SDAIE Strategies (Specially Designed Academic Instruction for English)
Metacognitive Development: Providing students with skills and vocabulary to talk about their learning. Examples: Self assessments, note taking and studying techniques, and vocabulary assignments.
Bridging: Establishing a link between the students’ prior knowledge and the material. Examples: Think-pair-share, quick-writes, and anticipatory charts.
Schema-Building: Helping students see the relationships between various concepts. Examples: compare and contrast, jigsaw learning, peer teaching, and projects.
Contextualization: Familiarizes unknown concepts through direct experience. Examples: demonstrations, media, manipulatives, repetition, and local opportunities.
Text Representation: Inviting students to extend understandings of text and apply them in a new way. Examples: Student created drawings, videos, and games.
Modeling: Speaking slowly and clearly, modeling the language you want students to use, and providing samples of student work.
Allow them to use their own language when appropriate. A review of literature shows that supporting ELL students' use of their native language helps them comprehend and learn English. It develops greater brain density in areas related to language, memory, and attention (Moughamian et al, 2009; Protheroe, N., 2011).
General Strategies
Know who your ELL students are and their proficiency in English.
As with all your students, set high expectations.
Embed multicultural education throughout the curriculum, as opposed to a "Heroes and Holidays" approach where other cultures are only mentioned on special days.
Assess and utilize the background knowledge of your students; use bilingual students as helpers.
Learn to pronounce student names correctly to help develop rapport. If you are not sure, ask (in private if needed).
Use technology such as class websites, blogs, and videos.
Avoid testing exclusively in English, as students may not be able to demonstrate their learning in a second language (or offer a different kind of test).
Use structured note-taking formats such as graphic organizers and teach viewing comprehension strategies.
Utilize classroom routines and play music whenever possible.
Instructional Strategies
Slow down your speech and use shorter sentences, present tense of words, synonyms, examples, gestures, and demonstrations.
Avoid expressions or sayings that are only common in the United States.
Use as many mediums as possible to convey information: oral, written, videos, teacher demonstration, student demonstration, etc.
Use think-alouds and think-pair-shares when asking questions, and don't forget to give students enough time to process the question.
Use bilingual handouts and cue lists.
Use metaphors and imagery for cues.
Environmental Strategies
Create print-rich environments using bulletin boards with articles on sports and physical activity, gameplay strategies, words of the day, etc.
Use visual displays, portable white boards, and posters when giving instructions.
Create word walls: displays of high-frequency words for a unit, arranged alphabetically.
Assignments and Activities
Quick writes, word sorts, and journal writing.
Learning stations that reinforce previously taught concepts and skills.
Introduce vocabulary in a fun way such as Cross Word.
Have students create new games.
Use cooperative learning such as jigsaw learning and peer observations.
Use task cards to give students opportunities to take responsibility for their own learning.
Use newspapers, magazines, and web sites in assignments. Involve librarians.
Use Google Translate or have ELL students work with teachers to create handouts in multiple languages.
