Here are some great strategies you can use to get your ELL students writing!

1. What Classroom Practices Best
Promote ELLs Writing
Development?
Roseanne Smith
Kindergarten teacher
Jeffco Public Schools

2. Description of Student Population
Grade level:
Kindergarten (full day)
Number of ELL students:
1 out of 25 students total
Primary Language of ELL
student: Korean
Background knowledge of ELL
student:
This student is 5 years old and new
to the U.S.
He has developed a lot of new
vocabulary since the beginning of
the school year.
He is beginning show progress
with his writing!

3. Essential Questions…
Course Essential Question:
What instructional practices best promote ELLs
writing development?
My Essential Questions:
1. How can I get all of my students involved in
supporting the ELLs in oral language
development?
2. Should ELL students be taught letter/sound
relationship before they can communicate in
English?

4. Strategy 1:
Oral Language Development
Oral language skills
important for all ELL Ideas to support Oral Language
students to develop: Development:
Receptive Oral Language Encourage student interaction;
Skills: Where the student can socialization time
demonstrate comprehension MONDO curriculum:
nonverbally or by pointing to encourages students to have 30
pictures or things.
second conversations
Expressive Language Skills:
When the student can Songs and Storytelling
understand conversational Support and encourage all
language from peers and learners!
teachers.
A great website that provides
many ideas for oral language
activities is:
http://www.literacyconnection
s.com/OralLanguage.php

5. Standards for Strategy 1:
Oral Language Development
NCTE/IRA Standards:
Standard 3: Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret,
evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their
interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and
of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of
textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context,
graphics).
Standard 4: Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g.,
conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of
audiences and for different purposes.
Standard 8: Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g.,
libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize
information and to create and communicate knowledge.
Standard 12: Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their
own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of
information).

6. Strategy 2:
Phonemic Awareness
The key to teaching ELLs phonemic awareness is by
having a very print and visual rich learning environment
for students.
A strategies I use to teach phonemic awareness:
“Turtle Talk” and “Fast Fred”
This article is a great resource for determining how to
support phonics development for ELLs:
http://www.thecenterlibrary.org/cwis/cwisdocs/pdfs/
phonics.pdf
Phonics can be assessed through teacher observation
and/or performance-based assessments.

7. Standards for Strategy 2:
Phonemic Awareness
NCTE/IRA Standards:
Standard 2: Students read a wide range of literature from many
periods in many genres to build an understanding of the
many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of
human experience.
Standard 3: Students apply a wide range of strategies to
comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They
draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other
readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of
other texts, their word identification strategies, and their
understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter
correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

8. Strategy 3:
Technology Integration
Ways technology integration supports ELLs and their writing:
1. It promotes student engaged learning and a hands-on experience
2. Helps promote organization of writing topic (graphic organizers)
3. The use of tape recorders can be helpful to capture students thoughts
4. Teacher can use image galleries to support ELLs in building vocabulary
I know for my kindergarten students, technology has been a very positive
contributor to their learning. My ELL student is also very eager to learn
and try new things on the computers and SMART Board.
There are many different websites available to support student learning.
Many of the children’s websites available today help develop fluency as well
as phonemic awareness. One of our class favorites is: www.starfall.com
For more information of Assistive Technology to support writing:
www.readingrockets.org/article/12769?theme=point

9. Standards for Strategy 4:
Technology Integration
NETS Standards:
1a, 1b: Creativity and Innovation, applies existing knowledge
and creates original works.
6: Technology Operations and Concepts - Students
demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts,
systems, and operations.
NCTE/IRA Standards:
Standard 8: Students use a variety of technological and
information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer
networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to
create and communicate knowledge.

10. Strategy 4:
Ongoing Assessment
I believe that in order to keep up to Portfolio Assessments: a collection of
date with our ELLs and their learning student work over a period of time
goals and needs, ongoing assessment is Shows strengths and
necessary. weaknesses of student
To make any type of assessment
effective, “be consistent” in giving
them and analyzing the data. Characteristics of an ELL
What makes ongoing assessment portfolio:
effective:
1. Comprehensive
It provides continuous feedback
It assesses students through their 2. Predetermined
performance and Systemic
It is a great way to examine the 3. Tailored
growth of the student throughout
the school year 4. Informative
For more information about
Ongoing Assessment, visit: 5. Authentic
www.lab.brown.edu/tdl/assessme
nt/perfassess-prt.shtml

11. Standards for Strategy 4:
Ongoing Assessment
NCTE/IRA Standards:
Standard 5: Students employ a wide range of strategies as they
write and use different writing process elements appropriately
to communicate with different audiences for a variety of
purposes.
Standard 11: Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective,
creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy
communities.
Standard 12: Students use spoken, written, and visual language
to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning,
enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).

12. "Once children learn
how to learn, nothing is
going to narrow their
mind. The essence of
teaching is to make
learning contagious, to
have one idea spark
another."
-- Marva Collins