What are the three most important characteristics of effectively differentiating instruction for ELLs?

This month, we’re talking about how to support English as a Second Language (ESL) students and English Language Learners (ELLs)—especially if this is your first-time including ESL students in your class. Last week, we outlined some basic best practices for creating equitable lesson plans for ESL students. Now we want to take a look at some differentiation strategies you can incorporate in a classroom with ELLs.

The Basics of a Differentiation Strategy

Before we talk about how you can employ a differentiation strategy to support ESL students, let’s define the meaning of differentiation in an educational setting: Differentiation (also called differentiated instruction) is an instructional approach that allows teachers to meet students’ individual needs, instead of taking a one-size-fits-all approach. This approach is so successful that the Carnegie Corporation found 70% of students can benefit from differentiated instruction.

Colorín Colorado, one of the nation’s leading educational organizations serving ELLs, outlines three key factors which help determine how a student’s needs should influence your differentiation strategy:

1. Readiness — Does the student have the prior knowledge needed to learn the new concepts in this learning unit? Has the student mastered the necessary skills needed to be successful in this area?
2. Interest — What topics interest the student? How can this learning unit be presented in an appealing way to the student? What causes the student to feel motivated to learn?
3. Learning Profile — How does this student “approach the task of learning,” and what types of activities help the student learn most effectively? What is the student’s learning style?

An effective differentiation strategy takes these three factors into account when planning the curriculum so students can learn through the means most appropriate for their needs.

Tips for Differentiating Instruction for ESL students and ELLs

When developing a differentiation strategy for ESL students, you must also consider a fourth factor:

1. English Language Proficiency — How well can the student read, write, and speak in English? Have they learned key vocabulary words needed to successfully complete this learning unit?

Even though ELLs may not be as proficient in English as your students who are native English speakers, Colorín Colorado emphasizes the importance of maintaining the same high expectations for ELLs that you set for the rest of your class. To do this, you may need to fill in knowledge gaps before beginning the regular lesson, reteach key study skills, and check in more frequently to ensure ESL students are keeping up with your instruction.

Here are some additional tips for equitably differentiating instruction for ESL students:

• Offer content in different formats — Depending on their English proficiency, ELLs may struggle to grasp content provided solely in English. Consider whether some students may need a version of a text written/recorded in their first language, extra visual content such as graphs and charts to support the lesson, or additional discussion activities to fully understand the content you’re teaching.
• Use frequent assessments — This doesn’t mean you need to add more graded tests to your curriculum. Rather, frequent formative assessments should be used to track ESL students’ progress in working through each learning unit. Additionally, it’s important to differentiate your assessments to ensure all students, regardless of their level of English proficiency, are able to accurately demonstrate their mastery of the content.
• Switch up small groups — Effective instruction includes learning through a variety of formats, including individual, small group, and whole classroom activities. As you plan small group activities, consider how different groupings could benefit ESL students in different situations. For example, group reading activities may work best through certain groupings, but presentation projects may work better if you switch up the students who are assigned to each group.

How to Find Professional Support

If your school needs to improve its strategies for providing an equitable education to ESL students, our expert consultants are ready to help. Schedule a free call with our team to learn how we can build a customized strategy to transform your school and close the equity gap.

• Module
• Challenge
• Initial Thoughts
• Perspectives & Resources
• Wrap Up
• Assessment

What are some general instructional practices that can be beneficial to students who are learning to speak English?

• Present information or allow students to access information.
• Example: During a science lesson about the solar system, the teacher uses visuals, hands-on materials, and kinesthetic activities to explain concepts such as rotation and revolution. The teacher also has books and videos in Spanish that the students can access, if needed.
• Encourage students to make sense of the information.
• Example: To help students process information about the solar system, the teacher sets up a learning center. There, some students focus on that main learning goal (e.g., learning the names of the planets), while students who quickly master the main learning goal are able to engage in high-order learning activities (e.g., learning about the key features of the planets). Some students may work with their peers and practice the learning goal while using their home language.
• Allow students to demonstrate their learning.
• Example: To demonstrate their learning, students have the option of creating a model of the planets, making a poster, or writing a report.

Teachers can differentiate instruction by being flexible in the ways in which they:

Present information or allow students to access information:

• Provide a range of choices to access the content (e.g., books, audio, and video in student’s home language and in English.
• Make instruction more concrete by using pictures, charts, realia, demonstrations, graphic organizers, or timelines.
• Model lab procedures and include visual references about concepts.
• Provide texts at different reading levels.

x

realia

Any concrete item or device used in the classroom to teach vocabulary or aid in comprehension.

Encourage students to make sense of the information:

• Provide a range of choices for student to practice what they are learning.
• Use flexible grouping.
• Use hands-on activities
• Set up classrooms with learning centers (e.g., make available audiotapes and CDs to assist students with their reading).
• Provide materials in different languages.

x

flexible grouping

Grouping students into smaller groups or pairs, homogeneously (e.g., by ability, interest, learning preferences, or language needs) or heterogeneously. The benefits of flexible grouping include:

• 
  Interacting with peers who speak English and who are good language models
• Helping to translate material for students who may be less proficient in English
• Giving ELLs a feeling of empowerment when they discuss their assigned tasks
• Allowing students to experience interethnic group interactions
• Increasing friendships
• Gaining higher levels of confidence
• Receiving additional instruction
• Allowing opportunities to practice academic language

Research has found that across ethnic, gender, and ability groups, students have shown gains in academic outcomes when working in collaborative small groups—in part because collaborative problem solving may be highly valued at home, and in part because students are validated by their peers when speaking either Spanish or English.

Allow students to demonstrate their learning:

• Offer a range of choices to express understanding (i.e., create a slide presentation, write a song or poem, stage a performance ).
• Permit the option to work independently or in a group to complete an assignment.

Example: Ms. Westerman collaborates with the bilingual teacher about her upcoming lesson on rocks and minerals. In this way, the bilingual teacher can pre-teach some of the vocabulary terms by using pictures, charts and graphic organizers for the students who receive bilingual education. Later during whole-group instruction, Ms. Westerman displays images used by the bilingual education teacher. Every rock or mineral vocabulary term that appears on the screen is labeled in both English and Spanish. Later, the students work in small groups to complete a hands-on activity to better understand what has been presented.

Listen as Janette Klingner talks about the benefit of grouping for ELLs (time: 0:35).

Transcript: Janette Klingner, PhD

In their small groups, they are supporting one another because they’re working in a less-threatening situation in a small group with their peers that is going to reduce how demanding the task is. Students are able to get support from one another and talk about what they’re learning, work through some of the challenging aspects of a text they’re reading together. That can help teachers reduce the cognitive load and provide more context for students so they can be successful.

What are 3 elements of differentiated instruction?

What are the three most important characteristics of effectively differentiating instruction for ELLs rationalize your choices?

What are the three characteristics of students that are important for differentiating instruction?

What are the characteristics of differentiated instruction?