As educators, we’re always on the lookout for innovative, engaging methods to help English Language Learners (ELLs) thrive in the classroom. One highly effective strategy that has gained traction in recent years is the Gallery Walk. The Gallery Walk has proven to be an invaluable tool in language acquisition, especially in the context of ELL instruction. This activity not only encourages active participation but also helps ELL students practice their language skills in dynamic and interactive ways.
What is a Gallery Walk?
A Gallery Walk is an interactive, student-centered learning activity where students move around
the classroom to view, discuss, and respond to different "stations" or exhibits that feature content relevant to the lesson. Each station may include a visual, a question, a prompt, or even a written passage. Students engage with the material individually or in groups, often responding to each exhibit with notes, comments, or answers, and then move on to the next station. This process allows students to digest content in multiple ways, engage with peers, and participate in a low-pressure, highly interactive environment. For example, when I was teaching my ESL students clothing vocabulary, I made a clothing gallery walk activity for them to get them up, moving, speaking, and writing. Students can work in any order, so you can also separate groups of students that may become rambunctious.
How Does the Gallery Walk Benefit ESL Students?
1. Encourages Active Learning and Engagement
One of the primary benefits of the Gallery Walk is its ability to promote active learning. For English Language Learners, passive learning—where they are merely listening or reading—can sometimes hinder comprehension, especially if they struggle with language. In a Gallery Walk, students are physically and mentally involved in the activity. Moving between stations requires them to actively participate, think critically, and engage with the material in a hands-on manner, which can be much more effective than traditional methods. For example, you can take a typically "boring" English grammar topic such as Demonstrative Pronouns (this, that, these, those) and turn it into a fun and engaging gallery walk task for your ESL students.
2. Provides Visual and Kinesthetic Learning Opportunities
ELLs often benefit from visual aids and kinesthetic activities that help make abstract language concepts more tangible. Gallery Walks are inherently multisensory; students interact with visual content (such as pictures, charts, or diagrams), read text, and sometimes even manipulate physical objects at each station. This visual and kinesthetic approach helps reinforce language learning in ways that traditional verbal instruction might not. For example, at a station focused on vocabulary, students could match images with corresponding words, enhancing both their understanding and retention of new terms.
3. Promotes Collaborative Learning and Peer Interaction
In many Gallery Walk activities, students are encouraged to work together, either in pairs or small groups, to discuss the content at each station. Peer collaboration is particularly beneficial for ELLs, as it gives them a chance to practice speaking and listening skills in a low-pressure setting. By explaining concepts to each other, ELLs can consolidate their understanding of new vocabulary, grammar, and syntax. Furthermore, they can learn from their peers, pick up different ways of expressing ideas, and gain exposure to varied accents and dialects of English. The picture to the right is a Gallery Walk example from my money unit I teach my ELLs every year. Rather than doing a million money counting worksheets, I infused some fun and competition into the lesson. I made it a race to see who could accurately count the U.S. money and coins the quickest.
4. Facilitates Comprehensible Input and Scaffolding
The Gallery Walk can be a great way to provide comprehensible input, a key principle in language acquisition. Teachers can scaffold the activity by providing sentence frames, vocabulary lists, or visual cues at each station that help ELLs understand and process new language. For example, a station on describing a picture might have a list of adjectives that students can use to describe what they see. By offering these types of supports, teachers can ensure that the content is accessible to students at different proficiency levels while still challenging them to stretch their language skills. You can see examples of scaffolding in the sentence frames I wrote on these Family Vocabulary Gallery Walk cards.
5. Increases Student Autonomy and Motivation
ELLs often face challenges in navigating a classroom where much of the instruction is in English. A Gallery Walk puts the control in the hands of the students, as they have the opportunity to move
around the room, choose where to start, and decide how long to spend at each station. This autonomy fosters a sense of ownership over their learning, making them more motivated to engage with the material. Additionally, the movement and variety of activities in the Gallery Walk help to break up the monotony of sitting at desks, keeping students energized and focused. Gallery Walks also give ELLs time to digest more difficult content at their own speed. Here is an example of a gallery walk I did in my ESL classroom for Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
6. Supports Differentiation and Multilevel Learning
One of the key strengths of the Gallery Walk is its adaptability. Teachers can design stations that cater to different language proficiency levels, ensuring that every student can engage meaningfully with the content. For example, a more advanced ELL student might encounter a station that requires them to write a short paragraph describing a scene, while a beginner student might simply label the items in a picture. By tailoring the stations to different proficiency levels, teachers can meet the diverse needs of their students and provide appropriate challenges without overwhelming them. The picture here to the right is an example of a Newcomer ELL level gallery walk lesson about Saint Patrick's Day.
7. Provides Opportunities for Formative Assessment
A Gallery Walk offers an excellent opportunity for teachers to assess student understanding informally and continuously. As students move from station to station, teachers can circulate and observe their responses, take note of language production, and gauge how well they are grasping new concepts. Teachers might also use the responses students leave at each station (written answers, drawings, comments) to identify areas where students may need more support or where further clarification is necessary.
Tips for Implementing a Successful Gallery Walk for ELLs
To ensure that the Gallery Walk is effective and accessible for all students, here are a few tips for teachers:
Use clear instructions: ELLs might not fully grasp the instructions if they are too complex. Provide simple, direct language and visual aids (like diagrams or charts) to clarify what students need to do at each station.
Provide language supports: Consider offering sentence starters, vocabulary lists, and glossaries at each station to support language comprehension.
Create engaging, relevant content: Tailor the stations to topics that resonate with your ELL students. This could include culturally relevant texts, images, or scenarios that encourage students to draw on their prior knowledge.
Monitor and support: Walk around the room during the activity to offer support where needed, answer questions, and encourage participation.
Mix language proficiency levels: Encourage mixed groups of students to foster peer support, as higher-level learners can assist beginners in comprehending language.
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