Literacy Success for English
Language Learners in High
School
New Jersey Department of Education
Dr. Gilda Del Risco
Kean University of New Jersey
December 14, 2004
High Expectation with Support as Needed
“Schools in which the adults in the building perceived a
real opportunity to improve the academic circumstances of
their students were able to transform their schools in more
substantial ways than in those schools in which the adults
perceived little hope for increasing student learning”
 Schools that had made significant progress in raising
student achievement all made intentional efforts to ensure
no student fell behind.
Principals and teachers were aware that:
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Some students might need extra time and assistance to
master core elements of the curriculum. They organized
instruction to provide opportunities for students who
needed them.
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English Language Learners in High School
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Need a period of adjustment to the
education system and to the social
environment of this country.
Need an atmosphere that fosters language
learning, acculturation and a healthy selfesteem.
Trauma and Low Self-Esteem
They have experienced:
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Immigration experience
Alienation
Loneliness
Fear
Insecurity
Building their self-esteem is an important
factor in their success in the United States.
A well – structured program is
extremely important
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The students may
not know the
grading system
Social customs
Do not know where
to go for classes,
cafeteria, etc.
What can I do to make them feel comfortable
and give them a sense of belonging
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Acknowledge their culture, country, and language
Make eye contact while teaching
Do not sit newcomers in the back of the
classroom
Stages:
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Bewilderment
Overcompensation
Regression
Biculturalism
Krashen’s Affective Variables
He notes three “affect variables that
influence language acquisition:
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Self-esteem: Students with high self-esteem view
themselves as capable learners and are more apt to
take risks.
Motivation: Motivated students are more focused and
take greater risks.
Level of Anxiety: Anxiety inhibits language acquisition.
Anxious students tend to focus on form rather than
communication, and take fewer risks.
Sheltered Instruction

“The term sheltered indicates that such
instruction provides refuge from the
linguistic demands of mainstream
instruction, which is beyond the
comprehension of English-language
learners.” (Echevarria & Graves 1998).
Comprehensible Input

Language that is used in ways that make it
understandable to the learner even though second
language proficiency is still limited.
 use visuals, realia, manipulatives, and other
concrete materials.
 use gestures, facial expressions, and body
language.
 repeat, rephrase, and/or paraphrase key concepts,
directions, etc.
 build on what students already know.
 be careful of idioms and slang.
 Be enthusiastic !
Meaning is to be conveyed directly in the
target language through the use of
demonstration and visuals.
Make your instructional talk more
understandable by speaking clearly.
 Repeat key points
 Define essential vocabulary in context
 Pair your talk with nonverbal
communication cues:
objects, pictures, graphs, and
gestures.
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Verbal and nonverbal
communication
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When we pair these two
communication channels, words and
meanings become discernible to the
learner.
Modify your speech:
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use shorter, less complex sentences for
students in the earlier stages.
use slightly slower rate of speech, being
careful to maintain the natural rhythm and
flow of the language.
use longer, but natural, pauses.
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Maintain a low anxiety level
Student Engagement
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Studies have found that the degree
to which students are actively
engaged in learning has a strong
impact on levels of student
achievement.
Creating a climate that fosters
student engagement:
Construct smaller learning
communities
De-emphasize competition
Strategies
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Try to make the information relevant to their
lives - Learning occurs best when connections
are made to existing knowledge.
Make the students a part of the situation.
Acknowledge their input – Positive feedback
is a powerful influence on the brain’s
chemistry. It is essential for the development
of a good self-concept (Sylwester 1997).
Classroom strategies for beginning
readers:
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Thematic Approach
Language-experience approach
Patterned Poems
Illustrating stories and poems
Direct Listening-Thinking Activity (DL-TA)
Cause and Effect Chart
Pantomime
Reader’s theater
Story map
Venn Diagram
(NJCCS 3.1)
Classroom strategies for
intermediate readers:
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Thematic Approach
Anticipation Guide
Cognitive mapping
Literature Circles
Jigsaw Reading
Direct Reading-Thinking Activity (DR-TA) (Fluency)
Literature response journals
Developing scripts for reader’s theater. (Fluency)
Adapting Stories into plays and scripts for film and
videotape.)
Literacy Centers
(NJCCCS 3.1)
Thematic approach
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Choose a theme – Incorporate multiple
curriculum areas.
Allows all learning experiences to be
interrelated and more meaningful to the
students.
It can incorporate higher-level thinking
skill, open-ended activities, cooperative
learning, writing , research, and
individualized learning.
Thematic Unit
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Example - Rainforest
Language Arts/Social Studies/Technology/Art
Science/Art/Language Art
Art/Science
Social Studies/Technology/Language ArtsWebquest
Mathematics/Technology
Health
Language Experience Approach
- discussion bases on the content of the text
- review vocabulary found in the reading
- students summarize the reading or story
for the teacher, who acts as a scribe and
writes sentences on the board or chart
paper.
Target Learning Strategies
Cause-Effect Chart
Planning
 Using background knowledge
 Taking notes
 Summarizing
Teachers – To preview or review material
Students – To take notes or to organize their
thoughts before writing
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Target Learning Strategies
Jigsaw Reading (Arronson, 1978)
Cooperating with peers
 Summarizing
 Self-assessment
More material is covered in less time
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Venn Diagram
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Comparing, Contrasting, and Analyzing
Target Learning Strategies
Anticipation Guide
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Using background knowledge
Predicting
Making inferences
Self-evaluation
Jigsaw Reading
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Cooperating with peers
Summarizing
Self-assessment
Literature Circles
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Students are assigned one role for each discussion period.
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The groups stay together for one novel.
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Major roles for each discussion team include Questioner, Passage Master,
Word Wizard and Artful Artist.
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Roles can change depending on the book and the level of the students
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Students take different roles for different discussion days.
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All the students take different roles for different discussion days (all learn
to look for vocabulary, all learn to develop questions and serve as
Discussion Director, etc.)
(Daniels, 1996 & Daniels and Bizar, 1999)
(NJCCCS 3.2)
Readers’ Theater
” This form of oral reading deepens students’
understanding of characters’ emotions and
personalities and helps them to communicate to an
audience.”
 Text is turned into dialogue and divided into parts for
different readers.
 Some parts should be reserved for the narrator.
(Middle-grade students can create their own
Readers’ Theater scripts).
 Prompts can be used – hats scarves, etc.
 Students sit on chairs or stools as they read their
parts.
(Blachowicz & Ogle, 2001)
Pantomime
Mimicking without words
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Helps students deepen their involvement with the text
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A way for students to respond as they read
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Students stand up at intervals and transform the story being read by
the group into a physical image.
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Class first reads a section of the story, then each small group meets and
creates its own pantomime of that section.
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Share one at a time with the whole class.
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At the end, the teacher asks each group to create a prediction for what
will happen in the next part of the story which can be pantomime by the
groups again.
As a way of retaining vocabulary – Ask the students to pantomime
vocabulary words.
(Blachowicz & Ogle, 2001)
Phonics Instruction for English
Language Learners
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The purpose of phonic instruction is to help students recognize
words independently, not to have them state rules.
Principles:
- Provide ample time for students to read and write for
meaningful purposes, allowing. students to develop their own
understanding of sound/symbol correspondences.
- Teach phonics within a meaningful context. Enjoy the story or
poem for meaning first, then teach the skill.
- Remember that phonics and other word recognition strategies
are a means to an end: comprehension.
(NJCCCS 3.1)
(Peregoy and Boyle, 2000)
Recognizing Words
Independently
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Poems and song lyrics written in large format on chart paper
(to teach sight words, to develop word recognition and phonics
knowledge).
Predictable books with repetitive patterns and phrases to teach
or reinforce sound/symbol correspondences, including
consonants, vowels, and letter sequences found in rhyming
words.
Ask the students to write their own stories following the pattern
in predictable books that they have heard several times. This
will provide a chance for the students to put their phonics and
sight word knowledge into meaningful practice.
Older students who are new to literacy – Same strategies. Short
texts with age-appropriate content. Fortunately by Remy
Charlip.
 Song lyrics and poems – Good sources of predictable texts.
(NJCCCS 3.1)
First Language
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“During the initial years of
exposure to English,
continuing cognitive and
academic development in
first language is considered
to be a key variable for
academic success in second
language.”
(Garcia 1994; Tinajero & Ada, 1993.
In Collier, 1995)
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Later on, apply the
techniques used to teach
English as a second
language.
Quiero leer
y escribir en
mi idioma
Writing in a Second Language
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Strategies to assist beginning writers:
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Oral discussion
Personal journals
Dialogue journals
Buddy journals
Free writing
(NJCCCS 3.2)
Strategies to assist
intermediate writers
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Show and not tell - Provides descriptive details about
what the writer wants to convey.
Sentence combining
Sentence shortening
Sentence models
Process Writing:
-Prewriting
-Drafting
-Revising
-Editing
-Publishing
(NJCCCS 3.2)
Literacy Success
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Create a literacy-rich classroom
environment.
Books, books, books…
K W L PLUS
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Recognizing what they have learned by
making a graphic organizer.
Select categories and list facts under
those categories (rethinking what they
have learned).
Write an essay (additional opportunities
to consolidate learning).
Initial Strategies to Teach English
Comprehension to English language
Learners
Pre-reading Strategies
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Background Knowledge
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Development of key vocabulary
Necessary to
construct
meaning from text.
Background Knowledge – Teacher builds upon the language,
culture and experiential background that students bring to the
classroom and relate knowledge to new information provided in
the text.
(NJCCCS 3.1)
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Students may experience difficulties due to
lack of prior knowledge on the particular
topic to be read.
Background knowledge can often be
accomplished through a sharing of the
groups’ knowledge.
It may be recorded in a graphic format.
Guided Reading Strategies
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Use questions before and during the reading to help the
students to get meaning from the reading.
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Hypothesizing or predicting questions. What do you think this
story is about? What do you think will happen next?
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Data acquisition questions
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Summary questions
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Reading aloud – Teacher model predicting, inferring, and
connecting mew text to prior knowledge.
(NJCCC 3.1)
Post-Reading Strategies
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Retelling a story after reading
- Offers a means for reinforcing and
supporting comprehension.
- Provides a means for integrating writing into
the program. It can be done in cooperative
learning groups, paired writing, or individually.
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Building on the knowledge gained through the prereading
activities.
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More reading
(NJCCCS 3.1)
ERRORS
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Teacher should take into consideration:
 The student’s English language developmental
level
 The prevalence of the error type
 The importance of the error type for
communication
 Teacher’s specific goals for the students in terms
of English language development
 Should be corrected in a non-threatening way
 Repeat correctly what the student has said
incorrectly
Assessment
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Portfolio Assessment
Multiple Measures for Assessment
- Do not assess only through written tests.
If you do not assess the English language
learners in many different ways, you will
not find out what they really know.
Observations
- Anecdotal records
- Check lists
- Concrete materials. Opportunities to
demonstrate that they understood the
information.
References
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Echevarria, J. and Graves, Anne. (1998). Sheltered Content Instruction Teaching EnglishLanguage Learners with Diverse Abilities. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
Friedlander, M. (1991). The Newcomer Program: Helping Immigrant Students Succeed in U. S.
Schools.
http://www.ncela.gwu.edu/ncbepubs/pigs/pigs.htm
Carrasquillo A. and Rodriguez V. (2002). Language Minority Students in the Toronto: Multilingual
Matters Ltd.
Coolier, V. (1995). Promoting academic success for ESL students. NJTESOL/NJBE
Gardner, H. (1983). Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. New York: Basic
Books.
Krashen, S., and Terrell, T. (1983). The Natural Approach. Hayward: The Alemany Press.
Peregoy, S. F. and Boyle, O. F. (2000). Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL. New York:
Longman.
Rothman, B. Practical phonics strategies to build beginning reading and writing skills. BER.
Sternberg, R. J. (1994). Allowing for Thinking Styles. Educational Leadership 52, 3.
Sylwester, R. (1997). The Neurobiology of Self-Esteem and Aggression. Educational Leadership
54 (5), 75-79.
Tomlinson, C. A. The Differentiated Classroom: Responding to the Needs of All Learners. ASCD.
Walter, T. (2004). Teaching English Language Learners. Longman.
Willis, S. and Mann, L. (2000). Differentiating Instruction. In Curriculum by the Association for
Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Weinberger, S. (1992). Teaching Gifted Kids in the Regular Classroom. Minneapolis, MN: Free
Spirit Publishing.