Distance Learning for ELLs

This resource section includes numerous articles, blog posts, and links to online networks with tips for planning distance learning for English language learners (ELLs). See our complete distance learning guide for more information.
Featured Articles
- Teaching ELLs Online: How to Develop Students' Language Skills
- How ELL Educators Can Collaborate and Co-Teach During COVID-19
- 8 Strategies for Building Relationships with ELLs in Any Learning Environment
- How to Expand ELLs' Access to Technology for Distance Learning
Blog Posts
Guides and Toolkits
Resource Pages
Recommended Resources
Webinars
- Distance learning and ELLs Part I: What do we know so far? (Share My Lesson) | See related resources
- Distance learning and ELLs Part II: What's Working, What's Not, and Getting Ready for Fall (Share My Lesson)
- Supporting ELs in 2020-21: Looking Back and Looking Ahead (SupportEd)
- Practical Resources and Strategies to Teach K-12 ELLs Online (SupportEd)
- Distance Learning for ELLs (Seidlitz)
- Strategies for ELLs' Distance Learning (Saddleback Publishing)
Videos
- Video and Infographic: 7 Tips for Remote Learning (Larry Ferlazzo and Wendi Pillars)
Articles, blogs, and webinars
Blogs, infographics, and more
- Five Structures for Virtual School (Empowering ELLs)
- 6 Key Considerations for Supporting English Learners with Distance Learning (Heather Skibbins, SEAL)
- 10 Ways to Get Students Using Academic Language During Distance Learning and Beyond (Valentina Gonzalez)
- Infographic: Distance Teaching for ELLs (Valentina Gonzalez)
- 4 Buckets Manage ALL Our Virtual School Tech (Middle Web)
- Looking Back at What Worked and What Didn’t (Middle Web)
- 5 Effective Modeling Strategies for ELLs (Edutopia)
Share My Lesson (AFT)
- COVID-19 School Closures: Supporting English Learners During the COVID-19 Pandemic | Spanish version
- Supporting ELLs During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Teacher’s Narrative
SupportEd
- Supporting ELs in the 2020-2021 School Year: Resource Padlet
- Reflection Tools for ELs Returning to School in 2020
- Resources for Teaching ELLs Online
TESOL Blog
- PD Opportunities for EL Teachers During Summer by Judie Haynes
- Supporting ELs’ Social-Emotional Learning in a Virtual Classroom by Judie Haynes
- Taking Your Teaching Online by Stephanie Marcotte
- Responding to COVID-19: Educator First Steps by Stephanie Marcotte
- Coronavirus Resources for ELT by Tomiko Breland
- Teaching Writing Online by Betsy Gilliland
Education Week
Larry Ferlazzo is publishing excellent articles and educator contributions on distance learning and ELLs on his blog, Classroom Q & A with Larry Ferlazzo. One recent highlight includes this Q&A collection on using technology with students. Other highlights include:
- Grading ELLs in Content Classes
- Teachers Share Their Online-Teaching Plans
- Strategies for Teaching Online in the Age of the Coronavirus
- The Do's and Don'ts of a Quick Switch to Remote Learning
- What Is and Is Not Working as Educators Transition to Online Learning
- Ten Strategies for Teaching English-Language Learners Online
- Supporting Multiligual Learners 'Through the Storm' of COVID-19
Related research
- The Best Summaries of Research About Online Instruction (Larry Ferlazzo)
- As schools close due to coronavirus, some students face a "homework gap" (Pew Research Center)
Online courses / professional development
- NABE
- Seidlitz
- WIDA
- CAL
- SupportEd
- A. Cooper Consulting: Supporting ELLs
- Immigrant Connections
- Confianza / Teaching Channel
- TESOL
- NYSTESOL
- English Learner Portal
- Dorina Sackman
Social media
#ELLChat: Archives from Twitter Chats
A number of Twitter #ELLchat discussions have focused on distance learning. Learn more about #ELLchat from this overview. (You don't need a Twitter account to browse those resources.)
- Looking Ahead to the Fall: What will online learning look like for ELLs?
- Distance Learning for ELLs During Coronavirus Pandemic
- COVID-19: Will Distance Learning Leave ELLs Behind?
ELL networks
- Twitter: @ColorinColorado
- ELL Educator Group: Facebook group (Colorín Colorado)
- ELLs at Home Idea Exchange: Facebook group
- Advocating for ELLs: Facebook group