I enjoyed my interview with Ms. Zacarias. She provided a lot of information about ELL students as an ELL teacher. Teachers with ELL students must use different strategies to help their students in the classroom. According to Wright (2015), all teachers share in the responsibility of meeting the language and academic needs of ELLs. So it is really important to know the successful strategies to help students. Ms. Zacarias did a wonderful explanation of successful strategies to help students. Some of the successful strategies she mentions are more visuals, more think time, and more collaboration.
Visuals are really important to help students to recognize the meaning of the content while they learn the language. Therefore, teachers need to think about what types of pictures and anchor charts to display for the students to help them understand the content. Teachers need to think about how they can provide more opportunities for visuals. The teacher can use visuals to help build background knowledge of content.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Zacarias. (2019, April 3). Interview [Personal interview].
According to Wright (2015), extra time is an accommodation used on students to help them on the test. As Ms. Zacarias mentioned, ELL students need more time and collaboration to be successful. Therefore, it is important to provide opportunities to use the think pair share strategy with the students. Students just need to receive extra time so they can read and make connections. Then, the students can discuss with their peers to help them develop their understanding.
Wright, Wayne. Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners: Research, Theory, Policy, and Practice. Philadelphia, PA: Caslon, 2015. Print. Second Edition.
Zacarias. (2019, April 3). Interview [Personal interview].
