Supporting Struggling K-2 ELLs Using Oral Instruction

More than ever before, general education teachers are adjusting their instruction in order to cater to struggling ELLs (English language learners) and evaluate how well they have acquired basic reading and decoding skills by the end of the first grade. In order to adjust instruction to meet the diverse needs of K-2 classrooms specifically with the struggling ELL, (English language learner) teachers need to be aware of sound methodological practices suitable for teaching ELLs in mixed ability classes. The National Reading Panel addressed five topics related to teaching K-2 ELL students how to read in the areas of reading instruction and teacher professional development namely: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and text comprehension. In order to bring ELLs to the level of oral proficiency that is needed for bridging word-text skills in a mainstream classroom, "extensive oral English development must be incorporated into successful literacy instruction" (August and Shanahan, 4) "The research suggests that the reason for the disparity between word-and text-level skills among language-minority students is oral proficiency. Well-developed oral proficiency in English is associated with English reading and writing skills for these students" (Executive Summary: Developing Literacy in Second Language Learners, 4)

Adjusting instruction for struggling ELLs implies explicitly targeting reading skills by matching appropriate learning standards for developing oral proficiency.Teachers should also provide learning opportunities which go beyond what students know at the onset of instruction. For example, if the results of the word fluency test reveal that a struggling ELL can decode with partial understanding, teachers should provide guided oral instruction and practice with sound/letter correspondences within a word and sentence context. Since struggling ELLs need extensive support in vocabulary building and early literacy instruction, teachers should sequence oral instruction "with greater attention to word-level skills early in the process and more direct and ambitious attention to reading comprehension later on" (Shanahan and August, 4). Notice how the following oral activities can also take on a reading component.

• Think, pair, share

• Whole group response - thumbs up or down

• Numbered heads where every student in group has a number. After discussion, the teacher calls a number and those students share out.

• Quick written responses on sticky notes before any response

What can general education and ESL teachers do?

Using the lesson helper below, teacher can adjust content to suit a variety of instructional contexts:

1. Teachers can teach sounds using some kind of oral context. (song, rhyme, poem, dialogue)

2. Teachers can provide guided practice on the sound/words/sentence levels using cognates as much as possible.

3. Teachers can provide explanations, directions and instructions using simplified language, terminology, visual aids, cues.

4. Teachers can help ELLs read and comprehend oral material learned.

5. Teachers can help ELLs write and comprehend oral material learned.

6. Teachers can preteach oral vocabulary so ELLs can express themselves in a variety of interactions and contexts

7. Teachers can contextualize a variety of oral experiences in writing.

Struggling ELLs need a variety of exposure and practice in order to become fluent readers. Meaningful activities need to complement the right mode of reading and oral instruction in order for motivation to actually take place. The choice of oral instruction materialshas important implications for giving struggling ELLs the reading support they need to close the literacy gaps by the end of the first grade.

References

August, D.L. & Shanahan, T., (Eds.) (2006). Developing Literacy in Second-Language Learners: Report of the National Literacy Panel. Executive Summary (pp.1-9) Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

National Reading Panel. 2000. Teaching children to read: An evidence-based assessment of the scientific research literature on reading and its implications for reading instruction. Washington, DC: NICHD..