blog post #5 ELL Instructional Strategy

I teach in an interesting area where almost all students were raised speaking English, but because of the remoteness and isolation of the Navajo Nation the specific dialect and limited level of vocabulary makes it such that almost all students are ELL to some degree. There is a large language gap between the English spoken on the reservation and the English used academically and professionally in the rest of the states.

With this being said I use many strategies to help build the academic English of my students. I also post key vocabulary for every lesson on the board each day. Also, when instructing I use high level, academic language, but always restate the previous sentence using less advanced vocabulary. 

A strategy I have used in the past but will be sure to implement tomorrow is the use of buddies or partners. I will have students who have high language skills sit and work with those with lower language skills. I will encourage students to ask each other questions before asking me. I think this will help build a level of confidence in communication. It will also help my students learn to work collaboratively instead of operating in an isolated fashion.