Walk into any classroom today, and you’ll hear a symphony of languages. You’ll meet students who greet you with bright eyes and eager smiles who bring rich stories, deep curiosity, and a strong desire to belong. Many of these students learn English as a second or third language. They work twice as hard to read, understand, and express themselves. And they show up every day, ready to grow.

A growing number of English Language Learners (ELLs) in U.S. public schools face various challenges in developing reading skills. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, over 5.3 million students (10.6% of public-school enrollment) were identified as English learners in fall 2021.

These students need more than worksheets or translations. They need tools that meet them where they are and grow with them. They need encouragement, not pressure. They need moments of joy, small wins, and a space to feel proud of their progress.

Beanstack offers a tailored solution to support ELLs in overcoming reading challenges and fostering a love for reading.

Beanstack creates space for every reader. It invites English learners to explore books that speak to their interests and match their reading level. It celebrates every page turned, every minute logged, and every milestone reached. It puts students in charge of their own reading journey—and brings teachers, families, and communities along for the ride.

Read on to learn about the unique challenges of ELLs and equip yourself with ways to implement Beanstack at your school.

Understanding the Needs of English Language Learners

It’s essential to recognize the diverse learning needs of all students. Multilingual learners face unique challenges when it comes to English language acquisition.

Challenges Faced by ELLs

Immersion is a key component of English language development. Limited exposure to English vocabulary and sentence structures can have a big impact on the development of literacy skills.

English learners may find it difficult to access grade-level texts. Classroom teachers may not always have the right resources for teaching English language learners. Providing materials at varying English proficiency levels helps all students achieve academic success.

There is a strong need for individualized learning pace and support in English language instruction for ESL students.

Importance of Reading

Reading enhances comprehension skills, introduces authentic language use, and exposes various sentence structures and grammar.

Stocking classroom libraries with dual-language, foreign-language, and books of different reading levels supports English language learning. English learners may feel more comfortable reading in their native language at first and can slowly begin transitioning to English language books.

How Beanstack Supports ELLs

Here are five ways Beanstack can be leveraged to support English language learners in your school district.

1. Personalized Reading Challenges

Educators can create customized reading challenges that align with students' reading levels and interests. All forms of reading count towards challenge goals, so readers with diverse language skills can participate at the level that works for them. Allowing multilingual readers to join challenges with their peers without feeling singled out promotes engagement and motivation.

2. Choice and Autonomy

Beanstack allows students to select books that interest them, fostering a sense of ownership and encouraging consistent reading habits. When readers are in charge of their own learning, they develop intrinsic motivation and build a positive relationship with reading. Instead of feeling pressured to read about topics they think are boring or irrelevant to their experience, they can choose stories they’re excited to read.

3. Gamification and Motivation

Beanstack makes reading fun by incorporating game-like elements such as badges and leaderboards to motivate learners. Participants in reading challenges will help each other stay on task with friendly competition and work together towards reading goals. English learners will develop independent reading habits and have fun doing it!

4. Progress Tracking and Insights

Educators can learn students' reading habits and literacy skills with data gathered by Beanstack. Valuable insights and data analytics track progress, enabling targeted support for ELLs. They can customize your dashboard to make progress tracking easier than ever before.

5. Family and Community Engagement

Learning any new skill is always better with a supportive community. Use Beanstack to grow the reading culture in your community and encourage participation from readers of all ages. Create a supportive reading environment for ELLs and model how reading can be a fun social activity.

Worried about maintaining your reading community outside the school year? Reading and English language learning can continue in the summer with Beanstack through local public libraries. Avoid the summer slide and help readers maintain their language skills outside the classroom.

Success Stories and Testimonials

Don’t just take our word for it - read stories of success about real students who had positive outcomes using Beanstack to support ELLs.

School-wide Beanstack challenges have shown measurable and meaningful success in library circulation and student reading assessments. With participation at 96%, Beanstack can help to make reading part of daily life in diverse communities.

Implementing Beanstack for ELL Support

Now that you’ve heard all the amazing ways Beanstack can support ELL communities, are you ready to bring these new instructional strategies to your school district?

4 Steps for Educators

1. Assess student needs and reading levels. No two groups of readers are alike, so be sure to start by assessing your students' diverse learning needs. Find out about their interests, abilities, and goals. This is a great opportunity to involve your students in their own learning and let their voices be heard.
   
   
2. Set up personalized reading challenges. After completing your assessment, you’ll have a better idea of how to customize your reading challenges. Maybe there’s a particular topic or theme that your readers are excited about. With endless customization options, you’ll be able to create a challenge that everyone can participate in.
   
   
3. Integrate Beanstack into the curriculum. Incorporate your new strategies and activities into classroom lesson plans. Allow students to self-select books for independent reading time and work together to achieve a class reading goal. Seamlessly integrate literacy skills into all aspects of learning so that reading time will feel less daunting for ELLs.
   
   
4. Monitor progress and adjust strategies as needed. Keep track of student progress and notice any areas of interest or opportunity. Decide if more time needs to be spent on certain areas or if you should take things in a new direction.
   
   

3 Tips for Maximizing Impact

1. Encourage regular reading habits. Reading doesn’t need to be limited to a certain lesson or the school day. Help students build healthy reading habits and foster a lifelong love of reading. Creating positive habits now will set them up for a lifetime of success.
   
   
2. Celebrate achievements and milestones. Use badges, prizes, or other rewards to celebrate success. Focus on time spent reading rather than moving levels, so students don’t feel pressured to keep a certain pace. Remember to celebrate all wins, both big and small!
   
   
3. Engage families in the reading journey. Get families involved in challenges and inform them of your class reading journey. Modeling reading habits at home is a great way to support learning. Support your ELL community by creating a space for them to share experiences and resources.
   
   

Fostering Lifelong Readers: Beanstack Transforms Literacy Growth for ELLs

Beanstack provides online tools and solutions to support ELLs in developing reading skills and a love for literature. Through reading challenges, gamification features, and positive reinforcement, English language learners of all levels will build literacy and language skills.

Contact our team to request a demo and explore Beanstack as a valuable tool for enhancing ELL reading experiences in your school district.