Educating English Learners
In Educating English Learners, Joyce W. Nutta and her colleagues offer practical tools for helping schools and teachers successfully integrate English learners into mainstream classrooms. Drawing on the One Plus model presented in their award-winning book, Preparing Every Teacher to Reach English Learners, the authors now turn their attention to the needs of K–12 teachers who typically have two or three English learners in their classrooms.
English learners are not a homogenous group, and the challenges they face vary tremendously. Nutta and her colleagues present protocols and case studies to help pre-service and in-service teachers understand the needs of English learners in their classrooms and differentiate instruction and assessment accordingly.
Woven throughout the book are the stories of Gero, Edith, Tasir, and Edgar, four case study students of different ages, backgrounds, and levels of English proficiency. The authors show how the protocols they provide can be applied to adapt sample lessons for students like these, across a range of grade levels, subject areas, and pedagogical approaches. Finally, the authors show how the system can be applied school-wide for a collaborative approach to meeting English learners’ needs.
Part I – Teaching Academic Subjects to English Learners
Each chapter webpage provides links to pages for every topic listed. On the topic page, a brief narrative summary provides an overview and then major subtopics are listed as headings, with links to outside resources.
Introduction: Educating English Learners in Mainstream Classrooms
In the Introduction you will meet our 4 English learners, Gero, Edith, Edgar, and Tasir, and will learn about the issues that affect their performance at school. These include:
- Types of English learners—newcomers, U.S. born, long term
- General stages of English proficiency—silent period to fluency
- Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS, or social language) and Cognitive Academic Language Development (CALP, or academic language)
- Cultural adjustment
- Individual characteristics that affect English language development—motivation, attitude, age
The links below provide more information on major topics addressed in the Introduction, with links to freely available resources that can be used for further study or to activities that can be viewed or conducted in classes or workshops. At the bottom of this page, we share links to online resources for classroom use with English learners K-12.
Chapter 1: Narrowing the Classroom Communication Gap for Academic Subjects
Chapter 1 provides an overview of teaching academic subjects to English learners, focusing on:
- The role of input, interaction, and output in second language acquisition
- Effect of grade level on language demands of academic subject instruction
- Effect of prior knowledge of the subject and first language literacy on academic subject achievement
- Assessing English learners’ knowledge of academic subjects
- Assessing the gap between grade-level academic subject instruction and English proficiency—examples from grades K, 4, 7, and 10
- Protocol for adapting mainstream academic subject instruction to an English learner’s proficiency level—the Academic Subjects Protocol
- Support strategies for providing nonverbal and verbal support in curriculum, instruction, and assessment of academic subjects
— Text simplification and elaboration
— Leveled questions
— Sentence frames
— Word banks and glossaries
| Resources for Pre-Service Teachers | Resources for In-Service Teachers |
|---|---|
| Basic Interpersonal Communicative Skills (BICS) vs. Cognitive Academic Language Proficiency (CALP) Description and examples of BICS and CALP, and how to determine where tasks fall on the BICS/CALP continua. | Example of a Lesson Plan Before and After Applying the Academic Subjects Protocol The Strongest Boat Unmodified (PDF) The Strongest Boat 2 (PDF) |
| L’Arancia (Procedure) Video Workshop for Pre-Service Teachers | Testing Options for English Learners |
| Creating Classroom Procedures and Routines | L’arancia (Procedure) Video Workshop for In-service teachers |
Chapter 2: Teaching Gero About American Symbols: Academic Vocabulary in Social Studies
Chapter 2 focuses on teaching Social Studies to English learners, addressing the following:
- Nature of social studies texts and vocabulary
- Specific challenges English learners face in social studies
- Developing English learners’ academic vocabulary in social studies
- Kindergarten social studies lesson before and after application of the Academic Subjects Protocol (lesson analysis and adaptations) for English learners
Chapter 3: Teaching Edith About the Earth’s Rotation: Inquiry-Based Science and Language Development
Chapter 3 addresses teaching Science to English learners, focusing on:
- Nature of science discourse and text
- Science knowledge and habits of mind challenges for English learners
- Developing English learners’ academic vocabulary in science
- Promoting English learners’ language interaction in science instruction
- Fourth grade science lesson before and after application of the Academic Subjects Protocol (lesson analysis and adaptations) for English learners
Mexican Students in US Schools
Chapter 4: Teaching Tasir to Map Data: Project-Based Learning & the Use of Technology
Chapter 4 focuses on project-based, thematic integration of academic subjects for English learners, focusing on:
- Nature of communication in project-based learning
- Using technology in project-based learning to support English learners
- Seventh grade environmental studies lesson before and after application of the Academic Subjects Protocol (lesson analysis and adaptations) for English learners
Chapter 5: Teaching Edgar Algebra: The Challenge of Word Problems in Math
Chapter 5 addresses teaching Mathematics to English learners, focusing on:
- Nature of communication in mathematics
- Mathematics vocabulary
- Challenges of teaching mathematics to English learners—word and other “problems”
- Tenth grade mathematics lesson before and after application of the Academic Subjects Protocol (lesson analysis and adaptations) for English learners
Puerto Rican and Spanish-Speaking Caribbean Students in US English-Speaking Schools
Teaching Mathematics to English Learners
Table Turner Experience–Mathematics
RESOURCES FOR CLASSROOM USE
http://myvolusiaschools.org/ESOL-world-languages/Pages/Math-Glossaries-in-Various-Languages.aspx
Math formula sheets and math glossaries in ten languages.
Part II – Teaching Language Arts and Literacy to English Learners
Each chapter webpage provides links to pages for every topic listed. On the topic page, a brief narrative summary provides an overview and then major subtopics are listed as headings with links to outside resources.
Chapter 6: Targeted Language Arts and Literacy Instruction
Chapter 6 addresses teaching language and literacy to English learners, focusing on:
- Language and communication
o Learning through language, learning language, and learning about language - Naturalistic and instructed second language acquisition
o What they look and sound like
o Instructional conversations - When and why instructed second language acquisition is necessary
o Focus on form and formS
o Processability theory
o Fossilization/stabilization - Individual factors and second language acquisition
o First language influence
o Age
o Learner language/interlanguage - Comparing mainstream and English language development/English as a second language (ELD/ESL) environments
- Language form and structure in second language literacy
- Learning to read in English—native and non-native speaker comparison
- Role of vocabulary, word forms, and sentence structure in second language reading
- Describing and measuring English proficiency
o WIDA/TESOL levels of proficiency
o WIDA Can Do Descriptors - Targeting language arts and literacy instruction to English learners’ WIDA levels of proficiency
- Assessing the gap between Common Core State Standards grade-level language arts and literacy instruction and an EL’s WIDA proficiency level
- What scaffolding English learners’ language arts and literacy instruction means and how it is done
o Pitch, Pace, Portion, and Perspective/Point - Use of technology for scaffolding language arts and literacy instruction
- Protocol for scaffolding language arts and literacy instruction specific to an English learner’s WIDA proficiency level—The Language Arts Protocol
Assessment of English Proficiency
Comparing First and Second Language Acquisition
Historical Language Teaching Methodologies
Instructed Second Language Acquisition
Language Arts Instruction for English Learners
Language Arts Lesson Plans Before and After Application of the Language Arts Protocol
Literacy Development for Adolescent English Learners
Literacy Development for English Learners with Low Level Literacy in the L1
Chapter 7: Teaching Gero to Write About “My Favorite Pet”: Language and Literacy in the Primary Grades
Chapter 7 addresses teaching Language Arts and Literacy to English learners in primary grades
- Comparing Common Core State Standards grade-level expectations for language and literacy in kindergarten to the proficiency of a WIDA Level 1 English learner
o Analyzing language samples - Research on teaching language and literacy to English learners in primary grades
o National Literacy Panel
o Role of oral proficiency
o Transfer from the first language - Kindergarten writing lesson before and after application of the Language Arts Protocol (lesson analysis and adaptations) for WIDA Level 1 English learner
Dual Language Learners in Early Childhood
Integrated Language Arts (Oral Language and Literacy) Instruction for Primary Grades
Chapter 8: Teaching Edith About Roots, Prefixes, and Suffixes: Language and Literacy in the Intermediate Grades
Chapter 8 addresses teaching Language Arts and Literacy to English learners in intermediate grades, focusing on:
- Comparing Common Core State Standards grade-level expectations for language and literacy in fourth grade to the proficiency of a WIDA Level 1 English learner
o Analyzing language samples - Research on teaching language and literacy to English learners in intermediate grades
o Reading comprehension - Compensatory theory of second language reading
o Role of oral proficiency
o Transfer from the first language - Fourth grade reading lesson (prefix, root, suffix) before and after application of the Language Arts Protocol (lesson analysis and adaptations) for WIDA Level 1 English learner
Integrated Language Arts Instruction for Intermediate Grades
Literacy Instruction for Intermediate Grades
Oral Language Instruction for Intermediate Grades
Chapter 9: Teaching Tasir to Write a Persuasive Argument: Language and Literacy in Middle School
Chapter 9 focuses on teaching Language Arts and Literacy to English learners in middle school, focusing on:
- Comparing Common Core State Standards grade-level expectations for language and literacy in seventh grade to the proficiency of a WIDA Level 5 English learner
o Analyzing language samples - Research on teaching language and literacy to English learners in middle school
o First language influences
o Contrasts in first and second language writing
o Transfers of literacy skills and strategies
o Error correction in writing - Seventh grade writing lesson before and after application of the Language Arts Protocol (lesson analysis and adaptations) for WIDA Level 5 English learner
Integrated Language Arts Instruction for Middle School
Literacy Instruction for Middle School
Oral Language Instruction for Middle School
Chapter 10: Teaching Edgar to Analyze a Text-Based Argument: Language and Literacy in High School
Chapter 10 addresses teaching Language Arts and Literacy to English learners in high school, focusing on :
- Comparing Common Core State Standards grade-level expectations for language and literacy in tenth grade to the proficiency of a WIDA Level 3 English learner
o Analyzing language samples - Research on teaching language and literacy to English learners in high school
o First language influence
o Oral proficiency
o Explicit instruction of grammar - Tenth grade English language development lesson (integrating reading and collaborative discussions) for a WIDA Level 3 English learner
Integrated Language Arts Instruction for High School
Literacy Instruction for High School
Oral Language Instruction for High School
Conclusion: A Call for Collaboration
The book’s Conclusion presents our One Plus Model of Professional Learning and Collaboration, focusing on:
- Roles of different school professionals and what they should know and be able to do to support English learners
- School wide collaboration for English learner success
o Continuum of systemic instructional support for English learners
o Professional learning using this book
o The who, what, why, when, where and how to support English learners’ success at your school - Encouragement to get started
RESOURCES FOR CLASSROOM USE