Instructional Strategies for ESL Students Checklist
Checking students’ comprehension of the
content:
o Use sentence strips
o Set up dialogue journals between teacher and
student
o Plan activities using role play and drama
o Use student reading logs
o Use Cloze exercises
o Write summaries
o Encourage students to write headlines
o Write character diaries
o Have students present information with
illustrations, comic strips, or other visual
representations
o Allow students to provide answers and explain
processes instead of you telling them
Helping ESL students adjust to the classroom:
o State / display language, content and
metacognitive objectives
o List instructions / process steps and review
orally
o Present information in varied ways (oral,
written, demonstrations, with tangible
objects)
o Frequently summarize key points
o Repeat and paraphrase important terms
o Provide Word Wall with vocabulary for unit
/ chapter
o Have students maintain notebook
o Have student maintain learning log for
metacognitive strategies
o Allow sufficient response time
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Adjusting teaching style:
Develop a student centered approach
Speak a little more slowly (not louder ),
use shorter sentences, and avoid idioms
Increase the percentage of inferential and
higher order thinking questions
Provide correction for language errors by
modeling, not overt correction
Bilingual/ESL Department
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Teaching a multi level class:
Use cooperative learning
Incorporate peer tutoring
Use the Writing Process
Explicitly connect learning to students’
knowledge and experience
Take time to preview and explain new
concepts and vocabulary before starting
instruction
Use questionnaires / interviews
Motivating students and providing
background knowledge:
Use Semantic Webbing and graphic
organizers
Use Anticipation Reaction Guides
Have students brainstorm, then record
responses on overhead before starting
lessons
Use KWL charts
Use realia, maps, photos, and manipulatives
Do activities where students can interact
and move around
Adapting ESL techniques to the content
classroom:
Have students do hands-on activities
Do demonstrations
Use CDs, cassettes and videotapes with
books
Use a variety of groupings so that ESL
students can interact with different
classmates (not only the Spanish speaking
ones!)
Provide students with outline of lesson and
questions that will be asked beforehand so
they have an opportunity to process
information and participate more readily
The overhead projector is your best friend
– use it every day to model highlighting
text, identifying main ideas or new
vocabulary or to show pictures.
SAISD Educational Training Document 1
1/2004
Ideas for Implementing the SIOP in the Classroom
Building Background
Interactive Word Wall
Personal Dictionary
Anticipation Reaction Guide
Word Sorts
Quickwrites
Brainstorming
Prewriting
Tea Party
Practice / Application
Interactive Journal
Problem solving
Q-Matrix
Diagrams
Models
Inference or Main Idea Chart
Manipulatives
Writing Process
Comprehensible Input
Preview summary of chapter
Demonstration
Modeling
Controlled speech
Paraphrasing
Written and oral objectives
Think alouds
Visuals (pictures or realia)
Outlines
Reading Process
Review / Assessment
Vocabulary cubes
Password
Extend the Idea
Odd Man Out
Lesson Delivery
Identify objectives
Debrief at end of period
Address objectives in lesson
Identify language and Metacognitive
objectives
Strategies
Graphic organizers
T chart
SQ3R
Modified Cornell Notes
Open Mind
Graphs
Writing Process
Reading Process
Margin notes
Interaction
Instructional conversation
Peer tutoring
Heterogeneous grouping
Pairs
Bilingual/ESL Department
SAISD Educational Training Document 2
1/2004
Ideas for Sheltering Instruction
Tea Party
This student centered strategy enables the
instructor to introduce primary sources or
challenging texts. Each participant receives
an index card with one quotation.
Participants
circulate,
reading
their
quotations and listening to others read theirs.
Because the work is presented orally and
divided in small parts, it is more
comprehensible to ELLs. In a classroom, the
teacher may then ask students to draw
conclusions and discuss point of view based
on what they heard, recording their
responses. He or she could then have the
class examine the complete work.
Cornell Note Taking
This is an AVID strategy that can be used
with all levels of students. The paper is
divided in two columns: the left side is to
record main ideas, and the right side to
record details that support the main ideas. If
a student has limited English and/or
struggles to comprehend the text, the teacher
can provide the main ideas of the passage
and have the student find supporting details
while reading. This helps the student focus
on what is most important in the text.
Students should eventually be able to do it
independently as they become more adept at
recognizing main ideas.
Anticipation - Reaction Guide
This activity is a means to assess students’
prior knowledge of the topic and introduce
vocabulary contained in the lesson. It
provides a general context for the
information to be presented, something very
important for ELLs, who may not have the
same background or vocabulary knowledge
as students who have always attended school
in the U.S. It may be revisited at the end of
the lesson or unit to see if students’ attitudes
have changed.
Vocabulary Dice Game
Write six vocabulary words on the board or
overhead and number them 1 – 6. Give each
pair or group of students a die. One student
rolls the die and reads the word, then the
other student defines it and uses it in a
sentence with the context. This is a great
sponge or warm up activity that can be done
in ten minutes or may be extended by having
students write their sentences and definitions
Cognates
Cognates are words that are similar in
different languages. Training second
language students to use cognates is a
valuable
strategy
for
reading
comprehension. Copy pages of text so that
students can highlight or underline words
that look like words they know in Spanish.
Too often students with little English
proficiency shut down and won’t try to read
in English because they are sure they won’t
understand. This strategy builds confidence
and helps with students’ reading skills.
Bilingual/ESL Department
Password
Have students pair up, with one facing the
board and one looking away. List six words
from the content area on the overhead or
blackboard. The student looking at the board
gives his or her partner clues to guess what
the word means. The clues may be phrases,
synonyms, antonyms, or things related to the
word. (Example: challenge. Something that
is difficult, not easy, a dare, a feat, “Passing
the bar exam is a __________.”) When the
student guesses correctly, the pair continues
to the next word until they have completed
the list. Have students trade places, and
continue the activity with a second set of
words.
SAISD Educational Training Document 3
1/2004
Word Sorts
Give pairs or small groups of students a
collection of 12- 15 words that are related to
a novel or unit studied. Have students work
together to categorize the words, identifying
similarities and differences, and identifying
relationships. Have groups share with
others. Each group may have different
categories. The object is to have students
review vocabulary and concepts and make
meaning based on their prior knowledge and
experience,
Inside-out Open Mind
Participants receive a handout with the
shape of a head, which is folded in three
parts so that the face is on the outside, and
can be opened to show the mind on the
inside. Based on what was heard or read
about an individual, words or illustrations
that represent the individual’s motivations,
thoughts, and feelings are drawn on the
inside (the mind). Society’s view of the
person, or his or her public actions are
represented with words or illustrations on
the outside portion (the face). This is an
appropriate activity for students at any level
of proficiency because they can demonstrate
comprehension of concepts without having
to produce a great deal of language. More
advanced students may be asked to write a
composition to support their points of view
and show how they analyzed information.
transition
words,
and
demonstrate
comprehension. Like the Cloze passage, it
provides structure for students who are not
yet proficient enough in English to produce
a great deal of language independently.
Q-Matrix
This question matrix has a number of
question stems. The first row is for low level
knowledge / comprehension questions, and
the rows that follow have stems that require
progressively higher order thinking and
questioning. It may be used to have students
write their own questions about what they
have read that will be used to quiz others.
It may also be used to have students write
questions to “interview” a historical
character during role-play or Twenty
Questions game. Give students time to write
questions, circulating to check on their
progress and make corrections if necessary.
Remember to require students to select
question starters from all the different rows.
(Why is Frederick Douglass important?
Why did Frederick Douglass lecture about
slavery? Who would listen to Frederick
Douglass? How might Frederick Douglass
have influenced people with his speeches?)
It is a valuable tool to provide ELLs with
practice in asking questions, instead of only
answering, which is typical in a classroom.
Cloze Passage
This is a strategy to use with students at the
beginning or low intermediate level of
proficiency. The student receives a summary
of several paragraphs in which key words
have been removed. The missing words may
or may not be provided, depending on the
student’s ability to comprehend.
The
student must refer to his or her textbook or
notes to select the correct answers.
Sentence Strips
Students receive sentences that must be put
in logical order to show the sequence of
events, or cause and effect relationships. It
serves to help students learn to differentiate
between main ideas and details, to recognize
Bilingual/ESL Department
SAISD Educational Training Document 4
1/2004