Interventions
General Considerations When
Selecting Interventions:




Research/evidence-based
Targeted to student needs
Sensitive to cultural differences
Level of acculturation and stage of English
language acquisition ELL
2
Guiding Questions in Planning Interventions:
Auditory Attention and Memory
 Does the student attend during instructional times?
 Is lack of attention due to fatigue because of overload of
working memory?
 Is lack of attention due to environmental factors?
 Are there any pertinent medical issues? Has hearing been
checked?
 Does the student remember information given verbally from
day to day?
3
Interventions: Auditory Attention and
Memory
Provide opportunities for the student to learn how to
…
 repeat sentences through strategies such as
chunking
 rephrase/retell
 rhyme and use songs to remember classroom
content (math facts, historical events, etc.)
 connect auditory information through
visualization, mnemonics, etc.
4
Guiding Questions in Planning
Interventions: Listening Comprehension
 Can the student demonstrate understanding of academic content
and/or novel information presented orally?
 Can the student answer questions when given a visual cue, choices,
scaffolded content?
 Can the child demonstrate that he/she understands age appropriate
vocabulary and basic concepts?
 Can the child demonstrate that he/she understands how sentence
structure can change meaning? (Example: “The boy was hit by the girl.” vs “The boy
hit the girl.”
 Does presentation method make a difference in the child’s ability to
respond? (Example: Visual or kinesthetic rather than auditory.)
5
Guiding Questions in Planning
Interventions: Listening Comprehension,
cont.
 Can the student follow one and/or multiple-step directions?
 Is the student able to follow directions presented orally
without visual cues?
 Does he/she improve with visual or auditory cues?
 Is the student an English Language Learner?
 Refer to stages of language.
 Recommend instructional strategies, such as SIOP.
ELL
6
Interventions: Listening Comprehension and
Following Directions
 Explicitly teach listening strategies
 Eyes on speaker – within cultural norms
 No talking
 Quiet hands and feet
 Ask for repetition
 Teach strategies such as repetition, identification of key
words, summarizing
 Provide sheltered instruction and implement vocabularybuilding strategies
ELL
7
Guiding Questions in Planning
Interventions: Grammar and Syntax
 Does the student use age appropriate grammar?
A “typical” 1st grader may say mouses instead of mice, but this would not be age
appropriate for a 5th grader.
 Is sentence word order appropriate and do sentences make
sense?
“I want juice, please.” vs. “Juice I want, please.”
Word order may be appropriate in the native language but not in English. Student
may need modeling and direction to understand English grammar/syntax.
 Does a student’s writing reflect the grammar and syntax of
oral expression?
 Does the student over generalized grammar rules?
8
Considerations for
English Language Learners:
 Consider that errors may be differences
NOT disorders due to primary language
structures.
 Consider the importance of providing
frequent opportunities to practice syntax
structures with peers and adults.
9
Interventions:
Grammar and Syntax




Explicit teaching of word order for different sentence types
Daily oral language activities
Sentence strips – words rearranged into correct order
Grammar games such as: Build-A-Sentence or Making Sense
with Syntax
 Translate oral expressions into written form (Example: develop a 2-part
story plan and create grammatical sentences for the parts or develop a story with a problem and
solution and write the story with appropriate grammar and syntax.)
10
Guiding Questions in Planning
Interventions: Vocabulary Development
 Does the child know common words and/or concepts?
 Does the student misuse words, for example, call a hat a mitten?
 It is common for ELL students to not know the correct words
for objects or concepts.
 Is the student able to learn new content area vocabulary?
 Does the student have trouble recalling content area vocabulary?
 Does the student interpret figurative language literally (e.g.,
idioms, jokes, metaphors, sarcasm)?
Resource: Bringing Words to Life (author Isabel Beck) - robust vocabulary instruction
that emphasizes the importance of instruction that expand upon a student’s
vocabulary base, especially for ELLs.
11
Interventions:
Vocabulary Development
 Explicitly teach word meanings in authentic contexts.
 Use words in context and provide daily exposure to new
vocabulary words.
 Pre-teach new vocabulary before content area lessons.
 Use graphic organizers to build vocabulary
 Teach how to provide a description when unable to come up
with word.
Don’t limit the teaching of vocabulary to having students
look up dictionary definitions.
12
Resources
 Longman English Dictionary Online (www.idoceonline.com)
- provides definition, word in sentence, word in pictures.
 Word Wizard from Scholastic: (www.scholastic.com and
enter search terms: Word Wizard and English Language
Learners)




Teaches cognates - words that are similar in both languages
Teaches idioms
Reinforces repetition - read it, hear it, see it, say it
Builds academic vocabulary
 Use of a dictionary can help build alphabetic knowledge and
self-reliance on it as a resource.
13
Guiding Questions for Planning
Interventions: Social Language
 Does the child respond to greetings from peers and
adults?
 Does the child engage in reciprocal conversations?
 Does the child stay on topic or does he/she immediately
introduce a topic of interest to him/her?
 Does the child respond appropriately to nonverbal cues
and body language from others?
Note: An ELL student may not respond because of his/her stage of language acquisition.
Scaffolding may need to be provided that is appropriate to the student’s language
proficiency.
14
Interventions:
Social Language Development
 Implement social skills programs
 Cue students to respond to greetings
 Teach students to observe and respond appropriately to body
language and facial expressions of conversational partners
 Teach students stay on topic of conversation and to shift topics
appropriately
 Have students turn to a partner for content-related conversation
(Buddy Talk or Pair Share strategies)
15
Narrative Skills in the Classroom
Students are asked to…
 share stories or retell stories to demonstrate
reading comprehension
 predict or hypothesize
 express their opinions
 state main ideas or themes from stories and
texts
16
Guiding Questions in Planning
Interventions: Narrative Skills

Can the student retell or create a simple story with a clear beginning, middle,
and end?

Can the student make predictions and draw inferences?

Can the student ask and answer questions in the classroom setting?

Can a student provide a response to a reading selection and explain his/her
thinking?

Can a student provide the explanations needed for comparing and
contrasting?
Note: You cannot expect proficiency in these skills if student is non-English proficient or Limited English
proficient. Additional supports will be needed.
17
Interventions: Narrative Skills
 Sequencing activities such as arranging
picture cards to illustrate a story or stating the
steps for an activity
 Explicitly teaching narrative structure including
the beginning, middle, and end
 Using graphic organizers for oral
presentations
 Having student provide a sequential retell to a
story
18
Teacher Read Alouds
 Students listen to aural content and learn to extract the
important information.

Applies to any content area material - not just stories
 Students learn to visualize the information.

Scaffolding may include the use of visuals/pictures that support the text being
read aloud.
 Effective teacher implementation of read alouds:




Pre-teach vocabulary
Have students draw, write, or respond orally to what is being read
Ask questions about the content being read
Make connections to prior knowledge and experience (e.g.,
picture walk)
19
30 Second Conversation
 Target students who have weak oral language
skills
 Take 30 seconds each day to engage them in
authentic conversation
“This is one of the most powerful interventions
for developing oral language skills.”
This strategy is effective with all students, but essential for students with limited
oral language skills. The 30 Second Conversation strategy is effective for
enhancing social language skill, but also for building content area concept
vocabulary and understanding.
(The Talking Classroom, Judi Dodson 2008)
20