9) Content learning
How can I support my Multilingual Learners’ content learning?
Strategy Overview: Math Activities/Actividades for Families
This website offers over twenty quick, fun activities that families can do with children to engage in math. Examples include songs, games and question routines. An English/Español tab at the top of the page provides access to all content in both languages.Read More
Strategy Overview: Math Activities/Actividades for Teachers
This website offers twelve instructional activities for small group work or centers, across multiple domains of math. For example, opportunities for engagement with pattern-making, analyzing data, and creating and sorting with manipulatives. An English/Español tab at the top of the page provides access to all content in both languages.Read More
Video: Operations
These short videos are examples of teachers using explicit prompting to support children's thinking for mathematical operations in the PK classroom. In one clip the teacher uses both Spanish and English to ensure content understanding, and support the development of two languages.Read More
Strategy Overview: Thinking Outside the ABAB box
Strategy Overview: This resources offers tips on how to use intentional prompting, songs and gestures to develop Multilingual Learners' skills with mathematical patterns.Read More
Vignette: “What do you Notice?”
This vignette exemplifies how teachers implement the "What do you Notice?" strategy to observe what students know and can express about mathematical patterns.Read More
Vignette: “Children’s Words Measure Up”
This transcript analysis comes from two teachers discussing mathematical vocabulary and one student's use of the word "bigger" in a class discussion.Read More
Website: Hablemos de Matemáticas
This website offers activities and resources in both Spanish and English on how teachers can work with families to bridge mathematical learning both at school and at home.Read More
Website Article: Connecting Home & School Mathematics
This resource offers written and video examples of how teachers can partner with families to connect math with both school and home activities.Read More
Website Article: Supporting Language and Math
This overview document describes the language learning opportunities for Multilingual learners in math instruction. It includes additional links to activities, handouts and resources that a teacher can use to simultaneously develop children's math and English language skills.Read More
Strategy Overview: Math Thinking Conversations
This document offers suggestions on how a teacher can use strategic conversations and prompting to learn about students' mathematical vocabulary and thinking.Read More
Strategy Overview: How to Use Picture Books (with math)
This resource offers guidance on how to use picture books to develop not only language, but mathematical content learning for Multilingual Learners. It includes prompts for before, during and after reading, along with booklists for five different areas of math.Read More
Website Article: DLLs- Assessing Geometry & Spacial Relations
This article shines a light on the academic language that is often required for children to express their thinking about mathematical geometry and spacial relations. It offers some tips on how to scaffold and support Multilingual learners throughout geometry and spacial relations assessments.Read More
Website Article: DLLs and Math in PreK
An overview document shares important guidelines and tips for teaching math with Multilingual preschool students, including: importance of home languages, family connections, vocabulary and physical gestures. A short video of a class read-aloud showcases intentional teacher prompting and translanguaging practices with Multilingual learners.Read More
Video: Spacial Relations
This link includes a series of videos and activities designed to notice and discuss how one teacher introduces key concepts for students to engage with mathematical thinking around spacial relations in a read aloud. Key strategies for Multilingual learners are seen in the video, including the Describe, Draw, Describe strategy, gestures, inventional prompting, turn and talk and drawing to represent thinking.Read More
Video: Measurement & Data
These short videos are examples of teachers using explicit prompting to develop math vocabulary and thinking during a play-based time in the PK classroom, and circle time in elementary grades.Read More
Strategy Overview: Describe, Draw, Describe
The Describe, Draw, Describe strategy is an instructional activity that supports Multilingual Learners to both notice and describe their mathematical thinking about spacial relations. This resource includes examples and scripted language that the teacher uses to support both content and oral language development.Read More
Video: Gustavo Counts & Shares Galletas
In this video clip, Gustavo counts and organizes manipulative blocks (or "cookies") with prompting and support from the teacher. She uses intentional questioning to develop Gustavo's mathematical vocabulary and thinking.Read More
Video: Counting
In this videoclip Gustavo counts and organizes colored block manipulatives during play-based activity time in the preschool classroom.Read More
Podcast: High Quality Instructional Materials as Equity for English Learners
This podcast covers some of the systematic issues in schools that keep Multilingual learners from adequately progressing. The discussion then shifts to specific supports and considerations for curriculum design that make grade-level content accessible for all learners.Read More
Video: Outdoor, Indoor & Family Inclusive Learning Environment—PK Bilingual
This video shows the power of thematic instruction and rich learning environments in a bilingual PreK classroom.Read More
Strategy Overview: Así se dice
This strategy, designed by Literacy Squared, engages students in translation as a means of providing them with a deeper understanding of how ideas are conveyed across languages and cultures. It is designed to raise cross-language awareness.Read More
Video: Making Butter—Small Group Instruction
In this video, the teacher works on a hands-on project to make butter with Multilingual Learners. The small group instruction supports multiple opportunities to practice oral language and writing in an authentic context.Read More
Video: A Felt Board Story
This video clip shows two Multilingual Learners practicing content vocabulary in both Spanish and English as they reenact a chant they have learned in class. The peer interaction provides an authentic space for them to support one another with language development in a fun, meaningful hands-on activity.Read More
Video: Engaging with Text and Narrative
This video begins by highlighting chants, songs, and intentional conversation that teachers facilitate to help young Multilingual Learners (MLs) to develop oral language. Further examples demonstrate how oral language can then transfer to written language and early reading opportunities. It is important for MLs to use developing literacy skills in authentic, print-rich learning contexts, where they feel ownership for their learning and knowledge.Read More
Early Childhood Examples and Definitions for Multilingual Learners
This document illustrates how to integrate concrete representations, realia, and objects from home to support oral language and vocabulary.Read More
Website: SALSA Spanish Language Series
This is a collection of 30 episodes of puppet-based Spanish language programming for children. Each episode is roughly 20 minutes long and comes with supporting materials and vocabulary lists.Read More
Curriculum Units: Mosaic Integrated Science, Math, and English Language Development
These are example curriculum units that integrate content learning with English language development. The units offer many instructional ideas to help teachers plan authentic, hands-on tasks for Multilingual Learners, and provide intentional context to practice content-based English language.Read More
Video: Model Curriculum for English Learners – Weathering and Erosion (3rd grade)
A multilingual teacher uses numerous supports in English, Spanish, and Portuguese to develop the content understandings of beginner Multilingual Learners.Read More
Video: Model Curriculum for English Learners – Family Stories (1st grade)
This video captures a lesson for Multilingual Learners co-taught by a first-grade teacher and an ELD teacher. The teachers share how they intentionally plan to both teach and assess the English language within the content lesson.Read More
Video: Model Curriculum for English Learners – Animals and Where They Live (1st grade)
In this video, the teacher introduces the intentional supports she builds into a writing lesson to support intermediate Multilingual Learners.Read More
Video: Standards for Mathematical Practices in Transitional Kindergarten
A teacher discusses how she integrates literacy and language instruction into a mathematical story problem using a "Secret Message" strategy.Read More
Video: Integrating ELD Instruction Using Text Reconstruction
This is a 2nd-grade lesson of the text reconstruction ELD strategy, designed to provide access and practice in both English and content instruction. This strategy encourages Multilingual Learners to communicate as they engage with informational text.Read More
Strategy Overview: Fractions, Factors, and Functions, Oh My! Are My ELs Attaching Meaning to Math Words?
This guide helps teachers plan meaningful activities to make math accessible, hands-on, build on students' prior knowledge, and be language-focused. In these resources, teachers can read about the dos and don'ts of math vocabulary instruction for Multilingual Learners.Read More
Guide: Don’t Underestimate the Power of Contexts in Math Curricula
This guide helps teachers assess whether the context of specific math tasks is accessible and familiar for Multilingual Learners. In these resources, teachers can read about the dos and don'ts of situating math instruction in a familiar context for Multilingual Learners.Read More
Strategy Overview: Anchor Charts for Synonyms – A Vocabulary Strategy
The use of anchor charts in the math classroom creates rich opportunities for teachers to collect, discuss, and practice vocabulary with Multilingual Learners.Read More
Strategy Overview: Amplify and Facilitate Student Learning about Language
Attention and practice in the language of math is a critical part of instruction for Multilingual Learners. In these resources, teachers can read about the dos and don'ts of math instruction for Multilingual Learners.Read More
Strategy Overview: Translanguaging
This resource offers guidelines on the various ways teachers can implement translanguaging in the classroom.Read More
Strategy Overview: Strategic Grouping for Home Language Supports
Small group instruction is a key part of instruction for Multilingual Learners. In this resource, teachers find guidelines and rationale for different strategic groupings.Read More
Video: Model Curriculum for English Learners—Justice, Courage and Fairness (2nd grade)
In this video, a designated teacher for Multilingual Learners talks through her objectives for a fairness and justice lesson. The bridge lesson incorporates opportunities for Multilingual Learners to share their thinking and practice oral language in English. The content matches up to prior learning they have done in Spanish.Read More
Checklist: Supporting Emergent Bilingual Children in Early Learning
This checklist provides teachers with several strategies to support Multilingual Learners by providing students with a rich classroom environment that builds their home language and English skills. This resource encourages teachers to consider how to add labels, images, culturally relevant materials to the classroom for children to engage with. This checklist also provides a list of extra resources to learn more about supporting bilingualism, and is available in Spanish and Chinese.Read More
Strategy Overview: Narrative Input
After a shared reading of a text, students retell, act out, and/or capture key vocabulary and content information with a variety of experiences. This multi-day strategy builds on student's storytelling and oral language skills.Read More
Strategy Overview: Organizing Learning Experiences
This resource provides extensive guidance on how teachers can use children’s interests to organize learning activities around themes, studies, or projects. Themes, studies, or projects help to integrate language and content learning for Multilingual Learners and provide them with extended opportunities to give language and content meaning.Read More
Presentation Slides: Organizing Instruction for Explicit Skill Transference
This slide deck presentation was used to present research and provide examples on how language skills can transfer from Spanish to English.Read More
Video: Tips for Teaching Newcomers
This video introduces instructional tips that elementary teachers can use to support instruction for newcomer Multilingual Learners, including visuals, gradual release, shared writing, and recognizing what students are bringing to their learning.Read More
Website Article: What Research Says About Small Group Intervention
This article summarizes research and discussed how to use assessment to inform strategic groupings for Multilingual Learners, particularly for reading instruction.Read More
Video: Juicy Sentence Example with Butterflies (K)
This video is an example of a teacher facilitating a "juicy sentence" discussion with a group of kindergarteners learning about butterflies. The juicy sentence strategy helps Multilingual Learners access complex text through the study of a mentor sentence.Read More
Strategy Overview: Selecting and Using Academic Vocabulary in Instruction
This document reviews criteria for how to select academic vocabulary for instruction with Multilingual Learners and offers other supports for vocabulary instruction.Read More
Strategy Overview: Routines for Mathematical Discussions
This document reviews multiple strategies that teachers can use to support a rich discussion of mathematics for Multilingual Learners. These strategies help teachers elicit talk and elaborate on student discussion during math, and can be adapted for other content areas as well.Read More
Article: Goals in Small Groups for English Learners
This article shares numerous strategies that can be used to support Multilingual Learners in small group reading instruction to support both reading and English Language Development (ELD) skills.Read More
Video: Draw & Label Strategy- 3rd grade
In this demonstration of the "Draw & Label" strategy, the teacher teaches academic and content vocabulary while drawing and creating a language resource for the Multilingual Learners in the class. This resource helps them engage with and practice content area vocabulary and concepts in multiple modalities.Read More
Video: Draw & Label Strategy- Kindergarten
In this demonstration of the "Draw & Label" strategy, the teacher teaches academic and content vocabulary while drawing and creating a language resource for the Multilingual Learners in the class. This resource helps them engage with and practice content area vocabulary and concepts in multiple modalities.Read More
Video: Shared Research Project- 1st grade
In this video, the teacher provides guidance on how to conduct research projects with Multilingual Learners to investigate a topic in which children are interested. The shared research project provides a hands-on, inquiry-based experience to help give content meaning and develop academic language and literacy skills.Read More
Video: Shared Research Project- 3rd grade
In this video, the teacher provides guidance on how to conduct research projects with Multilingual Learners to investigate a topic children are interested in. The shared research project provides a hands-on, inquiry-based experience to help give content meaning and develop academic language and literacy skills.Read More
Video: Shared Research Project- TK
In this video, educators provide guidance on how to conduct research projects with Multilingual Learners to investigate topics they are interested in. The shared research project provides a hands-on, inquiry-based experience to help give content meaning. The teacher uses a graphic organizer (a language-based support to help children develop writing) to help organize the information that children find.Read More
Video: That’s How You Say It/Asi se dice- 2/3rd grade
Students learn both literal and conceptual translation skills by engaging in the "That's How You Say It/Asi se dice" strategy. The teacher assigns students to strategic groups and chooses a specific passage of text for them to translate. Students have the opportunity to negotiate word meanings and compare and contrast their two languages as they work together to write and share their translation.Read More
Video: Transfer and Integrated ELD in a Bilingual Classroom
The teacher in this bilingual classroom makes an intentional plan to develop literacy and oral language skills in two languages. She begins content instruction in Spanish to strengthen Multilingual Learners' understanding of key concepts, and then purposefully transitions to an integrated ELD block to offer speaking and writing practice in English.Read More
Video: Integrated & Designated ELD- 2nd grade
In this integrated ELD video, the teacher uses numerous structured supports, visual cues, and small grouping strategies throughout the lesson. Multilingual Learners have multiple opportunities to practice hearing, reading, speaking, and writing academic English language.Read More
Video: Integrated & Designated ELD- Kindergarten
In this integrated ELD video, the teacher focuses on developing the academic English language that Multilingual Learners need to access content instruction. She uses chants, repetition, small group instruction, and numerous other supports.Read More
Strategy Overview: Vocabulary in Context
This resource introduces teachers to all of the ways that vocabulary can be introduced, reinforced, and practiced across multiple lessons and activities. This helps Multilingual Learners learn key academic and content words in context.Read More
Strategy Overview: Shared Research Projects / Los proyectos de investigación compartidos
The Shared Research Project strategy is typically implemented midway through a thematic unit of study. The teacher preselects relevant topics and intentionally groups students into small research teams to research, take notes using supports like graphic organizers, and ultimately produce a piece of collaborative writing.Read More
Strategy Overview: Dramatic Play & Researcher Center
This resource describes how to implement dramatic play and researcher centers in classrooms with Multilingual Learners. Centers are tied to the thematic content of a unit and provide children with the opportunity to engage in hands-on, inquiry-based experiences that give content and language meaning and purpose.Read More
Strategy Overview: Graphic Organizers
A graphic organizer is a visual map or diagram that displays relationships between facts, concepts, or ideas. For Multilingual Learners, this kind of visual display of information can lessen cognitive load and support transfer of knowledge across languages.Read More
Strategy Overview: Draw, Tell, & Label
This resource describes how to implement the Draw, Tell, & Label strategy in classrooms with Multilingual Learners. This strategy provides multiple opportunities for children to engage with and practice content area vocabulary. This resource also includes guidance on building content understanding in the home language(s) and English.Read More
Strategy Overview: Content-Based Chants
Singing and chanting give children opportunities to practice using academic vocabulary in a group setting. Singing content-rich chants develops phonemic awareness and taps into musical, auditory, linguistic, intrapersonal, and bodily-kinesthetic knowledge, which helps the children retain information.Read More
Strategy Overview: Dialogic Read Aloud
This guide supports teachers in reading texts aloud and engaging learners in a discussion about them. Through planned activities before, after, and during the reading, children learn and internalize the practices that readers use, and develop skills of analytic talk.Read More
Strategy Overview: Cooperative Strip Paragraph
This shared writing technique structures support for Multilingual Learners in content-based, academic writing. The cooperative learning structure offers students the chance to engage in the writing process in small groups with same language or English proficient peers.Read More
Video: Shared Research Project
This video provides guidance on how to support Multilingual Learners' content learning through shared research projects. A shared research project gives children the opportunity to participate in hands-on, inquiry-based experiences in small groups.Read More
Video: How to Support Concepts in Home Language
This resource discusses how previewing and reviewing learning material in the home language can support Multilingual Learners’ content learning. Previewing concepts in the home language helps to activate and build background knowledge prior to teaching concepts in English.Read More
Video: Center Extensions
In these videos, teachers discuss ways to align activities to an intentional message and anchor text to help teach target words. The videos also show how hands-on experiences help provide meaning to target words.Read More
