Management Routines and ELLs
Establishing Routines for New Language Learners
By establishing consistent management routines in the primary classroom, the ease with which a new language learner can adjust to a new environment is improved.
For a child learning a new language and negotiating a new school culture, management routines can be very different from those of his or her country's educational system.
The Importance of Management Routines for English Language Learners in the Primary Classroom
It is easy to forget is how these kinds of routines can positively or negatively impact the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CLD) students in the classroom. By making management routines clear to our CLDs from the first day, it helps them to integrate into the classroom and spend less time trying to figure out what is going on.
To begin, giving "classroom tours" helps familiarize the students with the room and where things are physically located. Another important classroom feature is labels accompanied by images. Having everything labeled in the classroom, whether it is crayons, book boxes, computers, etc. and having these labels attached to a picture will help readers, writers and speakers of English to access materials and acquire vocabulary.
Practice Makes Perfect
It is also helpful to practice the classroom management routines often. Model what the expectations are, have other students practice for the CLD learner to watch For example, if one management routine has to do with supplies - where they go, how to use them, how to share then - it is beneficial for the child learning English to be able to see how other kids are organizing around using materials in an explicit way instead of having to just "figure it out." Make it easy on them by showing, not telling. Teachers take for granted at times that students understand simple instructions, but if we model, label and practice, our English Language Learners (ELL) have one less thing to worry about.
Sharing Kids
Many schools that have high numbers of ELLs utilize teams of teachers to work with students. Some teachers are trained in bilingual education, others in ESL, some are "push in" teachers, and others "pull out." If children have more than one teacher it is helpful to establish routines that are similar. While teachers do have different philosophies on how to run their classrooms, keep in mind that cohesion between classrooms will only help ELLs to more quickly understand the ins and outs of the day and be able to delve into learning. For example, if one teacher expects the children to raise their hands before talking while the other teacher wants kids to use their thumbs, this is just one extra, and really unnecessary, routine that an ELL student has to negotiate. Why not have the same routines in the different classrooms?
Management Routines to Consider
- Use of Materials: Establish where materials are, label them using pictures and varying levels of language structures based on the comprehensive level of the ELLs in the class, practice taking them out, putting them away, etc.
- Raising Hands or Using Thumbs: Having kids shoot up there hands to answer questions can cause a level of stress and competition in a group which might create further anxiety for a new language learner. Why not use thumbs? Have the children place their thumbs on the chest and quietly wait their turn. It gives other kids time to think and is less competitive.
- Book Boxes: Individual book boxes where they can put books that interest them, books in their native language, and books that scaffold their language acquisition. Book boxes are also a great place to put photos of the students in the class, with their names written, perhaps a quote about what they like about books. Adding this environmental print to the room helps ELLs learn how to spell other students' names, and puts text within context.
There are many other routines to think about, but the point is to be aware of the little details that might be taken for granted, because for a child learning a new language these details often are the difference in feeling safe and comfortable in her/his new school environment.
