🔐 Account type(s) with default permissions to manage this: All Account Types (Dual Language activity access varies by Account Type)
💻 Tier(s) this is available for: Essential, Pro
Ellevation Strategies activities give you a practical way to put language development strategies into action, helping ELs build language skills while they engage with subject-area content. This article walks you through what an activity page includes and where to find activities in Ellevation.
ℹ️ Note
The number of activities, the specific activities available, and the Browse Catalog filtering options differ between the Essential and Pro tiers. If you don't see an activity or filter described here, check with your Ellevation Administrator about your district's tier.
Our activities are designed to be written into standards-based lesson plans and are widely adaptable across content areas and grade levels.
Select a topic to learn more about:
- Overview of an Activity Page
- Key Features of Activity Pages
- Where to Find and Select Activities in Ellevation
Overview of an Activity Page
Each activity includes its own page with details and resources to support successful facilitation. A guided activity experience launched in July 2025 to help teachers more effectively learn and use activities in the classroom:
- Guided learning: A clear, step-by-step structure that streamlines the learning process for educators. Teachers know exactly where to begin and how to progress through the activity, from learning the strategy to planning with their specific students in mind.
- Leading with the most impactful resources: Easy access to the most impactful resources up front, so teachers can start using the activity in their classroom more quickly.
Key Features of Activity Pages
Each activity page in Ellevation Strategies typically includes the same Activity Sections (Understand, Scaffold, Prepare), along with key features.
Understand
This section offers core learning about what the activity is, what it's for, and the steps teachers should take to integrate the activity into a lesson.
The Understand section includes these key features to help teachers use the activity right away:
- Save Activity: At the top of the activity page, teachers can select this to create a library of their personal favorites or go-to activities. This can also be done from the Browse Catalog page using individual activity cards.
- Objective: Right under the title, teachers will find a one-sentence overview of what students will do during the activity. This is a streamlined version of the older "Students Will" learning targets and makes the activity goal quicker to understand.
- Video: Shows a real-life example of what the activity looks like in a real classroom, with real teachers, students, and content.
- Graphic Organizers: Available right on this first page, so teachers can quickly see the downloadable materials that pair with the activity and picture how it might work for their students and classroom goals.
- How to Use: Explains what the activity is, including context for how it supports language development in the classroom.
- Content Examples: Also accessible right from the Understand page to improve the activity's relevance. Teachers can switch between the broader explanation of the activity steps and a version that uses a more specific, grade-appropriate example. Note that these are just examples of how an activity could be used and are meant to be illustrative rather than definitive; activities are designed to be used in any grade level or content area, including specials such as music, art, or health.
Scaffold
This section helps teachers understand the level of support their students are likely to need during the activity, along with actions they can take so each student can participate fully.
The Scaffold section includes these key features:
- Support Levels and recommended activity-specific differentiations are displayed in three categories: High Support, Moderate Support, and Light Support. These groups are based on student assessment scores for the activity's primary domain and offer specific suggestions for scaffolding at each level.
- Depending on your Ellevation Account Type and permissions, you may be able to filter the list of students by School and/or by Teacher.
- View a list of students you are associated with in Ellevation, grouped by support level. Select any student name to open the individual student profile, or view all students in a pre-filtered Student List View by support level.
- Select the View Student Data button to see a dashboard of your students and their differentiated support levels, based on ELP assessment data specific to the activity's primary domain.
Prepare
This section is where teachers can deepen their understanding of how to make an activity work successfully in their classroom.
The Prepare section includes these key features:
- Quick Tips: Suggestions for adapting the activity for different classroom contexts.
- Watch Out For: Common challenges that may come up during an activity, along with tips for how to address or prepare for them.
- Evidence of Success: Observable student behavior or actions that indicate an activity was successful, or what to look for to know it's working.
- Language examples that highlight proficiency-model-appropriate language uses (WIDA KLUs, ELPAC task types, and similar).
- For any activity also featured in a Strategies module, teachers can select to take the related module to deepen their learning further.
ℹ️ Note
Strategies modules require the Professional Learning add-on, in addition to the Pro tier. If you don't see modules, check with your Ellevation Administrator.
Where to Find and Select Activities in Ellevation
You can find activities several ways in Ellevation, depending on your district's settings:
1. Find and Select Activities from Your Strategies Home Dashboard
This also applies to any dashboard with Strategies activity tiles. Some districts may use the Strategies Dashboard as their Strategies home page, or add Strategies tiles to other dashboards used by the district.
The Activity Lists found here are typically selected or created by district instructional leaders, sometimes in partnership with Ellevation instructional experts.
- Open the Strategies dropdown menu and select Strategies Home.
- Select the activity name to open the full activity details page in a new tab.
2. Find and Select Activities Embedded Within Strategies Modules
Each module includes three recommended activities for teachers to apply their learning in the classroom. To learn more about modules, see Learn about Modules.
3. Find and Select Activities by Browsing the Strategies Catalog
Browse the full catalog of activities and modules using the Browse Catalog button in the Strategies dropdown menu.
The catalog includes all activities and modules in Ellevation, displayed by default as activity cards. These cards make it easy to scroll through the options and quickly review:
- Student objectives
- Language domain, grade level, and instructional practice tags
- Links to any activity videos (select the circular thumbnail image to view the video right from the browse page)
To browse activities:
- Select the Browse Catalog button in your Strategies dropdown menu.
- As needed, select Activities from the lefthand navigation bar.
- The default view displays activity cards. To switch to a list view, select the List button in the top right of the page. To return to card view, select the Grid button.
- Select the circular thumbnail image with the play icon to play any videos associated with the activity.
- Use the filter options to narrow your list of activities by Primary Domain, Grade, Instructional Practice, and Lesson Plan Integration recommendations.
- Some states also include a filter by Language Example, Key Language Use, Task Type, or similar.
For a full list of Ellevation's instructional activities, reference the Ellevation Strategies List of Activities (PDF).
From the Browse Catalog page, you can also select and access your Saved Activities.