Thing 35: Supporting English Language Learners

The ELLs at Edison High School are some of my favorite students with whom to work. Many of them view education as the privilege it truly is, reminding us all to be thankful for the opportunities we are given. A large portion of the articles I read seemed to be more focused on elementary suggestions. However, since some of the students have either not had formal education or have had their education interrupted, these strategies can work with the older students as well. I try to buy books that students request and also to have books about students' home countries in the library. They are very excited to show you where they have come from and I enjoy learning about their cultures. 

One thing that I have struggled with is deciding how much of my collection to purchase in languages other than English. At present I have very few books in Spanish... which is our largest contingency of ENL students. However, I have just found out (after my budget was largely spent) that we will be getting an influx of over 100 Puerto Rican students next year will little to no English background. With this in mind, I used the rest of the money I had to purchase books in Spanish. Part of me feels guilty for this because I cannot buy books in all the languages of our ELLs, if any are even available. I do show the students how Worldbook Online can be translated in to various languages or be read out loud to them. I also have audiobooks available, especially of novels that students tend to read in English classes. I plan on coming back to this topic to see if more resources have been added because I can definitely use the tips.

Comments

  1. pollyalidaApril 27, 2018 at 7:12 PM

    What a challenge it is to meet the needs of all the students and all the languages they speak. Hopefully some of the online sources will help with that. I'm wondering how the ebooks from the NYPL might be able to help?? They have ebooks in so many different languages and you can limit your search to young adult and kids books. All NYS residents can get a library card from them by mail. Not sure what the logistics might be, but something to think about.

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