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Supporting ELL Students in Classkick

  • Updated

English Language Learners (ELLs) / Emergent Bilinguals benefit from instructional supports that help them access grade-level content while developing academic language. 

Classkick provides flexible tools that can help reduce language barriers and create more opportunities for participation.

1) Provide Language Supports Within Assignments

Classkick makes it easy to embed scaffolds directly into a lesson so students have support exactly when and how they need it.

Consider including:

  • Sentence stems
  • Word banks
  • Graphic organizers
  • Model responses

For example, a discussion slide might include prompts such as:

  • "I agree with ___ because..."
  • "The evidence shows..."
  • "One similarity is..."

These supports help students focus on communicating their ideas rather than figuring out how to start.

TIP: Teachers can use Fill-in-the-Blank boxes for students to fill in their responses within the sentence frame.

Classkick science activity using sentence stems and fill-in-the-blank response boxes to support students in explaining their thinking.

2) Reduce Language Barriers With Visuals and Annotation

Students may understand a concept before they are ready to explain it in extended writing.

Classkick's annotation and drawing tools allow students to:

  • Highlight evidence in a text
  • Label diagrams
  • Draw models
  • Connect ideas visually
    • TIP: Teachers can use manipulatives, labeling activities, and annotation tools to help students demonstrate understanding visually before they are ready to explain their thinking in writing.

These response types provide additional ways for students to demonstrate understanding while continuing to develop language skills.

Plant diagram activity in Classkick where students label parts of a plant and use visual annotations to demonstrate understanding.

3) Use Audio to Support Comprehension

Teachers can record directions, explanations, or examples directly within a lesson.

Audio support can help students:

  • Hear academic vocabulary pronounced correctly
  • Replay instructions as needed
  • Access content independently

Providing both written and audio support helps create a more accessible learning experience for multilingual learners.

The goal is not to simplify the learning target. It is to provide the supports students need to successfully engage with it.

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