18 Ways You Can Support Your English Learners Middleweb

Bonisiwe Shabane

-Oct 29, 2025, 10:22 PM

18 ways you can support your english learners middleweb

by Valentina Gonzalez · Published 09/10/2018 · Updated 03/07/2025 This is going to be the school year your English Learners thrive! Your ELs need some extra scaffolds and supports to level the playing field. They are learning a new language while navigating content at the same time. Here are 18 ways that you can help support them in their journey. Not every EL will need all of these scaffolds.

Some will need more than others. And once they no longer need the scaffold, remember to release it and let them soar! Visual supports can be sketches that you create yourself on the fly, or they can be google images that you pull up on a device when you realize that a student needs to see... Visuals also include real objects (realia) that you or students bring in to support vocabulary and concept development. Not enough can be said about visuals. One of my favorite ways to use visuals to support ELs is through Picture Talks or the Picture Induction Method.

They are super powerful! This article provides classroom teachers with ideas for supporting their ELLs' language development. This article is part of our Strategies for ELL Success guide. If you are a classroom or content-area educator trying to figure out how to teach English language learners (ELLs), you are not alone! You are off to a good start by looking for ways to support your students! There are many things you can do that will make a big difference to ELLs, and they often prove helpful for other students in the class as well.

Here are some ideas to help you begin. Look for a few ideas you can try and one or two topics where you would like to learn more information. Note: This article also includes some research-based recommendations offered by Dr. Diane August in her 2018 American Educator article, Educating English Language Learners: A Review of the Latest Research. In today’s diverse classrooms, it’s important to implement strategies designed to support multilingual learners (MLLs), also referred to as English language learners (ELLs), in the general education classroom. When considering instructional strategies to use throughout the day, choose the ones that engage students and leverage their strengths.

Using a combination of whole-group, small-group, and 1:1 strategies to support MLL students creates a language-rich environment that encourages continued growth and builds an inclusive learning environment. This allows your MLLs to feel supported and confident in the classroom. To support MLLs in groups, it’s best to use simple strategies you can weave into the instructional strategies you’re already using in the classroom. These strategies shouldn’t be seen as “in addition to” or “in place of” what you’re already doing. The whole-group strategies below are simple yet effective ways to further engage all students in language instruction without requiring extensive planning time. Visual aids, such as photographs, sketches, icons, data, artwork, and videos, are a simple way to make content easier for MLLs to understand.

They help MLLs make connections between the English language and their native language. The wide range of ways that visual aids can be used helps ensure that your instruction doesn’t become too predictable or too boring for students while still providing them with engaging ways to learn... While you’re teaching each unit, keep your visuals posted around the room during your instructional unit so students can continue to reference and connect with the visual content. This provides students with a way to continue to reference language and access meaning without having to memorize everything in one single lesson. Example: The word “colony” has different meanings depending on the context, and it might be a challenging word for your MLLs. If you’re teaching about colonies in social studies, a visual representation of the colonies or what a colony looks like allows your students to connect the word and meaning with their native language and...

Teachers of any subject can use these tips to help English language learners be more engaged and at ease in class. While we bring the mental health needs of our students into laser focus this year, it’s still crucial that we keep the social and emotional world of our English language learners (ELLs) front and... Just like their peers, ELL students come to our classrooms with the burning need to be seen and acknowledged for their unique personalities, life experiences, and talents. But language challenges can obstruct all these amazing facets of their personalities. Additionally, the social pressures of suddenly being in person again and needing to communicate may make them feel anxious, isolated, and embarrassed. Because of the often-obvious communication difficulties, grade-level and subject-area teachers understandably often rely on ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers to step in and help these students.

However, even if you aren’t an ESL teacher, there’s a plethora of strategies you can use to help these incredible students feel comfortable sharing their strengths and unique perspectives on the world. 1. Closed captioning isn’t just for the hearing impaired. If you’re showing video content, turning on closed captioning supports ELL students’ comprehension as well as everyone’s literacy skills. According to a 2017 study, the simple act of using closed captioning improves learning, even for students without learning challenges. 2.

Voice typing in Google Docs (under the Tools menu) provides students with a voice-to-text option that can help learners who have some oral language but struggle with spelling and writing. By clicking the arrow next to the language, students can even dictate a text in their native language, if need be, and then use Google Translate to translate it. Teaching English learners can feel like climbing a mountain—exciting, a bit overwhelming, and definitely rewarding once you reach the top. Every student arrives with a unique story, language background, and set of dreams. But here’s the catch: a one-size-fits-all approach won’t cut it. To truly support these learners, teachers need a toolbox filled with creative, flexible, and culturally responsive strategies.

This article explores 63 creative ways to support English learners. From using visuals and gestures to tapping into technology, small-group learning, and even drama or storytelling, you’ll discover strategies that are practical, engaging, and backed by research. Whether you’re a classroom teacher, language tutor, or parent, these ideas will help you make English learning meaningful, fun, and confidence-boosting. So, ready to spark curiosity, build bridges across cultures, and give your students the tools they need to thrive? Let’s dive in. When words fall short, pictures, charts, and diagrams can do the heavy lifting.

Imagine introducing new vocabulary with a vivid image or breaking down a science process with a step-by-step infographic. Visuals cut through the noise, giving learners a clear anchor to grasp meaning. Even something as simple as labeling classroom objects or projecting a diagram on a document camera can transform confusion into clarity. According to Edutopia’s guide on supporting ELLs across all subjects, visuals don’t just aid comprehension—they also reduce anxiety and help students feel included. Words plus movement? Now that’s a winning combo.

Gestures and body language can reinforce meaning faster than translations alone. Think about demonstrating “jump” by literally hopping or pointing skyward to show “up.” That’s Total Physical Response (TPR) in action, and it works wonders, especially with beginners. As classrooms across the United States continue to change, it is critical that educators are able to successfully address the unique language and learning needs of English learners (ELs) and provide efficient and high-quality... This brief describes some best practices that educators can use in their classrooms to help ELs acquire the language and literacy skills needed to succeed academically. Direct and Explicit Instruction Focusing on Key Aspects of Literacy All students should receive comprehensive, evidence-based language and literacy instruction as part of their core curriculum.

This is especially critical for ELs. Effective core instruction for ELs should target the key components of literacy, including phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, oral reading fluency, comprehension, and writing. Core classroom teaching should be explicit, systematic, and differentiated for students’ language and learning needs. It is important to provide extensive and varied vocabulary instruction to ELs. Research suggests that you carefully choose a set of academic vocabulary words to teach intensively across several days using a variety of instructional activities (Baker et al., 2014). An academic vocabulary word is one that is used when talking or writing in academic settings but not usually when talking or writing in social settings.

There are four ways that you can carry out this recommendation in your classroom: Choose a brief, engaging piece of informational text that includes academic vocabulary as a platform for intensive academic vocabulary instruction. Find a short, interesting piece of text with the words that you want to focus on. Select a text that is motivating to students and carries content-rich material that will allow you to provide deep instruction and vocabulary. Download these free eBooks for a sampling of fun games for the online English classroom! It’s common for English language learners to struggle.

Students may struggle for a variety of reasons – lack of confidence, learning style, and time constraints to name a few. The good news is that there are ways to help struggling English language learners overcome these challenges. Let’s explore some systems and strategies you can employ in your classroom, whether teaching in person or online, to help struggling English language learners be successful. New to TEFL? Learn about getting qualified with Bridge to teach online or in person around the world, and explore our online TEFL certification courses. Using visual aids and realia, or real-life objects, can significantly enhance learning for struggling English language learners by providing concrete, contextualized references that support comprehension.

Visual aids such as pictures, charts, and diagrams help English language learners grasp new vocabulary and concepts by linking abstract ideas to familiar, tangible images. Using realia in the ESL classroom further reinforces understanding by allowing students to physically interact with props related to the lesson, making learning more engaging and memorable. Using props can help bridge the gap between students’ language abilities and the content, promoting deeper understanding and retention of material. Having worked in Title 1 schools for almost a decade, I had the privilege of being surrounded by language learners in all my classrooms. It proved to be a humbling, eye-opening, and fascinating experience in many different ways. Because state laws required my classrooms to be conducted only in English, I prioritized creating spaces where students of color and from varied cultural backgrounds could share the best of their communities through experiential...

In challenging political and educational climates, educators hold the power to create classrooms which allow students to shine in ways that are true to themselves, their families, and their communities and to support them... Students are the greatest assets to diverse learning environments, and they bring many experiences, cultural backgrounds, and languages to their classrooms. While it is up to the educator to provide space for these students to bloom and grow, one of the greatest and most common challenges in facilitating these spaces is in supporting English language... Providing these students with the tools and resources they need can be daunting, especially when working to personalize learning and differentiate in other ways. While a bilingual classroom is preferable for language learners of all kinds, this blog offers support for teachers delivering instruction in English in classrooms with ELLs. Have you ever learned a new language in an immersive environment?

18 Ways You Can Support Your English Learners Middleweb

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