledge and are not culturally biased. For
example, many ELLs are not familiar with any U.S. history, so
the content and vocabulary must be carefully taught to ensure
understanding. Teachers must also be proactive about includ-
ing explanations and illustrations of key content vocabulary.
Among the terms that Mr. Fielding might explain for his lesson
are abolitionist, nonabolitionist, states’ rights, and federal rights.
Modeling
Next, the teacher should model the day’s activities and share
how they relate to the overarching unit objective. The teacher 108 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
should conduct think-alouds about the steps needed to com-
plete all tasks, including those assigned for homework, and
model the tasks as well. Prior to the lesson, the teacher will need
to gather the materials necessary for modeling and for student
practice of the tasks. Modeling is an opportune moment to use
authentic materials. Teachers should narrate their modeling
with thoughts about the task.
Here is a think-aloud that Mr. Fielding might have conducted,
modeling how to determine one of the causes of the Civil War:
If I look at our chapter, there is a bulleted phrase that says:
abolitionist versus nonabolitionist. I have to think about
what each term means. I ask myself, “An abolitionist—what
is that?” I know that an abolitionist was someone who
believed that slavery should end. So, a nonabolitionist must
be someone who believed that slavery should continue.
I know that there were people who didn’t believe in slavery,
the abolitionists, and I know that there were people who
did, the nonabolitionists. When I consider our overarch-
ing question—How do differences between people lead to
conflict?— I can see that the struggle between abolitionists
and nonabolitionists was one of the five major causes of
the Civil War.
Reviewing Objectives and Assigning Homework
Teachers should be sure to give students multiple opportuni-
ties to use content language during practice work. One way to
do this is by planning different types of practice work accord-
ing to the sequence shown in Figure 7.2. At the same time, it is
import to continually remind students of the overarching unit Homework and Assessment for ELLs | 109
objectives and the lesson’s content objectives and language
objectives (by reviewing the objectives at the start of each new
activity, for example). The arrows in Figure 7.2 reflect transi-
tion points in a lesson—at each transition, the teacher refers
back to the unit and lesson objectives.
Teachers should take the time during the many transitions in
a day’s lesson to focus student attention on unit and lesson
objectives and to point out the relation between classroom
Figure 7.2
Recommended Sequence of Lesson Practice Work
STEP 1
The teacher
begins the
lesson by
reviewing both
overarching
unit objectives
and the day’s
content and
language
objectives, and
refers back to
these at each
transition point.
STEP 2
The teacher models the day’s
activity.
STEP 3
Students engage in the
activity in pairs.
STEP 4
Students engage in the activity
in small groups.
STEP 5
The class as a whole reviews
the activity.
STEP 6
Homework reflects the activity
done in class.110 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
activities and the day’s homework assignment. When assign-
ing homework, teachers should ensure that ELLs can complete
it in a reasonable amount of time. A short but meaningful
homework assignment will yield better results than a long
confusing one.
For homework, Mr. Fielding asked his students to answer the
questions at the end of the chapter that they had just read. He
might have better prepared his students for this assignment
by engaging them in a discussion about the type of questions
that they were to answer. Had he done this, he would have
noticed that the questions were all comprehension based, and
he might have had his students work in pairs to create and
respond to their own comprehension questions.
Assessment
Most school districts draw from local, state, or federal curricu-
lum standards to set student performance goals and bench-
marks. High-stakes testing is used to measure how well the
curriculum standards are being met and to determine whether
or not a school is succeeding. Such tests often do not take into
account the particular needs of ELLs. For this reason, we do
not believe that high-stakes tests designed for English-fluent
students should be regarded as an accurate measure of ELL
ability. To ensure that tests do reflect the learning of ELLs, we
suggest that teachers take the following steps:
1. Identify the English proficiency levels of their students.
2. Review the curriculum standards that they will use to
create content and language objectives.Homework and Assessment for ELLs | 111
3. Select performance indicators that are appropriate for
students’ English proficiency levels.
4. Design rubrics that reflect students’ English proficiency
levels.
5. Share and provide direct instruction about the rubrics
with students.
We separate assessment into three different types:
• In-the-moment assessments, which occur as the teach-
ers observe students engaging in classroom activities;
• Routine assessments, such as teacher evaluation of
quizzes, journal entries, and homework; and
• Summative assessments, such as teacher evaluation of
student work at the end of a unit (i.e., final presenta-
tions, tests, theme projects).
Guidelines for Different Stages of
English Language Acquisition
Here are some guidelines for assessing students at different
stages of English language acquisition:
Stage 1 (Starting) and Stage 2 (Emerging)
• Ask questions that require one- or two-word responses.
• Have students point to or circle the correct picture in
response to questions.
• Have students illustrate a sequence (e.g., the steps of
a science experiment, or how a caterpillar becomes a
butterfly) to demonstrate understanding.
• Provide a word bank so that students do not have to
generate English vocabulary themselves. Students can 112 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
then label diagrams or fill in charts using words from
the word bank.
• Use visuals or realia to elicit information (e.g., the pic-
tures of volcanoes in Mrs. Mahoney’s class).
• Allow students to use drawings, dioramas, graphs, maps,
and charts to demonstrate comprehension.
• Allow students to gesture or act out responses.
• Provide cloze activities using sentences straight from
the text.
• Use portfolio assessment for writing.
• Keep a file of student writing in order to measure
growth.
• Audiotape the oral output of ELLs on a regular basis so
that progress may be noted.
Stage 3 (Developing) and Stage 4 (Expanding)
• Give short tests frequently rather than long tests
  infrequently.
• Base assessments on the previous night’s homework
assignment.
• Use graphic organizers. For example, a KWL chart
can show what students have learned. Brainstorm the
“What I Know” part of the chart with the whole class.
At the end of the unit, have ELLs complete the “What
I Learned” part by drawing pictures and labeling them.
You can also use a graphic organizer with information
already filled in: Review the information in class, have
students study it at home before the assessment, and
then delete key words or phrases from the organizer to
test comprehension.Homework and Assessment for ELLs | 113
• Have students role-play to show understanding of a
topic. Group ELLs with English-fluent students so that
they have support for their language use.
• In place of writing a report, have students show com-
prehension by designing a poster, diorama, bookmark,
or book cover.
• Provide simplified study guides and limit assessment
to items on the guide. Only key vocabulary and con-
cepts should be covered.
• Allow students to answer essay questions orally.
• Have students compare and contrast concepts previ-
ously taught in class.
• Reformat the test so that the type is larger and there is
more white space.
• Use a dialogue journal to discuss specific topics with
students. English language learners respond to a par-
ticular question in the journal, and the teacher com-
ments on the response in an ongoing discussion.
• Simplify the language of essay questions or break them
into manageable parts. Read questions aloud, modify-
ing the language as you do so.
• Limit multiple-choice questions to two possible answers.
• Tell ELLs in advance exactly what they are required to
study for a test.
• Allow more time for ELLs to take a test, or ask them
fewer questions.
• Highlight key words or clues on tests for ELLs. (This
works especially well for math.)
• Scaffold student responses to essay questions through
discussion, brainstorming, and webbing. Allow students 114 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
to use a translation dictionary or electronic translator
when writing essays.
Stage 5 (Bridging)
• Identify student gaps in listening, speaking, reading,
and writing, and deliver lessons that are specifically
geared toward closing the gaps.
• Identify how students should show understanding of
subject matter through listening, speaking, reading,
and writing.
• Continue to support student writing and vocabulary
development.
Assessment Rubrics
Teachers should create assessment rubrics by selecting no more
than two or three of the bulleted suggestions for each stage of
English proficiency noted above. For example, to assess stu-
dents at the starting and emerging stages of English language
acquisition, a teacher might require them to respond to “what”
and “where” questions with one- or two-word responses or
through gestures. For the same lesson, students at the develop-
ing and expanding stages might be required to retell or recount
a story. Teachers can use the assessment rubrics to conduct
in-the-moment assessments as students engage in classwork.
These rubrics can help teachers to determine what adjustments
they might need to make to lessons as they are occurring.
Teachers should share these rubrics with students and model
what in-the-moment assessment will look like. Monitoring
charts are useful for this purpose. For example, Mrs. Kim used
a monitoring chart to observe four ELLs in her science class as Homework and Assessment for ELLs | 115
they engaged in small-group tasks (see Figure 7.3). She created
the monitoring chart based on the students’ stages of English
language acquisition. For each student, she wrote down the
stage he or she was in, the tasks that she expected to observe,
and whether or not she observed the student engaging in the
task. She referred to the chart while monitoring the students’
interactions, marking it with a check each time she observed a
student engaging in the expected tasks.
Figure 7.3
Mrs. Kim’s Monitoring Chart
Students Expected Task
Task
Observed
Task Not
Observed
Claudia
(Stage 1 – Starting)
Pointing to correct
sequence in scientifi c
method
Stephan
(Stage 2 – Emerging)
Using short phrases
to describe steps of
the scientifi c method
Yosef
(Stage 3 – Developing)
Using a graphic
organizer to explain
the scientifi c method
Eduardo
(Stage 4 – Expanding)
Describing the steps of
the scientifi c method 
using sentences
Hoa Lia
(Stage 5 – Bridging)
Synthesizing
information about the
scientifi c method116 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Once teachers have modeled the monitoring process, they can
conduct in-the-moment checks for understanding by circulat-
ing the classroom, carefully observing student interactions, and
providing additional modeling, clarifying, and direct instruc-
tion for individual and small groups of students. In addition,
students should be asked to assess their own classwork periodi-
cally using a rubric such as the one shown in Figure 7.4.
Memorization
Many ELLs manage to get by in school by memorizing mate-
rial, especially for quizzes and tests. But memorizing material
is by no means the same as understanding it. Yeon Jae was able
to get ahead by memorizing large chunks of material because
Mr. Fielding’s tests were taken directly from a study guide
designed for native English speakers. A few weeks after Yeon
Jae received a B on a test about the U.S. government, Judie
asked him what the House of Representatives was. It was obvi-
ous to her that Yeon Jae did not retain the information that he
had memorized.
Teachers should modify assessments so that ELLs are not
encouraged to memorize and regurgitate material that they
really don’t understand. Assessment of ELLs should focus
on the students’ growth rather than on comparisons to their
English-fluent classmates. Assessments should increasingly
become more challenging as students acquire a higher profi-
ciency level in English.
*  *  *Homework and Assessment for ELLs | 117
Figure 7.4
Sample Student Self-Assessment Rubric
Student Name:     Date: 
Subject:     Topic:  
Paired Work I did not understand. I asked questions. I shared a few ideas. I under-
stand some of the content and
how to talk about it.
I contributed many ideas
because I understand most
of the content and can talk
using it.
Group Work I did not understand. I asked questions. I shared a few ideas. I under-
stand some of the content and
how to talk about it.
I contributed many ideas
with my group because
I understand most of the
content.
Whole-Class Work I did not understand. I asked questions. I shared a few ideas. I under-
stand some of the content and
how to talk about it.
I contributed many ideas with
the whole class because I
understand most of the content.118 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
After learning about Yeon Jae’s difficulties with homework,
Mr. Fielding took the time to learn about his level of English
language acquisition and determined his limitations. Dur-
ing class, he provided a handout to students explaining new
vocabulary. He had each student write a definition of a term
and illustrate it. Knowing that Yeon Jae was at the emerging
stage of English language acquisition, he asked him to draw
additional pictures illustrating new terms for homework and
told him to spend no more than 45 minutes on the assignment.
When Yeon Jae began the assignment, he felt confident that he
could complete it—and after 45 minutes, he almost had.
In this chapter, we discussed techniques for assigning home-
work and creating assessments that are appropriate for the
stages of English language acquisition of the ELLs in your class.
In the next chapter, we will look at ways to conference with the
parents of ELLs and include them in their children’s education.Communicating
Effectively with 
Parents of ELLs
CHAPTER EIGHT
8121
Ms. Ramon, a 3rd grade teacher, was concerned
about the progress of one of her ELLs, Yuki, so she
held a conference with Yuki’s parents in October.
Yuki had moved to the United States from Japan 18 months
ago, and although she was able to complete some of her sci-
ence and social studies work, she was not making the progress
that Ms. Ramon expected.
Ms. Ramon explained to Yuki’s parents that the girl needed
to spend more time completing homework and studying for
tests. She outlined a homework plan and asked the parents
to help her implement it. The parents nodded in apparent
agreement.
In the weeks after the conference, Yuki’s efforts did not
improve, and Ms. Ramon was at a loss to understand why. She
was unaware of some important cultural considerations. In
many Asian countries, to nod in agreement means, “Yes, I hear
you,” not, “Yes, I agree.” Ms. Ramon was also unaware that
Yuki spent a few hours each day completing homework from
her Japanese Saturday school. Yuki’s mother was very con-
cerned that if her daughter didn’t keep up with her Japanese
studies, she would be at a great disadvantage when she ever
returned to Japan, as she was expected to do.
*  *  *122 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Parent–teacher conferences are shaped by the beliefs and back-
ground knowledge of their participants. Many parents of ELLs
are not familiar with the practice of meeting with their chil-
dren’s teachers and thus are not sure what to expect of them
during the meetings. Similarly, many classroom teachers have
never communicated with parents who do not speak English
and who are not familiar with U.S. public school practices. The
increasing population of ELLs poses a unique challenge for
classroom teachers, administrators, and guidance counselors,
all of whom need to learn how to better communicate with lin-
guistically and culturally diverse families. The goal of this chap-
ter is to help school personnel hold productive parent–teacher
conferences by engaging in meaningful communication.
Translators
The first step in planning a conference with the parents of
ELLs is to determine whether a translator is needed, as many
parents do not speak English well enough to understand what
the teacher is saying. It is crucial to the success of a conference
to contact a translator for the parents who need one. Most
parents are asked to complete a Home Language Survey (see
Appendix 3) when they enroll their child in school. On this
survey, parents should be asked for the language in which they
would prefer oral and written communication from the school.
Although the survey is crucial, it should not be the only means
used to determine whether or not families need a translator;
because some parents may not understand what they are being
asked and others may not feel comfortable letting the school
know that they are not fluent in English, a high level of sensi-
tivity is needed to complete this task well. A parent once told
Judie that when she first came to the United States, she faked Communicating Effectively with Parents of ELLs | 123
her way through her child’s conferences without understand-
ing a word. If your school does not provide translators, ask
parents to bring a bilingual family member along to the meet-
ings (not counting the actual student). It is best to meet with
translators before the conference to ensure that they under-
stand the purpose of the occasion.
When a translator is used, we suggest doubling the length of
the conference to account for the extra time required for trans-
lation. During the conference, teachers should speak in short,
uncomplicated sentences and stop periodically to let the trans-
lator translate. If a teacher goes on too long without stopping,
his or her whole message may not be accurately translated.
Teachers should refrain from using educational jargon, as nei-
ther the translator nor the parents are likely to understand it,
and should avoid speaking directly to the translator. We have
been present at conferences were parents felt so superfluous
that they took phone calls right in the middle of the conversa-
tion while the teacher and translator spoke with each other.
Welcoming Parents
Schools often find it challenging to engage parents in attend-
ing school functions, including conferences. Parents may not
attend because they do not have transportation or may feel
embarrassed by their lack of English or literacy skills. They may
also come from cultures where parents are not welcomed into
the school. To address such obstacles, teachers must believe in
the importance of becoming familiar with students’ families
and think of ways to involve them in their students’ education
in a welcoming and nonthreatening manner. Schools need
to consider that parents may not be able to read the notices 124 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
that come home, even those that have been translated. An
oral invitation issued in the parents’ native language may be
helpful. Arranging for transportation and child care as well as
translation services may also encourage parents to come to
school.
Guidelines for Preconference Planning
Here are some guidelines for planning a successful conference:
• Prepare a short, simply worded description of the con-
ference that includes the date, location, anticipated
start and end times, and goals. Have the document
translated if necessary and mail it to parents.
• Assemble samples of each student’s work to share with
his or her parents.
• If possible, have report cards and rubrics translated.
• Prepare an outline of the conference agenda to show to
parents and make sure that it includes topics that they
will want to discuss.
• Try to schedule the conference so that both parents
can attend. In some cultures, no important decisions
are made without the father’s agreement.
Teachers may also want to have visuals and manipulatives ready
for use during the conference, particularly if no translator will
be present. Judie once sat in a conference with a kindergarten
teacher who illustrated a student’s issues with math by using
the math manipulatives from her classroom to explain what
the child was able to do and what he needed to work on. Communicating Effectively with Parents of ELLs | 125
Greeting Parents
Teachers should be sure to have their body language reflect a
warm and receptive attitude. They should greet parents just as
they would greet guests in their homes—that is, at the door,
not from across the room behind a desk.
There are diverse cultural norms about whom it is appropri-
ate to touch in different cultures. For example, in some cul-
tures, shaking hands is not an acceptable greeting. In many
Asian cultures, a nod and slight bow are preferred; many Mus-
lim males will not touch or shake hands with women; and
people in Thailand and India often greet each other by clasp-
ing their own hands together. It is a good idea to wait and
see if the parent offers his or her hand first. Even in cultures
where handshaking is customary, the manner in which it is
done may differ from the U.S. norm. In most of the world,
a simple handclasp is considered more appropriate than the
more vigorous, hand-pumping style common in the United
States.
Body Language
Because the conference is serious business, the teacher’s body
language (including demeanor and dress) should convey as
much. Teachers should sit up straight in their chairs and not
fold their arms in front of them. They should also refrain from
using hand gestures, as these may have unintended meanings
in different cultures. Male teachers should not sit with the foot
of one leg on the knee of another. Here are some additional
concerns to keep in mind:126 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Personal space. Teachers need to consider how close they
stand to people of other cultures. It is customary in the United
States to stand at arm’s length from others. In Asia, people stand
a little farther away; in Latin America and in the Middle East,
they will stand closer. A U.S. teacher’s impulse might be to step
back when someone stands too close, but this impulse should
be controlled during conferences, lest the teacher offend stu-
dents’ parents. It is better instead for the teacher to take the
opportunity to move toward the conferencing area.
If possible, teachers should set up the conference area with
adult-size chairs. Because a direct face-to-face arrangement may
come across as too confrontational or intimate for some par-
ents, it is best to arrange chairs so that the teacher is at a 45-
degree angle from the parents. If a translator is present, he or
she should sit next to the parents, not the teacher.
Eye contact. In the United States, avoiding eye contact sug-
gests untrustworthiness. In Asia, however, too much eye con-
tact is considered rude and confrontational. It is therefore
important for teachers not to take avoidance of eye contact
personally and to keep eye contact intermittent. (Sitting at a
45-degree angle helps to ensure that this is done.)
Smiling.  The U.S. custom of smiling when greeting some-
one is not universal. Teachers should smile when greeting
parents and throughout the conference, but they should not
become alarmed if a parent doesn’t smile back. Also, teachers
should keep in mind that smiles may indicate embarrassment
or even anger; they should not assume that they always signify
agreement.Communicating Effectively with Parents of ELLs | 127
Names
The Western custom of given names followed by surnames and
of changing surnames upon marriage is not followed in some
cultures. For example, many Korean and Chinese women do not
take their husbands’ names. A teacher may say to a mother,
“You are the mother of Se Hung Lee. What name should I call
you?” In general, children from Spanish-speaking families have
a given name followed by two surnames: the first surname is
the father’s family name, and the second one is the mother’s
family name. It is also traditional in all Spanish-speaking coun-
tries for women to retain their family names when they get
married—so the mother of Carolina Rodriguez Hernandez,
for example, might be called Mrs. Hernandez, and her father,
Mr. Rodriguez. In Argentina and some other South American
countries, most women either take their husbands’ names as
they do in the United States or keep their last names but follow
it with the preposition “de” and  the husband’s  last name. In
such a case, Carolina’s mother would be Mrs. Hernandez de
Rodriguez.
To avoid unnecessary confusion, teachers should review their
students’ school registration forms to see how parents sign
their names. Judie once had a Japanese student who had a dif-
ferent family name from his parents and older brother. When
she asked the parents about this, they told her that their sec-
ond son was given the mother’s family name because her par-
ents only had female offspring and they didn’t want the name
to die out. 128 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Low-Context and High-Context Cultures
Cultures such as the United States, where verbal communi-
cation is usually direct and there is little need for nonverbal
cues in order for people to understand each other, are consid-
ered low-context cultures. Other characteristics of low-context
cultures include favoring individual rights over duty to one’s
family and not taking umbrage at simple differing viewpoints.
High-context cultures, by contrast, generally place greater
value on group harmony and family loyalty. They are also very
often hierarchical and traditional and give much more impor-
tance to such concepts as shame and honor than low-context
cultures do. In high-context cultures, words tend to be cho-
sen more carefully, as are expressions conveying respect and
  courtesy.
Most U.S. immigrants come from high-context cultures such
as Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. Parents from such
cultures may be silent when considering responses to teacher
questions, and they may also avoid expressing disagreement
out of a fear of disharmony. We know of many incidences
where parents have moved rather than express their disagree-
ment with a school! Too often, U.S. educators feel that they
have reached an agreement simply because parents have not
voiced disagreement.
We have noticed that teachers use a lot of circuitous language
when bringing a student problem to attention. Although
En  glish-fluent parents are able to read between the lines in
these situations, the parents of ELLs often are not. For this rea-
son, it is best to be as clear and direct as possible.Communicating Effectively with Parents of ELLs | 129
Let’s look at an example of miscommunication between a fam-
ily from a high-context culture and the educators at a U.S.
school. Amal, a 6th grade boy from Egypt, is frequently in
trouble because he constantly touches other boys on the play-
ground and hallways of the school. He never hurts anyone, but
his classmates are uncomfortable with his behavior and begin
to taunt and bully him. His father is called into the school for
a conference but doesn’t understand why the principal and
teacher are upset.
Amal doesn’t change his behavior. One day his classmates gang
up on him after school and beat him up. Amal’s enraged father
returns to the school this time with an adult nephew who had
gone to high school in the United States. The nephew immedi-
ately knows what the problem is and tells his uncle that in the
United States, boys do not touch each other very much unless
they are involved in sports or are fighting—unlike in Egypt,
where boys constantly touch each other while playing.
The students who ganged up on Amal are punished. After the
meeting, Amal learns to keep his hands to himself and begins
to make some friends. From this incident, the school learns
that it is important to make an effort to understand the cul-
tures of their students and their families.
Let’s consider another example. Mrs. Miller is an exemplary
4th grade teacher who excels at conferencing with the parents
of her ELLs. She requests a conference with the parents of one
of her ELLs, Marguerite Castellanos, because she is concerned
that Marguerite is having trouble with science and social studies
and does not complete her homework. Before the conference, 130 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Mrs. Miller checks the school records and finds that Margue-
rite’s parents both use the surname Castellanos.
At the beginning of the conference, Mrs. Miller greets Mar-
guerite’s parents and their translator, Nita, at the door of her
classroom. She invites them to sit at a table in the back of the
room, where she has assembled all of Marguerite’s work sam-
ples. She has an agenda for the meeting that she shares with
Mr. and Mrs. Castellanos and Nita. Mrs. Miller speaks in short
sentences and enunciates her words clearly. She is careful to
speak directly to the parents rather than Nita, and she stops
frequently so that Nita can translate what she has said.
Mrs. Miller begins by showing the parents evidence of Mar-
guerite’s strengths using samples of her best work. She praises
Marguerite’s grasp of spoken English and explains how she
sometimes translates for other children. She then demon-
strates to parents the areas on which she wants to focus with
Marguerite during the upcoming weeks. She shows the par-
ents examples of the types of activities that Marguerite will be
engaging in and the vocabulary that she will need to learn. She
shows them an example of the upcoming test and of home-
work assignments. She states her expectations clearly and
explicitly, not expecting the parents to read between the lines,
but also tactfully, so that the parents don’t feel as if they’re los-
ing face. She doesn’t say that Marguerite is not doing well in
science or social studies but, rather, explains her expectations
for 4th graders and invites the parents to suggest ways to help
Marguerite succeed. She focuses on what can be done in the
future instead of placing blame for what has not been done in Communicating Effectively with Parents of ELLs | 131
the past. She discusses the importance of homework and how
long it should take.
Mrs. Miller ends the conference on a positive note by shar-
ing a story about how kind Marguerite was to a new student.
She gives the parents a piece of paper enumerating the main
points that she made during the meeting, so that they can
review the information with the translator. After the confer-
ence, whenever Marguerite shows progress, Mrs. Miller writes
her parents celebratory letters. (Although some teachers will
routinely telephone parents, Mrs. Miller realizes that Mr. and
Mrs. Castellanos do not have a sufficient command of English
to hold a meaningful conversation on the phone.)
Differing Views on Time
In the United States, Canada, and Northern European coun-
tries, time is expected to be highly structured, efficiency is
revered, and people generally focus on one event or interac-
tion at a time. These countries are monochronic. By contrast,
the countries of Latin America, the Caribbean, the Middle East,
Southern Europe, and Africa are by and large polychronic:
Time is less structured, and people may more readily attend to
many things at once, hold several conversations at the same
time, or talk over each other in conversation.
In monochronic countries such as the United States, punctual-
ity is valued and tardiness is considered disrespectful. In poly-
chronic countries, however, appointment times and deadlines
are seen more as approximations, so tardiness is not considered 132 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
that big a deal. This difference in attitude toward time poses a
problem for schools that have a conference schedule to meet.
One school that we know changed the wording on the con-
ference reminder so that it included an end time as well as a
beginning time (“Your conference will begin at 2:30 p.m. and
will finish at 3:15 p.m.”). Teachers in this school are encour-
aged to keep their appointments on time so that parents who
leave work or hire babysitters are not kept waiting. Another
school has a bilingual staff member write a letter in Spanish
to explain how the conferences are scheduled and how impor-
tant it is to be at school on time. One teacher told us that she
schedules a chronically late parent for the last appointment of
the day.
Teachers often tell us that their students from polychronic
cultures are often late or miss school. We believe that strong,
continuous communication with parents will help administra-
tors and teachers address these cultural differences. In many
cultures, family unity is the most important value. Children
will miss school, often without warning, for a myriad of family
reasons. One 11-year-old student we know of—a boy named
Miguel, who was originally from Mexico—missed 13 days of
school because his grandmother was hospitalized and he was
responsible for translating for his family when they talked to
doctors and nurses. He was the oldest English-speaking mem-
ber of his family. Miguel’s parents never notified the school to
explain why he would be absent, so he was declared truant. If
the parents and teachers at Miguel’s school had been commu-
nicating on a regular basis, Miguel’s parents would have been
more likely to explain his absences, and he would have been
able to make up for the worked he missed. As a truant, how-
ever, he received a failing grade for the work. Communicating Effectively with Parents of ELLs | 133
Building Relationships That Extend
Beyond Parent Conferences
According to research by Scribner, Young, and Pedroza (1999),
when parents are actively involved in the education of their
children, the children are more likely to do better in school,
attend school regularly, graduate, and go on to college. For this
reason, school administrators and teachers need to take the
initiative in establishing meaningful communications with
parents from diverse cultures.
Effective parent communication involves building relation-
ships with parents and families that extend beyond parent–
teacher conferences and are directly linked to what is occurring
in the classroom and school. We believe that teachers should
actively seek ways to connect the curriculum to students’ fami-
lies so that parents and other caregivers can be active partners
in their children’s education.
There are many ways for parents of ELLs to be engaged, regard-
less of their levels of literacy, prior schooling, or fluency in
English. First, teachers should create lessons that require stu-
dents to routinely gather information from their families,
perhaps by interviewing them or by inviting family members
to visit the class. Bloom, Katz, Solsken, Willett, and Wilson
Keenan (2000) note that parental visits to the classroom can
prove beneficial to students. Envisioning the parents of ELLs as
assets or partners with something important to offer can prove
very helpful. For example, Debbie worked in a district that
provided an after-school Spanish enrichment program in one
of its elementary schools. The purpose of the program was to
foster more bilingualism and cross-cultural awareness among 134 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
English-fluent students and ELLs. The students in the program
wrote a play entirely in Spanish and performed it before, dur-
ing, and after school. The ELLs enlisted their mothers, some of
whom were seamstresses, to make the play’s costumes. Each
of the performances had a fully packed auditorium of parents,
including all of the parents of the ELLs in the district, many of
whom had never come to their children’s school.
Teachers, administrators, and other stakeholders must take
time to welcome and encourage parent involvement in ways
that are respectful, honoring, and valuing. This includes tak-
ing the steps needed to employ translators, prepare for meet-
ings, design and implement activities for involving parents,
and encourage parent involvement. When this is done well,
teachers and parents become active partners in their children’s
education. In our next chapter, we will demonstrate how the
strategies from this book can be applied to a math lesson.Effective ELL 
Instruction in Action
CHAPTER NINE
9137
Ms. Frechette was teaching a middle school math
unit on similarity. She knew that her ELLs were
at different stages of English language acquisition
and that she needed to provide them with in-class practice
geared to their levels of English proficiency. She also knew
that she had to provide her ELLs with step-by-step instruc-
tions for homework assignments that explicitly connected the
assignments to her overarching objective (that students will
understand the concept of similarity). Ms. Frechette had taken
time to learn about the English proficiency levels of her ELLs
and had created the day’s lesson with them in mind. Let’s look
closely at two of the ELLs in Ms. Frechette’s class and the ways
in which she addressed their respective proficiency levels.
Maria had been in the United States for six months. She was in
Stage 2 (emerging) of English language acquisition, so she was
building understanding of vocabulary and content through a
good deal of visual support. She was able to provide one-word
responses to questions and could participate actively when
Ms. Frechette used body language and illustrations to describe
the activities that were required of her. She also relied heavily
on the information that Ms. Frechette displayed on the board
and in the class handouts. Ms. Frechette usually called on
Maria when she expected a yes/no, either/or, or same/different 138 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
response. Maria’s strength was in naming key vocabulary words
and writing very simple sentences to go with the key words.
Li arrived from Beijing 15 months ago. She was in Stage 3 (devel-
oping) of English language acquisition, so she understood and
could work with modified content that allowed her to make
connections with background knowledge and provide brief
descriptions and summaries of content material.
At the beginning of class, Ms. Frechette shared her objectives
for the lesson with students by posting them on the board and
passing them out in a handout (see Figure 9.1). (The objectives
would remain on the board for the duration of the two-week
unit.) She read the overarching unit objective aloud, followed
by the day’s content and language objectives, and told her
students that they would be learning about ratios to describe
similarities. She wrote the word similarity on the board.
Next, Ms. Frechette divided her class into pairs, assigning Maria
and Li to partners whom she believed would support them.
She asked each pair to discuss the meaning of the word simi-
larity and then to share its ideas with another pair. Once this
task was completed, she asked each pair to agree on a defini-
tion that it believed best describes the word. Each pair shared
its definition with the whole class, after which Ms. Frechette
asked the class as a whole to agree on a single definition. Each
student voted for one of the definitions. The definition with
the most votes was as follows: “Similarity refers to the ways in
which people, places, and things are the same.” Ms. Frechette
asked the students to write the chosen definition next to the
word similarity on their handouts and to draw a picture illus-
trating the term. She then conducted a think-aloud as to what
her own drawing might look like and drew it on the board. Effective ELL Instruction in Action | 139
Figure 9.1
Ms. Frechette’s Handout
Unit  Objective To understand how to describe things that are similar
 mathematically
Content Objectives 1. Listen to a defi nition about ratios.
2. Write a ratio as a fraction.
3. Solve ratio problems using fractions.
4. Prepare for homework assignment about ratios.
Language Objective To learn to compare the relationship between two
quantities using ratios
Word Defi  nition Example
Similarity
Ratio
Quantities
Fractional Ratios
Activity: With a partner, describe a quantity that can be measured using a
 fractional ratio and percentage.
Part Total Fractional Ratio Percentage
7 girls Out of 25 students 7/25 27% 140 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Ms. Frechette told her students that they would be learning
about ratios to describe the relationship between similar peo-
ple, places, or things. On the board, above the word similarity,
she wrote, “Vocabulary words about ratios.” Beneath similar-
ity,  she wrote, “ratio = comparing two or more quantities.”
She then explained that quantities could be either numbers
or measurements. Beneath the definition of  ratio,  she wrote,
“quantity = numbers or measurement.” She then explained that
a fraction is used to compare the part-to-whole relationship of
a quantity. Beneath the definition of quantity, she wrote, “the
ratio of girls in our class.” As she wrote this, Maria’s partner
shared the meaning of these words with Maria by pointing to
the girls in their class. Maria nodded to her partner, indicating
that she understood. Before moving on, Ms. Frechette revisited
the overarching unit objective and discussed it with the class.
Next, Ms. Frechette conducted another think-aloud. She noted
that in order to determine the ratio of girls in the class, she
must first find out the total number of students. She counted
aloud and stated that there were 25 students in the class. She
wrote this number on the board. Then, she counted the num-
ber of girls in the room and wrote the number 7 above the
number 25 on the board, placing a line between the two num-
bers. She told the students that the ratio of girls in the class
could be described as a fraction: 7/25. “There are 25 students,”
she said. “For me to describe a fraction of the students, I have
to write a ratio statement. My ratio statement is that 7/25ths
of the students in our class are girls.”
Ms. Frechette asked each pair of students to discuss different
ideas that they had for measuring ratios of similar people,
places, or things in their classroom. She told them to select
something from the classroom to measure. On the board, she Effective ELL Instruction in Action | 141
used the same chart as in the activity section of her handout
to spark students’ thinking about comparing. Under the word
“part,” she wrote “7 girls,” and under the word “total,” she
wrote, “out of 25 students.” Ms. Frechette moved to where
Maria and her partner were seated and listened to their dis-
cussion. Maria’s partner pointed to her eyes and commented
that their eye color was different. On a piece of paper, Maria’s
partner wrote, “Maria’s eyes are blue, mine are brown.” She
then wrote the number 2 and handed her pencil to Maria.
Maria wrote the number 1 above the number 2, placing a line
between the two numbers to form a fraction, next to which
she wrote the fraction again. Nodding her approval of their
work, Ms. Frechette asked Maria and her partner to find some-
thing else in the room that could be compared through mea-
surement. Maria noticed that some students had brown hair
and some had blond hair. She said “brown hair and yellow
hair” to her partner. On their handouts, they wrote “10 yel-
low hair” under “part” and “out of 25 students” under “total.”
Ms. Frechette affirmed their actions by saying, “Good, note
the difference on your chart, and we will use this to form a
fractional ratio.”
Ms. Frechette then moved to the other pairs in the classroom
and responded to their ideas. She then asked each pair to work
with another pair to discuss the ideas that they had generated
for this task. She watched Li and her partner share their ideas.
Li rapidly engaged her classmates in a discussion of the types
of fractional ratio measurements that she and her partner had
made. She also observed as Maria and her partner engaged
with another pair in the same task. She listened carefully to
Maria and noticed that she used simple phrases to describe
what they had chosen for their ratio example. Drawing from
the various examples that the pairs had created, Ms. Frechette 142 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
next asked each pair to create a descriptive statement using the
following frame:
(Number) out of a total of (number and noun) in our class
= (ratio). This represents (percentage) of the total.
Next, Ms. Frechette reviewed the content objectives for the
lesson with her students and asked if they thought they had
achieved it. All nodded in agreement, including Maria and Li.
Once this was done, Ms. Frechette asked her students to review
the homework assignment with her. She read the assignment
aloud as she wrote it on the board: “Measure the number of
similar people, places, or things in your home using ratios. Dis-
cuss this assignment with your family and ask them for help
finding items to measure.” She told the students to come up
with four examples and to use the handout they used earlier in
class to form their answers.
When Maria arrived home, she decided to tackle her math
homework. After explaining the assignment to her mother,
the two of them found many objects in their home that Maria
could measure using fractional ratios. Using the handout from
Ms. Frechette and the notes that she copied from the board
during class, she identified four examples of ratios. She wrote
the examples down and illustrated them. She believed that she
understood the process of determining fractional ratios because
Ms. Frechette had provided so many examples in class.
At the end of the week, Ms. Frechette had her students take an
exam that required them to answer questions using the same
type of language they used in their class activities and home-
work assignments. We believe that test-taking skills can and Effective ELL Instruction in Action | 143
should be taught while teaching content. For example, rather
than simply describing to students what an open-ended ques-
tion is, teachers should have them conduct a content-based
task that requires them to answer an open-ended question,
and they should provide students with step-by-step instruc-
tion in doing so.
*  *  *
Here are some ways in which Ms. Frechette ensured that her
lesson would be successful for the ELLs in her class:
• She introduced the lesson by reading the unit and les-
son objectives out loud, and she reviewed the objec-
tives again during each transition point to ensure that
her students were aware of the purpose behind every
activity. She also posted the objectives on the board
and included them in her handout. At the end of the
lesson, she revisited the objectives once more.
• She wrote key vocabulary on the board and had her
students explore what they mean.
• She took care to ensure that her lesson did not include
examples that might reflect cultural bias.
• She modeled the day’s activities and homework assign-
ment, and she provided students with several practice
opportunities using diagrams.
• She divided her class into pairs, assigning her ELLs to
partners with whom she believed they would work
well, and asked each pair to come up with examples
of fractional ratios. She supported them in this pro-
cess, providing them with the time that they needed to
complete the task. 144 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
• She asked each pair to share ideas with another pair,
then with the whole class—a sequence that allowed
students to begin their assigned activity within the
safety of a small learning community and also allowed
for multiple practice opportunities.
• She drew from her students’ lives to create activities
with which she believed her students could relate.
• She closely observed her students during each task,
assessing their progress all the while.
• She made sure to ask her ELLs questions that matched
their levels of English proficiency.
• She regarded the students as rich resources for one
another and provided them with ample opportunities
to work together.
• She required her students to provide one another with
feedback, thus allowing them to make sure that they
understood the material.
• She assigned homework that related directly to the day’s
lesson, engaged family members, and provided students
with a frame for their answers. Because the assignment
required students to use the language of ratios and per-
centages to describe their mathematical understanding
about people, places, and things that are similar, Ms.
Frechette was able to immediately assess her students’
understanding when she reviewed their homework.
An effective instructional environment is one in which teachers
• Identify and post the core unit and lesson objectives;
• Provide authentic and compelling tasks that connect
with students’ background knowledge and experiences;
• Use charts, diagrams, or graphic organizers;Effective ELL Instruction in Action | 145
• Match learning activities to students’ English profi-
ciency levels; and
• Provide multiple in-class guided practice opportuni-
ties that are similar in structure to the homework
assignment.
The ways in which we design and deliver instruction and orga-
nize our classrooms must continuously be focused on support-
ing students to be active learners in and engaged members of
the school community.Suggested Verbs to
Use When Composing
Language Objectives
APPENDIX ONE
1149
Listening
• Listen for
• Look for
• Pay attention to
• Think about
• Focus on
• Concentrate on
Speaking
• Retell
• Summarize
• Discuss
• Share
• Tell
• Persuade
• Argue
• Report
• Recite
• Describe
• Comment
• Explain
• Sing
• Echo
• Repeat
• Read aloud
• Present
• Talk
• Say
• Whisper
• Chant
• Announce
• Ask
• Answer150 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Reading
• Sort
• Read
• Find
• Look for
• Predict
• Confi rm
• Infer
• Sequence
• Identify
• Match
• Unscramble
• Find information about
• Review
• Organize
Writing
• Write
• Draw
• Copy
• Compare
• Contrast
• Draft
• Type
• Label
• Edit
• Sort
• Summarize
• Print
• Fill in
• Illustrate
• Color
• Record
• Collect
• Graph
• Diagram
• Create
• Make Lesson Modification
Worksheet
APPENDIX TWO
2153
Teacher:    Grade Level: 
Subject:    Unit or Chapter: 
Acquisition stages of the ELLs in my class: 
1. What are the ELL or content area standards?
2. What key concepts will students learn, and what strategies will be used
to teach them?
3. What background knowledge will students need? How will it be activated?154 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
4. List key terms, words, idioms, and phrases (TWIPs) to be pretaught.
Include simple, student-friendly defi nitions. Identify words that are likely
to be used outside class as well as academic words that are content-
specifi c.
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
5. Design one or more of the following activities for TWIP instruction:
• Matching vocabulary with defi nitions
• Drawing and labeling
• Labeling maps
• Filling out simple charts
• Sequencing activity
• Group vocabulary activities and games
• Student-generated word wallsAppendix 2 | 155
6. Check which of the following strategies you will use in class:
  □ 1. Buddies
  □ 2. Cooperative groups
  □ 3. Graphs, charts, photos, drawings
  □ 4. Graphic organizers
  □ 5. Hands-on activities
  □ 6. Taping explanations and photocopying notes
  □ 7. Highlighting, sticky notes, Wikki Stix
  □ 8. Using body language, skits, storytelling, music, videos
  □ 9. Vocabulary box wherever possible
7. How will you modify text for beginning learners of English?
8. What kind of homework will you assign? How does it explicitly connect to
and provide additional practice for the day’s lesson?
9. How will you modify assessments for ELLs? Home Language Survey
APPENDIX THREE
3159
Dear Parent/Guardian,
In order to help your child succeed in school, we ask that you
please fill out the following form for each child you are regis-
tering. Your answers will help us to provide the best possible
educational program for your child.
Student Name: 
Date of Birth: 
Current Grade: 
Country of Birth: 
Date of family’s most recent entry into the United States:

What language did your child first understand or speak?

What language do you use most often when speaking to your
child at home? 
What language does your child use most often when speaking
with you at home?  160 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
What language does your child use most often when speaking
with other family members? 
What language does your child use most often when speaking
to friends? 
Does your child read in English?  □ Yes  □ No
Does your child read in a language
other than English?  □ Yes  □ No
If yes, what language?   
Does your child write in English?  □ Yes  □ No
Does your child write in a language
other than English?  □ Yes  □ No
If yes, what language? 
At what age did your child start attending school? 
Has your child entered school every year
since that age?  □ Yes  □ No
If no, please explain:    




 Glossary
APPENDIX FOUR
4163
Accommodation: Modifying spoken or written language to
make it comprehensible to second-language learners
Adapted: Modified for English language learners; usually
refers to materials that have simplified language without water-
ing down the content
Background knowledge: Experience and knowledge that
a student brings to classroom learning; also known as  prior
knowledge
Backward design: The process of designing lessons by first
determining what students should be able to know and do at
the conclusion of the lesson; also known as thinking backward
Basic interpersonal communication skills (BICS): The
skills required for verbal face-to-face social communication
Big ideas: Core concepts in a school’s curriculum
Bilingual: Having the ability to communicate in two
  languages
Chunk: A grouping of words that are usually used together as
fixed expressions (e.g., “Hello, how are you?”)164 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Cognitive academic language proficiency (CALP): The
academic language of the content classroom, which takes 4–10
years for ELLs to acquire
Communicative competence: The ability to produce lan-
guage appropriately both orally and in writing
Competencies: The least amount of language necessary to
get by in social situations
Comprehensible input: Communication that is just above
the learners’ level of English ability 
Content-based ESL instruction: The process of teaching
language through content area subject matter
Content objectives: The material that teachers want their
students to learn by the end of a lesson
Cooperative learning: The process of students working
together in small groups
English for speakers of other languages (ESOL): A pro-
gram of English language instruction for non-English speakers;
also known as English as a second language (ESL)
Formative assessment: The process of assessing whether or
not learning is occurring during the course of a lesson
Graphic organizer: A chart or table used to organize infor-
mation and ideas Appendix 4 | 165
Language acquisition: The process of learning a language
through meaningful, informal conversation
Language objectives: The language learning that teachers
want their students to achieve by the end of a lesson
Learning style: The manner in which a given student learns
Mainstreaming:  The practice of placing ELLs in classes
designed for English-fluent speakers
Mentor texts: Texts that demonstrate different writing genres
for writers, often used by teachers as examples of high-quality
writing for students
Native language: The first language that a person learns;
often the language that ELLs use at home; also known as heri-
tage language, home language, and primary language
Sheltered English: The process of simplifying the language
of instruction to teach content area material
Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP): A
strategy for describing instructional practices that help teach-
ers make content accessible to ELLs
Stopping places: Places in a text where students should stop
to ask themselves questions or make predictions166 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
Summative assessment: The process of assessing whether
or not learning has occurred during a lesson or unit, such as
through a quiz, test, or exam
Target language: The language that a learner is trying to
acquire
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
(TESOL): An international professional organization for those
concerned with the teaching of English as a second or foreign
language and of Standard English as a second dialect
Text-to-self connection: An association that students make
between the text that they are reading and something that
happened in their own lives
Text-to-text connection: An association that students make
between the text that they are reading and another text that
they have read
Text-to-world connection:  An association that students
make between the text that they are reading and something
that has happened in the world
Think-aloud:  The strategy of modeling problem-solving
thought processes by narrating them for students
TWIPs: An acronym referring to terms, words, idioms, and
phrases that reflect the key concepts and vocabulary of a les-
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173
The letter f following a page number denotes a fi gure; page numbers
in italics indicate defi  nitions.
accommodation, 163
Act It Out, 67
adapted, 163
assessment. See also self-
assessment, student
appropriate, ensuring,
110–111
bridging-stage ELLs, 114
classroom example,
142–143
developing-stage ELLs,
112–114
emergent-stage ELLs,
111–112, 118
expanding-stage ELLs,
112–114
formative, 164
memorization, modifying
for, 116
assessment (continued)
monitoring charts,
114–115, 115f
planning, 31
starting-stage ELLs, 111–112
summative, 166
types, 111
assessment rubrics, 114–116,
117f
background knowledge
connecting content to,
28–29, 51–54, 57–58,
75–76
defi  ned, 163
text-to-self connections,
76–77, 166
text-to-world connections,
78–79, 166174 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
backward design, 25–26, 163
basic interpersonal
communicative skills (BICS),
14, 163
Beach Ball Vocabulary, 68
big ideas, 163
bilingual, 163
Bingo, 68
body language, 10–11, 125–126
brain, building connections,
12–13
buddy system, 10–11
Choral Reading, 10–11
chunk, 163
classroom, arranging for small-
group work, 40–41
classroom work, ordinary, 9
cognitive academic language
profi ciency (CALP), 14, 164
collectivism, 40
communication. See also parent
conferences
comprehensible input, 164
culture and, 125–127
home language survey for,
157–160
in low-context vs. high-
context cultures, 128–131
nonverbal, 54–55, 125–126
communicative competence,
164
competencies, 164
comprehensible input, 164
content
connecting to background
knowledge, 28–29,
51–54, 57–58, 75–76
teaching test-taking skills
concurrently, 142–143
content-based ESL instruction,
164
content objectives
defi  ned, 28, 164
example, 28
handout example, 139f
homework in relation to,
106–107
posting, 17–18
reviewing, classroom
example, 142
reviewing at transition
points, 109f
sharing, classroom
example, 138–140,
138f
context clues, teaching
recognition of, 56–57
cooperative learning, 39, 41,
164. See also small-group
work
core content ideas, 17, 30
culture
communication and,
121–122, 125–126
low-context and high-
context, 128–131
role in learning, 13–14, 16,
23–24, 40, 53–54
and time, differing views
of, 131–132
curriculum, socially relevant,
15–16
English
competency defi  ned, 9
sheltered, 165
English for speakers of other
languages (ESOL), 164
English language learners
(ELLs)
assessment, stage-
appropriate, 111–114
defi  ned, 9Index | 175
English language learners
(ELLs) (continued)
federal education
regulations, 9
group activities, stage-
appropriate, 45–46
experience. See background
knowledge
eye contact, cultural norms,
126
Fan & Pick activity, 46
fi eld trips, 30
Find the Transition Word!, 68
Find the Word, 67
fl ash cards, 66–67
graphic organizers
defi  ned, 164
examples, writing process,
94f, 96f
recommendations for
using, 30–31
text-to-text connections,
77–78
for vocabulary instruction,
64–66, 65f
group work
assigning roles, 42–43
basic premises of, 39–40
classroom example, 138,
140–142
creating expectations for,
41
cultural element in
planning, 40
engagement strategies,
43–47
example, 32
for learning language, 19
participation, ensuring,
42–43, 46
group work (continued)
reasons for not using, 39
refl ection and self-
assessment, 48, 48f
teaching the skills for,
41–42
hand signals, 54–55
highlighters, 69
history, U.S., challenges for
ELLS, 27
home language survey, 157–160
homework
appropriate, determining,
104–106, 104f
introduction, 103–105
the lesson’s relationship to,
106–107
reviewing, classroom
example, 142
individualism, 40
inferences, making, 81–82
instructional environment,
effective, 144–145
intelligence, linguistic, 63
Jigsaw activity, 47
key activities, describing, 18,
149–150
key concepts, 56, 69
language
chunk, 164
fi rst, conventions in
writing instruction, 92
native, 165
nonverbal, 54–55, 125–126
social vs. academic, 14–15,
164
target, 166176 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
language acquisition. See also
second-language acquisition
defi  ned, 165
language learning vs., 9–10
learning styles and, 63–64
stages for ELLs, 10–12
language learning
cultural understanding
and, 13–14, 16
group work and, 19
language acquisition vs.,
9–10
language objectives
defi  ned, 28, 165
example, 28
handout example, 139f
homework in relation to,
106–107
posting, 17–18
verbs to compose, 147–149
learning
cooperative, 39, 41, 164
direct vs. indirect, 54
socially relevant, 15–16
learning environment, effective
characteristics of, 16–17
core content ideas, posting
for an, 17
daily content, posting,
17–18
introduction, 7–9
language objectives,
posting in an, 17–18
participation, supporting
high-level active learning
with, 19
vocabulary, teaching
explicitly in an, 18–19
learning styles, 63–64, 165
lesson modifi  cation worksheet,
151–155
lesson plans/planning
adequate, steps in, 25
assessment planning and,
31
assigning group roles,
42–43
content area challenges for
ELLs, 26–27
fi eld trips, 30
graphic organizers, 30–31
introduction, 23–25
modifying for ELLs, 33f, 40,
151–155
open-ended questions, 30
practice, providing
opportunities for, 31
supplementary materials,
29
thinking backward, 25–26,
163
lesson practice work, 108–110,
109f
lessons, daily
effective, example of,
137–145
homework in relation to,
106–108
instructional environment,
effective, 144–145
modeling in, 107–108
ordinary classroom work, 9
purpose, informing
students of, 18
transition points, 109–110,
109f
mainstreaming, 165
mathematics, challenges for
ELLs, 26–27
memorization, 116
mentor texts, 165Index | 177
modeling, 107–108
monitoring charts, 114–115,
115f
names, cultural difference
regarding, 127
Numbered Heads Together
activity, 47
ordinary classroom work, 9
paired work, 19
parent conferences
body language in, 125–126
building relationships to
extend beyond, 133–134
directness, importance in,
128–131
eye contact in, 126
greetings, cultural
differences in, 125
introduction, 121–122
personal space, cultural
norms of, 125–126
preconference planning
guidelines, 124
smiling in, 126
time, cultural differences
regarding, 131–132
time requirements, 123
translators for, 122–123
parents
home language survey for,
157–160
involving, ideas for,
133–134
welcoming, methods of,
123–124
participation
differentiated expectations,
80–81
participation (continued)
ensuring in group work,
42–43, 46
supporting high-level
active learning with, 19
personal space, cultural norms,
126
practice
lesson practice work
sequence, 108–110, 109f
providing opportunities
for, 31
prior knowledge. See
background knowledge
pronunciation, teaching,
61–62
questions
mental, for self-checking
comprehension, 79–81
open-ended, 30
Reader’s Workshop, 61, 74
reading, challenges for ELLs,
26
reading comprehension
background knowledge
connections for, 75–76
differentiated expectations,
80–81
inferences, 81–82
information’s importance,
determining, 82–83, 83f
introduction, 73–75
self-checking, 79–81
strategies, 74–75
synthesizing, 83–85
text-to-self connections,
76–77
text-to-text connections,
77–78178 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
reading comprehension
(continued)
text-to-world connections,
78–79
visualizing for, 75
refl ection component in group
work, 48, 48f
relationships, building with
parents, 133–134
Round Table activity, 45
science, challenges for ELLS, 27
science fairs, 67
second-language acquisition.
See also language acquisition
building connections for,
12–13
core elements of, 13
profi ciency, time required
for, 14
social role in, 14–15
stages of, 10–12
self-assessment, student, 48,
48f, 79–81, 117f
Sheltered Instruction
Observation Protocol (SIOP
model), 17–18, 165
Showdown activity, 44
small-group work. See group
work
smiling, cultural norms, 126
social element of learning,
15–16
social facilitator, 42–43
social studies, challenges for
ELLS, 27
sticky notes, 68–69
stopping places, 165
students
involving their parents,
133–134
self-assessment, 48, 48f,
79–81, 117f
supplementary materials, 29
synthesizing information,
83–85
Talking Chips activity, 46
T-charts, 83f
teachers of English to speakers
of other languages (TESOL),
166
test review, 44
test-taking skills, 142–143
text-to-self connections, 76–77,
166
text-to-text connections, 166
text-to-world connections,
78–79, 166
think-alouds, 108, 140, 166
thinking backward, 25–26, 163
Think-Pair-Share activity,
45–46
Think-Pair-Share/draw activity,
45–46
Three-minute Review activity,
45
Thumbs-Up!, 67
time, monochronic vs.
polychronic, 131–132
Total Physical Response,
10–11
translators, using, 122–123
TWIPs, 58–59, 166
unit objectives, 107–110, 139f
visualizing for reading
comprehension, 75
vocabulary
practicing, strategies for,
66–69
preteaching, 56
pronunciation, 61–62
self-selecting, 61
vocabulary acquisition, 54Index | 179
vocabulary instruction
additional resources, 69
classroom example,
140–141
content area challenges for
ELLs, 26
context clues, teaching
recognition of, 56–57
explicit, 18–19, 54–55
introduction, 51–54
materials effective for, 68–69
strategies for supporting,
62–69
TWIPs, 58–59, 166
word walls, 59–60, 60f
Wikki Stix, 68
Word Search Vocabulary, 68
word walls, 59–60, 60f
writing, challenges for ELLS, 26
writing instruction
adequate, ensuring, 90–91
emergent-stage ELLs, tips
for, 92–93
fi  nished documents,
presenting, 98
fi rst language conventions,
using, 92
introduction, 89–90
writing process, phases of,
93–98, 94f, 96f181
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Judie Haynes is the author of  Getting Started with English
Language Learners: A Guide for Educators (ASCD, 2007). She has
written 25 columns on elementary education issues for the
Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL)
publication  Essential Teacher and  has published numerous
books for English language learners over the past 15 years.
Judie has taught elementary ESL for 29 years, the last 23 of
which in River Edge, New Jersey. She holds a master’s in lan-
guage education (French) from Fairleigh Dickenson University
and certifications in elementary education, ESL, and super-
vision. An active member of New Jersey Teachers of En  glish
to Speakers of Other Languages and Bilingual Educators
(NJTESOL/NJBE), Judie was formerly the editor of the orga-
nization’s  quarterly publication, Voices, and is currently vice
president and  conference chair of the group. She has also been
content editor and writer for the Web site, http://www.every 182 | Teaching English Language Learners Across the Content Areas
thingesl.net, which she cofounded with her son, Charles, in
September 1999.
Judie served as chair of the Elementary Interest Section of inter-
national TESOL from 2000 to 2003 and is currently chair of
the Literacy Committee. She was elected to the TESOL Nomi-
nating Committee in 2007. In addition, she served on the
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards Commit-
tee from 1994 to 1998.
Judie presents professional development programs and work-
shops throughout the United States. She has presented at
TESOL and at NJTESOL/NJBE every year for the past 17 years.
She is the recipient of the New Jersey Governor’s Teacher Grant
(1989) and TESOL’s Newberry Award for Excellence in Teach-
ing (1993). She was also chosen as the New Jersey ESL Teacher
of the Year in 1992 and the Cherry Hill School Teacher of the
Year in 2006.
Debbie Zacarian is an award-winning educator, the found-
ing director of the Center for English Language Education, and
the founding and current director of the Center for Advancing
Student Achievement at the Hampshire Educational Collabor-
ative in Northampton, Massachusetts. The two centers provide
professional development, licensure programming, and con-
sulting services for educators of culturally and linguistically
diverse populations. Debbie has been a columnist for TESOL’s
Essential Teacher  publication since 2003 and has written 25
columns on secondary school issues. She holds a doctorate in
educational policy and research from the University of Mas-
sachusetts. As a clinical faculty lecturer at the University of
Massachusetts at Amherst for over a decade, she taught courses About the Authors | 183
in the theories of language acquisition, language policy, assess-
ment and evaluation, research on language acquisition, cur-
riculum development for language and content learning, and
educational administration. Debbie was also the director of the
Amherst Public Schools’ English Language Learners Program
for over 20 years—a program that has been noted as a state and
national model.
Debbie has been an educational consultant at the local, state,
and national levels in English language education, closing the
achievement gap, special education as it relates to students
from diverse populations, and educational leadership. Recog-
nized as a leading authority, Debbie served as an ESL certifi-
cation reviewer and member of the Commissioner’s Bilingual
Advisory Committee for the Massachusetts Department of
Education. She has delivered many papers and research pre-
sentations at the national level, including at the American
Educational Research Association and TESOL.
In 1991, Debbie was cited by the Massachusetts Department of
Education for her work in multicultural education, and in 1994
she was named Administrator of the Year by the Massachusetts
Association of Bilingual Educators. She currently serves on the
board of the Massachusetts Association of Teachers to Speakers
of Other Languages. Related ASCD Resources: English Language Learners
At the time of publication, the following ASCD resources were available
(ASCD stock numbers appear in parentheses). For up-to-date information
about ASCD resources, go to www.ascd.org.
Networks
Visit the ASCD Web site (www.ascd.org) and search for “networks” for in-
formation about professional edu cators who have formed groups around
topics like “Language, Literacy, and Literature.” Look in the “Network
Directory” for current facilitators’ addresses and phone numbers.
Online Courses
English Language Learners in the Mainstream (#PD09OC37)
Print Products
Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners by Kathleen
Flynn and Jane Hill (#106009)
Getting Started with English Language Learners: How Educators Can Meet the
Challenge by Judie Haynes (#106048)
Meeting the Needs of Second Language Learners: An Educator’s Guide by Judith
Lessow-Hurley (#102043)
The Language-Rich Classroom: A Research-Based Framework for Teaching English
Language Learners by Persida Himmele and William Himmele (#108037)
Videos and DVDs
Maximizing Learning for English Language Learners (three 35-minute video-
tapes with facilitator’s guide) (#403326)
Raising the Literacy Achievement of English Language Learners (one DVD with
facilitator’s guide) (#606122)
A Visit to a Classroom of English Language Learners (one 45-minute videotape
with viewer’s guide) (#404447)
The Whole Child Initiative helps schools and communi-
ties create learning environments that allow students to be
healthy, safe, engaged, supported, and challenged. To learn more about other
books and resources that relate to the whole child, visit www.wholechild
education.org.
For more information: send e-mail to member@ascd.org; call 1-800-933-2723
or 703-578-9600, press 2; send a fax to 703-575-5400; or write to Information
Services, ASCD, 1703 N. Beauregard St., Alexandria, VA 22311-1714 USA.More than 170,000 education professionals in 136
countries have joined ASCD, a worldwide learning
community of teachers, principals, superintendents,
curriculum developers, and other instructional leaders.
This ever-growing organization is dedicated to learning
and teaching and the success of each student.
Members receive the award-winning magazine
Educational Leadership and many other valuable
benefi ts, including books like the one you’re
reading now.
Memberships are available from as low as US$29.
Learn More?
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www.ascd.or g/ lear nmore
1703 North Beauregard Street, Alexandria, VA 22311-1714 USA
Join ASCD Today!
To learn more, go to www.ascd.org/learnmore
or call (toll-free in the United States and Canada):
1-800-933-ASCD (2723) or 1-703-578-9600.
www.ascd.org/learnmore
or call (toll-free in the United States and Canada):  or call (toll-free in the United States and Canada):
This ever-growing organization is dedicated to learning  This ever-growing organization is dedicated to learning
reading now.
Memberships are available from as low as US$29.
This ever-growing organization is dedicated to learning