Making Science Accessible To English Learners

This updated edition of the bestselling guidebook helps middle and high school science teachers reach English learners in their classrooms. The guide offers practical guidance, powerful and concrete strategies, and sample lesson scenarios that can be implemented immediately in any science class. It includes rubrics to help teachers identify the most important language skills at five ELD levels; practical guidance and tips from the field; seven scaffolding strategies for differentiating instruction; seven tools to promote academic language and scientific discourse; assessment techniques and accommodations to lower communication barriers for English learners; and two integrated lesson scenarios demonstrating how to combine and embed these various strategies, tools, techniques, and approaches. The volume is designed for teachers who have had limited preparation for teaching science in classrooms where some students are also English learners.

This practical book helps middle and high school mathematics teachers effectively reach English learners in their classrooms. Designed for teachers who have had limited preparation for teaching mathematics to English learners, the guide offers an integrated approach to teaching mathematics content and English language skills, including guidance on best instructional practices from the field, powerful and concrete strategies for teaching mathematics content along with academic language, and sample lesson scenarios that can be implemented immediately in any mathematics class. It includes: Rubrics to help teachers identify the most important language skills at five ELD levels Practical guidance and tips from the field Seven scaffolding strategies for differentiating instruction Seven tools to promote mathematical language Assessment techniques and accommodations to lower communication barriers for English learners Three integrated lesson scenarios demonstrating how to combine and embed these various strategies, tools, techniques, and approaches Chapter topics include teaching inquiry-based mathematics, understanding first and second language development, teaching the language of mathematics, scaffolding mathematics learning, and applying strategies in the classroom.

Books in the Teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) across the Curriculum Series are written specifically for pre- and in- service teachers who may not have been trained in ELL techniques, but still find themselves facing the realities and challenges of today's diverse classrooms and learners. Each book provides simple and straightforward advice on how to teach ELLs through a given subject area, and how to teach content to ELLs who are at different levels of English language proficiency than the rest of their class. Authored by both language and content area specialists, each volume arms readers with practical, teacher-friendly strategies, and subject-specific techniques. Teaching Science to English Language Learners offers science teachers and teacher educators a straightforward approach for engaging ELLs learning science, offering examples of easy ways to adapt existing lesson plans to be more inclusive. The practical, teacher-friendly strategies and techniques included here are proven effective with ELLs, and many are also effective with all students. The book provides context-specific strategies for the full range of the secondary sciences curriculum, including physical science, life science, earth and space science, science as inquiry, and history and nature of science and more. A fully annotated list of web and print resources completes the book, making this a one volume reference to help science teachers meet the challenges of including all learners in effective instruction. Special features: practical examples of science exercises make applying theory to practice simple when teaching science to ELLs an overview of the National Science Education Standards offers useful guidelines for effective instructional and assessment practices for ELLs in secondary grades graphs, tables, and illustrations provide additional access points to the text in clear, meaningful ways.

"Schools are not intentionally equitable places for English learners to achieve, but they could be if the right system of support were put in place. Diane Staehr Fenner and Sydney Snyder recommend just such a system. Not only does it have significant potential for providing fuller access to the core curriculum, it also provides a path for teachers to travel as they navigate the individual needs of students and support their learning journeys." --Douglas Fisher, Coauthor of Visible Learning for Literacy A once-in-a-generation text for assisting a new generation of students Content teachers and ESOL teachers, take special note: if you're looking for a single resource to help your English learners meet the same challenging content standards as their English-proficient peers, your search is complete. Just dip into this toolbox of strategies, examples, templates, and activities from EL authorities Diane Staehr Fenner and Sydney Snyder. The best part? Unlocking English Learners' Potential supports teachers across all levels of experience. The question is not if English learners can succeed in today's more rigorous classrooms, but how. Unlocking English Learners' Potential is all about the how: How to scaffold ELs' instruction across content and grade levels How to promote ELs' oral language development and academic language How to help ELs analyze text through close reading and text-dependent questions How to build ELs' background knowledge How to design and use formative assessment with ELs Along the way, you'll build the collaboration, advocacy, and leadership skills that we all need if we're to fully support our English learners. After all, any one of us with at least one student acquiring English is now a teacher of ELs.

Books in the Teaching English Language Learners (ELLs) across the Curriculum Series are written specifically for pre- and in- service teachers who may not have been trained in ELL techniques, but still find themselves facing the realities and challenges of today's diverse classrooms and learners. Each book provides simple and straightforward advice on how to teach ELLs through a given subject area, and how to teach content to ELLs who are at different levels of English language proficiency than the rest of their class. Authored by both language and content area specialists, each volume arms readers with practical, teacher-friendly strategies, and subject-specific techniques. Teaching Science to English Language Learners offers science teachers and teacher educators a straightforward approach for engaging ELLs learning science, offering examples of easy ways to adapt existing lesson plans to be more inclusive. The practical, teacher-friendly strategies and techniques included here are proven effective with ELLs, and many are also effective with all students. The book provides context-specific strategies for the full range of the secondary sciences curriculum, including physical science, life science, earth and space science, science as inquiry, and history and nature of science and more. A fully annotated list of web and print resources completes the book, making this a one volume reference to help science teachers meet the challenges of including all learners in effective instruction. Special features: practical examples of science exercises make applying theory to practice simple when teaching science to ELLs an overview of the National Science Education Standards offers useful guidelines for effective instructional and assessment practices for ELLs in secondary grades graphs, tables, and illustrations provide additional access points to the text in clear, meaningful ways.

This guidebook offers powerful, concrete ways to engage all middle and high school students -- especially English learners and students with other special needs -- in successful learning. Teachers will benefit from the practical, evidence-based approaches for teaching standards-based content in any subject area. School and district leaders will benefit from the sustainable schoolwide and districtwide practices that respect diversity and support inclusion. Authors John Carr and Sharen Bertrando provide invaluable insight, tools, and strategies, including: An effective framework for teaching diverse learners in any core discipline Specific steps and resources for helping students organize concepts, develop appropriate use of academic language, and communicate ideas effectively Rubrics identifying key characteristics of five English language proficiency levels, along with teaching strategies appropriate for each Methods for scaffolding assessments to ensure every student has a fair and accurate way to communicate what he or she is learning A lesson plan template for combining and putting into practice all of the ideas, approaches, and tools included in this guidebook

This book is a research-based practical guide for educators who work with students whose linguistic and cultural background is different from their own. Illustrated with many practical examples of classroom activities, projects, and teaching strategies, the book is also an introduction to immigrant education for school administrators and educational planners in communities or regions that are in the process of developing plans and programs for newcomer students. Although the focus is on first-generation immigrant children, many of the recommended approaches and instructional strategies described in this book can be used or adapted for use with second-generation children and historical linguistic and cultural minorities, such as children from Aboriginal communities in North America or children of Roma background in Europe.

The contribution of this book is to synthesize important common themes and highlight the unique features, findings, and lessons learned from three systematic, ongoing research and professional learning projects for supporting English learners in science. Each project, based in a different region of the U.S. and focused on different age ranges and target populations, actively grapples with the linguistic implications of the three-dimensional learning required by the Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards. Each chapter provides research-based recommendations for improving the teaching of science to English learners. Offering insights into teacher professional learning as well as strategies for measuring and monitoring how well English learners are learning science and language, this book tells a compelling and inclusive story of the challenges and the opportunities of teaching science to English learners.