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7 Easy-to-Implement Strategies for Your Dual Language Learners

• Episode 199

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In this episode of Special Education for Beginners, we’re wrapping up our ESL series with practical, easy-to-implement strategies for supporting Dual Language Learners (DLLs) who also have IEPs.

Throughout February, we’ve explored the challenges and best practices for working with the multilingual learners on our caseloads. This week, I’m sharing 7 actionable strategies to help your students access content, develop language skills, and build confidence.

📌 7 Strategies to Support ELLs

1️⃣ Leverage Visual Supports for Comprehension

2️⃣ Build in Language Scaffolds to Support Communication

3️⃣ Incorporate Structured Peer Interaction and Discussion

4️⃣ Leverage Technology and Assistive Tools

5️⃣ Provide Multiple Opportunities for Written Expression

6️⃣ Use Audio Support to Enhance Comprehension

7️⃣ Incorporate Movement and Hands-On Learning

🎯 Key Takeaways

Supporting ELLs with IEPs requires intentional planning, flexibility, and the right tools. By implementing these 7 strategies, you can:
✅ Make content more accessible for ELLs.
✅ Create a supportive, engaging classroom.
✅ Build language skills while meeting IEP goals.
✅ Boost student confidence and participation.

This episode has a lot of information, so I’ve created a resource to help!

💡This downloadable resource has all the strategies shared on today's show, plus common myths vs. facts about ESL students, and a quick-reference guide to tools and apps. 

If you are on the Sped Prep Academy email list, you will receive this resource for FREE straight to your inbox.

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Not on the email list, you can grab your resource here: 

📄 This guide includes:
✅ A summary of today’s 11 strategies.
✅ Common myths vs. facts about ESL students.
✅ A quick-reference list of tools, apps, and strategies you can use in your classroom.

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Speaker 1:

Well, hey there, and welcome back to Special Education for Beginners. I'm your host, jennifer, and today we are closing out the month of February with our last episode for ESL. This is the third of three episodes covering ESL. The first one, we did a broad overview of it, and last week we heard from Katherine Hamilton about enhancing the learning environment for students who are both identified as having a disability as well as being a multilingual learner. Today, as promised, I want to provide you with some strategies that you can actually put in place to support the students on your caseload who are also identified as English language learners. Teaching multilingual learners is about more than just translating words. It's about ensuring comprehension, engagement and meaningful participation in their education. So today I'm sharing seven easy to implement strategies that will help your ELLs thrive, make their learning more accessible and empower them to gain confidence and make progress. Let's get to it.

Speaker 1:

Hey, special educator, are you overwhelmed by the absurd amount of paperwork on your to-do list? Do you wish you had the skills to build a rock-solid team with your staff? Do you find yourself scouring the internet for how to meet the needs of each student on your caseload? Well, hey there. I'm Jennifer Hopperberg, an award-winning veteran special education teacher and current instructional coach who has walked in your shoes through each of these challenges and yes, I have the metaphorical blisters to prove it. I have cried your tears and felt your pain, and now I'm here to support you in the way I wish someone would have been there to support me. Listen in each week as my guests and I dish out practical wisdom to help you handle all the classroom curve balls that are thrown at you and learn how to laugh in spite of the chaos, to celebrate those small yet significant victories that only a special educator can understand. So are you ready? Wipe your tears and put on your superhero cape, because together we are going to learn how to survive and thrive in the ever crazy, completely overwhelming laugh. So you don't cry. Profession of being a special education teacher.

Speaker 1:

So there are many crossovers between what you would do for a student who is identified with a disability and what you would do for an English language learner. Both groups of students benefit from structured support, scaffolding and individualized instruction to help them access grade level content. But I want to give you some actual strategies that you can start using right away to better support your ELLs who also have IEPs, while students with disabilities and ELLs may have different needs, they both thrive when instruction is explicit, structured and adapted to their unique learning profiles. So strategy one is probably the most obvious, and that is to leverage visual supports for comprehension. As the saying goes, a picture says a thousand words. A picture of a cat is still a picture of a cat, regardless of what it's called. When you use visuals, you can easily help your students make those connections. You also want to use visuals for procedures, routines, daily classroom activities and expectations. Many ELLs rely on visual cues to understand what's happening in the classroom, especially when verbal directions contain unfamiliar vocabulary or complex phrasing. Instead of just giving students verbal or written directions, support them by integrating visual elements into their instruction. You can use pictures, diagrams, charts and graphic organizers to help students connect ideas and then, in addition to pictures, incorporate real-life objects and manipulatives whenever possible, especially in math and science and vocabulary lessons. When visuals are consistently used, students internalize learning structures and retain content more effectively.

Speaker 1:

Strategy two is to build in language scaffolds to support communication. Think about how a building is constructed. Builders don't just start at the top. They lay the foundation, they build up and they use scaffolds to support each new level as they go higher. But the scaffold isn't permanent. It's there to provide temporary support until the structure is stable enough to stand on its own. That's exactly how scaffolding works in education. We don't expect students to master complex skills immediately. We give them the right amount of support at each stage of their learning and, as they gain confidence and ability, we slowly remove those scaffolds until they can do it independently. Some of the scaffolding techniques that work would be to pre-teach key vocabulary before introducing a new topic, using pictures, gestures and real-life examples. You could provide sentence stems and paragraph frames to guide students' responses in speaking and writing. And you can simplify language but don't oversimplify content. Break complex ideas into smaller, digestible steps while still maintaining rigor.

Speaker 1:

The third strategy is to incorporate structured peer interactions and discussions. One of the biggest mistakes we can make as educators is doing all the talking. Students learn language best by using it, and peer interaction is one of the most effective ways to get ELLs engaged. But here's the key Students don't just learn from anyone. They learn best from role models. When ELLs are paired with proficient English-speaking peers, there's a natural level of comfort that makes learning feel less intimidating. Think about it If you were learning a new language? Wouldn't you feel more at ease practicing with a supportive peer rather than speaking in front of a whole class? That same principle applies to our students.

Speaker 1:

Peer modeling is effective because it provides a real-world example. Hearing correct grammar, pronunciation and sentence structure in a natural conversation helps students internalize language patterns and it builds confidence. It allows them to practice with a peer rather than with an adult or in a high-stakes situation, and it also encourages risk-taking. When students feel safe with their peer, they're more likely to take language risks and try out new words and phrases. So how should you facilitate those peer interactions? You can do things like think-pair-share, where you're giving the students time to process their thoughts before discussing with a partner. You can provide them those sentence starters and frames that I mentioned earlier. You can do intentional pairing, where you are pairing an ELL with a patient-supportive role model who will engage in meaningful conversation with them. By incorporating structured peer interactions, we are not just helping ELLs develop language skills. We are creating a supportive classroom culture where all students feel included and empowered to learn.

Speaker 1:

Strategy four is to leverage assistive technology tools. Technology can truly be a game changer for students who are learning English as well as students who have a disability, because it provides immediate personalized support when language becomes a barrier. When used strategically, tech tools can enhance comprehension, boost confidence and increase independence, all while making learning more engaging and more interactive. Some useful tech tools would be speech-to-text apps that help students express their ideas without having to write. It could be bilingual dictionaries and translation apps. It could be interactive learning platforms like Vocabulary or BrainPop or iReady, which allow students to engage with content at their reading and language level. And it can also be, you know, some lower tech, like audio and video recording, which allows students to record themselves reading or speaking, helping them hear their progress over time and build confidence in their language production. By using technology as a tool rather than a crutch, we can empower students to take ownership of their learning, while bridging the gap between language acquisition and academic success.

Speaker 1:

Strategy number five is to provide multiple opportunities for written expression. Writing is usually the last thing that we think of, because writing can be intimidating for ELLs, especially those with disabilities. The key is to make writing low pressure and accessible, while still encouraging language development. So some ways to support your ELLs in writing is to use quick, low stakes writing tasks, like things like exit tickets or sketching notes or short reflections. And then you want to also provide those writing scaffolds, using those sentence starters, paragraph frames and label diagrams that can ease the stress of writing. And then allow your students to draw and label. Let students use pictures, labels. First, language support as a bridge to English. Not every student is going to be at the same level, and that's okay. The goal is to meet them where they are and give them a structured way to build writing skills over time.

Speaker 1:

Strategy number six is to use audio support to enhance comprehension. Academic texts can feel very overwhelming, especially when students are still developing their English proficiency. So one powerful way to support their comprehension is by incorporating audio support into reading instruction. Students can listen while reading, they can follow along with an audio version of a text, and this can reinforce pronunciation, fluency and comprehension. You can expose students to natural pacing and intonation by hearing text read aloud, and it helps students internalize the rhythm and structure of English. And then it also provides multisensory learning, where students can see, hear and process information simultaneously, which strengthens retention. So you're going to want to use some audio books for your read-alouds. You want to record and personalize reading, creating like teacher or peer-recorded versions of complex texts with added explanations for key vocabulary, and then again leverage those text-to-speech tools. Apps like Natural Reader, microsoft Immersive Reader and Google Read&Write allow students to control the pace of narration as they follow along and then encourageourage. Repeated Listening allows students to listen to a text multiple times, first for general understanding and then for details and deeper analysis, and then Echo Reading has students repeat after the narrator to build fluency and confidence. By integrating audio as a regular part of your instruction, you remove barriers to comprehension while still keeping those grade-level expectations intact.

Speaker 1:

Strategy number seven is to incorporate movement and hands-on learning. Ells learn best when they are actively engaged with content rather than just passively absorbing information. Movement-based and hands-on learning activities stimulate multiple areas of the brain, making it easier for students to connect concepts, build vocabulary and retain information. When students physically interact with the content, they are not only learning language, but they are developing cognitive connections. They're building those dendrites, or those little connection pieces within the brain, and these connections strengthen comprehension and recall. Plus, movement-based learning reduces anxiety and it makes learning more enjoyable and natural, especially for students who may feel self-conscious about their language skills.

Speaker 1:

So some ways to incorporate hands-on learning would be to use, like math counters, fraction tiles and base 10 blocks for number concepts. You can use science experiments where students can physically interact with materials. You can use science experiments where students can physically interact with materials using word puzzles and sentence building activities. You can post sentence strips or images or vocabulary words around the room and have students walk around to match definitions or create sentences. You can set up interactive stations with different tasks related to a lesson, allowing students to move at their own pace while practicing skills. You can have like vocabulary scavenger hunts where students search for and define key terms. You can have games like charades or Pictionary, and then movement-based response activities like stand up and sit down for true and false questions.

Speaker 1:

So, just like with anything else, supporting ELLs with IEPs requires intentional planning, patience and flexibility, but when we design instruction with these strategies in mind, we set our students up for long-term success. So let's recap those seven strategies Visual supports, scaffolding, peer interaction, assistive technology tools, opportunities for written expression, audio support for tools, opportunities for written expression, audio support for comprehension and movement, and hands-on learning. I know that was a lot of information and if you're anything like me, you might want a simple, easy to access reference for everything that we talked about today and good news. I made a resource for you. I made a downloadable guide for dual language learners and it includes a summary of all of those seven strategies that we discussed today. But it also gives you some common myths versus facts about ESL students that will help you better advocate for them, and it gives you a quick reference list of tools, apps and strategies to use in your classroom.

Speaker 1:

You can find this resource in my TPT store and I will include a link in the show notes, but if you are on my email list, you will get it for free. Plus, being on the list means exclusive discounts on products, early access to new resources and helpful tips sent straight to your inbox. Just head over to spedprepacademycom slash podcast and sign up to be on the email list so that you can get your freebie sent straight to your email box. Next week starts a new month and a new theme. The theme for March is assistive technology, so be sure to subscribe so you don't miss it. As always, thank you for showing up for your students and for being a part of this community. If you found today's episode helpful, share it with a fellow educator or leave a review. See you next week.