Which strategy helps ELLs participate in math discussions and reasoning?

• A. Cooperative learning
• B. Sentence stems
• C. Explicit grammar drills
• D. Silent reading

Answer: (B)

Language scaffolds for math talk are key here. Sentence stems give ELLs ready-made phrases to express reasoning, such as “First, I notice…,” “Because…,” and “Therefore, the solution is….” This lowers the barrier to turn thinking into spoken math, so students participate more in discussions and can clearly justify their steps. By practicing these phrases, learners also gain confidence with math vocabulary and learn the structure of mathematical reasoning—making it easier to build on peers’ ideas and explain why a method works. While cooperative learning helps students work together and other strategies focus on different skills, sentence stems specifically provide the language frames that support active, reasoned participation in math conversations.