Scaffolding Instruction for English Language Learners: Resource Guides for English Language Arts and Mathematics
These resource guides provide information to educators on how to incorporate scaffolds into lesson plans for English language learner (ELL) students. The guides – one in ELA and one in math – were developed by national experts in ELL instruction for the EngageNY curriculum. The scaffolds are based on research on instructional strategies for developing content and language with ELL students. The resource guides provide a description of each scaffolding strategy used, explain the research basis for such approaches, and include examples of lessons. The examples contain instructions for teachers, actions for students, and additional resources to facilitate implementation of each scaffolding technique.
Although this resource on scaffolded instruction for ELLs is written for New York state’s EngageNY curriculum, it provides excellent, relevant information on scaffolding techniques and routines that are consistent with the Common Core State Standards and recent research on ELL learning and instruction. Teachers from any state can incorporate and apply the scaffolding techniques and routines described in these guides into their instructional planning for ELA or math. The sample lessons included in the guides cover multiple grade levels and provide good illustrations of how to incorporate scaffolded instruction into existing lesson plans.