Social Studies Instruction for ELLs: Resource Collection

The following resources feature several ideas for teaching history and social studies to English language learners (ELLs). Feel free to share these resources with your colleagues!

Ideas for Instruction

Preparing an Engaging Social Studies Lesson for ELLs: 12 Tips for Educators

See article
Teacher holding a Spanish-language books about penguins

Background Knowledge and ELLs: What Teachers Need to Know

See article
Girl at a parade

How to Connect ELLs' Background Knowledge to Content

See article

Navigating Tough Topics in the Classroom: Tips for ELL Educators

See guide

ELL Tips for History & Social Studies Teachers

See guide

ELL Strategies

Using Cognates

See strategy
Illustration of summer camp scene

Using Visuals

See strategy
Student with sentence frames

Sentence Frames and 
Sentence Starters

See strategy
Students looking at a map

Teaching Map Skills

See strategy

Related Videos

Differentiating assignments in a Social Studies lesson

See video

Building Social Studies Background Knowledge

See video

Recommended Books

You can find lots of great titles for children, middle grades, and young adults on Colorin Colorado! Here are different options for browsing.

Books for Young Children

Books for Kids

Lost & Found

Books for Middle Grades and Young Adults

Colorín Colorado Book Finder

See Book Finder