Colleen Elep General

Multilingual Language Learners (MLLs) With Possible Special Education Needs: Tips for Classroom Teachers

As educators, there are many difficult situations we have to navigate when it comes to identifying the best program pathways for students. One common situation is when a Multilingual Language Learner (MLL, also known as English Language Learners) experiences significant challenges in their learning.

But how do you know whether or not their difficulties are related to possible special education needs, or language learning? How do you know if you should the student to the attention of a school review committee?

This blog is all about what classroom educators can do when they notice an MLL is experiencing difficulties in their learning. You may be surprised to learn that there are a number of actions you can take even before bringing the student to your school’s review process.

Develop a Learner Portrait for the MLL

Knowing your learner is essential to any teaching practice, and there are a number of additional factors that should be considered when the learner is an MLL. Is the student under consideration a newcomer? Canadian born? Where are they positioned in the Steps to English Proficiency (STEP) continua? How long have they been in their current STEP?

A learner portrait is essentially a document where you can take note of a student’s cultural and linguistic funds of knowledge, level of language proficiency, as well as the student’s interests, goals, and other information you may have gathered about the student’s background. You may also want to include notes on what you are observing about their language and literacy behaviours.

With a fulsome learner portrait, you will be better equipped to adapt your programming to meet the student’s needs and address the difficulties they are experiencing. You will also find a student portrait useful if you choose to bring the learner at an in-school review.

Ensure all the Appropriate Program Adaptations are in Place

With a strong understanding of the learner, check to see that you are adapting programming appropriately for the student with accommodations and, if needed, modifications aligned with their STEP. You may also want to consider the following questions as you re-examine your programming:

Are there multi-modal options (ex. Use of assistive technology, alternative presentation formats) for the student to share knowledge and engage in learning?

Is the curriculum content comprehensible to the student at their STEP? Are you leveraging the students’ interests in your teaching and assessment? Is your programming culturally responsive? Does your teaching practice include scaffolds beneficial for MLLs, such as sentence frames, models, and graphic organizers?

If you do bring the student up to a school review committee, it is important to share what program adaptations you have already put in place so all stakeholders can see the work you are doing to meet the student’s language acquisition needs.

Gather Samples of Student Work

Looking closely at student work: journal writing, writing assessments, reading responses, mathematical problem solving, and other forms of output, can be an excellent starting point for identifying areas of support. You’ll also find having concrete pieces of evidence useful for sharing with family and support staff when discussing your academic concerns about the student.

If you are having difficulty gathering authentic and concrete samples of work from the student, consider how else you might their learning visible. Provide options for them to create video or audio content, or record anecdotal notes about what you are observing about their learning behaviours during group activities and class discussions.

Connect with the Family

Communicating and collaborating with families is critical when a student is experiencing difficulties in their learning. You will want to make sure they are aware about what challenges their child is experiencing in school, and find out if they are noticing anything about their child’s behaviour at home.

When communicating with families, include the student in the conversation if possible. Be prepared to speak to specific examples challenges and strengths for the learner. Keep track of any conversations you have with families, and take notes on what was covered during the call or meeting.

Seek Input from Other Educators that Teach the Student

You will also find it useful to connect with other educators that teach the student to see if they are observing anything similar or different in the subjects they teach them. They may also be able to share additional samples of the student’s work, and give their insights on the learner.

It’s not uncommon for other educators to see a side of the student you may not – the information they share may also help you develop a student portrait.

Find out what your Board’s Protocol is for Identifying MLLs with Possible Special Education Needs

Finally, find out what your board’s protocol is for identifying MLLs who may have special education needs. In some cases, an observation period is implemented, where classroom and support educators try different strategies to determine whether or not a student’s difficulties are related to language learning. Learning what the process is early will also help you to better prepare for that possibility.

Colleen Elep General

Understanding Program Adaptations for Multilingual Language Learners: Part 2

In part 1 of this blog, we explored the first two steps of developing programming adaptations for MLLs: know the learner and determine the language demands of your program. Next, we will take the insights gathered from these initial steps to create appropriate accommodations and modifications for MLLs.

When educators have an understanding of MLL learner variability and the language demands of the curriculum we are teaching, we are well equipped to develop programs that are flexible enough to meet the needs of all students. And while you will inevitably run into challenges, make mistakes, and find that some ideas simply won’t work – it is all part of the growth we are privileged to experience as teachers.

Let’s start by reviewing definitions of MLL accommodations and modifications, and how we can select adaptations to correlate with the student’s level of language proficiency and learner variability.

Accommodations for MLLs

Accommodations are tier 1 supports that educators can implement at any time. They benefit more than just the MLLs in your classroom, and are effective for all students. These strategies do not require any alteration in curriculum expectations, and help MLLs access the same content as their peers.

There are many accommodations for MLLs out there, but they can broadly be categorized as follows.

Instructional Accommodations, which involve changes in teaching strategies, materials, or approaches that help students access the curriculum. Some examples include:

  • Visual supports
  • Pre-teaching vocabulary
  • Use of visual cues
  • Sentence frames and starters
  • Modeling
  • “Chunking” tasks
  • Use of role-playing, manipulative, and other interactive tasks

Learning Resource Accommodations are adjustments to the tools and materials used for learning. Some examples include:

  • Audiobooks
  • Bilingual or picture dictionaries
  • Graphic organizers
  • Digital learning tools
  • Infographics
  • Translation tools
  • Dual language books
  • Alternative Reading Materials

Assessment Accommodations are adjustments to the way students demonstrate their learning. Some examples include:

  • Oral response instead of written
  • Use of media tools to demonstrate learning
  • Use of assistive technology to complete assignments
  • Cloze sentences
  • Use of translation tools to evaluate a student’s response in their preferred language

With so many different options for MLL accommodations available, you may find it handy to keep a list somewhere visible for easy reference. They will be particularly relevant when you can align them with areas of the curriculum that have high language demands for input and output: for example, a reading in a subject like social studies, or an assignment that previously involved solely a written response.

Modifications for MLLs

Modifications are changes made to grade level curriculum expectations for a subject in order to meet the MLL’s language learning needs. They may include changes to the number of curriculum expectations, and changes to the complexity of a curriculum. Modifications for ELLs in English as a Second Language programs typically do not involve a change in grade level. This is because the modifications are put in place to address language learning needs, not cognitive demands.

In most cases, modified curriculum expectations are needed for students in the earliest Steps to English Language Proficiency, such as STEPs 1-3. Students with an emergent level of English realistically require modifications because they may still be in the process of acquiring basic interpersonal communication skills (English for social and practical situations).

Keep in mind, however, that it is important to maintain high expectations for students and to not “water down” the curriculum. It can be demotivating, particularly for older children, to be offered picture books with content that is not aligned with their age group. Check with your teacher-librarian to see if there are hi-lo novels or visually supported non-fiction or interest-related texts that MLLs will be excited to explore.

In some situations, such as math, you may find that an MLL needs to develop a skill that was taught in earlier grades because they did not have the opportunity to learn it in their previous school, have not attended school, or because they were not able to learn the skill as a result of language learning in the past. Modifications are essential in this context to ensure that the student can meet grade level curriculum learning as soon as possible. Focus on accelerating the student’s learning in that area, and monitor the student’s growth so you know whether or not a higher tier of support may be required.

Example of modifications for MLLs.

Grade 7 History: By the end of Grade 7, the student will…

Analyse some of the main challenges facing various individuals, groups, and/or communities, including First Nations, Metis, and Inuit individuals and communities, in Canada between 1713 and 1800 and ways in which people responded to those challenges.

Modified:

Understand how different Indigenous communities and peoples in Canada responded to challenges between 1713 and 1800.

Assessment and Evaluation

When modified curriculum expectations are used to adapt instruction for MLLs, be sure to assess students based on the modified expectations. When assessing early STEP MLLs, remember to adjust language output goals according to the student’s STEP. Look for growth in language and literacy skills, and focus on evaluating student work that happens closer to reporting periods, as this is when students will have had opportunities to learn and acquire more English skills.

Supporting Multilingual Learners: Final Thoughts

Learning how to develop and implement program adaptions for MLLs is another step you can take toward enhancing your teaching practice for all the learners you teach. Know your learner, identify the language demands of the curriculum you are teaching, determine the accommodations and modifications that will best support your learners, and you’ll enable the MLLs you teach to participate and engage more actively in their learning.

Colleen Elep English As Second Language (ESL), English Language Learners (ELLs)

Understanding Program Adaptations for Multilingual Language Learners: Part 1

It’s not uncommon for educators to wonder how to adapt programming for emergent speakers of English. How do you engage newcomer students while teaching the curriculum to the rest of the class – most of which are already proficient or fluent users of English?

Newcomer multilingual language learners, or MLLs, face the daunting challenge of learning English while also learning the same curriculum content as their peers. As educators, we must take on the challenge of ensuring that the program is adapted appropriately for them through accommodations and modifications.

To support educators in adapting programming for MLLs, ETFO has created an easy-to-use resource that can be used to develop modifications and accommodations. You can download this resource from the ETFO website, along with other fantastic resources on topics like translanguaging and literacy screeners for MLLs.

In this 2-part blog, we will take a deeper dive into Program Adaptation for MLLs, specifically the process of determining which adaptations will best serve the needs of the MLLs in our classrooms. Part 1 will focus on understanding the importance of knowing the learner and determining the language demands of your program. Part 2 of this blog will unpack accommodations and modifications for MLLs.

Source: ETFO.

Know The Learner

MLLs are not a monolithic group: they include Canadian born MLLs, long term learners of English, newcomers, or they may have missed significant amounts of formal schooling. They may come from a variety of lived experiences, such as separation from family members, trauma, or live in communities in Canada where a language other than English is spoken.

Part of knowing the MLLs you teach is also understanding their language and literacy skills in English and the other languages they speak. In Ontario, English language proficiency levels are identified using the Steps to English Language Proficiency continua, which contains a detailed continuum of observable language behaviours that will enable you to understand where they are in terms of their English learning.

It is also useful to know if the MLLs you teach have writing and reading skills in another language. Being able to leverage those literacy skills is an easy way to create an entry point to the curriculum: if you can provide them with translated content, then they can continue building critical language skills that will be transferred as they learn and acquire English.

There are many other elements that make MLLs unique, so it is important to gather information from conversations with students and their families, or from an initial assessment report if one is available.

How does knowing the learner impact programming?

Imagine you have a grade 7 student who has never attended school until their arrival in your school. As such, they will need a significantly modified curriculum where they can build foundational literacy and numeracy skills.

Or perhaps you have a student that arrives in grade 4 with strong reading and math skills from their education in their previous country of residence. They will benefit from strategies like translanguaging and opportunities to read level appropriate texts in their preferred language so they can continue building their cognitive skills.

Knowing the goals, interests, and backgrounds of students will also enable you to be culturally responsive in your teaching practice and foster strong relationships with the student and their family. Some fun ways to gather this information include the creation of “identity texts”, like poems or art projects, multi-modal journaling, or student surveys and interviews.

Determine the Language Demands of the Program

The next step of adapting instruction involves examining your program critically to determine its language demands. Some key questions to ask include:

  • Does my teaching incorporate multiple entry points into content, such as video, illustrations, audio, or opportunities for experiential learning?
  • Am I offering students multiple ways to demonstrate their learning, such as oral presentations, recordings, or visuals?
  • Do I intentionally use Universal Design for Learning strategies?
  • Do I have a clearly articulated language policy where MLLs know they can leverage the entire repertoire of their language skills (ex. Home or preferred languages)?
  • What am I doing to make curriculum content comprehensible to students with different levels of language proficiency?
  • Am I explicitly teaching academic language skills and do students have opportunities to practice using unfamiliar, subject-specific vocabulary?

The most important takeaway here is that program adaptation requires an understanding of the language skills students need to engage with the programming you have developed for the students you teach. You will want to look for opportunities to tweak and enhance your programming so emergent speakers of English can participate alongside their peers.

Looking Ahead: Accommodations and Modifications

With a clear understanding of the MLLs you teach and the language demands of the programming you have developed, you are well-positioned to create and implement the appropriate accommodations and modifications for MLLs. We will go into more detail in part 2 of this blog.

Colleen Elep General

Why Social Studies Education Matters More than Ever

When I taught grade 6, my favourite subject to teach and co-teach was social studies. The focus on trade in the Geography curriculum was an area that I found particularly intriguing to teach. Topics like current events, fair trade, trade agreements, and Canada’s international relationships are exciting because the world is constantly changing.

The first Trump presidency gave me a good reason to revisit the content I had developed. In the past, the main trade agreement we focused on was the North American Free Trade Agreement, which was renegotiated into the USMCA or CUSMA.

More than a few years have passed since 2018 and in a dramatic start to 2025, so has Canada’s relationship with the United States. The American government’s decision to potentially tariff Canadian goods has become not only an economic decision with significant impacts to both sides of the Canada-US border, but a major shift in Canada’s relationship with its southern neighbour.

Whether or not these decisions are even implemented, the political turmoil that has made headlines in the early weeks of 2025 highlights reminds us of how important it is for kids to have a strong social studies education.

It is important for children to have a critical thinking skillset for the news stories and headlines they are bound to encounter on the internet or in family conversations. Students also benefit from understanding the importance of civic responsibility and the impact of elections. Social studies learning also helps students to build academic vocabulary skills in a meaningful way. Not only are they learning language in a more formal register, they will have increased opportunities to explore the new words they are learning because they will hear the same language being used in the media and family conversations.

Let’s take a closer look at these reasons.

Social Studies Learning Helps Children to think Critically about a Changing World

Quality instruction that teaches kids the fundamentals of inquiry, critical thinking, mapping, land formations, climate zones, colonization, international agreements, and economics – just to name a few social studies topics topics – helps children make sense of world they live in from a broader context.

In today’s world, where news travels quickly through social media channels and misinformation runs rampant, being able to make sense of it all in a balanced, reasonable way is critical. It is all too easy to adopt a perspective without hearing alternative viewpoints, and social studies is one of the best areas of curriculum to make critical thinking come to life.

Social Studies Helps Students to Understand the Importance of Civic Responsibility

Society needs people to take civic responsibility for their communities, whether it is organizing to improve neighbourhoods and regions or taking the role of a leader in different types of organizations. Strong instruction in social studies fosters a passion for civic responsibility in children and a drive to innovate and improve their town, city, province, or country.

Why might it be important to join a residents’ association? What are the reasons people seek political office? What can you do to improve your school community? When we teach children about how society works, we empower children to start improving their communities right away.

Social Studies Supports Academic Language Development

Finally, social studies learning is one of the best subjects for teaching academic language – the words and discourse we don’t use in everyday social language, but in more formal settings like school and work.

One of the biggest challenges I have had as an educator is helping students to communicate in different registers or discourses that are valued in academic settings and in the workplace. Teaching language through subjects like history and geography makes a high impact on learners, especially when they encounter that language in current events that are real and relevant to their families and communities.

Final Thoughts

It doesn’t take long to see how quickly the world can change, especially when we consider the headlines of the recent past. Helping children to think critically the slew of events and perspectives that accompany a major world event is essential to their growth as readers, consumers, and citizens.

Colleen Elep General, Mentorship, wellness

Protecting your Energy: 4 Things I Wish I Had Done Differently in My First Years as a Teacher

Hindsight is a gift, and I have never appreciated it more than when I talk with newer teachers and share the things I wish I knew when I was in their position. So what advice would I give to a new teacher? The number one piece of advice I would give is to protect your energy. You will need your energy for yourself, your family, and for all the other demands that teaching can bring.

I have distinct memories of putting my head down at the end of the day and nearly falling asleep, taking bags of student work home that I inevitably would not mark that night because I was just too tired to face it. When I became a parent, it became clear that I needed to preserve my energy since there was no longer an option to take a break after school and a long commute.

I’m thankful when I consider how much experience has made my life easier. I spend less time stressing over things that I cannot change, working “smarter” instead of harder to be more efficient, and knowing when it is time to stop working and focus on what matters – health, family, and relationships.

Teaching a new class, and planning units and lessons is so much better when you know where to start. As a new teacher, it was overwhelming to face the realities of planning, classroom management, and school events every day.

Here are the top 4 things I would do to protect my energy if I were a new teacher – and even if you are not “new” to the profession, perhaps you will find something you can bring to your practice.

Rethink Classroom Management

When I started teaching, I foolishly believed that all my energy should be focused on creating great lessons and planning activities. Let’s be clear – this is all very important – but you’ll never get to implement those plans if you don’t have a well-managed class.

Classroom management is so much more than setting high expectations for achievement and behaviour and setting up routines and roles (though those are all important elements to have in place). It is also about determining which times of the day will be most conducive for teaching certain subjects and running certain activities.

For example, in my experience, mornings are usually the best time for teaching essential core subjects like literacy and numeracy. The later part of the morning and later afternoons are times well spent for independent or group work. These are great times to take your foot “off the pedal” and create space for collaboration, relationship-building, and student conferencing.

It can be exhausting when you feel like you are constantly trying to calm students down, or motivate students to self-regulate when you are in the middle of a lesson. Know when your lesson simply isn’t working, and when it is time to shift gears. A good “red flag” is when you can feel your own emotions – frustration, anger, or despair – bubbling up.

Focus on Time-Saving and Efficiency when Planning

When I started teaching, I found that resources were scarce, and my colleagues were rather protective of the content they had created. To be fair, the internet was nowhere near as useful as it is today and educators were deeply dependent on textbooks and blackline masters (no, we didn’t have Google Drive to keep all those documents close at hand). I spent endless hours trying to develop lessons and content, and naturally never had the time to get my lessons exactly the way I envisioned.

Avoid spending excessive time researching and creating content – this can be a drain on your valuable planning time minutes and after school time. Focus instead on building on the content that is already available to you – whether you find something great online that aligns with the Ontario curriculum (always be critical of what you discover on the internet), at a professional learning session, a teacher resource, or content a colleague has shared.

As an experienced teacher, I now know that most, if not all of my energy on the job should be spent teaching, working with and managing my class, and adapting content for neurodiverse and multilingual learners. Sure, it can be fun and even rewarding to develop a brand new lesson – but if you are teaching multiple subjects avoid doing this for everything all the time.

Another great energy-saving strategy is to co-teach a unit or lesson with a teacher whose schedule aligns with yours, or that knows your class. Swap classrooms to implement a lesson you know well. For example, I had a colleague who was great at teaching podcasting, so I’d teach his class a lesson in news article writing while he’d teach a podcasting lesson to my class.

Get Connected with the Right People and their Resources

It’s amazing how much time and energy you’ll save by networking with the right people and leveraging their resources, knowledge, and experience. There are so many other educators in your school and board that have expertise and can share their “tried and true” strategies, tools, and resources.

For example, you may have teachers who have a role where their purpose is to share resources  and consult in areas like educational technology, literacy, mathematics, the arts, or or social studies. They may have the title of coach, itinerant, or resource teacher – it can vary from one board to another.

You may have people you work with that are particularly passionate or skilled in an area like math or reading. They can tell you exactly what practices are most effective, which will save you a lot of research and time spent on trial and error.

Optimize Assessment

I remember being a teacher that gathered piles and piles of student work, only to be overwhelmed when reporting time came near. Save yourself a lot of marking time by taking a triangulated approach where you are not only collecting products, but frequently gathering evidence from conversations and observations.

It is important for students to be assessed through multiple means, so gather assessment as much as possible through activities like group work, presentations, and media creation. Assess students in the moment, and focus on providing 2-3 pieces of feedback at a time (and share it in the moment, if possible). Use an tablet or mobile device to gather assessment data quickly and take photos of student work and collaboration for your records.

Final thoughts

Your time and energy is precious. Protecting your energy as a teacher is critical for work-life balance – ensuring that you are investing your efforts wisely is key to longevity in the job and maintaining your mental wellness.

Colleen Elep General

“Stretching Language”: Supporting ELLs in Building Academic Vocabulary

“Stretching Language”: Supporting ELLs in Building Academic Vocabulary

“Stretching” language is an essential but underrated way educators can teach academic language to students, especially those who are acquiring English as an additional language.

Incorporating new and infrequently used vocabulary into our linguistic repertoire is not easy – even for adults. As educators, we must often adopt new terminology to align our practice and professional discourse with ever-evolving instructional strategies.

For example, I probably never used the phrase “phonemic awareness” as a middle school teacher. But as foundational literacy or “science of reading” approaches have quickly become part of my day-to-day work, I kept running into the phrase.

But once I encountered the word a few times, and was compelled to use it in conversations with colleagues, it became a term I felt comfortable using. In short, I needed to find ways to “stretch” my language usage to make it a word I could use comfortably.

Students are constantly learning new, infrequently used words every day in Ontario classrooms, particularly in subjects like math, science, and social studies. But in order for them to make those words easy to retrieve and use, they must have opportunities for practice.

The practice of using new academic words is even more challenging for English language learners (ELLs), who may also be learning everyday social language as they learn subject-specific vocabulary. As educators, it is important that we create opportunities for students to “stretch” their linguistic abilities so they build language skills for academic success.

What does it mean to help Students “Stretch” Language?

Stretching language, as Pauline Gibbons points out in her book, Scaffolding Language, Scaffolding Learning, is all about compelling students to step beyond their linguistic comfort zones. It is an essential element for teaching ELLs in the mainstream classroom: pushing students into their zone of proximal development, and encouraging to take risks with words.

We can start by “front loading” new words and phrases when we start a lesson or unit of study. It is important not to overwhelm students too much with too many new words at once. Personally, I find that 2-3 words is great for elementary students including ELLs.

One great way to introduce new words is to use a strategy like picture word inductive model. This might involve projecting a detailed image related to the content on a white board and getting students involved in labelling it, and adding more “academic” versions of more commonly used words. For example, imagine a picture of a tractor plowing through a field of wheat. Students might come up with words like “tractor,” or “crops,” and the teacher might bring in words like “agriculture” or “commercial farming”.

a photo of a tractor in a wheat field, harvesting crops. The photo is labeled with words for students.
an example of picture word inductive model.

You might also encourage students to notice new vocabulary in a video, information text, or article. Capture those words on a word wall or chart paper. Point out any morphological elements, like prefixes or suffixes to help students create meaning.Next is the fun part – getting students to use the new words in conversation.

“Strive for Five” Conversations: a Strategy for Stretching Language

One resource that explains how to stretch language effectively is Strive for Five Conversations, by Tricia A. Zucker and Sonia Q. Cabell. In this book, the authors focus on how oral comprehension and speaking skills support reading and language acquisition. How? For most people, talking and interacting in a target language is essential to learning how to read and communicate with it. Through hearing words and connecting their sounds with contextual meaning, we learn language. And in the case of English, once those sounds and meanings are learned, we can map them on to alphabetic code.

How does Strive-for-Five work?

Strive for five is a 5-turn conversation a teacher would have with a student while they are engaging in learning tasks, independently or in small groups.

  1. Teacher asks an open-ended question
  2. Student responds
  3. Teacher responds with an upward or downward scaffold depending on whether they need a challenge or support.
  4. Student responds
  5. Teacher expands, and may incorporate academic vocabulary to help the student build their ability to understand and use more content-specific language.

Of course, there are a number of directions these conversations can go, and the authors do an amazing job of unpacking different scenarios. The main takeaway is that these simple conversations are a high impact way of getting students to stretch their academic language through meaningful talk. The book contains easy to reference scaffolding charts, plus examples of Strive for Five conversations in different contexts.

For example, classroom teacher might have important vocabulary listed on a word wall in the classroom. A sample conversation with an MLL about the water cycle might sound like this.

Teacher: What is happening in that picture? (points at graphic of the water cycle in a student science resource).

Student: The water is drying up, then it makes a cloud.

Teacher: Oh – I see what you mean, it is evaporating. That’s the word for drying in the water cycle. And then the condensation forms a cloud. And then what happens?

Student: The water goes back to the earth as rain from the cloud.

Teacher: Yes! That’s also called precipitation. First there’s evaporation, then condensation, and precipitation. 

Final Thoughts

“Stretching” language is an easy-to-implement instructional strategy that complements content based instruction for elementary learners, and will support students’ abilities to read and understand texts with increasing amounts of academic language. Using strategies like PWIM and Strive for Five can support ELLs as they work to acquire academic vocabulary as they learn English.

Colleen Elep English As Second Language (ESL), English Language Learners (ELLs)

What Would Support for English Language Learners Look Like if we Built Better Schools?

I spent some time in the last week exploring ETFO’s Building Better Schools website (https://www.buildingbetterschools.ca/), which contains a clearly defined critical pathway for educators and families to follow to improve the learning experiences of students.

As a parent with kids in Ontario public schools and as an educator in the public education system working primarily with English Language Learners (ELLs), it would be impossible for me to disagree with the main argument in the Building Better Schools Campaign – that schools need more funding.

In my own experience, the impact of decreased funding in schools on ELLs is most visible in working conditions for elementary school teachers and the lack of support for students. There are fewer educators that have a specialized role in supporting newcomer ELLs, which translates into less opportunities for ELLs to accelerate their English language proficiency in schools. In my own work environment, the ratio of specialized ESL/ELD educators to students last year was a staggering 1 to 200+ students.

The Needs of ELLs Today

The needs of ELLs in Ontario schools are changing. What I see in the different schools I work with are more elementary students that enrol in schools coming from backgrounds where they may have experienced interruptions to learning and traumatic experiences from conflict and displacement. Many student families face ongoing difficulties finding housing and employment, and may be living in local shelters and hotels.

Educators are increasingly working with students that have significant foundational gaps in numeracy and literacy, since those students did not have opportunities to be in school consistently in their home country or the countries they have lived in on their journey to Canada.

As a result of decreasing educator support for ELLs, and the increasing needs of ELLs that enter Ontario schools, classroom educators are placed in a difficult position where they must navigate the demands of program adaptation, programming, and initial and ongoing assessment for ELLs all while managing large class sizes with decreased mental health and special education supports.

What can schools and communities expect from the “perfect storm” of budget cuts and changing needs of ELLs?

Elementary educators – without the resources and training to develop programs and equitably assess ELLs – cannot provide the quality learning experiences ELLs need to build their language proficiency and meet curriculum-based learning expectations. When schools are not equipped to address the mental health and wellness issues that may affect newcomer students, and do not have enough specialized staff to support kids that have significant numeracy and literacy gaps, student outcomes will decline.

Elementary aged ELLs that do not get the appropriate support enter secondary schools with the same needs they had the year before, and may be underprepared to handle the rigour of coursework – particularly in schools where there may not be any programming available to ELLs.

What Would be the Impact of Better Funded Schools for ELLs?

With more funding for public education, and “enveloped” funding for ELLs, schools could make major enhancements to their programming for ELLs and significantly enhance work conditions for educators. At the moment, funding for language learners provided by the government does not get invested for its purpose.

As the Building Better Schools site states, “There is no direct accountability for school boards to spend their second language grants on the intended programs. All too often, overall shortfalls in the funding formula have led to school boards using their second language grants for other purposes and shortchanging ELL students” (ETFO).

With appropriate allocation for funding, what could ELLs and educators in Ontario schools have? Here are a few ideas:

  • Increased allocation of specialized ESL/ELD support educators in schools.
  • More professional learning targeted toward classroom educators working with ELLs.
  • Access to quality culturally-responsive resources and materials developed for English language acquisition.
  • Improved resources to support the initial assessment of newcomer students.
  • Mental health and wellness support for newcomer students that have experienced significant trauma.
  • Technology and digital resources to support language acquisition and access translanguaging tools.
  • Increased programming support for students with interrupted education and significant numeracy and literacy gaps (English Language Development, or “ELD” programs).
  • Smaller class sizes to increase the quality of learning.
  • Enhanced programs to support the transition of ELLs from elementary to secondary schools.

Next Steps

Advocating for public education and ELLs is easy thanks to the resources posted on the Building Better Schools website. Raise awareness for the campaign by clicking the Take Action (https://www.buildingbetterschools.ca/take_action) page to find content to share on socials or in your staff room, find tips on lobbying, sign petitions, or vote for a government that prioritizes children.

Colleen Elep wellness

Finding Calm in Teaching: Small Ways to Turn a Stressful Day Around

As someone who has been teaching for almost 20 years, I have to admit that I have always been the kind of teacher that really looks forward to the breaks. On long and stressful days, especially when I was a new teacher, I would immediately try to find relief in exploring plans and checking flight costs for March break or a summer vacation.

Just looking at a photo of the next destination or googling possible recreational activities could immediately calm my nerves and put a smile on my face. The time in between holidays and weekends became, at least in my mind, the time to just accept the “daily grind.”

As a much more experienced teacher, I will also admit that this activity still does help me on some days! Though I’ve also found that a better way to manage stress is to find something joyful or calming in the present – even in a hectic work environment.

Connecting with Colleagues

From the start of my career, I think having great colleagues and friends for conversation and connection makes the work day easier. As teachers, it is easy to prioritize efficiency and productivity to a point where you are constantly assessing, planning, and finding resources for the next lesson.

Taking time to stop, close the laptop or smartphone, and simply chat with colleagues during lunch or planning breaks can turn an overwhelming day into a calm one.

Taking a Walk

Getting out of your teaching or work environment can do wonders for your physical and mental health. I have had moments in my roles as a classroom teacher and a support teacher where a walk outdoors at lunch or simply around the building on a planning time can provide enough of a break to help me get some clarity and figure out my next steps.

The movement will also raise your spirits and help you to feel good too – especially if you turn on a favourite song as you walk!

Get a Good Laugh in

A good laugh will do wonders for any stressful situation. Thankfully, the internet and social media platforms have made it easy to find great comedy in a pinch. Whether it is memes, comedy routines, or satire, taking a quick peek at comedy accounts during your break can help you face the day with optimism and humour.

Focus on One Thing at a Time

When it feels like you have too much going on, it can make a big difference to rethink the way you do things. As a habitual multi-tasker, I find it can feel truly liberating to resist all the different factors vying for your attention and promise yourself to do one thing at a time. This way, you can get things done mindfully and thoroughly instead of doing it all at the same time.

Yes, multi-tasking is a skill that can make you feel highly productive and efficient. But “mono-tasking” has its own rewards, such as steering yourself to the present, becoming more self-aware, and ironically more productive than multi-tasking.

While this may not be a”joyful” activity, it can certainly feel good to refocus your attention and pay attention to what makes sense to focus on in the moment.

Final Thoughts

Finding joy and calm in day to day life is not always easy as a teacher. Some days, it can feel impossible! However, finding small and simple ways to find calm and engage in self-care can make the day much more enjoyable and less like a “grind”.

Colleen Elep English As Second Language (ESL), English Language Learners (ELLs)

Language Acquisition and Language Arts: What’s the Difference?

It is not always easy to distinguish which types of teaching resources and strategies are best for English Language Learners (ELLs), or Multilingual Language Learners (MLLs).

I think part of the confusion – at least for elementary teachers in Ontario – stems from the fact that ELLs join mainstream classrooms and acquire English from program adaptations (accommodations and modifications) and immersion rather than from a separate ESL curriculum.

As an educator with a background in teaching English abroad, it was a new concept for me to teach literacy and numeracy to ELLs through a core curriculum designed for non-ELLs. It took me a long time to figure out how to best support the newcomer ELLs in the grade 7 homeroom I was assigned.

As someone who has worked in ESL and ELD support in schools for many years, I still get a lot of questions from homeroom teachers about how they can best teach the ELLs in their classes. Which resources are appropriate for ELLs? How are they supposed to teach English as an additional language while also teaching literacy? What’s the difference?

Language Arts vs. Language Acquisition

Understanding the difference language arts and language acquisition is key to knowing which resources to use, and how to use them.

Language Arts curriculum and resources are typically designed for students that already have a foundation of English language skills. They assume that students can draw from an existing repertoire of words and vocabulary to make meaning from texts and communicate ideas.

Language acquisition resources, or those that fall under the “ESL” (English as a Second Language) or “EAL” (English as an additional language) umbrella, are designed for students with emergent vocabularies in English (or whatever the target language is). They are designed to help students build practical communication skills, learn different verb tenses, and build vocabulary in familiar and academic contexts.

Language Arts and English language acquisition resources may often intersect in terms of content, though they cannot wholly be substituted for one another. For example, levelled texts for ELLs are designed for beginner readers in English so that they are more likely to encounter familiar or simpler verb tenses and new vocabulary at a rate that is appropriate for a student at a particular levels of English language proficiency. While these texts may be readable and enjoyable for non-ELLs, they may not contain the kind of figurative language and vocabulary that will help a non-ELL to develop skills of literary and text analysis.

Literary texts, including many stories for young children, are not designed with the ELL in mind. They may contain complex verb tenses and constructions, even when written for younger kids. ELLs can certainly read and enjoy such texts, but they may need additional support and context to understand the usage of verbs and references.

What About Literacy Resources to Support Decoding and Phonological Awareness?

As we are increasingly immersed in foundational literacy resources designed to teach decoding through phonological awareness in the language arts classroom, I think it can be tempting to use them as language acquisition resources – which they can be – but with adaptation and tweaking.

Foundational literacy resources that focus on phonemic and phonological awareness are largely designed for non-ELLs. They assume that students are already familiar with the sounds of English. And yes, these resources will be beneficial to ELLs, but much of the resources do not focus on teaching meaning. So when using these resources with ELLs, it is important to provide ELLs with opportunities to learn the meanings of the words they are decoding.

Final Thoughts

Knowing the difference between English Language Arts and English Language Acquisition resources is important, especially in teaching contexts where the differences can be blurred. Understanding which resources will serve your purpose best, or how to use both types of resources flexibly in your classroom, will help you to plan literacy and language programs effectively.

Colleen Elep Assessment, English As Second Language (ESL), English Language Learners (ELLs)

Assessment Tools and Multilingual Language Learners: Which one should I choose?

A question I get frequently as an ESL/ELD resource teacher in my board is: what assessments are appropriate for Multilingual Language Learners (MLLs) of English (also known as English Language Learners, or ELLs)?

In response, I often say: “what exactly is it that you want to assess?”

This blog is all about understanding the importance of knowing your “why” when you are assessing language and literacy. Let’s take a look at some of the most typical things teachers of MLLs might choose to assess.

Assessing English Language Proficiency

Quite possibly the most essential assessment of MLLs is their level of proficiency in English. This assessment is probably most useful to educators when a newcomer student has arrived in a school, and their teaching team wants to find out what literacy skills the student has.

English language proficiency encompasses a wide range of skills and abilities that can be broadly understood as basic interpersonal communication skills (conversation, practical language) to cognitive academic language skills (use of academic vocabulary and writing skills).

Beginner users of English will be in the process of acquiring essential English words and phrases to interact in practical situations, while intermediate and advanced users will be focused on learning the skills to participate in contexts like class discussion and formal writing for school.

In Ontario, educators are expected to use the initial assessment guidelines provided by the Ministry of Education. It is important to note that the assessment is not a “package” or “kit” that will churn out a score or proficiency level.

A better way to understand the initial assessment process is to consider it as a formative assessment for teaching and learning. Teachers can use the guidelines to choose questions, activities, and resources of their choice to get a “snapshot” of the student’s oral, reading, and writing skills in English.

The information gathered can be summarized on the Initial STEP Continua, which is a useful tool for providing an initial overview of what their level of English proficiency is. After an initial assessment, use the regular STEP Continua to monitor language acquisition on an ongoing basis.

Phonological Awareness Assessment

With structured or foundational literacy at the forefront of so many teachers’ minds, many teachers wonder if a screener like Acadience or DIBELs is appropriate for ELLs.

The answer is yes, with a few considerations to keep in mind.

First of all, students in the very emergent phases of learning English and who are just starting to learn the English may have a difficult time with the test, because they may not understand what is being asked of them or may just be encountering English “code” or script for the first time. These students are not “at risk”, but may simply need more time to build their knowledge of English language vocabulary and script.

Early literacy screeners will be more useful for assessing the phonological awareness of MLLs that have spent more time in Ontario schools and have had more exposure to the sounds of English and English texts. For ELLs it is important to consider the result of the screener as just one piece of evidence among other pieces of assessment and output, including the student’s growth on the steps to English proficiency continua (STEP).

ETFO has released an excellent document to support educators who are using early literacy screeners on MLLs. Take a look at this article to inform your own practice. ETFO members can access MLLs and Early Reading Screeners on the member site.

Reading Comprehension Assessments

Reading comprehension assessment tools have come under a lot of scrutiny in recent years largely because they do not address skills like phonemic and phonological awareness.

However, the ability of students to comprehend texts of different genres and complexities is still important for educators to understand, especially when students already have decoding skills.

When assessing the comprehension of MLLs, it is important to ensure that the texts you are using fall within the student’s zone of proximal development (not too easy, not too difficult), so you can determine what skills the student should work on. You will also want to use texts that are culturally relevant and interesting to the student.This is where using STEP tools is important, such as the guide for selecting texts for initial assessment.

Depending on the student’s STEP, you may want to base the assessment on verbal answers, or have students illustrate a level-appropriate text they have read.

Assessing First Language Literacy Skills

First language literacy skills are an important area to look at, especially for older ELLs that have spent time in schools outside of Canada. Getting a sense of their first language skills can be a good indicator of their literacy level, which will give you a good sense of what they will be able to do once they have built their vocabulary and oral comprehension skills in English.

But how do you assess first language skills when you don’t know the language yourself?

Personally, I have always found it helpful to provide students with a simple prompt, such as:

“What is your family like?”

“What was your last school like?”

I might use a translator to share the prompt with the student. In most cases, they will happily write away, knowing that they can use a language they are familiar and confident in.

When the student is finished, I might also ask that they try reading to me in a language they know. Sites like Global Storybooks have stories in many languages, or if I have a dual language text nearby I might try that. This is not the type of assessment I would score: it’s really just to get a sense of what multilingual skills they are bringing to their new school.

Other Assessments, Screeners, and Diagnostics

Of course, there are dozens of assessment tools out there that have been developed for different purposes. When you are using any tool on an MLL, you will really want to examine it critically to see whether or not they will actually capture any information beyond how much English the student knows.

This is not to say that assessment tools are not useful for MLLs – they will certainly give educators a “snapshot” of a student’s skills or growth in a certain area. Check the guidelines for assessment to see if there are any special considerations for students acquiring English, or if there are any recommended adaptations.

Diagnostics, screeners, and assessments all have a unique place in our classrooms. When we think about assessing MLLs, it is important to remember to consider learner variability (is the student a beginner, intermediate, or advanced user of English), and that you will want to consider the results of any assessment alongside other triangulated evidence in reading, writing, speaking, and listening.