Good instruction is good instruction, yet there are some strategies and techniques that are especially important for ELLs. For many years teachers of ELLs have used more pictures, more scaffolding, and other techniques. Since the majority of our client schools have high percentages of ELLs, we’ve learned that more explicit instruction with manipulatives is highly effective. ELLs who cannot segment the individual sounds of spoken English words generally have a difficult time learning how to relate these sounds to letters in written words. Since phonemic awareness is the foundation for reading, spelling, and word recognition, it is important to provide this instruction to our English Language Learners.