Practices
ELL Overview

This section presents seven best practices for reading instruction in grades 4-6. Building upon the reading instruction practices for grades K-3, these practices support students at this critical time period when they are focusing on deriving meaning from text. While older elementary students can work independently, it is important for teachers to demonstrate how to comprehend more advanced reading material, provide ample time for students to practice these reading comprehension strategies, and assess student progress to inform their instruction. As you read these practices, consider how they overlap with this spotlight's grade K-6 practices in writing, speaking, and listening.

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• Teachers are good role models for reading.
     What is it?    Stories    Research    Resources

• Teachers provide a variety of daily opportunities for students to practice reading and to share what they have learned.
     What is it?    Stories    Research    Resources

• Teachers demonstrate reading comprehension strategies that emphasize the importance of deriving meaning from text.
     What is it?    Stories    Research    Resources

• Teachers promote reading as a tool for learning content.
     What is it?    Research    Resources

• Teachers provide ample opportunities for students to choose from a wide variety of reading material.
     What is it?    Research    Resources

• Teachers expand students' vocabulary through systematic, explicit instruction.
     What is it?    Research    Resources

• Teachers regularly assess students' reading progress and refine their instruction based on assessment results.
     What is it?    Stories    Research    Resources

English language learners (ELLs) at the intermediate grades in elementary school display a wide range of language and literacy levels. For some students, English reading is close to grade level, while others are beginners. Some students are highly literate in their primary or home language, but not in English. ELL students who have not yet learned to read in their primary or home language face the enormous challenge of acquiring the initial concepts and skills of literacy in English, a language they have not fully mastered. Others who have already developed literacy and academic skills in their home languages must apply their literacy knowledge to the task of reading English, with its distinct sound system, spelling patterns, vocabulary, and sentence structure. ELLs often have to make meaning from texts that require cultural knowledge different from their own. Finally, many ELLs find reading difficult because they have not previously experienced consistent schooling or appropriate instruction.

The key is to tailor reading instruction. Teachers of ELLs in grades 4-6 often face the challenge of providing reading instruction at a more basic level than expected while at the same time acknowledging students' age and maturity. To help build and maintain students' self-esteem, teachers can avoid books and activities that seem "babyish."

It is important to realize that many ELLs may be under stress. Newcomers are trying hard to understand and function well in an unfamiliar environment, wanting (like all children) to grow more competent, yet finding themselves in a new environment where they are less competent. ELLs who have been in an English-speaking environment for a long time may feel frustrated that they still cannot read with fluency and comprehension. These students need skillful, dedicated teachers who take time to know them, believe in their abilities, and are well informed about ELL instructional strategies.

Teachers of all students will find useful insights and strategies in the sections Implications for ELLs and Strategies for Supporting ELLs below each practice under What Is It?.