Emotional Support for English Language Learners, & Boost of Self-esteem

1. Connect teaching to relevant knowledge from students' lives

1.1. Ask students about their favourite movies, or books, or something they do as a family. Reference those things or characters in teaching to make them feel more comfortable and excited about learning something that may be foreign to them.

1.2. The use of films is great in aspect to using familiar characters in said film to have the students discuss the plot, point of view, etc.

1.3. Give students the opportunity to create their own projects to solve math concepts. Let them plan how their are going to understand the concept, while being there to help organize their ideas.

2. Actively involve learners

2.1. Familiarize historical events with personal timelines based on family history to engage the students in the information that they are supposed to be learning.

2.2. Base science projects off of things that they would enjoy learning about, like animals or farming.

2.3. For mathematics, kids enjoy when you use food in the equations (ex. if Jimmy had 5 apples, and gave 1 to Tommy and 3 to Sally, how many apples did Jimmy have left?).

3. Use different grouping strategies

3.1. Group students together so that they can use each other to practise writing stories and practise their oral skills together. In pairs it gives them less fear of saying or doing the wrong thing and being embarrassed in front of the entire class.

3.2. Create small groups for students to research immigrant groups' culture and language. Give the english language learners a chance to teach their peers about their own culture and language and how it compares to their peers.

4. Involve family and community members

4.1. Incorporate local business owners, artists, volunteers, storytellers into the learning experience.

4.2. Provide a welcome centre for your class. Inclusion is key.

5. Create learning activities that promote success in reading and writing

5.1. Interactive journals are good with older students to have them write something that they are passionate about and to let their imagination take full control and then collect them on a regular basis and write back to them.

5.2. Give students the opportunity to revise each other's work to better recognize their own ability of understanding the language.

6. Make sure students have plenty of time to practise and get careful, targeted corrections

6.1. Correct each child's work individually giving them feedback on their work, privately and discretionally. Letting them know what they got right and wrong, but also letting them know how close they were in some situations to getting it right.

6.2. Be mindful of public oral corrections. Build on their answers to help them understand the right answer, but do not accept clearly wrong answers. Explain to them why their answer is wrong and how they can get on the right path to figuring out the right answer.

7. Provide native language support

7.1. Engage in learning their language and show them that you can learn their language too.

7.2. Acquire native language literature into the classroom for students to feel more comfortable and to give them a break from only speaking/reading english.

7.3. Do your research to find resources for the students to use for translation. Whether that be an internet resource, a bilingual dictionary, or even a local native speaking volunteer.

8. Hold high expectations for all students, and communicate these expectations clearly

8.1. Encourage the student's to complete each task to the best of their abilities. Most importantly, do NOT accept mediocre work.

8.2. Be a role model to the students. Respect diversity and do not treat anyone with lesser value.

8.3. Showcase previous student's work to provide optimism and ambition to the student towards achieving their goals.