How to Help ELL Students in the Classroom

Baltimore is fairly eclectic county, but it's mainly African Americans, Whites and Hispanics. Since Baltimore county is close to Baltimore City, it has a large population of African Americans, and a large population of lower class people. This is more true of western Baltimore than eastern Baltimore, but it can be seen all throughout Baltimore. The number of students in Baltimore who are English Language Learners is increasing, and it's probably going to increase even more in the next few years. Since these students have the right to go to school and receive the same level of education as their English speaking peers, teachers have to do everything they can to make sure that the ELL students in their classrooms are learning.

In Baltimore there are many learning centers including Sylvan Learning Center and Huntington Learning Center. If students are attending such learning centers, teachers can find out what students are learning there and find lessons to coordinate with and even extend those lessons. Teachers can even bring in translators into the classroom if they can find ones that'll work for free or a very low cost. The best resource a teacher can use is the public library. Teachers can find books on ELL students, and maybe even ideas for lesson plans at the library. Teachers can also find books to recommend to ELL students since ELL students will have to become competent readers as well, and the more practice they have at reading, the better they'll become at it. While it's good for students to visit the school library, the local library is going to have a far bigger selection of books. I plan to take my students on a class trip to the public library at least twice a year. Teachers should encourage students to go to the library on their own free time as well. In Baltimore, the libraries have bookmobiles for students and parents who don't have transportation to the library.

Teachers can also go to a local bookstore and find books on tape for students so that they can hear the language, this is very good for students who are verbal and auditory learners. Teachers may even find books on tape at a local educational store. Lots of schools also have before or after school programs for ELL students, and even weekend programs. If the school doesn't have such programs and there are enough ELL students, teachers and parents can make a petition to get such a program started.