Tutoring ELLs in Content Area Classes: 3 Steps to Work Through Content

​These are easy to teach but, more importantly, are easy for students to do independently as they take ownership of their own learning.

This year my work with ELLs is focused on individual tutoring. I am serving as a resource for content area teachers and the English language learners in their classrooms. Today I want to share an example of the process my students and I work through in order to better understand a text in their American History, Religion, or Science class.
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American History, Religion and Science classes are fraught with difficulties for an ELL. Usually, they have no background schema in the subject from which to draw therefore the concepts are just as difficult as the vocabulary. I’ve arranged with our history teacher to receive an electronic copy of the notes he provides for students in his class. He uses these notes as a springboard for lectures, class discussions, text scaffolding and assessment questions. Here’s what I do with them during a week of tutoring sessions:

1.  Vocabulary Hunt:
We read through a paragraph out loud (practicing pronunciation.) After each sentence, we choose a keyword or two that the students do not know (or don’t know well) to highlight. At the end of the page, we stop and create a Quizlet with the new vocabulary words. The Quizlet will be used throughout the unit to practice vocabulary with flashcards, games, and quizzes. This often takes a class period to complete (if not more!)

2.  Fill in the blank/Cloze Reading:
I will then take the history teacher’s notes and remove the vocabulary words from the texts, creating a word-bank with the extricated words. This becomes a worksheet for the students to do during the next class. Other options: have the students work in pairs, create task cards with the fill-in-the-blank sentences and put them around the room, create a Kahoot or SmartBoard game show with fill-in-the-blank the sentences.

3.  Translate and Restate:
​I will instruct students to use online translation tools to do a direct translation of the history notes and then write a new version of the notes in their own words. The Restate stage could also be formatted in a classroom discussion.

​Vocabulary Hunts, Cloze Reading activities, Translate and Restate are my go-to’s when helping students practice with content area materials.  I want to give students tools they can use after they leave my classroom and move on to other stages of their academic and professional lives.  These are easy to teach but, more importantly, are easy for students to do independently as they take ownership of their own learning.