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MODULE 4

Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners (ELLs) Across Learning Environments

Module 4 - Meeting the Needs of English Language Learners (ELLs) Across Learning Environments provides us with the tools, skills, and strategies needed to help New York State’s ELL students become proficient in English while thriving across learning environments. This module challenges us to shift our mindsets and adapt our lessons to make learning more accessible and meaningful for ELLs. The content shared will help us plan deliberately for ELLs to use both their entire linguistic repertoires and their background knowledge to create instructional spaces for ELLs to engage meaningfully with grade-level tasks and develop their oral and written language skills.

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The cover page of "Putting It All Together: Teaching English Language Learners," Module 4, Session 8, is shown.

Module 4

Session 1

Equitable Instruction for ELLs

New York classrooms serve more than 2.5 million English language learners (ELLs) with more than 150 home languages. This session shows us how to embrace welcoming and affirming linguistic diversity by first understanding the road to proficiency for our ELL students. We introduce the Blueprint for English Language Learner (ELL)/Multilingual Learner (MLL) Success and explore how we can shift our mindsets to honor and utilize our students’ linguistic diversity and foster equity across learning environments.

equity, english language learners

The cover page of "Putting It All Together: Teaching English Language Learners," Module 4, Session 8, is shown.

Module 4

Session 2

Leveraging ELLs’ Home Languages

This session starts by exploring the experiences of a student that has immigrated to a Chinese-speaking country and explores the scaffolds they might need as a Chinese language learner, including how to leverage their home language as an essential practice in their language acquisition. We revisit the Blueprint for English Language Learner (ELL)/Multilingual Learner (MLL) Success, this time focusing on Principle #1, which asserts that we are all teachers of ELL and MLL students and must plan accordingly to ensure their success. The session concludes by demonstrating Principle #1 in action and sharing key takeaways for your classroom.

home languages, scaffolding, english language learners

The cover page of "Putting It All Together: Teaching English Language Learners," Module 4, Session 8, is shown.

Module 4

Session 3

Using Translanguaging to Create Equitable Access to Instruction

In this session, we explore translanguaging – the language practices of bilingual people – as an instructional strategy proven to effectively teach content and language to English language learners (ELLs). We see how this practice can be applied in the classroom to differentiate learning according to each ELLs’ individual progress in learning English. We also look at instructional strategies that support translanguaging and tools you can use across learning environments. Through this session, we will explore multiple pathways for students to use their linguistic repertoire as a strategy for learning grade-level content.

equity, accessibility, translanguaging, english language learners

The cover page of "Putting It All Together: Teaching English Language Learners," Module 4, Session 8, is shown.

Module 4

Session 4

Using Comprehensible Input to Make Lessons More Accessible to ELLs

The concept of comprehensible input helps us make content “just right” for English language learners (ELLs). This session shares how we can add additional context to learning materials through physical objects, gestures, and visuals to make lessons more comprehensible based on students’ proficiency levels. Through the examples shared in this session, a set of questions to use during lesson planning, and ideas on how to make your lessons more comprehensible, we will be better prepared to support ELLs to achieve proficiency across learning environments.

comprehensible input, accessibility, english language learners

The cover page of "Putting It All Together: Teaching English Language Learners," Module 4, Session 8, is shown.

Module 4

Session 5

Equitable Assessment Practices for ELLs

Being able to assess what students know is critical to our work as teachers. This session supports us in creating equitable assessments for English language learners (ELLs) by exploring how we can modify our existing methods to effectively gauge the learning of our ELLs. In embracing the mindset shift to use students’ home languages to assess understanding, we can more accurately determine what ELLs know. We conclude this session with ideas on how to offer equitable assessments to ELLs through a variety of methods across learning environments.

equity, english language learners

The cover page of "Putting It All Together: Teaching English Language Learners," Module 4, Session 8, is shown.

Module 4

Session 6

Supporting the Oral Language Participation of ELLs

As teachers of both content and language, we know that deliberate planning for the oral language production of our English language learners (ELLs) is crucial. This session introduces practices that enable us to scaffold discussions and use translanguaging supports to aid ELLs as speakers in our classrooms. We learn that by encouraging translanguaging – and scaffolding language demands – ELLs leverage their entire linguistic repertoire to engage meaningfully in grade-level academic content as they learn the language. We leave this session with tools to apply these concepts in our classrooms.

oral language, scaffolding, translanguaging, english language learners

The cover page of "Putting It All Together: Teaching English Language Learners," Module 4, Session 8, is shown.

Module 4

Session 7

Supporting the Written Language of ELLs

Now that we’ve gained tools to help us support English language learners (ELLs) in developing speaking and listening skills, we’ll examine how to support the written language of ELLs. This session introduces the concept of recomposing to allow ELLs to develop grade-level ideas in multiple ways without the heavy demand of language production. We learn how to integrate writing scaffolds across the writing process to better guide ELLs in developing their writing skills. The session concludes by introducing two additional portable instructional strategies – sentences from boxes and round robin writing – to further support ELLs across learning environments.

writing, scaffolding, instructional strategies, english language learners

The cover page of "Putting It All Together: Teaching English Language Learners," Module 4, Session 8, is shown.

Module 4

Session 8

Designing Equitable Learning Experiences for ELLs

The final session of Module 4 helps us put it all together so we have a toolbox full of supports for English language learners (ELLs) across learning environments. We revisit the mindset shifts needed to adapt our lessons by using portable practices that work across learning environments while promoting equity for ELLs. We’re reminded that a pillar of our work is the relationships we build with our ELLs. As teachers, it is up to us to find their strengths as part of selecting scaffolds that are “just right” for each classroom activity.

equity, english language learners

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