Resources
Core Practices for Teaching Multilingual Students
Dr. Megan Madigan Peercy, Professor in the College of Education, recently co-authored a book titled, "Core Practices for Teaching Multilingual Students." The book illustrates real-world examples from the classrooms of English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers, unpacks the teachers’ thinking about their instruction, and identifies six core practices that are foundational to teaching multilingual students. This text and the accompanying materials shared here aim to help pre- and in service teachers of multilingual students to center equity and justice in their practice and understand how to move humanizing mindsets into action.
Click on the links below to download any of our table or visual resources related to this text! Most are in PDF form.
- This table lays out all of the core practices for multilingual students
- A full-page version of the official Core Practices graphic can be found here
Here are some resources that may be helpful in the classroom:
- Here are two template options that can support teachers' observations of an example lesson or reflect on their own lessons. They help the observer focus on identifying the core practices present in the lesson, and considering how the practices in the lesson humanize the learning experience.
These videos depict teachers as they engage in the core practices and discuss their use. Playlists for all six core practices are below.
| Core Practice 1: Knowing your multilingual students | Core Practice 2: Building a positive learning environment for multilingual students |
| Core Practice 3: Content and language instruction | Core Practice 4: Language and literacy development |
| Core Practice 5: Assessment for multilingual students | Core Practice 6: Relationships and advocacy |
And take a look at these videos if you want practice analyzing a full lesson.
As you watch, use these lesson analysis tables and consider the following questions:
- What does the teacher do well that would support MLLs' content knowledge and linguistic development?
- What suggestions do you have to improve the teacher’s instruction for MLLs?
| Full lesson video of Kendall | Full lesson video of Erica | Full lesson video of TC |
In this lesson, Kendall is teaching a pull-out lesson with six 3rd-grade students who have intermediate proficiency in English. They are learning about how a character in a story overcomes obstacles, and examining the problems and solutions that the character faces in a biography about someone who started a community garden in a city. | In this lesson, Erica is teaching five 2nd-grade newcomers in a pull-out lesson on community helpers. She serves a largely Spanish-speaking population at an elementary school in a large urban area. | TC is a secondary ESOL Science teacher who teaches primarily 9th- and 10th-grade newcomer multilingual students. In this lesson, her students are giving presentations about their learning on the plant life cycle. |
Below are some additional resources created by other organizations and scholars you may find helpful!
- Social Justice Standards from the Southern Poverty Law Center
- Try the New York Times dialect quiz (requires access to the NYT)
- The Power Flower is a helpful activity to illustrate dominant and non-dominant identities
