How can I adapt Social Studies or Science curriculum to meet the needs of ELLs?
Start with the basics. Choose a few important vocabulary words to be defined. Draw from the students knowledge of his/her native country and use the student as a resource whenever possible. Have the ELL research a topic from his/her culture to correspond to the one you are teaching. (You will be facilitating the students English vocabulary acquisition of a topic that he/she knows about.) Use newspapers and the internet. Understand that ELLs are disadvantaged in Social Studies and Science because they lack needed reading skills and because ELLs do not have general knowledge and vocabulary common to the American students in your classroom. What can you do at testing time? Try some of the following ideas. Give open-book tests. Allow the student to use a dictionary in his/her native language during the testing. Allow for extra testing time. Avoid essay questions. Consider testing the student orally in an individual situation.
