I strongly agree with Gonzalez’s statement that ELL students “do twice the job of everybody else in the class.. even though the result looks like half as much”. Especially for students that are emerging, I imagine they are experiencing so many different emotions while in the classroom. As an educator, I want each of my students to know that I value effort over any result. I try to tell my class as frequently as possible that “I just want to see you try” when they come across something that may be difficult for them.
The two strategies I feel I use the most are:
#1 Make it visual. Show instead of tell. This is helpful for all of my students, it’s a great scaffold especially at the Kindergarten level when many students are entering school for the first time and the expectations are brand new. Many entering Kindergarten students struggle w/ language and concepts so visuals are a tool that I rely on heavily.
#2 Building in group work. I feel as though this is also one of my strengths. I try to let my students do the teaching whenever possible. My reading/writing groups & center groups are mixed ability so that students can rely on each other and use one another as models rather than coming directly to me. This has been very effective in helping my students’ develop their ability to problem solve & synergize. I love the idea of ELL students getting opportunities to take ownership of their learning & teach their peers.
I got a lot out of this particular podcast. Strategy #8 is something that I try to do but I definitely could do more! Giving students a chance to preview material before its presented is so helpful for many of Kindergarteners so that they can participate and even take over the teaching during whole group lessons. I think this can benefit all students, especially ELLs. I have tried to do this with defining new vocabulary in reading groups. However, this motivates me to preview more than just the vocabulary in books with my students for even more support. Since I don’t have ELL students in my classroom this year, I'm imagining what I'll do in the future if I do! I think trying strategy #3 and utilize my resources by connecting with our ENL teachers would be a great way to plan & support our ELLs.
The two strategies I feel I use the most are:
#1 Make it visual. Show instead of tell. This is helpful for all of my students, it’s a great scaffold especially at the Kindergarten level when many students are entering school for the first time and the expectations are brand new. Many entering Kindergarten students struggle w/ language and concepts so visuals are a tool that I rely on heavily.
#2 Building in group work. I feel as though this is also one of my strengths. I try to let my students do the teaching whenever possible. My reading/writing groups & center groups are mixed ability so that students can rely on each other and use one another as models rather than coming directly to me. This has been very effective in helping my students’ develop their ability to problem solve & synergize. I love the idea of ELL students getting opportunities to take ownership of their learning & teach their peers.
I got a lot out of this particular podcast. Strategy #8 is something that I try to do but I definitely could do more! Giving students a chance to preview material before its presented is so helpful for many of Kindergarteners so that they can participate and even take over the teaching during whole group lessons. I think this can benefit all students, especially ELLs. I have tried to do this with defining new vocabulary in reading groups. However, this motivates me to preview more than just the vocabulary in books with my students for even more support. Since I don’t have ELL students in my classroom this year, I'm imagining what I'll do in the future if I do! I think trying strategy #3 and utilize my resources by connecting with our ENL teachers would be a great way to plan & support our ELLs.