WIDA Levels 1–2 Scaffolds: Strategies for Entering and Emerging ELL Students
WIDA Levels 1 and 2 — Entering and Emerging — represent the earliest stages of English language proficiency. Students at these levels need maximum language support to access grade-level content. This page is a practical reference for the scaffolds that work at ELP 1–2 across every content area and every task type.
The Core Principle for ELP 1–2 Scaffolding
At Levels 1 and 2, the language demand of every task must be reduced to the minimum required to demonstrate the conceptual learning. The concept stays intact. The language wrapper around it is made as accessible as possible.
This means:
- Nonverbal response options are always available
- Every written task has a sentence frame or word bank
- Every reading task has visual support
- Every oral task has a sentence frame and protected rehearsal time
- Every vocabulary introduction includes an image and a gesture
Sentence Frames for ELP 1–2
- This is a ___.
- I see ___.
- The ___ is ___.
- Yes. / No. / I don't know.
- I think ___ because ___.
- The ___ shows ___.
- ___ is important because ___.
- First ___. Then ___. Finally ___.
- The ___ is ___.
- I see a ___.
- This is a ___.
- ___ (label with word bank)
- The main idea is ___.
- One important detail is ___.
- This happened because ___.
- ___ and ___ are different because ___.
- I learned that ___.
- The answer is ___.
- The problem is asking me to ___.
- I used ___ to solve this.
- The pattern is ___.
- I observe ___.
- I predict ___ because ___.
- The experiment shows ___.
- I think this happened because ___.
- This picture shows ___.
- ___ happened because ___.
- The main idea is ___.
- One important event was ___.
Task Supports for ELP 1–2
Word banks on every written task. 6–10 key content words with images for Level 1, 8–12 words without images for Level 2.
Labeled diagrams. Provide diagrams with labels partially completed — students fill in remaining labels from a word bank.
Sorting tasks. Students sort image cards or word cards into categories. Assesses conceptual understanding without requiring sentence production.
Cloze passages. A simplified text with key content words removed. Students fill in blanks from a word bank.
Sentence frames inside graphic organizers. Every box in the organizer contains a sentence frame. Students complete the frame rather than generating sentences from scratch.
Vocabulary Instruction at ELP 1–2
Three to five words per lesson. Each word gets an image, a student-friendly definition in one short sentence, a gesture where possible, and use in a sentence frame during the lesson. At Level 1 prioritize Tier 1 survival vocabulary and the most essential content vocabulary. At Level 2 begin introducing Tier 2 academic words alongside content vocabulary.
How Assist ELD helps
Paste your lesson and Assist ELD generates scaffolds calibrated to ELP 1–2 — vocabulary with student-friendly definitions, sentence frames for Level 1 and Level 2 production, and task supports ready to print.