Reading and Writing Resources for Educators: ESL

We have all had new students join our classrooms who are ELL. There are many strategies that educators can do to help the student gain confidence in their new language. Please ensure you check the additional resources I have included at the end of the post that you can use in your classroom to help you plan effective lessons.

There are a lot of things that you can do in your classroom to help ensure your ESL student is successful in gaining a stronger understanding of English.

Label items in your classroom with pictures and the word, and possibly with the first language of your ELL.

Classroom Furniture Labels Arabic Translation - information, tags, objects, data, everyday, school, class, tables, chair, board, ks1, ks2, early years

Provide your student with a personal dictionary with high-frequency words that allows them to reference as needed. Again, this should be something that should include both English and the student's first language.

Image result for english arabic student dictionary

Pair up your ELL student with someone else in the class who also understands their first language. This provides stability and confidence to the new language learner. With this grouping, the students can think-pair-share together, which will allow the ELL student to know that their ideas matter. Of course, they can speak their first language during this activity, if needed.
AS the teacher, provide many formative assessment opportunities that help to facilitate the success of the student.
Immerse your student with language as much as possible. Ensure the language is easy enough to ensure the child understands and ask if the child needs clarity on any topic taught.
Provide modifications and/or accommodations as needed in all subject areas. Choose few expectations to assess and refer to English as a Second Language and English Literacy Development: A Resource Guide as a great guide written by Ontario's Ministry of Education.
Provide regular conferencing with the student to review current work and develop next steps for the student. Keep a portfolio for the student in order to demonstrate the progress the child is making. Praise and recognize improvements in the child's achievement regularly.
Work with the student in small guided reading groups and individually. This video shows how guided reading groups work with ELL.

ELL need independent or small group work that explicit instruction that focuses on the sounds and symbols of the English language. The video below is an excellent example of this strategy.

Allow the child to orally participate in assignments and the teacher can scribe or record his answers. The video above also demonstrates this strategy so that the students can participate in regular classroom activities.
Your student, depending on where they are in the continuum, may work with the ESL teacher for more focused development.
Provide your student with technology that will help when reading by utilizing online dictionaries and text-to-speech technology.
Support the parents of the student by providing local resources to help them develop their language skills as well such as Immigration Waterloo Region. Most regions have resources available to help parents also learn English.