Two of the Learning the Language posts selected by the most readers in 2009 give information about strategies to use in the classroom with English-language learners. One is a post about research that speaks to the effectiveness of push-in lessons, when an ELL specialist teaches students within the context of their regular classroom, versus pull-out lessons, in which the specialist pulls ELLs out of class for lessons. I wrote the post back in June 2008, but it still was the second most-selected post in 2009.
Another post that made it into the top five features a research brief about how Response to Intervention can be implemented to benefit English-language learners. (Look for a story on this topic in the next issue of EdWeek.)
The attention to these two blog entries tells me that educators are seeking to expand their repertoire of strategies that work with ELLs. In this new year, I welcome you to share with me the latest and greatest in the field, so I can pass it along to readers.
Here’s a list of the top five most-read posts on this blog in 2009, listed in order of popularity:
Obama Visits School Where Large Number of Students Are ELLs
Research on Push-In Versus Pull-Out
Resource: Research Brief on RTI for ELLs
Ten-Year Anniversary of Proposition 227
For Some Students in L.A., Once an ELL, Always an ELL
Notice that readers contributed some really thoughtful comments in response to these posts. I read all comments on this blog, and they sometimes provide guidance on what I should write about next.