Teaching Mathematics and Science to ELLs

Since I am interested in any ELL teaching strategies that relate specifically to the teaching of science to the ELL student, I was thrilled to find a wonderful publication produced by the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory, "The Inclusive Classroom: Teaching Mathematics and Science to English-Language Learners". This free downloadable document is available online at http://eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED455690&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=eric_accno&accno=ED455690
The 42 page document was funded by the US Department of Education and contains a wealth of information for science and math teachers and includes a resources and bibiography section of additional information and organization contacts. Just a few thoughts on what I learned from this site: ELL students may experience difficulty with the concepts of logical connectors (e.g., if, because, however, consequently); these words or phrases are an important component of "talking science". Therefore it may be necessary to restate a scientific problem as a declarative sentence (and eliminating the use of the logical connectors), for an ELL. Interestingly, the publication also references studies in which it was found that students' "academic performance ...and English-language development often improves...when allowed to use their home language in the classroom". This brought to mind a conversation I had with a friend who is a high school teacher who insists that only English be spoken in the classroom. Reading this and other documents available on the web makes me realize that I have a long way to go in developing my own strategy for effective teaching of the ELL in my classroom. I know this development will be a dynamic process, changing in response to my own experiences and research.