Teaching ELA to Multilingual Learners: Strategy of the Week

• Download Teaching ELA to Multilingual Learners: Strategy of the Week

Each week we share one strategy that you can use to meet the needs of your diverse multilingual learners in secondary content classes. This week’s strategy is specifically for secondary ELA teachers but could be adapted for use in many content areas.

Strategy: The Expert and the Novice

• Language Objective: I can listen and ask questions to understand. I can use speaking to explain.

The Expert and the Novice: How To

Before the Activity

1. Select specific learning objectives you want students to teach each other, such as a classroom procedure, academic concept, or academic vocabulary.
2. Determine student pairs in advance, keeping in mind students’ language needs.

During the Activity

• Define the terms “expert” and “novice” for the whole class.
• Place students in pairs, with one assuming the role of expert, the other as novice. The expert will explain a topic while the novice listens and asks clarifying questions.
• Direct students to switch roles.
• After time is up, gather students to discuss what they’ve learned.

Extra Support for MLs

• Allow students to write about the topic before sharing with a partner.
• Use sentence frames and/or a word bank.
• Set a goal for how many academic words or sentences you expect the students to use.

Example: Language Arts 9

• LT: I can describe the characteristics of different informational texts. In Unit 2 of StudySync, students learn about 6 different types of informational texts. After learning about them, have students take turns describing the different sub-genres to a partner and asking questions. Give students the word bank provided in the English learner scaffolds for the lesson.

Helpful Links to Learn More

• Jeff Zwiers blog post about the importance of classroom talk 
• Example from a high school class