{"id":3186,"date":"2021-09-07T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-09-07T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/post\/support-your-english-language-learners-during-pbl-with-these-5-tips\/"},"modified":"2024-02-07T21:15:39","modified_gmt":"2024-02-07T21:15:39","slug":"support-your-english-language-learners-during-pbl-with-these-5-tips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/post\/support-your-english-language-learners-during-pbl-with-these-5-tips\/","title":{"rendered":"Support Your English Language Learners During PBL with These 5 Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"
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If you\u2019re an educator in the U.S., chances are you already have several English Language Learners (ELLs) in your classroom. <\/span>ELLs account for more than 10% of the total K-12 student population<\/span><\/span>, and are on the rise in a majority of\u00a0states according to a <\/span>report by the U.S. Department of Education.<\/span><\/a> These students, who are not yet proficient enough in English to effectively communicate and learn in the language, require additional support to succeed in the classroom.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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All too often, ELLs are confined\u00a0to drill-and-skill instruction and only engaged in lower-level thinking, but new research suggests <\/span>project-based learning<\/span><\/a>\u00a0(PBL) can act as a <\/span>lever for the success of all students,<\/span><\/span>\u00a0including underserved populations like ELLs.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This article explores existing research about the effectiveness of PBL for ELL students, as well as five tips for teachers to support ELLs during PBL instruction.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Can ELLs Participate in Project-Based Learning?<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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There\u2019s an idea that ELLs (or <\/span>low-income students<\/span><\/a>) aren\u2019t \u201cready\u201d or proficient enough to participate in rigorous PBL. <\/span>But the truth is authentic, engaging learning experiences and opportunities to use relevant and contextualized academic language are a recipe for growth for<\/span><\/span>\u00a0all <\/span><\/span><\/span>students. <\/span><\/span>Several studies support this notion, too. <\/span>Lucas Education Research<\/span><\/a>,\u00a0a leading PBL resource, recently released several <\/span>white papers<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and <\/span>research briefs<\/span><\/a> <\/span><\/span>documenting the impact of PBL on underserved student populations, including ELLs. In one such <\/span>study<\/span><\/a>\u00a0done in collaboration with Stanford University researchers, ELLs engaging in authentic science instruction demonstrated \u201csignificant learning across multiple content areas,\u201d outperforming the comparison group on a language proficiency test.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The reason PBL is so powerful for ELLs is the same reason it appeals to all students: <\/span><\/span>Learning evolves from an isolated abstraction into an authentic, engaging, and contextualized experience, igniting student interest and boosting achievement outcomes.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhen students see the learning as relevant, they are more likely to engage in acquiring vocabulary skills, language, and content needed to be successful in the project,\u201d explains Andrew Miller, a seasoned PBL educator and instructional coach, in a <\/span>case study on the potential of PBL for ELLs<\/span><\/a>. ELL students <\/span>deserve the same opportunity<\/span><\/span> to engage with rigorous academic content and language and practice critical higher-order thinking skills as their language proficient peers.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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How to Support ELLs During PBL: 5 Tips for Teachers<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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There are several <\/span>steps and strategies<\/span><\/span>\u00a0teachers can use to support the learning of all students, <\/span>especially<\/span><\/span>\u00a0ELLs, during PBL instruction.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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1. Pre-select Research and Resources<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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preselectresearch<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Having a select set of research and resources ready for ELLs ensures they\u2019re able to engage with <\/span>accessible content<\/span><\/span>\u00a0about the project\u2019s topic.\u00a0Be sure to include a variety of modalities, like podcasts, images, online videos, and other visuals to support your ELL students.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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PBL also provides a perfect opportunity to incorporate\u00a0<\/span>realia<\/span><\/span>, or real objects and images from everyday life. Realia is <\/span>authentic<\/span><\/span> and appeals to both visual and kinesthetic learners; its incorporation can make material more memorable and help students form more concrete connections.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Visual aids<\/span><\/span>\u00a0are <\/span>proven<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to aid ELL students in absorbing and understanding content, in addition to boosting their confidence and engagement.\u00a0These benefits are <\/span>compounded<\/span><\/a>\u00a0when teachers also pull students for individualized instruction.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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PBL and 21st Century instructional coach <\/span>Heather Wolpert-Gawron<\/span><\/a>\u00a0suggests the research phase is the perfect time to pull ELL students and help them with preparations so they can return to their group with something new to contribute.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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2. Scaffold Structures and Academic Language<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In order for ELL students to be successful during rigorous, language-rich PBL, teachers must anticipate and scaffold the structures and academic language necessary to complete the project. This starts by pulling the processes and key vocabulary from the standards connected to your project. For example, <\/span>Ms. Trowbridge\u2019s project \u201cDigging for Dinos\u201d<\/span><\/a>\u00a0combines standards across content areas, including explaining Earth events, writing opinion pieces, and estimating lengths.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To meet the needs of her ELL students, Ms. Trowbridge planned for difficult vocabulary, like \u201cestimate,” \u201cinches\u201d and \u201cfeet,\u201d and modeled the structure of supporting claims with evidence for her students. Samples of scaffolding strategies include providing sentence stems for students, activating background knowledge, incorporating visual aids, or modeling through think-alouds. When you consistently provide sentence stems for ELL students, they’re able to focus more on the content of their response than its structure.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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3. Leverage Peer Collaboration<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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leveragepeercollaboration<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Collaboration and discussion offer ELL students a chance to <\/span>practice vocabulary and language structures and functions with peers<\/span><\/span>\u00a0in a low-stakes environment.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Collaboration is a core element of PBL and can appear in both the process and product. For example, students may critique and revise each other\u2019s work, or create and present their final product together.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Research<\/span><\/a>\u00a0supports collaborative writing assignments and peer editing in particular can <\/span>lower anxiety <\/span><\/span>and<\/span> increase self-confidence<\/span><\/span> and <\/span>motivation<\/span><\/span>\u00a0in ELL students.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In order for group work to be productive and successful, students must be grouped mindfully and given clear expectations and goals for their conversations. Here, <\/span>PBL also\u00a0provides the perfect framework for teaching SEL skills<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and social norms during group discussions, like listening, taking turns, and navigating disagreements.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Rotating through groups and listening to contributions from ELL students also provides a great opportunity to <\/span>informally assess<\/span><\/span> their grasp on the project\u2019s language and structures.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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4. Model Metacognition <\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Metacognition<\/span><\/span>, or \u201cthinking about thinking,\u201d is an excellent tool to add to your ELL students\u2019 toolbox. <\/span>Elizabeth Leone,<\/span><\/a>\u00a0whose New Hampshire class is largely composed of refugees and immigrants, models metacognition to empower her students with the <\/span>confidence to self-advocate<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and <\/span>increase their autonomy<\/span><\/span>. Whenever her students require an accommodation, she brainstorms potential solutions in a think-aloud format to scaffold the language and structure of the request. \u201cOnce the student can independently come up with the rationale for the resources or tools they need, I know that I have made a huge leap in their autonomy and problem-solving,\u201d explains Leone. Incorporating metacognition into your PBL instruction is an excellent way to ensure your students are getting the support they need, and <\/span>truly taking ownership of their learning<\/span><\/span>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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5. Integrate Their Culture and Native Language<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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integratecultureandlanguage<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Building connections to students\u2019 own experiences and existing background information can accelerate learning and language acquisition. These <\/span>authentic connections<\/span><\/span>\u00a0also make learning more engaging, and can cultivate a deeper, more collaborative classroom culture.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For <\/span>example<\/span><\/a>, Leone\u2019s students examined the characteristics of a community by researching local buildings, documenting a field trip around their neighborhood, and creating photo books as their final project.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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The topic<\/span>\u00a0inspired students to share their own experiences<\/span><\/span>\u00a0and <\/span>led to additional language learning.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0\u201cStudents brought their own perspectives and shared what their communities were like where they came from which helped them connect with the project and created more opportunities for dialogue to build vocabulary and communication skills,\u201d reflects Leone.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Additionally, a student’s native language should be viewed as an asset. Allowing students to produce another final product in their native language can increase the audience, reach, and impact of the project, notes educational resource <\/span>Edutopia<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Summing Up PBL for ELLs<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
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Project-based learning (PBL) improves learning outcomes for all students by presenting the opportunity to tackle rigorous, relevant, and contextualized challenges.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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PBL\u2019s engaging nature encourages English Language Learners (ELLs) to interact with the content and better absorb the language skills and structure necessary to participate.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This research-backed approach is far from out of reach for ELL students, but does require additional support and strategies from educators, like modeling and scaffolding, to ensure student success.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Ready to harness the power of PBL in your school or district?<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you\u2019re an educator in the U.S., chances are you already have several English Language Learners (ELLs) in your classroom. ELLs account for more than 10% of the total K-12 student population, and are on the rise in a majority of\u00a0states according to a report by the U.S. Department of Education. These students, who are […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":982,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3186"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/982"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/projectpals.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}