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Phonology is the study of the sound system of a language, including how sounds are organized and used.

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Understanding phonology helps ELLs recognize and produce English sounds that may not exist in their native language. Accurate pronunciation and listening comprehension are essential for oral communication and academic success, especially when learning new vocabulary or participating in classroom discussions.

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1. Minimal Pairs Practice

Instructions:

Introduce two words that differ by only one sound (e.g., ship/sheep, bit/beat).

Say each word aloud, and have students repeat.

Ask students to circle or raise a card for the word they hear.

Have pairs quiz each other using picture prompts or a word list.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Use pictures and slow, repeated pronunciation.

Advanced: Use harder pairs (e.g., pen/pan) and ask students to use them in sentences.

2. Sound Sorting

Instructions:

Give students a set of words (written or with images).

Ask them to sort words into categories based on beginning or ending sounds (e.g., /s/, /ʃ/).

Allow students to explain why they placed words into certain categories.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Use color-coded cards and sort only one sound.

Advanced: Sort multiple sounds and justify choices in writing.

3. Tongue Twister Challenge

Instructions:

Choose a tongue twister focusing on a target sound (e.g., /θ/ in Three thin thieves).

Say it together slowly, then faster.

Students practice in pairs or groups, then perform.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Use simpler tongue twisters and read along with audio.

Advanced: Memorize and create their own tongue twisters.

4. Phoneme Bingo

Instructions:

Prepare bingo cards with words containing target sounds.

Call out words or play recordings, and students mark them on their cards.

First student to get 4 in a row wins.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Use visuals and repeat each word slowly.

Advanced: Listen once, no visuals, and use more difficult word sets.

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Activity:
Listen to audiobooks or podcasts together and identify repeated sounds or tricky pronunciations.

Instructions:

1. Choose a short English audiobook or story from Storynory or another family-friendly audio source.

2. Listen to the story together for 5–10 minutes.

3. Ask your child to point out or repeat any word or sound that is repeated often (e.g., words starting with "th").

4. Pause the story at times to repeat tricky words together, practicing pronunciation slowly.

5. Write down 3–5 of the words and say them aloud again the next day.

Differentiation by Level:

Beginners: Focus on hearing and repeating sounds. Use gestures or visuals if needed.

Intermediate/Advanced: Pause to write down difficult words and practice them in new sentences. Try mimicking full sentences to work on fluency and intonation.

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A simple, intuitive reader app that makes learning more effective

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Morphology is the study of the structure of words and how word parts (like prefixes, roots, and suffixes) combine to create meaning.

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Understanding morphology helps students break down unfamiliar words and expand vocabulary. This skill improves reading comprehension and writing by allowing learners to recognize patterns and infer meanings of complex words.

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Prefix and Suffix Match-Up

Instructions:

Give students cards with prefixes, suffixes, and base words.

Students match them to form real words (e.g., re + play = replay).

Have them write the meaning of the new word and use it in a sentence.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Use visuals and limit to common prefixes (re-, un-, pre-).

Advanced: Use abstract affixes (e.g., -tion, -ity) and complex words.

2. Word Construction Game

Instructions:

Divide class into small groups.

Provide cards with roots, prefixes, and suffixes.

Set a timer for 5 minutes. Teams build as many valid words as possible and earn points.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Work in pairs with dictionaries and teacher support.

Advanced: Use words in sentences or create definitions.

3. Morpheme Hunt

Instructions:

Give students a reading passage.

Instruct them to highlight root words, prefixes, and suffixes.

Ask them to define at least five words using their parts.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Use a scaffolded passage with color-coded hints.

Advanced: Analyze text independently and present findings.

4. Morphology Puzzle

Instructions:

Give students a word puzzle with missing prefixes or suffixes.

They must complete the words using correct morphemes.

Optionally, ask them to write definitions.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Provide a word bank and matching visuals.

Advanced: Create their own puzzles for peers.

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Activity:
Create a “word tree” with your child. Start with a root word and add branches for prefixes and suffixes to build new words.

Instructions:

1. On a piece of paper, write a simple base word in the center (e.g., "play").

2. Work with your child to brainstorm and write down words that come from the base word (e.g., playing, player, replay, playful).

3. Talk about the meaning of each new word and how the prefix or suffix changes the meaning.

4. If using Freerice, challenge your child to look for new base words while playing and add them to the word tree later.

5. Display the word tree on the wall or fridge and review it weekly.

Differentiation by Level:

Beginners: Use familiar words and draw pictures to show meaning (e.g., draw someone playing next to "player").

Intermediate/Advanced: Use academic root words (e.g., port, struct, form) and include definitions or example sentences.

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Meet Freerice

Freerice is an educational trivia game that helps you get smarter while making a difference for people around the world. Every question you answer correctly raises 10 grains of rice for the World Food Programme (WFP) to support its work saving and changing lives around the world.

Across the globe, up to 783 million people do not have enough food to eat. From reducing our food waste to ensuring access to nutritious food for everyone, we have a lot of work to do. At WFP, we believe that food is a human right and that everyone deserves to live in a #ZeroHunger world. Let's work together to fill everyone's plate.

Our Impact

Playing Freerice sends an important message: community matters, and only by coming together can we help solve global problems like food insecurity and poverty. By using your knowledge to do good, you're advocating for positive change and supporting our mission to achieve a world of Zero Hunger. Whether you are playing Freerice at school or learning about the UN Sustainable Development Goals, you are paving the path for brighter futures ahead through nutritious.

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Across the globe, up to 783 million people do not have enough food to eat. From reducing our food waste to ensuring access to nutritious food for everyone, we have a lot of work to do. At WFP, we believe that food is a human right and that everyone deserves to live in a #ZeroHunger world.

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Syntax is the set of rules that govern how words are combined to form phrases, clauses, and sentences.

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Understanding syntax helps ELLs create grammatically correct and meaningful sentences. Mastery of word order, sentence structure, and question formation is essential for writing, reading comprehension, and effective oral communication in academic contexts.

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1. Sentence Unscramble

Instructions:

Give students jumbled sentences (e.g., "to / went / store / the / she").

Ask them to reorder the words to form a correct sentence.

Check answers as a group and read aloud.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Provide visuals and sentence frames.

Advanced: Include complex or compound sentences.

2. Sentence Expansion

Instructions:

Start with a basic sentence (e.g., The dog runs.).

Have students add details: adjectives, adverbs, prepositional phrases.

Share expanded sentences with the class.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Use sentence starters and vocabulary banks.

Advanced: Expand into full paragraphs or stories.

3. Question-Answer Match

Instructions:

Provide question cards and answer cards (e.g., Where are you from? / I am from Mexico.).

Students match them and practice asking/responding in pairs.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Use visual cues and model orally.

Advanced: Create and perform short interviews.

4. Fix the Sentence

Instructions:

Present incorrect sentences (e.g., He go to school every day.).

Students work in pairs to correct them.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Focus on subject-verb agreement.

Advanced: Correct tense, punctuation, and clause structures.

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Activity:
Use a favorite book or short story. Ask your child to pick a sentence and try rewriting it in two different ways (e.g., change the order, expand it).

How It Helps:
Beginners can copy and rearrange simple sentences with help. Intermediate and advanced learners can practice expanding or transforming complex sentences to build syntactic flexibility.

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A simple, intuitive reader app that makes learning more effective

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Semantics is the study of the meaning of words, phrases, and sentences.

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Semantic knowledge helps ELLs understand vocabulary in context and recognize that some words have multiple meanings. It's crucial for interpreting academic texts, making inferences, and communicating ideas accurately.

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1. Word Maps

Instructions:

Choose a key vocabulary word.

Students draw a spiderweb map that includes the following: definition, synonyms, antonyms, a sentence, and an image.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Provide definitions and visuals.

Advanced: Students write original sentences and synonyms.

2. Multiple Meaning Match

Instructions:

Provide words with multiple meanings (e.g., bat – animal or sports equipment).

Match words to sentences using these different meanings.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Use visuals and short sentences.

Advanced: Create their own multiple-meaning word sentences.

3. Context Clue Detective

Instructions:

Provide a short paragraph with a bolded, underlined or circled unfamiliar word.

Students must then infer the meaning of the word using context clues and explain how they guessed.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Use very simple texts and clue prompts.

Advanced: Use grade-level texts and require justification for answers.

4. Synonym Roll

Instructions:

Roll a dice where each number corresponds to a common word (e.g., happy).

Students brainstorm as many synonyms as possible in 1 minute.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Use word banks.

Advanced: Challenge with abstract words (e.g., persuade).

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Activity:
Pick a new English word each day, write it down, draw it, and use it in a sentence. Keep a "Word Journal."

How It Helps:
Beginners focus on one simple word at a time with pictures. Advanced students include synonyms, antonyms, and examples. This helps families build vocabulary together in a meaningful, visual way.

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Find out how strong your vocabulary is and learn new words at Vocabulary.com.

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Vocabulary.com helps you learn new words, play games that improve your vocabulary, and explore language.

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Pragmatics is the study of how language is used in social contexts, including tone, politeness, and conversational rules.

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Pragmatic competence helps ELLs understand how to use language appropriately in different settings (e.g., school vs. home). It supports social integration, classroom participation, and interpretation of implied meanings, sarcasm, or indirect requests.

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1. Role-Play Scenarios

Instructions:

Present everyday situations (e.g., ordering food, apologizing to a teacher).

Students act out appropriate language use in pairs or small groups.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Use scripts and act out simple scenes.

Advanced: Create their own scenarios with tone changes.

2. Formal vs. Informal Sort

Instructions:

Provide phrases (e.g., What’s up? vs. How are you today?).

Students sort them into “Formal” or “Informal” columns.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Match phrases to pictures.

Advanced: Rewrite informal to formal and vice versa.

3. Tone Detective

Instructions:

Read short dialogues with different tones (e.g., sarcastic, polite, excited).

Students identify tone and explain how they know.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Use emoji clues.

Advanced: Write their own examples with specific tones.

4. Conversational Turn-Taking

Instructions:

Practice greetings, asking questions, and responding in small groups.

Emphasize waiting your turn, using fillers, and eye contact.

Differentiation:

Beginners: Use visual cues and sentence stems.

Advanced: Role-play longer, more complex interactions.

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Activity:
Watch an English TV show or YouTube video together. Pause to discuss how people speak differently depending on who they’re talking to.

How It Helps:
Beginners focus on greetings and basic phrases. Advanced learners analyze tone, sarcasm, or cultural norms in communication. This activity helps families understand when and how to speak differently in school, work, or social settings.

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English Language Learners Resources | PBS LearningMedia

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Find English language learners resources. Inspire your students with videos, games, resources, and activities aligned to state and national standards.