ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNER STRATEGIES- OH MY!
English language learner strategies are exactly what it sounds like...ways to teach our English language learners better. This can seem like a daunting task at first. Relax! These students are first and foremost just like the rest of your students. They want to be loved, accepted, and included. You can ease their anxieties by making sure that they feel acknowledged and appreciated for their differences but always included and comfortable with the whole group. If you have a student that speaks more than one language, try labeling items in your classroom in their first language. The ELL student will feel more included and all your other students will learn a few words in another language. Why not? If you can allow for students to participate in show and tell about their family history. I know that show and tell is an old idea but it works. Students are so excited to share something from home, from their culture, or from a recent trip they were able to take. This can always increase the sense of community in your classroom and help ELL students see that we are all different in some ways and all the same in some ways.
We have many tools to help us overcome any language barriers that may arise between teachers and students and parents. Google Translate is an excellent tool when a live translator is not available.
There are a few simple techniques to employ when you have an ELL student in your classroom.
INCLUDE BOOKS IN YOUR TEACHING THAT HIGHLIGHTS THEIR ETHNICITY.
ALLOW FOR MORE WAIT TIME (THINK TIME).
SPEAK A LITTLE MORE SLOWLY WHEN INSTRUCTING.
ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION IN SMALL GROUP AND WHOLE GROUP.
ALWAYS REMEMBER GARDNER'S MULTIPLE INTELLIGENCES.
There are many different ways to relate to students, ELL students included.
Use as many of these different ways to reach your students as possible.
A strategy that I learned about recently is QSSSA.
QUESTION - ask a question.
SIGNAL- have students give you a signal. (thumbs up or thumbs down for understanding)
STEM- provide a sentence stem.
SHARE- have students share their thoughts aloud.
ASSESS- assess how the students performed in this setting.
When you utilize this strategy, you are allowing for ELL students to fully participate without singling them out or taking away instructional time from your other students.
IS FAIR ALWAYS EQUAL?
I feel that this is an important take away from this subject. Fair is not everyone getting the same but everyone getting what they need. We must always remember this fact when working with our students.
Thanks for reading,
Shannon
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