Spotlight: ELL in the Content Areas
Classrooms around the country are more diverse than ever. Nearly every teacher can expect to have some students who are English language learners. Many of these students may have a good conceptual grasp of various subjects but struggle when they have to communicate their understanding in English or decipher the often specialized language used in content-area texts. In the following resources, authors offer many strategies that help ELL students access and present information in all subject areas.
"The Words Came Down!"
Emelie Parker and Tess Pardini
Beginning with designing a classroom that welcomes students and creates appropriate conditions for learning, Emelie and Tess go on to detail a workshop format for reading, writing, and content area studies. This workshop structure allows teachers to differentiate instruction to include all students.
Read Emelie's biography
Read Tess's biography
Ladybugs, Tornadoes, and Swirling Galaxies
Brad Buhrow and Anne Upczak Garcia
As teachers and students engage in learning science and social studies content, they also discover multiple ways to make meaning. The book is full of photographs of students' artwork that reveals the children's inquiry process and demonstrates the important role of art as a sign system in ELL literacy and language acquisition.
Reading the World (DVD and VHS)
Anne Goudvis and Stephanie Harvey
Join Anne and Steph in classrooms where effective comprehension strategy instruction is integrated with content knowledge acquisition in science and social studies. The instruction students experience is responsive to the learning and language needs of English language learners in the primary and intermediate grades.
