Supporting New To English Pupils In The Classroom

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Supporting New To English Pupils In The Classroom
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Developing Reading And Writing

• Build in discussion before reading, and oral
  practice before written work.
• Include plenty of visual support in texts
• Involve pupils in supportive shared working
  experiences, e.g.
• whole-class work with visually rich enlarged
  texts
• reading and discussion in small groups
• using texts with rhyme, rhythm and repetition
• Plan active reading groups for pairs and small
  groups, e.g. gap filling, text sequencing
• Encourage bilingual staff and other pupils to
  translate and summarise texts in pupils home
  languages
• Encourage collaborative writing with other pupils
  who share the same home language
• Be explicit about the key features of different
  types of writing

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• Avoid asking pupils to complete the same tasks
  that are carried out by other pupils, without
  understanding. Consider adapting worksheets,
  matching level of difficulty to pupils needs
• include tasks such as labelling and matching
  sentence halves
• use simple writing frames e.g. sentence
  completion
• Encourage pupils who are literate to write in
  their community languages
• Agree support for homework with EMA staff, for
  example at homework clubs and through work with
  parents
• Encourage pupils to make use of other provision
  after school, for example City Learning Leisure,
  community clubs
• Make books available to take home

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Practical activities to enable pupils to read and
write successfully

• Labelling pictures e.g. maps and diagrams with
  words, phrases or sentences provided elsewhere on
  the worksheet
• Matching texts and visuals where pupils match
  sentences or paragraphs to a sequence or set of
  pictures
• Cloze procedure filling in gaps in sentences or
  paragraphs
• Where the words are provided but mixed up
• Where a picture of each word is given
• Where the first letter of each word is given, but
  pupils supply the words
• Text highlighting or underlining where pupils
  identify key words or parts of the text that
  refer to a particular person
• Sequencing sentences to form a short, continuous
  piece of writing, which can then be written out

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• Using writing frames which provide structure for
  a text
• Writing sentences following a model structure,
  e.g. from a choice table which enables a range of
  sentences to be generated
• Compiling a glossary of subject specific
  vocabulary provided by the teacher, including
  pictures and/or translations
• Using ICT that supports learning

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Useful resources for new to English pupils

• Key visuals, e.g. tables, maps, diagrams, grids
• Pictures and photographs
• Artefacts and props
• Bilingual dictionaries
• Simplified texts and text summaries
• Adapted worksheets, to enable pupils to read and
  write small chunks of information

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• Texts in pupils home languages, e.g.
  translations or summaries of texts used by other
  pupils
• Audio-visual resources e.g. story tapes in
  pupils home languages
• Games, e.g. barrier games
• ICT e.g. programmes in English that are
  well-supported by graphics, word processing in
  pupils home languages, multi-media software,
  websites designed for language learners
• Resources that reflect pupils previous
  experiences and national backgrounds e.g. the
  Imran story books or the Leicester pack for
  Bangladeshi pupils

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• A leaflet providing this information can be
  obtained by e-mailing lynda.hitchen_at_educationbradf
  ord.com
• Education Bradford,
• Bolling Road, Bradford,
• West Yorkshire,
• BD4 7EB