Teacher Marla Earnest explains how she modifies learning activities to support English language learners.

Transcript: Marla Earnest: It depends on the kid. It depends on what level they're working on. But let's take a newcomer, for example, a learner that's been here less than a year. What they would do is we would have a whole class lesson that day which usually revolves around discussion so that they're using language, we're building background knowledge and vocabulary. And then having some kind of experience with that. It might be a small group table talk where they're discussing a particular cultural item that we learned about that day. And then they would work on grammar. We use IXL for grammar. I'm able to choose a level that's appropriate for them so even though that program might say it's a second grade level it might be that that particular lesson in IXL meets the emerging standard for ELD. So we choose what lesson they're going to do based on that. They also will do some sort of writing so that we're practicing the language and the vocabulary and they can do that in their personalized time. The writing is personalized to them. We use a program called Write to Learn. But Write to Learn also really heavily depends on the learning facilitator to help the learner meet what they need to meet. We have rubrics that we use. They are district rubrics designed for each level of ELD competency. So as they're writing they have the rubric and I'm able to give them feedback based on that rubric. They give each other feedback; there's some peer feedback in there as well.

Explore More

Gulfport Virtual Academy's Approach to Targeted, Relevant Virtual Learning

Through their participation in TLA's Strategy Lab: Virtual & Hybrid program, Gulfport Virtual Academy designed and piloted a program to...

KJ Virtual Academy's Approach to Teacher & Student Capacity with Technology

Through participation in TLA's Strategy Lab: Virtual & Hybrid program, KJ Virtual Academy sought to provide an effective learning solution...

Using Data to Advocate for Students with Learning Differences

To foster the right learning environment for students with learning differences, educators must understand the data around how their...