Differentiation Strategies for ELL Students That Don't Add Prep

Vocabulary previews: Before a content-heavy lesson, pre-teach 3–5 essential words with visuals and examples. This takes 3 minutes of class time and removes the biggest barrier to comprehension for most ELLs.

Sentence frames: Provide structured templates for academic language. 'I agree with ___ because ___' or 'The evidence shows ___ which means ___.' These support language production without reducing cognitive demand.

Visual anchors: Keep key terms, steps, or models visible throughout the lesson. A word wall, an anchor chart, or a projected reference slide gives ELLs a safety net during independent work.

The mistake most teachers make is treating ELL support as a separate planning step. Instead, build supports into your core lesson. When you write the practice activity, add the sentence frame. When you list materials, include the vocabulary preview slide.

This approach benefits all students, not just ELLs. Sentence frames help hesitant speakers. Visual anchors help visual learners. Vocabulary previews help students with gaps in background knowledge.

When you specify ELL needs during plan creation, LessonCraft embeds scaffolds directly into each activity section. Vocabulary previews, sentence frames, and visual support suggestions appear where they're needed — not as an appendix you'll forget to use.