In.order.for.English.learners.to.be.successful.in.school,. they.need.to.understand.concepts.and.be.able.to.use.the. language. of. academic. subject. areas .. High. quality. con- tent.instruction.that.students.can.understand.is.critical .. How.well.students.understand.and.learn.subject.matter. is. a. much. better. indicator. of. academic. success,. rather. than.how.proficient.they.are.in.English.(Callahan,.2005) .. Although.understanding.new.concepts.in.content.areas. is.cognitively.demanding,.you.can.use.a.variety.of.strate- gies.to.help.English.learners.master.complex.material ..In. this.chapter,.we.will.discuss.the.various.ways.in.which. you. can. modify. content. instruction. so. that. it. is. more. comprehensible.for.English.learners .
Sheltered instruction refers. to. instruction. that. uses. techniques. to. make. content. accessible. or. that. makes. language. and. concepts. visible. to. English. learners. (De. Jong.&.Harper,.2005) ..This.approach.incorporates.the.use. of. visuals,. modifications. in. teacher. talk,. many. oppor-
tunities. for. interaction,. and. many. principles. of. good. teaching .. It. is. often. said. that. sheltered instruction. is. simply.“good.teaching .”.We.would.agree.that.it.basically.
is. good. teaching,. and. native. English. speakers. can. also.
benefit.from.this.type.of.instruction ..However,.English. learners.will.require.substantially.more.comprehensible. input. than. will. native. English. speakers .. English. learn- ers. will. also. need. more. support. to. understand. subject. matter. textbooks .. Moreover,. the. purpose. of. sheltered. instruction. is. twofold:. (1). to. teach. content. and. (2). to. teach. academic. language .. These. are. important. because. English.learners.may.have.limited.exposure.to.academic. language.outside.of.school ..
English. learners. at. the. advanced. level. will. benefit. the. most. from. sheltered. instruction .. Beginning. and. inter- mediate-level. students. can. and. should. participate. in. sheltered.instruction;.however,.they.will.not.be.able.to. fully. understand. complex. and. abstract. concepts. until. their. language. skills. become. more. developed .. This. is. especially. true. for. students. in. the. upper. grades,. when. learning.becomes.more.cognitively.demanding.and.com- plex ..For.this.reason,.we.recommend.that.beginning-.and. intermediate-level.students.be.provided.with.support.in. their.native.language.if.at.all.possible ..Note.that.includ- ing. them. in. sheltered. instruction. is. not. detrimental,.. however,. they. may. not. benefit. as. much. as. the. more. advanced.students ..Less.linguistically.advanced.students. can.acquire.a.great.deal.of.language.through.content.area. instruction ..Additionally,.they.will.grow.in.self-esteem. as.they.become.full.participants.in.your.classroom . If. your. English. learners. are. all. at. the. same. level. of. English. proficiency,. you. will. spend. less. time. planning. because. the. language. that. you. use,. the. questions. you. ask,. and. the. tasks. that. you. assign. will. all. be. designed. for.just.one.level ..It.is.more.likely,.however,.that.your. students.will.be.at.varying.levels.of.language.proficiency .. Consequently,. you. will. need. to. think. about. different.
objectives,. assignments,. and. student. responses. based. on. these. different. levels .. This. does. not. mean. that. you. need. to. plan. separate. lessons. for. each. student. level .. Rather,.include.multilevel.objectives,.assignments,.and. responses.within.lessons.for.the.whole.class ..For.exam- ple,. identifying. some. main. ideas,. engaging. in. shared. reading,.creating.some.drawings.or.a.graphic.display.that. illustrates.their.understanding,.and.responding.by.using. a.few.words.or.phrases.are.all.appropriate.objectives.for. beginning-level. English. learners .. In. contrast,. objectives. for.advanced.students.may.include.extensive.discussion,. synthesizing,.reading,.and.report.writing ..At.the.end.of. this.chapter,.we.provide.an.example.of.what.this.type.of. multilevel.instruction.looks.like .
A. key. consideration. for. you. to. think. about. in. advance. of.a.unit.of.study.is.what.you.want.each.level.of.English. learner. to. know. at. the. end. of. your. instruction .. It. is. preferable. to. select. essential. content. for. your. grade. level.and.take.the.time.to.teach.it.in.some.depth.rather. than. attempt. to. rapidly. cover. everything. in. the. text- book. (Chamot. &. O’Malley,. 1994) .. This. can. provide. more.meaningful.instruction.and.prevent.your.students. from. becoming. overwhelmed. with. too. much. informa- tion—much. of. which. they. will. not. be. able. to. under- stand ..Stephen.Covey’s.(1989).phrase.is.“begin.with.the. end.in.mind .”.Wiggins.and.McTighe.(1998).suggest.that. teachers.engage.in.“backwards.planning .”.Both.of.these. phrases.convey.the.idea.that.you.must.look.over.a.unit.of. study.before.you.teach.it.and.make.decisions.about.what. the. essential. learnings. are. for. your. students. to. under- stand ..What.is.“worthy.and.requiring.of.understanding?”. (p .. 64) .. You. must. answer. this. for. each. level. of. English. learner.that.you.are.teaching,.because.there.will.neces- sarily. be. comprehension. limitations. connected. to. each. level.of.language.proficiency ..A.beginning-level.English. learner.will.simply.not.be.able.to.understand.at.the.same. level.of.depth.and.breadth.as.an.advanced.level.English. learner ..Once.you.have.made.essential.learning.decisions.
for.your.students,.you.will.be.able.to.make.instructional. decisions. about. how. you. and. your. students. will. work. toward.developing.“enduring.understandings”.(p ..64) .