Developing Proficiency

Instructional Focus for ELLs

In order to support the literacy development of students at the Developing Proficiency level, it is important to offer an appropriate balance of language and literacy activities in the teaching program. At this point because they have some fluency in oral language more emphasis can be placed on building print-related skills.

The best balance for each student will vary but, in general, the focus in the classroom should be on teaching the key skills required in beginning reading and writing and on providing motivating practice in shared, guided, and independent reading and writing contexts. Explicit instruction and modeling are key, gradually releasing responsibility to the students as they become more confident. The "Healthy Plate" above suggests a relative balance of oral language, reading and writing activities for students at the Developing Proficiency level. Reading is given a greater emphasis than writing at this stage because understanding of language precedes expression – so written expression is more challenging. Ongoing informal assessment should determine the specific balance for each student and for the class as a whole.

Oral and Written Language

Foundations of Literacy

The purpose of reading is to get meaning from printed text and the purpose of writing is to convey meaning with text. Two main types of components are both essential to reading comprehension and written composition: Oral Language Abilities and Printed-Related Skills. See the Food Groups tab on this site for an elaboration of each of the key "food groups" for literacy, clustered under each of these main components.

Oral Lang and Print Related skills

Oral Language Abilities:

For Developing Proficiency ELLs, their Oral Language abilities in English – their understanding of the language they hear and their ability to express themselves in spoken language – appear to be fairly well developed in social situations. However, their mastery of the language of school lags considerably behind. Thus the emphasis in the oral language component of their literacy program needs to shift toward building content vocabulary and academic language through both direct and indirect instruction in the following literacy diet "food groups":

Oral Language
Vocabulary
Knowledge Building

Print-Related Skills:

In addition to further developing their oral language facility, Developing Fluency ELLs need to become confident users of the printed symbol system in their reading and in writing. Thus the following literacy diet food groups require emphasis at this point:

Letter-Sounds & Phonics
Spelling & Word Study
Writing Conventions
Reading Fluency & Expression
Text Structures & Genres
Reading Comprehension Strategies
Writing Processes & Strategies

How to teach and assess these Print-Related literacy components is detailed in other parts of this website and will not be fully elaborated here. To learn more about each of these literacy components go to the "Food Groups" section of the website. Also there is a wealth of lesson plans in the "Recipe Finder" and classroom examples in the "How-To Videos" sections of the website.

*IMPORTANT NOTE: Not all students begin at the same place – their level of language and literacy in their L1 will play a role in how they progress in their L2. Students can be at the Developing Proficiency level in various grades. Thus, for older Developing Proficiency students, the activities presented in this section will need to be modified to suit the age and maturity of the students, but the basic principles underlying them apply: the activities need to involve a range of supports and promote active engagement.

Useful Additional Resources:

Colorin Colorado is an outstanding ELL resource for teachers and parents (in Spanish and English). For information concerning the Developing Proficiency level click on the following links:

ELLs in Elementary School: This section offers grade-specific ideas for teaching and supporting ELLs in early and upper elementary school. Ideas include tips for classroom teachers as well as for ESL/ELL teachers.

Reading in First Grade: Reading is a process of getting meaning from print. In the early stages students must learn to "decode" the print. This section focuses on the essential instructional components for ensuring the literacy success of ELLS (and all students) in first grade.

Reading in Second and Third Grades: As students progress through the primary grades, literacy instruction shifts in emphasis from decoding to comprehension. This resource explains how the development of fluency is the bridge between decoding and comprehension for all students. For ELLs, building their oral language proficiency in English plays a key role in their development of both fluency and comprehension.

Reading Rockets, a companion site to Colorin Colorado, is a comprehensive research-informed literacy website that includes extensive information about all aspects of literacy education. For information relevant to the Developing Proficiency level see:

In the Classroom: Learn about using classroom texts, find out what whole-child literacy instruction looks like, and dive deeper into comprehension, content area literacy, writing, and social-emotional learning.

English Language Learners: This resource outlines effective approaches to teaching ELL students in schools, ways to create a welcoming classroom environment and strategies to promote family involvement in students' literacy development.

Developing Proficiency in the Classroom

Students at the Developing Proficiency level use oral language fairly fluently in social settings and speak with minimal errors. It may appear that their understanding and expression is similar to that of native speakers. However, in the school setting, where understanding is often dependent on unfamiliar content words and academic terminology, ELLs' language proficiency may still lag considerably behind that of native speakers. Their ability to comprehend what they read and to express themselves in writing in all subject areas may be limited by subtle language deficits in content knowledge and academic vocabulary.

Developing Proficiency level students can be in various grades, but in this section the children represented are in the upper primary grades. Thus, for older Developing Proficiency ELLs, the activities presented in this section will need to be modified to suit the age and maturity of the students.

Below is a Virtual Tour of a Combined 2nd/3rd Grade Classroom that is geared to the needs and developmental maturity of upper level primary-aged students. The teacher provides direct instruction and modeling of literacy skills in the context of highly engaging hands-on activities that serve as a spring board for oral language, reading and writing. To enter and explore the classroom, click on the image.

Tour a Classroom

Meet the Teacher

Practical Strategies for the Classroom

Oral Language

Teaching tips:

Explain, demonstrate and model new lessons to ensure that students understand expectations
Co-develop "success criteria" in various curriculum areas so that students will learn to self-monitor
Teach and practice all new academic vocabulary
Encourage students to use the proper vocabulary terms in various curriculum areas
Extend knowledge and vocabulary by reading aloud from fiction and nonfiction daily
Introduce and discuss new vocabulary and concepts before, during and after read alouds
Continue to build knowledge through shared experiences, videos and the internet
Extend vocabulary development both directly and indirectly throughout the day

Provide many opportunities for students to express their ideas orally in class
Teach students how to generate questions that will move their dialogue forward

Reading

Teaching tips:

Create a print-rich environment with an extensive classroom library including various genres and student-created books and projects
Use an interactive white board, computer monitor or document projector to support read alouds and shared reading
In the 2nd-3rd grade range, guided and independent reading activities should be used to promote fluency and comprehension
Ensure that student get extensive reading practice so they are able to read common words with ease and attack unknown words using decoding strategies
In 2nd and 3rd grade have students read aloud to a partner or perform readers' theater to develop fluency and expression
Provide leveled books for guided and independent reading
Throughout the primary grades teach effective comprehension strategies in shared and guided reading contexts
Foster a love of reading!

Writing

Teaching tips:

Motivate interest in writing through the use of technology such as interactive white boards, tablets and computers
Co-create a grade-appropriate word wall to consolidate and extend students' spelling of high frequency words
Co-create separate word walls for content area vocabulary – for example use a "math word wall" for math words
Model the use of the word walls to support spelling, word study and writing
Increase focus on word usage and grammar
Encourage use of new and interesting words in writing
Introduce various text structures and genres in reading and follow up with writing activities involving similar text formats
Develop students' analytical and critical thinking skills through written responses and reflections

Classroom Wisdom from an ESL Teacher

An experienced ESL/ELL teacher discusses the importance of capitalizing on students' interests to engage them in language building and literacy activities in the classroom.