You Don't Have to Be a Specialist

Supporting ELLs in Content-Area Reading

Michelle Rush

Despite added pressure to make adequate yearly progress (AYP), teaching content so that it's accessible to all students, including English language learners (ELLs), doesn't have to be an overwhelming undertaking. A good understanding of the lesson, especially the content in the reading materials that support a lesson, can be the key to ensuring that ELLs understand and retain new content in their new language.

Pre-Reading: Setting and Scaffolding Language Objectives

After identifying lesson objectives and related readings, read through the materials and create language objectives as well. Setting language objectives may seem daunting, especially for content teachers who already have a finite amount of time to teach a lot of content. You may be thinking, "How can I find time to teach language in addition to content? Isn't this the ELL teacher's job?"

Language objectives need not keep you up at night. There are several online resources (like this outline and chart from Gainesville ISD or this teacher-created slideshow) to walk you through a better understanding of language objectives. Briefly, here are some simple approaches you can apply before students read new text that will benefit all students' comprehension and retention of new content.

To start, you should share the language objectives and purpose of the reading with students to focus teaching and learning. Language objectives should include all four parts of language: listening, speaking, reading, and writing. For example, your language objectives might be the following:

• Students will be able to listen to and discuss the activity with peers.
  
• Students will be able to verbally explain the life cycle of a butterfly, using three new vocabulary words.
  
• Students will be able to recognize metaphors in text.
  
• After the lesson, students will be able to answer comprehension questions in writing, using complete sentences and proper punctuation.
  

You can scaffold these language objectives for ELLs in several ways. New content, particularly, will call for identifying and defining new vocabulary. Prior to meeting with students, read through the materials associated with the lesson and identify all new or difficult vocabulary, then print out pictures (Google Images is a handy resource) to accompany the terms. Then, in class before students start their reading, review the images and new terms; post the images and new vocabulary on a word wall; or have students create their own graphic organizers that define and depict the new words, which they can keep as a reference during the reading.

Another way to support ELL attainment of language objectives is by scanning the text for words with multiple meanings, metaphors, idioms, or any other language that a language learner could misinterpret. For example, when students see a phrase like, “The larger the factory,” they may think the passage is about a “larger” and not a factory. Prior to reading, extract instances of complicated usage from the text and discuss them with students.

Have students write down, in their own words and drawings, the meanings of these grammatical structures to reference while they read. Students can also put the information in their personal word walls or dictionaries. This is a great way to activate students' learning and get them ready for making predictions, completing an anticipation guide, or a filling out a KWHL chart.

During Reading: Graphic Organizers and Modeling

Now that you've identified some of the sticking points for ELLs—like new, content-specific vocabulary and complicated phrasing or usage—students can confidently embark on the big-picture learning objectives established at the beginning of the lesson. They can begin to make whole-class or personal predictions, which they will check after the reading is complete. ELLs can also complete a KWHL chart before the reading, thinking about what they know, what they want to learn or wonder, how they will find it out, and what they learned from the reading.

To make graphic organizers more accessible, think about what kinds of language students will need to complete them, and add a column or a word box with these words and phrases. For instance, in a comparing and contrasting exercise, include such prompts as “similar,” “alike,” “both,” “however,” “although,” and “in contrast” so that students feel prepared and confident. If you are going to use study guides or outlines during reading, make sure they have accessible language and are not too overwhelming for a language learner.

One of the most important methods of teaching anything to a language learner is modeling. A strategy called “think-alouds” will help not only language learners, but also the rest of the class. With this strategy, you give whole-group, clear examples of how you process the language or content. Answer an example question on the board, large chart paper, or projector, talking out everything you are doing.

When you've modeled how to answer a question, ask for volunteers to model the next question. Student models raise student engagement and confidence, and they help you identify any areas that need clarification. Here and throughout the lesson, check for understanding and be prepared to rephrase concepts so that they're accessible to students.

Post-Reading: Checking for Comprehension

After reading, students can complete the “Learned” portion of their KWHL charts or graphic organizers. This is also a perfect time to integrate some sort of writing activity, which helps you check for comprehension and students' achievement of lesson goals and gives ELLs practice writing in complete sentences, writing a summary, or learning the academic language of synthesizing information.

In groups or individually, students can use text and images to compare and contrast characters or concepts in their reading, create a sequential flowchart of processes or events, explore cause-and-effect relationships, or summarize what they've read.

With proper preparation, modeling, and scaffolding, your ELLs will be able to understand and retain new academic content. For some, it might solely be a matter of learning the new content vocabulary, while others may still be learning how English works. Meeting students where they are; using visual tools, such as a word wall with pictures or personal student dictionaries; keeping anchor charts with images around the room; and considering the entire reading process—before, during, and after—will set up your ELLs for success.

Author's note: Many of the strategies in this article come from What's Different About Teaching Reading to Students Learning English (2007) by Dorothy Kauffmann of the Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, D.C.

Michelle Rush is an English language learner specialist at E. L. Haynes Elementary School in Washington, D.C.