Christina Chaney - 50 Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners

Classroom Bilingual books and I chose the strategy “Culture Studies.” I feel it
Environment labels relates to classroom environment because we
Checking for learned in Module 1 that one way to foster a
provide a brief understanding welcoming environment for ELs is to teach
analysis of the Choosing students to understand and appreciate their
strategy that technology based own and others’ cultural heritages. The
SPECIFICALLY on student needs strategy sparked my interest because I wanted
REFERENCES learning Communication to know how teachers of different grade levels
from Module 1 to games and subjects could incorporate it (my first
help justify your Cooperative thought was, how could a high school math
analysis. For learning teacher incorporate this?). I feel that Culture
example, you may Culture studies Studies would be an effective strategy for
highlight a strategy Free voluntary creating a welcoming classroom environment
that provides a reading because it provides students with the
technique that Language focus opportunity to not only share the traditions,
could support lessons language, food, etc. of their culture, but to
learners with any Learning centers learn more about their peers, as well. In the
variety of first Learning strategy interview with Donna Ford about cultural and
languages and instruction linguistic differences, she tells us that “it’s not
specifically Multimedia cultural diversity that is at work when we
reference the presentations misunderstand someone; it’s cultural
language diversity Read, pair, share differences.” Therefore, it is likely that a cultural
we face in U.S. Small groups and history project would help facilitate discussion
schools from the partners and, hopefully, additional understanding of
English Language Visual scaffolding others’ backgrounds within a classroom. The 50
Learners in Strategies book provides suggestions on page
America's Great City 231 of projects for varying grade levels of
Schools document students.
as justification for
your analysis.
Oral Language Collaborative The strategy I chose that is related to oral
You identify the Reading language is Communication Games. In
strategy you choose Communication module 2, we learned that there are five levels
related to oral Games of language proficiency (six if we go by WIDA’s
language AND Cooperative standards) so it is important for ELs to have
explain why you feel Learning multiple opportunities to learn, practice, and
it fits that Learning Centers strengthen this skill. I feel that it fits the category
topic/category. Modeled Talk of oral language because students use oral
You describe why Read, Pair, Share language to communicate strategies during
the strategy sparked Story Reenactment games. It sparked my interest because games
your interest. Vocabulary Role- can be engaging and fun, and I wanted to
You provide a brief Play know more about using oral language in this
analysis of the way to support ELs.
strategy that Communication games can incorporate both
SPECIFICALLY social and academic language, also known as
REFERENCES learning Basic Interpersonal Communication Skills (BICS)
from Module 2 to and Cognitive Academic Language
 Christina Chaney - 50 Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners

help justify your Proficiency (CALP), respectively. In our

analysis. textbook reading by Fenner & Snyder, we learn
that “scaffolds can be grouped into three
main categories: (1) materials and resources,
(2) instruction, and (3) student grouping”
(p.61). The teacher will need to model how to
play the game and provide continuous
guidance while observing which students need
more support. Allowing students to work in
small groups that have been strategically
formed gives the EL a “low-stress environment”
in which to “practice their English
communication skills” (Herrell & Jordan, 2020).
Students would not only have the opportunity
to practice content words, but also
conversational language as they work
together.
Vocabulary & Checking for This week I decided to focus on the strategy
Comprehension Understanding Vocabulary Role-Play. This strategy
make a list of the Collecting & “encourages learners to make connections
ones you feel relate Processing Words among their past experiences, the content
to 'vocabulary and Language Focus currently being studied, and vocabulary that is
comprehension.' Lessons new or being used in an unfamiliar way”
For this discussion, Learning Strategy (Herrell, et. al, 2015). I chose vocabulary role-
choose at least one Instruction play because I like the idea of getting the
strategy from your Leveled Questions students as active and involved in their
Vocabulary & Vocabulary Role- learning as possible. One way to use this
Comprehension list Play strategy is to have groups of students create
that sparks your scripts, practice them, and perform them for
interest and read it the class. For this particular activity, the
closely. The strategy teacher would want to make sure that there
you choose is the are students of varying abilities in each group
one you will speak (and that one student is able to act like a
to in your discussion leader). This strategy also ties into our previous
postings. discussion about oral language: ELs need a lot
of opportunities to learn, practice, and
strengthen their communication – and role-
playing would not only support their oral
language but also their vocabulary and
comprehension.
Writing Collecting and My strategy this week is Scaffolding English
identify the strategy Processing Words Writing. I chose this strategy because, for many
you choose related Graphic organizers students, writing is a harder skill than reading,
to writing AND Scaffolding English so learning how to be more effective with
explain why you feel Writing scaffolding is important.
 Christina Chaney - 50 Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners

it fits that Syntax Surgery In the early grades, (K/1), a lot of what EL
topic/category. students need is similar to the rest of the
You describe why students: scaffolding, modeling, monitoring,
the strategy sparked and encouragement (Herrell & Jordan, 2020,
your interest. p.91). Begin the process of modeling with
You provide a brief choosing what to write, reading and pointing
analysis of the to the words, and finally rereading the
strategy that sentence with students. As you mentioned
SPECIFICALLY above, we see a great demonstration of this in
REFERENCES learning the video. It is important to note that if a
from this class to student is only capable of labeling pictures, we
help justify your still want to model sentence writing. After
analysis. modeling a few times, allow students time to
practice daily with a journal. This lends itself to
the Language Experience Approach (LEA)
where the student is providing some input into
what is being written. Allow students to write
without the fear of being graded or having to
be perfect. In time, the teacher can begin to
emphasize other important features of writing
such as capital letters, punctuation, and
spelling through shared and interactive writing.
Assessment Checking for This week I chose the strategy Preview/Review
identify the strategy Understanding for assessments. It sparked my interest because
you choose related Collecting and reviewing what students have learned is one
to assessment AND Processing Words way to not only assess their learning but also
explain why you feel Preview/Review the effectiveness of my lesson. There are 4
it fits that Reporting Back facets of this strategy: teach the lesson, review
topic/category. You Sorting Activities vocab and concepts, provide additional
describe why the practice, and assess/document students’
strategy sparked interactions. What I like about this strategy is
your interest. the focus on vocabulary and additional
practice, both of which are essential
components for ELs’ understanding.
Throughout this strategy, teachers would take
anecdotal notes to document student
knowledge and inform instruction. For a more
formal assessment, teachers could “conduct
individual conferences with students to give
them an opportunity to demonstrate what
they learned in the lesson” (Herrell & Jordan,
2020, p.176).
Home Connections Bilingual Books and Bilingual Books and Labels is the strategy I
Labels chose that is related to Home Connections.
Culture Studies What sparked my interest is the potential to
Christina Chaney - 50 Strategies for Teaching English Language Learners

Multimedia create a home – school connection through

Presentations literacy. As we all know, home support is
Realia Strategies crucial in student success. To implement this
Repeated Reading strategy, you would first need to know the
languages of the students in your classroom
and the English development achieved by
each student. Next, pronounce and label
common objects around the classroom.
Encourage students to repeat the words and
participate in the labeling. The next step is to
provide translations of important texts; some
bilingual students might be able to help with
this, but don’t neglect reaching out to bilingual
parents, as well! (This helps to support the
connection to home!) The fifth “step” is for
teachers to explore key vocab in several
languages – all students can participate to
learn numbers, ask basic questions, and learn
to name colors or numbers. The final step is for
teachers to monitor and evaluate their use of
bilingual books from the classroom. This
strategy not only encourages students to value
other cultures and languages, it also shows
that the study of their literature and culture is
important. Students can bring the books home
to share with their families; and the families
might also send in books to support awareness
of their native culture.