Designing a Purpose-Driven ENL Summer Program
Back to Blog
Guest Bloggers: Sara Ray and Lisa Taylor
Gates Chili School District
This post is the first in a two-part series. In this part, Lisa and Sara explore what should be involved in a well-designed ENL summer program. In an upcoming post, they provide an example of how they implemented it in their district.
For multilingual learners, summer isn't just a break from classes; it is a prolonged gap in regular English instruction. Without consistent, high-quality opportunities to practice, students risk losing hard-earned linguistic milestones.
Implementing a summer program specifically tailored for ENL students is one of the most effective ways to bridge this gap. Below is a roadmap followed by the Gates Chili School District for launching a successful, culturally responsive ENL summer program and you can do the same in your district.
1. Shift the Focus to Project-Based Learning & Experiential Themes
Traditional summer school often mirrors the remedial, test-heavy environments that exhaust students during the year. Instead, design a summer ENL curriculum around Project-Based Learning. Project-Based Learning allows students to engage with language organically and authentically while working toward a tangible goal.
By shifting away from rigid worksheets to collaborative projects, students focus entirely on using language for authentic purposes.
2. Prioritize Oral Language Production
In a standard school year, ENL students often don't get enough time to practice speaking. Dedicate the smaller class sizes of summer school to high-leverage oral language strategies.
- Structured Dialogues: Use sentence frames, conversation cues, and structured partner work (like Think-Pair-Share or Inside-Outside Circle).
- Authentic Audiences: Conclude projects with presentations or digital storytelling videos shared with peers and families.
- Low State Opportunities: Incorporate reader's theater to build speaking confidence without the fear of being graded.
3. Culturally Responsive Sustaining Education
New York State’s CR-SE framework should be the backbone of your summer curriculum. High expectations paired with scaffolding ensure equity and access.
- Translanguaging: Encourage students to use their full linguistic repertoire. Allow them to brainstorm, discuss, or write drafts in their home languages.
- Multimodal Resources: Heavily rely on visual anchors, graphic organizers, videos, and realia to make abstract concepts concrete.
- Culturally Diverse Texts: Have books with diverse authors and characters that reflect your students' lived experiences displayed in the classroom.
A summer program shouldn't feel like a punishment for ENL students; it should feel more like an enrichment experience. By focusing on asset-based pedagogy, high-engagement themes, and community connection, we can transform the summer weeks into a springboard for academic and linguistic confidence that carries into the fall.
Stay tuned for an example from these wonderful guest bloggers!