All+around+ELD

**I. Why ELD?**
__**Students and instruction in ELD classes**__ ====ELD classes serve the needs of Beginning, Intermediate, and Advanced level students. In ELD classes for beginners, students receive the foundation for language development, building speaking, listening, reading, writing, and comprehension skills. They primarily serve students who have arrived in the US recently, with little or no background in English. Instruction is geared towards giving students functional language and cross-cultural skills in order to be able to successfully negotiate the new culture in which they are now living.==== ====ELD classes for higher level students provide language development support to intermediate and advanced level English language learners. Instruction is differentiated to optimally meet the needs of students (all students complete pre-assessments and individualized learning plans), and all English language learners will have an opportunity to fill "gaps" in their English language proficiency. Demonstrating sufficiently functional language skills and oftentimes excellent content knowledge, Intermediate and even advanced level students still need support in order to refine and complete their English language acquisition process.====

__**Elements of an ELD lesson**__
 * ====Pre-assess and post-assess English language learners providing and using rubrics, authentic and alternative assessments, student self-evaluations, and learning goals developed jointly with students.====
 * ====When looking for materials to use in your ELD Block lesson, consider the purposes of materials for English language learners! Click here to take a look at the Colorado Department of Education guidelines for designing, delivering, and evaluating services for English language learners.====

__**Miscellaneous ELD resources**__
====A) Looking for ideas to engage your students or to teach a grammar point, find activities around vocabulary in your ELD block class, or assign meaningful and self-directed homework using the Internet? The [|Tower of English] is a terrific resource!====

B) From elementary to advanced level, **English To Go** has great, ready-made lessons that incorporate scaffolding and differentiation in order to meet your language learners' needs.
====Click [|here] to choose from a number of sample lessons that are typically structured along the lines of **pre-reading** (e.g., vocabulary), **reading** (e.g, predicting, skimming, summarizing) and **post-reading** (language structure/grammar exercises, writing, re-reading, discussion); rely on **collaborative learning** (to facilitate student-to-student interaction), are **well-paced**, and **utilize chunking and jigsaw activities** (to accommodate students with limited English proficiency).====