Research-Based Strategies for Teaching ELL Students
Research shows that ELL students prefer a kinesthetic learning style. Incorporating movement-based learning strategies into lessons can help bilingual classrooms thrive.
Finding instructional strategies that work for a completely English-speaking class is difficult enough – let alone a bilingual class. There is a key component to strategies for ELL students that work – and that component is movement! Many ELL teachers do not know about the benefits of kinesthetic learning for their students or do not know how to incorporate it into their instruction. Math & Movement is here to help with strategies for teaching ELL students!
To clarify, the acronym ELL stands for “English Language Learner.” The acronym ESL stands for “English as a Second Language.” These two will be used interchangeably throughout this article.
Why is it important to support bilingual students in schools? It turns out that English language learners are one of the fastest-growing student populations in the US. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the percentage of English language learners in US public schools increased to 10.6% (5.3 million students) in fall 2021, up from 9.4% (4.6 million students) in fall 2011.
The NCES reported that Spanish was the most commonly reported home language of ELL public school students in fall 2021. Approximately 4 million students’ native language is Spanish – which is 76.4% of ELL students and 8.4% of all public school students. Arabic, Chinese, Vietnamese, Portuguese, and Russian follow as the next most commonly reported home languages.
It is evident that ELL students make up a significant part of classrooms across the country. Finding instructional strategies for English language learners is integral to our education system.
Why is movement a strongly recommended teaching strategy for ELL students? A 2009 study concluded that the kinesthetic learning style was the most preferred learning style among ELL students (Mulalic et al., 2009). Studies in 1987, 1990, 1993, 1997, and 2001 corroborate that ELL students in the US favor kinesthetic learning styles over all others (Gilakjani, 2012). The research backs up movement-based learning strategies!
“Student performance [in the US] hinges on proficiency in English to understand, internalize, and activate knowledge and skills,” Education Week states in an article about language inequity. Couple these pre-existing communication and comprehension challenges with pandemic-related learning loss, ELLs can really be behind their peers.
Physical activity increases blood flow and oxygen levels in the brain, which in turn boosts learning comprehension and memory retention. More scientifically speaking, exercise stimulates the brain to produce more of the chemical BDNF (brain-derived neurotropic factor), which supports the development of new neurons and their connections. This means more learning!
Furthermore, exercise reduces stress, including the stress associated with academic challenges. Students see play-based learning activities with movement as fun and enjoyable.
The Math & Movement program was recently determined to be statistically significant in enhancing math confidence and self-efficacy! Check it out in the peer-reviewed published article.
Additionally, kinesthetic activities work to increase student engagement. In an 8-week study of 492 elementary students by the National Math Foundation, kinesthetic activities significantly increased student engagement compared to traditional activities. Movement-based learning activities included active math movements and jumping on Math & Movement floor mats. Traditional activities included whiteboard work, flashcards, and worksheets.
When students are engaged in their lessons and feel confident in their academic abilities, they are less likely to be absent from school as well! Movement-based learning strategies bring a variety of benefits to ELL students.
In February 2023, Education Week posted a poll asking teachers if they felt they had enough training to teach English learners. Of 1,248 responses, 36% said yes, and 61% said no. These results lend to an unsettling takeaway—most teachers do not feel equipped to teach ELL students.
Luckily, Math & Movement is here to help make kinesthetic strategies for teaching ELL students possible in every classroom. Educators can get started by encouraging students to simply move more throughout the school day. Even short movement breaks can benefit students.
Active math movements can be done without any additional materials at students’ desks or while traveling in the hallway. Our active math movements bring auditory skip counting practice and cross-body movements together to energize sleepy minds and enhance math skills. Cross-body movements engage both sides of the brain while giving your students some physical exercise. Learn how to do these quick movement activities in our Training Manual!
Want to get started with movement-based learning right now? Enter your email to get our training manual with over 250 active math movements. No materials necessary!
See how simple adding movement can be!
Math & Movement has a wide variety of kinesthetic learning materials available, including floor mats and stickers. We also offer kits, which are collections of our materials for specific grade levels and subjects.
Furthermore, we offer professional development training webinars and a wide selection of lesson plan ideas on our activity database. We aim to equip every teacher with movement-based learning strategies!
“I have been using math and literacy mats in my classroom. My students love the mats. The movement helps the students in a myriad of ways,” Alicia says. “Students learn, have fun, and work together with each other. The mats are great for collaboration and problem-solving.”
We’re sharing some of Alicia’s experience and her top product picks! These products are also included in our classroom kits, so you can browse by individual items or complete classroom kits.
Students in Alicia’s class who were below grade level significantly grew their math skills with regular use of our math mats. Alicia especially likes the Skip Counting by 2s mat for younger students who are learning to count up to 20 and identify odd and even numbers.
This large format number line is perfect for counting up to 20 and learning multiples of 2. Each block contains the numeral, number word, and the corresponding number of symbols for multi-dimensional learning.
Alicia’s students are learning to make letter-sound connections in their home language and their second language. They are also learning to read, write, and recognize print.
“Movement brings something very special to the classroom, and the mats have been an invaluable pedagogical instrument,” Alicia says.
Alicia says she likes the Make-A-Word Hop for teaching CVC vocabulary words. The mat allows for practice with letter sounds, word building, spelling, vocabulary word recognition, speaking English, and more!
Practice phonemic awareness and word building with preschool and kindergarten students! The regular floor mat comes with 12 word cards and 11 letter cards. The laminated mat is dry-erase so students can write their own letters and words.
One student from another country came into Alicia’s class with no literacy skills or number sense. He is now doing basic addition and subtraction up to 20, counting in both languages, and recognizing more English words!
Alicia credits the Word Hop mats for helping this student recognize more words: “At one point, after having the literacy mats in the classroom for a few weeks, the student recognized a word on the smart board and said, ‘I know this word!’ The student went to where the mats were and pulled out the literacy mats. He searched, then said, ‘See, it’s here!'”
This collection of 29 mats (or stickers) lists all 220 Dolch sight words in large, kid-friendly text on colorful blocks. Young readers can learn these high frequency words by moving their bodies on the material. Introduce play-based sight word activities to your phonics lesson!
Working with ELL students can be very challenging, but incorporating movement can make all the difference! It is vital for educators to understand their students’ preferred learning styles so they can best set them up for academic success.
ESL Teachers – what are some of your strategies for English language learners? Do you have any experience using movement? Share in the comments below!
Education Week. “Increasing Equity in Education for English Language Learners in the US.” Education Week, 18 May 2023, https://www.edweek.org/sponsor/timekettle/increasing-equity-in-education-for-english-language-learners-in-the-us.
Gilakjani, Abbas Pourhosein. “Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic Learning Styles and Their Impacts on English Language Teaching. ResearchGate, Dec 2011, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/272662421_Visual_Auditory_Kinaesthetic_Learning_Styles_and_Their_Impacts_on_English_Language_Teaching.
Mulalic, Almasa, Parilah M. Shah, and Fauziah Ahmad. “Perceptual learning styles of ESL students.” ResearchGate, Jan 2009, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/285976746_Perceptual_learning_styles_of_ESL_students.
Najarro, Ileana. “The English Learner Population Is Growing. Is Teacher Training Keeping Pace?” Education Week, 21 Feb 2023, https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/the-english-learner-population-is-growing-is-teacher-training-keeping-pace/2023/02.
National Center for Education Statistics. “English Learners in Public Schools.” U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, May 2024, https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/indicator/cgf/english-learners.
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