Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners

As more and more English language learners (ELLs) are included in mainstream classrooms, what can we do to ensure that they understand academic content and develop their English language skills? To answer this question, authors Jane Hill and Kathleen Flynn have examined decades of research, interviewed mainstream teachers with ELLs in their classrooms, and reviewed the classroom recommendations from Marzano, Pickering, and Pollock’s seminal Classroom Instruction That Works (2001) through an ELL lens. The result is Classroom Instruction That Works with English Language Learners—a comprehensive guide to helping elementary school students at all levels of English language acquisition succeed.

The strategies discussed in the book include homework and practice, summarization and note taking, and use of nonlinguistic representations, among many others. For each strategy, the authors provide a summary of the research, detailed examples of how to modify the strategy for use with ELLs in mainstream classrooms, and teacher accounts of implementation. Because ELLs face cultural hurdles as well as linguistic ones, this book also shows teachers how to glean insight into students’ backgrounds and address the cultural biases inherent in many classroom practices.

Accommodating English language learners is one of the greatest challenges educators face today. Just as different levels of fluency require different approaches, so too do different backgrounds and languages. This practical, research-based book gives elementary school teachers the guidance they need to help ELLs of all nationalities thrive alongside their English-dominant peers.