Bright Ideas That Work

'Welcome Kit' for New ELLs

"A Welcome Kit" is a packet of school information and other supplies that will contribute to a positive beginning by including relevant school information and other academic supplies, no matter when the student enrolls. I recommend that a school administrator and a couple of key staff members meet to decide what should go in the Welcome Kit. Summer is a perfect opportunity to make up a stack of Welcome Kits in order to have them readily available throughout the year as new ELL students enroll. The Kits can be tailored by grade level to include appropriate academic items.

How to Support Refugee Students in the ELL Classroom

Many ELL teachers may work with refugee students in the classroom, particularly in a region of the country where large refugee communities are settling. This Bright Ideas article explores the unique challenges that both refugee students and their teachers face, as well as a number of suggestions of ways to address those challenges and a list of useful resources.

No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and the Assessment of English Language Learners

As controversial as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) law has been, one positive outcome is that ELL student achievement is included specifically in the law, and educational leaders are focusing their efforts on meeting the needs of students who are learning English as a second language. For families of ELLs, NCLB includes provisions for family involvement and communication in a language they understand, especially in regard to informing parents of the kind of ELL support their child will receive.

Writing a Winning Essay

As part of assessments and/or high school graduation requirements in many states, students must pass a writing test. For ELL students, the writing test often poses one of the biggest challenges in testing and in meeting graduation requirements. In this month's Bright Ideas article, we offer a strategy for overcoming those obstacles and writing a strong five-paragraph essay. The article outlines the process from start to finish, starting with helping students develop a deeper understanding of writing test requirements to planning, organizing, and editing the essay's final draft.

Motivating ELL Student Readers

ELL teachers are in a unique position to instill a love of reading in their students. Since many ELL students are struggling readers, however, it can be difficult to motivate them to read. In this month's Bright Ideas feature, we offer a number of suggestions for motivating ELL readers, from finding readable materials to introducing students to a "culture of reading." We also provide a number of hotlinks to websites about high-low reading materials, and articles about teaching ELLs to read.

21st Century Learners: ELL Students and Technology

As teachers of ELLs, we know that their future success will depend in part on their technological skills and their ability to learn new kinds of technology. But ELL students are often at a disadvantage when it comes to learning technology because they may not have access to the technology at home, they may not understand the English used to provide instruction, and they may need more time to develop their skills. 21st Century Learners: ELL Students and Technology offers some classroom strategies for bridging the digital divide in the ELL classroom, including the instruction of vocabulary related to technology, the use of visual aids and demonstrations, and suggestions about how to teach students to evaluate online sources.

Connect Students' Background Knowledge to Content in the ELL Classroom

As you teach content areas to ELLs of diverse backgrounds, you may find that they struggle to grasp the content, and that they approach the content from very different perspectives. Drawing on your students’ background knowledge and experiences, can be an effective way to bridge those gaps and to make the content more accessible. This article offers a number of suggestions to classroom teachers as they find ways to tap into the background knowledge that students bring with them.

How to Address Special Education Needs in the ELL Classroom

When an ELL student is struggling with language difficulties, it is often difficult to know if the problem is due to a delay in language acquisition, to a learning disability, to other kinds of special education needs, or a combination of these factors. This month's article presents an overview of practical guidelines on the steps to follow when considering if a student has special education needs, including academic interventions, factors affecting referral for assessment, and a number of related resources.

Tips for Successful Parent-Teacher Conferences with Bilingual Families

As the time for parent-teacher conferences approaches, you may be wondering how to hold an effective conference with the parents of your English language learners if they can’t communicate comfortably in English. In this month’s Bright Ideas, we provide a number of tips that will help you bridge that language gap, take cultural expectations about education into account and provide your students’ parents with the information they need about their children’s progress in school.

How to Get Parents Involved: Bilingual Family Night

Establishing a strong partnership between parents and schools early in the school year is crucial to a student's success throughout the year. However, this may prove to be a challenge when working with English Language Learners (ELLs) if their parents do not speak English. One way to connect with parents of ELLs is to host a bilingual family night at the beginning of the school year. Here are some suggestions for planning a bilingual family event, as well as creative ways to bridge the language gap and a list of links to useful websites.

Gear Up for a New School Year!

Starting a new school year positively is very important. It is likely that most teachers will have newly enrolled students in their classrooms, as well as students who do not speak English as their first language. For this reason, there is a lot for teachers to think about as they start the new school year.

Summer reading at the library!

Libraries today have changed in a number of ways to meet the demands of our modern society, but their underlying purpose for children is still to help them discover the joy of reading. As summer peaks, many local libraries advertise special summer reading programs and activities to keep children enthusiastic about reading.

Using Science to Develop ELL's Language Skills

An English language learner may not have an advanced English vocabulary, but with the right kind of curriculum and instruction, teachers may be surprised at the knowledge ELLs can gain. Science lends itself well to developing ELL students' language and content knowledge because there are so many opportunities for hands-on learning and observation.

Improving Writing Skills – ELLs and the Joy of Writing

There is a very important correlation between writing and language development. Find out how you can help your ELLs improve their writing skills. Find ideas on differentiating writing activities, and other ways to help ELLs discover the joy of writing.

Tales of a Fourth Grade Slump: How to Help ELL Students Leap to Success

A lot of literacy and math testing starts at 3rd grade, a time when readers are transitioning from "learning to read" to "reading to learn." Researchers recognize this as a time in a reader's development when he or she needs extra support to make the transition to a fully proficient reader. Readers who are not able to make this transition fall victim to what has been referred to as "the fourth grade slump."

Music and Language Learning

Language learning offers a unique and exciting opportunity to integrate music. Many people have had the experience of learning a world language and singing simple, silly songs in class. The introduction of music provides a light-hearted and fun way to interact with another language and culture.

Visual Thinking Strategies for Improved Comprehension

Use the Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) method to build students' background knowledge and develop thinking skills that use detail to enhance understanding.

Increase Student Interaction with "Think-Pair-Shares" and "Circle Chats"

If you are in a hurry right now, you can read the advice in this paragraph, return to your class and immediately increase student participation. Ask a question of your class and have the students do a "think-pair-share." In a think-pair-share the students reflect on the question silently, then share their thoughts with a partner and finally share thoughts with the whole group. Okay — that's it. Now you can go back to your classroom… or read on for more details.

Increasing Academic Language Knowledge for English Language Learner Success

ELL students learn new words everyday, and it's essential that they have a deep understanding of what those words mean. Without comprehension, new words are useless. The key to helping ELL students succeed is to give them explicit instruction in the academic language of the content they are learning in class.

Creating Your Own Classroom Newsletter

Not only can a classroom newsletter help English language learners develop their language skills, it can help a class work together to publish their own stories. This empowering writing experience can be the just what some ELLs need to succeed.