Technology-Enhanced Instruction for English Learners

About a year and a half ago, I facilitated a one day workshop on behalf of Missouri's Department of Education. Participating educators wanted to learn about how technology such as digital portfolios might enhance instruction for the English learners they worked with.

While I felt comfortable sharing about technologies could enhance instruction, I was less confident in how to apply these tools with English learners. In preparation, I reread a section in Regie Routman's book Literacy Essentials: Engagement, Excellence, and Equity for All Learners. She notes that I was not alone in my lack of confidence in this area.

All ELLs need to have high-level curriculum with expert scaffolding and sustained time to apply what they are learning, all done in a meaningful and relevant manner. Part of the problem is that many teachers are unsure about how to teacher ELLs. (299)

Additional research revealed the following four categories of instructional practices effective for English learners that also lend themselves well to technology integration:

• Family Engagement

• Scaffolded Learning Experiences

• Representing and Celebrating Diversity

• Community Partnerships

The group of teachers in Missouri appreciated the list, so maybe you will too! If you have additional suggestions, please leave them in the comments.

Family Engagement

“True engagement requires bidirectional and ongoing conversations where both teachers and parents share information the child’s learning.” (Tambyraja, 2017)

• Share information about home literacy activities through a notification/announcements function of a digital portfolio (DP) tool. (FreshGrade, Remind, Seesaw)

• Teachers can take a picture of a book to be sent home and post for those students, accompanied with ideas for families to explore it at home. (FreshGrade, Seesaw, Smore)

• Encourage parents to use the DP parent app to email teacher (linked) about questions they have regarding their child’s reading progress, words that were tricky for them, etc to be used for future instruction. (FreshGrade, Remind, Seesaw)

• Post a survey questions, asking parents to share favorite book titles in their home in the comments. (FreshGrade, Remind, Seesaw)

• Send “interview” questions through DP for parents to ask their child to guide home reading. (FreshGrade, Remind, Seesaw)

• Have students reflect in DP about their current reading instead of a formal reading log, using video, audio, and/or text. (FreshGrade, Kidblog, Seesaw)

Scaffolding Literacy Experiences

“More than 80% of students’ reading comprehension test scores can be accounted for by vocabulary knowledge.” (Rasinski, Padak, and Newton, 2017)

• Provide multiple days at the beginning of a unit for students to read and immerse themselves in the focus for the study. (OverDrive, Kidblog, Biblionasium)

• Offer a choice board in media to explore to build background knowledge around the topic of study. (QR Codes, YouTube, podcasts)

• Include audio versions of selected texts so students can access literature they are interested in during the study. (Playaways, OverDrive, Audible)

• Give students choice in a primary text to read during a unit of study, and facilitate a book club with guiding questions and discussions. (Google Classroom, Edmodo)

• Document student discussions, both in small and whole groups, to prepare for future strategy instruction. (iPad, Apple Pencil, Notability; MacBook, Day One)

Representing and Celebrating Diversity

“No one story can represent an entire group.” - (Adichie, 2009)

• Have parents video record or write and share a story from their earlier lives. (Google Drive)

• Record students reading a text aloud in both English and Spanish. (FreshGrade, Seesaw)

• Read and record discussions of diverse literature in book clubs/literature circles. (FreshGrade, Seesaw)

• Examine and organize your classroom library with students, focusing on the amount and quality of culturally-representative text.

• Maintain a wish list of culturally diverse books and share it with families regularly to purchase for the classroom. (Amazon, Google Site)

• Develop a digital pen pal relationship with classrooms in other parts of the world. (Kidblog, ePals)

• Create a bilingual book with audio, images, and text and share it online for a public audience. (Book Creator, Little Bird Tales)

Community Partnerships

“What we need…is an orientation toward service.” (Sobel, 1996)

• Create original content where students teach others life skills, such as how to speak Spanish or how to use a computer. (YouTube, Vimeo, Book Creator)

• Bring in a local family from another country to speak about their culture and values to kickstart a geography or storytelling unit. (Smore, Remind)

• Develop a community room for visitors to sit in and learn about the school’s mission, vision and beliefs, offering bilingual resources. (Google Translate, Smore)

• Design advertisements for local businesses in both English and Spanish as a performance task for a unit on persuasive writing + economics. (Canva, Google Docs, MS Word, Pages)

• Create a public service announcement (PSA) about a local problem, such as hunger or an environmental/safety issue. (iMovie, YouTube)

• Assign volunteers to record themselves reading aloud selected literature via audio or video (Google Drive, Evernote, Vimeo)

References

Adichie, C. N. (2009). Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: The Danger of a Single Story. TED Talk retrieved at https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.

Rasinski, T., Padak, N. and Newton, J. (2017). The Roots of Comprehension. Educational Leadership. 74(5), 41-45.

Sobel, D. (1996). Beyond Ecophobia: Reclaiming the Heart in Nature Education (No. 1). Orion Society.

Tambyraja, S. (2017), The Literacy Link. Literacy Today. 35(1), 12-13.