I have many scaffolds in place for teaching ELLs, including: providing graphic organizers, visuals and word/sound wall resources; providing pre-teaching of vocabulary and background knowledge; and providing teacher-led, small-group instruction. However, three resource scaffolds that I need to add to my classroom are home language materials and bilingual dictionaries and bilingual glossaries. In addition, I would like to employ more instructional strategies that would reduce the linguistic load for ELLs. One strategy that I currently use is teaching motions for letter-sounds during phonics instruction. I plan to expand the use of actions to reinforce the learning and recall of other concepts and skills for all students. I also plan to increase opportunities for ELL students to share vocabulary in their home language by simply asking them what the word for something is in their language. Lastly, now that I have been informed about the layered questioning strategy, I plan to use it to provide all students with the opportunity to share ideas and answers at a level that matches their oral language abilities. ELL students are not the only children who lack the skills and confidence they need to effectively share their thoughts and ideas. All students would benefit from the instructional strategies introduced in the videos.
