Common Concerns and Recommended Reading Strategies for Intermediate ELL students

Category of Concern / Suggested Strategies
Skills and strategies / Provide a “safe” environment free from negative feedback or teasing, use demonstration and modeling, graphic organizers, read-alouds, and think-alouds to develop cognitive skills, evaluate students regularly and regroup as progress is made, incorporate before, during, and after reading strategies.
Students below grade level / Capitalize on students’ interests and background knowledge using small group instruction and cooperative learning structures, Language Experience Approach, fostering risk-taking environment, peer support and tutoring, and communication with resource teachers, use before during, and after reading strategies, do a picture walk before reading text, create a game related to the story.
Time, organization, and management (teacher) / Small-group instruction in order to monitor student reading behaviors and adjust instruction, guided reading, meaningful center and independent activities that support curriculum & standards, established routines, staggered due dates for big projects, and varied feedback.
Student Motivation / Instructional-level texts and resource materials, opportunities for students to choose and talk about books, adequate time for reading and browing, authentic reading and writing purposes, Language Experience lessons with students language and experiences, create successful experiences, ownership of learning activities, book talks to stimulate interest, offer positive feedback.
Testing and assessment / Familiarize students with question formats and eliminating answers that don’t make sense, rubrics for student self-monitoring, portfolios to celebrate student growth and identify areas for improvement, integrate test preparation into everyday learning.
Unfamiliar or limited background knowledge / Use visuals to illustrate abstract concepts , describe new information using familiar patterns,
use realia and everyday objects as manipulatives, maps and diagrams, any hands-on activities, non-fiction or picture books that illustrate complex topics, opportunities to use new language, maintain grade level content standards for future grades.
Reading grade level texts / Read section and chapter headings and create 5W questions for learning, identify key vocabulary and describe using student’s words, match pictures to key vocabulary words, read introduction and summary of chapter, match captions to illustrations, make predictions based on bold faced words and illustrations, identify purpose for reading, remind students of techniques to figure out unfamiliar words.
Active engagement / Make use of differentiation and scaffolding of material, encourage active learning through meaningful tasks and activities, cooperative learning strategies, small group processing of new concepts or applications, provide non-fiction reference materials at reading levels lower than text.
Completing tasks and projects / Break down deadlines into shorter benchmarks, assign reading material to be done in chunks rather than several pages at a sitting, develop Big Idea as focus for project, make available leveled research material.
Materials for varied reading levels / Build collections that vary in genre, topic, and level, consider student preferences, share with team teacher, local library book bags, gift books that parents can purchase, student book clubs, publisher book reps, designate portion of textbook funds for leveled readers, grant writing, wish lists sent home.
Activities for varied reading levels / Literature circles with varied books and reading levels, shared reading experiences, small group activities.
Reading of non-fiction material / Consider student interests, find books with engaging and detailed pictures/illustrations, choose illustrated books that have details or trivia not mentioned in text material, find non-fiction books in L1, read headings to determine content of paragraphs.
L1 reading ability better than English / Use cognates when appropriate, transfer L1 reading skills to new material, make chart of reading skill labels and strategies in both languages, use of native language vocabulary in lessons, use dramatic facial expressions to get your message across.
Comprehension / Use stories that reflect student’s culture and experiences, contemporary realistic fiction, graphic books, small group or mini-lessons on specific skills, read alouds using advanced material, think alouds to demonstrate processing, open ended questions and discussion, explicit demonstrations on developing habits of skilled readers, student generated questions, self-questioning, visualizing, ensure 90% accuracy in word recognition, re-tell story using limited number of sentences, identify favorite/most interesting parts of story.
Class participation / Reread and review material, graphic organizers, study guides, small group lessons, frontloading of vocabulary and concepts.
Creating small groups / According to the activity, group 3-4 students homogeneously, heterogeneously, by student interest, by reading level, in pairs.
Limited reading instruction
in either language
If literacy/reading skills are absent or limited in student’s native language, focus reading and writing instruction using English with vocabulary support in L1. / Develop letter/sound association (phonics), emphasize recognition of initial consonants, left to right and top to bottom progression, familiarize with structure of language (syntax), create opportunities to use and create meaning from new words (semantics), select books with pictures, student predictions during pre-reading, connect personal experiences with information in print, word identification skills, direction instruction of strategies and skills, modeling, adapt instruction to needs of student, offer pleasurable and purposeful reading (newspapers, signs, labels, lists, notes, etc.), practice increasing fluency, accuracy, and expression of reading aloud.

Pat Reynolds, Illinois Resource Center

Ganske, Monroe, & Strickland, “Questions Teachers Ask About Struggling Readers,” The Reading Teacher, Oct. 2003.

Bank Street’s Approach to Early Acquisition Literacy, 2010. http://www.edutopia.org/blog/literacy-instruction-across-curriculum-importance: August 8, 2010. The George Lucas Educational Foundation.