The Meeting Students' Needs column in each lesson contains support for both ELLs and Universal Design for Learning (UDL), and some supports can serve a wide range of student needs. However, 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 specifically identified as "For ELLs" in the Meeting Students' Needs column.

• Prioritizing lessons for classrooms with many ELLs: Consider prioritizing and expanding instruction in Lessons 11-12 to provide additional independent and shared practice with writing informational paragraphs. This will give students more experience in applying knowledge of paragraph structure before their assessment, during which they will write informational paragraphs of their own. Consider placing less focus and condensing instruction on doing scientific drawings in Lessons 5-7, but be sure to complete the Language Dives in Lessons 4, 5, 6, and 9.
• Language Dives: All students participate in a Language Dive in Lesson 4, and ELLs can participate in optional Language Dives in Lessons 5, 6, and 9. These Language Dives support ELLs and all students in deconstructing, reconstructing, and practicing the meaning and structures of sentences from What is Pollination? Many lessons also include optional Mini Language Dives for ELLs. The Language Dive goals remain the same as in previous modules; however, the new format goes beyond those goals by encouraging students to take more of a lead in the conversations and to build greater independence by taking an inquiry-based approach to language in general, and the selected sentence in particular. Refer to see the Tools page for additional information.
• Conversation Cues: Continue to encourage productive and equitable conversation with Goals 1-4 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). Refer to see the Tools page for the complete set of cues.
• 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 an informational text taking place across different cultures and countries. Students will continue their study of plants and pollinators as they delve into the text What Is Pollination? Continue to invite students to discuss any flowers, fruits, vegetables, or pollinators that are significant in their home cultures. Invite students to share the names of different plants and pollinators that they may know in their home languages. Students will also begin research projects during which they will collect information and write paragraphs about pollinators. Be aware that some cultures place higher value on using evidence and source material to convey information. In addition, some cultures do not use the same text structure and style of organization to convey factual information. Consult with a guidance counselor, school social worker, or ESL teacher for further investigation of diversity and inclusion concerns.
• Focused reading and identifying text features: Students will participate in a series of focused read-aloud sessions during which they will hone their comprehension skills and identify different text features. It may be difficult for some students to grasp the overall structure of nonfiction texts and to keep track of each text feature and its respective purpose. If necessary, provide additional time and support for students to navigate the structure of nonfiction texts using text features.
• Writing informational paragraphs: Students will work in small groups to research and take notes about an assigned pollinator. As a class, they will create a shared writing informational paragraph about bees. Subsequently, students will write individual paragraphs about their pollinators for their Unit 2 Assessment. For students who need heavier support, consider grouping them together and working with them closely as they read, take notes, and write. Think aloud and ask probing questions to explicitly address the functions of the introduction, focus statement, supporting information, and conclusion. Provide additional writing time if necessary and possible.
• Using adjective and adverbs: Students will identify and use adjectives and adverbs when singing the song "It's Pollination Time!" Make use of the color-coding system provided (yellow for adjectives, pink for adverbs) to help differentiate them and provide placement clues for students. Take time to sketch adjectives and act out adverbs to illustrate how they modify nouns and verbs, respectively. It may benefit ELLs to explicitly discuss the syntax (adjectives appear before nouns in sentences) and morphology (adverbs frequently end in -ly) of adjectives and adverbs, as well as their functions.
• Celebration: Celebrate the courage, enthusiasm, diversity, and bilingual skills that ELLs bring to the classroom.