A Community of Caring School

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Instructional and Assessment Strategies

READING

R1 – Analyze text in order to anticipate comprehension problems.

R2 – Activate prior knowledge students have about a topic.

R3 – Provide opportunities for pre-reading activities such as brainstorming and vocabulary preview activities.

R4 – Identify and teach essential vocabulary. Teach vocabulary in semantic groupings and word families.

R5 – Limit vocabulary and spelling lists to 12 words or less and build up.

R6 – Use concrete referents, such as visuals, maps, pictures, props, demonstrations, manipulatives, and gestures to increase comprehension.

R7 – Encourage the use of bilingual dictionaries and native language materials.R8 – Help students to guess word meanings for clarification by using context clues, cognates, and knowledge transferred from the home language.

R9 – Model comprehensive strategies with students.

R10 – Divide reading passages into chunks for questions, predictions, and summaries.

R11 – Reduce required reading material. Eliminate non-essential text.

R12 – Use Directed Reading, Thinking, and Listening Activity (DRTLA).

ASSIGNMENTS & ASSESSMENT

A1 – Establish consistent classroom routines.

A2 – List steps for completing assignments.

A3 – Reduce choices on multiple choice exercises; provide choices for essay questions.

A4 – Simplify test directions and provide examples and test items.

A5 – Vary the form of questions asked to allow for different levels of comprehension and participation. Include both lower and higher cognitive demand, metacognition, comparing, elaborating, synthesizing, and evaluating.

A6 – Minimize the use of negatives in questions and test items.

A7 – Give open-note and open-book quizzes and tests.

A8 – Provide word lists/banks for support; use images and clipart in activities, quizzes, and tests.

A9 – Give extra time for task completion.

A10 – Provide alternate assessments for LEP students such as oral tests, rubrics, portfolios, interviews, individual/group projects.

A11 – Maintain academic and intellectual challenge while simplifying language levels.

A12 – Use Cognitive Academic Language Learning Approach (CALLA): content-based language activities, emphasizing academic vocabulary, emphasizing study skills, note-taking skills, teaching learning strategies.

A13 – Focus on content over form; allow developmental spelling and grammar.

A14 – Modify traditional assessments by reducing linguistic demand, reducing number of items, simplifying

WRITING

W1 – Teacher-modeled writing and teacher-modeled responses.

W2 – Give students opportunities to use diagrams, charts, and graphic organizers, such as: concept mapping, consequences diagrams, flow charts, I-charts, KWLH, language ladders, Venn diagrams, word webbing.

W3 – Have students keep a personal vocabulary book or glossary that could also include home language translations or pictures.

W4 – Incorporate the use of word walls.

W5 – Ask students to retell or restate orally as well as in writing.

W6 – Use variety: journals (dialogue, response, daily, anticipatory), outlining, process writing, guided writing, modeled, shared, poetry, narrative, expository, comic strips, language experience.

W7 – Use computer-assisted instruction, such as grammar and spelling support in word processing.

W8 – Encourage use of bilingual dictionaries.

LISTENING & SPEAKING

LS1 – Speak at a slow pace.

LS2 – Use repetition.

LS3 – Clarify and rephrase instructions frequently.

LS4 – Recap important ideas and highlight main points.

LS5 – Ask students to summarize passages that have been read aloud.

LS6 – Control and simplify the vocabulary you use.

LS7 – Use simpler verb tenses such as present, simple past, or future.

LS8 – Accept words and phrases initially and build towards the use of longer sentences.

LS9 – Use variety of technology, media, books on tape or CD, video, DVDs with subtitles, drawings, photos, pictures, streamed audio, chants, and music to support spoken instruction.

LS10 – Use cooperative groups and peer support, such as group projects, corners, centers, jigsaw, think-pair-share, numbered heads, peer tutoring, reciprocal teaching, field experiences.

LS11 – Use creative drama and total physical response techniques, such as: finger plays, pantomime, puppetry, reader's theatre, role play, storytelling, dance and movement.

LS12 – Encourage use of bilingual support from aides.

CLASSROOM PRACTICES

C1 – Plan cooperative activities to include students who can translate/interpret.

C2 – Set clear expectations, procedures, and goals.

C3 – Connect lessons with students’ own culture or experiences.

C4 – Check frequently for understanding

C5 –Avoid over-correction in errors of pronunciation, grammar, and vocabulary.

C6 – Use preferential seating.

C7 – Reinforce effort and provide recognition.

C8 – Use cooperative learning strategies.

C9 – Assign reasonable homework and practice. Student should be able to work independently with little or no family support according to English level.