Jessica Williams

EESL 650
Summer 2015
Critical Reflection of Strategies for Teaching Math and Science to ELLs
1. Academic language development of ELLs is affected by many factors
related to the background knowledge and previous learning. Based on
your experiences in EESL 650, what factors related to SLA and
academic language development should math and science teachers
consider when designing instruction for ELLs in math and science?
When addressing academic language in the area of science
instruction, it is very beneficial to understand and incorporate the basic
components of second-language development. Science for English
Language Learners list these elements as comprehensible input,
comprehensible output, social interaction, cognitive engagement, and
focus on form (43). While designing instruction, all of these elements
need to have a high influence on the content and language within the
lesson. In order for the academic language to be successful, there
needs to be sufficient and comprehensible input and output. Also, it is
very crucial for the student to interact in various ways with the
language, and this interaction can include a plethora of groupings. This
interaction needs to be genuine and focused on form and use of the
language. All of these aspects should be considered when designing
science instruction.
Similarly, academic language in the content area of mathematics
should follow the same basic principle when planning and
implementing instruction: the strengths and weaknesses of English
learners are very intricate. Also, it is important to distinguish between
conversational (BICS) and academic (CALP) language in the classroom.
This should be considered in planning, since it can lead to certain
misunderstandings of a childs LEP. Teaching Mathematics to English
Language Learners states, an ELL may appear fluent in English but
still have significant gaps in their CALP (19). Instruction needs to
address the support and growth of academic language, since academic
language is the main proponent and support to students success in
school. With this understanding of the two types of language, teachers
are able to understand the ELP of each student as well.
2. A wide variety of techniques and strategies are known to promote
academic language development of ELLs. Based on your experiences
in EESL 650, what techniques and strategies do you believe would
prove most beneficial to academic language development of ELLs and
most practical for use by science and math teachers?
For the science content area, I loved the Talk, Thought, and
Interaction approach to English Language Development (Science for

Jessica Williams
EESL 650
Summer 2015
English Language Learners 34-36). This approach proved to be the
most beneficial for academic language development. It incorporated all
four-language domains, and it also closely aligned the SIOP model of
instruction. Language is not an island, so in order for students to learn
and become proficient they must interact with others. I also found the
5E model to be profoundly helpful with science instruction. The 5Es
stand for engage, explore, explain, extend and evaluate. The authors
argue to follow a 5E inquiry-based planning and implementation
model is the key to engaging the students in the critical thinking
process. Through this model, students engage in self discovery and
develop high levels of content knowledge (Science for English
Language Learners 37-40). Overall, these two strategies are the most
beneficial for science instruction.
Also, the content area of math has many ways to engage the
students in the material of the lesson. My favorite from the text,
Teaching Mathematics to English Language Learners, is providing reallife examples and problem solving within the lesson. It is important to
provide ELLs ample opportunity to see how mathematics might be
used in various contexts (113). This is so true! I believe real-life
examples and uses of the math content are crucial for comprehension.
It gives the students the heightened chance to interact with the
content in meaningful and genuine ways. This leads to a deeper
understanding of the content.
3. Based on your experiences in EESL 650, how will you improve
support of ELLs in math and science through academic language
development?
From my experiences in this class, I have learned many ways to
further support my English learners in math and science. Academic
language development is beneficial to all the content areas, and it also
can be supported in a multitude of ways. My favorite support from
Science for English Language Learners is the use of various groupings.
Since ELLs are all at various levels, flexible grouping has become a
popular recommendation (59). In order for students to interact with
the academic language, they must be exposed to the language in
multiple ways. This support also helps them interact more efficiently
with their peers, which fosters a low-stress environment.
In the same way, students in the mathematics classroom need to
have diverse structures. I believe in order to support and improve
academic language development in the classroom, students need to
engage in different ways with the language. English learners need to
use a variety of language resources, including the use of their first
language, gestures, drawings, and the like to convey their intended
meaning (Teaching Mathematics to English Language Learners 56).

Jessica Williams
EESL 650
Summer 2015
This provides many opportunities for the students to express what they
have learned in their own way. This is crucial for a 21st century
classroom. Students need to grapple with the content and language in
a way that benefits their own level of proficiency. This aspect allows
them to thrive in a welcoming and supportive classroom.
4. Change in instructional practice is most directly affected by
interaction between teaching peers. Additionally, change in
instructional practice is only sustained when supported through
intensive and ongoing professional development of knowledgeable
practitioners. Based on your experiences in EESL 650, how do you
plan to share what you have learned about strategies for teaching
math and science to ELLs?
After this course, I plan to share the information and resources I
have learned with my team. I currently teach 8th grade English on a
team with a science, math and social studies teacher. The four of us
are a united force to helping our English learners, so I am delighted to
share the things I have learned over the course of EESL 650. The math
and science teachers will greatly benefit, but the social studies teacher
can too. I am a firm believer that these strategies can be helpful across
all content. Science for English Language Learners states, inquirybased teaching and learning can be employed across the curriculum
(37). With this is mind, these processes and strategies can be present
in all of our classrooms.
Additionally, I also want the team to have similar strategies
within our classrooms. This will help the English learners with the
content even more! In the math classroom, it is important to vary the
classroom discussion to benefit the needs of the learners. Educators
can make the content more understandable by modifying the ways
they speak and interact with students (Teaching Mathematics to
English Language Learners 82). With this in mind, I would love to help
the teachers on my team with ways to diversify our classroom speech
and language. We can come up with a list of ways we want to engage
the language that is similar across the content areas.
5. Based on your experiences in EESL 650, how has your
understanding of effective strategies for teaching math and science to
ELLs changed?
My understanding of teaching math and science has changed
this summer. Sometimes I forget how unique each subject can be, and
math and science operate very differently from my own subject of
English. I love how science is focused on the process of the material
and content. I want to adopt some of this aspect into my English

Jessica Williams
EESL 650
Summer 2015
classroom. All content areas can be a discovery, if the lesson is tailored
right. The science portion of this class has taught me to involve more
critical and authentic thinking skills into my lessons while also valuing
the diverse resources (ELLs) bring to the classroom (Science for
English Language Learners 70). As this quote shows, all learners come
in with their own resources and way of thinking. I want my classroom
to incorporate all these ways of thinking into a cohesive and united
unit of resources.
Lastly, the math portion of this course has taught me to use
visuals and hands-on materials to effectively teach the content.
Teaching Mathematics to English Language Learners believes, visual
representations or dramatizations can be used to help understand
what is occurring in a problem (114). I agree with this entirely. Math
has a lot of visuals and graphs to accompany the content, and I want
to adopt this into my content area of English. I want the students to
have the visual supports they need to tackle the language and content
of the lessons. Overall, both areas of science and math are truly
beneficial in supporting all other content areas.
6. After reviewing a peers e-portfolio, include the web address at the
end of your response as a hyperlink.
My review of my peers portfolio can also be found on my Weebly
(http://www.weebly.com/weebly/main.php).
E-Portfolio
Evaluation
Title: EESL 650 Math/Science Portfolio
Author: Elena Smith
Address: http://www.livebinders.com/play/play?
tab_layout=side&id=1744484#anchor

Rating Scale: Highlight the luminous star-type to indicate the

usefulness of the resource.
White
Supergiant
Giant
Dwarf
Black Hole
Dwarf
(4-Terrific)
(3-Good)
(2-Okay)
(0-Useless)
(1-Marginal)
Review: Write 1-2 well-formed paragraphs to describe the usefulness
of the information provided in your peers e-portfolio.
Elenas portfolio was an excellent demonstration of the resources
and information highlighted over the course of EESL 650. She showed
many helpful and useful examples of SIOP lesson plans and strategies
throughout her work. I enjoyed reading through her resources and
various reflections. She provided a clear and concise collection of ways
to provide the best support for English learners.
Additionally, I really enjoyed her resources and reviews on the
areas of math and science instruction. One of her math resources,
Khan Academy, seems like an extraordinary source of knowledge and

Jessica Williams
EESL 650
Summer 2015
support. The main focus is on video and visual support, which is highly
relevant and helpful for English learners. These videos and supportive
resources can be supplements to the content of the lesson. They could
also be used as review, when the children go home or have extra time.
I loved how Elena mentioned that they could also be used as test prep.
That is a great idea! I also loved the science resources she provided in
her portfolio. I also reviewed the Discovery Education website, and I
found it to be very helpful. There is a wide range of lesson plans and
projects available through this site. Her resources were my favorite
part of her portfolio! I think she did an outstanding job on finding
these!
Overall, Elenas portfolio was very organized and easy to navigate
through. She was able to successfully highlight the important ways to
instruct English learners in the content areas of math and science. I
enjoyed reading her reviews, and I also agreed with her ideas on the
strategies to teaching science and math to English learners. Great job,
Elena!

References
Beltran, Dolores, Eugenia Mora-Flores, Lilia Sarmiento. (2013). Science
for English Language Learners: Developing Academic Language
Through Inquiry-Based Instruction. Shell Education Publishing
Kersaint, Gladis, Denisse R Thompson, Mariana Petkova. (2008).
Teaching Mathematics to English Language Learners. Routledge