HELPING YOUR ELL STUDENT:

A TEACHER’S REFERENCE
Compiled by: SARA RAINWATER
ESL Coordinator
GISD
810-591-4443
[email protected]
PLEASE CONTACT ME FOR
ANY ADDITIONAL INFORMATION OR ASSISTANCE

March 2006 1
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
1 Cover
2 Table of contents
3

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ESL/ LEP/ ELL TERMINOLOGY
ESL (English as a second language), LEP
(limited-English proficient), and ELL (English
language learner) are all references for
students (in our case, in the United States),
whose native or home language is not English.

The term ELL is used throughout this manual.

This term is currently utilized in most places
across the United States.

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 COMPLIANCE
• Each school MUST use Title III funds to provide high-
quality, language instruction, educational programs that
are based on scientific research.

• This research much demonstrate effectiveness in

increasing English proficiency and student academic
achievement in the core academic subjects.

• Each school must select one or more methods of

instruction to be used in the programs and activities for
its ELL population.

• Each school must provide evidence that the programs

chosen are based on scientific research in teaching ELL
students. Each will be accountable for reporting its ELL 4
students’ progress.
 QUALIFICATIONS
• Any student who speaks a language other than English
at home qualifies for language testing.

• Any student who speaks both English AND another

language at home qualifies for language testing.

• The student DOES NOT have to be born in another

country to qualify for language testing.

• Even if the child seems to speak well, it is better to

recommend the child for testing. The testing will show if
the child’s academic language is equal to that of a fluent
English speaker. Remember, conversational English is
acquired much faster than academic language.
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HIGH SCHOOL ELL PLACEMENT
1. Class level placement is important. Grade level
equivalent should be maintained if at all possible. It is
important for the social interaction of the student
though the language skills may be poor.

2. Classroom support should be extended for a minimum

of 2 years with steps built in for transition.
1. Remember that it takes 4-7 years for academic vocabulary
fluency.
1. Classroom support means: scheduling the most beneficial
classes, putting the child with teacher who DESIRE to meet
the needs of a non-English speaking student, providing tutorial
support, providing an individualized education plan that will
allow the student to be successful, etc.
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 HELP! I CAN’T COMMUNICATE
By nature as a teacher, you want to help kids learn.

Don’t panic if you can’t communicate

Do look at this child as an asset. This child brings experiences to share

that other students would never had been exposed to. You will be
amazed by, over the course of a year, how much an ELL student’s
ability to share these unique experiences improves.

Don’t worry that the ELL does not speak English right away. An infant
does not speak hours after birth. As parents, we don’t get angry that
our 2 year old doesn’t speak with perfect grammar. Learning
language is a process. It will happen with time. Additionally, be
aware that a “silent period” is common with ELL children. This will
pass in a matter of time, also.

Do know that you have the opportunity to truly change this child’s first
memories of school in America- something he/she can either regret
or treasure forever.
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***DON’T FORGET – SMILING IS AN UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE! 
 THE VERY FIRST DAYS
• Help your ELL student’s transition by:

– Showing a visual tour of the school including the:

• bathroom (ensuring he/she understands which is for girls and which
is for boys)
• Child’s classroom
• Lunchroom
• Principal’s office
– Try to convey meaning for this figure since educational systems vary
worldwide

– Giving the student a “welcoming gift”

• Ex. Notebook with the school name on it , pencils

– Using the buddy system

• The buddy works with the ELL child, goes to lunch and recess with
this child for at least the first two weeks
• Give the buddy a “thank you gift”
– Ex. Certificate of kindness
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 CULTURE SHOCK
• Culture shock is a biochemical reaction a person’s body
has when he/she is faced with a disruption in what is
his/her environment.

• All ELL students suffer different degrees of culture shock

– Often ELL children are devastated by the emotional upheaval to
be in a new place where they have lost their ability to
communicate.
– Common behavior during this time is: crying, shyness, and
depression not typical of the child’s personality.
• The child may become aggressive or withdrawn or suffer physical
ailments like stomach aches and headaches.

Culture shock will wane with time and the child’s true personality
will come out.
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 KEY PREDICTORS FOR ELL STUDENTS’
(English Language Learners)
ACADEMIC SUCCESS:
• Support of native language
– Encourage your student to develop their native language at home
through reading and writing in addition to the speaking and listening
they are most likely still using.
• If the child is not currently literate in his/her native language, do not try to
simultaneously teach literacy in both languages. Establish a strong
foundation in one language first and then promote literacy in the other.
– Allow opportunities for students to work in primary language to cluster
and clarify ideas and concepts.

• Active, cognitively-complex instruction

– Do not level content down, simply the language that accompanies it
– Keep in mind that an ELL student puts up an “affective filter” if his/her
anxiety level is high. In order to learn English in the quickest manner, an
ELL student must have low affective filters. This can be done by using
classroom strategies that aid in comprehension (in the following pages).

• Positive school climate with respect for all languages and cultures
• Allow students the opportunity to do projects based on their native language
and culture.
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 MODELING BEHAVIOR
• Many English-speaking students may already have
negative stereotypes of immigrants or non-English
speakers.

• Model how to be helpful.

– Help the ELL student understand and adjust to the American
school system through compassion.
• These expectations and procedures may be very different than what
the child is accustomed to in his/her home country. Help the child
understand not just the expectations, but also how caring the people
in America can be.

• Model how to be interested rather than fearful about

differences. Do not act ‘colorblind’ in that everyone is the
same. Instead, value the uniqueness that differences
bring. Show that there is no “right’ way to be nor a 11
“cultural norm” from which others deviate.
 TIPS TO REFLECT APPRECIATION FOR
DIVERSITY IN YOUR CLASSROOM:
• Multiculturalism is full time, not limited to special events. Reflect
many cultures in materials; don’t just do holidays, festivals and
special months.

• Show a range of racial and ethnic groups, ages, literacy and artistic
traditions in your books, posters, and classroom environment.

• Have flags from many nations including your student’s home

country.
– Be cautious that you know the political situations that the flag may
currently represent.

• Play recorded instrumental music from diverse cultures while the

whole class reads (ex. -during Silent Sustained Reading {SSR}).

• Include some of the student’s first language when labeling

environmental print and your word walls. English speakers will love
to learn other languages if they see that it is valued.
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• Greet hello in the child’s native language.
 WHAT TO FIND OUT ABOUT YOUR
STUDENT AND HIS/HER CULTURE
• Family/ life cycle
– Ex. Typical marriage age for girls

• Roles/ interpersonal relationships

– Ex. Boy/girl contact rules

• Discipline
– Ex. In many places, corporal punishment is common; the U.S. is seen as too lenient

• Concept of time
– Lateness may not be “late” in many places

• Concept of proximity (space)

• Religion
– Check to see if your child is a religious minority- ex. Arabic speaking Christian

• Food
– Some cultures do not eat certain meats, etc.

• Health/ hygiene

• History of culture

• Traditions
– Holidays
– Keep in mind that these may not be followed in the 21 st century as they had been in the past
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• Socio-cultural roles- group vs. individual, displaying knowledge, questioning, participation
 BE AWARE OF YOUR ELL CHILD’S
CULTURAL EXPECTATIONS
• These include:
– Eye contact
– Cooperation
– Fear of making mistakes
– Fear of being singled out for individual praise
– Motivation to achieve academically
– Parents’ school expectations
– Uneasiness with our American school systems
– Taboos about certain physical contact
– Beliefs about the appropriateness of styles of dress
– The role of play in education
***Differences in nonverbal language: gestures, esp.
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 WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT
“LANGUAGE” AS A SYSTEM
• There are structural and cultural components to language

• Language and culture are interrelated.

– Language reflects cultural norms, values, and beliefs
• For example, there are numerous words for snow in Alaskan Indigenous languages.
However, there is not the same meaning of “wet snow” or “dry snow” in languages
found near the Equator. The snow vocabulary is non-existent in locations where it has
no affect on life.

• Language is experience-based and founded on authentic experiences.

– An ELL child may need to be given new experiences to give meanings to words he/she has
never known in his/her first language.
• Keep this in mind when testing. Students may not have the conceptual, cultural
schema equal to that of the students who have grown up in the United States.

• Structural components of language learning include:

• Vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, spelling
• Reading, writing, speaking, listening, comprehension
• Different uses/ levels of spoken communication
• Purposes for establishing and maintaining relationships
***All of these systems develop simultaneously while the child acquires English.

There are two separations of ELL language that educators must understand: BICS
& CALP.
Without comprehension of the differences between BICS & CALP,
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misconceptions about the child’s true ability to perform in the classroom are very
probable.
 BICS (Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills)

• BICS:
– These are the first language skills acquired when learning the new
language. These are your social skills for everyday, face-to-face
situation.
• An example would be children’s conversations on the playground.

– BICS fluency occurs before CALPS fluency (academic language).

– It may take a child a relatively short time to become fluent in BICS: usually
between one and three years.

– This language is very contextualized.

• Comprehension clues are built into the words themselves

– To help your student improve his / her BICS, practice greetings and
what to say when someone leaves. Have him/her practice
requesting information and/or assistance as well as giving
information or assistance. Practice describing and expressing
feelings
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 CALP (Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency)

• CALP:
– This is the language needed to successfully undertake academic
tasks or cognitive tasks in the mainstream classroom.

– There are fewer context clues and the language is very specific to
each content area.

– CALP usually takes about four to seven years for an ELL student to
become fluent.
• To be able to develop CALP, the student must have a strong base in
BICS.

– To help your student improve his/her CALPS, he/ she will need the
language to: seek info, inform, compare, order, classify, analyze,
infer, justify, persuade, problem-solve, synthesize, and evaluate. Try
information gap activities, improvisation, radio broadcasts and
debates as well as other authentic forms of language.

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 BICS & CALP SUMMARY
ELL students must use both BICS and CALP to
succeed academically. Because BICS fluency
occurs much faster, there is often the MIS-
perception that the student no longer needs
language support because he/she is fluent.
However, it will take many additional years before
this BICS fluency is matched for CALP fluency.

Hence, DO NOT withdraw language support too soon

or academic failure becomes more likely to occur.

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 LANGUAGE DEVLEOPMENT
STAGES
• STAGE 1-Preproduction
• STAGE 2 – Early production
• STAGE 3 – Speech Emergence
• STAGE 4 – Intermediate Fluency
• STAGE 5 – Near Fluency
• STAGE 6 – Fluency

***It is not until stage 5 that some ELL students will be able
to do most content work in mainstream classrooms
without assistance, accommodations or support at or
near grade level expectations. The time frame needed to
reach this stage, on average, is from 4-7 years in the
United States school system.
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ACQUISITION / PROFICIENCY

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LEVELED ACTIVITIES

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 TEACHING TECHNIQUES DURING TEACHER SPEECH
• Give examples of what is expected (model)!!!!

• Repeat, repeat, repeat. Be redundant with concepts throughout multiple lessons.

– Try to use the exact same wording and expressions when repeating so not to further
confuse the child.

• In the beginning, use “caretaker speech” – slower rate, clearer enunciation, high
frequency words, shorter sentences, less sentence complexity

• Use more pauses between phrases

• Use fewer pronouns

• Avoid idioms and slang

• Paraphrase –use visual reviews (lists/charts/graphic organizers), verbal reviews,

summaries

• Use nonverbal cues: acting out word meanings, facial expressions

– **use caution with gestures because they can mean very different things in different
cultures
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• Announce the lesson’s objectives and activities in both oral and visual form.
 NOTE-TAKING
• Since many ELL students are in mainstream classrooms,
they are not only learning English but also grade-level
content skills.
– The U.S. curriculum (MI) is linear in organization. It is assumed
that students enter in kindergarten and build on their school
experiences every year. Students from other countries may not
have had any prior coursework in some content areas. assume
that students know.

• Since note-taking is mainly dependent on a child’s ability

to pick out “key” words in lecture, provide an outline with
specific vocabulary for the child to listen for.
– Many students first learning English cannot hear certain English
phonemes that do not exist in their native language. Thus,
without the “key words” written for him/her, the child will not be
able to find these “created” spellings he/she has taken as notes
in the dictionary after class.
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OTHER TEACHING TECHNIQUES
• Develop and maintain routines.

• Assign buddies and peer tutors

• List and review instructions step-by-step

• Write legibly

• Make the ELL student a helper

– Handing out papers, posting lunch numbers, etc.

• Label your room and classroom objects

• Post schedules, objectives, rules, lunch menu, bus schedule

• Give word banks

• Give study guides

• Make flash cards

• Use pictures, manipulatives, realia

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• Use different modalities
 TEACH FUNCTIONAL CHUNKS OF
LANGUAGE
• Use songs, rhymes, chants/raps, poems, stories, role play, dialogs

• Teach classroom survival expressions in context. Words and

grammar taught in isolation are often forgotten.
– Ex. May I go to the bathroom.
• You might just start out by emphasizing “bathroom” each time the student
walks to the bathroom door until there is meaning for this word.

Other survival phrases: -Sorry…

-I don’t understand. -Is that right?
-Could I … -Right.
-Do you know… -Okay.
-What is … -I speak…
-What? -My name is…
-Please say it again. -I need a pencil.
-Excuse me. -May I have a drink of
water?
-May I go to the office?
-Can you help me? 25
 QUESTIONING
• At earlier stages, ask the student to point, gesture, or
respond with single words or phrases.

• For students with more advanced proficiency, ask

questions that require more use of English.

***Continue high level thinking questions- just match your

leveling to required speech response.

For a more guided questioning approach, follow the natural

approach technique.

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 THE NATURAL APPROACH
• Through this approach, students learn new vocabulary
through experience and context. The natural approach
emphasizes giving the ELL students ample time to listen
to English. Naturally, speech will follow.

• Steps in Natural Approach Questioning:

Pre-production stage – questions are like commands

Point to________ , Find the ____, Show me the ____

Early Production stage – one word responses

Is this a _____ or a _____?

Speech emergence
Tell me about your ____. Why? How is the weather today?

Intermediate Fluency 27
What do you think about ___? Compare that with ____.
 STUDENT RESPONSE &
TEACHER CORRECTION
• Don’t force students to speak but still ask that they respond
(pointing, etc.)

• Give extended wait time

• Reduce response materials

• Know that ELL students will make mistakes.

– Focus more on meaning than grammar.
– Model the correct grammar without correcting the student.
• For example: the student says “I eating hamburger”
» Teacher: you ate a hamburger?
» Student: Yes, I ate a hamburger.

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 TOTAL PHYSICAL RESPONSE
(TPR)
• In this approach, students respond to teacher commands
with physical activity. The student and teacher can
switch roles as the student develops language.

– Teacher gives a command.

– Teacher models the behavior

• Use a lot of repetition with this part.

– Teacher gives the command and gives obvious clues to the

meaning.
• Student responds with whole body actions, not words.
• Change the order of commands after students begin to master the
language for interest.
• Teacher recombines commands for unpredictability.

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USEFUL TPR VOCABULARY
VERBS ADJ. / ADV. NOUNS
Stand up fast body parts
Sit down slow classroom objects

Raise/lift ___(hand, etc.) ___ times parts of the room

Lower (to the) colors
Point to left numbers
Lay/place right
Take front
Jump back
Turn around high
Clap low
Open backwards
Shut forwards
Wave side-ways
Draw above/over
Write below/under
in
on
next to

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 THEMATIC CONTENT INSTRUCTION
• Remember – there must be a base in BICS before intense content
instruction can occur

• Identify the language and/ or academic difficulties and demands that

particular subjects may present for ELL students.
– Examples of these might be: reading textbooks, completing
worksheets, writing reports, doing library research, solving
mathematical and scientific word problems, and using rhetorical
styles in essays (cause/effect, compare/contrast, argue, and
persuade.)

• Select a theme for multiple lessons that can be used across the
content areas. Set both language and content goals for the ELL
child.

• Identify and utilize key terms and words throughout the lessons.

• Use authentic assessment.

– Ex. Project-based
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 TEACH STUDY SKILLS
Show students how to develop and use graphic organizers.

• outlines-summary/ prediction
• time lines – organize/ sequence, compare
• flow charts – outcome progression and influence, cause/effect
• mapping – movement and spatial relations examination
• graphs & charts – organize and compare
• Venn diagrams – compare/ contrast

Show students how to use texts and other written materials

• text as a whole-
– parts of a book – table of contents, index
– headings, subheadings, illustrations to help give context
• passages –
– draw inferences, make judgments

Practice academic tasks, such as research projects, problem-solving, and

essay writing
• go through the process step-by-step with real examples 32
• have the student practice going through the steps with you
 STRATEGIES TO MODEL
• COGNITIVE STRATEGIES TO MODEL
– analyze
– outline
– take notes

• METACOGNITIVE STRATEGIES TO MODEL

– identify learning preferences
– arrange study skills

• MEMORY-RELATED STRATEGIES TO MODEL

– acronyms
– Mnemonic devices
– rhyming
– Imagery

• COMPENSATORY STRATEGIES TO MODEL

– synonyms, guessing from context
– guessing from context

• AFFECTIVE STRATEGIES TO MODEL

– mood or anxiety level identification, positive self-talk 33
 COMPREHENSION
• Break tasks down

• Simplify directions

• Try “not” to use negatives – these are very confusing

• Ask questions with language that is “leveled down”

• Allow “translating time”

• Help students with think-aloud sessions

• Check periodically to see if he/she is confused- use nonverbal

responses: nodding of heads, raising hands, signaling, actions,
drawing –
– ***Use caution – many ELL students want to please the teacher and
may say “yes” or nod their head “yes” without truly understanding what
is being asked 34
– Double-check in different ways
 ELL STUDENT SPEAKING &
LISTENING
• It is normal for an ELL to go through a “silent period.” This is usually when the
child is experiencing culture shock upon initial arrival. During this stage, the
child may not speak at all. However, he/she is absorbing everything. Thus,
continue to use ELL teaching techniques. Soon, the silent stage will pass and
your student may surprise you with what they have learned.

• Teach vocabulary in context as often as possible. Try not to isolate words.

• Use puppets, drama, dialogues, small group discussions, games, songs,

finger-plays, poems, show and tell, skits

• If you can not understand what your student says

– Repeat what you think the student said with question intonation to check
your comprehension.
– Tell the student “Sorry, I don’t understand. Please say it again.

• Read aloud to your student- at every age and level.

• Do frequent comprehension checks

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 ELL STUDENT READING

• The reading process is the same for all languages with

the Roman alphabet. Once a student reads in one
language, he/she can transfer those skills to a second
language.

• With lowered oral language proficiency, even good

readers (in their native language) often revert to poor
reader strategies.
– Help your students maintain / produce “good” reader strategies
in English

• In the second language, the child does not have the

background knowledge and educational experiences to
support content or give contextual meaning to print.
– Previewing and building background knowledge must be a
starter at all times. 36
 READING ELEMENTS TO INCORPORATE
INTO YOUR ELL STUDENT’S ROAD TO
READING ENGLISH
• PHONOLOGICAL ORTHOGRAPHIC AWARENESS
AWARENESS Spelling patterns
– Rhymes Identifying word families
– Alliteration Decoding skills
– Syllable counting
COMPREHENSION STRATEGIES
• PRINT AWARENESS Story discussion
– Shared books Prediction/Foreshadowing
– Environmental print Main idea
– Concept of a word
READING PRACTICE
• ALPHABETIC AWARENESS Guided Reading
– Recognition of upper and Sustained Silent Reading
lower-case alphabet Paired reading
– Letter/sound mapping
– Alphabetical order

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 TIPS FOR ELL WRITING
*** An ELL student must have a foundation
speaking English before he/she can truly write
for meaning

• If the student is orally communicating well, write

for real communication and purpose. ex.
Teacher-student journal

• Emphasize the process over the pieces

• Use supports like group composing, graphic

organizers, drawing-based texts
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 ASSESSMENT
• ***Understand the fear and limits of testing

• Use authentic assessment, not traditional multiple-choice

tests (these have no context for linguistic support)

• Choose key/main ideas for assessment

• Give extended time

• Simplify directions

• Include word banks

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 EXAMPLES OF AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT
FOR ELL STUDENTS
Authentic assessment is vital to your ELL student’s ability
to demonstrate what he/she can do and knows. Use:

• Checklists during observation

• Oral interviews / questionnaires
• Story/ text retellings
• Projects/ exhibitions
• Experiments/ demonstrations
• Informal conferencing between the student and yourself
• Dialogue journals
• Portfolios: these are SUPER with language learners.
Portfolios will allow both the students and yourself to
see the tremendous gains the child has made in English.40
 GRADUATION REQUIREMENTS
1. All students must meet graduation requirements to receive a
diploma.

However, you can use alternative methods for grading.

NO ONE supports giving away grades.
Looking for quality and growth over quantity in an individualized plan will
allow the student to be successful.

Examples of alternative grading:

1. EX. S/U counted for credit

2. S/U non-credit
3. Teacher discretion to evaluate the goals and objectives of the class and
assign graded for the work expected of each individual student
4. Audit option with no credit.
1. This requires a letter signed by the parent, student, teacher and counselor
indicating acceptance of this option. Make sure the parent and child truly
understand the implications of this option.

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 WEBSITES FOR TEACHERS
WORKING WITH ELL STUDENTS

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WEBSITES, CONTD.

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 LET’S FACE IT- ENGLISH IS A CRAZY LANGUAGE
• We take English for granted. However, if we explore its paradoxes, we find that quicksand can
work slowly, boxing rings are square, and a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig
• There is not egg in eggplant nor ham in hamburger
• English muffins weren’t from England nor French fries from France
• Why is it that a writer can write but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce and hammers don’t ham
• If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn’t the plural of booth beeth?
• If teachers taught, why didn’t preachers praught?
• How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same while a wise man and a wise guy are
opposites.
• You have the marvel at the unique lunacy of a language in which your house can burn up as it
burns down, in which you fill in a form by filling it out and in which an alarm goes off by going on
• That is why, when the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are
invisible.

• Remember that you, as the teacher, have the ability to help English Language Learners sort all of
the “ins and outs” out by taking them in, helping them out, and giving them a hand (not literally, of
course)  Thank you for treating these children as you’d want your own to be treated.

Thank you for caring. Thank you for making a difference!

Please contact me if I can be of any additional help

Sara Rainwater
ESL Coordinator
810-591-4443
[email protected]
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