Supporting Comprehension for English Language Learners
The population of English Language Learner (ELL) students in the United States is on a steady increase and is one of the most rapidly growing populations in U.S. schools (Calderon, Slavin, & Sanchez, 2011). The U.S. Department of Education requires all public schools to provide extra support for ELL students. As a whole, ELLs in the elementary classroom struggle with literacy as they practice the skills needed for reading in a second language (Hickman, Pollard-Durodola, & Vaughn, 2004). Elementary teachers face challenges as they sift through the best reading strategies to use with elementary ELL students. In order to be effective, reading strategies used with ELL students must ensure students are extracting meaning while decoding. Many foundational reading strategies as part of a Balanced Literacy program often focus on phonics, phonemic awareness and fluency independently from comprehension. Strategies concentrating on timed fluency and the recognition of sight words are ineffective if students are not given the opportunity to explore the meaning of the words in the text (Applegate, Applegate, & Modla, 2009). Listed below are strategies to assist ELL students develop the skills needed to learn in the English speaking classroom.
Strategies That Work
Frontloading
Schema is especially important for ELL students. ELL students need help in developing background knowledge in order to set a purpose for reading, make connections, and develop key vocabulary. By building schema ahead of time, ELL learners will have a greater understanding of the text.
Teachers can help ELL students build schema through:
o Realia
o Video
o Field Trips
o Picture Observation Charts
o Text Bits
o Read Aloud and Shared Reading
o KW. . . E Focus on Questions (changing the K to “what I think I know” and the W to “what I wonder.” The last E could be “what else do you want to know now, after reading?”
o Word Sorts
o Cloze
o Expert/Guest Speaker
o Partner Preview: I Notice- when introducing a new nonfiction text have the student turn to a partner and discus what they notice (text features, structures, vocabulary) and then debrief with the whole class.
(McCall, 2005)
Please view the video below to view strategies that support young ELL students in building schema.
Schema is especially important for ELL students. ELL students need help in developing background knowledge in order to set a purpose for reading, make connections, and develop key vocabulary. By building schema ahead of time, ELL learners will have a greater understanding of the text.
Teachers can help ELL students build schema through:
o Realia
o Video
o Field Trips
o Picture Observation Charts
o Text Bits
o Read Aloud and Shared Reading
o KW. . . E Focus on Questions (changing the K to “what I think I know” and the W to “what I wonder.” The last E could be “what else do you want to know now, after reading?”
o Word Sorts
o Cloze
o Expert/Guest Speaker
o Partner Preview: I Notice- when introducing a new nonfiction text have the student turn to a partner and discus what they notice (text features, structures, vocabulary) and then debrief with the whole class.
(McCall, 2005)
Please view the video below to view strategies that support young ELL students in building schema.
Preview, View, Review
Translating for ELL students is not a good idea because students will tune English out. Using strategies such as Preview, View, Review helps to keep students interested in the English instruction.
The Preview
Click the link below to view more information about the strategy Preview, View, Review.
> http://davidandyvonnefreeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Preview-View-Review-WEB.pdf
Translating for ELL students is not a good idea because students will tune English out. Using strategies such as Preview, View, Review helps to keep students interested in the English instruction.
The Preview
- A bilingual peer or aide can describe the upcoming lesson so the ELL student is provided with a preview.
- The teacher conducts the lesson using visuals, hands-on-activities, student groups, charts, graphs, frequent comprehension checks, and gestures to assist the ELL student with learning
- Students can review with a peer or aide in their native language.
Click the link below to view more information about the strategy Preview, View, Review.
> http://davidandyvonnefreeman.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Preview-View-Review-WEB.pdf
Once Is Not Enough
In this strategy students are taught to look over an informational text multiple times.
In this strategy students are taught to look over an informational text multiple times.
- In the first visit, skim the pages and write down what you notice. Looking at the pictures and the structure of the text, what do you think the main ideas will be? What key words do you see in the text?
- In the second visit, read the text and use sticky notes to identify key words and ideas. Have a discussion with a partner and reach a consensus about the important points in the text.
- In the third visit, synthesize and summarize the text by asking questions and noting important information.
Previewing the Text Through Questioning
Students analyze an informational text by previewing before reading and reflecting after reading.
Students analyze an informational text by previewing before reading and reflecting after reading.
- Before reading, students preview the pictures and the text structure and write down questions they hope to have answered one they read the text. Students also write possible answers to their questions.
- After reading, students write down the questions they were able to predict the answers to, the prior knowledge they used to answer them, as well as the answers they discovered in the text.
Investigating Visual Supports
Students review at least ten informational texts by analyzing how the pictures, visuals, and captions help with comprehension. In completing this assignment, students gain insight into the type of visuals that are most appealing to them as they develop an understanding of different texts.
Students review at least ten informational texts by analyzing how the pictures, visuals, and captions help with comprehension. In completing this assignment, students gain insight into the type of visuals that are most appealing to them as they develop an understanding of different texts.
- Write down the title of the book, rate the visuals on a scale from 1-5, and explain why you gave the book that rating.
In the video below, students use file folders as a guide in helping them with the vocabulary needed to have meaningful partner conversations.
Scaffolding and Contextualizing
ELL students will need extra support from teachers and peers as they learn and thrive in a regular education classroom. Scaffolding supports ELL students achieve the tasks that are part of participating in an inclusion classroom. Scaffolds are temporary and should be reduced as students become more competent in the English language and the curriculum.
Contextualizing is a scaffold that helps students gain a perspective for the learning that is about to take place. By introducing visual and physical objects, students activate their prior knowledge to make connections, to understand the English vocabulary, and to notice a relationship between the content being taught and their active learning. Sometimes students will have very little or no prior knowledge. In this case, students will need intensive prereading support to build background on the subject. Providing students with background knowledge supports students in their comprehension. Visual and physical information may include:
· Pictures
· Big books
· Realia
· Videos
· Models
· Student art work
(Rea & Mercuri, 2005)
ELL students will need extra support from teachers and peers as they learn and thrive in a regular education classroom. Scaffolding supports ELL students achieve the tasks that are part of participating in an inclusion classroom. Scaffolds are temporary and should be reduced as students become more competent in the English language and the curriculum.
Contextualizing is a scaffold that helps students gain a perspective for the learning that is about to take place. By introducing visual and physical objects, students activate their prior knowledge to make connections, to understand the English vocabulary, and to notice a relationship between the content being taught and their active learning. Sometimes students will have very little or no prior knowledge. In this case, students will need intensive prereading support to build background on the subject. Providing students with background knowledge supports students in their comprehension. Visual and physical information may include:
· Pictures
· Big books
· Realia
· Videos
· Models
· Student art work
(Rea & Mercuri, 2005)
Read Alouds
In the video below, Linda Hoyt, author of Spotlight on Comprehension shows how to use Thinking Partners to help students comprehend during a read aloud.
- Read alouds provide ELL students with opportunities to practice comprehension strategies, expand vocabulary, become a part of the classroom community, obtain knowledge about the world, make connections, hear the rhythms of the language, and participate in peer, group, and class discussions.
- Teachers can pull a small group of ELL or struggling students in order to frontload vocabulary and concepts before the read aloud. This allows this small group of students to become “experts,” which can boost self-confidence and increase their participation in a class discussion.
- Students should talk with partners and share thinking before, during, and after the read aloud. Questions and discussions help students make sense of the text.
- Read aloud several books on the same topic. Sharing books on related topics assists ELL in making connections.
- Quick, informal assessments during read alouds is a very practical and helpful way to get a quick check of student progress and deficits. By observing peer discussions, teachers can informally assess individual student skills and make quick notes of what information she needs to provide more of. She can also make note of student confidence, grammar, vocabulary, and listening comprehension.
In the video below, Linda Hoyt, author of Spotlight on Comprehension shows how to use Thinking Partners to help students comprehend during a read aloud.
Diagram above courtesy http://www.teachingskills.org/en/think-pair-share-activity/
Reader's Theater
Reader's Theater was not a strategy listed in Spotlight on Comprehension, but it is a strategy that has been effective in helping ELL students gain comprehension skills in the regular education classroom (Visser, 2013). During Reader’s Theater, students read from a practiced script. Students do not memorize their lines, nor are stage sets or props used. Students make the story come alive with expressive reading. In practicing their lines, students do a great deal of rereading. Repeated reading, as a strategy, has been proven to improve both fluency and comprehension (Vasinda & McLeod, 2011). Through Reader’s Theater’s unique method of learning practices, ELL students become more actively involved in their own learning, which leads to better understanding of content and skills (Azizinezhad & Hashemi, 2011; Liu, 1999). The unique method of Reader’s Theater provides ELL students with reading instruction to actively participate in, understand, and thrive (Liu, 1999). As a reading strategy, Reader’s Theater is a motivational teaching tool students find meaningful, challenging, entertaining, and creative. After participating in Reader’s Theater, teachers have noticed a newfound confidence in their students and teachers have observed unmotivated students develop interest in reading literature (Corcoran & Davis, 2005; Rasinski & Young, 2009; Trainin & Andrzejczak, 2006; Vasinda & McLeod, 2011). To see an example of Reader's Theater in action, please watch this video of teacher Chase Young, co-author of The Reading Teacher article "Implementing Reader’s Theatre as an Approach to Classroom Fluency Instruction."
Reader's Theater was not a strategy listed in Spotlight on Comprehension, but it is a strategy that has been effective in helping ELL students gain comprehension skills in the regular education classroom (Visser, 2013). During Reader’s Theater, students read from a practiced script. Students do not memorize their lines, nor are stage sets or props used. Students make the story come alive with expressive reading. In practicing their lines, students do a great deal of rereading. Repeated reading, as a strategy, has been proven to improve both fluency and comprehension (Vasinda & McLeod, 2011). Through Reader’s Theater’s unique method of learning practices, ELL students become more actively involved in their own learning, which leads to better understanding of content and skills (Azizinezhad & Hashemi, 2011; Liu, 1999). The unique method of Reader’s Theater provides ELL students with reading instruction to actively participate in, understand, and thrive (Liu, 1999). As a reading strategy, Reader’s Theater is a motivational teaching tool students find meaningful, challenging, entertaining, and creative. After participating in Reader’s Theater, teachers have noticed a newfound confidence in their students and teachers have observed unmotivated students develop interest in reading literature (Corcoran & Davis, 2005; Rasinski & Young, 2009; Trainin & Andrzejczak, 2006; Vasinda & McLeod, 2011). To see an example of Reader's Theater in action, please watch this video of teacher Chase Young, co-author of The Reading Teacher article "Implementing Reader’s Theatre as an Approach to Classroom Fluency Instruction."
The websites listed below provide a plethora of information as well as free Reader's Theater scripts to use in your classroom.
> http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE.html
> http://www.thebestclass.org/rtscripts.html
> http://www.storiestogrowby.com/script.html
> http://www.aaronshep.com/rt/RTE.html
> http://www.thebestclass.org/rtscripts.html
> http://www.storiestogrowby.com/script.html
Assessments to Drive Instruction
Both formal and informal assessments are needed to drive instruction and determine which strategies are best suited for individual ELL students. The link below explains how to conduct informal assessments and why they are necessary.
> http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/downloads/publications/research_qscc_assess_report_4.pdf
> http://www.qsa.qld.edu.au/downloads/publications/research_qscc_assess_report_4.pdf
Resources
Applegate, M. D., Applegate, A. J., & Modla, V. B. (2009). She's my best reader; she just can't comprehend: Studying the relationship between fluency and comprehension. The Reading Teacher, 62, 512-521. Retrieved from http://www.reading.org
Azizinezhad, M., & Hashemi, M. (2011). Teaching English to children: A unique challenging experience for teachers, effective teaching ideas. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 2083–2087. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.405
Bolt, A. J. (2005). Three for the road: Strategies for success with bilingual learners. In L. Hoyt, Spotlight on comprehension: Building a literacy of thoughtfulness (pp. 460-469). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Calderon, M., Slavin, R., & Sanchez, M. (2011). Effective instruction for English learners. The Future of Children, 21(1), 103-127.
Corcoran, C. A., & Davis D. (2005). A study of the effects of readers' theater on second and third grade special education students' fluency growth. Reading Improvement, 42(2) 105-111.
Freeman, Y. & Freeman, D. (2005). Preview, view, review: Giving multilingual learners access to the curriculum. In L. Hoyt, Spotlight on comprehension: Building a literacy of thoughtfulness (pp. 453-459). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Hickman, P., Pollard-Durodola, S., & Vaughn, S. (2004). Storybook reading: Improving vocabulary and comprehension for English-language learners. The Reading Teacher, 57(8), 720-730.
Liu, J. (1999). The power of reader’s theater: From reading to writing. ELT Journal, 54, 354-361. doi:10.1093/elt/54.4.354
Maricle-Barkley, L. (2005). Expanding the world through read alouds: Unlocking comprehension for English language learners. In L. Hoyt, Spotlight on comprehension: Building a literacy of thoughtfulness (pp. 479-488). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
McCall, J. (2005). Frontloading for ELLs: Building concepts and vocabulary before reading. In L. Hoyt, Spotlight on comprehension: Building a literacy of thoughtfulness (pp. 444-452). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Rasinski, T. & Young, C. (2009). Implementing reader’s theatre as an approach to classroom fluency instruction. The Reading Teacher, 63, 4-13. doi:10.1598/RT.63.1.1
Rea, D. & Mercuri, S. (2005). Scaffolding and contextualizing: Reading for real with English learners. In L. Hoyt, Spotlight on comprehension: Building a literacy of thoughtfulness (pp. 470-478). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Trainin, G., & Andrzejczak, N. (2006). Readers’ Theatre: A viable reading strategy? Retrieved from The University of Nebraska College of Education and Human Sciences: Great Plains Institute of Reading and Writing website
Vasinda, S., & McLeod, J. (2011). Extending readers theatre: A powerful and purposeful match with podcasting. The Reading Teacher, 64, 486-497 doi:10.1598/RT.64.7.2
Visser, T. (2013). The effect of reader’s theater on the reading comprehension, fluency and motivation of the elementary English language learning student. Unpublished literature review. Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI.
Azizinezhad, M., & Hashemi, M. (2011). Teaching English to children: A unique challenging experience for teachers, effective teaching ideas. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 30, 2083–2087. doi:10.1016/j.sbspro.2011.10.405
Bolt, A. J. (2005). Three for the road: Strategies for success with bilingual learners. In L. Hoyt, Spotlight on comprehension: Building a literacy of thoughtfulness (pp. 460-469). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Calderon, M., Slavin, R., & Sanchez, M. (2011). Effective instruction for English learners. The Future of Children, 21(1), 103-127.
Corcoran, C. A., & Davis D. (2005). A study of the effects of readers' theater on second and third grade special education students' fluency growth. Reading Improvement, 42(2) 105-111.
Freeman, Y. & Freeman, D. (2005). Preview, view, review: Giving multilingual learners access to the curriculum. In L. Hoyt, Spotlight on comprehension: Building a literacy of thoughtfulness (pp. 453-459). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Hickman, P., Pollard-Durodola, S., & Vaughn, S. (2004). Storybook reading: Improving vocabulary and comprehension for English-language learners. The Reading Teacher, 57(8), 720-730.
Liu, J. (1999). The power of reader’s theater: From reading to writing. ELT Journal, 54, 354-361. doi:10.1093/elt/54.4.354
Maricle-Barkley, L. (2005). Expanding the world through read alouds: Unlocking comprehension for English language learners. In L. Hoyt, Spotlight on comprehension: Building a literacy of thoughtfulness (pp. 479-488). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
McCall, J. (2005). Frontloading for ELLs: Building concepts and vocabulary before reading. In L. Hoyt, Spotlight on comprehension: Building a literacy of thoughtfulness (pp. 444-452). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Rasinski, T. & Young, C. (2009). Implementing reader’s theatre as an approach to classroom fluency instruction. The Reading Teacher, 63, 4-13. doi:10.1598/RT.63.1.1
Rea, D. & Mercuri, S. (2005). Scaffolding and contextualizing: Reading for real with English learners. In L. Hoyt, Spotlight on comprehension: Building a literacy of thoughtfulness (pp. 470-478). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.
Trainin, G., & Andrzejczak, N. (2006). Readers’ Theatre: A viable reading strategy? Retrieved from The University of Nebraska College of Education and Human Sciences: Great Plains Institute of Reading and Writing website
Vasinda, S., & McLeod, J. (2011). Extending readers theatre: A powerful and purposeful match with podcasting. The Reading Teacher, 64, 486-497 doi:10.1598/RT.64.7.2
Visser, T. (2013). The effect of reader’s theater on the reading comprehension, fluency and motivation of the elementary English language learning student. Unpublished literature review. Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI.