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.

• Prioritizing lessons for classrooms with many ELLs: Consider prioritizing and expanding instruction in Lessons 2-5 in which students discuss and practice identifying story elements in a focused read-aloud of the mentor text The Snowy Day and complete a Language Dive. Some students may find transferring the story elements they discuss in that story to the planning of their own My Weather Story particularly challenging. This will afford greater opportunity to prepare for the Unit 3 Assessment. If necessary, place less focus and condense instruction on playing the game "Sofia Says" in Lessons 2-5.
• Language Dives: This unit includes only an optional Language Dive for ELLs in Lesson 3. Many lessons also include 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 and the Tools page.
• Goal 3 Conversation Cues: Continue to encourage productive and equitable conversation using 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). Goal 3 Conversation Cues are introduced in Unit 2 of this module. See the Tools page for the complete set of cues. 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 continue to think about how the weather affects the choices people make about what to wear and what to do each day. During this unit, students read The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats to understand how the weather on a particular day affected what a person wore and what they did. Provide students opportunities to share their own experience with different kinds of weather (snowy, rainy, windy, hot). 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.
• Language processing time: Give ELLs sufficient time to think about what they want to say before they answer questions, share with other students, or write.
• Close reading and identifying story elements: Students will participate in a series of close reading sessions during which they will hone their comprehension and interpretive skills by asking and answering questions about how people respond to the weather and by identifying story elements, such as characters and major events. Some students may grapple with recalling and sequencing major events. Provide additional support with this skill when possible. Use manipulatives and familiar examples to reinforce the skill.
• Rehearsing and writing My Weather Story: Using the book The Snowy Day as a mentor text, students plan and write an imaginary narrative about how the weather on a particular day affected what a person wore and what they did. Before writing, students participate in a protocol that prompts them to plan and orally rehearse their writing. Students benefit from explicitly modeled lessons that support them, step by step, as they complete their My Weather Story booklets independently. Students also revise, edit, and practice reading their original narratives in preparation for sharing them with families and friends at an end-of-module Weather Expo. Some students may need additional modeling before they feel confident enough to complete the task independently. Students who have trouble with writing may also benefit from having an adult scribe their ideas initially.
• Role play: In Lesson 2, students create a puppet that matches the character in their My Weather Story booklet. Later, in Lessons 3, 4, and 5, they use the puppet to role-play the weather and setting of their weather story, the major events of their weather story, and their character's reaction in their weather story with a partner. Notice if students are able to verbalize and show the character's emotions using the character puppet and facial expressions. Although this activity is inherently supportive of ELLs, some students may be hesitant to perform. Empower students to speak up if they need support from teachers or peers.
• Celebration: Celebrate the courage, enthusiasm, diversity, and bilingual skills that ELLs bring to the classroom.