Your newcomer students are ready to transition to higher proficiency classes. Exciting, right? But what comes next?
Multilingual learners (MLs) often move into grade-level classes but still require substantial English Language Development (ELD) support. These students benefit immensely from developing academic language and literacy skills through content-driven lessons that offer purposeful scaffolding. By integrating language and content instruction, we can help MLs thrive academically and bridge the gap between their current proficiency and grade-level expectations. How can we do that? Let’s look at four best practices.
- Foster critical thinking and academic language development across the four domains
- Leverage existing knowledge and skills
- Provide authentic opportunities for communication and collaboration
- Offer differentiated instruction and feedback
How does this translate into classroom practice? It varies based on the age of your students and the quality of the instructional materials used to align content and skills with grade-level standards for MLs in grades K-12.
Connecting Language, Literacy, and Content: Elementary School
Language
Multilingual learners in grades K-6 learn best with a standards-based English language development program designed for them. Introduce thematic units with engaging concepts like “Nature changes” and use media to activate prior knowledge and engage young learners. Consistent practice with reading strategies supports comprehension. Have students read literary and informational texts, and show them models of how they can discuss the reading with each other. Help them connect to oral language with audio to support listening skills and oral fluency and provide explicit but contextualized grammar lessons with practice and application.
Literacy and Academic Content Connections
Expose students to multiple content-area lessons (e.g., ELA, science, social studies, math, music, art) to builld academic literacy. Students should read a variety of genres to develop reading skills. Give students writing strategies throughout, as well as a step-by-step writing process to help them produce age-appropriate content-area writing. Explore Vista’s K-6 Connect program to learn more.
Bridging Literature and Content: Middle School
Language and Literacy
Middle school MLs become stronger and more independent readers. During the middle years, language is discipline specific. Adolescents are also defining their identities, and this journey becomes part of the academic experience. Readings must include authentic texts from a variety of genres. Introduce a main idea, such as “Personality traits and history shape your identity,” and engage students with activities that promote self-awareness and connect to their prior knowledge. Present a reading strategy, build background knowledge, and introduce key academic vocabulary words. After reading, have students apply that vocabulary to express their ideas with discussion starters. Use listening passages that relate to the unit theme and always connect back to student experiences. Also, place an increased emphasis on oral presentation skills. Grammar instruction must be explicit but also contextualized and closely tied to writing instruction. Encourage student collaboration and communication during writing activities.
Content Connections
Each content-area lesson must include comprehension strategies and develop vocabulary and syntax. This helps build understanding and fluency. Lessons build on the student experience as an asset and address the unique academic challenges that adolescents face. Academic content in ELA, science, social studies, and math are great opportunities to incorporate text from diverse genres. Give students ample opportunities to apply writing strategies learned, and a step-by-step writing process to help them express their ideas. At this stage, high-quality instructional materials and pedagogy provide MLs with the support they need to aid and accelerate language and literacy development. Explore Vista’s Bridges to Literature and Content for middle school to learn more.
Engaging with Literature and Content: High School
Language and Literacy
In high school, MLs still benefit from working with the five pillars of literacy: phonemic awareness/phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. As students encounter unfamiliar vocabulary, they must learn to use morphology and other strategies to pronounce these words. Focus on vocabulary development, fluency, and text comprehension to empower critical thinkers, strong readers, speakers, and writers. By lowering the affective filter, you can create a supportive environment where students feel comfortable engaging in meaningful tasks. Open units with an essential question and activities to address student self-awareness and prior knowledge. Have units revolve around anchor readings and teach students how to take notes on the readings using text structure (e.g., descriptive, procedural, cause and effect). Students can then use those notes as support to complete their end-of-unit writing assignments. Help students learn how to ask questions, make inferences, summarize, synthesize, and visualize. Reading strategies help students comprehend and discuss texts across subject areas, while grammar in context and skill lessons provide students with analysis tools for evidence-based class discussions.
Content Connections
Content lessons should include ELA, science, social studies, and math to prepare students for academic and career success. Students must read multiple genres and be introduced to various career pathways. Reading selections at this level must mirror those being read by non-ML peers but supply the appropriate strategies, supports, and checks for comprehension. Use lesson texts to help students point out grammar in context, explore the relationship between visuals and captions, define academic vocabulary, and identify features of the genre they are reading. Explore Vista’s Engage with Literature and Content for high school. To learn more.
References
- Bridges Level B. (2023). Vista Higher Learning.
- Connect 1 Language, Literacy, Content. (2022). (Dr. Jennifer L. Trujillo, Series Ed.). Vista Higher Learning.
- Engage Level A. (2025). (Dr. Jennifer L. Trujillo, Series Ed.). Vista Higher Learning
By Katalyn Vidal Loveless, Ed.M.
- Learn more about Connect, Bridges or Engage
- Connect with Kat on https://www.linkedin.com/in/katalynvidalloveless/
