Whereas the Meeting Students' Needs column in each lesson contains support for both ELLs and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), ELLs have unique needs that cannot always be met with UDL support. According to federal guidelines, ELLs must be given access to the curriculum with appropriate supports, such as those that are identified for ELLs in the Meeting Students' Needs column.

• Prioritize lessons for classrooms with many ELLs: Consider prioritizing and expanding instruction in Lessons 2-9 to support comprehension of the text, The Maiasaura Dig: The Story of Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard, and in preparation for the assessment in Lessons 11-12. The assessment draws on the processes introduced in Lessons 2-9, including describing actions, describing responses to events, using temporal words and irregular past tense, and planning, drafting, revising, and editing the three sections of a narrative. If necessary, consider condensing Lessons 13-15, thus placing less emphasis on celebration and presentation and more on reading and writing skills.
• Language Dives: This unit includes only optional Mini Language Dives for ELLs. To maximize language practice and accommodate time, consider dividing or reviewing each Language Dive over multiple lessons. Beginning in Module 2 and going forward, create a "Language Chunk Wall"--an area in the classroom where students can display and categorize the academic phrases discussed in the Language Dive. At the end of each Language Dive, students are invited to place the Language Dive sentence strip chunks on the Language Chunk Wall into corresponding categories, such as "Nouns and noun phrases" or "Linking language." Consider color-coding each category. Examples: blue for nouns and subjects; purple for pronouns; red for predicates and verbs; yellow for adjectives; and green for adverbs. See each Language Dive for suggested categories. Students can then refer to the wall during subsequent speaking and writing tasks. For more information on Language Dives, refer to the Supporting English Language Learners guidance document on the Tools page.
• Goals 1-3 Conversation Cues: Continue to encourage productive and equitable conversation with Goal 1-3 Conversation Cues, which are questions teachers can ask students to help achieve four goals: (Goal 1) encourage all students to talk and be understood; (Goal 2) listen carefully to one another and seek to understand; (Goal 3) deepen thinking; and (Goal 4) think with others to expand the conversation (adapted from Michaels, Sarah and O'Connor, Cathy. Talk Science Primer. Cambridge, MA: TERC, 2012. Based on Chapin, S., O'Connor, C., and Anderson, N. [2009]. Classroom Discussions: Using Math Talk to Help Students Learn, Grades K-6. Second Edition. Sausalito, CA: Math Solutions Publications). See the Tools page for the complete set of cues. Goal 3 Conversation Cues are introduced in Unit 2, Lesson 1. Heightened language processing and development is a primary potential benefit for ELLs.
• Diversity and inclusion: Investigate the routines, practices, rituals, beliefs, norms, and experiences that are important to ELLs and their families. Integrate this background into the classroom as students explore informational texts taking place across different cultures and countries. Consider supplementing the text, The Maiasaura Dig: The Story of Dr. Holly Woodward Ballard, with stories from international paleontologists from different backgrounds. Consult with a guidance counselor, school social worker, or ESL teacher for further investigation of diversity and inclusion concerns.
• Strategic grouping: As students are invited to pair up for various tasks and protocols, seriously consider matching ELLs to a partner who has greater language proficiency. The conversations that happen as a result of such strategic grouping will greatly serve the language development of both partners.
• Writing and collaboration: Beginning in Lesson 5, students will have several opportunities to synthesize their learning from informational texts and share their thinking with a partner before writing. They will be exposed to explicit conversation about the U.S. writing format and process, including beginning, middle, end, planning, drafting, giving feedback, revising, and editing. This interaction is beneficial not only because ELLs will have the opportunity to better understand U.S. writing conventions, but also because the conversations allow them opportunities to negotiate their ideas with a peer (another ELL or a native speaker), helping both partners adjust their language to make sure they are understood. It may be difficult for students to write independently after working closely with a partner. If there are students who speak the same home language, consider grouping them together and allowing them to discuss their learning first in their home language, then in English. They can also note similarities between the U.S. conventions and those of their country of origin.
• Irregular past tense and temporal words: Students can learn the various irregular past-tense forms of common verbs, as well as select temporal words, as part of their efforts to retell stories and write past-tense narratives. Invite students to compare and contrast their home language systems with the English past-tense system and the English system of cohesion through temporal words. Explain how important both irregular past-tense and temporal words are in producing classroom English that is both appropriate and clear to the listener and reader. See the lessons, beginning with Lesson 2, for specific supports for irregular past-tense and temporal words.
• Celebration: Celebrate the courage, enthusiasm, diversity, and bilingual skills that ELLs bring to the classroom.