Teaching to ELL Students

Joseph, Furner M. "Teach Mathematics: Strategies to Reach All Students." Intervention in School and Clinic41.1 (2005):

In 20 Ways to Teach Mathematics: Strategies to Reach All Students¸ Furner et. al provide 20 strategies for reaching all students and ensuring equity in mathematics. As stated by The NCTM, “equity requires accommodating differences to help everyone learn mathematics.” Several of the strategies are geared towards ELL students. Furner et. al recommend allowing ELL students to use drawing and symbols in solving math problems, pairing ELL students with typical students (peer interaction), explaining directions clearly and repeating key terms, and grouping students heterogeneously so that ELL students gain models of language development.

I found some of the strategies presented in the article quite useful. Mathematics can be so foreign to some individuals, and many of the strategies in this article make math concepts concrete for students. For instance, using “prior knowledge and background,” “applying problems to daily situations,” and “encouraging drawings to translate and visualize word problems,” are all strategies that I have recently found success with (particularly with my remedial students). Using these types of strategies has helped with investment, management, and overall success in my classroom.