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We are Josh Schulze and Annie Ittner.
We are both faculty at Western Oregon University.
This is the 4th ORTESOL conference we have presented at together!

To successfully navigate this teaching tip, follow chronologically.
Videos are indicated by the blue background. All other posts are links to resources.
Email with any questions!
ittnera@mail.wou.edu
schulzej@mail.wou.edu
ENJOY!

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#2 Are you interested in using engaging online resources to develop phonological awareness with your students? When students are aware of phonemes it can unlock literacy development.  In this teaching tip, we demonstrate how to use several free online resources in hybrid, or face-to-face learning to increase phonological awareness in PreK- adult language learners. We will review some of the components of phonology and how it pertains to emergent bilingual students.

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#2 Are you interested in using engaging online resources to develop phonological awareness with your students? When students are aware of phonemes it can unlock literacy development.  In this teaching tip, we demonstrate how to use several free online resources in hybrid, or face-to-face learning to increase phonological awareness in PreK- adult language learners. We will review some of the components of phonology and how it pertains to emergent bilingual students.

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Intro: Phonological Awareness

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The "onset" is the initial phonological unit of any word (e.g. c in cat) and the term "rime" refers to the string of letters that follow, usually a vowel and final consonants (e.g. at in cat). Not all words have onsets. Similar to teaching beginning readers about rhyme, teaching children about onset and rime helps them recognize common chunks within words. This can help students decode new words when reading and spell words when writing.

From the Florida Center for Reading Research, download and print these activities:

These articles offer suggestions for how to use simple onset and rime activities to help students develop phonological awareness.

Construct-a-word: "ig" in Pig. The link below outlines a strategy that can be adapted to teach different onset and rime word patterns. This activity helps teachers isolate and teach the rime "ig" using the book If you Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff. There is an instructional plan that accompanies the activity and extension ideas included to advance the learning process. See example >

Download blank templates

See the link below for more help building word families using onset and rimes.

Bear, D., Invernizzi, M., Templeton, S., & Johnston, F. (1996). Words their way: Word study for phonics, vocabulary, and spelling instruction. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Chard, D., & Dickson, S. (1999). Phonological Awareness: Instructional and Assessment Guidelines.

Ellis, E. (1997). How Now Brown Cow: Phoneme Awareness Activities.

Goswami, U., & Mead, F. (1992). Onset and rime awareness and analogies in reading. Reading Research Quarterly, 2, 153-162.

Wise, B. W., Olson, R. K., & Treiman, R. (1990). Subsyllabic units as aids in beginning readers word learning Onset-rime versus post-vowel segmentation. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 4, 1-19.

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Onset/Rime Games | Classroom Strategy | Reading Rockets

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The "onset" is the initial phonological unit of any word (e.g. c in cat) and the term "rime" refers to the string of letters that follow, usually a vowel and final consonants (e.g. at in cat). Not all words have onsets.

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Teaching Tip # 5 Blending and Segmenting Games

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Teaching Tip # 5 Blending and Segmenting Games

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Blending and segmenting games and activities can help students to develop phonemic awareness — the ability to hear the individual sounds in spoken words. Begin with segmenting and blending syllables, and then move to working with individual sounds (phonemes). Learning to blend and segment sounds is key to learning to read.

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by Claudia Pesce 46,520 views

Where did Humpty Dumpty sit? Who helped put him back together after his tragic fall? If you know the answers to these questions, it is because you've repeated the famous nursery rhyme countless times. And THAT is the power of chants.

Chants are fun and easy to learn, mainly because they usually rhyme and can be easily repeated. But they are more than pure fun. Most are great sources of vocabulary and help improve pronunciation. Plus, they help restless students focus.

Here are some chants you can use in your ESL class in a variety of ways:

How to Use Chants in Your ESL Class

1. Classroom Rules Chant
Download this simple chant; you may even print it and make it into a poster. It's a great, easy way to teach and review classroom rules with your students. Repeat it several times, and they won't soon forget the rules.

2. My House
This is a fun way to teach the rooms in a house and some of the things you find in them.

Bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen.
Bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen.
Bedroom, bathroom, living room, kitchen.
This is my family's house.

Sink in the bathroom. Sink in the kitchen.
Sink in the bathroom. Sink in the kitchen.
Sink in the bathroom. Sink in the kitchen.
This is my family's house.

TV and sofa are in the living room.
TV and sofa are in the living room.
TV and sofa are in the living room.
This is my family's house.

And you can easily expand the chant to other rooms in the house. As you can see, it doesn't matter if the words don't rhyme; the essential element in the chant is repetition.

3. Nursery Rhymes
Nursery rhymes are timeless classics that most people remember because they are repeated so often. TeachChildrenESL has nursery rhymes in PDF files that you can download and print for your class. Of particular use in the ESL classroom are:

4. Counting Bubble Gum
This chant/game will help your young learners practice their counting skills and have fun while they do it. Have your students sit in a circle on the floor. Go around the circle and tap each head as you say: Bubble gum, bubble gum, in a dish, how many pieces do you wish? (student says a number). Count the number of heads indicated and the last student is eliminated from the circle. This student must stand up and eliminate another in the same way. The last student left standing wins!

5. How many days?
This is the chant everyone learns to remember how many days are in each month - and a great way to practice them in English:
Thirty days has September, April June and November.
All the rest have 31, excepting February alone.
And it had 28 days time,
But in leap years February has 29.

6. Apples and bananas
Here's a fun, but also challenging chant. Students review vowel sounds.

I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas
I like to eat, eat, eat apples and bananas

I like to ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays
I like to ate, ate, ate ay-ples and ba-nay-nays

I like to eat, eat, eat ee-ples and bee-nee-nees
I like to eat, eat, eat ee-ples and bee-nee-nees

I like to ite, ite, ite i-ples and by-ny-nys
I like to ite, ite, ite i-ples and by-ny-nys

I like to ote, ote, ote oh-ples and bo-no-nos
I like to ote, ote, ote oh-ples and bo-no-nos

I like to oot, oot, oot oo-ples and boo-noo-noos
I like to oot, oot, oot oo-ples and boo-noo-noos

7. One, Two, Buckle My Shoe
Another great way to review numbers one to ten.
One, two,
Buckle my shoe;
Three, four,
Knock at the door;
Five, six,
Pick up sticks;
Seven, eight,
Lay them straight:
Nine, ten,
A big fat hen.

8. Grammar Chants
Now, here's your chance to get creative and make your own chant! Remember that rhyming is not absolutely necessary, very often it's the repetition that works best. Here's an example of a chant you can say to practise simple present in both affirmative and negative forms:

Never underestimate the power of simple repetition!

Students learn words, structures, and pronunciation. And don't be surprised if you hear them chanting as they walk down the hall. They may not be able to get your chants out their heads!

Don't forget that songs are just as effective in ESL teaching, in fact some of these rhymes may also be sung. At BusyTeacher.org we have over 300 songs and lyrics worksheets for your class!

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Ants in the Pants? Enchant Your ESL Students with These Great Chants

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by Claudia Pesce 46,520 views Where did Humpty Dumpty sit? Who helped put him back together after his tragic fall? If you know the answers to these questions, it is because you've repeated the famous nursery rhyme countless times. And THAT is the power of chants.

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Teaching Tip # 4: Using Songs for EFL and ESL

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Teaching Tip # 4: Using Songs for EFL and ESL

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Using songs to teach ESL - here are 10 reasons english teachers should use songs to teach ESL.

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Teaching Tip #2: Using Read Alouds with ELLs

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Teaching Tip #2: Using Read Alouds with ELLs

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In this blog post written for Colorín Colorado, Rhode Island administrator and WIDA trainer Julie Motta walks through a read-aloud activity for first grade and highlights how she engaged the students with the story, brought in content-area connections, and included informal assessment to check comprehension. She also outlines the standards related to the activity. To see more from Julie, take a look at her previous blog post focused on making curriculum units aligned to the Common Core accessible for ELLs!

Getting Back to the Classroom

Although I have been out of the classroom for a while as I have taken on more responsibilities as a central office administrator in Rhode Island, the best parts of my job remain spending time with students inside their busy classrooms and working with their teachers to continually advance their craft, especially in the multifaceted task of implementing the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) with ELLs.

This past spring, I was in a classroom reading to eager first graders sitting attentively on their alphabet rug during Reading Week. The theme of the week was "Read around the World." The class had been hearing stories based on different cultures, so to go along with the theme, I chose a multicultural story entitled Let's Eat by Ana Zamarano. With just this simple read aloud, I was able to work on the WIDA English Language Development ELA, Math, and Science Standards while I addressed the CCSS in Reading, Speaking & Listening, and Math. The activity reminded me that many of the things that I do naturally as an ESL teacher are effective for all students, and that they also are great strategies to use in implementation of the Common Core. A table of the standards I worked with is listed below.

Reading the Story Together

Before Reading

Before I read the story, I built background with students by asking them about the make-up of their families and the ways they gathered for meals. This got them interested in the family whom we would read about. I charged them with making comparisons and contradictions to their own family practices as their purpose of listening intently.

During Reading

As I read the story, the children listened carefully. They made predictions and answered my questions. Some questions that I asked were:

Can you tell me why you think the mom was happy when everyone was at the dinner table?

What information from the story makes you say that?

Who might be missing from the dinner table on Tuesday?

Why do you think it will be that family member?

Was there a clue in the story that helped you to make that prediction?

After Reading

Once we finished the story, I used prompts for student discussion, such as:
Turn and talk to you elbow partner about why you think having dinner together is so important in this family. Be sure to use some words from the story to prove your idea is a good one.
I probed them using phrases like:

Tell me more about that.

What makes you say that?

Is there a picture in the story that is making you think that way?

I required them to provide me with evidence from the story to back up their thinking. I insisted that they give responses in complete sentences, using sentence frames with those who needed a bit of scaffolding.

Content Connections

Math

In addition to our discussion of the text, the children studied the watercolor illustrations, and we used these illustrations to do some grade level math, adding and subtracting members of the family who disappeared and then reappeared on each page of the story. Later they would write number stories using the characters names during their math instructional block.

Art

One student also explained how the class had been given a chance to use watercolor paints in art class. If I had been in the school for a longer period of time, I would have followed up with the art teacher to ask her to use the book to discuss the illustrator's purpose for using watercolors so that the children could do some deeper analysis, thus promoting shared responsibility for assisting students with meeting rigorous content standards. Additionally, if I'd had the chance, I also would have picked some additional books about families and had the children study the illustrations to compare their artistic components in exhibiting families.

Health

As each food that was mentioned in the story was described, I used Google images of the actual foods to match the descriptions. This led us to an in-depth discussion of healthy foods, and the students were able to make connections to what they had been learning about in health class where they had been listening to informational texts around healthy foods, another chance to promote the shared responsibility mentioned above. This was another opportunity for comparing the foods in the story to those that the children ate with their families on a regular basis and to analyze how healthy they were in comparison to the foods in the story.

The children actively participated as the story continued, repeating a phrase from the book that was stated in both English (What a pity!) and Spanish ( ¡Ay qué pena!), expressions that Mamá used when a family member was not at the dinner table. We talked about why the author would have chosen to use these phrases repeatedly throughout the text.

Informal Assessment

I had students self-assess using a listening and speaking rubric based on the WIDA performance definitions. They rated themselves on a scale of 1-5 using the sentences here to assess their own listening:

1. I can understand the words in the story.

2. I can understand the short sentences in the story.

3. I can understand the long sentences in the story.

4. I can understand people's ideas in the story.

5. I can understand the whole story that I listened to.

For speaking, they used these sentences:

1. I can talk using a few words about the story.

2. I can use short sentences to talk about the story.

3. I can use long sentences to talk about the story.

4. I can put my ideas together when I talk about the story.

5. I can retell the story to a friend in my own words.

I suggested following up with a writing prompt that the students could find success with. An example I gave as a suggestion was: Write (a specific number of words, phrases or sentences - based on varying proficiency levels of individual students) that explains why dinner time was so important to the mom in this story. Be sure to find (insert a number) reasons in the story that show that your idea is correct. A word bank would be provided with the prompt as well as incomplete sentences with some words missing that students with the least proficiency could fill in.

Collaboration

Finally, I was able to use this opportunity for the benefit of the teacher who had invited me as a guest to her classroom. I worked hard to model by:

asking rigorous, probing questions that required evidence to support answers

allowing for wait time

using rich, academic vocabulary including cognates

encouraging peer discussions with turn and talk

making links to informational texts that would lend themselves to extend the lesson.

The Luckiest Teacher in the World

During this lesson, I realized that implementing the Common Core with ELLs does not have to be as difficult as I had originally thought - and that a lot of what I learned how to do as an ESL teacher supports the Common Core beautifully. At the conclusion of the story, I explained to the students in this classroom that I had taught children who had just moved to the US from all over the world. I told them that I taught those children to speak English, and I named the many countries they had come from. One darling little boy squealed, "Mrs. Motta, you were the luckiest teacher in the world!" And indeed, he was absolutely correct - I was! And whether in my classroom with my ELLs or sitting on this rug in a mainstream grade-one classroom, I was providing my students with rigorous content knowledge as they acquired rich academic vocabulary in the English language. The students may have had differing needs, but the high-quality instruction was the same in both instances.

Standards Used for Read-Aloud

Math 1.0A Operations & Algebraic Thinking- Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction

1.0A Use addition and subtraction within 20 to solve word problems involving situations of adding to, taking from, putting together, taking apart and comparing.

RL 1-3 Key Ideas and Details

RL1.1 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text.

RL1.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson

RL1.3 Describe characters, settings and major events in a story; using key details

RL 4 Craft and Structure

RL1.4 Identify words and phrases in stories that suggest feelings or appeal to the senses

RL 7 & 9 Integration of Knowledge and Ideas

SL 1-2 Comprehension and Collaboration

SL1.1 Participate in collaborative conversations with diverse partners about grade 1 topics and texts with peers and adults in larger groups

b. Build on others talk in conversations by responding to the comments of others through multiple exchanges

c. Ask questions to clear up confusion about the topics and texts under discussion

SL1.2 Ask and answer questions about key details in a text read aloud

SL 4 & 6 Presentation of Knowledge and Ideas

L1 Conventions of Standard English

L 5& 6 Vocabulary Acquisition and Use

L.5 With guidance and support from adults, demonstrate an understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings.

c. Identify real-life connections between words and their use

L.6 Use words and phrases acquired through conversations, reading and being read to, and responding to texts

Standard 1 English language learners communicate for Social and Instructional Purposes within the school setting (listening, speaking, reading)

Standard 2 English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in ELA (listening, speaking, reading)

Standard 4 English language learners communicate information, ideas, and concepts necessary for academic success in Science (listening, speaking)

Related Resources

To see more great strategies in action, take a look at Colorín Colorado's Common Core classroom videos and lesson plans for first grade featuring teacher Ali Nava in Albuquerque, NM presenting lessons based on the children's book Burro's Tortillas, a southwestern adaptation of "The Little Red Hen." Strategies and activities include:

About the Author

Julie Motta is the Assistant Superintendent of the East Providence School District in Rhode Island. Formerly the ESL Director of Pawtucket Schools, she is also a WIDA trainer and an adjunct college professor at Rhode Island College and Providence College, where she has taught courses in Second Language Acquisition, Curriculum and Methods, Social Issues, and Culturally Responsive Teaching.

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Common Core Ideas: Using Read-Alouds with English Language Learners

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In this blog post written for Colorín Colorado, Rhode Island administrator and WIDA trainer Julie Motta walks through a read-aloud activity for first grade and highlights how she engaged the students with the story, brought in content-area connections, and included informal assessment to check comprehension.