Multi-level English learners in one classroom. That’s the name of the game, especially when you work with older students.
Multi-level ESL classrooms provide advantages for English learners, where they have opportunities to interact with each other and learn language through practice and negotiating meaning.
At the same time, teaching a multi-level classroom is challenging for the instructor. It does require more planning time and involves serious collaboration between the teachers. Like in any classroom, classroom management is also essential.
When you take a TESOL course or otherwise study to become an ESL teacher, you learn about multi-level classrooms.
But then you start working. And the reality, as always, is much more different than what they tell you in the books.
Do you have an ESL classroom with students, who are complete beginners, along with those who have had a year or two of English? Are they also mixed in the same classroom with rather competent English speakers?
Do you question yourself: how on earth am I going to reach them all? In one classroom? How do I do it so that my students leave my classroom knowing that they have learned something?
It is the daily question I ponder. And today I would like to share with you a few ideas on how you can organize your multi-level classroom and feel like both you and your students have accomplished things.
Assess your ESL students’ needs
It is important to remember that someone who has just been assigned to your class but speaks no English has completely different language learning needs than a student who has some English under his/her belt.
In my district, we use a WIDA Screener, which allows us to determine the level of English proficiency in listening, reading, speaking and writing. Based on those scores, I then can refer to the CAN DO descriptors and go from there.
However, in my opinion, the WIDA Screener (or any other proficiency assessment tool) does not give a complete picture of what the student is like so using other methods such as interviews, group discussions or just plain student observation allows me to get a better picture of the student’s English learning needs.
As a side note, student need assessment should be ongoing. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve had a student who was a false beginner (meaning they had studied English in their country for many years, but are not able to readily produce speaking/writing), stressed out during the first week of school and their formal assessment scores were really low. Fast forward a month from that time, and they are chattering away, are able to write in complete sentences and eagerly ask for synonyms of simple verbs and adjectives.
Planning
Depending on your curriculum (and assuming you have one that you are following), you can plan your lessons with different levels of learners in mind. If, say, you have a lesson on reading a short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl, you could refer back to the CAN DO descriptors or other information that allows you to tap into what your student is capable to do in English and work around that.
For example, high beginners will be able to listen to the story read aloud, with pauses and check-in questions during the reading. They will then be able to fill out a timeline of events that happened in the story.
Intermediate students will be able to listen to the story read aloud, with pauses and check-ins during the reading. They will then be able to describe the main character using descriptive character traits.
Planning this way allows you to have a more manageable multi-level classroom and will give both you and your students a sense of accomplishment. You can find ready-made lesson plans – both for complete beginners and for multi-level ESL classrooms – inside The ESL Teaching Roadmap
Group your students
Although the number of students in my classroom is not big compared to some (4, 6 and sometimes 8 students), there are almost as many levels of English there. I teach at the high school, where my students need to succeed in their mainstream classes, so we learn English through content – history, science, math, i.e. whatever their current class project/homework is.
When our ESL class starts, the first thing I ask my students to do is to write down on the board what their main focus (in terms of which subject) for our class will be. Once they do that, I can see that a few of them have similar homework/subject to work on, while others can work individually. I group the students by work they have to complete and then turn my attention to those who are not yet able to work independently.
This is a simple and practical way that has worked for my class and allowed me to get a grip on both the language and content teaching.
While the above is typical for my class, grouping, in general, is a fantastic way for the students to learn English. There are different ways to do it – by skill level, by language, by interest, etc. – and you can further read about it in an excellent article from FluentU.
Use projects or themes
There are days, though, especially at the end of a semester or before or right after vacation, when the students do not have much homework or need help with any subject. These are the days when I get to enjoy teaching a lesson that revolves around a common topic or theme.
I have noticed that many students who start school in the U.S. have a lot of knowledge in certain subject areas but at the same time, they may be lacking in what has been taught here throughout the years they had missed. Such can include determining different genres of literature, or catching up on short stories, or covering a period on American history, which is recurrent in many subject area classes (such as slavery and civil rights, for example).
A common topic/theme unites the multi-level class and allows you to use varied grouping settings, exposing beginner level students to vocabulary and language they may not otherwise know and allow the more proficient students take the responsibility and act as peer tutors.
One of my all-time favorite topics to cover is the genre unit with a focus on fairy tales. Both young and older students can relate to the topic because every culture has stories that pervade national character and reveal a perception of the world that might be interesting or unexpected to others.
Have readily available materials
For the students, who are able to work independently, it is important to have materials that they can utilize in their language learning. Having a designated area with vocabulary worksheets, reading passages and/or laptops, where they can access news articles on the websites provided by you, writing tasks, etc. is a great way to promote independent learning. Activities in this center are designed in such a way that students require minimal assistance from you thus providing you with the time to focus on those, who need more help.
Check out these activities you can instantly use with your mixed-level classes.
A short story The Last Leaf. Your students will have an opportunity to have a pre-reading/watching discussion, learn new vocabulary that meets their level and needs, as well as practice writing.
A short story The Gift of the Magi. Like above, this lesson is adapted to meet the needs of students at different language proficiency levels and is perfect for practicing all language domains – listening, reading, speaking and writing.
What have you found what works for you in a multi-level ESL classroom? Share in the comments below!
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