Wyndell R. Williams is an experienced EAL educator currently serving as an English Language Fellow with the U.S. Department of State’s English Language Fellow Program. He is based at the National University of Mongolia in Ulaanbaatar. He specializes in co-teaching strategies, academic language development, multilingual learner advocacy, and teacher training. He is passionate about empowering student voice and supporting teacher collaboration through flexible, high-impact classroom routines.

 

Introduction: The Spark

It began with a simple question during a co-planning session: "How can we help students speak more like writers?" My co-teacher and I were looking at the upcoming Grade 9 ELA unit focused on civil rights and identity through Through My Eyes by Ruby Bridges. While the content was rich, the language demands—academic vocabulary, discussion protocols, and extended writing—were overwhelming some of our English as an Additional Language (EAL) learners.

We needed something flexible but structured. Something we could co-plan easily and revisit throughout the unit. That’s when I introduced a routine I had been developing: Language Anchors.

 

What are language anchors?

Language Anchors are simple routines that help students learn and use academic language in authentic ways. The strategy includes:
- Anchor Maps – Student-created vocabulary visuals with definitions, images, and sample sentences.
- Anchor Talks – Structured sentence frames for practicing oral academic language.
- Anchor Challenges – Creative tasks to use vocabulary in context.
- Anchor Boards – A classroom display of student-created maps, quotes, and sentence stems.

They’re not a program—just adaptable tools that make language visible, interactive, and consistent.

 

Co-Teaching in action

In our Grade 9 classroom, we rolled out Language Anchors over four weeks:

Week 1: Anchor Maps
We chose key terms together—segregation, resilience, justice, protest—and co-modeled how to create a word map. Students then built their own maps using drawings, bilingual definitions, and sentences that made sense to them. We used these maps daily to preview texts and support comprehension.

Week 2: Anchor Talks
We introduced simple frames like “_____ is important because…” and “One example of _____ is…” At first, students read from the maps. But by midweek, they were using the terms in Think-Pair-Share, gallery walks, and even informal debates. One student whispered to me, “I never knew how to start speaking before. Now I know how to begin.”

Week 3: Anchor Challenges
We asked students to write a diary entry from Ruby Bridges' perspective using three anchor words. The writing came alive. Some students chose to write in two languages, then translated and compared. Others asked to act out their entries in skits. Academic language was no longer abstract—it had become personal.

Week 4: Anchor Board
Students curated the board: word posters, favorite sentence frames, skit photos, even QR codes linking to their recorded Anchor Talks. The board became both a celebration and a reference point—something they were proud of.

 

What we learned

As co-teachers, Language Anchors helped us plan together more easily. We each brought different strengths—I focused on scaffolding and language routines; my co-teacher built in higher-order thinking and text analysis. Because the tools were consistent, we could divide and conquer without losing cohesion.

For students, the biggest impact was confidence. Vocabulary wasn’t just a quiz list—it was something they used, displayed, reflected on, and took ownership of.

 

Tips for trying language anchors

- Start small – Begin with Anchor Maps for one unit. Grow from there.
- Make it visible – Post sentence frames and student work often.
- Embed it – Use Anchor Talks as warm-ups or transitions.
- Celebrate student voice – Let students co-create the board and pick favorite words.
- Plan collaboratively – Share the load and align language goals with content objectives.

 

Closing thoughts

Language Anchors transformed our classroom—not with flashy tech or new textbooks, but with intentional routines that honored student language. In a space where EAL learners often sit silent, these tools gave them the words—and the courage—to speak.

For us, co-teaching Language Anchors wasn’t just a strategy. It was a mindset shift: a shared commitment to making academic language accessible, meaningful, and rooted in student voice.

 

Coming soon! Please check the Pilgrims in Segovia Teacher Training courses 2026 at Pilgrims website