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.

• New: ELL supports now labeled and condensed. Beginning in Module 3, ELL supports within the Meeting Students’ Needs column are labeled and explained in detail the first time they are used. Supports repeated in subsequent lessons are also labeled but condensed for easier reading, and at times adjusted to provide lighter support. Attend to the detailed supports and labels early in the module to more easily apply them as the curriculum progresses. Note that a number of the supports may seem familiar, as they have been suggested repeatedly in Modules 1–2.
• Prioritizing lessons for classrooms with many ELLs: Consider prioritizing and expanding instruction in Lessons 2–5 to support comprehension of the anchor text, What’s Alive?, in part through Language Dives. This will give students additional practice collecting evidence, determining the criteria for living things, and recording observations in the Living Things research notebook. Students may benefit from additional time with writing, as the unit introduces how to record observations as a researcher, a skill that will be used throughout the module. To ensure students have ample time to practice reading, writing, and speaking, consider condensing instruction during the scavenger hunt in Lesson 6 by limiting exploration to 10 minutes; however, be sure to complete the Language Dive. Consider placing less focus on the Closing in Lesson 8, because students will have multiple opportunities to reflect on how living things get their needs met in the remainder of the module.
• Language Dives: All students participate in a Language Dive in Lesson 5, and ELLs participate in optional Language Dives in Lessons 3, 4, and 6. These Language Dives support ELLs and all students in understanding and practicing the meaning and structures of sentences from What’s Alive?. Be aware that in Modules 3 and 4, Language Dive goals remain the same: to empower students to analyze, understand, and use the language of academic sentences; however, beginning in this unit, and continuing throughout Modules 3 and 4, the Language Dive Guide and the Mini Language Dive formats have been modified. The modified format follows the Deconstruct-Reconstruct-Practice routine, which should seem familiar as a general process (see Language Dives in the Tools page). Additionally, beyond the teacher-led questions and answers as in Modules 1 and 2, there are suggested language goals that students should try to understand and apply for each chunk. Thus, this modified format goes beyond teacher-led questioning. It attempts to encourage students to take more of the lead in the conversation and build greater independence by taking an inquiry based approach to language in general, and the selected sentence in particular. Although students should briefly discuss all chunks in each Language Dive sentence, the new format invites them to slow down during one chunk, called the focus structure, to investigate and practice a particularly compelling language structure. For more context, consider reviewing the Language Dive Guide in Lessons 3, 4, 5, and 6 of this unit, as well as a range of questions students might ask one another in Questions We Can Ask During a Language Dive in the Tools page.
• Goal 4 Conversation Cues: Encourage productive and equitable conversation with 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 the Tools page for the complete set of cues. Goal 4 Conversation Cues are introduced in 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 an informational text that takes place across different cultures and countries. The anchor text, What’s Alive?, features a white, middle-class, able-bodied girl in a suburban setting. Consider seeking out additional literature that represents the ethnic, linguistic, and geographic diversity of your class and the U.S. Look for this book or one like it in the different languages your students speak at school and/or at home. On page 5, the author compares a child to a cat by saying that they both “run and jump.” If there are students with limited mobility or who use a wheelchair (or students who have a family member who does), take time to discuss the different ways people in wheelchairs can move and jump. Invite students to share how it makes them feel to not be represented. Consult with a guidance counselor, school social worker, or ESL teacher for further investigation of diversity and inclusion concerns.
• Reading aloud to research: Students will participate in a series of reading sessions during which they will hone their research skills by focusing on collecting evidence to reveal the patterns among all living things.  Through reading and discussing a section of What’s Alive?, students will be asked to consider the similarities and differences between themselves and other living things (e.g., cats, plants, trees). Some students may grapple with using details from the text to explain how living things are connected. Provide additional support with this skill when possible. Use the Language Dive sentences, realia, and think-alouds to reinforce the skill.
• Living Things research notebook: Using observations, an anchor text, and the Living Things Criteria anchor chart, students will record observations about living things in a research notebook. Before writing, students gather evidence from multiple sources to inform their ideas. Students benefit from explicitly modeled lessons that support them, step by step, as they collect evidence and describe what connects living things. Some students may need additional modeling before feeling confident enough to complete the writing task independently. Students who have trouble with writing may also benefit from having an adult scribe their ideas initially.
• Science Talk protocol: In Lessons 7–8, students prepare for and participate in a Science Talk protocol where they will be asked to present evidence to support their ideas about living things in small groups. This activity is inherently supportive of ELLs by providing a small, supported context for them to share their knowledge while practicing newly acquired syntax and vocabulary. Even so, some students may be hesitant to participate. Ensure they are placed in heterogeneous groups to offer peer models. Practice the sentence frames and hand gestures that support language expression. 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.